William Shakespeares †The Rape of Lucrece †Essay

William Shakespeares – The Rape of Lucrece – Essay Free Online Research Papers William Shakespeares The Rape of Lucrece Essay General introduction: On May 9, 1594, ‘a booke intituled The Ravyshement of Lucrece’ was registered in the Hall Book of the Worshipful Company of Stationers, the English governments pre-publication registry. The poem printed in Quarto by Richard Field for John Harrison was published the same year under a new title: Lucrece. Therefore we have to mention that the name ‘William Shakespeare’ only appeared within the dedication. The Rape of Lucrece became the final and official title in 1616, the year Shakespeare died. The first Quarto edition is well-known for its accuracy. As regards the four following editions -Q2 in 1598, Q3 and Q4 in 1600 and Q5 in 1607– the editors took too much liberty with the original work. Furthermore Roger Jackson printed what he claimed to be a ‘Newly Revised’ edition in 1616. The fact is that there is no evidence at all that what was added or removed would have been approved by Shakespeare himself. The Rape of Lucrece and Venus and Adonis –registered one year before, on May 18 (1593)– were both dedicated to Shakespeare’s patron, Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton. As these two poems were something on which Shakespeare was intending to base his reputation with the public and to establish himself with his patron, they were meant to be displays of his virtuosity. Both poems demonstrated great technical skill. What is more they were certainly the most popular of his writings with the reading public and impressed everybody with his poetic genius. On the one hand, Venus and Adonis was licentiously erotic (though its sensuality was often rather comic); on the other hand, The Rape of Lucrece might seem to be tragic enough; the treatment of the poem is yet somewhat cold and distant. In both cases however the poet seemed to be displaying incredible dexterity rather than being ‘sincere’. The Rape of Lucrece is composed of three different parts: a dedication, an argument and the poem itself. The argument aims not just at giving the plot of the poem, as John Milton did for instance in Paradise Lost. The plot is present, of course, but the argument resemble more a summary of the Roman sources. As to the poem, it is a narrative one. It is made of 1,855 lines and written in rhyme royal, that is to say each stanza is seven lines long and the rhyme scheme is ababbcc. Geoffrey Chaucer, the outstanding English poet before Shakespeare and author of The Canterbury Tales, pioneered this rhyme scheme in England in his works Troilus and Criseyde and The Parlement of Foules. Rhyme royal was going out of fashion when Shakespeare wrote The Rape of Lucrece in spite of later poets including Milton in the 17th century. The first stanza of the poem, for instance, aptly displays the rhyming pattern and even epitomizes Shakespeare’s systematic use of pentameters: ..aFrom the besieged Ardea all in post, ..bBorne by the trustless wings of false desire, ..aLust-breathà ¨d Tarquin leaves the Roman host, ..bAnd to Collatium bears the lightless fire ..bWhich, in pale embers hid, lurks to aspire ..c And girdle with embracing flames the waist ..c Of Collatines fair love, Lucrece the chaste.’ The argument introduces the reader to a pseudo-historical background. Indeed Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was, in legend, the son or grandson of Tarquinius Priscus and son-in-law of Servius Tullius. He supposedly murdered Tullius, became afterwards the seventh and last king of Rome and established an absolute despotism- hence his name Superbus, meaning â€Å"the proud†. In the reign of terror that followed, many senators were put to death. Eventually a group of senators led by Lucius Junius Brutus raised a revolt, the immediate cause of which was the rape of a noblewoman, Lucretia, by Lucius Tarquinius son Sextus. As a result the Tarquin family was expelled from Rome, and the monarchy at Rome was abolished (traditionally in 509 BC). The argument takes all that story for granted. Furthermore Shakespeare sort of â€Å"rebaptized† his main characters within the poem. Actually he just shortened their names: Sextus Tarquinius would be simply called Tarquin, Lucretia Lucrece, and Collatinus Collatine. Nevertheless we may add that Shakespeare re-centered his work on the rape by Tarquin, on Lucrece’s committing suicide, too, but he also gave himself over to huge internal monologues. Indeed the fact is that there is no exordium and that the poem begins in medias res. For example Lucrece ushers Tarquin in on line 50: ‘When at Collatium this false lord arriv’d, Well was he welcom’d by the Roman dame’ The passage we have to deal with is situated approximately in the beginning of the second part of the poem, from line 1072 to line 1190. Lucrece has already been raped and, now, she is wondering what to do; could she possibly continue to live in infamy or should she stab herself in order to ‘clear this spot by death’ (l.1053)? Outline: In order to elucidate both the reasons of Lucrece’s decision and what Shakespeare may have intended to demonstrate our exposà © will centre on three different parts: Firstly, we will focus on the many primary sources and verify if, by any chance, our passage would not just have been some literary invention. Then, on making a close-reading of the excerpt, we will study it through the perspective of a complaint –be it a literary or musical genre- and see how sound-pattern and rhyming evoke the central themes of love, death and resurrection. Finally, in our third part, we will make a comparative study of our passage with Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Book VI which includes the story of Philomel; we will be able to draw a parallel between the two women and, at last, will understand how on using an ancient myth Shakespeare created a new one. I The Primary Sources: We will now tackle the different sources Shakespeare used. We have found at least three important texts. The original story of the rape of Lucrece was first mentioned in The History of Rome, written by Livy, in full Titus Livius. The man was born in 59 BC in Italy and died in AD 17. Titus Livius, with Sallust and Tacitus, was one of the three great Roman historians. His History of Rome became a classic in his own lifetime and exercised a profound influence on the style and philosophy of historical writing down to the 18th century. Livy began by composing and publishing in units of five books. His material becoming more and more complex, it finally reached a total of 142 books. Furthermore it approximately encompassed a period of four hundred years -from 386 BC, that is to say the foundation of Rome until the sack of the city by the Gauls, to 9 BC, thirty-five years after the Battle of Actium. To be precise the story of Sextus Tarquin and a woman named Lucretia is to be found in books 57, 58 and 59 and it is supposed to have occurred before the Social War of 91 BC. However Livy was not always reliable. On writing, he sometimes accepted undocumented accounts, more properly categorized as legend than as history. Such is, as we have just said, this story of the rape of Lucretia. The account is taken as fact by some, as fiction by others. Has Shakespeare based his work directly on the Latin version entitled Ab urbe condita or on William Painter’s translation in The Pallace of Pleasure published in 1566? We can logically assume he used both. The second important source of information is Ovid’s Fasti that is to say the Roman Calendar. Likewise, Shakespeare may have used an English translation of Fasti by Arthur Golding or just the original Latin text. Of course, he may also have paged through both texts while writing his poem. Fasti was a 12-volume account of the Roman Calendar that listed special events and festivals on a given day. Book II of Fasti tells the story of the rape of Lucretia because of its importance as a significant turning point in Roman history and because it used as evidence of the corruption of the reigning King of Rome; after all the incident led to the overthrow of the king and to the establishment of the Roman republic. The third major source is Geoffrey Chaucer’s Legend of Good Women, from line 1680 to 1886. It was written in the 1380s and was Chaucer’s final dream-vision poem. The stories- concerning such women of Antiquity as Cleopatra and Lucrece- are brief and rather mechanical, with the betrayal of women by wicked men as a regular theme; consequently, the whole is often considered more as a legend of bad men than of good women. Let’s now focus more specifically on Livy’s History of Rome. As we have just said the original events are related in three books. On trying to compare them with Shakespeare’s Rape of Lucrece we noticed that the argument was a summarize of the whole story which started ‘at that time in possession of Ardea’ and ended up with a huge description of the rebellion of the Roman citizens and ‘a banishment against Tarquin with his wife and children’. Therefore our passage appears to be a creation. As a matter of fact it is a 200-line development of the phrase ‘Lucretia, overwhelmed with grief at such a frightful outrage’ found in the middle of Book 58. William Painter’s Second Novell, which is extracted from The Pallace of Pleasure, was the official translation of Livy’s three books. There is even less mentioning of Lucrece’s reaction in it. In fact there is none. ‘†¦[Tarquin] departed. Then Lucrece sent a post to Rome†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢. As for Ovid’s Fasti we have only been able to work on John Gower’s translation published in 1640 but Shakespeare is likely to have used another English translation of it by Arthur Golding. Ovid seemed not to be interested in a political perspective. The end of the translation of his poem is four lines long and Shakespeare finished his work similarly. Indeed the last stanza encapsulates Livy’s original and very long description of the overthrow of the Tarquins. If we take a look at the required excerpt in John Gower’s translation we see that four lines –from number 91 to 94- are devoted to Lucrece’s moral and physical decay: ‘Why triumph’st thou? Thy conquest is thy fall: Ah, what a price bought’st thou that night withall! Now day appear’d: with scatter’d hairs she lies, As doth a mother when her deare sonne dies.’ The first two lines are actually the first occurrence of interior monologue and the first time we are allowed to share Lucrece’s sorrow. Then, thanks to a zero focalization, Ovid introduced elements such as the ‘scatter’d hairs’ and the mother-and-son relationship that Shakespeare will revisit. Geoffrey Chaucer’s version of the story –from line 1680 to 1885 in The Legende of Good Women- explicitly refers to the primary sources: line 1684 we can read ‘as sayth Ovyde, and Titus Lyvius’. Thus, Chaucer’s text already mixed both narratives and his own commentaries. Nonetheless there are once more no allusions to Lucrece’s mental suffering. Chaucer preferred to depict the heroin’s physical decline with details such as ‘dysshelvelee with hir heere clere’ (l.1829). As a conclusion we can therefore state that our passage in Shakespeare’s Rape of Lucrece is nothing but an invention, a personal and exaggerated development –we could even say a magnifying- of Lucrece’s torment. Besides we can draw a parallel between Shakespeare’s poem and The Complaint of Rosamond written by Samuel Daniel in 1592. The latter text may have brought the complaints of afflicted women into fashion. Rosamond was Henry II’s mistress and was poisoned by the queen. The question of dishonour is at stake in both stories. If Rosamond’s purity was corrupted, her descendants would also be dishonoured. For example both poems sharpen the false idea that shame is reflected on their faces: in Shakespeare’s Rape of Lucrece, from line 1342 to 1344 ‘But they whose guilt within their bosoms lie, Imagine every eye beholds their blame, For Lucrece thought he blushed to see her shame’ in Daniel’s Complaint of Rosamond, from line 283 to 285 ‘Thou must not fondly thinke thy selfe transparent, That those who see thy face can judge the fact; Let her have shame that cannot closely act.’ II – A Complaint : Thus we will now try to analyse the poem through the perspective of a complaint as a literary and musical genre. We will have recourse to a close-reading of the lexical fields, of the musicality via rhythm, and also to the rhyming and sound pattern. By definition a complaint, also called plaint in literature, is a formerly popular variety of poem that laments or protests unrequited love or tells of personal misfortune, misery, or injustice. Though Philomel is said to be ‘lamenting’ (l.1079) The Rape of Lucrece cannot be called a lament -a lament being a nonnarrative poem expressing deep grief or sorrow over a personal loss. The form developed as part of the oral tradition along with heroic poetry. In short, our passage is composed of seventeen stanzas and as we have said in the introduction; each stanza is seven lines long in rhyme royal. Each line being at least a pentameter, that means that the rhythm and the unfolding of the text are based on excess. What is more the rhyming pattern is quite regular. Indeed except of a few false rhymes which are called eye rhyme or sight rhyme, Shakespeare remained extremely respectful of the musical pattern. In fact there are only four eye rhymes in our passage 1105-1106 Sometime her grief is dumb and hath no words; Sometime ‘tis mad and too much talk affords. 1117 – 1118 Great grief grieves most at that would do it good; Deep woes roll forward like a gentle flood, 1131-1132 So I at each sad strain will strain a tear, And with deep groans the diapason bear; 1180-1181 Revenge on him that made me stop my breath. My stainà ¨d blood to Tarquin I’ll bequeath, Those false rhymes are not haphazard since the speaker lays an extremely strong emphasis on metatextual elements –‘no words’ or ‘too much talk’- and overdoes in using alliteration -‘great grief grieves’- or diacope –‘sad strain will strain’. Those excesses foretell Shakespeare’s ridiculing his own work and his distancing from it. The speaker also plays on clichà ©s and conventions in our last eye rhyme, line 1181: ‘Revenge on him that made me stop my breath. My stainà ¨d blood to Tarquin I’ll bequeath Which by him tainted shall for him be spent, And as his due writ in my testament.’ The testament was a poetical convention well-known in England such as The Will or The Legacy written by John Donne. As far as clichà ©s are concerned the tear is another element which cannot be skipped out. On identifying herself with Philomel, on line 1076, Lucrece says or thinks: †¦Ã¢â‚¬Ëœmine eyes like sluices, As from a mountain-spring that feeds a dale, Shall gush pure streams to purge my impure tale.’ Throughout the whole passage tears seem to be a means to purify the outraged woman. They embody a fundamental mode of expression to convey the concept of inner suffering. Despite the ‘flood’ of tears and the expression of alienation Lucrece seems to find no remedy. There is nothing to soothe her. As a consequence we may say that it is the beginning of the end. The hyppalage ‘my impure tale’ which follows an alliteration in ‘p’ is all the more important since it deepens Lucrece’s distress. This conventional procedure is maybe so much emphasized that even the birds scoff at her (l.1121 – 1127): ‘â€Å"You mocking birds,† quoth she, â€Å"your tunes entomb Within your hollow-swelling feathered breasts, And in my hearing be you mute and dumb; My restless discord loves no stops nor rests; A woeful hostess brooks not merry guests. Relish your nimble notes to pleasing ears; Distress likes dumps when time is kept with tears.†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ This stanza hinges round musical terms and allusions. Surprisingly enough all these elements imply silence: ‘Hollow-swelling’ suggests hollow-sounding. ‘Discord’ relies, on the one hand, on a combination of musical sounds that strikes the ear harshly and, on the other hand, on a lack of harmony between two persons; ‘relish’ can be interpreted as another musical term, meaning â€Å"to appreciate with taste and discernment†. What is more the last two lines of the stanza have an asymmetrical stress pattern. The first one beginning with a trochee, the second one with an iamb. Hence the whole stanza displays a range of technical terms and gives a sheer contrast between what poetry could be all about –a literary contrivance meant to ‘abuse our ears’ (All’s Well that ends Well V.3.325)- and what the heroin is expecting. In short, Shakespeare debunks his own outstanding literary technique. Moreover line 1108 the poet introduces intertextual hints referring to his own work. Indeed ‘Make her moans mad with their sweet melody’ echoes with ‘This music mads me’ taken from the tragedy Richard II, V, 5,61. We may also point out the particular ending of lines 1140 and 1141: ‘These means, as frets upon an instrument, Shall tune our heart-strings to true languishment’ We obviously remark that both ‘instrument’ and ‘languishment’ – which stand for metatextual elements are dactyls. This conjures up the characteristics of the tone of the complaint for those complaints were recited like incantations. Moreover the supernatural is present within the text. Line 1147, Shakespeare alludes to Orpheus’ magical powers: ‘To creatures stern sad tunes to change their kinds.’ Orpheus was an ancient Greek legendary hero endowed with superhuman musical skills. According to some legends, Apollo gave Orpheus his first lyre. Orpheus singing and playing were so beautiful that animals and even trees and rocks moved about him in dance. The second interesting aspect of Orpheus’ legend relies on his love towards Eurydice. The latter had been killed by a snakebite. Overcome with grief, Orpheus had ventured himself to the land of the dead to attempt to bring Eurydice back to life. His music and grief so moved Hades, king of the underworld, that Orpheus was allowed to take Eurydice with him back to the world of life and light. There was just one condition both Orpheus and Eurydice were forbidden to look back. On climbing up towards the opening into the land of the living, Orpheus, seeing the Sun again, turned back to share his delight with Eurydice. In that moment, she disappeared. This omnipresent and omnipotent watching over mortals is experienced as an ordeal by Lucrece. Nevertheless sexual innuendoes crop up and reveal Shakespeare’s constant irony: †¦.‘O eye of eyes! Why pry’st thou through my window? Leave thy peeping, Mock with thy tickling beams eyes that are sleeping’ (l.1088-1090) Irony is also present in the term chosen by the poet to foreshadow Lucrece’s death. The ‘merciless conclusion’ (l.1160) is reminiscent of Cleopatra’s suicide after she had ‘pursued conclusions infinite / Of easy ways to die.’ (Antony and Cleopatra V, 2, 353) Since The Rape of Lucrece had been written in the perspective of a complaint it had to end up with the protagonist’s death. Here again however the poet undermined the literary canon and conveyed the rebirth of his heroin at the very end of our passage: ‘For in my death I murder shameful scorn; My shame so dead, mine honour is new born’. Lucrece can be equated to the mythical phoenix which was a fabulous bird worshipped in ancient Egypt. It was said to be as large as an eagle, with brilliant scarlet and gold plumage and a melodious cry. Only one phoenix existed at any time. Furthermore the Egyptians associated the phoenix with immortality since it rose from its ashes. This idea of eternal regeneration will be developed in the following and last part via the process of rewriting. III Philomel’s myth undone and knitted again: First of all we will summarize the original myth of Philomela. In Greek mythology, more precisely in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Book VI, Tereus was the king of Thrace and had married Procne, daughter to Pandion, king of Athens. Procne asked him to go and bring her sister back to her because she had not seen her since their union. Tereus seduced by Philomela’s beauty decided to rape her. In order to hide his guilt, he cut out Philomelas tongue. But she revealed the crime to her sister by working the details in embroidery. Procne sought revenge by killing and serving up her son Itys for Tereus supper. On learning what Procne had done, Tereus pursued the two sisters with an axe. But the gods took pity and changed them all into birds, Tereus into a hoopoe, Procne into a nightingale (or swallow), and Philomela into a swallow (or nightingale). Let’s now focus on the elements of our passage that are taken from the original myth and used in different ways. We have been working on Arthur Golding’s translation. It seems that our passage in The Rape of Lucrece is a rewriting and a subversion of Philomela’s myth. Both stories are adopting the same point of view concerning the rape in itself and the rapist’s attitude. In both stories we can underline an isotope of war. In Book VI, line 578: ‘When (see the chaunce) came Philomele in raiment very rich, And yet in beautie farre more rich, even like the Fairies which Reported are the pleasant woods and water springs to haunt, So that the like apparel and attire to them you graunt. King Tereus at the sight of hir did burne in his desire’ This passage is the first encounter between Procne and Tereus. Right from the start lust is overwhelming Tereus. Philomel’s beauty is compared to the one of a fairy. All the senses are abnormally heightened. King Tereus burned in his desire and nothing could dissuade him from raping her. We have to mention that both Tarquin and Tereus resort to violence and more especially to the use of a sword to assuage their lust: ‘To take hir, and in maintenance thereof by sword to stand.’ (l.594) Both Philomel and Lucrece are referred to female enemies that are to be ‘vanquisht’. In Ovid’s Book VI, line 664, we see: ‘†¦ There waxing pale and trembling sore for feare, And dreading all things, and with teares demaunding sadly where Hir sister was, he shet hir up: and therewithall bewraide His wicked lust, and so by force bicause she was a Maide And all alone he vanquisht hir.’ In The Rape of Lucrece the lexical field of war and battle is echoing the original myth. The psychological reactions of Lucrece are described in terms of rebellion, and inner fights. ‘So with herself is she in mutiny’ (l.1153) Moreover this image of a besieged stronghold is reinforced from line 1170 to 1174: ‘Her house is sack’d, her quiet interrupted, Her mansion batter’d by the enemy; Her sacred temple spotted, spoil’d, corrupted, Grossly engirt with daring infamy:’ Lucrece suffers from a total invasion of privacy, which is reinforced by the anaphora on ‘Her’. Those few lines prove that, in Lucrece’s view, it is a personal, physical and spiritual outrage but it also reveals a military dimension of the rape. Nonetheless the use of military words as a running metaphor pervading the two narratives is not the only link between them. Both stories turn around silence, mutism and more generally around the voice of the victim. In the first stanza of our passage, line 1076, Lucrece declares ‘My tongue shall utter all’ which is a reaction similar to the one of Philomela following her rape. In the original myth we can read line 697: ‘As prisoner in these woods, my voice the verie woods shall fill, And make the stones to understand’ It seems that for the victim there is a necessity to reveal the outrage and explain their own attitude not to be morally condemned. But the main difference between those two stories is that while Lucrece can speak and will discuss with her husband and father, Philomel is savagely reduced to silence by Tereus. ‘But as she yirnde and called upon hir fathers name, And strived to have spoken still, the cruell tyrant came And with a paire of pinsons fast did catch hir by the tung, And with his sword did cut it off.’ (l. 707 to 710) On one hand we have Philomel who is kept prisoner on the woods by the rapist, who cannot escape and is weighted down by worries. On the other hand, Lucrece does not want to be alive at sunrise and chooses to withdraw into total silence. ‘But cloudy Lucrece shames herself to see, And therefore still in night would cloister’d be.’ (ll. 1084-1085) Let’s now focus on the presence or non-presence of tears. What is particular to The Rape of Lucrece is the Lucrece’s attitude and the mourning of her integrity. In the original myth, line 746, we can read: ‘And weepe she could not’. It seems that tears have taken a new dimension in Shakespeare’s poem. As if they were in themselves a way to communicate, to express one’s feeling. Tears can be as important as monologue or direct speech. Throughout the whole poem and especially in our passage Lucrece is described as an outraged woman who cannot help weeping. Shakespeare mixed up several elements to reinsert them in a different way. Moreover, in the original myth Philomela is described with scattered hair, on line 674: ‘Anon when that this mazednesse was somewhat overpast, She rent hir haire, and beate hir brest.’ Shakespeare re-uses some elements on line 1128. Lucrece interprets in her own way Philomel’s myth. We must underline that, to some extent, Lucrece will also ‘beate hir brest’ using a knife. She identifies herself with that outraged woman and at the same time changes Philomel’s story into her own. ‘Come, Philomel, that sing’st of ravishment, Make thy sad grove in my dishevelled hair.’ We can draw another parallel between those two stories concerning colour and the meaning of red and white. In the original myth Philomel cannot talk since she had her tongue cut but she succeeds to inform her sister of what had happened to her by weaving a message in red letters on a white cloth, line 736: ‘A warpe of white upon a frame of Thracia she did pin, And weaved purple letters in betweene it.’ Those two colours are extremely significant in Shakespeare’s poem since they represent Lucrece’s feelings. Lucrece often blushes and many allusions are linked to the colour of her face, as if we could read her thoughts, as if we could see her impurity. Moreover there are references to children, childhood, and mother-and-son relationship. As we have said earlier Procne killed her own child in the original myth in order to revenge her sister. We can maybe draw another parallel between Itys’ death and this passage: ‘That mother tries a merciless conclusion, Who having two sweet babes, when death takes one, Will slay the other and be nurse to none.’ (l.1160-1163) We could say that Procne felt responsible of the outrage made to her sister and having lost her sister’s confidence, she decided to kill her son. One can object that the sisters’ relationship is still very strong but something has happened that will change their relationship into a mutual suffering. In that way we can say that their sisterhood is spoiled. Procne becomes Philomel’s fellow sufferer such as Philomel becomes Lucrece’s. All those incessant coming and going eventually illustrate the second meaning of Lucrece’s craft. Indeed she was an expert weaver and would have been capable of remodelling the old to create something new. Conclusion: As a conclusion we may say that this remodelling could also have been Shakespeare’s deepest purpose on writing The Rape of Lucrece. Actually the study of this passage enabled us to dig out the tremendous mythological, historical and literary background the poet used. And what we have been attending came to be the creation of a new myth. Research Papers on William Shakespeare's - The Rape of Lucrece - EssayHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionMind TravelCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite ReligionCapital PunishmentQuebec and CanadaBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm XBringing Democracy to AfricaMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductStandardized TestingRelationship between Media Coverage and Social and

A Rose for Emily Analysis

2) What does the title of the story suggest about the townspeople’s feelings toward Miss Emily? Why do they feel this way about her? (Or: What does she represent to them? ) Is there anything ironic about their feelings? The title of the story suggests that the townspeople have some sort of caring feeling towards her, since a rose is usually a symbol of care or love. They feel some sort of respect to her and her family, since they are the last remnant of the traditional south and the only ones who embrace it the most. The townspeople actually have a pity for her, because after her father died, the association of her being higher class lowered. Then, it was lowered the most when she started to spend time with Homer Barron because he was from the North and a day laborer, and thought Miss Emily should have been with someone of higher status, as she was brought up. 3) Describe and discuss the symbolism of Miss Emily’s house. The dust all over the interior of Miss Emily’s house symbolizes the traditional south which Miss Emily continues to embrace mentally through her actions and visually through the looks of her house. The traditional south ways are being abandoned, but Emily refuses to go along. The traditional south ways are old, and Emily wants to stay attached to them, so they linger throughout her home in the visual form of old dust. The portrait of her father symbolizes also that Emily does not want to adjust to the new times. He lived his life in the traditional times, and she did not want to believe that he was dead. The portrait symbolizes his everlasting presence in Emily’s life, even after his death. 4) What is the role of the â€Å"smell† incident in the story. What other problems has Miss Emily caused the local authorities? The role of the smell incident gives suspicion as to what it is in Miss Emily’s house that is causing it. It gives suspicion that it is something like a dead body, because only such things like a dead body can have such a permeating odor able to reach outside. Miss Emily also has not paid the taxes and thinks she is still entitled to the tax waiver that Colonel Sartoris gave to her, even though he is dead. 5) How do the townspeople know what they know about Miss Emily’s life? What is the source of their information? The townspeople know what they do about her house from when the Aldermen visited the inside of her house. They were the ones who saw how dusty and creepy it was inside of the Grierson house. They also get the minister’s wife to get in contact with her relatives, who then come and visit. They also know most of the information they know by simply keeping track of her and seeing her do the things she does, such as buy the poison, and buy the wedding gifts. They all find out by gossiping and sharing the things they see, especially the older women. 6) Consider the mixed quality of the townspeople’s reactions to Miss Emily’s â€Å"failures†. 7) What is the significance of Miss Emily’s actions after the death of her father? Miss Emily tried to keep the body of her father with her in her house. This signifies that she did not want to accept the fact that he was dead. She was lonely, and did not want him to go too, like her lover that had recently left her. He was part of the last of the Grierson family and had shaped her whole life, so she did not want to let him go. 8) What role does Homer Barron play in the story? Is there anything ironic about a match between him and Miss Emily? Homer Barron plays the newcomer to town who Miss Emily succeeds with in her ruesome plans for him. The irony in their relationship is that they are from different regions, which did not have a good relationship back then, because of the Civil War. Homer was from the North, and represented the new innovation of the coming future. Miss Emily has remained in the South all her life and wishes to stay practicing her values and not adjust to changes in life. It is also ironic that after all of the upbringing from her father sending away men who were not â€Å"high enough in class† for her, that she would choose Homer as her partner. Her father would have never approved of him. 9) Look closely at the second paragraph in section five. What does this paragraph suggest about the nature of the people’s memories of the past? 10) What is the horrible revelation about Miss Emily that the story ends with? How is this related to the overall meaning of the story? The horrible revelation about Miss Emily is that she actually used the rat poison to kill Homer, and even more grotesque, she kept his body frozen in time so that he could stay with her forever. We also find a gray hair from Miss Emily, which means that she laid down next to the body in the bed for her own satisfaction. This is related to the overall meaning of the story because it shows how Miss Emily was determined to live life and have things the way she wanted them, and she didn’t care that the times were changing or that her actions were socially unacceptable. She lived the rest of her life devoted to the traditional ways of the south, and did not want to accept any changes. A Rose for Emily Analysis 2) What does the title of the story suggest about the townspeople’s feelings toward Miss Emily? Why do they feel this way about her? (Or: What does she represent to them? ) Is there anything ironic about their feelings? The title of the story suggests that the townspeople have some sort of caring feeling towards her, since a rose is usually a symbol of care or love. They feel some sort of respect to her and her family, since they are the last remnant of the traditional south and the only ones who embrace it the most. The townspeople actually have a pity for her, because after her father died, the association of her being higher class lowered. Then, it was lowered the most when she started to spend time with Homer Barron because he was from the North and a day laborer, and thought Miss Emily should have been with someone of higher status, as she was brought up. 3) Describe and discuss the symbolism of Miss Emily’s house. The dust all over the interior of Miss Emily’s house symbolizes the traditional south which Miss Emily continues to embrace mentally through her actions and visually through the looks of her house. The traditional south ways are being abandoned, but Emily refuses to go along. The traditional south ways are old, and Emily wants to stay attached to them, so they linger throughout her home in the visual form of old dust. The portrait of her father symbolizes also that Emily does not want to adjust to the new times. He lived his life in the traditional times, and she did not want to believe that he was dead. The portrait symbolizes his everlasting presence in Emily’s life, even after his death. 4) What is the role of the â€Å"smell† incident in the story. What other problems has Miss Emily caused the local authorities? The role of the smell incident gives suspicion as to what it is in Miss Emily’s house that is causing it. It gives suspicion that it is something like a dead body, because only such things like a dead body can have such a permeating odor able to reach outside. Miss Emily also has not paid the taxes and thinks she is still entitled to the tax waiver that Colonel Sartoris gave to her, even though he is dead. 5) How do the townspeople know what they know about Miss Emily’s life? What is the source of their information? The townspeople know what they do about her house from when the Aldermen visited the inside of her house. They were the ones who saw how dusty and creepy it was inside of the Grierson house. They also get the minister’s wife to get in contact with her relatives, who then come and visit. They also know most of the information they know by simply keeping track of her and seeing her do the things she does, such as buy the poison, and buy the wedding gifts. They all find out by gossiping and sharing the things they see, especially the older women. 6) Consider the mixed quality of the townspeople’s reactions to Miss Emily’s â€Å"failures†. 7) What is the significance of Miss Emily’s actions after the death of her father? Miss Emily tried to keep the body of her father with her in her house. This signifies that she did not want to accept the fact that he was dead. She was lonely, and did not want him to go too, like her lover that had recently left her. He was part of the last of the Grierson family and had shaped her whole life, so she did not want to let him go. 8) What role does Homer Barron play in the story? Is there anything ironic about a match between him and Miss Emily? Homer Barron plays the newcomer to town who Miss Emily succeeds with in her ruesome plans for him. The irony in their relationship is that they are from different regions, which did not have a good relationship back then, because of the Civil War. Homer was from the North, and represented the new innovation of the coming future. Miss Emily has remained in the South all her life and wishes to stay practicing her values and not adjust to changes in life. It is also ironic that after all of the upbringing from her father sending away men who were not â€Å"high enough in class† for her, that she would choose Homer as her partner. Her father would have never approved of him. 9) Look closely at the second paragraph in section five. What does this paragraph suggest about the nature of the people’s memories of the past? 10) What is the horrible revelation about Miss Emily that the story ends with? How is this related to the overall meaning of the story? The horrible revelation about Miss Emily is that she actually used the rat poison to kill Homer, and even more grotesque, she kept his body frozen in time so that he could stay with her forever. We also find a gray hair from Miss Emily, which means that she laid down next to the body in the bed for her own satisfaction. This is related to the overall meaning of the story because it shows how Miss Emily was determined to live life and have things the way she wanted them, and she didn’t care that the times were changing or that her actions were socially unacceptable. She lived the rest of her life devoted to the traditional ways of the south, and did not want to accept any changes.

Liberal International Thought Since Immanuel Kant Essay

Liberal International Thought Since Immanuel Kant - Essay Example This essay stresses that liberal thought has followed Kant’s opposition to direct democracy, where individuals in society cannot directly participate in politics. Instead, it has followed the tradition of people selecting representatives to provide representation on the national stage. The discussion above has sought to show that liberal international thought has not really moved on since Immanuel Kant through a study of liberalism in the contemporary world. The arguments within it have shown that from the time of Kant, a liberal international thought has essentially remained the same with very few variations between the various thinkers and has come to the conclusion that liberal thought has become inflexible. One of the arguments that have been made is that Kant’s ideas concerning the creation of constitutional democracies all over the world to ensure peace are still being practiced. Furthermore, a liberal political thought has continued to follow the Kantian belief that the power of the state has to be limited in order to protect individuals against the arbitrary use of power by leadership, hence the definition of the extent of a leader’s authority in a constitution. The discussion has also argued for the persistence of meliorism, which is an idea that was vigorously supported by Kant and remains relevant in liberal international thought today. In addition, it has been argued that liberal Kantian thought has led to a situation where there have developed conflicts between liberal countries and those that tend to be more conservative.

Research Topics with Explanation Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Topics with Explanation - Research Paper Example overnment is in a dilemma of either eliminating farm subsidies on the basis that the farmers have the capacity to fund their activities, or increasing this funding for the better of the country. The debate about nuclear energy has been ongoing for a long time. Thus, there are many resource materials about this topic. Additionally, many people have interest on issues concerning nuclear power. Information gathered would be highly invaluable to me and other people as well. The world faces a mounting task of preserving energy sources as the needs for energy keeps on rising. Scientists have proved that nuclear energy is one of the most clean and efficient sources of energy available to humankind. The same scientists are quick to add that the use of this source of energy pose the greatest threat to the same people it is supposed to be benefiting. Crime rates in America is said to be one of the highest in the World. The fact that it is affecting the minor is even more worrying. A lot of research has been done on the issues facilitating this kind of behavior. Communities living in the U.S are very much aware of this situation. Although the government is doing a lot to help the situation, they seem to be failing in the mission. This topic has the potential to provide an understanding of the problems young people are facing and how to respond to them. It is with no doubt that, there has been an upward trend of minor getting involved in violent criminal activities. However, the debate has been whether these kids should be held responsible for their action or simply put the blame on some other

BUILDING A COMPUTER :: essays research papers

With increasing popularity of computer games, and multimedia home PC users often need an unexpensive computer system upgrade. By building a custom computer one is able to combine componenets, and operating system to provide maximal gaming performance. Computers are often called number manipulators, because of their ability to run millions of mathematical operations per second (White 43). Computers use binary system of numbers, which allows them to operate system of microscopic switches called transistors found inside of computer chips. Binary system is defined as counting system that uses two digits one and zero (Gookin 49). A transistor is a basic building block of microchips; transistors are combined in formations called logic gates (White 39). â€Å"Transistor can only create binary information: one if current passes through or zero if current does not, to work with transistors†(White 39). Computer software uses Boolean logic, which is based on selecting true or false values used in computer programming (White 39). All personal computers have BIOS, which is an acronym for Basic Input Output System. The BIOS runs every time the computer is started, and it basically tells the computer how to act (White 19). The BIOS is a part of the boot up process, or a complex set of operations checking hardware that components are working properly. Besides BIOS and several other operations there is power–on self-test - POST being ran. POST test runs at the start up, and if it finds an error, it sends a warning message (White 5). Central processing unit – CPU is the most important part of the personal computer, all other components work as a bridge to CPU (White 59). The speed of the processor is usually defined by using units called megahertz (MHz, also million frequency waves per second). CPUs are generally divided into two categories- CISC and RISC. CISC – complex instruction set computing, uses many small instructions to carry out a single operations. CISC is a standard in today’s processors. RISC – reduced instruction set computing, uses less complicated instructions with simpler design. RISC microprocessors are cheaper, they produce less heat, and they are generally smaller in size compared to CISC. With less heat and smaller size RISC processors have great advantage in reaching higher frequencies with less danger of overheating. The major disadvantage and also reason why RISC microprocessors are not widely used, is less compatibility with available software. The earlier programs were written for CISC chips.

Montefiore Medical Center Essay

1- Why does Elaine Brennan need to develop a new strategy now? A great manager will be the one who is able to examine the environment, determine opportunities and threats, plan accordingly, implement the plans and evaluate the results of his planning on frequent basis to add more value to what his/her organization is built to accomplish. Elaine Brennan needs to develop a new strategy now because according to the Systems Look at Healthcare, a merger has happened between two facilities each of which provide a different level of care. Each of these facilities was 4 miles away from each other, and both of these facilities’ staff members were operating in silos. Since Montefiore agreed to operate Einstein’s patient-care facility back in 1963, its scope of coverage increased to about 1.2 million residents, 65% of which are minority populations. Montefiore had 16+ competitors in the Bronx area, a condition that led to lower scores at the national level, together with lower compensation levels for employees, unsatisfied patients, amounting to a budget deficit of about $57 million dollars in 1995. Even with the consolidation of the two health care facilities, still there are certain disadvantages that need to be taken care of. There will be fewer workforces to provide for the desired level of care after downsizing. With that on hand, more responsibilities will be granted at the expense of enjoying the usual authority level granted to staff. One final challenge that will add to the necessity of formulating a new strategy for Montefiore medical center is related to the concept of organizational change and the leadership styles needed to support that organizational change. Level| Target Parameter| Pressing Matters (Needs)| D: Environment.| 1- Competition.2- Regulations.3- Demographics.4- Payer Policies.| 1- 16+ other hospitals in the Bronx area.2- Difficult reimbursement potential from payers.| C: Infrastructure.| 1- Infrastructure.2- Leadership.| 1- Separate administrative teams.2- leadership teams adaptation to change.| B: Microsystems.| 1- Teams.2- Tools.3- Logic.| 1- Downsizing.2- More stress and turnover.3- more span of control with less authority.4- Decreased quality.5- Cultural consolidation.| A: Patient.| 1- Coverage.| 1- Provision of services to 1.2 million residents.2- 65% minorities (Hispanics and African Americans).| 2- Does the GRIP strategy meet the needs of this organization? According to the Systems Thinking, Montefiore’s corporate strategy should be most influenced by the four key environmental factors (competition, governmental regulations, demographics, and payer policies), yet the current GRIP business strategy which was formulated by Brennan, is supposed to be specifically addressing the Acute Care Division as a business unit, not the entire organization. On the other hand, the case doesn’t indicate which levels of management participated in the meetings Brennan conducted for planning the new strategy for the Acute Care Division. Moreover, and as we go down the organizational hierarchy, strategic goals should be more constrained by corporate level strategies, more detailed with shorter life spans according to the plans provided, and finally, more action-oriented with more specific goals. Given all of the above, I think that what Brennan managed to create was a GRIP strategy that was tailored for the whole Montefiore organization. As regards whether it met the needs of Montefiore, I think it broadly addressed some unmet environmental needs that are provided in the following table: Also, the Systems Thinking model tells us that no system is ever completely stable. Per se, the GRIP strategy is beneficial but it will not guarantee the stability of the Montefiore medical center. There is no clear space for metrics that will measure success of the operations after implementing such strategies. Also there is expected delay in the performance of the organization if metrics were not identified to measure performance at the national level. If the Balance Scorecard (BSC) section was included as a way to implement the new strategy, then I would say that the new strategy will meet the needs of the organization. 3- Why was implementing the scorecard concept by the medical staff difficult? a- The scorecard concept requires data collection because these data will later on be reported to different levels of managers. Only then that managers will be able to judge if their goals are being met or not and then act accordingly. The data collection part of performance improvement is the most tedious and time consuming task in process improvement projects. b- In order to keep the patient flow within the Montefiore medical center, some subspecialties had to be accommodated by all hospital departments in order for revenues to keep coming out for the whole health care facility, except for that due to that each unit had its own revenues and expenses, which made it hard to create a new system for monitoring patients between departments and services in order to build revenues according to overall expenses. c- It was hard to involve some physicians into the suggested scorecard process maps. Physicians usually think that what they ordinarily do is best for the patient, especially when it leads to treatment or cure from disease or condition. They can’t embrace doing something different that is addressing unusual metrics from the ones they are used to use. They also look at learning about improvement as a first step towards undermining their authority and ego. d- From a human resource point of view, Lewin’s model of organizational change, and Kubler-Ross model for overcoming organizational resistance to change, take time to get results out of them. Kubler-Ross model for overcoming organizational resistance Source: www.movida.net78.net 4- What could Brennan have done better? a- Brennan could have done better to involve physicians into project teams in a more consistent and solid way. When physicians are involved in the value mapping process, they can provide valuable inputs to data gatherers, which – on the long run – can save a lot of data gathering time for the regular evaluation process. It also will increase the project team’s cohesiveness and collaboration towards attaining their goals. Otherwise, the deployment of the scorecard system into the newly designed health care centers will be much more difficult and time consuming which is not good in the face of the great competition lying ahead. b- Brennan also could have done better to spend more time on studying how the different staff members of the different care and support centers will respond to the new responsibilities in shaping improvement tools for Montefiore medical center, and then try to create feedback circuits that will both reward over-achievers and highlight reluct ant or incompetent workers. c- I think that Brennan should have done better to recommend that every department use only national-level strategies and not both national and local-level ones. Individual metrics tend to be too easy to accomplish, and its fulfillment may lead to a false belief of accomplishment, which is not good in the face of sustaining a competitive advantage. d- I don’t think that linking compensation to performance will be an obstacle in front of reducing budget deficits for the new system. I think that due to organizational change, there will be downsizing at all organizational levels, and may be some middle level active managers and medical staff will be promoted to high level or more operational-involved positions at a relatively lower salary. The bottom line is that there will be deficit reduction but at a much slower pace, together with a re-inforcing feedback for performance. e- I also think that Brennan has taken implementation of the GRIP strategy a little bit too fast. She might be tempted by the quick $15 million cost savings that she accomplished from downsizing on some managerial positions in 1996, but it is still a fact that if she wanted more solid environmental stability during the implementation of the new strategy, she has to allow time for unfreezing, moving, and freezing stages of the Lewin’s model of change.

Alienation during the Victorian Era - 2655 Words

Alienation Many characters during the Victorian to early Modern literature era were alienated. Causes of alienation during this time period included familial separation, social class or gender restrictions, and self-isolation from society. These characters may display the common causes of alienation, but ared still connected to their families and society. Some characters may alienate themselves, yet find that they can never truly separate from family and/or society. While on the surface many characters may seem to be alienated, it is clear that every character is not alienated and is connected through familial ties, love, or money. Characters were alienated during this time period due to four main causes: family, social class, gender,†¦show more content†¦Dorian separates himself even more from society as commits himself to â€Å"eternal youth, infinite passion, pleasures subtle and secret, wild joys and wilder sins† (Wilde 77) after the death of his temporary love, Sibyl Vane. He follows a destructive path of selfishness and soon begins to have no consideration for others as he shows no remorse after Sibyl’s death. Dorian is by himself without any help from other people because of his selfish ways. Dorian’s hedonistic views only allow him to seek the pleasures of an â€Å"exquisite life† (Wilde 100). This isolation of other views causes Dorian to continually sin because of the pleasure seeking throughout his life and will ultimately cause his death. Another self-isolation of life includes Stephen Dedalus, in James Joyce’s Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man who le ads a story of alienating himself from early childhood to adulthood. From childhood, he is alienated from his large family as he is sent to a Jesuit boarding school where he has a hard time with other students as he felt his body [too] small and weak amid the [other] players (Joyce 8), and is very unhappy there. As an adult and the artist stage in his life, Stephen goes to study at university and feels alienated from Ireland. Stephen rejects Irish politics andShow MoreRelated Comparing Hap by Thomas Hardy and The Second Coming by Yeats1410 Words   |  6 PagesComparing Hap by Thomas Hardy and The Second Coming by Yeats      Ã‚   Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) was one of the great writers of the Late Victorian era. One of his great works out of the many that he produced was his poem Hap, which he wrote in 1866, but did not publish until 1898 in his collection of poems called Wessex Poems. This poem seems to typify the sense of alienation that he and other writers were experiencing at the time, as they saw their times as marked by accelerating social and technologicalRead MoreSummary Of Gods Grandeur845 Words   |  4 PagesConflict among contexts of the Victorian era, Catholicism and Gerard Manley Hopkins, has shaped Hopkins’ distinctive poetic exploration of religious faith in his poems. However, paradoxically he also challenges the role religion has played in making Victorians repress their natural desires, which compels them to doubt God’s ability. These are clearly evidenced in two of his famous Petrarchan sonnets, the nature poem, ‘God’s Grandeur’ (1877), and the â⠂¬Ëœterrible sonnet’, ‘Carrion Comfort’ (1885-1887)Read MoreAmoretti Xxx : My Love Is Like To Ice, And I To Fire By Edmund Spenser1598 Words   |  7 PagesAs the times change, the media created during those times change as well, and either consciously or subconsciously reflect the ideals and attitudes of society. Specifically, writers have deconstructed, examined, and put love poetry back together; writers have provided varying opinions and interpretations regarding the motif of love. In the Elizabethan Era, poets idealized love and ignored all potential hardships. In the Victorian Era, the concept of problematic relationships had gained popularityRead MoreEmotion in Emily Dickinsons â€Å"My Life had stood – a Loaded Gun†1109 Words   |  5 PagesThis poem was written by American poet, Emily Dickinson, who was born in the 1800. This was the period where art was based on emotion; the â€Å"Romantic Period†. She was also born in the Victor ian Era, where women had to be shackled to their pedestals and most had to be married by age eighteen. They were not allowed to vote, or earn money. This information should help the reader better understand the poem. When writing the poem â€Å"My Life had stood—a Loaded Gun† Dickinson thought of what format to useRead More Modernism Essay801 Words   |  4 Pagesedu/elab/hfl0255.html) Modernism was rebellion against not only the repressive principles of the Victorian era but also the emergence of the fast-changing, materialistic corporate society. The period preceding modernism held up Victorian virtues, which accepted the worldview of everything being ordered, neat, stable, and meaningful. While fundamentally optimistic, Victorian culture featured hypercritical moralism as it had a very narrow, strict viewpoint. Modernism eschewed suchRead MoreModernism: Just another Word for the 20th Century599 Words   |  2 Pagesrise of modernism, one must understand the eras that came before it, namely the Romantic Period and the Victorian Era. Romanticism is mostly concerned with subjectivity. Poets and others such as composers drew inspiration from their own experiences and feelings. They exalted emotion over reason and senses over intellect. Romanticists also loved (drew inspiration from) nature and often used it in their poems or compositions. Whereas in the Victorian era (which came after the Romantic Period), theRead MoreGuilt and Corruption in Great Expectations1598 Words   |  7 PagesGuilt and Corruption in Great Expectations The Victorian era is often cited as England’s golden age; however, beneath the trappings of silk and gold lay a society of greed and corruption. The rich lived a lifestyle of luxury and indulgence by exploiting the labor of the poor. Charles Dickens saw the injustice of the class system in Victorian society and worked to highlight the immorality of the upper class through his literature. Because Dickens himself had experienced both poverty and wealth,Read MoreTable For Ladies, By Edward Hopper, And His Wife1031 Words   |  5 Pagesfor Ladies isn’t considered a festive scene. The figures in this piece keep to themselves. This painting evokes a sense of isolation and alienation, which is a very popular motif in Hopper’s paintings, most significantly Nighthawks. Despite the contrasting colors and lighting of the painting, both include figures demonstrate this feeling of isolation and alienation. In Nighthawks, the restaurant is set in a quiet corner in town wher e the subjects don’t seem to be interacting with one another. TheyRead MoreSexual Orientation, By Sarah Waters1825 Words   |  8 Pagesexample of how history and fiction can intertwine. Waters wrote this novel in the 1990’s, but set it in London during the Victorian Era. In order to create a realistic narrative, Waters had to ensure that it was historically accurate, even down to the societal impact of Margaret’s sexual preferences. Though it was not overtly discussed, the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries marked the era in which â€Å"†¦homosexuality in its modern form truly began to emerge†(Willett 351). From the start of Affinity,Read MoreThe Evolution Of Medicine During The Early Nineteenth Century1537 Words   |  7 Pagesimprovements of medicine have also had an effect on certain historical events. The cycle of medicine building the future and the future building how people treat medicine, has been a key descriptor in the twenty-first cent ury, but finds its base in many Victorian era practices. Beyond the evolution of the various medical technologies that people take for granted today, there has also been a change in the ethics and morals embodied by today’s doctors—from Hippocrates and the symbolism behind the caduceus (the