Exploring Sexuality with William Shakespeare Essay

The presence of homoerotic references in the works of William Shakespeare was a direct result of the Elizabethan attitude towards sex during the English Renaissance. Within the privacy of the sonnets, Shakespeare could effusively express a passion that the Elizabethan Era, with its social mores, stifled greatly as it frowned upon homosexuality. Given the freedom to express himself uninhibitedly, Shakespeare cast aside the homophobia of his age and inscribed love sonnets for another male, Mr. W. H. This unrestricted honesty created great tension and drama between Shakespeare and his adversary, the dark lady as well as fueling some of the greatest love poems of all time. Over hundreds of years, it comes to no surprise that many scholars have found the sonnets effective in revealing insight into the biography of William Shakespeare. The emotional pressure contained in many of the sonnets and the fact that many, if not all, are dedicated to a man named ? Mr. W. H. ‘, provide important clues to Shakespeare’s life. It begins with the sonnets’ dedication, a passage written by Shakespeare that opens a world of controversy amongst scholars. The dedication runs as follows: To. The. Only. Begetter. Of These. Ensuing. Sonnets. Mr. W. H. All. Happiness. And. That. Eternity. Promised. By. Our. Ever. Living. Poet. Wisheth. The. Well. Wishing. Adventurer. In. Setting. Forth. T. T. (Shakespeare, 1490) The initials T. T. at the conclusion of the dedication refer to Thomas Thorpe, the original publisher of the sonnets (http://andrejkoymasky. com/liv/sha/sha00. html). However, one question remains, who is Mr. W. H? During the English Renaissance, it was customary for members of high social standings to hire established writers and poets to create masterful love sonnets and other works of literature for their entertainment. For a large portion of his adult life, Shakespeare spent his time writing sonnets for an upper class family, specifically for a young man (Rowse, 96). The beginning sonnets describe a ? lovely youth’ and it is believed that over time, Shakespeare’s sonnets became more personal as the relationship between him and his patron intensified. Scholars have professed that this patron could in fact be â€Å"the only begetter of the sonnets,† Mr.  W. H, or William Hughes. The majority of the sonnets were written between 1593 and 1596, however, they were not published until 1609 and then further edited in 1640, long after Shakespeare’s death (Auden, 86). The randomness of their order leads scholars such as Northrop Frye to question their validity in accurately capturing real life happenings (Fleperin, 96). The publisher who replicated the sonnets in 1640 actually changed the pronouns in sonnets 15 through 126 to make it seem as if the poems were addressed to a woman. The question now at hand is; are the feelings expressed in the sonnets a celebration of homosexual love? And if so, how could such feelings emerge in a time where homosexuality had no place in social life (Taylor, 39)? The sixteen hundreds were a time of strict values and high standards of living. At this time, embracing sexuality was not encouraged and questioning ones sexuality was not an option. During the English Renaissance it was common for men to wear their hair long and dress in silks and ruffles (Taylor, 45). World renowned professor, Edward Hubler, published his book, The Sense of Shakespeare’s Sonnets, in which he points out the Elizabethan men used the term â€Å"lover† between men without embarrassment (Hubler, 17). Author C. L. Barber, in his essay on Shakespeare’s Sonnets, reminds us that the suppressed roles of women in Elizabethan society kept them out of the theater, forcing men to play the roles of women in many of Shakespeare’s productions at the Globe Theater. This openness is most attributed to Shakespeare’s sexual curiosity, and because his masculinity was never in doubt, his sexual awakening quickly progressed. To truly grasp Shakespeare’s feelings for Mr. W. H, we must refer to sonnet twenty, which is the first in the series to address the mysterious love affair. Despite the fact that male friendships were openly affectionate, the sonnets’ powerful emotions are indicative of a deeper love (Cross, 1,490). Line two of the poem describe the subject as the â€Å"master-mistress† of his passion. Right away we sense a conflict between the love for a man and the love for a women. Shakespeare makes it known in lines eight and nine of the sonnet, that W. H was in fact created for a woman’s love and affection, telling his readers that his subject is male. Further into the poem he describes his acceptance of that fact that he was defeated by nature, but continues to acknowledge their love (Cross, 1,4940). Shakespeare’s persistence in his attempt to win over the heart of his acquaintance is noted in sonnets 135-137 (Cross, 1511,1512). It is here that Shakespeare emphasizes the name ? Will’ as seen in italics in nearly every line. It is at this point in the series where it is suspected that the poets love for W. H is being threatened by a woman. In attempts to re-establish the ? dark lady’ in relation to Mr. W. H, scholars have studied specific sonnets in which her character is revealed. We find that the twenty-five sonnets dedicated to a woman, the â€Å"dark lady,† dwell on her imperfections and falsehoods (Barber, 16). For example, in sonnet 127, Shakespeare devotes his energy to expressing a lower love toward the woman and a higher love toward the man. It is not until the later sonnets that Shakespeare begins to feel threatened by the dark lady, and begins to depict a competition for the heart of W. H. In sonnet 138, Shakespeare is almost trying to convince W. H that this woman could never love him in the manner that he was willing to (Cross, 1,870). Shakespeare’s main concern, in the midst of anguished humiliation, is to keep the man’s love, not the woman’s. Shakespeare’s inner conflict expressed in his works evidently developed during a time when his life, outside of the ? dark lady’ and W. H, was relatively normal, and this is another reason as to why the sequence of the sonnets is so important. As we know, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway in 1582. She gave birth to his children soon after. Was this heterosexual fantasy life all a cover up for the love he shared with W. H? Because no one has been able to figure out the correct order of the sonnets we will never know precisely when these love affairs took place. To label Shakespeare a homosexual would be ignorant, only because the consummation of the love between the poet and his muse was never proven. We can only base our knowledge of his curiosity on the contents of the sonnets, and with that we can gather that Shakespeare was involved in affairs, not necessarily physical, with both a young man, Mr. W. H, and a reticent woman, the Dark Lady. The conflict involving these two characters sparked the fire that fueled the ingenious works of one of the greatest poets of all time, Mr. William Shakespeare. Auden, W. H. Lectures on Shakespeare. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. 2000. Bloom, Harold. Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human. New York: Riverhead Books. 1998. Cross, Wilbur, L. The Yale Shakespeare. New York: Barnes and Noble Books. 1993. Hubler, Edward. The Sense of Shakespeare’s Sonnets. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. 1952 Hugh, Calvert. Shakespeare’s Sonnets and Problems of Autobiography. Braunton: Merilin Books, 1987. Holland, Norman. Psychoanalysis and Shakespeare. New York: McGraw Hill Book Company. 1966 Pitt, Angela. Shakespeare’s Women. New Jersey: Barnes and Noble Books. 1981 Rowse, A. L. The Elizabethan Renaissance: The Life of the Society. New York: Charles Scriber’s Sons. 1971. Taylor, Gary. Reinventing Shakespeare. New York: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. 1989. Internet Sources http://www. onlineshakespeare. com/sonnetsabout. htm http://andrejkoymasky. com/liv/sha/sha00. html http://infopt. demon. co. uk/shakespe. htm http://www. shakespeares-sonnets. com/wilde. htm http://aspirations. english. com. ac. uk/converse/essays/cgonda/loves. acds http://eserver. org/emc/1-2/halpern. html.

Bertolt Brechts Mother Courage and Her Children and August Strindbergs Miss Julie Essays

Bertolt Brechts Mother Courage and Her Children and August Strindbergs Miss Julie Essays Bertolt Brechts Mother Courage and Her Children and August Strindbergs Miss Julie Paper Bertolt Brechts Mother Courage and Her Children and August Strindbergs Miss Julie Paper Essay Topic: Light in August Literature Ambition can define the intentions of a character in literature. In the texts Mother Courage and Her Children and Miss Julie, ambition is the force that can make or break the protagonists- Mother Courage and Jean respectively. While the degree of desire in both characters is similar, their ambitions steer off along two separate tangents. While Mother Courages ambition is to survive the war and use it to her advantage, in Miss Julie Jeans ambition is to rise up in class and take advantage of Miss Julie by using her as a catalyst. The failure of the two protagonists in achieving their goals can be attributed to their personalities, their social status, as well as certain incidents in the plays. In the play Mother Courage and her Children, the protagonist Mother Courage is seen to be the cause of her own downfall. She, a small time war profiteer1, has simple goals; to survive the war with her children and her travelling rummage business, and to make the best of what was given to her. These goals are emphasized by Mother Courage at many instances in the play, as is seen through the Sergeants reaction when he says, Could do with a swig yourself, ma. Thats life. Plenty worse things than being a soldier. Want to live off war, but keep yourself and family out of it, eh?2 Mother Courage shows a distinct love for her children and a keen eye for their safety. Sergeant: I could use something else. Those boys are as healthy as young birch trees Mother Courage: Nowt doing, sergeant. Yours is no trade for my kids.3 This compassion was also focused towards her dumb4 daughter Kattrin as is shown through Mother Courages words- What happened? Someone assault you? Ill bandage it and in a week itll be all right. Worse than wild beasts, they are.5 However, this compassion can be seen as contradicted by its depth, as Mother Courage shows no more than a subtle acceptance of the hurt inflicted on Kattrin. There is no sense of anger towards those soldiers who hurt her, nor any desire for vengeance. Mother Courage has a short span of attention and often lacks attention entirely. This is evident as she is blind to the bitter truth voiced behind her- Sergeant (looking after them): Like the war to nourish you? Have to feed it something too.6 On the other hand, in Miss Julie, Jeans plight was different from Mother Courages. Jean as a valet expresses his desire as wanting to become part of the upper class, with wealth and nobility to his name through his words- I want to climb up, up to the top and look round plunder the birds nest up there where the gold eggs lie.7 Jean wants to have a title as is expressed when she says, Id be a count, and youd be a countess!8 This urge is due to his already sophisticated nature and his jealousy of his employer, Miss Julies father, the Count. August Strindberg, makes it clear that Jean is an ambitious slave who can live without honor9. This proves reason as to why Jean takes sexual advantage of Miss Julie. However, he acts dignified and respectful whilst talking to the Count. This respect is motivated by his aspiration to be the Count. This is evident from when Jean refers to the Count as his lordship10 and claims Ive [Hes] never met anyone I [he] respected as I [he] do [does] him.11 Jeans sexual act is to satisfy his sexual as well as social hunger. By taking advantage of the situation, he thinks he can run away with Miss Julie who will provide capital for his hotel venture as well as the means to become wealthy and well looked upon. However, he realizes that being an aristocrat is far from his desires. He realizes that what he was aspiring towards was not something worthier and more solid.12 Jean also eventually learns that Miss Julie cannot do anything for him- Jean: You seem I could make you into a countess, but you could never make me a Count.13 Jeans character is moulded by his ambition. He manages to convince Miss Julie to enter his room without arousing suspicion of foul play by saying, No. Into my room, then. We cant bother about conventions now. And you can trust me. I am your true, loyal and respectful-friend. Through his words, Jean shows his manipulative, deceptive and also his cunning nature. He finds no fault nor any guilt in lying to Miss Julie about his past dreams and desires of being with her- Jean: The oat-bin? Oh that was just talk14 On the other hand, Mother Courages character is also overcome by her ambition. It causes her to undermine the role of her children in her life, as well as accept her losses. She is extremely loyal to her children, but her loyalty often shifts in the case of partners and her side in the war as is depicted through her words Im joining our side this time.15 The two protagonists remain focused on achieving their goals throughout the play, indicating a steady sense of ambition and determination. This is suggestive of how their characteristics and personalities are well apt for their success. Their determination foreshadows a certain sense of this success, which is contrasted during the development of the play by their negative qualities that begin to surface. Another striking aspect shared by the duo is their unfazed nature even after the realization of having failed. After Miss Julies alleged suicide, or even prior to that, when Jean realizes that the upper class too can fall, he merely accepts the situation and carries on. Similarly, Mother Courage continues to tread forward even though, one by one, she loses her children. Neither character shows any signs of defeat or subsequent remorse at their situations. Jean does admit to his defeat shortly, but immediately goes on to attacking Miss Julie with great cunning, therefore bringing the focus away- Jean: I had no hope of winning you, of course- but you were a symbol to me of the hopelessness of my ever climbing out of the class in which I was born.16 During adverse conditions and situations, the two characters act swiftly, but not accurately. Jean entirely misinterprets his situation with Miss Julie and believes that by convincing her to move away to Switzerland with him, the entire sexual folly17 will be saved. His intentions were to use her to provide capital for a hotel business; but the tides turn when he discovers she has no money. Instead of watching Miss Julie suffer, he convinces her to take her own life as it is assumed in the text. Mother Courage faces many hardships throughout the play as compared to Jean who faces only one. She is first faced by the loss of her son Eilief, then the loss of her other son Swiss Cheese, and finally the hurt inflicted to her daughter Kattrin who subsequently dies. As seen when Eilief was taken away by the recruiting Sergeant, she simply accepts the situation, packs up her cart and continues her journey. This is shown in the dialogue between Mother Courage and her son Swiss Cheese- Mother Courage: Wheres Eilief? Swiss Cheese: Went off with the recruiter. Mother Courage (stands quite still, then): You simpleton Youll have to help your brother pull now, Kattrin.18 Mother Courage does not act as a mother is expected to; there is no distinctive outburst or backlash at any of these instances. She is a woman who simply moves along, emphasizing on the ongoing nature of the circle of life and her steady state of mind. Both Mother Courage and Jean require a second party in their ventures. Mother Courage requires a man as is seen by the diversity of the fathers of her children whereas Jean required Miss Julie- Jean: Oh, now and then a man has strength enough to hoist himself up in the world but how often does it happen?19 It shows the flaws in their independent attitudes; though they carry a large ego and a flattering show of independency. Both the characters turn towards second parties to provide a platform for them to stand upon- in Jeans case, to move upwards from, in Mother Courages case- to live stably. The two protagonists are caught in a vicious circle; one cannot leave the vicinities of his social order, while the other could not save her family, nor make a decent living from her sales during the war. Their seemingly selfish intentions attempted to be covered by noble deeds, shine through, thus leading to their downfall. Wealth and reputation comes above the death of a young woman, and similarly, wealth again comes in the view of three childrens deaths. Both characters share a distinct and compassionate desire to succeed, but are pulled away from this success by a certain negative qualities which they possess.

Profit Maximisation Model Essay Example

Profit Maximisation Model Essay Example Profit Maximisation Model Essay Profit Maximisation Model Essay Profit Maximization model helps to predict the price-output behavior of a firm under changing market conditions like tax rates, wages and salaries, bonus, the degree of availability of resources, technology, fashions, tastes and preferences of consumers etc. It is a very simple and unambiguous model. It is the single most ideal model that can explain the normal behavior of a firm. It is often argued that no other alternative hypothesis can explain and predict the behavior of business firms better than profit-maximization hypothesis.This model gives a proper insight in to the working behavior of a firm. There are well developed mathematical models to explain this hypothesis in a systematic and scientific manner. Profit-maximization implies earning highest possible amount of profits during a given period of time. A firm has to generate largest amount of profits by building optimum productive capacity both in the short run and long run depending upon various internal and external factor s and forces.There should be proper balance between short run and long run objectives. In the short run a firm is able to make only slight or minor adjustments in the production process as well as in business conditions. The plant capacity in the short run is fixed and as such, it can increase its production and sales by intensive utilization of existing plants and machineries, having over time work for the existing staff etc. Thus, in the short run, a firm has its own technical and managerial constraints.But in the long run, as there is plenty of time at the disposal of a firm, it can expand and add to the existing capacities, build up new plants, employ additional workers etc to meet the rising demand in the market. Thus, in the long run, a firm will have adequate time and ample opportunity to make all kinds of adjustments and readjustments in production process and in its marketing strategies. It is to be noted with great care that a firm has to maximize its profits after taking in to consideration of various factors in to account.They are as follows: 1. Pricing and business strategies of rival firms and its impact on the working of the given firm. 2. Aggressive sales promotion policies adopted by rival firms in the market. 3. Without inducing the workers to demand higher wages and salaries leading to rise in operation costs. 4. Without inducing the workers to demand higher wages and salaries government controls and takeovers. 5. Maintaining the quality of the product and services to the customers. 6.Taking various kings of risks and uncertainties in the changing business environment. 7. Adopting a stable business policy. 8. Avoiding any sort of clash between short run and long run profits in the business policy and maintaining proper balance between them. 9. Maintaining its reputation, name, fame and image in the market. 10. Profit maximization is necessary in both perfect and imperfect markets. In a perfect market, a firm is a price-taker and under imperf ect market it becomes a price-searcher.

The Influence of Supply and Demand on Inflation

The Influence of Supply and Demand on Inflation Inflation is an increase in the price of a basket of goods and services that is representative of the economy as a whole. In other words, inflation is an upward movement in the average level of prices, as defined in Economics by Parkin and Bade. Its opposite is deflation, a downward movement in the average level of prices. The boundary between inflation and deflation is price stability. The Link Between Inflation and Money An old adage holds that inflation is too many dollars chasing too few goods. Because inflation is a rise in the general level of prices, it is intrinsically linked to  money.   To understand how inflation works, imagine a world that only has two  commodities: oranges picked from orange trees and paper money printed by the government. In a drought year when oranges are scarce, one would expect to see the price of oranges rise, because quite a few dollars would be chasing very few oranges. Conversely, if there was a record orange crop, one would expect to see the price of oranges fall because orange sellers would need to reduce their prices in order to clear their inventory. These scenarios represent inflation and deflation, respectively. However, in the real world, inflation and deflation are changes in the average price of all goods and services, not just one. Altering the Money Supply Inflation and deflation can also result when the amount of  money in the system  changes. If the government decides to print a lot of money, then dollars will become plentiful relative to oranges, as in the earlier drought example.   Thus, inflation is caused by the number of dollars rising relative to the number of oranges (goods and services). Similarly, deflation is caused by the number of dollars falling relative to the number of ​oranges (goods and services). Therefore, inflation is caused by a combination of four factors: the supply of money goes up, the supply of other goods goes down, demand for money goes down and demand for other goods goes up. These four factors are thus linked to the basics of supply and demand. Different Types of Inflation Now that we have covered the basics of inflation, it is important to note that there are many types of inflation. These types of inflation are differentiated from each other by the cause that drives the price increase. To give you a taste, lets briefly go over ​cost-push inflation and demand-pull inflation.   Cost-push inflation is a result of a decrease in aggregate supply. Aggregate supply is the supply of goods, and a decrease in aggregate supply is mainly caused by an increase in wage rate or an increase in the price of raw materials. Essentially,  prices for consumers are pushed up  by increases in the cost of production. Demand-pull inflation occurs when there is an increase in aggregate demand. Simply put, consider how when demand increases, prices are pulled higher.

A Case Study of A War Or Military Conflict Essay

A Case Study of A War Or Military Conflict - Essay Example The Middle East also continues to be characterized by authoritarian regimes that have an uneasy relationship with the West and the culture of modernization that it purportedly represents. Mirjam E. Sorli, Nils Petter Gleditsch, and Havard Strand report in their article â€Å"Why Is There so Much Conflict in the Middle East?† that resource abundance can be as significant a factor in causes of conflict as resource scarcity. They mention that high resource states can witness a slow growth in their economy as compared to resource-poor states1. Research like the rentier state theory has also found that resource-abundant states develop authoritarian power structures2. The Iraq – Kuwait conflict is an interesting case study that can be studied in the light of the concerns stated above. Iraq invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990, declaring Kuwait to be Iraq's nineteenth province. Andrew T. Parasiliti in an article titled â€Å"The Causes and Timing of Iraq's Wars: A Power Cycle Assessment† states that it was from the 1970s that Iraq started to assert itself in the Middle East. Its power peaked in the 1980s and then fell into a relative decline as compared to S audi Arabia and Kuwait which gained in power. At the time of its decision to invade Kuwait, Parasiliti estimates that Iraq was conscious of her decline as well as her thwarted ambitions for Arab leadership. Parasiliti contends that contrary to perceived opinions about Iraq emerging more powerful after the Iraq – Iran War, the Iraqi regime was conscious of its gradual decline in regional politics. The war against Iran was initiated by Saddam Hussein partly because revolutionary Iran infringed in Iraq's domestic affairs by supporting Islamic and Kurdish groups that opposed the regime of Saddam Hussein.

Sales Managment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sales Managment - Essay Example In this sector it becomes very much difficult for the sales manager to let the sales representatives know the clients’ requirements and at the same time to focus on the achievements of sales targets (Jeff, 2009, 196). Also, one most important difficulty that I may face during obeying my responsibility as the sales manager in the organization is related to the problem of coordinating with people of higher age groups than me. In this situation, it might be a matter of grave problem for me if I have to scold a person who works under me and who is above my age. On ethical ground it might become difficult to coordinate with that person. This is again because it most likely that an older person knows the business as well as the working procedure better than me (Schwartz, 2006, 12). Question 2: There are various aspects related to the importance of recruitment as well as selection of sales people in a business organization. This importance is closely associated with the benefits acqu ired by the business organization. Appropriate selection as well as recruitment of proper and most suitable sales people plays an important role in the development as well as growth of the business organization. Sales activities require a significant level of positive as well as effective efforts by the sales person to increase the volume of sales of the business organization under consideration (Anderson and Lodish, 2005, 2). These efforts are entirely based on the effective communicative power of the sales people. If the person is well-communicative, then it becomes very much easier for that person to convince the client and to sale the product or service under consideration.... This paper approves that there are various aspects related to the importance of recruitment as well as selection of sales people in a business organization. This importance is closely associated with the benefits acquired by the business organization. Appropriate selection as well as recruitment of proper and most suitable sales people plays an important role in the development as well as growth of the business organization. Sales activities require a significant level of positive as well as effective efforts by the sales person to increase the volume of sales of the business organization under consideration. These efforts are entirely based on the effective communicative power of the sales people. If the person is well-communicative, then it becomes very much easier for that person to convince the client and to sale the product or service under consideration. Sales of products and services also require great deal of knowledge regarding the features, qualities, and drawbacks of those products and services. This essay makes a conclusion that the hard working is most likely to be beneficial for the business organization as well. Therefore, the business organization will also be motivated to some great extent to provide that person greater level of working incentive in terms of monetary benefits or in terms of promotions. Hence, there will be a mutually beneficial situation for both the person and the business organization. Hence, it can easily be said that if I give a person greater level of incentive, and then I will have a well-motivated sales person.

Stereotype paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Stereotype paper - Essay Example that sometimes, maybe many times, we are actually just as guilty as the next person of making incorrect snap judgments based upon another person’s appearance alone rather than any inherent qualities. These judgments are based more upon what we understand about that type of person from what we’ve been taught or by comparing them with other elements of our experience. Many of these understandings are shaped by the media outlets we pay attention to. I never believed I was a very judgmental person and didn’t really feel I acted on stereotypes until I had an experience that opened my eyes. At the time, I was working in an auto parts store and was the only person manning the store when a new customer walked in. It was a woman and, although I didn’t really stop to think about my reaction to her, I realize that it was based mostly on what I understood of this kind of woman on how her type was portrayed in the movies. There were few facts involved in my decisions regarding the girl. The woman was blonde, skinny, young and dressed fashionably well. Her big, blue eyes seemed overwhelmed at the materials in the automotive shop and she wandered around the aisles as if lost. Without even thinking about it, I made an instant assessment of her based upon her looks that qualifies as stereotyping. Her appearance was really the only fact I had to go on before making my assessment, but this was enough to me to feel as if I had correctly identified her personality and ability. The other fact I was working on was the fact that I had very few female customers. My typical customers were men, ranging in age from teenage through old man, and they were usually dressed in oil-smeared clothes that had little resemblance to their original color or shape. The few women who came into the shop were regulars and they were usually only distinguishable from the men in the length of their hair and the higher pitch of their voice. Comparison to what I knew was also strongly