Duty and desire in Jane Eyre

How is the conflict between duty and desire explored in these texts? Desire is a term conveying a longing for a certain object, person or outcome. It is an emotion from the heart and is unaffected by social opinion. Duty, in contrast, is a moral obligation to an act, which is perceived to be selfless. The decisions made regarding these emotions are significant throughout 'Jane Eyre' and 'Wide Sargasso Sea'. However, these definitions were more extreme during the time that Brontë and Rhy's texts were written. In the 19th century, it was considered a completely selfish act for women to show desire, it was a vulgar emotion that women were expected to control and conceal. The female role during the 1800's was limited; they were expected to be passive and were passed from father to husband, similar to a possession. To perform one's duty to society was regarded as an unspoken rule imposed on all women, therefore, women never truly had the chance to express their true identity or gain real independence. The 19th century conflict between duty and desire was a key topic written about by many authors, predominately women, who illustrated personal experiences and beliefs through the characters and their decisions. In both Bronte's and Rhy's novels the authors illustrate the limitations imposed on women, society's views and expectations concerning the conflict, and the importance of

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Analysis of the representation of African-American Women in The Color Purple (1985) and For Colored Girls (2010)

Analysis of the representation of Black Women in "The Color Purple" (1985) and "For Colored Girls" (2010) Historically, black women in film have been portrayed in a negative light in conjunction with society's view of black people and their cultural roles. Black female characters often played roles such as slaves, maids, overbearing and sexually driven women. These roles support the three main stereotypes of black women (Mammy, Jezebel and Sapphire) 1 which I will explore further in this study. Roles such as 'Celie Harris' played by Whoopi Goldberg in The Color Purple (1985) directed by Steven Spielberg, represents the stereotype of a poor black woman who does everything she is told. Contemporary characters such as Thandie Newton's promiscuous 'Tangie' in For Colored Girls (2010) directed by Tyler Perry, depicts the historical stereotypes of a potty-mouthed sexually driven black female. This is known as the 'Sapphire' or 'The Jezebel Stereotype' (Zinn and Dill 1884:267)2. A woman who uses her body to manipulate males which is contrasted by many other females in the film who portray black women in a positive light. The portrayal of black female is constantly changing and evolving in today's society supported by an evolving representation in film media which will be the focus for my study. One of the key representations of Black women in film and media is the 'mammy'

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Media Studies
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Pride And Prejudice:Why is the news of the elopement of Lydia and Wickham in Chapter 46 such an important moment and how does it affect what follows in the novel?

Why is the news of the elopement of Lydia and Wickham in Chapter 46 such an important moment and how does it affect what follows in the novel? A very key moment in the novel is when Elizabeth is informed of the elopement of Lydia and Wickham by two letters from Jane (while she is visiting Pemberley in Chapter 46). The two letters instead of one create more suspense and anticipation. This chapter is very important because that single event changes everything and has far reaching effects on relationships (such as Elizabeth and Darcy, Lydia and Wickham, Jane and Bingley, the Bennet family and its distant relations), attitudes, and the development of characters in the story. It changes the perspective of many characters and the truth behind appearances begins to emerge. Everything in the novel builds up to this decisive moment of crisis where things could go either way; good or bad. The build up to this chapter is very crucial as Elizabeth and Darcy slowly come closer and are on the most civil terms before the news of the elopement breaks, which makes the situation sadly ironic. Elizabeth goes from rejecting him to having her prejudices lifted when he gives the letter, correcting her misconceptions and finally to respecting him and having a deep gratitude towards him: ‘She respected, she esteemed, she was grateful to him.’ Darcy even invites her to meet his sister and she

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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The English Patient

INSTITUTO SUPERIOR DE PROFESORADO Nº 4 "ÁNGEL CÁRCANO" ENGLISH LITERATURE II THE ENGLISH PATIENT MICHAEL ONDAATJE "NATIONALITY AND IDENTITY" DEADLINE: 24/08/08 TEACHER: RAQUEL VARELA STUDENT: PAOLA MAREGA Nationhood - a constraint on people's identity and relationships The English Patient, written by Michael Ondaatje in 1992, is a historical-fiction novel, defined also as historiographic metafiction1. Its tone is "reflective and poetic" (Schonmuller, B., 2008:13) and one of its major themes is nationality and identity. The narrative is an account of the gradually revealed histories of four people living in an Italian villa at the end of World War II. The characters are the mysterious and critically burned English patient of the title, a Canadian army nurse called Hana, David Caravaggio, an Italian thief, and an Indian sapper, nicknamed Kip, belonging to the British Army. Each of them is far away from home, displaced by the war, and though they come from different and conflicting countries, they are able to live together in the villa and get on well in spite of their national and cultural differences. The English Patient focuses on the personal experiences of war of the four main characters, who have been deeply wounded by a conflict based on national divisions (Woodcock, J., 2006: 51). It also explores the effort of the characters, particularly that of the patient

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Thigpen and Cleckley

Thigpen and Cleckley (1954) - 'A case of multiple personality' • Case study of a 25-year-old married woman referred to two psychiatrists for severe headaches and blackouts but soon discovered to have a multiple personality. • The first few interviews of the woman, Eve White, only found her to have 'several important emotional difficulties' and 'set of marital conflicts and personal frustrations'. * The first indication of multiple personality came when the psychiatrist received a letter from Eve that she did not remember sending and which contained a note at the end written in a different and childish handwriting. • On her next visit, after a period of unusual agitation, she reported that she occasionally had the impression that she heard a voice in her head-and then suddenly and spontaneously showed a dramatic change in her behaviour, revealing the character (and answering to the name) of Eve Black. • Over a period of 14 months and around 100 hours of interview time, the two psychiatrists investigated the two Eves, first using hypnosis, but later without the need for it. • Eve White was found not to have access to the awareness and memories of Eve Black (experiencing blackouts when Eve Black took over control), although the reverse was true for Eve Black (who often used the ability to disrupt Eve White's life by taking over and getting her into trouble or by

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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Loftus and Palmer

Psychology Objective - Examine the ethical issues in the study by Loftus and Palmer. To debate on the ethical issues in this study. Task 1- Pick any two ethical issues and discuss them. Give examples for each. Task 2- Outline any ethical issues found in the study conducted by Loftus and Palmer. Task 1- Right to Withdraw Right to withdraw means that the participant may choose to leave or "withdraw" from the experiment at any given point of time. It is entirely their choice and they must not be forced into completing the experiment. The participants' reason to withdraw may vary from personal family emergency to objecting to what the experiment is testing. For example: There is an experiment conducted which is taking place. Jane has decided to volunteer for it. This experiment is testing the effect that caffeine has on the brain. Halfway through the experiment Jane feels drowsy and asks to leave. Jane reserves the "right to withdraw" and is therefore allowed to leave. Sophie signs up at a local university as a volunteer for a psychological experiment. However, the next day she discovers the experiment is being held in a different city. She has no available transport and has the "right to withdraw" therefore she takes her name off the list. Equitable Treatment- Equitable treatment is when all participants who take part in the experiment are treated equally.

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Psychology
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The Development of the Periodic Table of the Elements

The Development of the Periodic Table of the Elements The periodic table is defined as the most common arrangement of the periodic system. This is the classification of chemical elements into periods (corresponding to the filling of successive electron shells) and groups (corresponding to the number of valence electrons) and describes the modern version that is used today. However, this was not always how it was structured and described - like the atom, the Periodic Table has been developed over time due to the contributions of a number of scientists (and is still developing even today). Long before the development of the modern Periodic Table, ancient philosophers such as Aristotle believed the world to be made up of four distinct elements: earth, water, air and fire. Although this is not true, they were thinking along the right lines as these are examples of the states of matter solids, liquids, gases and plasma. The first significant contribution towards the modern Periodic Table was made by the French chemist Lavoisier in 1789, who with his wife compiled the first modern chemical textbook named Traite Elementaire de Chimie (Elementary Treatise of Chemistry), which included a list of the known elements at the time. An advantage of Lavoisier's work is that he distinguished between metals and non-metals but a disadvantage was that he included some compounds and mixtures

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Science
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Law - Resulting trusts

Peter Gibson L.J. began his judgment in Drake v Whipp: "Yet again this court is asked to rule on a dispute between a man and a woman, who cohabited but were not married to each other, as to their respective beneficial interests in a property which they purchased to be their home but which was put into the man's name only. The usual lengthy litany of authorities as well as more recent additions have been recited to us and, as is notorious, it is not easy to reconcile every judicial utterance in this well-travelled area of the law." The above indicates just how frustrated the courts have become with the area of resulting trusts. The years when men did the work and women stayed home and cooked have gone but yet the law still has not changed, women now considered equal as seen in Article 5 Protocol 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights which requiring the law to treat husband and wife equally. This paper will consider the judgments made and reform offered and whether the current general law is adequate. In Re Vandervells Trust No 21 Megarry J. described what a presumed resulting trust was: "The first class of case is where the transfer to B is not made on any trust ... there is a rebuttable presumption that B holds on resulting trust for A. The question is not one of the automatic consequences of a dispositive failure by A, but one of presumption: the property has been

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Law
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Presenation of childhood in Jane Eyre and Once in a House On Fire

Presentation of childhood in Jane Eyre and "Once in a House on Fire" Charlotte Bronte writes about the past life of Jane Eyre as a child in the household of the Reed family, she describes how Jane Eyre was alienated and oppressed by the Reed family. However, Andrea Ashworth, even though she does endure bullying and misery, has more numerous happy moments such as when she plays with her sister when they were "hopping about in the cold" and imagined "bombs whistling out of the sky", however the reader is shown that it was a restricted fun as they "took care to keep their voices down" which shows how afraid they are of annoying their stepfather. The entire book of "Jane Eyre" begins by the use of pathetic fallacy to reflect the situation and mood of the protagonist, Bronte writes "The cold winter wind and "a rain so penetrating", this detailed description of the harsh weather could mean that the protagonist is in a dire situation. This is then followed by irony as Bronte writes that Jane Eyre was "glad of it" as it gave her an unexpected holiday from the walks with the Reed family, even though her description of the weather was made so harsh through the use of visual imagery. This is in contrast to "Once in a House on Fire" which at the beginning of the book presents the reader with a number of facts which are presented by Ashworth in such a way that we do not feel sympathy

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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The Importance of Vitamins and Minerals In the Human Body.

Laura Canzano IB Biology SL Research Paper2 6/12/2002 The Importance of Vitamins and Minerals In the Human Body. The human body is a very complex machine that, just like any machine need the proper tools and instructions for it to work well. One of the factors that play a big role in the well being and health of the human body is its need for vitamins and minerals. Vitamins are " any of a group of organic substances found in food and essential in small quantities to normal metabolism"1 In other words, the term vitamin is derived from the words vital and amine, because vitamins are required for life and were originally thought to be amines. Although not all vitamins are amines, they are organic compounds required by humans in small amounts from the diet. An organic compound is considered a vitamin if a lack of that compound in the diet results in evident symptoms of deficiency. Humans require at least 13 different vitamins in their diet. On the other hand minerals can be defined as " a neutral inorganic substance,"2 they are elements that originate in the Earth and cannot be made by living systems. Most of the minerals in our diets come directly from plants or indirectly from animal sources. In the body, minerals play a number of vital roles. Several mineral elements are necessary to maintain the structural integrity of bones and teeth, while others are required for

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Design & Technology
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