Global organisation Laura Ashley Holdings plc has suffered differing fortunes since it was founded in the 1950s by Bernard and Laura Ashley.
Laura Ashley Global organisation Laura Ashley Holdings plc has suffered differing fortunes since it was founded in the 1950s by Bernard and Laura Ashley. It has been involved in the designing, manufacturing, distribution and selling of garments, accessories, perfume, gift items, fabric, wallcoverings, bedding, lighting, and furniture. Famed for its floral prints, the chain was highly successful during the early and mid 1980s but things changed in the early 1990s when various management and structural problems as well as those relating to growth, distribution, and various external influences such as global recession surfaced Laura Ashley herself died in 1985. There is a notable difference in the organisation up to and after this year. Up to 1985, it was a simply structured, steadily expanding organisation operating in a non-complex environment (complexity arises when there are numerous complicated environmental influences [Johnson and Scholes, 1989]). In the months and years after, many changes took place. Laura Ashley went public in flotation, acquired other companies involved in areas such as knitwear and perfume, made heavier investments in manufacturing and information technology (IT), moved towards segmentation with Mother and Child shops, exclusively home furnishing shops and unit shops (franchise operations). The organisation moved gradually away from vertical
How does Tennessee Williams create sympathy for Tom, both as an individual, and as a representative of his milieu? To what extent does Williams' creation of suspense help to convey this sympathy for his audience?
How does Tennessee Williams create sympathy for Tom, both as an individual, and as a representative of his milieu? To what extent does Williams' creation of suspense help to convey this sympathy for his audience? 'The Glass Menagerie' was originally named 'Portrait of a girl in glass'. Tennessee Williams wrote the play. The play is very convincing because Williams uses many symbols, which represent many different things. Many of the symbols used in the play symbolize some form of escape or difference between reality and illusion. The play is written in the point of view of the character Tom. Tennessee Williams was born as Thomas Lamier Williams in 1911. Tom is a symbol of Williams in his early life. The play is clearly autobiographical; it reflects the life of Tennessee Williams. Tom Wingfield lives with his Pressurising mother who is trapped in the past, which effects both Tom and Laura. Amanda reflects Williams' mother 'Miss Edwina' and Laura reflects Williams' sister 'Rose'. Tom, Laura and Amanda live on there own in a house, which symbolises a trap. Its trapping all of them especially Tom. Tom and Laura's father deserted the family and went away to another place. The audience may feel that the father moving away from the family was more of an escape. The only image the audience has of Tom's father is a picture hanging on the wall in the living room. The picture takes
"Brief Encounter" dealt with the issues of sexuality and desire by using a lot of different techniques.
Brief Encounter Question 1 "Brief Encounter" dealt with the issues of sexuality and desire by using a lot of different techniques. Some of the main ones included the lighting that was used, which would always heighten the facial expressions of the characters that were in the scene (inevitably it was Laura and Alec). This then led to the viewers noticing how the lead characters dressed and talked. Although the lighting emphasised their expressions, this led to Laura's clothes being less noticeable. The way that Laura talked was with a first person narrative, like it was her conscience speaking, but to her husband Fred. The director David Lean has used the music to try and emphasise the moment in the film, for example when at the beginning of the film Laura is in the lounge area with her husband Fred, the music is calm, soothing, and slow, to match Laura's mood and feelings at the time. Also throughout the film, there are lots of examples of symbolism, which adds to or dramatically heightens the growing love affair between Laura and Alec Harvey. For example when Laura and Alec first meet at the café, she has a small piece of grit in her eye, and along comes Alec and helps to get rid of it for Laura. I read this as symbolising, that there was a small love beginning to materialise itself between Laura and Alec (a doctor who just happens to be in the right place at
Plot of 'A Streetcar Named Desire'.
Plot of 'A Streetcar Named Desire' The play opens looking into a two story flat on Elysian Fields Street in New Orleans. It is the home of Stanley and Stella Kowalski. They live on the bottom floor while Eunice and Steve Hubbell live upstairs. The neighbourhood is a mixed-race community and is located between the L and N streetcar tracks. This area is teemed with many pubs, bars and bowling alleys. Scene 1- > Stanley and Mitch walk to the house looking for Stella. Stanley throws a package of meat at Stella to cook. They leave to go bowling. Stella follows to watch him play. > Blanche enters. She walks inside, exhausted, and kindly tries to get rid of Eunice. Eunice leaves to go to the Bowling alley to bring Stella home. She finds some whiskey and begins drinking until Stella comes. > Blanche tells Stella that she lost Belle Reve, their childhood home. Stella is distraught and escapes to the bathroom. > While she is gone, Stanley comes home, recognising Blanche. They introduce one another and chat for a few minutes about Blanche's past, relationships and marriage. She responds that she was married once, but her young husband died. Scene 2 - > Stanley feels like he is being cheated over the loss of Belle Reve under the Napoleonic Code and explains it to Stella. "In the state of Louisiana we have the Napoleonic code according to which what belongs to the wife belongs
tConsidering the opening two scenes of 'The Glass Menagerie', how effectively does Tennessee Williams use imagery and dramatic devices to suggest the themes of the play to his audience?
Considering the opening two scenes of 'The Glass Menagerie', how effectively does Tennessee Williams use imagery and dramatic devices to suggest the themes of the play to his audience? The opening two scenes of 'The Glass Menagerie' by Tennessee Williams show a range of different dramatic devices and imagery. Williams used his writing as a way to escape the reality of the world and became renowned as one of the greatest expressionist playwrights of America. His expressionist style enhances the viewing for the audience by not rejecting realism but looking at reality from a different perspective for an emotional effect. This gives the audience a more emotional and thought provoking play rather than a natural and realistic one. Expressionism is first discussed by Williams in the production notes where he explains the importance and use of dramatic devices such as music, projection and lighting which have one aim to bring a 'closer approach to truth' and avoid the mundane trappings of conventional stage realism. The dramatic devices used are common to films and this gives the plays cinematic qualities which help to show the themes to the audience. Tennessee Williams asserts control over the play through the production notes and stage direction, as he is specific in how he wants the play to be presented. Furthermore, the production notes heighten the expectation of the audience
"It is impossible to feel sympathy for Blanche" - Discuss.
"It is impossible to feel sympathy for Blanche." Discuss. Blanche in "A Streetcar Named Desire" is a character who will throughout the duration of the play invoke all sorts of contrasting, even opposite emotions. To analyse one's emotions is no easy task, and to do so most effectively one must break the play into different parts and analyse them separately. The problem with Blanche is that she presents a character so mixed up in her own motives and opinions that one never knows if it is really her or an act she's putting on. The audience will find itself constantly readjusting its position towards Blanche and the other characters as the play unfolds and we learn more about her story and the reasons behind her inadequacies. Williams makes sure nothing is white or black but grey so that at some moments in the play we struggle to find a reason for her cool manipulation and hunger for power while at others we pity her pathetic life founded on lies and misconceptions. Even when she tries to break up Stanley and Stella's relationship we don't immediately brand her as a villain, we remember that if Stella hadn't left than maybe Blanche would have become what she had wanted to become rather than what society dictated her to become. When we see Blanche for the very first time we know right away that she does not belong in Stella's neighbourhood, she is "daintily dressed" and her
A Streetcar Named Desire - It is impossible to feel sympathy for Blanche.
"It is impossible to feel sympathy for Blanche." Discuss. Blanche in "A Streetcar Named Desire" is a character who will throughout the duration of the play invoke all sorts of contrasting, even opposite emotions. To analyse one's emotions is no easy task, and to do so most effectively one must break the play into different parts and analyse them separately. The problem with Blanche is that she presents a character so mixed up in her own motives and opinions that one never knows if it is really her or an act she's putting on. The audience will find itself constantly readjusting its position towards Blanche and the other characters as the play unfolds and we learn more about her story and the reasons behind her inadequacies. Williams makes sure nothing is white or black but grey so that at some moments in the play we struggle to find a reason for her cool manipulation and hunger for power while at others we pity her pathetic life founded on lies and misconceptions. Even when she tries to break up Stanley and Stella's relationship we don't immediately brand her as a villain, we remember that if Stella hadn't left than maybe Blanche would have become what she had wanted to become rather than what society dictated her to become. When we see Blanche for the very first time we know right away that she does not belong in Stella's neighbourhood, she is "daintily dressed" and her
The character of Blanche in
Blanche in "A Streetcar Named Desire" is a character who will throughout the duration of the play invoke all sorts of contrasting, even opposite emotions. To analyse one's emotions is no easy task, and to do so most effectively one must break the play into different parts and analyse them separately. The problem with Blanche is that she presents a character so mixed up in her own motives and opinions that one never knows if it is really her or an act she's putting on. The audience will find itself constantly readjusting its position towards Blanche and the other characters as the play unfolds and we learn more about her story and the reasons behind her inadequacies. Williams makes sure nothing is white or black but grey so that at some moments in the play we struggle to find a reason for her cool manipulation and hunger for power while at others we pity her pathetic life founded on lies and misconceptions. Even when she tries to break up Stanley and Stella's relationship we don't immediately brand her as a villain, we remember that if Stella hadn't left than maybe Blanche would have become what she had wanted to become rather than what society dictated her to become. When we see Blanche for the very first time we know right away that she does not belong in Stella's neighbourhood, she is "daintily dressed" and her "delicate beauty must avoid a strong light", she seems in a
Plot and Sub-plot of A Streetcar Named Desire
Jordan Harris - AS Unit 1- Exploration Notes Plot and Sub-plot of A Streetcar Named Desire Scene 1: Blanche Dubois, who has been fired from her teaching job, arrives unannounced at the small two-room apartment of her sister, Stella Kowalski. Stella, who lives with Stanley, her rough and domineering husband, in a poor section of the French Quarter in New Orleans, welcomes her older sister. Blanche is shocked by the looks and size of the apartment and expresses her doubts about the lack of privacy, but she refuses to go to a hotel for she cannot bear to be alone. Blanche also drinks heavily to calm her nerves, but initially hides the fact. Blanche knows that her youth is slipping away and wants to be reassured, which Stella dutifully does. Blanche also reveals that Belle Reve; their old, aristocratic, and palatial house in Laurel, no longer belongs to them. She speaks of the struggle it took to hang on to the place and expresses resentment that Stella had taken an easy escape route by marrying Stanley, a Polish foreigner.Her resentment shows as she refers him as a 'Polak'! Blanche describes her long vigils at the bedside of the dying members of the family and how the house had to be mortgaged to pay for the funeral expenses. Stanley arrives, and Blanche introduces herself. He is an ex-soldier, every inch a male and very proud of it. He plays poker with his friends and is fond
The Glass Menagerie is one of Tennessee Williams' most eminent works and no doubt qualifies as a classic of the modern theatre.
The Glass Menagerie is one of Tennessee Williams' most eminent works and no doubt qualifies as a classic of the modern theatre. Often referred to as a 'memory play', both the style and content of The Glass Menagerie are shaped and inspired by the memory of the play's narrator, Tom Wingfield. According to Tom, due to the play's origins in memory, 'it is sentimental, it is not realistic' and may be presented with unusual freedom from convention. Consequently, the play is subject to numerous peculiarities, such as dim lighting, frequent use of music and symbolism. Most fictional works are products of the imagination, which attempt to convince the audience of its realism, through realistic conflict, drama and setting. The Glass Menagerie, however, although drawn from memory, is not 'attempting to escape its responsibility of dealing with reality', but rather, is drawn from real experience and does not need to be constrained by the conventions of realism to convey truth. The Glass Menagerie is essentially reality presented in an unrealistic way, through memory. In order to evaluate the degree to which the play is realistic rather than memory or vice versa, and how the two interact in the ultimate aim of 'interpreting experience', we must examine the various realistic aspects of the play, such as the characters, the setting, and the situation presented to us, as well as the memory
