What is the Importance of Alfred Doolittle to Shaw's 'Pygmalion?'
What do you consider to be the importance of the role of Alfred Doolittle for the play as a whole? Alfred Doolittle is a working class dustman. He is Eliza's father and an important character to the theme of class distinction. To the original middle-class Edwardian audience, Doolittle would be a very representational working-class figure. His name alone, 'Doo-Little,' epitomises the stereotypical middle-class view of the working class man, who doesn't do as much as he could, therefore making him 'undeserving.' However, this view is challenged by Doolittle's pride in being one of these 'undeserving poor.' He says he 'means to go on being undeserving.' Doolittle takes this social stigma as a compliment, which would have shocked his audience, but also created humour. Doolittle's values in life would also have challenged the middle-class perception of the working classes. His attitude to marriage and sex would have shocked the audience. Doolittle says of his mistress, 'catch her marrying me!' His mistress will not marry Doolittle, because that would give him dominion over her. This challenged the middle class view that marriage before sex was the natural order of things. As Doolittle says to Pickering, 'it ain't the natural way; it's the middle class way.' In some ways, Doolittle confirms the social stereotype that the poor are undeserving because they are lazy. Doolittle
Fitzgerald uses Chapter 6 to show how the love story of Gatsby and Daisy begins to crumble.
Fitzgerald slowly reveals Gatsby's history to build up the mystery to who he really is. Fitzgerald has Nick use a semantic field of fabrication as he tells of Gatsby's 'imagination' and 'Platonic conception of himself' as a teenager to highlight the facade that revolves around Gatsby. The references to 'conception' and 'inventions' emphasise Nick's, and possibly Fitzgerald's view that Gatsby himself and the world around him are constructions and is epitomised by his materialistic ways to please Daisy. Fitzgerald ensures this history is not directly from Gatsby's voice, giving possibility that Nick has constructed the description to allow the mysteriousness of Gatsby to build. Fitzgerald also has Nick claim he breaks the chronology 'to clear this set of misconceptions away' as he tells the story of 'James Gatz', yet it seems ironically placed in Chapter 6 due to Gatsby's naive claim later that he can 'repeat the past'. Gatsby's history is placed in Chapter 6 to allow the reader to piece together Gatsby's past, giving insight to why he feels it necessary to 'fix everything just the way it was'. By Fitzgerald revealing more details of Gatsby's history the reader can realise how shallow he is, heightening the genre of the novel as an American Tragedy as it begins to become clear that Gatsby's facade is due to the American Dream. Fitzgerald uses Chapter 6 to show how the love
A Christmas Carol How Does Scrooge Change Through Staves 1 - 5?
A Christmas Carol How Does Scrooge Change Through Staves 1 - 5? By Louise Sophocleous A Christmas carol is a moral story and focuses upon the redemption of the most hardened miser Ebeneezer Scrooge. In stave one he is presented as selfish, rude, angry and lonely. 'Warning all human sympathy to keep its distance.' he is thoroughly dislikeable. Through the attentions of Marley's ghost and the journey Scrooge takes through the past present and future Scrooge changes and becomes likable. He recovers his sense of joy in the world and this transforms all aspects of his life. How he reacts to people how he reacts to his setting, to Christmas and how he spends his money. It is a miraculous transformation. Dickens is saying that no matter how cruel, hard, old, bitter and unpleasant you are there is good in you and you can change. In stave 1 Scrooge is seen as a 'squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scrapping, clutching, covetous old sinner'. Dickens stresses the coldness of Scrooges bearing. 'He carried his own low temperature with him'. His atmosphere is like constant winter. However it also describes him as 'solitary as an oyster' and this image gives a hint that he is protecting himself and is scared of the world. His hatred is a defence. He is cruel to his Clerk who whom he will not allow more than one coal for the fire. A contrast is made between Scrooge and his cheerful nephew.
Surveillance in modern society
Nic Nobby November 22, 2010 Surveillance in modern society When we look back the last twenty or thirty years, there had not been any wars comparable to those in former years or centuries. Though, terrorism has become a terrifying phenomenon that occurs in the whole world. Nowadays, politicians are expected to prevent acts of terrorism such as an in New York, London or Baghdad. This issue might be summarized via the following statement: Preventing terrorism, we have to give up a certain amount of liberty. First of all, one can notice several measures that have been realized to increase national security in recent years. For example, biometric data - such as facial characteristics - is recorded on a chip in our passports (Moreover, politicians think of fingerprints being stored as well). New activities like scans of license plates are used to spot criminals. Additionally, people are monitored by cameras or wiretapping more often than ever before. While the Ministry of the Interior likes to expand its actions, Data protectionists strive for restricting surveillance. One should consider the tasks politicians like Mr. Schäuble are faced with. On the one hand, people expect a maximum of safety in their country. As an example, they do not want to be frightened by possible bombers at public places. On the other hand, they do not want restrictions on personal freedom such
To Kill a Mocking Bird. In this essay, I will explore the ways in which family relationships are presented, specifically within the Cunningham, the Radley and Ewell families and will refer to the language devices and techniques used to explore theses rela
Set in the 1930's, Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" features four main families that are text book examples of the adversities within the moral and social ladder in the "tired old town" of Maycomb Alabama. These differences within their backgrounds has an effect on their use of language and the ways in which they interact with one another and their surrounding society. Harper Lee's clever use of language serves as a means of revealing the differences between families, creating atmosphere giving the reader a sense of authenticity and a way of enhancing and supporting key themes such as racial injustice and inequality. In this essay, I will explore the ways in which family relationships are presented, specifically within the Cunningham, the Radley and Ewell families and will refer to the language devices and techniques used to explore theses relationships. The evidently troubled Ewell family "lived as guests of the county in prosperity as well as in the depths of a depression" as a result of the Wall Street crash in 1929. They are illustrated to be severely disadvantaged - mentally and physically- by their "congenital defects" and suffer at the hands of "the diseases indigenous to filthy surroundings" as established by Scout's humorous and ironic first person narrative. This morbid description of the Ewells allows the reader to sympathise with the family as they must
Poetry from different Cultures
Essay Describing Devices Used in 'Blessing' When we read poems, very few people actually take in the devices used and make sense of the way the poet uses them and still fewer people take the time to decipher why the poet has used that specific device in that specific place. The devises often have hidden meanings, and are used to make the poem flow better. In this essay, I will be describing, analysing and evaluating why and how Imtiaz Dharker has used the devices she has incorporated into the 'Blessing'. The title of the poem alone, 'Blessing' is a strong word which could mean that what happens in the poem is special, almost like a miracle, which helps set the mood of this poem very early on. The first line, 'The skin cracks like a pod' is not only an effective simile, but it's a way of setting the scene and cultural aspects of the poem as the first image of a pod that comes to mind is a cocoa pod, which cracks in the sun's heat or is cracked open to get to the cocoa beans. The cocoa pod is from somewhere like Africa. In the second line, the way the words are placed really emphasises the word 'never' as it catches you out when reading out loud. You would normally say that phrase as 'is never', but in this poem, to emphasize the rhythm and the word 'never' the sentence is 'never is'. In the second stanza, onomatopoeia plays a fairly big part, taking over 3 words, 'drip',
Follower by Seamus Heaney
Follower Seamus Heaney The follower is written by the Irish poet Seamus Heaney, the poem is about the poets love and admiration for his father. The poem is also about the changes that occur between father and children as children move out from their parent's shadow. We learn a lot about both the relationship that existed between them and the way Heaney saw his family. In the first half of the poem Heaney presents us with a vivid portrait of his father as he appeared to the poet as a young boy. The poet, as a young boy, follows his father as he goes about his work and like most boys, he idolises his father and admires his great skill, ` an expert` with the horse-plough and Heaney as a little boy would simply get in his fathers way. In the poem, Heaney looks up to his father in a physical sense, because he is so much smaller than his father, but he also looks up to him in a metaphorical sense. This is made clear by the poet's careful choice of words. 'His eye narrowed and angled at the ground, mapping the furrows exactly.' These words effectively suggest his father's skill and precision. We are also told that young Heaney 'stumbled in his hob-nailed wake,' which brings to our mind a picture of the ploughman's heavy boots, the carefully ploughed furrow and the child's clumsy enthusiasm. The poet uses onomatopoeic words to capture the details of his father as he works the
A View From The Bridge Essay
A View from the Bridge - How does Arthur Miller show tension escalating during Act 1? Tensions exist in families because of arguments and disagreements occurring between parents and their children especially teenagers, about boyfriends and the way they dress, which refers back to Eddie and Catherine Carbone's disagreement in the first scene when Eddie comments on Catharine's skirt. 'A View from the Bridge' was set in the 1950s in an Italian American neighbourhood under the Brooklyn Bridge in New York. The area, which the Carbone family lived in, was called 'Red Hook'. It is a poor place where crime, gangsters and the Mafia had been well known in recent history. Tension in the Carbone household is present right from the beginning of the play and the narrator, lawyer and family friend Alfieri warns the audience of a tragic ending in his opening speech. Alfieri also gives us some background information on the Carbone family and it sets a mood to the start of the scene. Alfieri introduces the play, narrates the story in flashback, focussing on key scenes, and then closes the play. Arthur Miller himself says, " I wanted to write a play that had the cleanliness... the clear line of some of the Greek tragedies." Meaning that the audience would be confronted with a situation and that the audience would be told in the beginning what the ending was. The question was not what was
How does Steinbeck present the character of Crooks in the novel 'Of Mice and Men'?
How does Steinbeck present the character of Crooks in the novel 'Of Mice and Men'? Within the time period of the 1930's, many non-white people kept themselves isolated from others and stayed out of trouble, to avoid the risk of being lynched. Segregation, isolation and racism was a normal lifestyle led by those who were black; one of the characters that embodies this theme in the novel is the character of Crooks. Other themes of the novel are the American Dream; which is never achieved by any of the characters, this suggests that Steinbeck believed that the dream was unbelievable. This is the same belief which Crooks has. Friendship is another important theme, as the reader sees the desperation Crooks has for friendship and the affect of loneliness has had on him. Steinbeck set the novel in Soledad, California, 1930's during the Great Depression. This is an ironic setting because the term 'Soledad' means isolation and loneliness in Spanish, reflecting the life led by Crooks. Also the reader follows the protagonists Lennie and George as they struggle financially. In addition unemployment rates were high and pension rates decreased; making life hard especially for the middle class. Many men left their families and travelled across the country to find work and support their families. But life was harder for black men as they were seen as savage animals and were not wanted;
The Great Gatsby
Steven Lin Period 8 English 11 Mr. Glatt The capacity to dream is a natural characteristic possessed by all mankind. Americans living in a country based on the philosophy of pursuing great American dreams go about pursuing their own goals in many ways. Ironically the American dream itself is the ultimate illusion that can never satisfy those who pursue it. The American dream was only possible when it was a potential. Nick in Fitzgerald's, The Great Gatsby, realized this as he imagines a past when the Dutch first laid their eyes on the vast wilderness of the uninhabited United States. Gatsby's ideals in this novel are the ideals of all Americans. Gatsby and Americans search for a dream and yet nobody truly understands what it is they are really in search of. People go about fulfilling these dreams by using cheap reality and in the end it does not measure up to the size of the dream itself; the dreamer is bound to be disappointed with every accomplishment of the dream. At the conclusion of Fitzgerald's book, The Great Gatsby, the main character Gatsby has recently died and Nick stands facing the front door of Gatsby's mansion. From this moment, Nick looks at Gatsby's house for a last time. He sees a swear word on the wall, and like Holden in the book, The Catcher in the Rye, he too crosses the word out; trying to preserve the innocence. Nick wants to keep
