Review and interpretation of King Lear
BACKGROUND OF THE IDEA In creating the tragedy play King Lear, William Shakespeare used many sources in getting the base-line story, but it required his genius and intellect to place them together to create the true tragedy with its multiple plot lines that his play turned out to be in the end. The story of King Lear (or as it started, King Leir) is first seen in literature in the year 1135, contained in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae. Other authors placed King Leir into their stories including; John Higgins in A Mirror for Magistrates (1574), by Warner in Albion's England (1586), by Holinshed in The Second Book of the Historie of England (1577), and by Spencer in The Faerie Queen (1590). The most influential of all was probably The True Chronicle History of King Leir, which was anonymous. This play was performed as early as 1594, which is when it showed up in the "Stationers' Register." Kenneth Muir even suggested that Shakespeare "may have acted in it". Shakespeare took the best of all the sources of King Leir, added his touches and personality, and created the masterpiece we enjoy today. Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae, gave the description of King Lear and his three daughters, and also the basis for the love test. One major difference is that unlike Shakespeare's Lear, Geoffrey's Leir does not appear to be insane and has not lost
Black Feminism in Alice Walkers "The Color Purple".
BLACK FEMINISM IN Alice Walker’s The Color Purple Alice Walker is an Afro-American female writer, who was born in 1944. The Color Purple was written in 1982, won Pulitzer prize in 1983. She was born in a sharecropper’s family in the South, Georgia, U.S.A as the eighth child in Eatonton, small town with two streets only. She grew up in a world of poverty and hardship. The Walker’s white landowner said that the Walker’s children needed not to attend school and demanded of every child of the Walker’s to work in his field. But it was her mother, Minnie, who fought for the right of education for her children. Thus, the author feels that her success as an informed writer goes greatly to her mother’s devotion to education and liberation. Alice Walker was blessed with a love of learning, and upon graduating at the head of her high school class in 1961, she received a scholarship to Spelman College in nearby Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. There, at the heart of the civil rights movement, she took part in student protests against racial discrimination. After two years at Spelman, Walker transferred to Sarah Lawrence College in New York, where she developed into a highly gifted writer. Her literary reputation rose with the publication of Once (1968) followed by many other works but nothing prepared her readers for the success of The Color Purple (1982) which became a
Compare and Contrast The Concept of Nature in the Works of Karl Marx and Ralph Waldo Emerson
Compare and Contrast The Concept of Nature in the Works of Karl Marx and Ralph Waldo Emerson Introduction Given the salience of current debates in the philosophy of social theory concerning the necessity or impossibility of grand narratives, or universalising theory, and the utility or dis-utility of the post-structural, relativist approach, I find it surprising that no one has yet stumbled upon the idea of comparing the works of Karl Marx and Ralph Waldo Emerson, the former the producer of the most influential grand-narrative in recent world political and economic history, and the later one of the more forceful exponents of experiential truth as elaborated upon by Nietzsche, and of historical relativism as practised by Foucault. A comparison of the work of these two individuals is justifiable on more grounds than their respective contributions to the development of contemporary sociological thought. Both witnessed the modern age, what appears to many "as the culminating point of human development... announc[ing] the secret of human history, hitherto concealed from the eyes of its participants," (Kumar, 81) but both witnessed it from very different perspectives. Both men were also deeply concerned to "capture" the concept of nature: Marx wrote his PhD thesis on the concept ( entitled "The Difference between Democritus' and Epicurus' Philosophy of Nature") , and one of
The Project Paper - The short story.
The Project Paper (A) The short story . Define short story A short story is a form more realistic than the tale and is of modern origin. The writer usually presents the main events in greater fullness. Fine writers of short stories are skilled in rendering a scene (which is a vivid or dramatic moment described in enough detail to create the illusion that the reader is practically there. The writers try to show rather than simply to tell. A short story is more than just a sequence of happenings. A finely wrought short story has the richness and conciseness of an excellent lyric poem. Spontaneous and natural as the finished story may seem, the writer has written it so artfully that there is meaning in even seemingly casual speeches and apparently trivial details. Some literary short story tell of an epiphany. Other short stories tell of a character initiated into experience or maturity. The short story is of more recent origin. According to the Dictionary Literary Terms written by Dr Rosli Talif, a short story is a brief functional NARRATIVE in PROSE that has a more formal structure than the TALE< from which it originates. Although short stories possess all the attributes of Fiction, such as PLOT, SETTING, CHARACTERIZATION, THEME, TONE, and POINT OF VIEW, what distinguishes it from the other forms of fiction i.e. NOVEL and NOVELLAA is that it is shorter in length
In this essay I will be exploring, discussing and analysing two cross cultural poems. The first is called woman work, its by Maya Angelou, the second poem is titled Lore and its writer is R.S Thomas.
In this essay I will be exploring, discussing and analysing two cross cultural poems. The first is called woman work, its by Maya Angelou, the second poem is titled Lore and its writer is R.S Thomas. Both Angelou and Thomas expLore and present their ideas in very different and contrasting ways. Through out the two poems it is easy to gain knowledge into the poet's backgrounds and beliefs. The two poems are connected by the obvious theme of work, which both poems are clearly passionate about. However the way in which they do work or view it is very different. Primarily culture defines a person's origin, beliefs, actions and reactions to certain situations. I will begin by looking at Maya Angelou's background. She was born in st Louis on April 4 1928 as Marguerite Johnson. She lived in a black segregated community in Arkansas with her grandmother and brother until the age of eight. Her grandmother was a hard worker. She ran a general store and the home, brought up the children and looked after her crippled son. Members of the white community however often spoke down to her grandmother. At 8 Maya moved to live with her mother in St Louis, Illinois. Her mother was also a hard worker in clubs and enjoyed the high life. At 8 Maya was raped by her mother's boyfriend She became mute until she was 13. Maya herself worked hard in her teens as a cook, waitress and brought up her son,
Gulliver's Travels, Original Sin and the imagery of size
The diminutive insect Gulliver's Travels, Original Sin and the imagery of size SWIFT HAS SOMETIMES BEEN seen as a champion of liberty. In his essay 'Politics vs Literature', however, George Orwell took a different view. 'Swift,' he wrote, 'was one of those people who are driven into a sort of perverse Toryism by the follies of the progressive party of the moment.' At best Swift was 'a Tory Anarchist, despising authority while disbelieving in liberty.' At worst he was a reactionary, opposed not simply to sham science, but to all science, and even to intellectual curiosity itself. Orwell also portrays Swift as a hater of the human body and an authoritarian. 'In a political and moral sense,' writes Orwell, 'I am against him, so far as I understand him.' Yet no sooner has he written these words than he goes on to declare that Swift 'is one of the writers I admire with least reserve' Orwell presents his riven view of Swift as an example of his own sound judgment. His assessment of Swift's political outlook is, I believe, in some respects just. Yet if we consider Orwell's essay sceptically it begins to seem as though he is in a great muddle about Swift. He writes that he is against Swift 'so far as I understand him'. But does he understand him? There is a great deal of evidence to suggest that he does not, and that his difficulty in understanding Swift has been shared by a large
Using Evelyn Waughs, A Handful of Dust and Isabel Allendes Daughters of Fortune, as a starting point discuss the relationship between gender and movement.
ESSAY Using Evelyn Waugh's, 'A Handful of Dust' and Isabel Allende's 'Daughter's of Fortune,' as a starting point discuss the relationship between gender and movement. ?t th? turn of th? century? moderniz?tion of tr?ditions ?lso incre?sed f?mily bre?kups ?nd infidelity; however th?se situ?tions were not seen to be th? norm. Th? ch?r?cters in th? novels ? H?ndful of Dust ?nd Wh?t M?isie Knew show th? evolution of f?mily bre?kups ?nd infidelity due to th?ir depr?ved ?ctions. Brend?? ? ch?r?cter from Evelyn W?ugh's ? H?ndful of Dust shows th? depr?ved mind in women during this period ?nd M?isie F?r?nge's p?rents from Henry J?mes's Wh?t M?isie Knew show th? evolution through th?ir depr?ved ?ctions. Both novels ?lso show th? evolution by th? r?re ?nd sc?nd?lous divorce between th? ch?r?cters. M?ny events in ? H?ndful of Dust? such ?s Brend?'s beh?viour tow?rd her f?mily ?re so disgusting th?t th?y ?re considered 'funny' by m?ny critics ?nd book reviews. Her ?ctions help in sh?ping her person?lity for th? re?der ?s she builds on to her corrupt mind. Her first most inhum?n ?ction is when she discovers her son? John ?ndrew has died in ? horse riding ?ccident. Her first re?ction: " 'John?'... 'De?d?'... She s?t down on ? h?rd little empire ch?ir ?g?inst th? w?ll? perfectly still with her h?nds folded in her l?p? like ? sm?ll well-bought-up child introduced into ? room full of
Discuss the image of the doubled female in Charlotte Bront's Shirley, Villette and Jane Eyre.
Discuss the image of the doubled female in Charlotte Brontë's Shirley, Villette and Jane Eyre. The central theme of Jane Eyre, Villette and Shirley lies within the complex issue of the doubled female. Brontë persistently returns to this theme in order to vocalise her personal fears on the representations and expectations of the woman in a patriarchal society. As Jennifer Gribble suggests, this vocalising is apparent through, 'a recurrence of images and patterns that seem to define prevalent social and cultural beliefs and traditions.'1 In order to portray the strain under which women were placed in the nineteenth century, Brontë repeatedly fractures the emotional and physical state of her protagonists and in doing so 'explore(s) the potentialities and limits of a central reflecting consciousness.'2 This fracturing of the self creates the 'double female' in these novels, the female as consciously and emotionally split, either implicitly through the mirroring of the self by other characters, for example Caroline and Shirley or metaphorically, for example Jane and Bertha. Brontë seeks to illustrate in Shirley, Jane Eyre and Villette the impossibility of obtaining knowledge of self and of reclaiming self hood, faced by all of her female characters. In doing so, Charlotte Brontë viscously attacks not only patriarchy, but also the actual act of defining the woman, and suggests
Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman
Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman At the beginning of the play, Arthur Miller establishes Willy Loman as a troubled and misguided man, at heart a salesman and a dreamer with a preoccupation with success. However, Miller makes equally apparent that Willy Loman is no successful man. Although in his sixties, he is still a travelling salesman bereft of any stable location or occupation, and clings only to his dreams and ideals. There is a strong core of resentment within Willy Loman, whose actions assumes a more glorious and idealised past. Willy sentimentalises the neighbourhood as it was years ago, and mourns the days working for Frank Wagner, while his son Howard Wagner fails to appreciate him. Miller presents Willy as a strong and boisterous man with great audacity but little energy to support that impression of vitality. He is perpetually weary and exhibits signs of dementia, contradicting himself within his conversations and showing some memory loss. Linda, in contrast, displays little of the boisterous intensity of Willy. Rather, she is dependable and kind, perpetually attempting to smooth out conflicts that Willy might encounter. Linda has a similar longing for an idealised past, but has learned to suppress her dreams and her dissatisfaction with her husband and sons. Miller indicates that she is a woman with deep regrets about her life; she must continually reconcile
Micro Water Management -The Concept, Methods of Intervention And Experience at NBTDP.
A Report on Micro Water Management - The Concept, Methods of Intervention And Experience at NBTDP by Professor S. B. Roy, Chairman IBRAD, Calcutta Introduction The last half of the 20th century was characterised by unprecedented changes and irreversible trends in natural, technological, social, economic and political factors that have affected human life in radical ways. This when combined with population explosion, urbanisation, industrialisation and economic development exerted high pressure and demand on natural resources, most notably on water resources. We need to have an efficient and effective management of our water resource as its demand has increased with the rise in the population growth and the rise in pollution. Firstly comes the policy support and legislation of the country, the attitude and capacity of the state, the local bodies and the local self government to operationalise the rational use of water. Different stakeholders are involved in the different aspects of the water management like that of irrigation, domestic and industrial supply, flood control and so on. Secondly, the interrelationship between the land and water should be viewed as SYSTEM and water as part of the planning process. Thirdly, research and development programmes need to be undertaken on a range of activities like that of water conservation, water quality management, pollution