Gertrude: The Tragic Heroine of Shakespeares Hamlet Essay example -- G

Gertrude: The Tragic Heroine of Hamlet    Hamlet is perhaps English literature's most renowned play; a masterwork by the greatest of all masters, Shakespeare, from its very appearance Hamlet has not ceased to delight audiences and confound spectators. The complexity of the main character, prince Hamlet, is so vast that all who have attempted to decipher his character fulsomely have failed. Amidst his own grandeur, Hamlet makes the other characters pale. As they blur into literary oblivion due to the magnetism of the central character, other characters are often disregarded as one-dimensional and are not done sufficient justice. Gertrude, victim of Hamlet's virulent verbal abuse, is often seen through the bitter eyes of her son and thus her true character is seldom recognized. However, Shakespeare, incapable of mediocrity, instilled in Gertrude more complexity than simple analysis might yield. He bestowed her the appearance of an unscrupulous woman, one for whom shame is a stranger and who acts guided solely by her carnal des ires; furthermore, she gives signs of being a frivolous queen, one who occupies her mind in simple contemplations, and for whom profound matters are inaccessible. Finally, he made her seem an insensitive mother incapable of empathy for her son's grief and oblivious to true sensibility. Nonetheless, it is Gertrude's desire for reconcilement and her need to avoid conflict that make her appear an unscrupulous woman, a frivolous Queen and an insensitive mother.    Certainly the most widespread opinion regarding Gertrude is that she is an unscrupulous woman; however, it is her desire for reconcilement and her need to avoid conflict that make her appear unscrupulous.   With all the force of his first soliloquy... ... tragic flaw was no other than the innocent desire for reconcilement and her too human need to avoid conflict. In Hamlet's own words, this seems the very essence of veracity, "what a piece of work is man! how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties!"   and yet, how solitary and uncomprehended; how quick to condemn, how reluctant to forgive and in doing so how like a Greek God, and how, so beautifully and fallibly human.   Bibliography 1. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Folger Library. Edited by Louis B. Wright and Virginia A. LaMar Washington, Washington Square Press Publication, 1958. 2. "Gertrude in Hamlet" http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/critical.html#michelle_g Date accessed 02/25/2003) 3. Mabillard, Amanda. Shakespeare's Gertrude. Shakespeare Online. 2000. http://www.shakespeare-online.com/gertrudechar.html (03/25/2003)

New Deal :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Franklin Roosevelt’s â€Å"optimism and activism that helped restore the badly shaken confidence of the nation† (pg. 467 Out of Many), was addressed in the New Deal, developed to bring about reform to the American standard of living and its low economy. It did not only make an impact during the Great Depression. Although, many of the problems addressed in the New Deal might have been solved, those with the long lasting effect provide enough evidence to illustrate how great a success the role of the New Deal played out in America’s history to make it what it is today. Although, the growth of business was booming and consumption was extremely high during the 1920’s employers failed to equally distribute the benefits to its industrial workers who got the short end of the stick and did not see any profit from productivity. Since there was no law at the time established on how many hours a person was to work and get paid, employers would overwork and underpay the laborers. This became a major problem because it brought about high unemployment rates, which for laborers, the shortage of jobs meant strong competition among each other for finding and keeping a job, and low wages, which brought down consumption. Several of the policies created to specifically help the jobless during that time were, Emergency Relief Appropriations Act (1935) run by the Public Works Administration (PWA), designed for the construction of public building, roads, dams and other projects. Federal Project No. 1, also run by PWA, gave jobs to writers, musicians, and artist. â€Å"The idea was to provide jobs and thus, stimulate the economy through increased consumer spending†. (pg 469 Out of Many)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The most benefited policies created through the New Deal for employment, one, the Social Security Act (1935), provides â€Å"old-aged pensions and unemployment insurance. A payroll tax on workers and their employers were created a fund from which retirees received monthly pensions after age sixty-five.† (pg 470 Out of Many) Second, National Labor Relations Act (1935), also known as the Wagner Act, gave Americans the right to form a union and bargain with their employers for better pay and working conditions. Third, and the most important one of all Fair Labor Standard Act (1938), it established a minimum wage and maximum hours for an employee.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Roosevelt’s first order of business as President was to put a halt on the banking system. Congress passed the Emergency Bank Act, which gave him leeway to all banking transactions and foreign exchange.

Christmas Dinner

ENGL 1301 – Section 4 Narrative essay June 13, 2012 The Making of Christmas Dinner â€Å"Caitlyn, get downstairs now! † frantically screamed my mother. The sound of her nervous voice made me spring from the bed and quickly scramble down the stairs to the kitchen. As I slid around the corner and headed toward the kitchen, I encountered a large, foggy cloud of strong smoke. â€Å"Mom, what’s going on? † I screeched. She was grabbing the bright red fire extinguisher from under the sink to avert the fire coming from the oven. She opened the oven door to see flames coming from our Christmas turkey.Flames were leaping out from the roaster pan when she unleashed the fire extinguisher dousing the smoldering carcass. I didn’t understand what had happened. It was Christmas Eve morning, and my mom had been working on the special plans for a family dinner for days. By this time, my sisters were also in the kitchen, wondering what was causing such a commotion. W e all agreed that the turkey was as good as road kill. Mom dumped the turkey in the outside trash barrels and came back into the kitchen to decide how we could switch to an alternative plan.As the awful smell of burned turkey filled the kitchen, mother explained that she had forgotten to reduce the temperature of the oven before she went to bed last night. We were all grateful the whole kitchen wasn’t on fire! I felt horrible for my mom. This was going to be the first year to have the entire family come to our house for dinner. We all looked at each other with the question, â€Å"What are we going to do? † My mom said that she and my dad could drive to Tyler to buy a Greenburg turkey already cooked. That sounded like the best plan. However,† she added, â€Å"you girls will have to finish the side dishes. † We all looked at each other with uneasy expressions on our faces. Could we do this? Without really thinking about what we were agreeing to do, we said, â€Å"Oh yes, we can do that. † Before mom left for Tyler, she gave us the entire menu she had planned: green beans, mashed potatoes, our favorite macaroni and cheese, and yeast rolls. Aunt Kelley was bringing the fruit salad. Aunt Joyce was bringing her special cranberry salad. Our grandmother was bringing her favorite pecan pie and our great randmother was bringing her famous banana pudding. My sisters and l agreed we would make gingerbread cookies to add to the wonderful dessert assortment. As our parents drove out of sight toward Tyler, we girls went to work. We divided the responsibilities and went to our work spaces in the kitchen. Ashley got the green beans started by opening the huge can of Italian green beans mom had bought at Sam’s Wholesale. It looked like we could feed the whole army with all those beans. She added lots of butter with salt & pepper. As they began to boil, she lowered the heat and put a lid on the pot.Lauren was peeling potatoes at the sink. When she finally finished peeling all the potatoes, she began cutting them into slices and put them into a large pot of water to boil. I was busy getting the boxes of macaroni opened to add to the boiling water I had already started. Adding a dash of salt, I lowered the heat under the bubbling macaroni hoping it would not boil over onto the stove. I figured we had already had enough catastrophes for one day. While the macaroni noodles were boiling, I sliced the creamy Velveeta cheese that would be added to complete our favorite side dish.We were amazed that everything was cooking so quickly and the smell of burned turkey was being replaced with a much more appetizing aroma. When all of our assigned dishes were completed, we all decided we could work together to make the gingerbread cookies. We had helped our mother make cookies since we were little girls so we felt more comfortable with this chore. My mom had already made the dough for the cookies, so we were left with the fun part †¦rolling and cutting the little gingerbread men. Ashley found the cookie cutter while Lauren began rolling the dough.I gathered all the cookie sheets we would need to make everyone in our family their own gingerbread cookie. Lauren had the dough all rolled out on the cabinet and we all took turns cutting out the little men. We gently lifted each cookie and placed them on the baking sheets. They looked like little children all in a row with their arms outstretched to welcome our guests. As the cookies were placed in the warm oven, we began to gather the decorations needed to create the image of one of our favorite storybook characters, â€Å"The Little Gingerbread Boy. The cookies smelled wonderful baking in the oven. We had been careful to set the timer so the cookies would not burn. When the cookies were baked and cooled, we began making tiny smiling faces with bright eyes on each little gingerbread man. Ashley found a large crystal dish to arrange the finished cookies for a n impressive presentation. They were so cute, we decided to leave them out on the dessert table for everyone to see as they arrived. We gathered all of my mom’s special china serving bowls to compliment each of the side dishes we had prepared.When our parents returned home with the beautiful Greenburg turkey, they were overwhelmed with all the side dishes we had prepared and had placed in the warming oven to await our guests. We didn’t confess that we had made a quick trip to The Farm House for the wonderful yeast rolls. We decided that detail could wait until after dinner. All of us gathered the red and green Christmas dishes with a decorated tree in the center of each plate so each guest would have a special place at the table.Dad helped set the silver at each plate and my mom reached to the top shelf of the china cabinet to get their wedding gift crystal glasses. What began as a nightmarish day had turned into a wonderful Christmas memory. As our relatives began to gather bringing their personal additions to the dinner, we were all reminded of why this celebration is our favorite day of the year. We had all come together to share our love for each other and be grateful for the many blessings we shared as a family.

going byebye essays

going byebye essays The Protestant Reformation started in the 1500's when the Church started giving indulgences, or pardons for their sins, when someone gave money. The Catholic Church had always taught that when people die they cannot enter heaven before suffering some form of punishment for their sins in purgatory (a place between heaven and Hell). When a person was granted an indulgence, he was freed from some of his suffering in purgatory. In Germany a monk named Martin Luther wanted the Church to change many things it did. He didn't like the fact that they were selling indulgences. In 1517 Catholic fund-raisers began selling indulgences in Martin Luther's city of Wittenberg. In the same year Luther said that there was no basis in Christianity for the sale of indulgences and he drew up a list of objections to indulgences called the 95 Theses and nailed it to the Church door. The 95 Theses spread very quickly thanks to the printing press. Martin Luther believed that if men are sorry for their sins and have faith in God, they will be forgiven. He also believed that men do not win forgiveness by paying money. Many people in Germany agreed with Luther. Besides his beliefs the people had other Church practices they did not like. Martin Luther encouraged these discussions and not only attacked the pope but also criticized the German rulers. The Beginning of the Reformation Martin Luther was excommunicated, meaning no longer a member of the Catholic Church and could not receive any of its sacrements (baptism, conformation, marriage) by the pope. But Lutheranism, or Luther's ideas, spread. Many leaders of the German states agreed with Luther. More German leaders supported Martin Luther as his protests grew stronger. And thats when the Reformation began. Christians who did not accept the rules of the Roman Catholic Church became known as "Protestants." Eventually, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, England and other countries brok...

Essay on General Electric’s Revolutionary

Essay on General Electric’s Revolutionary Essay on General Electric’s Revolutionary Essay on General Electric’s RevolutionaryHistorically, GE was one of the leading companies operating in the energy industry of the US. However, in the course of time, GE progressed and diversified its operations. By the late 1970s, the company operated in different industries, but its performance was stumbling because after the economic and energy crisis of the mid-1970s, the company confronted substantial problems in its business development. In such a situation, the new CEO of the company, Jack Welch, became a true savior for the company, who helped the company to regain its position and improve its financial and marketing performance. In fact, Jack Welch was one of the prominent CEOs that helped GE to overcome the considerable downturn in its business development and regain its position in the US as one of the largest employers and one of the most successful companies.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jack Welch had extensive experience of work within GE, where h e started to work and kept progressing till he reached the CEO position. The personal experience of work at GE was very useful for the company because Jack Welch knew perfectly all the drawbacks and weaknesses of the company that prevented its fast and successful growth. The extensive experience and the understanding of GE, its organizational structure, its strengths and weaknesses helped Jack Welch to determine accurately needs of the company and elaborate the effective strategy that helped the new CEO to make a breakthrough in the business development of GE. The extensive experience of Jack Welch of work within the company became the cornerstone for his further work as the CEO of the company.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Furthermore, Jack Welch focused on the elimination of bureaucracy within GE that contributed to the consistent improvement of the organizational performance and efficiency of internal business operations. From his past experience of work in GE, Jack Welch knew perfectly that bureaucratic barriers were unsurpassable and they prevented many perspective ideas from their successful implementation in GE. This is why he was aware of the negative impact of bureaucracy on the performance of the company. The elimination of bureaucracy within GE opened the way for the development of effective business policies and helped the company to improve its performance fast.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In fact, the development of GE under the lead of Jack Welch involved the consistent reduction of the personnel of the company accompanied by the refusal of the company from unprofitable outlets. As a result, the company sold out unprofitable businesses and reduced the staff that allowed to save costs and to optimize its financial performance. The enhancement of the business development occurred due to the focus on profitable businesses only. The company has managed to enhance its marketing performance through the increase of revenue s and decrease of financial losses. Unprofitable outlets of the company were unbearable burden for the company. The sale of those outlets allowed the company to decrease its financial losses and helped to use revenues from profitable outlets to invest into new projects and improvement of their performance.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jack Welch fired 10% of bottom managers annually to maintain the competition within the company and keep managers motivated to improve their performance constantly to stay within the company. This strategy was tough but it stimulated the growth of the company because GE managed to improve the financial performance and improve its marketing performance steadily.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In addition, Jack Welch contributed to the development informal, personal relationships within the organization that also helped to eliminate bureaucratic barriers and improve the communication within the company. The development of inte rpersonal relations and elimination of bureaucratic barriers within GE contributed to the improvement of the organizational culture. The improvement of the atmosphere within the company contributed to the improvement of the organizational performance. Employees worked better in the light of the shift from the organizational performance that was deteriorating because of high bureaucratic barriers to the effective organizational performance.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Furthermore, Jack Welch diversified the business development of GE by shifting toward financial services from traditional industries, where GE operated. The diversification of the company’s business performance contributed to the enhancement of the position of the company because the company could compensate financial losses in some branches of the company by revenues from others. New industries and new businesses opened wider opportunities for the business development of the company and expansion of its market share.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thus, Jack Welch became the CEO, who has managed to reform and reconstruct GE consistently, making it one of the leaders in the US market. Jack Welch became the CEO, who has managed to introduce effective methods of the business development. In such a way, the company has managed to regain its position in the market. Moreover, Jack Welch has changed the business development of the company and the corporate philosophy. As a result, GE became the company with the effective business development, organizational structure and overall improvement of its business performance.

Silence is Brilliance essays

Silence is Brilliance essays During the 1920s, film making was a domain of curious discovery and unlimited potential. Directors and actors were constantly producing new stories and ideas to entertain their audiences to make lasting impressions. Two important figures in this era were Buster Keaton, master of physical comedy, and Charlie Chaplin, one of the most dedicated directors who ever graced the silver screen. Keatons comedy Steamboat Bill, Jr. and Chaplins The Kid are perfect examples to highlight these performers In Keatons Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928), directed by himself and Charles Reisner, there are a variety of cartoon-style gags and outrageous stunts set amongst a background of an interesting plot. Keaton uses the fish out of water scenario and creates a contrast between Bill, Jr., and his father. The relationship between father and son is a great way to express character development. The whole cast is full of memorable characters as well, such as the antagonist of the picture the captain of the opposing steamboat. Overall, Steamboat Bill, Jr. is a light-hearted comedy that combines slapstick humor, a little romance, memorable characters, and elaborate and sometimes dangerous stunts to reflect Opposite from Keaton, Chaplin took the more sentimental route with his film The Kid. Like most of his movies, the directing and writing were done by Chaplin himself. There are still gags and humor, but they are more though out and are more of a means to move the story along. For example, Chaplins character, the Tramp, and the kid work together by the kid breaking windows and the Tramp offering to fix them. This gag is an important part of the plot and is also an opportunity to portray their relationship. The theme of father and son is prominent in ...

Heart is a lonely hunter - symbology of music Essay

Heart is a lonely hunter - symbology of music - Essay Example When one reads â€Å"The Heart is a Lonely Hunter,† they can hear the sounds of music through the words, as music shapes the way that this entire novel is written. The language of the novel is sometimes written in such a way that makes it seem as though one is listening to music that is rhythmic and harmonious, such as when the depressing duets take place between Mick and Singer. At other times, however, the novel takes a different turn, as the language makes it seem as though one is listening to music that is harsh and discordant, such as when the final argument takes place between Jake and Dr. Copeland. Along with the different types of music that are portrayed in the novel, McCullers also enables us to experience silence, as in the case of singer, who is a mute (Big Read, 2). Not to mention, this novel is musical in that it deals with the polyphonic characteristics of words and phrases, as it relates to the structure of the complete novel (Fuller 57). McCullers is ingenious in how she creates different voices with the characters in the novel that have differing tones and sounds that are like different musical instruments, which are to represent the way their lives are, as well as their thoughts and what they are determined to do; yet, these voices sing similar notes, which are the two similar themes in which the novel is written around.