Explore Shakespeare(TM)s Presentation of Lady Macbeth Essay

In the time Shakespeare was writing Macbeth there were many new ideas and concepts coming forward and the country was changing. There was growing tension between parliament and the King, resulting in many debates about kingship and what makes a good king and growing tension between Protestants and Catholics, resulting in plots and rebellion like the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. There were sharp divisions between rich and poor and society at the time was dominated by men. The church was very influential. Plays at the time often reflected political situations and taught moral lessons, and Macbeth, written in the early 1600s, echoes all the changes and tension present in the country at the time. In particular, Shakespeare focuses on the issues of kingship through Macbeth’s struggles to, and on, the throne but it is Lady Macbeth that demonstrates how women were perceived in the male-dominated culture and the links between good and evil that are subtly examined by Shakespeare throughout the play. The way that women were perceived in Shakespeare’s time is shown by widespread belief in witchcraft. Witches were believed to be women who had sold their soul to the devil in exchange for doing evil deeds. This suggests that women at the time could not be too powerful or independent and that women were maybe the inferior sex as they were easily coaxed into evil. The widespread belief in the supernatural is repeated often in Macbeth, often in the form of the three witches. The opening scene features the three witches hinting that there is lots of wrongdoing to come in the play. The three witches are also all women, showing that women were often behind evil-doing. How women were perceived and expected to behave is further suggested when Lady Macbeth receives Macbeth’s letter recounting his encounter with the witches. At the beginning of the scene Lady Macbeth is seen to be acting conventionally, reading a letter that has been sent by her husband whilst he is away in battle. This is how women were expected to behave – to wait patiently for their husbands to return and to care for the home and family. So far she is acting as any women should but after reading the letter, Lady Macbeth’s attitude quickly changes. Instead of acting conventionally, she begins to show more masculine traits. She thinks that Macbeth is â€Å"too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way† which is not how a conventional women would think. She is thinking of murder which would be too ruthless and brutal for a conventional woman to contemplate. This also shows that Lady Macbeth is taking the manly role rather than Macbeth, as Macbeth is described as being too kind, a trait that is more womanly than masculine. Her unconventional behaviour continues when she decides to persuade Macbeth to kill to fulfil the witches’ prophecies. â€Å"Hie thee hither, that I may pour my spirits in thine ear† she commands of the absent Macbeth. She is seeking to control Macbeth and give him orders, but wives of the time were expected to obey their husbands. There is also a suggestion that she is evil and supernatural, as she has ‘spirits’ to pour into Macbeth but this may be a suggestion that women were perceived as being manipulative. The letter itself is an important part in demonstrating what is going on inside the characters’ minds. The letter is written in prose; Shakespeare uses prose for low characters or character with an abnormal state of mind. This suggests that either Lady Macbeth or Macbeth are not thinking how they should, which links back to the fact that Lady Macbeth is acting eccentrically, or that they are planning to perform a low deed – the murder of King Duncan for their own gain. The language used by Lady Macbeth further suggests the mindset that she is in. She commands â€Å"come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here† which uses harsh and unpleasant language, showing how Lady Macbeth is acting. It is also in the imperative, so she is making an order which is not a feminine thing to do. Once Macbeth enters, Lady Macbeth takes control of the situation. â€Å"Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t† she commands Macbeth whom she should be obeying, not ordering around. The line itself is a biblical metaphor which brings in the idea that Lady Macbeth is like Eve in the Garden of Eden – she places temptation and evil in front of Macbeth which he otherwise would not have contemplated doing. Lady Macbeth takes complete control of the situation when she excluded Macbeth from any of the planning of the deed – â€Å"Leave all the rest to me†. She is not acting like a woman here as she is being stronger in spirit than a man and she is disobeying her husband. Lady Macbeth’s masculinity is further explored when she manipulates Macbeth into agreeing to the murder by questioning his masculinity. â€Å"When you durst do it, then you were a man†, she is saying that when he thought up the idea of killing the king he was being manly but now, when he is backing out of it, he is not. The idea that violence equates to masculinity is shown by Macbeth’s adoration of Lady Macbeth’s masculine qualities. After she says that she would have â€Å"dash’d the brains out† of a baby if she had said she would, Macbeth says â€Å"For thy undaunted mettle should compose nothing but males† as he believes that she is so masculine inside that she cannot even create anything feminine. Due to this, Lady Macbeth cannot be acting as a woman should be as violence and aggression were not feminine qualities. The language she uses in the scene is taunting as she is mocking Macbeth. She likens Macbeth to â€Å"the poor cat i’ the adage† making him an object of pity and stupidity and so ridiculing him and undermining his masculinity. A woman of the time should not be acting like this as they were expected to be obedient to the husband’s wishes and not to manipulate them as Lady Macbeth is doing. As Lady Macbeth says that she would dash a baby’s brain out, this brings to mind the idea of witches, as typical ingredients to a potion or spell may include objects from innocent children. It may have also been believed that witches stole and killed infants and as Lady Macbeth is willing to do so, it suggests that she is a like a witch. Her lack of a child with Macbeth might also have made her more willing to suggest that she would kill a baby as she would not have any maternal urges towards sheltering any babies. Macbeth goes to commit the murder whilst Lady Macbeth stays behind wondering how he is faring. At this point, Lady Macbeth can be said to act conventionally as she is waiting for her husband to return from doing an unpleasant act that was deemed unacceptable for women to do. Her streak of femininity is continued as she begins to worry. â€Å"Alack, I am afraid they have awaked† she says to herself showing that she is worrying about either the plan or Macbeth. If she is worrying about the plan failing, that could be argued to be a feminine trait as typically women worry more than men. If she is worrying about Macbeth and his safety, this would mean she is acting as a conventional wife as she is showing concern for her husband, as a wife should do. Some vulnerability is shown by Lady Macbeth as she tells of her reason why she could not have committed the murder herself. â€Å"Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done ‘t† she says, demonstrating that she has a feminine side as she was obviously fond of her father – affection being a feminine trait. Once Macbeth returns from the deed however, Lady Macbeth’s masculine traits return as she takes control of the situation to ensure their plan goes without a glitch. When Macbeth seems to regret killing Duncan, Lady Macbeth chastises him; when he thinks that the blood on his hands is a sorry sight she tells him â€Å"a foolish thought, to say a sorry sight† as she believes that it was not a bad thing to commit the crime. This means that she has returned to being masculine as a women would be shocked at the thought of murder and would be jolted by the blood on Macbeth’s hands. The idea of witchcraft comes up when Macbeth says he â€Å"could not say â€Å"Amen,† when they did say â€Å"God bless us!†. Being unable to say a prayer was said to be a sign of being bewitched, so Macbeth could be under Lady Macbeth’s spell as he is committing the murder against his will and it is only due to her manipulation that he is doing it. It could also be said that Lady Macbeth is acting like Eve as she has placed the temptation of a bad deed in front of Macbeth and coaxed him into doing it, like Eve did to Adam in the Garden of Eden. While she is trying to calm Macbeth she uses lots of imperative language. â€Å"Consider it not so deeply† she commands him. Once again it is Lady Macbeth doing all the commanding when it should be Macbeth that should be commanding her. Shakespeare uses stagecraft to show the audience Lady Macbeth’s contribution to the murder. She takes the daggers from Macbeth once he refuses to, showing the audience that she is in control and that she has an equal part in the murder as Macbeth and suggests that she will suffer the same consequences for the deed. After the murder has taken place, others find out that the king is dead. To protect both her and Macbeth, Lady Macbeth uses her femininity. With the others discussing the murder, she pretends she knows nothing of it and the horror of it makes her swoon; â€Å"Help me hence, ho!† she cries as she faints. Earlier on, Macduff had said that the news of the murder would kill a woman instantly, so Lady Macbeth is fulfilling this stereotype that women were unable to cope with bad news. This also helps to divert the suspicion from herself and her husband as it is showing the news of Duncan’s death is new to her. Her manipulation of the situation and of the men present shows how she may be perceived as evil as she seems to be innocent when she in fact is guilty. This links back to the perceptions of witches who would take normal human forms but be evil beneath the innocent faà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ade. With the king murdered, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth take the throne. Their perceived superiority is shown by the use of the Royal ‘we’. â€Å"Ourself will mingle with society† Macbeth says to his guests at the banquet he throws in his honour, suggesting he perceives himself to be royalty, although it is not rightfully his. At this time, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are acting conventionally – he is being the perfect host, while she is behaving as a woman should, staying out of the way until her husband summons her. â€Å"Our hostess keeps her state, but in best time we will require her welcome† Macbeth says to his guests, suggesting that he is in control of what Lady Macbeth does. This shows that Lady Macbeth is acting as a wife of the time should be. Nevertheless, Lady Macbeth soon begins to act unconventionally when Macbeth begins to lose control of the situation and draws suspicion towards themselves of the murders that they have committed. As Macbeth hallucinates and believes he is seeing the ghost of Banquo, Lady Macbeth tried to persuade him into acting normally. â€Å"Are you a man?† she questions him, taunting his lack of masculinity at his fear of his own imagination. This is not how women of the time should be acting as they should be comforting their husbands rather than mocking them; it was their duty to care for the home and the family. Throughout the play, Lady Macbeth is shown as a strong and masculine character but after the murders, she begins to lose her mind. A doctor is summoned as she is sleepwalking; this is â€Å"a great perturbation in nature, to receive at once the benefit of sleep, and do the effects of watching†. This is saying that it is unnatural to sleep and walk and this links back to the idea of witchcraft. People who were bewitched or possessed would act unnaturally, suggesting that Lady Macbeth is bewitched. To show the audience that Lady Macbeth is losing her mind, Shakespeare changes the language that she uses. During her sleepwalking speech, Lady Macbeth talks in prose, rather than blank verse to show to the audience Lady Macbeth’s descent into madness. Shakespeare also employs stagecraft to show the audience what Lady Macbeth is feeling. While she is sleepwalking, she performs the action of washing her hands – ‘Yet here’s a spot†¦ Out, damned spot! Out, I say!’. This is to show the audience that she is trying to wash the blood off of her hands and so wash herself free of the guilt she feels for the murders. Through the entire play, Lady Macbeth is shown to have two sides, to have a seemingly innocent side and then to have a masculine, manipulative and evil side. With this manly and sinful streak, Lady Macbeth managed to influence her husband into committing crimes that he would not have committed on his own willpower. Because of this, Lady Macbeth could be said to be the one to blame for all the crimes that her husband committed; Macbeth can be said to be a â€Å"butcher† and Lady Macbeth his â€Å"fiendlike queen†. Rarely does Lady Macbeth act as women should act and this could be Shakespeare showing that women have an immoral and controlling side which they do not show.

Tourism of Hungary

After the turn of the century tourism of Hungary was not considerable. The only destinations were the capital, some more famous provincial towns and spas. In the years after the World War I tourism of the country regressed. The conscious expansion of tourism began in 1920. Between the two World Wars Budapest had significant tourism traffic, Lake Balaton, mountains of Matra and Bukk, Danube Bend, certain provincial towns and villages, which were rich in folk art values, were important destinations. After World War II the international tourism reduced to a minimum in our country. However, in this time the inland tourism started to increase quickly. In 1960, as the political atmosphere eased, the number of foreign tourists grew. At first the most of these tourists came from the socialist countries. After the 1990's the number of foreign tourists approached 40 million. It goes without saying that Lake Balaton was a remarkable attraction among German tourists because its closeness and cheapness in comparision with the seaside. But this meant incomeonly in the summer for Hungarian tourism. Nowadays, in any periods of the year, who comes here can find various pastimes to their taste. Hungary is exuberant in thermal and curative wells, due to that in the recent years the number of wellness hotels raised. These attracts mainly adults and families with children. Lately Hungary became a popular destination among young people because of countless festivals organized in the country, such as VOLT and Sziget Festival which are visited by people from all around the world. In the section of cultural tourism should be mentioned the outstanding Hungarian theaters and the world-famed Ballet Association of Gyor. For any age-groups can be luring the innumerable natural beauties, landscapes and attractions which are parts of the World Heritage. There are variant areas that delights everyone's eyes with its folklore. The most independent activity from weather is sightseeing. Still the most beloved city of Hungary is Budapest, but other cities and towns such as DebrecenGyor and Pecs are becoming more popular day by day. By the way Pecs is going to be the cultural capital of Europe in 2010. Last but not least we can not forget about Hungarian gastronomy, the delicious dishes and the prominent wines of Tokaj wine-district.

Ideology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ideology - Essay Example The French philosopher Destutts de Tracy used the term to designate an epistemological position with respect to the origins of ideas. 2. Napoleon Bonaparte then used "ideologist" to designate fuzzy-minded revolutionary intellectuals, especially those associated with Destutts de Tracy. 3. Karl Marx used ideology to designate philosophical positions that claimed to be statements of natural law (e.g. political economy), but which when unmasked could be seen to be "really" deceptive defenses of capitalism. 4. Terry Eagleton in his book ‘Ideology an /introduction’, described ideology in the following manner: the process of production of meaning, signs & value in social life; a body of ideas characteristic of a particular social group or class; ideas/ false ideas which help to legitimate a dominant political power; systematically distorted communication; that which offers a position of a subject; forms of thought motivated by social interests and identity thinking; socially ne cessary illusion; the conjuncture of discourse and power; the medium in which conscious social actors make scenes of the world; action-oriented sets of beliefs; the confusion of linguistic and phenomenal reality; semiotic closure; the indispensable medium in which individuals live out their relations to a social structure.; The process whereby social life is converted to a natural reality. There are three aspects to the definition of ideology. First, ideology is a set of ideas; it isn’t a person, an act, or a type of society. A person can believe in an ideology, an act can be motivated by an ideology, and a society can be prearranged in reference to an ideology, yet they themselves are not ideologies. Second, ideology is a set of ideas that tries â€Å"justifying† by providing an incorrect reason for inequality. Third, ideology is a set of ideas that tries â€Å"justifying† an unequal social, economic, or political system. Not all types of inequities are justifi ed by the ideas in an ideology, only those describing certain kinds of social arrangements, economic or political systems. Ideologies are also understood in three different kinds of languages: religious, philosophical and scientific. This makes them seem as if they are real and rational. It’s easier to picture an ideology from the past than one from the present. It is easy to see how the godly status of the pharaoh in ancient Egypt served an ideological objective. Yet which are the ideologies that exist today, and what kind of language would they use as reasoning for inequality and the control of society today? An example of a current dominant ideology is the beliefs that if you can afford to buy say, a luxurious yacht / personal helicopter, and then you should be free to spend that money any way you choose. But, of course, some people might rightly believe that there are many people in society who work very hard indeed and yet would never be able to afford such a luxury as a yacht / personal helicopter. They might say that the wealth generated within society should be more fairly shared between the so-called 'haves' and the 'have nots'. They might worry too that the power that can be wielded by someone who is wealthy enough to own a yacht is far in excess of the power that could be wielded by a poor person Any set of ideas dominating our culture or society represents ideology. For example different religions that are practiced in our world like Islam, Catholicism, Liberalism, and Marxism are different ideologies as each has a different way of thinking and living. Similarly, there are different family structures that we see around, like

Revisions Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Revisions - Thesis Example arch has studied if existing immigration and border control systems are enough to prevent illegal immigration, as well as existence of psychological and logical aspects related to the illegal immigrants and immigration to use them as a tool to infiltrate terrorists to the USA Since the discovery of the continent, everyone other than Native Americans, who are living in the US, are descendant from immigrants and slaves. By the late seventeenth century, nonnative individuals formed seventy-five percent of the American population (History of Immigration Law in the USA). At first, the U.S. government promoted wide-open immigration in the pursuit of settling as much territory as possible. However, after the Civil War different states began to adopt their own immigration statues. In 1875, US Supreme court brought the immigration laws under federal jurisdiction. In 1891, US Congress established Immigration Service (History of Immigration Law in the USA) and started implementing immigration laws. Early immigration laws were designed to control US population structure. For example, 1790 Naturalization Act limited European and Caucasian descendent immigration, 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act made immigration from China illegal. Likewise, ethnicity, the government was al so worried about moral composition of the US population. Congress, between 1872-1890 passed laws constraining the immigration of several groups that included prostitutes, criminals, mentally ill, and financially unstable individuals. In the late 19th century, the government became concerned about native laborers. In 1885 and 1887, Congress passed first laws restricting immigration based on economic reasons. Congress during 1900 to 1921 instituted a â€Å"quota system† guaranteeing permission to a set number of individuals from each ethnic group. In 1924, Congress established the first branch of border control to monitor immigration from Canada and Mexico (History of Immigration Law in the USA). In

Biber's Rosary Sonatas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Biber's Rosary Sonatas - Essay Example The fifteen sets of pieces are each in a different scordatura or a returning of the violin and the divisions between the sets are clearly marked booth by the scordatura indications and by the engravings that each set (Brewer 2011). Heinrich Biber was known in his time as a virtuoso on the violin and his writing that is meant for the instrument pushes the performer to greater levels of technical skills by employing the use of a number of stops that are designed to develop independent polyphonic lines as the main feature of his style. In addition, he had mastered scordatura which was the tuning of the instrument in such a manner that was not the regular tuning. His Mystery sonatas are good evidence of his use of scordatura in the entire musical repertoire. In the Sonata number eleven, scordatura is employed to make the chosen key that is G major more brilliant and to make the string crossings that are normally difficult to execute, easier to play (Roden, Wright and Simms, 2010). Biber was considered to be the finest practitioner that existed of the art of the scordatura and the only person that could be able to match his skills was J Walther (Sadie 1998). The Rosary Sonatas for solo violin and continuo that are created by Biber are the most famous violin music today next to Corelli’s that were created in the seventeenth century. The curious programmatic design, the amazing virtuoso techniques and the unique varieties of scordatura are basically the sources of the fame that is accorded to them.

Open Kitchen Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Open Kitchen - Article Example The former is where all the kitchen activities and the myriad of objects usually in the kitchen is open for viewing of the general public - the consumer/s which comprised of families, couples, friends and just plain hungry people. Intuitively, we may think of the closed kitchen as a kitchen where the customers do not see the food and utensil preparation process. They have no idea of what is happening in the room separated from all other parts of the dining area of the restaurant because of the boundaries such as cement, wood or opaque glass. The question now that concerns us is whether to choose an open kitchen or not. As we will see later in this paper, both scenarios have their advantages and disadvantages for the labor side (chef and assistant cooks) and even for the consumer side (customers). However, we argue that one is more appropriate than the other. Such a claim needs backing and this is what the paper is precisely what this paper aims for - to offer points that can help the kitchen designer in deciding which is more effective, appealing, efficient and attractive for those waiting at the dining table. In the early days, cooking was mainly a public affair especially for the Greek and Roman soldiers who had their rations cooked in a large containers place over burning wood. (Harrison, 1972). However, with the amount of smoke generated and having slaves as their cooks, ensuing generations of food establishments, mostly bars and inns, progressively placed cooking in a separate room. Thus, the open kitchen now transformed to the close type. Describing Closed Kitchens Closed kitchens are spaces not open to the view of the customer. In this setting, cooks and their assistants conduct food preparations such as chopping, slicing and dicing. Stoves and ovens (which nowadays are combined in a single equipment) can be located at the sides or placed at the middle aisle which makes it more accessible to both sides thereby facilitating the cooking process and maximizing space. However, the latter configuration presents some danger especially during rush hours where accidents can occur. Refrigerators are placed at the sides as well as sinks and preparation tables. Some closed kitchens have the dishwashing area incorporated in the room while others have another connected extra room. Exhaust systems are usually placed above stoves to take out heat and smoke as fast as possible. Remember that several stoves and oven besides from blending and other equipments are emitting heat and this should be taken out as fast as possible so as not to further irritate the a lready stressed cook. (Kitchens.It, 2007) The settings in closed kitchen can get very busy and very chaotic. Nevertheless, the trained cook is expected to be able to deal with such situations. What is important to note, however, is that closed kitchens tend to get messy, noisy and smelly and the environment can sometimes get very tense. Figure 1 (a) and (b) presents two usual closed kitchen layouts. (a) (b) Figure 1: Closed kitchens where (a) food preparation is at the middle and (b) stoves occupy the middle setting Source: Google Open Kitchen Images (2007) Open Kitchen Layouts Since the kitchen is open to the public, designers make sure that there is not much dangling cooking utensils. Instead, these are arranged in the preparation table or are sometimes placed in drawers incorporated in t

Jefferson State Community College Birmingham, AL Campus Police Research Paper

Jefferson State Community College Birmingham, AL Campus Police - Research Paper Example This essay will review the campus police department at the Jefferson State Community College Birmingham, addressing several factors about the police department. These factors include issues such as the jurisdiction that the department covers, the primary crime problems and measures taken to prevent them, the campus crime trends over the past five years, how the department interacts with other law enforcement agencies, qualifications of officers in the department, training and certification of the officers and campus statistics among other issues. Introduction Campus or university police in the US and other countries are sworn law enforcement agents deployed to colleges and universities with a view to provide protection in the campus and its environs, and persons who visit, work or live in it. In Jefferson State Community College, the Jefferson State Police Department is tasked with upholding law and order in the community. These officers are sworn personnel who work in collaboration with campus security officers to contain and prevent crimes and civil unrest problems such as riots and other unruly behavior by students in and around the campus premises. While campus police sometimes employ and train students to serve as escorts to other students, campus police in Jefferson State Community College have the ultimate task of ensuring overall security throughout the entire campus. Jefferson State Community College campus police have immeasurable merit in the performance of their duties within the diverse college community. Discussion Jurisdiction Covered by the Campus Police Department The Jefferson State Community College campus police has jurisdiction over all accidents that take place on campus grounds. The campus police are tasked with completing all the necessary accident reports necessitated by state and federal law. In addition, the campus police assist students who encounter vehicular problems while on campus grounds. In addition, the campus police departmen t entails the protection of life and property within the campus. This encompasses students and college faculty and the college’s property, as well as individuals’ property (JSCC, 2011). It is also within the campus police jurisdiction to keep up a successful and efficient parking system within the campus and maintain a viable traffic system that allows for easy movement in and around the college premises. The police also provide driving directions for those who work, visit, or live on the college premises. It is also the campus police department’s work to report serious crimes to law enforcement agencies and assist the latter in conducting investigations. Moreover, the campus police officers, who have fully-fledged arresting powers, ensure law and order by arresting disorderly and unruly members of the college community and presenting them to the school’s disciplinary committee. The Jefferson State Community College campus police are also mandated with th e response, investigation, as well as prosecution of criminal indignations that take place on campus grounds. Crime Problems and Preventative Measures The predominant crime problems within the campus are burglary, road accidents, possession and distribution of drugs, disorderly conduct and possession of firearms. In order to prevent the incident of in-campus road accidents, the campus requires that all students