Analytical Essay Sample on Tess of the D#8217;Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

Analytical Essay Sample on Tess of the D#8217;Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy Wessex The fictionalized region of southwest England in which Hardy set all of his fiction. This region was somewhat backward in the late nineteenth century. Although industrialization had made the north of England and the region around London prosperous and modernized, southwest England was still rural, agricultural, and quite poor. Modern advancements in farming techniques were slow in coming to this region, and the transition to modernity was not easy. Hardy, who grew up and lived in the region, is particularly interested in showing the ways in which Wessex is caught between its old, traditional culture and modernization; little details showing this dilemma appear throughout Tess of the dUrbervilles and his other works. In some ways Wessex is as much a character in Hardys work as any of the people he depicts-and indeed, Tess is very much identified, physically and emotionally, with her surroundings in Wessex. Pure, purity Purity, both sexual and moral, is an important concept in Tess of the dUrbervilles. The word is used throughout the narrative with reference to Tess, and the subtitle of the book deems her A Pure Woman. (Even one of the inns where her father drinks is called The Pure Drop.) When applied to women in Victorian England, the concept of purity had specific reference to sexual chastity. By this definition, Tess very early on loses the right to be called pure. The word is nevertheless still applied to her. In this application, there is some degree of Hardys characteristic irony. But it also means something more. Hardy considers Tess pure because, despite her bodily state-that is, her loss of virginity-she is morally pure and innocent, uncorrupted by her hard life. When Hardy wrote this book, he knew that the characterization of a sexually fallen woman as pure would shock some readers, and indeed it did, but he thought it was important to show that the loss of virginity did not necessarily t horoughly corrupt a womans heart and mind. Dialect A localized way of speaking a language, distinct from standard usage. The local Wessex dialect is spoken by Tesss family and by the agricultural workers she knows, but Tess uses language closer to standard English. This is because she has been to school, where she has been taught a national standard version of the language. The change in speaking habits of people in Wessex and other areas of Britain was very much a hallmark of increasing modernization. As national schools and standards spread across the country, regional variations began to disappear. (This process is still ongoing, though it has been accelerated by radio and television.) Therefore, Tesss speech patterns are one more indicator of the way in which she is caught between the traditional world in which she was raised and the modern culture she confronts outside her village and home. Droit de seigneur An old custom of feudal days, in which lords had the right to demand sexual favors from peasant women bound to their estates. Although Hardy does not discuss the concept directly, this ancient custom has obvious relevance to Tesss plight with Alec dUrberville, who is a false lord but claims Tesss virginity nevertheless. Fallen, fallenness Middle-class Victorian ideas about womens sexuality were quite rigid and condemned women who engaged in any sort of sexual activity outside of marriage. It was thought that women who lost their virginity before marriage fell from their exalted position of chastity. This is one manifestation of the dichotomous view of women as either virgins or whores that has characterized much Western thought about the nature of women. In Victorian times the specific concept of fallenness took on a great deal of significance. It was thought that a woman who was fallen changed in her very nature-she might become not only more sinful, but more vain, unwilling to work, greedy, or otherwise immoral. This idea that fallen women were intrinsically different from and in all ways morally inferior to their pure or chaste counterparts is demonstrated in Tess of the dUrbervilles when Angel says to Tess that she is an entirely different person to him once he knows of her sexual past. Religious doubt The Victorian era was a deeply religious age, and faith was very important to many people in the era. Because of the great cultural significance of religion, the idea of religious doubt became controversial and much-publicized. In the later portion of the century, there were a large number of people who began to doubt the faith they had been taught. To some degree, this widespread doubt-which was particularly common among educated young men-can be attributed to scientific advances, particularly to the publication and general acceptance of Darwins evolutionary theories. When Angel Clare decides that he cannot believe literally in the principles of Christianity and decides not to become a clergyman, then, the event is not merely a personal decision. For readers, this would symbolize that he is a modern young man, participating in the intellectual and cultural movements of the day, however troubling this participation might have been to older people, for whom faith was still an importan t part of their culture. Fate, fatalism Hardy had a particular view of fate that plays itself out in most of his novels, and Tess of the dUrbervilles is no exception. Hardy believed that fate was a force that drove events, but that it was internal as well as external to people. In the case of Tess, her fate is largely driven by the discovery that she is a member of the old family of dUrberville. That fact of her existence is intrinsic to her-and, in Hardys view, it gives her certain character traits that condition her life-but it is also discovered through an external force, namely Parson Tringham. Because of this combination of internal and external forces, Hardy presents Tess as doomed almost from the very beginning. The novel concentrates very heavily on the ways in which Tess finds it impossible to escape her ultimate fate, because of the historical and cultural context in which she lives. This attitude that fate is inescapable, which is very characteristic of Hardy, particularly in his tragic later novels, is called f atalism. Banns Banns were an old-fashioned way of getting legal permission to marry. In this custom, an engaged couple had their names read out at church three Sundays in a row before the wedding could take place. Parishioners were told that they must object if they knew of any obstacle to the marriage. It was free to get married by banns, so they often used by the poor in preference to a license. Obtaining a marriage license from the state was both a more modern way of getting married and slightly more prestigious. Although Tess prefers getting married by license instead of banns because she is afraid that someone will tell Angel about her past, the marriage by license also symbolizes her wish to leave behind her sexual past and her class background as well as old traditions. You can order a custom essay, term paper, research paper, thesis or dissertation on Tess of the dUrbervilles topics at our professional custom essay writing service which provides students with custom papers written by highly qualified academic writers. High quality and no plagiarism guarantee! Get professional essay writing help at an affordable cost.

Imperialism and the US in 1900 essays

Imperialism and the US in 1900 essays Imperialism is the pursuit of colonial empires. Many countries took part in this, but none quite like the United States. The motivation that the United States had to get involved in such an enormous task was first shown in Samoa in 1889. After that important part of United States history, there were many more events that occurred in the eyes of United States imperialism. There were many positive aspects concerning Americas intervening with other countries affairs. These proved to shape the society of not only the U.S., but as well as the other countries which were involved. The reasoning behind the United States involvement was somewhat simple. Just as other countries, such as Great Britain, that were taking part in imperialism, the U.S. acted because of economic power as well as the reputation that they held among other countries. It seemed obvious that it was easier for an industrial worker to be aided by a machine. The number of products was significantly greater than before. In the mean time, while looking for new suppliers as well as new consumers (other countries), the U.S worried that there would be competition. America, just as many other industrialized nations, set out on a mission to colonize with the hopes of dominating the industrial world. Some felt that the U.S. needed to spread the Christian community and political system to other parts of the world. Although, others, such as Alfred Thayer Mahan, thought that the regions conquered overseas would make America more powerful and give them more steamship fueling stations and naval bases. This reason, rather than cultural aspects, led to the face-off between America, Great Britain, and Germany in Samoa in 1889. The U.S. gained control over Eastern Samoa, while Germany had conquered Western Samoa. The United States, throughout the next 18 years, would embark on many journeys to gain power and wealth, first in Cuba. Here, the U.S. saw...

The power given to judges by judicial review actions and the Human Essay

The power given to judges by judicial review actions and the Human Rights Act 1998 is unreasonable. - Analyse this statement - Essay Example Under certain restricted circumstances, the claimant is entitled to be awarded damages. In addition, the court may pass prohibitory or obligatory orders, restraining the authority from acting unlawfully or to force it to act in a lawful manner.2 As such, judicial review is customarily applicable to the exercise of statutory power, by a public body. It is quite infrequent, in such cases, for a court to disallow judicial review, on the grounds that the exercise of power was unrelated to the discharge of some public function or duty owed to the individual. Issues that in general fall outside the purview of judicial review are those that pertain to the initiation of military action against a hostile nation or the deployment of troops.3 Moreover, a public authority is precluded from breaching the rights provided by the European Convention on Human Rights via Human Rights Act 1998. In R (on the application of A and others) v. Partnerships in Care Ltd, a private mental health institution ha d forcibly restrained the claimant, in accordance with the provisions of the Mental Health Act 1983. The court ruled that this institution was discharging the function of a public authority, as provided for in section 6(3)(b) of the HRA.4 In addition, section 6(1) of the Human Rights Act 1998 requires the principal public authorities to ensure that the Convention rights are not infringed in their functions. In addition, section 6(3)(b) of the Human Rights Act 1998 directs that these public authorities have to ensure that their functions are in compliance with the rights provided by the Convention. The rights provided by the European Convention on Human Rights have largely been frustrated. This is due to the penchant of the courts to interpret section 6(3) of the Human Rights Act 1998, in such a manner that most of the organisations are not classified as a Public Authority. Furthermore, this distressing situation is exacerbated by the fact that the courts have not yet concluded, whet her a regulatory body constitutes a public authority. There are several cases that have challenged the legal effect of Acts of Parliament, in the UK. The decision in Factortame reduced the effectiveness of parliamentary sovereignty. In this case, the House of Lords suspended legislation, in order to establish that EC law had precedence over domestic law. In Jackson and others v Her Majesty’s Attorney General, the plaintiffs contented that the Parliament Act 1949 did not have legal effect as it was not an Act of Parliament. Consequently, the Hunting Act 2004 was also invalid, as it was not an Act of Parliament. This case dealt with whether the judiciary could challenge an Act of Parliament.5 Their Lordships dismissed the plaintiff’s argument and upheld the validity of the Hunting Act. It is indispensable for the courts to recognise the fact that power derived from the constitution is to be apportioned between the various governmental branches. This necessitates an appro ach founded on due deference towards the executive and legislature by the judiciary. It is not possible for supremacy to coexist in this environment.6 All the same, there are several issues, wherein the situation is muddled, due to a plethora of immaterial doctrinal instruments. In Aston Cantlow the House of Lords held that public authorities

The Legal and Ethical Environment of Business Essay - 3

The Legal and Ethical Environment of Business - Essay Example As a result of this open registration system, shipping companies that are located within the United States or other countries can register their ships in countries such as Liberia, Mangolia or Cyprus where the labor laws and environmental standards are much less stringent and thereby is able to escape liability for many of the regulations that are enforced upon ships registered in other countries. Harun Ur Rashid (2005) points out how the flag of convenience is one aspect of international shipping law that has allowed ships to escape liability for some of the worst accidents that have occurred, such as the oil spills off Spain’s northwest Coast on November 13, 2002, which was one of the worst environmental disasters in history, yet no liability could be pinned on the ship that was operating at below optimum standards. Ships can also escape liability for issues involving immigration and the liability of individual citizens of various countries who are employees on board its vessels. For example, the case of Empresa Hondurana de Vapores v McLeod involved an issue aboard a ship with a flag of convenience, which was registered in Honduras. The National Labor relations Board directed that an election be conducted among all foreign seamen aboard the ship. This was contested by the Honduran company that owned the ship as a violation of the private law of Honduras and thereby a violation of international treaty obligations1 as well as a violation of the United States Constitution itself. The Plaintiffs relied upon the case of Fay v Douds in which the Court held that district courts have jurisdiction over proceedings where constitutional rights are violated. The company therefore sought and won an injunction in a federal district court against the order of the National Labor relations Board on the basis that the Board had extended its jurisdiction into the foreign relations field through ordering such an election (Powar, 1962). Moreover, in

Issues in Multicultural Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Issues in Multicultural Education - Essay Example As part of the solution, the people who are involved comprise of the community elders who shall induct such teachers and mentors who have no difficulty in coming up with the standards and levels of the students and the ones who are gaining education in more than a single way. This is so needed because the same people are involved within the problem phase as are the ones in the solution element. The distinction of people depends entirely on how a task is cut out and what kind of activities come about with the passage of time under differential circumstances. The proposed solution is that the multicultural education is an important affair and should be treated with the required respect that it richly deserves (Bertera, 2007). The people involved with education and making the entire process possible are the ones who have to bring about a change, and that too for the betterment of all and sundry. This is because the multicultural education norms highlight the element of success that the community elders are instilling within the students who want to attain new heights and learn a number of new trades in the changing professional world of today. The proposed solution takes into account that the funding initiatives are handled properly and without much fuss. It would mean that the people involved at different levels find the best possible solution for collective growth and development of the students for which the multicultural education is in place in entirety. The elements that will be needed in order to implement the proposed solution comprise of the money issues that engulf the multicultural education in essence. This means that the multicultural education will only be seen as a point of strength if the educational levels are properly addressed and when there are enough budgeting inputs by the people who matter the most within the related domains of inculcating quality education within the diverse set of students. Thus the time element is also an important consid eration when one speaks of the aspect of multicultural education bringing in sound results (Oikonomidoy, 2009). The projected timeline to implement the solution is around a year’s time. This is the time during which the multicultural education would be exponentially enhanced and its success would therefore be dependent on significant steps, all of which are undertaken by the community members on a proactively consistent basis. This time is enough to analyze the problem at hand when one speaks of the multicultural education and its varied norms (Coutts, 2007). Also there would be enough time in between to take care of the negatives which would arise in the wake of undertaking certain steps. It would comprise of the steps that have been left unattended as well as the ones which were never fulfilled in the first place. The projected outcome of the entire exercise of multicultural education is that it will put the people in close perspectives of one another, and ask of them to br ing about success as it is required by the students.

Impact of Celebrity Endorsement on Purchasing Habits

Impact of Celebrity Endorsement on Purchasing Habits To what extent does branding and celebrity endorsement affect consumer purchasing habits? The three brands you shall be focusing on are Benetton, Dove and Nike. However much one denies it, we are all consumers and our buying habits are undoubtedly influenced by advertising. In the last two decades, corporate marketing strategies have fully embraced the notion of branding as the material product begins to take a back seat and lifestyles, attitudes, values and experiences[1] are to be had in all good shops. Nike, Dove and Benetton have enjoyed massive success in harnessing the potent marketing device of cultural identification; consumers associate products with a rounded way of life, identify with the image a product offers and succumb to the adverts insistence that the product is necessary. In considering the extent to which branding affects consumer purchasing habits, the fundamental question of whether advertising can change behaviour, or just modifies established attitudes is further complicated by a semiotic problem. Roland Barthes suggested that words and signs are interpreted differently by each individual, and that the interpretation i s influenced by cultural understanding and conditioning. If so, then the many complex signs involved in creating a brand must fit artfully into a system of linguistic understanding; therefore begging the question, is culture affected by advertising or do established cultural boundaries govern advertising methods? The Nike brand has long represented rebellion and individual will. The Just Do It tagline, accompanied by images of celebrated sportspersons, went on to promote heightened performance and success, a notion of striving to compete and win. Despite controversies over their use of sweatshops, Nike escaped economic setbacks; the sport shoes they made in the sweatshops were not, after all, necessarily their defining image. Nike is a swoosh tick, performance athletes, fitness, health. After a brand-threat in the early 1990s, the marketing industry came to the following conclusion the products that will flourish in the future will be the ones presented not as commodities but as concepts: the brand as experience, as lifestyle[2], and this is exactly the approach taken by Nike that has kept the company close to the top of a very competitive market. In No Logo, Klein puts forward the suggestion that consumers dont truly believe theres a huge difference between products, which is why brands must establish emotional ties[3]. Nikes shoes are worn by athletes who perform amongst other athletes wearing Reebok, Adidas, Puma and in order to compete in a consumer market they must enter the consumers mind and find a unique way to stay there. Of late, the notion of individuality, revolution and victory have accompanied Nikes renowned air of rebelliousness; as with many modern campaigns, Nikes advertising targets consumers who are seeking to find individuality and respect in these sports goods. To further endorse the notion of the winning Nike lifestyle, Nikes website is exciting, flashy and aggressive; the advent of the internet has offered companies like Nike a fully-enhanced endorsement of their culturally apt product, and provides an arena is which advertising can become increasingly more involved in peoples everyday lives. This invasion of brands into our homes surely increases the opportunity for a product to become a necessity in consumers lives. Companies branding is about thirstily soaking up cultural ideas and iconography that their brands could reflect by projecting these ideas and images back on the culture as extensions of their brands[4], but the question still remains as to whether our established cultural understanding is created by or an obstruction to advertising. Remaining with the idea that a brand sells a lifestyle rather than a mere product, the recent change in direction with Doves (Unilever) endorsement of its skincare products is a particularly interesting event. It seems that Dove is to be congratulated on its Campaign for Real Beauty, which is a catalyst for activating Doves beauty philosophy and to announce a wider, more refreshing view on beauty[5], especially in a media climate that can still be criticised for its promotion of a very narrow definition of beauty. Whilst there is more harm than good in Doves campaign, it must not be forgotten that however moralistic a company may seem it still has profit as its central focus. To dismiss Dove as a product line that is using its consumers most sensitive issues to its advantage would be too partial an investigation when the very essence of a brand is in finding the most permanent method to win a consumers affections. Similarly to Nike, the Dove brand stands for the individual will to be; using their product will enhance your identity, help in your definition of a self that will fit in to the norms of society. Dove and Nike have both achieved the corporate transcendence [6] as outlined by Klein; in which a company transcends its product and becomes a free-standing meaning. The meanings implied in advertisements for branded products plumb the depths of our basic and universal needs and desires; their glossy images and suggestive language show us the way to be happy. Gain happiness through successful competition thanks to Nike, happiness brought on by the smooth skin and self-respect Dove can achieve whatever the route to happiness, a brand denies all barriers. The glossy adverts serve to influence our buying behaviour by offering an essentially better life. Celebrity endorsement of brands is part of the very construct of the brand itself. A product need only be associated with David Beckham and it’s representative of him; celebrities are established constructs with which consumers already identify and their use in advertising is a guarantee of the product’s quality. Celebrity is seen as the award for talent (be that physical or intellectual), so celebrity endorsement of products is certain to have an effect on consumer attitudes as the connection between the celebrity and a lifestyle already exist. In this sense, celebrities are respected members of society whose opinions are trusted; whilst a brand will fail if the product is particularly poor, even a mediocre brand will inevitably succeed if the right kind of celebrity (like Nike’s collection of experts; the famous athletes) to allow their lifestyle to be representative of a product. It is becoming clear that brands are invading society to the point where it is virtually impossible to tell the different between culture and branding. Sports are sponsored, entertainment is sponsored, the home is branded along with clothes, cosmetics and essential hygiene products; we form particular attitudes towards brands through various associations within life, through ‘brand advertising, word of mouth, peer influence, habits’[7]. Through all this, brands bombard us by positioning themselves within our life’s situations until they are ingrained as our cultural associations to activities and emotions. It comes to the point where, if brands have become ‘not products but ideas, attitudes, values and experiences, why can’t they be culture too?’[8] It is no longer possible to confidently say whether, in a branded world, consumers are capable of making autonomous purchasing choices. The case comes to United Colors of Benetton; so renowned for their controversial advertising campaign of birds covered in oil and new born babies. It was suggested that Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty is impoverished by the company’s profit-driven morals, but Benetton’s shocking images and their intended interpretations take exploitation a big step further. Benetton’s campaign tried to ’associate the name of the retailer with concern for social problems’[9], therefore invoking a cultural conscience in consumers and almost certainly having a strong influence on consumer purchasing habits. In an exposed global society, consumers are beginning to deal with a guilty conscience about the imbalance of wealth and aid in the world and brands like Nike, Dove and Benetton offer a individual-centred quick-fix solution to that concern. The irony that we are spending the cash which is the source of our guilt surely does not escape us; we continue to searc h for brands that epitomise our sense of self, our morals, our personalities. Advertisements are specifically designed to win us over on these very basic grounds and, whilst it may seem a paradox, branding will continue to effect consumer habits so long as the consumer exists in an consumer-led society. References Barthes, R. Image Music Text. London: Fontana: 1984 Corner, J and Pels, D (eds.) Media and the Restyling of Politics: consumerism, celebrity, cynicism. London: SAGE: 2003 Day, N. Advertising Information or Manipulation? Enslow Publications: United Kingdom: 1999 Heath, R. The hidden power of adveritisng: how low involvement processing influences the way we choose brands. Henley-on-Thames: Admap Publications: 2001 Jones, J.P. What s in a name? Advertising and the concept of brands. Armonk, N.Y: M.E Sharpe: 2003 Klein, N. No Logo. London: Harper Collins: 2000 Myers, G. Adworlds: brands, media, audiences. London: Arnold: 1998 Myers, G. Words in Ads. London: Arnold: 1994 Tanaka, K. Advertising Language a pragmatic approach to advertising in Britain and Japan. London: Routledge: 1994 Vestergaard, T. and Schrà ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚ ¸eder, K. The Language of Advertising. Oxford: Blackwell: 1986 www.benetton.com 04/05/05 www.dove.com 04/05/05 www.nike.com 04/05/04 1 Footnotes [1] No Logo p.30 [2] No Logo p.21 [3] as above p.20 [4] as above p.29 [5] www.dove.com [6] No Logo p.21 [7] What’s in a Name? p.235 [8] No Logo p.30 [9] Words in Ads p.10

Cold War :: essays research papers

Cold War My first inclination would be to answer the first question with a clear "YES". But come to think of it, the causes of war really have not changed at all, or at least very little. Rather than changes, there has been a shift in the causes. The cause of war which has dominated the last 50 years was the cause of ideology. However, due to the recent end of the Cold War, this cause of war, has significantly declined and is almost trivial. The causes of war have shifted from mainly ideological ones to economic, ethnic and others. Although these reasons have always played a role as causes of war throughout history, they were in the last 50 years overshadowed by the cause of ideology. Now, with ideology not on top of the agenda anymore, these causes have regained their importance. After the second World War the world was dominated by two superpowers; the USA and the USSR. The Cold War was a result of this division of power and of the important policy of spheres of influence. In the post WWII-era the Americans thought that the Russians were aiming to incorporate Western Europe (the US & British sphere of influence) into their sphere of influence (Eastern Europe) by supporting the communists in these countries. Their fears were enforced when a "coup substituted communist for coalition rule in Prague." (Calvocoressi, p.15)(even though this is an Eastern European Country, the fact that a coup was staged against a democratic government is reason enough to raise their fears). In this ideologically hostile environment the Cold War began. It was characterised by the arms race between the two superpowers who were eager to preserve their spheres of influence. Both developed such powerful weapons which were too dangerous to be used in practice, but which contributed to the feeling of security, because they acted as deterrent. (These weapons could be used "politically"[as deterrent] but not "militarily"[since they would bring complete annihilation].) "Each side armed itself to win a war which it expected the other to begin but for which it had no stomach and no plans." (Calvocoressi p.4) Europe was a very stable area in the post-WWII era. All the conflicts between the superpowers, were never directly between US and Soviet troops, but in these conflicts one superpower supported one side and the other one the other side. These were staged in the Middle-East, Africa, and Asia.