An Analysis Of William Shakespeare’s Othello

An Analysis Of William Shakespeare’s Othello There are many powerful stories in the world. Tales of intrigue, revenge and redemption. But it is the skilful craft of storytelling which makes these narratives memorable. Narratives which are well told that involve the compelling characterisation of complex individuals, an engaging and suspenseful plot which reflect the values of the narratives context and masterful use of language to create a story which has withstood the test of time. Great storytelling appeals to the audience with its engaging plot through the universal themes that have been demonstrated in the tragedy of both Othello and New Boy through their individual context, utilising the Aristotelian elements. William Shakespeare’s Othello has been reimagined by Tracy Chevalier, where she encapsulates the solid and timeless themes of jealousy, duplicity and the use of the tragic hero and transports them onto a school playground. With the shift in time, from the 17th Century Venice in Othello, to New Boy’s much more contemporary era, 1970’s Washington DC, the same themes are explored in both texts and are used to their full potential. So, what is it that makes Othello so powerful and memorable that its’ story can be reimagined to todays time? How skilfully the story must be moulded so the untouched themes can fit the drastic change in context? â€Å"A tragedy is the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself; in appropriate and pleasurable language;†¦ in a dramatic rather than narrative form; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish a catharsis of these emotions.† â€Å"A cartharsis of pity and fear†, that is what has made Othello so memorable. Words spoken by the famous Greek philosopher, Aristotle, has recognised the basis of what consists of powerful storytelling, the plot, the character, the melody, and has aided some of the most classic and timeless stories having Othello being one of them. When Chevalier chose to mirror Othello in New Boy, she felt that â€Å"an American school playground† would be most appropriate, where there is active evidence of dramatic affairs taking place, a clear order of hierarchy and a lot of room for drama. All these factors that come with the playground context make room for Chevalier to write a more contemporary version of Othello, where the times and values have changed. One thing Chevalier noticed in Othello was the lack of the involvement of the ladies in the play as the values of the people at the time saw women as weak and submissive, so she chose to give the girls in New Boy, Dee, Mimi and Blanca more of a voice, fitting to today’s contemporary era as the feminism movement grows stronger. This would appeal to a wider audience considering ‘girl power’ is much more prominent today compared to the 16th century when Othello was written, further making New Boy a powerful narrative through time whilst still encap sulating those same timeless themes of jealousy and duplicity. Characters are what bring the story to life. Compelling characters are what keep the story alive. Othello is an outsider, a moor in Venice and has eloped with the most sought-after girl in the city. Osei is a new boy, the Ghanaian son of a diplomat and has earned the title of ‘Dee’s boyfriend’. Sound similar yet? This is what makes these characters complex. They’re not one-dimensional and have sides to them which are revealed throughout the play and novel. The tragic heroes of both Othello and New Boy have been developed and twisted by the antagonists, Iago and Ian respectively. They have been adapted for the sake of creating what the author feels best about how to intensify their story, how to mould each character and their perspectives by utilising the language forms, with one being a drama and another, a novel. The skill of crafting a story is essentially how well the author can shape the language forms and features to create and enriching experience tha t highlights the core themes and the context. Through time, the concept of an unreliable narrator has only recently been coined, where the narrator’s credibility is questioned, and the perspective of other characters has been closed off by the author. This concept has been recognised by Chevalier as her novel can be read from the point of view of many characters. Not only has she created an unbiased view but her deliberate choice of a playground setting has created intensity by concentrating all the drama into one day and one setting. She makes her novel follow the recognisable language features that are prominent throughout Othello, the motifs of the handkerchief and the pencil case, the bestial imagery, having race as a line defining who the outsiders are, only to showcase how the shift in time from when Othello to when New Boy was written is very much reliant on how those same themes and language features is being represented. Shakespeare’s Othello, however, has bee n a culprit of potentially having unreliable narration. The conscious choice of exploring the aspects of jealousy and manipulation through a play has restricted Shakespeare by limiting him to create the multiple perspectives, which is what builds up intensity. Instead, he depends on the dramatic irony and soliloquys that are mostly presented by the malign Iago. He’s first shown as an intriguing character, â€Å"Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners: so that if we will plant nettles, or sow lettuce†¦either to have it sterile with idleness or manured with industry, why the power and corrigible authority of this lies in our wills.† Presenting himself in this soliloquy as the ‘master gardener’ because of his great self-control over himself and his actions and his ability to plant the seeds of doubt and jealousy in Othello’s mind. This powerful and skilful use of language features, with the analogy about the garden is used by Shakespeare to enhance and further contribute to the characterisation of Iago, to mould his perspective of himself and others, creating dramatic irony which further involves the audience making the play more powerful. Shakespeare also explores Othello’s language as he uses Iago as a puppet that works on him, showing the decline of his character through how his language has changed. His once calm and edu cated tone, twisting him into a â€Å"Green-eyed monster†. The character development that has been written for Othello is remarkable. Watching him undergo a transformation that makes him so fascinating contributes to how powerful the story of Othello and New Boy really is.

Confederate General Robert Lee Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Confederate General Robert Lee - Research Paper Example That was the case with Robert Lee. From the ancestors from the mother’s side he got a handsome appearance; from the father’s - physical strength and sense of duty and responsibility, which during the years of revolution General George Washington himself noted in Henry Lee. Even the financial problems of father positively affected his son: for his entire life, Robert Lee was extremely meticulous and careful in all the matters concerning money and business. Ann Carter Lee also instilled in the son the perception of the importance of the family values. Robert tenderly loved his mother. By the time he turned 12, his father died and his brothers had left home so he was the only son living with his mother. He had to become a head of a big house and took a great care of his mother and sisters, who were weak health wise. Robert Lee chose a military career because of the financial concerns. His older brother Charles Carter was studying in Harvard and the family did not have money for Robert to do likewise. So he took the only option available, which is of entering West Point Military Academy. During his cadet years, Lee did not receive a single penalty and served as the cadet corps’ adjutant. He was loved and respected by his schoolmates and graduated second in his class. Years later, in 1852, Lee returned to the West Point Academy as the superintendent. The best graduates were assigned to Engineer Corp; the same applied to Robert Lee. Among his first assignments in the practical military field was dam construction in Saint Louis and strengthening coast forts in Brunswick and Savannah. He carried out engineer projects in Georgia, Virginia and New York. On June 30, 1831, he married Mary Ann Randolph Custis, a distant relative. Mary was the only daughter of George Washington Park Custis, adopted grandson of George Washington. Robert Lee always honored the memory of George Washington and really admired his great services to his country.

Physical Activity Basketball Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Physical Activity Basketball - Essay Example Basketball has benefited me a lot, in terms of both physical and mental health. The physical activity I recommend is basketball. It is essential for basketball players to build strong mental health in addition to physical health. In order to make great achievements, personal skills alone are not the main contributors to success. Passion, team spirit and willingness to introspect are also essential qualities. I have been playing basketball for at least seven years now and I find it to be a really good sport. Basketball is a unique sport. Through my experiences over the years, I have found that my mind has become more mature and so have my skills. By participating in basketball matches since I was eleven, I have found that practice is not the only key to winning a game. Accurately identifying the opponents’ strengths and weaknesses can help a team gain a higher score. Therefore, I agree with Gladwell and Crawfords argument that physical activities require imagination, creativity as well as flexibility rather than blindly following textbook knowledge. While physical abilities are important for playing basketball, the importance of mental abilities also needs to be acknowledged. The height of a basketball player is one of the most important factors. If the height of an individual is not very low when compared to average height, he has a chance of becoming a good player. However, the main difference between a superstar and a normal player is not just their physical abilities, but their humbleness to improve on their weaknesses and sustain their strengths. In The Physical Genius, Malcolm Gladwell shares the secret of how Michael Jordan, the lord of basketball became the legend of this sport by spending a large part of his time wisely on reflection rather than exercise. He explains that though Michael Jordan and Karl Malone have unique skills that

Discussing Public Administration Select Committee, Service Committee, Assignment

Discussing Public Administration Select Committee, Service Committee, Human Rights Act of 1998 - Assignment Example The Standards and Privileges Committee investigated claims that Peter Mandelson – the then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry – had contravened the individual ministerial responsibility by receiving a loan of  £373,000 from Geoffrey Robinson – the then Paymaster General of the Treasury. This case was exacerbated by claims that Robbinson had been involved in financial misconduct that Mandelson had overlooked. The committee presented its findings in which they found that Mandelson had erred and violated the ministerial responsibility. The Public Administration Select Committee conducted a review of Jo Moore, special adviser to Stephen Byers – the then Transport Secretary –, conduct in making public sensitive government information. In addition to Moore resigning, Byers was also asked to resign since he was Moore’s immediate supervisor thereby creating a situation in which he (Myers) had contravened the ministerial responsibility. For that matter, they determined that Myers, as the secretary in charge of the ministry, was liable for the official conduct of his immediate subordinates. The Public Administration Select Committee sought to determine whether Ministers were accountable for their special advisor's actions. There sitting was necessitated by repeated incidences of government officials engaging in unbecoming conduct – as set by the ministerial responsibility – for which it was difficult to determine whether the cabinet secretaries, as their boss, were liable. The report referred to the Public Service Committee, Ministerial Accountability and Responsibility (HC 1996-97, 313) report to determine that in addition to constitutional accountability, cabinet secretaries were also personally responsible and liable for the conduct of the immediate personnel.

Sports and Entertainment Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sports and Entertainment Management - Case Study Example Both companies had huge fixed costs to cover and working in their own capacities was proving insufficient to cover those costs. The decision to merge was brilliant as far as the financial performance is concerned. However, there were a myriad of issues to be dealt in this concern which were not easy to negotiate. Firstly, this was an undeniable fact that the two companies had been in a bitter competition over the past few years. There had been a feeling of animosity and it was not easy to get rid of it. Further, their policies and philosophies revolved around the same competition and their efforts had, so far, been largely oriented towards outdoing one another. Therefore, not only is there a need to merge their philosophies, there is also a need to create new philosophies according to which the amalgamated company was to work. However, the key personnel of both companies is mature enough to keep their eyes on the bigger picture. If the merger was the best solution to satisfy their pr ofit motive, they were prepared to go to the full distance. Secondly, Mark Redmond, the president and CEO of the new organization, has to make some big decisions regarding the staff. Redundant staff from both companies is to let go. At the same time, it is to be made sure that some of the staff, which is too essential to lose, is to be retained. It is natural in a merger that some employees prefer not to continue in the merged organization. It is probably because as soon as the news of a merger starts floating around, employees start a job search with more diligence than they normally do. Some of them even succeed in getting better job offers. There are certain employees that groom within a particular company and come to know about the operations of the company inside out. The element of acclimatization is too important to disregard. Such employees are too valuable to lose because new employees may come at the cost of valuable time. Further, it might take some additional cost to tra in the new employees. The merger in question is facing similar issues. They have to retain and integrate the personnel from the different companies. Integration is, of course, not an easy task either. The staffs had traditionally worked against each other and now they have to be harmonized. In this process, there is a great chance of losing momentum and having inconsistent standards. This in turn could have more adverse affects on the relationships with clients and the employees. Further complications arise when it comes to remunerations. While the remunerations at both companies for the respective staff were almost identical, XM Canada also had provisions for share ownership, options and change of control. This difference in the two companies was probably due to the fact that XM Canada was established as an independent company unlike SIRIUS Canada. This means that the remuneration scenario requires some serious decisions to create such a system in which all employees are remunerate d equally. Therefore, it can be seen that there are a lot of difficult things to manage during mergers. The companies in question belong to the field of radio broadcasting in Canada. They had significant differences in how they did their work. Their individual efforts had proved insufficient in the past and this is the primary reason of this merger. For instance, at XM Canada, the communication system was capable to develop the Canadian content for broadcast. On the other hand, SIRIUS Canada depended partly on Slaight Communications, who were also their investors, and partly on Canadian Broadcast Corporation for Canadian content. Further, XM Canada had developed and maintained its own communication and

Auditing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 6

Auditing - Essay Example It has been noticed that frauds related to theft of inventory have a direct impact on the income statement of the company. Loss due to theft is directly proportion to decrease in profit (Week, 4 2012). There are following ways Mr. Franklin can reduce the probability of risk through theft. Access Control is like security measures these measures are taken so we can prohibit any kind of unauthorized entry in some restricted area (Audit Risk Assessment, Page 31), by this risk of theft of any asset can be reduced to a minimal level if the access is restricted to a minimal level then there is less probability of any kind of fraud or misrepresentation e.g. If there is only one person who is managing all cash related affairs and he is the only authorized person who have access to cash so, in such a scenario, the probability of theft will be low. It is necessary to count the assets periodically and then compare it with our records (Audit Risk Assessment, Page 381). It is quite essential to safeguard our assets from theft. It can provide you detail if there is some sort of difference between counted assets and recorded assets then we need an explanation. For that reason, first of all we need to understand the concept of materiality and we have to understand which category of goods is valuable to us (Week, 5 2012). It is a concept in which we use more than one person to complete a task; it means that we have to include different personal to execute a single transaction (Audit Risk Assessment, Page 380) so work of one individual is being cross checked by another individual. In such setup, there is a possibility that the risk of theft will reduce. But we have to make sure that no one is performing any duty which is mismatched. It is quite a good way for an internal control. The other risk the hospitality industry was exposed to a risk of fiddles or

Types of Colonies Essay Example for Free

Types of Colonies Essay English colonies were one of three types of colonies. The first being a joint-stock colony. In this type of colony the king of England would grant a charter to a joint-stock company that would ensure settlers the same rights as Englishmen. Joint-stock colonies were only meant to last a few years. After which, stockholders hoped to earn a profit. Many people were attracted with the promise of gold. The second type was a royal colony. This type of colony was directly controlled by the king. The king appointed a governor and a council which served as an advisory body to the governor. The council had an the upper house of the colonial legislature and the highest court in the colony. The lower house was a bicameral legislature and was elected by property holders who met voting qualifications. Laws passed by the legislature had to be approved by the king. Finally, was the proprietary colony. A Proprietary Colony is a colony in which the king gave land to people called proprietors. Most of these colonies are run under a charter agreement. Private land owners picked governors to rule the colonies. Governors then chose a council and colonist elected representatives to an assembly. This type of colony resembled feudalism. The plantation colonies included Maryland, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Georgia. They were financed by the English crown and made proprietary colonies except for Virginia which was financed through the Virginia Company and was a joint-stock colony. The colonies were founded for different reasons. Virginia was founded in search of gold. North and South Carolina was founded to grow foodstuffs and to export non-English products. Maryland was founded for religious freedom. Georgia was founded to be a buffer against Spanish expansion from Florida and to be a haven for people in debt and prisoners of England. The plantation colonies exported agricultural products such as the cash crops indigo, tobacco, and rice. These colonies were dependent on the labor of indentured servants at first but by the seventeenth century black slaves became the source of labor. The enormous plantations were owned by few and they had an aristocratic attitude. They did have a form of democratic self-government however the rich plantation owners controlled the government because they were the only people who could afford to pay for all their own expenses. The plantation colonies did allow for some religious toleration. There wasnt much opportunity for social and political mobility. Education was much sparser in the plantation colonies than the others colonies. New England colonies included New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. These colonies were financed by joint-stock companies although Rhode Island had started out as a squatter colony. All of the New England colonies were founded mainly for religious freedom. Because of limited farm land, new englanders had to find a different source of income. New Englands colonies offered fish, furs, and ships to England. A mercantile network made them a part of the triangle trade. Trade became the cornerstone of colony’s economy. New England had a provincial government. In this government freeman (adult males who belonged to the puritan congregations) were the only people allowed to vote in provincial elections. This was about two-fifths of the adult male population. However all male property holders were allowed to discuss and vote on town government issues. New England was the less ethnically mixed than the southern colonies because of its stony soil. However, the clean water and cool temperatures lessened the spread of germs and added ten years to the life span of settlers migrating from the old world. This contributed to family stability and in turn gave new englanders a strong, tranquil social structure. Opportunity for social and political mobility was available to most men willing to work for it. Education was extremely important in New England, towns with more than fifty families were required to provide elementary education. A majority of adults knew how to read and write and only eight years after founding Massachusetts, Puritans established Harvard College. The middle colonies included New York, Pennsylvania , New Jersey, and Delaware . New York, New Jersey, and Delaware were all originally founded by the Dutch to make a quick profit in the fur trade and were financed by the Dutch West India Company until 1644 when England took over. Pennsylvania however, was founded by William Penn, a Quaker. His reason for founding Pennsylvania was to be a haven for religious liberties and other Quakers . He secured a charter from the king in lieu of the debt still owed to his father. The middle colonies werent as aristocratic as New England nd the plantation colonies because land holdings were intermediate in size, with the exception of New York. The middle colonies were more ethnically diverse than the other colonies and the most religiously tolerant. Very few class distinctions existed because of the large middle class. The middle colonies government was a combination of the New England and south government. They had modified both the county govern ment and the town-meeting government into one. People had much democratic control and men could vote if they owned property. Social and political mobility was greater in the middle colonies because desirable land was more easily acquired. Their soil was very fertile and they became known as the bread colonies for exports of grain. However, the middle colonies did not limit themselves to just farming as an income and also traded. Their three main rivers ,the Susquehanna , the Delaware , and the Hudson, all allowed them access to the fur trade. They also had some industry , such as ship building thanks to their excellent harbors and rivers. Colonial leaders agreed that education was important but did not provide it like New England. The decision to educate children was left to the families until 1683, when a Pennsylvania law was passed, requiring that all children be taught to read and write and be trained in a useful trade. In conclusion, all three colonies had many similarities and differences. All of the colonies were almost entirely English and had British freedoms. All were under a mercantile economy until the revolution. To some degree all had religious toleration and a self-government. All of them also gave new settlers the opportunity to make money and climb the social ladder, although it was harder in some colonies than others. All of the colonies eventually were made into royal colonies with the exception of Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Almost every colony utilized a two-house legislative body. Although very alike the colonies also had many differences. Plantation colonies were very spread out and depended on slavery for income. They were the most aristocratic, had a scattered population and only some religious toleration. Social and political mobility was much harder in the plantation colonies and government was controlled by wealthy land owners. The New England colonist were mostly puritan and werent as religiously tolerant as the other colonies. They also had more industry instead of farming because of less available farm land. They were mainly known for their ship building and fishing. New England stressed education and held town meetings often to vote on local issues. The middle colonies were the most ethnically diverse, religiously tolerant, and democratic of the colonies except for aristocratic New York. They were a mix of the plantation colonies and New England in almost everything. There was little class distinctions and a large middle class. Money could be made not only in farming but in industry too.