Explore Shakespeares presentation of love in As You Like It Essay Example for Free

Explore Shakespeares presentation of love in As You Like It Essay Love has always been a foremost feature of the plays written by William Shakespeare and As You Like It is no exception with love regularly being represented throughout the play in a variety of ways. Just like in Shakespeares other works As You Like It is also broken down in to a main plot, which is then accompanied by smaller sub-plots that are scattered thorughout the play. Shakerspeare along with the play As You Like It skillfully uses these plots well to demonstrate various types of love. One variety of love that Shakespeare anylyses deeply is that of courtly love, whose ideas featured heavily around the fact that love brings suffering and agony to the lover and the theory that the male lover is controlled by his mistress to whom he must adhere to. Courtly Love had become a popular subject to write about during Shakespeares Elizabethan period and was also strongly evident in english literature for centuries previously. The concept of pastoral romance is also expressed in As You Like It , in which characters in rural countryside areas appear to act freely and joyfully , and this causes relationships to revel successfully and contently. In other words Pastoral romance seems to betray the countryside in stories as some sort of catalyst speeding up the progress and success of overall relationships. On the other hand life in the court seems to lack this optimism and instead living in developed areas (towns, villages, cities etc) seems to damage love between characters due to the stress and demand of court life. This type of romance is also strongly associated with disguise and the thought of characters falling in love with the opposite sex even when in disguise. The love in Shakespeares plays was recognised by the public of the Elizabethan period who had a good understanding about how genuine and pure love was between characters along with a good perception of the characters personalities (such as social status) just through the language they spoke during the play. The relationships in As You Like It are tested in one way or another, as most have to overcome obstacles and problems in order to succeed The particular relationships we see in the play symbolize and highlight the variant types of love that William Shakespeare wishes to explore. For example the familial love between the brothers of Orlando and Oliver, Duke Frederick and Duke Senior are emphasized due to the fact that both relationships are struggling and are under much tension when in normal circumstances you would presume this type of Familial relationship to prosper solidily, but alternatively have crumbled consistently. The relationship amid Orlando and his eldest borther, Oliver has reached an even more dire state, due to the recent event of their father Sir Rowland de Boys tragically dying for reasons unknown to us. Since this death of Sir Rowland de Boys Oliver and Orlando have been at conflict over the acts of Oliver who is restricting Orlando from receiving a gentlemans education even though their father had wished him to have one. Both characters deal with this issue by becoming heated and ill-tempered towards each other. This is shown in Act 1 Scene 1 where Oliver says: Wilt thou lay hands on me, villain? Oliver and Orlandos relationship changes significantly during the course of the play and it is seen that the countryside and its links to pastoral romance are responsible for the reformation of their relationship. This is true because the turning point of their complex relationship takes place in the countryside to where Orlandos act of decency, (when he saves Olivers life from a viscous Lioness) provokes Oliver to want to become a more amiable person. Also the romantic relationships of the brothers between Rosalind and Celia respectfully seems to show that the concept of pastoral romance is functioning between them and therefore causing them to be more loving people. Understandably this friendly environment causes their own familial relationship to blossom. This transformation in their relationship is represented well when Oliver is delivering Orlandos bloody handkerchief to Ganymede in Act 4 Scene 2. In this scene he confesses about his shameful past by saying: Twas I, but tis not I. I do not shame To tell you what I was, since my conversion So sweetly tastes, being the thing I am. This indicates that he is aware that he was in the wrong before, but now values and loves his younger brother, even more so that he obeyed Orlandos order to deliver his handkerchief. Another familial relationship present in the play is that of Duke Senior and his younger brother Duke Frederick. This particular relationship is struggling due to the fact that Duke Senior has been exiled from the court by his usurping brother Duke Frederick. This unjustified act by Duke Frederick has left the two distant and bitter towards each other. This is shown in Act 2 Scene 3 when Duke Frederick is in the process of exiling Rosalind, the daughter of the banished Duke Senior. Duke Fredericks tells Rosalind the reason for her being exiled is because: Thou art thy fathers daughter. Theres enough. This shows that there is obviously some hatred between the two brothers, especially on Duke Fredericks part. Duke Senior and Duke Frederick react to this conflict in contrasting ways. Duke Senior seems to make the most out of the situation he has found himself in to positive effect. He does this to an extent that hes actually enjoying life away from the court. On the other hand Duke Frederick deals with their dispute by becoming heated and showing irrational behavior (This is shown when out of blue he aggressively orders Rosalind to leave the court and even goes as far as saying he will kill her if she was not to obey) in play. The hatred of Duke Frederick towards Duke Senior is incredibly similar to that of Oliver towards to Orlando, in that there seems to be no obvious reason for why they should detest their brothers so much. But just like Oliver and Orlando, Duke Frederick and Duke Seniors relationships turns around positively in the latter stages of the play. This turn of events is due to the remarkable change of mind from Duke Frederick who persuaded by an old religious man on the outskirts of the forest to not invade the Forest of Ardenne decides to conclude his search for his brother. Instead, as were told by Jacques de Boys in Act 5 Scene 4 that he: After some question with him, was converted Both from his enterprise and from the world, His crown bequeathing to his banished brother, And all their lands restored to them again That were with him exiled This act of love shown by Duke Frederick towards Duke Senior and his company could also be due to the powers the countryside possesses through pastoral romance. This could be explained by the way that Duke Frederick has a dramatic change of heart when entering the forest and he also wants to be freed from court life by deciding to join a monastery. A prominent relationship on display in As You Like is between the inseparable cousins that are Rosalind and Celia. This relationship is under strain mainly just because of the complications surrounding their fathers relationship. They have been brought in to the thick of their fathers own personal conflict due to Duke Fredericks antics, referring to him wanting to exile Rosalind and consequently separate Rosalind and Celia. Rosalind and Celia respond to the antics of their fathers positively, by promising to each other that theyll stand by each other religiously through the hard times that are facing them, causing them both to flee from the court together. This united type behavior form the cousins shows the audience that this love is extremely solid and their love for each other is cannot be doubted. This is shown when Celia responds to her fathers actions by saying to Rosalind in Act 1 Scene 3: Prithee, be cheerful. Knowst thou not the duke Hath banished me, his daughter? Furthermore Rosalind and Celia decide to overcome their complications by fleeing to the Forest of Ardenne to find refuge. This seems to work dividends, as when they are in the forest the pair seems more relaxed and joyful than they were when they were generating tentative feelings back at the court. This is shown through the way they act more freely and seem more comfortable expressing their views on topics than they were in the court. They also becoming more suspect to falling in love, and this shows in the way they fall in love with Orlando and Oliver. All this makes one presume that pastoral romance is in progress with this pair. A different type of alliance is show using Adam the servant and Orlando in the play As You Like It. Between these two characters is dutiful love shown from both sides. The obstacle that this exact relationships faces is down to the misbehavior shown from Orlandos brother Oliver, who Adam says is plotting to kill Orlando. The pair then address this situation in the same way as Celia and Rosalind did, by escaping in to the forest. This is where Adams dutiful love is evident when he swears allegiance to Orlando in Act 2 Scene 3 by saying: Here is the gold. All this I give you. Let me be your servant. Theses words are very strong, as Adam shows he will give Orlando everything he has even his fortunes just so that Orlando is able to be content and safe. Further on in the play Orlando also shows loyalty pointing to Adam. This dutiful love is expressed in the way Orlando carries Adam in to shelter and vows to find his poorly servant food; he even makes a fool of himself in front of Duke Senior and his Lords purely in attempting to find his loyal servant some much-needed food. This dutiful love shown on Orlandos part can be seen in the way he tells Adam in Act 2 Scene 6: Come, I will bear thee to some shelter, and thou shalt not die for lack of a dinner if there live anything in this desert Once again you can say that the concept of pastoral romance has left this pair living happily ever after as it looks to have solved all their problems, which they have now left at the court. A different relationship represented in As You Like It is that of Silvius and Phoebe. In this relationship the love is not shared from Phoebe in contrast to Silvius who seems to be suffering much grief and pain due to his immense and obsessive love for Phoebe. Both characters face their dispute concerning their conflicting views by becoming frustrated, Silvius because he cannot obtain Phoebes love and Phoebe because of Silvius constant pleas for her to welcome his fondness for her. The evidence to show that Phoebe does not show the same affection for Silvius can be seen when she comments on how much shed rather not be in a romantic relationship with Silvius in Act 3 Scene 5 by saying to Celia (dressed as Ganymede): Sweet youth, I pray you chide a year together. I had rather hear you chide than this man woo. This idea that Silvius is suffering thanks to the elements of love is very similar to the objectives of courtly love. Obviously this situation proves problematic for it to be possible for Silviuss and Pheobes relationship to advance, but a few twists occurring at the end of the play enable this couple to surprisingly tie the knot. The events which engineer Silvius and Phoebe to come together can be argued to be thanks to the pastoral romance theme, which is seen on a frequent basis in this play. This is true as pastoral romance is well known for its characters in disguise and its the disguise of Rosalind (Ganymede) that actually plays the vital role in bringing Silvius and Phoebe together. Thanks to Rosalinds slyness Silvius finally is able to be with Phoebe and it seems that she shows some genuine affection towards Silvius. This is noticeable when she says in Act 5 Scene 4 to Silvius: I will not eat my word. Now thou art mine, Thy faith my fancy to thee doth combine. A relationship that does not develop until the tail end of the play As You Like It is between that of Oliver and Celia. Celia who is dressed up as Aliena looks to fall in love with Oliver at first sight and these provides an ironic end for the character Celia in the play. This is an accurate observation, because during the play Celia is seen teasing her dear friend Rosalind about the hastiness about her love for Orlando. This is another classic example of how pastoral romance is a striking feature of the play, because even though Celia has been ridiculing Rosalind love for Orlando it seems that even she is eventually bewitched by the powers of the countryside air and decides to marry a man whom she has just met. A unique relationship in the play is that of Pheobe and Ganymede. This is correct, as Phoebe is falling for Rosalind in disguise, without being informed. The relationship between these two characters is a clear example of the courtly love evident in As You Like It, because of the agony and frustration, which Pheobe endures due to her love Ganymede. Ganymede reacts to Phoebe;s attempts to win her heart by saying in Act 3 Scene 5: I pray you, do not fall in love with me, For I am falser than vows made in wine. This dismissal of Phoebes love on Ganymedes part shows that Ganymede has no interest in Phoebe at all, but despite this in true courtly love fashion Phoebes decides to persist with her quest to win Ganymedes heart. In the end their relationship disintergrates when Phoebe says in Act 5 Scene 4: If sight and shape be true, Why then, my love adieu. The most influential relationship in the whole of the play is beyond doubt that of between Rosalind and Orlando. This is true, as this relationship seems to dictate the course of the storyline. This relationship falls down heavily in to the elements of stereotypical pastoral romantic stories. This is correct, as Orlando seems to endure a lot of agony and pain over the course of the play..I will finish this later In conclusion I believe Shakespeare has shown us that men actually behave in the same way as women when in love. The evidence ot prove this is the behaviour of most characters in the play. Most of these characters endure large amounts of suffering

Prejudice and Stereotyping in the Movie, Crash :: Film Movies Racism Race

Prejudice and Stereotyping in the Movie, Crash "Crash" is a movie that exposes different kinds of social and multicultural differences, giving us a quick example of how these conducts affect our society. Two of the behaviors observed, are Prejudice and Stereotyping. Identified as the causes of where all the events eradicate. These behaviors are viewed as thoughts and feelings that almost everyone has felt more than once. In the first scene we observe a Muslim man inside a firearm store, attempting to buy a gun. The owner is a white Caucasian male that presents a negative attitude towards the customer because of his Muslim background. This feeling triggers in the owner, negative attitudes based on the assimilation and stereotypes with the Muslim race. Being immediately associated with the Al Qaeda terrorist group, which was responsible for suicidal bombers that have killed thousand of Americans. This negative attitude and violence observed in this particular scene, is an example of Prejudice, known as a negative feeling and predisposition of behavior towards a group or any member belonging to that group (**). It is an issue that although it has always existed in humanity, it would be though to have dissipated in the 21st century. Taking in count that now in the in days we are better informed and educated to understand that one group's actions shouldn't be applied to stereotype the whole race. As far as personal experience, living in Miami,-Florida, as a none-Cuban Latin, makes it easier to have an insight in all kinds of prejudice and stereotypes within the same Hispanic society. This behavior makes it hard to not feel negatively judged by others who do belong to the majority group. Unfortunately prejudice is not simply an attitude that remains internal to its owner; it impacts behavior. When negative attitudes on the basis of differences translate into behavior, we have as a result, discrimination and the social inequity it produces. Therefore, efforts to reduce prejudice are well advised to take the social context into consideration when focusing on the individuals' attitudes. This is an issue not only found in America but in the whole world. In our global economy requiring functional and respectful relationships between nations, prejudice and stereotypes can be a destructive force both in the world and in individual societies, especially in diverse ones. Prejudice becomes threatening when it reaches its most extreme form, known as Bigotry.

Equal Opportunity in Early Childhood Essay

Children should be treated and respected as individuals in their own rights. Like any individual, children have rights to shelter, food and education. They too should be treated fairly and equally. Many a times, we have failed to recognise these needs and as adults, we think we know best for the child. If we are able to recognise these rights, it will greatly assist in a child’s development both emotionally and spiritually. According to Bruce and Meggit (2002), â€Å"equality of opportunity means opening up access for every child and family to full participation in early childhood services. There can be no quality in early childhood services unless there is equality of opportunity†. Children should not be denied of their rights based on their race, nationality, gender or abilities, boys and girls should not be treated differently. Also, equal opportunities can be defined in general as not discriminating a person by his or her race, gender, family orientation or whether they belonged to the minority in the society. I truly agree with this statement and advocates for equal opportunity to be practiced in every way. It is now the 21st century but can we safely say that children in this world are treated equally? Some parents tend to treat their children differently if they are a boy, especially in the Eastern culture; succession is through boys instead of girls. Several parents have stereotyped the colours that their children should wear, boys should be in blue and gals should be in pink. Stereotyping basically means unduly fixed mental impression (Oxford, p. 546). Society too, plays a role in influencing the parents when it comes to bringing up their children in this part of the world and to a certain extent the children’s interest will be sacrificed. Children are expected to excel academically and those who do not will be branded as slow and they will be frowned upon by the society due to the competitive environment. Parents are ? pressured’ to have an academically sound child and as a result, children will feel ? inferior’ if they are unable to excel academically and this would hinder their fitting into the society in the future. In order to uphold the rights of the children in the world, UNICEF introduced the â€Å"Convention on the Rights of the Child† which was adopted by Unite Nations General Assembly on the 20th November 1989. (http://www. unicef. org/malaysia/UNICEF_FS_-_Understanding_the_ CRC. pdf). There are four principles that the Convention rests on and they are; non discrimination, best interests of the child, the child’s right to life, survival and development and respect for the views of the child . (http://www. unicef. org/malaysia/UNICEF_FS_-_Understanding_the_ CRC. pdf ). The main idea of having this convention is to recognize that children should be treated fairly as human beings and they should be brought up in a safe and conducive environment in order for them to realize their full potential in life. Malaysia signed the convention in March 1995 and being a multi cultural country that also advocates for human rights has made many changes to its legislation to adopt the convention especially in the area of education and healthcare. However, a question that many Malaysians will ask today; are the changes sufficient to provide the children in Malaysia equal rights? Here, let us look into the two major areas to analyse the impact of the convention on Malaysia’s legislation concerning children. According to article 28 of the CRC, â€Å"The child has a right to education, ? † (CRC, p. 19). Malaysia however has reservation on seven articles and article 28 is amongst them. The preschool education is Malaysia is under the responsibility of a few government departments and social agencies such as the Ministry of Health, Ministry of National Unity and Social Development, Ministry of Rural Development and also several states departments (http://porta;. unesco. org/education/en/ev. php-URL_ID=46167&URL _DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201. html) Under the Child Care Centre Act 1985, there are 2 categories of childcare centre, one being a home based childcare centre which takes in less than 10 children. The other being an institution based centre which caters for 10 or more children (The Star, 24th March, 1996). The curriculum guidelines of pre-schools are guided by the Ministry of Education and it has to provide a holistic development of the child being in social skills, intellectual skills, physical skills and spiritual skills (www. unesco. org/wef/countryreports /malaysia/Rapport_1. html) which is in accordance to article 29 of the CRC (CRC, p. 21) Due to the increasing awareness of the importance of early childhood education and also the increase in women joining the workforce, many private childcare centres have sprung up especially in the urban areas. These centres are mostly run by the private sectors that cater to mostly working parents from the middle to high income families and they charge a fee for their services. For the poor or rural areas children, the pre school programs are run by the government agencies and to a certain extent Non Government Organizations (NGOs). (http://unescodoc. unesco. org/images/0012/001279/127984e. pdf). The next area that Malaysia made changes to embrace the principles in the Convention is the healthcare policy. Child mortality in Malaysia has decreased significantly due to the effective healthcare programs that the government has implemented since the First Malaysia Plan 1996 (http://www. unicef. org/malaysia/ /children_4162. html). The most widely available health care service in Malaysia is public hospitals and for the rural community, there are over 1600 community health clinics (http://www. childpolicyintl. org/countries/Malaysia. html). Generally, children in Malaysia are provided with very comprehensive health services from vaccination to clean water supply and also sanitation. The government has taken steps to promote health programs to children in the rural areas integrating the promotion of health in its rural development strategies and programs. This is in accordance to Article 24 of the CRC where it states â€Å"The child has the right to the highest standard of health and medical care attainable†. Although Malaysia has taken various measures to improve its education system to embrace the CRC, sad to say that there are still children in Malaysia who are deprived of the right to education. This is especially apparent in vulnerable groups like children from the indigenous populations and also children in the rural areas. The indigenous children in Sabah and Sarawak have very little access to education and the curriculum in government schools do not cater to them culturally. Also, Malaysia has lifted its reservation on Article 22 which guarantees the child’s rights seeking refugees’ status in 1995 but until today, there have not been changes when it comes to undocumented children (New Sunday Times, June 25th 2006). Undocumented children basically mean children who are born in Malaysia to migrant parents. Children in this category are deprived of education due to fact that they are not even recognized as Malaysian citizen. Although children in Malaysia are rather well taken care of in terms of healthcare services, there are still children who do not have access to their basic needs like healthcare. These are children born to poor parents, sex workers, alcoholics and sex workers. (New Straits Times, p. 19). Also, with the increase in HIV/AIDS cases in Malaysia and many children and women from the rural areas are still complacent of this disease. A child’s formative years are extremely important as it will affect their growth in the later years. If Malaysia sees the significance of its younger generation, the government should seriously look into its commitment to uphold the Convention guidelines Firstly, awareness amongst the community is extremely important if Malaysia seeks to promote equal opportunity in the early childcare settings. Government should take steps to promote awareness amongst the people in order to change their attitudes towards children and this can be done by including the CRC as part of the school curriculum (The Star, p. N47). Secondly, early childhood education should be made compulsory to all children in urban or rural areas and available to all children in regardless of their background as every child has the right to education. Curriculum for children below the age of four should also address the current issues like AID/HIV and sex education. Materials and books used in the early childhood education should contain pictures of the different ethnic group in Malaysia. Activities organized by the childcare centre should be diversified as this would promote respect of various cultures amongst the children. More importantly, the curriculum should be sensitive to children from various cultural backgrounds especially the indigenous group. After all, Malaysia takes pride in its diversity of culture. Teachers in the early childcare sector should be trained in gender studies and also human rights (http://www. europeanchildrensnetwork. org/resources/infoDetail. asp? ID =12592). As childcare practitioner, the attitude of the person is utmost important in making sure that children under their care is not being discriminated. They have to be fully aware of the child’s rights in order for the child to grow up in a positive environment as it is damaging for the child’ development. A child’s potential to learn and develop their full potential should not be limited by prejudice (http://ferl. qia. org. uk/content_files/resources/organisations/caderdale_ council/sharon_chapman/equalops/prejandisc. htm).

What Is Ancient Greek Comedy

Aristotle describes the genre of comedy and especially how it differs from tragedy. Among other distinctions, Aristotle says comedy represents men as worse than they are in real life, whereas tragedy shows them better. Tragedy uses real people, whereas comedy uses stereotypes. Aristotle says the plot for comedy came originally from Sicily. Also Known As: Attic Comedy Types of Greek Comedy Greek comedy is divided into Old, Middle, and New Comedy. Aristophanes is the author of the earliest Old Comedy we possess, The Acharnians, produced in 425. Middle Comedy (c.400-c.323) ran from roughly the end of the Peloponnesian War until the death of Alexander the Great. No complete plays from this period survive. New Comedy (c.323-c.263) is exemplified by Menander. The Lenaea Festival In ancient Athens, there were annual competitions not only in tragedy  but also in  comedy at the City Dionysia, starting in 486 B.C. The Lenaea festival started having comedy competitions in 440. There were normally 5 comedies that competed, but during the Peloponnesian War, the number was reduced to 3. Unlike the writers of tragedy who put on a series of 4 plays, the writers of comedy produced one comedy apiece. Sources: Comedy The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. Ed. M.C. Howatson and Ian Chilvers. Oxford University Press, 1996.Aristotle Poetics