Pride And Prejudice Essays (926 words) - Fiction, Literature

Pride and Prejudice Pride and Prejudice On pride and prejudice, which in your opinion comes in for sharper criticism from Austen. Support your answer by referring to specific incidents and episodes. pride n., v., 1. high (or too high) opinion of one's own dignity, importance, worth, etc. 2. the condition or feeling of being proud. 3. a noble sense of what is due to oneself or one's position or character; self respect; self esteem. prejudice n., v., 1. an opinion (usually unfavourable), formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason. 2. disadvantage resulting from some judgement or action of another. 3. the resulting injury or loss. In my opinion, pride comes in for the sharper criticism by Austen. She has chosen to personify this trait in several characters in "Pride and Prejudice" although it is hard to find one character who portrays prejudice alone, throughout the novel. When prejudice does occur in this novel, Jane Austen has shown it in the hands of a notoriously proud character. Because prejudice is not personified (ie. depicted as a major characteristic flaw) I believe that it was not to be the object of Jane Austen's sharper criticism. Jane Austen has depicted pride in her minor (functional) characters as a means of demonstrating it's importance as a theme of this novel. Lady Catherine is one of the main offenders, her airs, arrogance and pride are fuelled by other characters like Mr Collins who is put there to satire proud people and their followers. Another important character to note is Mr Darcy. He is an extremely important character in this novel, a major character, and I think that the fact that he was perceived to have been 'proud' at the beginning of the novel by the reader, Elizabeth, and the community of the shire, and our perception, along with Elizabeth, of his character, has changed throughout the novel points to Jane Austen's criticism of pride and snobbery (insinuating that once pride is done away with (and along with it, prejudice) a character becomes much more favourable. (Note that Lady Catherine does not sway from her proud arrogant position, from beginning to end of the novel, this partly to provide a contrast between the supposed arrogance of Mr Darcy at the beginning of the novel, and his behaviour by the end.) Throughout this novel we are shown the arrogant and haughty dispositions of the upperclass of this society. (We are also shown the exceptions to the rule, namely Mr Bingley and Miss Darcy.) These people are exceedingly proud of their great fortunes and estates and as a result of the emphasis at that time on monetary issues, they are prejudiced (and commit acts of prejudice) towards their financial, and social, "inferiors". An example of this is the beginning of the novel, the ball, when Mr Darcy snubs Elizabeth Bennet in an act of prejudice. He refuses to dance with her on account of her not being "handsome enough to tempt me." After being described throughout the chapter as being "the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world" because he would not socialise ("he danced only once with Mrs Hurst and once with Miss Bingley, declined being introduced to any other lady, and spent the rest of the evening walking about the room, speaking occasionally to one of his own party") his refusal to dance with Elizabeth Bennet is consistent with the rest of his snobbery and it is logical that he is slighting Elizabeth Bennet because he is excessively proud and does not feel that her handsomeness is worthy of his. Another example of proud character executing prejudice on an "inferior" candidate is Miss Bingley and Mr Darcy's conspiracy against Mr Bingley and Miss Bennet's courtship and inevitable marriage. Together, Mr Darcy and Miss Bingley decide that Mr Bingley and Jane are not suited and therefore should not be married because Jane's background is not worthy of Mr Bingley's rich, socially handsome estate. Firstly, Mr. Darcy influences Bingley to leave Netherfield, then Miss Bingley "fails" to tell him of Jane's prescence in London (although she knows that it would be of great interest to him.) It is because of their pride, and their warp perception of their own, and in this case their brother or friend's pride, that influences to think they would be "doing the right thing" by keeping Jane and Mr. Bingley apart. Lady Catherine's bullyin of Elizabeth (at the end of the novel) in an effort to dissuade her from marrying Darcy is a result of her feeling that her own daughter was entitled to Mr. Darcy more than Elizabeth (who was

Julia Caesar Essay

Julia Caesar Essay Julia Caesar? Essay Timothy Lee English 2HP 1 Mrs. Taylor 1/26/2012 Julia Caesar? Throughout the entire civilized western world, we’ve come to acknowledge the right that no man or woman is greater than the next. However, this is a fairly early belief which existed even during the Elizabethan period, when Shakespeare wrote various different plays, such as Julius Caesar, where William Shakespeare places very few female characters. Contrary belief states that Julius Caesar was akin to all other Shakespearean plays in that it should be known as a play without women. However, Julius Caesar cannot be considered a play without women because the two women roles in the play, Calphurnia and Portia, provide suspense for the story, act as supporting characters, and because they often foreshadow the future. Julius Caesar cannot be viewed as a play without women due to Calphurnia and Portia’s role of providing suspense to the Audience. Calphurnia’s first role into the story is when Caesar is debating whether to go or not to the Senate house. Calphurnia tries to convince Caesar not to go to the senate house as a result of a series of supernatural occurrences which Calphurnia takes as a bad omen for Caesar to stay in the house. Calphurnia hears that there have been horrid sights on the streets of Rome and even has a dream where, according to Caesar, â€Å"she saw my statue / Which, like a fountain with a hundred spouts/ Did run pure blood. And many lusty Romans came / Smiling and did bathe their hands in it./ And these does she apply for warnings and portents/ And evils imminent†. (Act II. Ii. 77-85) Due to Calphurnia’s trials and constant tidings of omens foreshadowing Caesar’s death, the reader gains a sense of suspense by being drawn into the dispute b etween whether Caesar will save himself through Calphurnia’s warnings or whether the conspirators will kill Caesar. Portia also adds to the suspense when she realizes that something isn’t right because she knows that Brutus knows that his â€Å"petition† will not be answered. She sends her slave, who understands not what to do, and yet Portia gives off a faint signal as though as if she will be able to stop something. She understands that something is horribly wrong and realization of this situation and her confusion reflects the audience’s anxiety at what the outcome will be, and in turn intensities the audience’s suspense. The women in Julius Caesar play a huge part in the play because they act as supporting characters through their positions as bringers of Enlightenment. They support the main characters by abiding their commands, while also giving advising what to do. The women characters often provide advice that contains wisdom beyond the perspective of the main characters. For example, Portia supports Brutus because she shows how much she loves him while showing the audience that Brutus’s actions are completely turned upside-down because of the plot to murder Caesar. She notices that Brutus cannot and does not sleep, nor does he eat. Portia also cannot be categorized as an in-significant character in the play because she is the purity that Brutus looks to in the midst of his dark deeds. Calphurnia provides support for Caesar when she tries to prevent Caesar from going into the senate house. In this way, she displays her wisdom to the audience, though Caesar does not take heed of her warnings . However, because of Calphurnia’s warnings, Caesar has at least a moment of hesitation before going out to the senate house, where he is then murdered. It can also be said that for a character to be considered a â€Å"major† character in a play, one has to portray his own opinions and emotions toward the audience. In Julius Caesar, we clearly see that the women characters bring out their

Organizational Theories to Enhance the Performance of Individuals and Essay - 1

Organizational Theories to Enhance the Performance of Individuals and Groups - Essay Example From the classical theories, performance could be realized after the division of labor, to develop specialization and departments of different tasks to be carried out by different groups of people. This enhances quality output according to the expected standards. Motivation through monetary means and management functions in enhancing performance are also elaborated. The modern organizational theories put across ways of changing the organizational structure and developing the human potential as effective ways to spur performance. Performance is one critical area that managers should be sensitive towards, so as to benefit the organization. It is a domain that challenges managerial functions and its success or failure extends to be felt in other linked sections of the organization. Hence, the management has to come up with logical and focused initiatives to enhance performance and overcome the challenges in implementation and performance management. Organisations have their authority, c ulture, information and the acquired knowledge, as well as the motivational coordinated mechanisms to achieve their objectives. Often, the organization structure could vary from one another with some working with the formal line of management, while others are less formal; as a result, they differ in hierarchical structures and strictness in compliance to objectives. However, with the current trends of globalization, managers have to be keen and tactical to address the organizations problems in performance and decision making. This is because the markets, productions, sales and distribution in dealing with goods and services have become very competitive. Due to these factors, management has been categorized in different levels to lead in specific sections, such that the coordinated efforts of different managers.