Macbeth - Contradiction In The Character Of Macbeth Essays

Macbeth - Contradiction in the Character of Macbeth It has often been said that Macbeth is a character of powerful contradictions. He is evil and all-powerful. Are his violent acts and his criminal activities simply the result of Macbeth's ambition to be King of Scotland? Why is he willing to kill his king and his best friend with apparently no remorse? Are his acts the result of blind ambition? No, Macbeth is the target of manipulation. He is not the manipulator, but instead is manipulated by different people and different forces. Macbeth encounters his first group of manipulators in the form of witches. The witches prophesize that Macbeth will one day be King of Scotland and that the descendents of Banquo will become kings. Having shared this prophecy with Lady Macbeth, the goal of being king becomes very enticing. Macbeth's first act of evil is the killing of Duncan. Before the murder, Macbeth tries to tell Lady Macbeth that he will not go through with it. She has to goad him into killing the King. After committing the murder, Macbeth seems almost delirious. He says that "?all great Neptune's ocean will not wash this blood clean from my hand"(Act II, Scene ii, lines 60-61). When he murders Banquo, Macbeth is still in torment, but the cause of his anguish seems to have changed. He is afraid of Banquo, because Banquo knows about the witches and because the witches predicted that his descendents would be kings. Banquo's death, he says will put his mind at rest. As the play goes on, there is a fundamental change in Macbeth's character. Due to the manipulation of others, Macbeth has lost all sense of morality and right and wrong. The craving for power and obtaining more control consumes Macbeth. Macbeth orders the murder of Macduff's wife and children. Their killings gain him nothing. He has good reason to fear Macduff, but slaughtering his enemy's family is pointless. Macbeth wants to spite Macduff. He kills Macduff's family to maintain control and power. Despite the witches new prophecies, Macbeth is paranoid of losing the crown. Since he cannot get at Macduff directly, he lets loose this senseless violence. As the target of manipulation Macbeth strikes out at random, and his moral sense seems to have entirely disappeared. The brave hero we met in Act I who at least seemed honorable, is completely twisted. Macbeth's crimes have cost him dearly. His reaction to Lady Macbeth's death is a sign of complete despair -all feeling is dead in him. "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow?" (Act V, Scene v, lines 17-28) is less an expression of grief than it is a speech about the utter meaninglessness of life. Macbeth's ambitions are now stronger than his conscience. The witches have tempted and controlled him with the idea of becoming king. Lady Macbeth manipulates him to overcome his natural hesitation to commit murder. Due to his manipulation, Macbeth chooses the crown over his honor and material gain in this world over salvation in the next world. Once he has killed to get the crown, the other crimes seem inevitable. In order to keep what he has taken, Macbeth learns to lie and kill as a matter of course. His values become totally confused. "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" to him now; he has lost track of the difference. By the end of the play, manipulation by others has completely consumed Macbeth. Once Macbeth kills Duncan, he is committed to a course of lying and killing. His sense of right and wrong is eaten away. Even before Macbeth is killed, he is dying of a diseased spirit. Scotland is also infected, and Macbeth is its disease. Macbeth is a prime example of the corruption of power, and how absolute power corrupts absolutely. Shakespeare's play Macbeth is a study of manipulation, control, and power. It shows how individuals can control the mind and actions of others. That control when evil, can create not only turmoil within the person being controlled, but can lead to death and destruction of others around the person. In the case of Macbeth, not

Concert Critique - The Doctoral Recital essays

Concert Critique - The Doctoral Recital essays The Doctoral Recital was the second concert I ever attended within the US. The instruments played were the clarinet, bass clarinet, piano, and percussion instruments. The performance started with Carl Nielsen's "Clarinet Concerto," Op. 57(1928). It lasted for about twenty-seven minutes. The whole symphony was in a continuous movement. The symphony started with the clarinet and then continued on until the piano entered in later and was joined by percussion. The performance began with a firm Allegretto which seemed like a run and chase sequence of a "Tom and Jerry" episode; it was very lively and fast, and the clarinet produced even more of an element of entertainment to the music. This was followed by Adagio and with the tempo was being slowed down with greater focus upon percussion and piano. Lastly, Allegro Vivace struck, lively and very fast, but the piece ended in Adagio, which was calming. Almost thirty minutes passed in blink of an eye, and the performance was commendable. Next, there was intermission. The second performance was Johann Sebastian Bach's "Suite No.1" for Solo Cello, BMV 1007(c. 1720). This began with a soft, light sound that was very calmly paced. It seemed hearty, welcoming, and almost playful. This first movement is called the Arpeggio Prelude in which the composer outlines a succession of chords note-by-note; the effect sounds like harmonic tensions followed by relaxation. There are pronounced lower notes after the higher notes, creating the sad feeling that we can be heard in this piece. The performers in this concert came back to low notes and the duplicating of the previous sad melody, though it seemed much more misgiving with the lower notes preceding it, still at a fast tempo. A gushing Allemande followed. There was an upbeat play with high notes and a low note mutter, creating a somewhat confused and spooky sound. Next, it was zippy sounding, as in the beginning, and then a solid note was held o...

blacks in civil war

blacks in civil war Essay Slavery was abolished in this country over a hundred years ago but the consequences of this dark page in Americas history are felt even today. This site was created to address those consequences, the political, social and cultural life of todays and yesterdays African Americans. What affect did the Civil War have on African Americans in the United States? Were they, as some argued, better off before the Civil War, or do the advances that blacks have made since then proved that the Civil War was indeed the turning point in the lives and opportunities of African Americans? These questions and more will be addressed in the following pagesWhen slaves were purchased off the ships from Africa, they ended up on plantations. The size and location of landholdings depended on the crop and the owner who purchased the slave. Most plantations were of the smaller variety and it was rare for an owner to have more than 20 slaves. Most housed only a handful of slaves, but no matter what the numbers, plantation life was pretty much the same for most slaves. Slaves were usually divided into two groups, the gang crew (usually male and did the field work) and the task crew (usually female and worked in the big house). The workday began around sunrise and always ended before dark except at busy times such as harvest. Slaves were not worked after dark for a number of reasons. First, the owners feared that escape would be easier; second, working after dark was considered an unwarranted burden on the slave; lastly, they believed that it impeded efficiency by reducing the hours of sleep the slave received. This is not to say the slave owners were compassionate. They saw the slaves not as humans but a business investment and only wanted to protect that investment. Slaves were not required to work on Sunday, as it was denounced as irreligious and a flagrant violation of the slaves deserved day of rest. However, they worked every other day, rain or shine. A reasonable days work meant a dai ly chore that while not back-breaking required a brisk pace to finish. Although whites believed that slaves could neither do as much nor continue to work as long as whites, both crews worked anywhere from 12-14 hours a day, with an hour or so for lunch at midday.After a long day in the field or the masters house, slaves were allowed to return to their families, a family much different than those African Americans enjoy today. For the most part, marriages were arranged. To couples in arranged marriages, the idea of falling in love and having children was not even considered. Most slave owners agreed that ideally slave unions should be among the slaves on the same plantation and that marriage should be a way of breeding and promoting morality. The master would most often officiate at the wedding. They were then sent off to their quarters for a couple hours alone together. It was not unusual, and indeed expected, for slave women to have a child every year. Indeed it was not unheard of for slave women to have 25 children in the span of their lives, usually beginning to give birth at 12 or 13 years of age. These children rarely lived with their parents past the age of eight or nine. At this time they were either sold to another plantation or moved into the womens or mens quarters. Some states had laws forbidding taking children nine or under from their mothers, but this law was often ignored and rarely enforce d. All in all, the lack of recognized marriage ties and the constant separation of families through sale, made the slave family a temporary and fly-by-night affair, destined for broken hearts and the auction block. READ: My Life in Milwaukee, Wisconsin EssayScholars generally agree that although slaves were considered something less than human, they were valuable property and thus often lived better than free families. The average slave quarters housed 5.3 persons and consisted of dirt floors, boarded windows, and were usually made of logs. Adult males clothing consisted of four shirts, four pairs of pants, and one or two pairs of shoes. Adult women were issued four dresses per year, and headkerchiefs. Rarely, plantation owners also issued such items as petticoats, socks, underwear, jackets and overcoats. It is also believed that some slaves were allowed to earn a little money outside of the plantation and used this money to supply some of their clothing needs. In 1861 the Civil War began, and African Americans would never be the same again. At first, many whites did not want to arm blacks for fear the blacks would rise against them. As the war raged on and thousands of lives were lost, it became more and more obvious that allowing blacks to fight was the correct course of action. Once blacks were permitted to fight, they did so bravely and with honor. The black man went into the war with one determination, that once learning the use of arms, he would never be again made a slave. This idea created a drive to succeed where others failed, the desire to advance and procure their freedom was all the incentive needed. It is often said that these men were the bravest group ever to fight a war. They were never known to flee the scene of a battle, it was, rather, as much as the white officers could do to restrain them till the order to fire was given. In the end, the Civil War was worth it, for the Emancipation Proclamation was signed into law by A braham Lincoln in 1863 procuring the eventual release of millions of slaves. Blacks were finally free, but a new and difficult challenge awaited them. Family life and living conditions did not change much after the war. However, there were some differences: marriages were recognized and legal, and families could live without the fear of being separated by the sale of another family member. Most African Americans lived in small shacks that were provided for them by the plantation owner that they had a sharecropping agreement with. The shacks were one room houses that were in poor condition and non-insulated. Often, they only had three walls. Most of the families who lived in these shacks consisted of an average of four to five persons. There were also many couples who lived together and were not married. Families relied on their food, clothing, and health care from the plantation owner. Children of African American families were largely uneducated, as there were few schools for the c olored. Few opportunities existed for them to enrich or better their lives or conditions. WORKING CONDITIONSThe vast majority of African Americans in the South following the Civil War worked for the same plantation owners who they had previously called Master. They worked under a condition known as sharecropping. In January 1865, General William T. Sherman issued Special Field Order No. 15, setting aside the Sea Islands Off the Georgia coast and a portion of the South Carolina low-country rice fields for the exclusive settlement of freed people. Each family would receive forty acres of land and the loan of mules from the armythe origin, perhaps, of the famous forty acres and a mule idea that would soon capture the imagination of African Americans throughout the South (Faragher, 514). In this arrangement, the sharecropper would work a given section of plantation land. At the end of the harvest season, the owner would give the worker his share of the crop. Unfortunately for the African Americans, this ideal arrangement almost never worked out as it was designed due to manip ulation of the system by the owner. During the year, the owner provided the worker and his family with housing, as described earlier, food, clothing, and medical care. Then the owner would make the worker pay for these services using his part of the harvest. More often than not, the worker ended up with nothing. Also, there was no system of verification for the worker. When the owner presented the worker with his share of the harvest, the worker had to take the word of the owner that it was the actual share agreed upon.

HISTORY COURSEWORK PLEASE ANSWER EACH QUESTION Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

HISTORY PLEASE ANSWER EACH QUESTION - Coursework Example The problem with this particular type of governance was that it lacked a central form of government that would have given it coherence and a uniform direction in governance. It was the problem of governance relating to economics, legislation of laws, and central leadership that created the problems within the confederate government. â€Å"Brackemyre, T. â€Å"Americas First Failure at Government: The Articles of Confederation†). So, while the ideas behind the conderacy form of government were based upon good intentions and safeguards, the implementation and lack of central leadership created a confusing form of governance which eventually led to the disintegration of the condeferacy. 2. The main problem they faced was not having a central form of government that could create a cohesive plan of action for the states. Since each state had individualized, extreme powers, there was an uneveness in the mode of governnance because of the federal state power. Each law that was created needed to be ratified by 9 of the then 13 states before it could be passed into law. Economically speaking the government could not directly tax the citizens so the existing congress did not hae a budget and could not request money directly from the states either. That said, any changes to the articles were hard to implement because all 13 states needed to approve the changes. There was a military problem as well due to the fact that men could not be drafted. Thus creating a smaller than usual military force. There was also a judicial problem since all the state conflicts had to be settled in state courts. Additionally, since congress did not have the power to resolve state disputes, the problems between states tended to escalate (Sage, H. â€Å"American Under the Articles of Confederation: 1783-1989) As such, the problems that existed had a tendency to escalate due to the lack of a moderating body within the government. 3. The two party system of the United States stemmed from the

The Presidency Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

The Presidency - Essay Example He was barely twenty years old when he started out with FBI in this modest fashion. He climbed up the career ladder steadily thereafter. His appointment as the Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) in Chicago is a notable milestone. But it is the World Trade Center (WTC) bombing at Oklahoma in 1993 that would prove to be a turning point in his career. A year later he was made supervisor of VAPCON in 1994. From this point onwards John was deeply involvement in counter-terror operations for the rest of his life. In hindsight a lot of warnings given by O’Neill have proven to be right. His fractious relationship with the FBI bosses and his own abrasive personality had created distrust or disregard for the information that he was passing on. Though a lone voice among his colleagues, he kept repeating the threat of terrorist attacks till the very end of his tenure with the FBI. In the last few years of his service, he served as the Chief of Counterterrorism Section within the FBI . Despite this critical position he held within the national intelligence apparatus his words were not given due respect. Every time an important lead would emerge, â€Å"John would fight with Washington to make sure that we constantly took the lead on these investigations. So we would build this intelligence base, and so we would have investigators that had the institutional knowledge and that was the way it was.† (Clint Guenther, Former FBI Agent NYC – Counterterrorism) Investigating the 911 terror attacks in retrospect, there is nothing inevitable about its occurrence. There were enough indications for the FBI to take preventative action. John O’Neill saw himself as the champion of this cause – one of saving America from a grave security threat. But, unfortunately, those around him, especially the top leaders in the FBI did not concur with O’Neill’s views. More than an odd lapse it is a systematic failure on part of the key national agenc y. Bureaucratic bungling and red tape have made O’Neill’s desperate attempts to communicate a challenge. Personal ego hassles between O’Neill and his peers and superiors was another mitigating factor. O’Neill’s abrasive personality rubbed off his colleagues the wrong way. As a result, the intelligence reports given out by O’Neill did not get the urgent attention that they merited. One needs to ask how personal favoritism and prejudice can undermine the high profile operations of the FBI. John O’Neill was quite vocal and persistent about the presence of Al Qaeda sleeper cells in the United States. John had communicated how the terror network had developed capabilities for attacking many strategic locations not just in the United States but anywhere in the world. It was O’Neill who identified Al Qaeda as the foremost threat to America -much ahead of his peers did. As his colleague Richard Clarke recounts, â€Å"I would go around the country to FBI offices and ask, "Is there an Al Qaeda presence in Chicago, in San Francisco, in Boston?" And typically the reaction I would get is, "What's Al Qaeda?"...But not with John. John knew what Al Qaeda was; he was among the first people to see the bin Laden threat. He believed there was a bin Laden network in the United States even if he couldn't prove it. So he was constantly trying to prove it†¦" (Richard Clarke, NSS Coordinator for Counterterrorism, 1992-2001) John O’

Administrative Management Theory Essay -- essays research papers

Our group project is on Henri Fayol’s â€Å"Administrative Management Theory†. As a group member I took on a task of researching his theory. Henri Fayol began his career as a junior Engineer in French Mining Company. His key work was â€Å"Administration Industrielle et Generale† which he published in 1916 ad later o pulished in Eglish I 1949. The administrative theory "emphasized management functions and attempted to generate broad administrative principles that would serve as guidelines for the rationalization of organizational activities" (Scott p. 36). Fayol played a main role in the turn-of-the-century Classical School of management theory. Fayol believed that techniques of effective management could be defined and taught and that managerial organization hold as much importance as management as workers organization. He was the first to identify functions of management. The five functions of managers, according to Fayol were plan, organize, command, coordinate, and control. Planning is the act of anticipating the future and acting on it. â€Å"Planning reduces uncertainty by forcing managers to look ahead, anticipate change, consider the impact of change and develop appropriate responses.† (Robbins, 2000, p.247) Organization is the development of the institution's resources, including material and human. Commanding is keeping the institution’s actions and processes running. Co-ordination is the alignment and harmonization of the groups’ efforts. Finally, control means that t...

Flirting: Investment and Return

Solution to Case 02 Risk and Return Flirting With Risk Questions: 1. Imagine you are Bill. How would you explain to Mary the relationship between risk and return of individual stocks? I would explain to Mary that risk and return are positively related, i. e. if one expects to earn higher returns, then one has to be willing to invest in stocks whose price can vary significantly from year to year or in different economic conditions. For example, in the table below we see that treasury bills would have yielded 4% with almost no variability, while the index fund is expected to yield 10. 1% with a standard deviation of 9. 15%. | Expected Rate of Return | |Scenari/o |Probability |Treasury Bill |Index Fund |Utility Company |High-Tech Company|Counter-Cyclical | | | | | | | |Company | |Recession |20% |4% |-2% |6% |-5% |20% | |Near Recession |20% |4% |5% |7% |2% |16% | |Normal |30% |4% |10% |9% |15% |12% | |Near Boom |10% |4% |15% |11% |25% |-9% | |Boom |20% |4% |25% |14% |45% |-20% | |Expecte d Return | |4% |10. 10% |9. 2% |15. 40% |5. % | |Standard Deviation | |0% | |2. 82% | |15. 69% | | | | |9. 15% | |17. 69% | | 2. Mary has no idea what beta means and how it is related to the required return of the stocks. Explain how you would help her understand these concepts. Beta is defined as the systematic risk of an asset. It measures the relationship between the returns of an asset and a market portfolio. Stocks that vary by more than the market have betas greater than 1 and vice-versa. The formula for calculating beta is as follows:Beta = Covariance of stock returns vis-a-vis market returns Variance of market returns According to the Security Market Line equation, Required return on a stock = Risk free rate + (Expected Market Return – Risk free rate)* Beta This shows that high beta stocks have a have a higher required rate of return than low beta stocks. Index FundUtility Co. High-Tech Co. Counter-Cyclical Co. Exp. Return10. 10%9. 2%15. 4%5. 9% Std. Deviation9. 15%2. 82%17. 69%15. 69% Cov (Rs, Rm)——–0. 00300. 0276-0. 0144Beta1. 00. 301. 86-1. 54 Required Rate10. 1%5. 84%15. 37%-5. 41% *See spreadsheet for calculations 3. How should Bill demonstrate the meaning and advantages of diversification to Mary?Diversification refers to the strategy of investing in stocks, which are not highly correlated with each other, for example, high-tech firms and utility firms, or high-tech firms and counter-cyclical firms. Diversification reduces the portfolio’s variability and thereby enables investors to earn a more stable rate of return. To demonstrate the advantages of diversification, Bill should calculate the expected return and risk (standard deviation) of a portfolio composed of equal investment in the High-Tech Co. and the Counter-Cyclical Co. —since these companies are negatively correlated with each other– and compare the results with the return and risk levels of the High-Tech Co. by itself. | | | | | 50-50 Po rtfolio | | |Scenario |Probability | High-Tech Co. |Counter-Cyclical Co. |50-50 Portfolio |Prob. *E(Portfolio Return) |[Rp-E(Rp)]^2 | | | | | | | |*Ps | |Recession |20% |-5% |20% |7. 50% |1. 50% |0. 000198 | |Near Recession |20% |2% |16% |9. 00% |1. 80% |0. 00054 | |Normal |30% |15% |12% |13. 50% |4. 05% |0. 000244 | |Near Boom |10% |25% |-9% |8. 00% |0. 80% |0. 000070 | |Boom |20% |45% |-20% |12. 50% |2. 50% |0. 000068 | |Expected Return | | 15. 40% |5. 90% | |10. 5% | | |Standard Deviation | | 17. 69% |15. 69% | | |2. 52% | The data in the table above shows that a portfolio comprised of equal investment in High-Tech Co. and Counter-Cyclical Co. stock would provide an expected rate of return that would be in between the returns of the two stocks with an expected risk level that would be much smaller than either of the two stocks’ expected standard deviation. 4. Using a suitable diagram explain how Bill could use the security market line to show Mary which stocks could be und ervalued and which may be overvalued? [pic] Stock |Beta |Required Return |Expected Return | |T-Bill |0. 00 |4% |4. 00% | |Index Fund |1. 00 |10. 10% |10. 10% | |Utility Co. |0. 30 |5. 84% |9. 20% | |High-Tech Co. |1. 86 |15. 37% |15. 40% | |Counter-Cyclical Co. |-1. 54 |-5. 41% |5. 90% | The solid line represents the required rates of return of the 5 investment alternatives as per the Security Market Line equation.Those stocks whose expected returns are higher than their required returns plot above the line and are considered to be undervalued (Counter-Cyclical Co. , Utility Co. and High-Tech Co. ) while those that plot below the line are considered to be over-valued. 5. During the presentation. Mary asks Bill â€Å" Let’s say I choose a well diversified portfolio, what effect will interest rates have on my portfolio? How should Bill respond? A well-diversified portfolio is one that is closely correlated to the market index. Real interest rates are typically inversely relate d to stock prices. Hence, if interest rates increase, Mary’s portfolio return will decrease by as much as the market index does and vice versa. In other words, her portfolio will mirror the changes in the market index. 6.Should Bill take Mary out of investing in stocks and preferably put all her money in fixed-income securities? Explain. Not necessarily. Mary could still invest in a well-diversified portfolio such as the market index fund. The problem with fixed-income securities is that they have reinvestment and price risk. By holding a well-diversified portfolio of stocks, Mary can enjoy a reasonably good rate of return over the long term. Fixed-income securities have been known to barely keep up with inflation. 7. Mary tells Bill, â€Å"I keep hearing stories about how people have made thousands of dollars by following their brokers’ â€Å"hot tips. Can you give me some hot tips regarding undervalued stocks? † How should Bill respond?Bill should discourage Mary from taking speculative positions in common stock, given her age and lifecycle status. He should caution her about the riskiness associated with stock price volatility and remind her again about the advantages of diversification. 8. If Mary decided to invest her money equally in high-tech and counter-cyclical stocks. What would her portfolio’s expected return and risk level be? Are these expectations realistic? Please explain. With equal investments in High-Tech and Counter-Cyclical stocks, the portfolio expected return would be 10. 65% and its expected standard deviation would be 2. 52%. (see Answer 3 above for details). These expectations are only as realistic as the numbers used to calculate them.Thus, one has to make realistic assumptions regarding probabilities and returns, in order to get realistic expected return estimates. 9. What would happen if Mary were to put 70% of her portfolio in the High-Tech stock and 30% in the Index Fund? Would this combination be bett er for her? Explain. |Scenario |Probability | High-Tech |Index Fund | 70-30 |Prob. *E(Portfolio) | {[Rp-E(Rp)]^2}*Ps | | | | | |Portfolio | | | |Recession |20% |-5% |-2% |-4. 10% |-0. 82% |0. 06415362 | |Near Recession |20% |2% |5% |2. 90% |0. 58% |0. 002380562 | |Normal |30% |15% |10% |13. 50% |4. 05% |2. 883E-06 | |Near Boom |10% |25% |15% |22. 00% |2. 20% |0. 000670761 | |Boom |20% |45% |25% |39. 00% |7. 80% |0. 012690722 | |Expected Return | |15. 0% |10. 10% | |13. 81% | | |Standard Deviation | |17. 69% |9. 15% | | |14. 89% | Given the above table, it seems clear that the 70-30 portfolio composed of High-Tech and the index fund would not necessarily be better for Mary, since it has a much higher expected level of risk (14. 89% versus 2. 52%) and only a slightly higher level of expected return (13. 81% versus 10. 65%) visa vis the 50-50 portfolio of High-Tech and the Counter-Cyclical Co.