Honor In Plays Essays - Cultural Depictions Of Julius Caesar

Honor In Plays Many tragic heroes had honor which was either their downfall or their positive trait. In Shakespeare's Henry IV Part 1, Hotspur, a hot tempered traitor, makes honor his first priority for him and his family . Although the king praised him, he led a rebellion against him. In Julius Caesar Brutus, a honor driven conspirator, believes too much in honor and uses nor as a way to justify his action. He is admired by the Roman people, but was easily manipulated into joining a conspiracy and immediately took as the leader to killing Caesar. Both of these characters are very similar in how they perceived and lived their lives. Shakespeare creates Brutus and Hotspur as characters whose principle concern is for themselves and honor which ironically causes them to make unprincipled decisions which eventually causes their downfall. Hotspur lives his life by the code of honor. Henry IV, the king at that time, honors and respects Hotspur more than his own son. When Hotspur does not give the prisoners that he had captured to the king, it is treason because he defies against the king. Hotspur says that he did not want to hand over the prisoners because his army had just fought a hard battle and were very proud of what they had done. When the servant came looking very clean and trimly dressed, they felt that if they gives the prisoners to him then Hotspur and his army would be giving away everything they had worked and fought for. Hotspur feels that the king attacks his honor when he orders those prisoner be sent to him. The king becomes angry because Hotspur had time to think about his decision and Hotspur still had not given the soldiers to him. The king says, " Send us your prisoners, or you will hear of it" (Henry IV Part 1, I, iii, 126). Brutus also believes that honor is what makes a man. He says, " For let the gods so speed me as I love the name of honor more than I fear death" (Julius Caesar, I, ii, 95-96). He thinks that killing Caesar is his duty because it will be for the good of all Romans. When the other conspirators come over to Brutus's house, Cassius tells everyone that they should make an oath to follow through with the plan to kill Caesar. Brutus disagrees and says that only people with evil intentions take oaths and that they are doing what is the right and just. When Brutus makes his speech after the killing of Caesar he says, " Believe me for mine honor, and have respect to mine honor that you may believe " (Julius Caesar, III, ii, 15-18). But killing your friend and colleague is not honorable, so consequently Brutus is not as honorable as he believes himself to be. Honor in both of these characters is what makes them act and think they way they do. Hotspur believes that he has been betrayed and wants to kill the king. Brutus wants to kill the king also because he feels that it will be for the good of all Romans. They do not think decisions through and eventually honor overrules other factors when they make decisions. When time comes for Hotspur and Brutus to make decisions, they turn out to be bad decisions which aren't thought through. Furthermore, Hotspur is a very poor decision maker. He decides to defy the king's orders, and by doing so commits treason in which some people can be executed. Hotspur decides that his family deserves more than they have already received for taking Richard out of the throne, but he does not take into account that Henry is the king and has a lot of power. Although the king respects and honors Hotspur more than his own son, he defies the king's authority and decides to take the side of his own family. When all of the conspirators gather together, Hotspur just ridicules some of the other conspirators at a time when cooperation is a necessity. He is very hot tempered and bases his decisions on his anger. What makes Hotspur a bad leader is that he is easily manipulated by Worcester, his uncle. Worcester makes all of the plans for the conspiracy and manipulates Hotspur into taking control of the operation. Equally, Brutus is also a poor decision maker. First of all, he decides to assassinate the king and in making that faulty decision, he makes other flawed decisions. He decides that

Summer of the Seventeenth Doll by Steph Essays

Summer of the Seventeenth Doll by Steph Essays Summer of the Seventeenth Doll by Steph Paper Summer of the Seventeenth Doll by Steph Paper 1. Discuss the importance of place and/or landscape in one or more texts that you have read. Place is important because it constructs the setting and era, discussing issues through symbolism and what is accepted in society during those times. The Summer of the Seventeenth Doll by Ray Lawler relies heavily on place to construct the setting and bring the story into context for the audience. It is set in the 1950s, in Australia during the midst of an economic boom. The story is about the boys Roo and Barney coming down from Queensland to Melbourne to see Olive and Pearl for the lay-off season. â€Å"The house of the play is situated in Carlton, a now scruffy but once fashionable suburb of Melbourne†. The choice of setting in Melbourne is important as it shows how Roo and Barney are normally up in Queensland working but during their times off they come to Melbourne to see Olive and Pearl. Each time Roo comes down for the summer he brings for Olive a kewpie doll. This is symbolic of the time they spend together. It is also symbolic of their children as they are not married and Olive has no plans to marry Roo or have actual children with him. The fact they have this sort of de-facto summer living relationship also says a lot about the era it is set in. During the 1950s it was not acceptable to live with a man if you were not married to them. Olive lived in her illusionary world of ‘kewpie dolls’ and the boys just coming down for summer. She loved when they came but she also loved when they left because to her it was just like a summer fling. Ray Lawler chose this era to set it in because towards the end of the play, Roo doesn’t just want to be the ‘lay-off season’ guy, he wants to live with Olive permanently, give up his job in Queensland and marry her. Olive says â€Å"You think I’ll let it all end up in marriage – every day – a paint factory – you think I’ll marry you? † She doesn’t want that kind of relationship with Roo and the era of the 1950s makes the storyline that much more important as it sees the coming of age of women being independent. It is about individualism, growing up or refusing to grow up and freedom. For Australians it was the first time many of them got to see realistic characters portrayed with themes of mateship displayed between the boys. Therefore the place is important as it is displays Australian themes during the era of 1950 and it also discussing issues within society and how they weren’t accepted told through the characters portrayals. RIGHTS RESERVED

State of the Union Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

State of the Union - Assignment Example This is not taken kindly by some republicans who assert that he is more concerned with politics than with the development and well being of the nation. The democrats supported the plans to raise the minimum wage. Later positing that increasing minimum wage is the quickest and surest way of putting money in the pockets of workers. The amount of the money the workers will spend will in turn increase demand for commodities and services and therefore create more jobs. The Vice President seems to be in agreement with the president throughout his speech, but his facial expression changes with the disapproval of most of the planned policies by the republicans, as pointed out in their speeches. Explain the differences in the two men’s responses on the basis of the difference between liberal (Democratic Party) and conservative (Republican Party) ideologies. (The Vice President and the Speaker) According to the two, it is clear that there is a distinction between the views of the democrats and republicans on several issues affecting the citizens of the US. The republicans seem to reject anything Obama would offer. As such, the conservatives feel that the government should serve the people and not the other way round. On taxes and wealth, republicans feel that the government keeps interfering which could have negative ramifications. This was clear with the issue of raising minimum wage and tax increases mentioned in the speech. The conservatives opt for a free market, which is self regulating without government coming in between. As such, they are of the view that instead of raising taxes, lowering them would be good for everyone. The best way to raise the standard of living for Americans is to let people pursue their own goals with reduced bureaucracy which tends to be an obstacle. Liberals on the other hand feel that the ultimate purpose of the government is to improve the lives of the people by reducing poverty,