William Shakespeares Hamlet Essay -- Tragedy of Hamlet

William Shakespeare's Hamlet 'Hamlet' is a play written by William Shakespeare in late 15th or early 16th century. The main character Hamlet faces many difficulties, which cause him to doubt life, question death and look at human characters. The main problem, which in turn leads to others along his journey, is when he encounters his dead father in the form of a ghost. He tells Hamlet of his murder by his brother who is now married to his widowed wife, Hamlets Uncle and Mother. Hamlet spends the play trying to avenge his father's death and it is questionable to whether he does. In this essay I aim to examine Hamlet's state of mind and personality within four incidents. From there I will analyse any changes that I believe Hamlet to make and why I think they happen. My four chosen incidents are; Hamlets plan for a play (Act two Scene two), Hamlet's famous 'to be or not to be' speech and conversation with Ophelia (Act three Scene one), the death of Polonius in Gertrude's closet (Act three Scene four), and finally, when the news of Ophelia's death reaches Hamlet and leads into a confrontation with her brother, Laertes (Act five Scene one). To analyse the changes in the character of Hamlet it must first be considered how he deals with the news of his father's death before further revelations are revealed and then track his thoughts and actions as the play progresses. It must be determined if there is evidence of Hamlet being suicidal over the death of his father without such events as his 'antic disposition' in the way. We must also decide if Hamlet was insane, before or at any point through the play. Finally, why does Hamlet fe... ... very much alike, both nosey and very wordy. It provides mental recognition for Hamlet that he is changing and his childish way, from such scenes as Gertrude's closest, are not needed anymore. It also provides Hamlet with a thirst for blood and shows him what actions he is capable of. I believe it to be a second key scene for Hamlet. Finally, I think Hamlet is undeveloped emotionally and finds it very hard to deal with his father's death and to hear he was murdered destroys Hamlets life. I feel great empathy with him and understand why he may appear suicidal and mad to some, whereas I do not agree. I think he does remarkably well to deal with the situation and do no think that I could. I don't think he does revenge his father's murder but does not need to. He is a very interesting character who emerges victorious.

Ethics †Morality Essay

Ethical relativism is a view on morality stating that there are no universally accepted moral principles. Morality varies from one culture to another and no society has the right to impose their view of morality on other societies. Ethical relativism can be summed up to mean that morals are derived from what is culturally acceptable in any given society. ER is made up of two theses. The first is the diversity thesis, which simply says that moral practices are diverse across cultures. Ruth Benedict defends this theory by using homosexuality as an example. She explains how homosexuality was accepted and even encouraged in many cultures throughout history, like ancient Greece, but denounced in others. More evidence for the diversity thesis can be found in burial practices. Ancient Greeks honored their dead by burning the bodies. Similarly, Callatians showed respect to their dead by eating the bodies. However, both cultures were extremely offended when asked how much money would be required to institute the burial practices of the other. These examples clearly illustrate the vast differences in morality from culture to culture. ER’s second thesis is called the dependency thesis. It states that there is no objective standard by which to judge morality. Westermark defends this theory by saying that ethics is a learned set of behaviors instilled in every human at a young age by his or her surroundings. As a young person, we pick up on â€Å"right† and â€Å"wrong† by learning from those around us what is culturally acceptable. The ultimate source of morality, according to Westermark, is sympathy. This â€Å"gut feeling† of right and wrong is the only scale of morality each person has. Pojman has found many discrepancies in the theory of ethical relativism. Since ER says that no cultures view of morality can be criticized, we ought to be tolerant of all cultures. The problem is that tolerance would then be a universal moral principle, which ER says doesn’t exist. In fact it would be just as acceptable for a culture to be intolerant since morality is relative. Thus ER is logically inconsistent. This inconsistency makes ER inapplicable to solving conflicts between cultures, since each can be viewed as being morally right in any action by their own definition. Pojman also explains how any social reformers, like Martin Luther King Jr. , would inherently be wrong by going against the societal majority (i. e. those that determine morals). ER also implies that mass opinion is infallible, thus making a brutal dictator such as Hitler morally justified. The challenge of the ring is a hypothetical question posed to Socrates by Glaucon in the 5th century BC. Glaucon introduces a mythical ring that turns its wearer invisible. Glaucon says that every person, even the seemingly most moral, would use the ring to his or her advantage even at the detriment of others. His argument is based on the fact that the only reason people don’t live fully unjust lives now is fear of repercussions. Under the stipulation that one can never be caught, the fear vanishes one becomes immoral. Socrates responds by asking if injustice really does pay. His point is that by one’s own definition of success, one may or may not use the ring. For example if success is defined by a man as being scrupulous, he wouldn’t use the ring because ultimately it doesn’t lead to happiness for him. In contrast, the man who defines success by wealth would use the ring. Socrates says that to do injustice is to scar ones â€Å"soul,† which is equivalent to the modern word â€Å"character. † Both sides of the ring argument have merit. For the majority of the population I believe Glaucon is right, they would use the ring. However, some define happiness differently, and for them the ring is of no use. Friedman’s argument on corporate social responsibility is that it doesn’t exist. According to Friedman, a corporation’s only goal is to increase profits infinitely while staying within the realm of the law. He states that a corporate executive is merely an employee of the shareholders and his or her job is solely to increase return to the shareholders. If an executive were to be â€Å"socially responsible† and donate money to a charity, it’s an unauthorized distribution of shareholder funds. Thus being socially responsible is simultaneously being morally irresponsible. The burden of social responsibility should be placed on individual consumers. If they don’t like the policies and practices of a certain company they have the option to not buy the product or not invest in the company. The divine command theory makes a single differentiation between right and wrong. Simply, according to DCT, morally right means commanded by God and morally wrong means forbidden by God. This theory is highly criticized and many philosophers would say it has been refuted for thousands of years. The main criticism comes from Socrates and Euthyphro. The question is whether what is right is right because God says so (DCT) or does God say it’s right because he sees that its right (theory of natural law). Option one is quickly dismissed by Euthyphro because it implies quite a bit of arbitrariness. For instance, in the very beginning all actions were morally equal until God starting commanding and prohibiting certain ones. If God loving something makes it right, what reason is there for God wanting us to do right? If God commanded adultery, adultery would be morally right and obligatory. Option two means that there is a standard of morals independent from God’s own will. This contradicts the divine command theory’s basic component that commanded by God is right and prohibited by God is wrong. -Reason, Morality, and Public Policy: Classic and Contemporary Readings in Philosophy by: G. M. Brown, Ph. D.

American Dream for Women- Yes or No

Gender- Inequality in labor force The American Dream, one of the most attractive things which draw thousands people to the United States, is just a simple promise: equality. This is where people can work hard and expect to gain from their effort. This is where opportunities are equally provided for anyone who has determination to improve his or her life. Anyone can have equal access to the American Dream. However, it depends. If you are White, you can dream that dream. If you are non-White, you cannot.If you belong to the middle and upper class, you have the right to dream. If you find yourself struggling to have daily meals, you do not have that right. Similarly, if you are male, go ahead, but if you are not, you have to step back. Gender has always been a big problem with the American Dream. Women cannot move themselves to better lives in the same way that men are able to. Gender creates deep-rooted inequality against women in the labor force, through the social construction of gen der roles and femininity.Inequality between two genders shows up as early as in the beginning of one’s career. Influenced by gender roles, women and men tend to choose jobs that can help them fulfill their social expectations (Weisgram, Dinella, and Fulcher 245). For example, men would prefer jobs with high monetary reward to fulfill their breadwinning roles, and women would choose jobs which allow them to have time with their family as they are supposed to be the main caretakers.Women, raised with the idea of femininity, would choose careers related to caring or serving such as teachers and nurses, while men would be more attracted to careers in technology and management fields, which require the supposedly masculine characteristics such as decisiveness. As a result, women have a tendency to choose their careers in female-dominated fields, whose monetary reward generally is lower than those of male-dominated fields. This division of the work force also influences womenâ€⠄¢s expectation of their future salaries.Research shows that men overall have higher pay expectation than women, and people intending to work in male-dominated fields have much higher pay expectation than those who want to work in female-dominated fields (Hogue, DuBois, and Fox- Cardamone 222). Low pay expectation can result in receiving lower pay offers in an equally qualified pool of job applicants, and starting wages can affect one’s career in his or her long term payment (Hogue, DuBois, and Fox-Cardamone 215). This reflects that in reality women who work in ale-dominated fields earn 26% more than other women who have female-dominated jobs, as the U. S. Department of Labor reported in 2008 (qtd. in Hogue, Dubois, and Fox-Cardamone 215). Women, influenced by their gender roles and the concept of femininity, experience inequality in their work choices and pay expectations. Women face difficulties during their careers because of their traditional gender roles as main family c aretakers. Wives, not husbands, are generally the ones who have primary responsibilities in domestic work, either household chores or child care.In dual-earner families, men usually share housework with their partners, yet women still have the main responsibility in organizing family life (Rubin 247). Most people used to consider women entering the work force as expanding their traditional role without men changing theirs (Gilbert and Rader 164). Women were seen as being in conflict between outside work and family; the more time they spent on working outside, the more they would neglect their supposedly main role. Questions were then raised about whether working mothers had negative effects on their children as well as the family as a whole.Although research showed that having dual-earner families had no effect on preschool-age children, especially if additional income was used in daily childcare, this whole viewpoint discouraged women from working outside for a long time (Gilbert a nd Rader 164). Even though our society is now more accepting toward working mothers, women still cannot have the same opportunities as men when it comes to careers, which involve more commitment than jobs. ( Jobs vs careers ) Women are encouraged to have paid jobs to balance their families’ finance, to better their children’s and husbands’ lives.In other words, women’s working outside is seen as part of their traditional role, or part of their femininity: supporting men. Women who want to pursue their professional careers especially those in high levels, have to spend a lot of time working just like their male colleagues. However, unlike men, they are usually criticized as not fulfilling their traditional role. Women who challenge the idea of gender roles are facing a lot of pressure, both from the work place and from their families.As women’s major career is family work, they will not be considered successful if they fail as wives and mothers. The ir occupational success will not be viewed seriously as it is still their secondary role. These negative effects of gender cause a lot of difficulties for women who want to seriously pursue their careers, and create a deep inequality between women and men in the labor force. Although there are more and more women working in male-dominated jobs, it is not the case for the most male-dominated field: leadership.Only 21% of women hold middle management positions, and just 15% can be senior level managers (Sipe, Johnson, and Fisher 340). Only 1. 2% of Fortune 500 CEOs are women, according to a Catalyst study (Gorski). Leadership positions have much better monetary awards than other positions; they can be indications of one’s expertise and success in his or her job and can promote self-esteem as well as confidence. Even though women now have chances to work in diverse fields, they are not given equal opportunities to take leadership roles, which perpetuates the inequality in the wo rkplace.This can be explained, again, by the idea of femininity and masculinity. Masculinity usually includes those traits such as ambitious, analytical, assertive, decisive, independent, etc. , while femininity denotes characteristics such as affectionate, gentle, caring, warm, soft-spoken, etc. â€Å"The first [masculinity] expresses the intellect, the second [femininity] â€Å"the heart†; the first the â€Å"rational† faculties, the second the â€Å"intuitive† or â€Å"emotional†Ã¢â‚¬ ( Jamieson 124).Those feminine traits are not considered suitable for a leader or for a management position, which traditionally requires those masculine traits such as decisiveness and independence. Because of the effect of gender stereotypes, people view women as possessing the â€Å"natural† femininity, and women are often raised in a way which encourages them to develop such traits to live up to their social expectations. Not all men possess these appreciated characteristics, and not all women are feminine in the way our society thinks.However, women as a group have suffered from this idea of femininity as people refuse to acknowledge their strength but focus on their gender- based inability to perform leadership. As a result, in a society that considers men as natural leaders, women find it difficult to break those gender stereotypes in order to prove themselves as effective leaders. According to Noble and Moore (2006), many women who are able to achieve leadership eventually give up their positions (qtd. in Sipe, Johnson, and Fisher 340). In her book Beyond the Double Bind, Kathleen H.Jamieson analyzed the gender-caused prejudice against women who were already leaders. As femininity is opposed to the traditional leadership style, women in those positions must be able to show some certain masculine characteristics. They are then perceived as not acting feminine, which is inappropriate in our gender-based society, or as not being mascul ine enough for effective leadership (Jamieson 121). For example, if a female leader talked assertively, she would be considered unfeminine or even rude for a woman, yet if she did not, she would be criticized as having poor leadership skills.Women with their traditional gender role and their assigned femininity have always confronted difficulties in the workplace. The unequal process starts as soon as they begin to form their ideas about what career they want to pursue, to their lives with a double role as family caretakers and normal employees. It also affects their effort to get promoted to management level; even if they already achieve something, the process works to diminish it. Women have always had to work much harder than men in order to achieve equal statuses.They have to overcome many disadvantages, as well as work against men’s privilege. Men are viewed as natural leaders; women are not. In order to be equal, they have to prove themselves as effective leaders as wel l as better leaders than those supposedly natural leaders. Women were raised in a society which views them as inferior, and to achieve equality means to work hard to change their own minds, as well as others’. Women have never enjoyed the real equality which many politicians mentioned in their articulate speeches.They have never had the right to dream the American Dream, which promises that everyone will have equal chances to work themselves out of poverty and live their dream lives. Works Cited Gilbert, Lucia A. , and Rader, Jill. â€Å"Current Perspectives on Women’s Adult Roles: Work, Family, and Life. † Handbook of the Psychology of Women and Gender. Ed. Rhoda K. Unger. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2001. 156-169. Print. Gorski, Paul C.. â€Å"Class and Poverty Awareness Quiz†. Edchange. 2011. Web. 19 Oct. 2011.Houge, Mary, DuBois, Cathy L. Z. , and Fox-Cardamone, Lee. â€Å"Gender Differences in Pay Expectations: the Roles of Job Intention and S elf-View. † Psychology of Women Quarterly. 34. 2. (2010): 215-227. Academic Search Premier. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. Jamieson, Kathleen H.. Beyond the Double Bind. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. Print. Rubin, Lillian. â€Å"Families on the Fault Line†. The Social Construction of Difference and Inequality. Ed. Tracy E. Ore. New York: McGraw Hill, 2006. 245-254. Print. Sipe, Stephanie, Johnson, C.Douglas, and Fisher, Donna K.. â€Å"University Students’ Perceptions of Gender Discrimination in the Workplace Reality Versus Fiction. † Journal of Education for Business. 84. 6 (2009):339-349. Academic Search Premier. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. Weisgram, Erica, Dinella, Lisa, and Fulcher, Megan. â€Å"The Role of Masculinity/ Femininity, Values, and Occupational Value Affordances in Shaping Young Men’s and Women’s Occupational Choices. † Sex Roles. 65. 3/4. (2011): 243-258. Academic Search Premier. Web. 19 Oct. 2011.

Non-Member Countries of the United Nations

Non-Member Countries of the United Nations Although most of the worlds 196 countries have joined forces to tackle global issues like global warming, trade policy, and human rights and humanitarian issues through joined the United Nations as U.N. member states, two countries are not members of the U.N.: Palestine and the Holy See (Vatican City). Both, however, are considered Non-member States of the United Nations, which means they have permanent invitations to participate as observers of the General Assembly and are provided free access to documents of the United Nations. Although not specifically dictated in provisions of the United Nations, the non-member permanent observer status has been recognized as a matter of practice in the U.N. since 1946 when the Swiss Government was given the status by the Secretary-General. More often than not, permanent observers later join the United Nations as full members when their independence has been recognized by more members and their governments and economy have stabilized enough to be able to provide financial, military or humanitarian support for international initiatives of the United Nations. Palestine Palestine currently operates on a Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations because of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and its subsequent fight for independence. Until such a time as the conflict is resolved, though, the United Nations cannot allow Palestine to become a full member because of a conflict of interest with Israel, which is a member state. Unlike other conflicts in the past, namely Taiwan-China, the United Nations favors a two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict wherein both states emerge from the battle as independent nations under a peaceful pact. If this does happen, Palestine would almost certainly be accepted as a full member of the United Nations, though that depends on member states votes during the next General Assembly. The Holy See (Vatican City) The independent papal state of 771 people (including the Pope) was created in 1929, but they have not chosen to become part of the international organization. Still, Vatican City currently operates in the United Nations as a Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the U.N. Essentially, this just means that the Holy See- which is separate from Vatican City State - has access to all parts of the United Nations but does not get to cast a vote in the General Assembly, largely because of the Popes preference to not immediately affect international policy. The Holy See is the only fully independent nation to choose not to be a member of the United Nations. States Without Non-member Observer Status Unlike the U.N.s official permanent observers, these states are not recognized by the U.N. However, they are recognized as independent states by some of the U.N.s members. Name Recognized By Kosovo 102 U.N. member states Western Sahara 44 U.N. member states Taiwan 16 U.N. member states South Ossetia 5 U.N. member states Abkhazia 5 U.N. member states Northern Cyprus 1 U.N. member state Kosovo Kosovo declared independence from Serbia  on February 17, 2008, but has not gained complete international recognition to allow it to become a member of the United Nations. Still, at least one member country of the U.N. recognizes Kosovo as capable of independence, though it technically still remains part of Serbia, acting as an independent province. However, Kosovo is not listed as an official non-member state of the United Nations, though it has joined the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which are two other international communities focused more on international economy and global trade rather than geopolitical issues. Kosovo does hope to one day join the United Nations as a full member, but political unrest in the region, as well as the ongoing United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), have kept the country from political stability to the degree required to join as a functioning member state. Today, Kosovo is recognized by 102 U.N. members. Taiwan In 1971 the Peoples Republic of China (mainland China) replaced Taiwan (also known as the Republic of China) in the United Nations, and to this day the status of Taiwan remains in limbo because of political unrest between those claiming Taiwanese independence and PRCs insistence on control over the entire region. The General Assembly has not fully extended the non-member state status of Taiwan since 2012 because of this unrest. Unlike Palestine, however, the United Nations does not favor a two-state resolution and has subsequently not offered non-member status to Taiwan as to not offend the Peoples Republic of China, which is a member state. Today, Taiwan is recognized by 16 U.N. members.

The Impact of Trucker Driver Wellness Programs

The Impact of Trucker Driver Wellness Programs The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recently interviewed nearly 1,700 truckers about their health and work- and the results were shocking. 69% were obese. 54% smoked. And 88% reported at least one risk factor for chronic disease. Improving trucker wellness is a no-brainer for any long-haul fleet; it can help prevent high turnover rates, but also helps retain the most talented employees without having to lose them to disease or poor health.It’s never been easy to stay fit or healthy on the long-haul, but it’s no longer possible to ignore the impact on truckers’ health. Melton Truck Lines in Tulsa, OK, first rolled out an intervention program aimed at helping drivers who might be close to failing their physicals to lower their blood pressure and glucose levels. They hired a wellness manager, implemented a weight loss and voluntary lipid-panel testing program to guard against creeping cholesterol levels, and converted an employee smoking lounge into a gym. Melton’s Tulsa headquarters also added a landscaped walking and jogging trail, a fresh and healthy cafà ©, and a clinic providing no-cost primary medical care to employees.Getting drivers to participate in their own health is the cornerstone of the program. Melton even offers a â€Å"Health Concierge† service that helps employees sort through their health care costs and needs. There are various incentives and motivational programs, an online community, and even an app to keep employees motivated.While it’s hard to measure the success of these new initiatives on turnover rates, more drivers are passing their DOT physicals. And the number of employees who identified as having three medical risk factors dropped from 51% to 38% within one year. The number of employees reporting zero risk factors went up from 13% to 17% in that same year.Other companies have followed suit. Celadon Trucking launched their â€Å"Highway to Health† program in 2006, with similar screenings and incentives, as well as nutritional and exercise programs, and a full-service primary care medical clinic in their Indianapolis headquarters (as of 2011). And Schneider also has a Health and Wellness Manager to oversee their programs and focus on keeping individual truckers as healthy and productive as possible, which makes them safer on the road.We can only hope these trends begin to spread throughout the industry and become standard practice- for the benefit of everyone involved.The Impact of Truck Driver Wellness Programs

Too Big To Fail Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Too Big To Fail - Essay Example In addition, these large financial firms control the backbone of the economy. Their failure would lead to a financial crisis that would affect members of the American society (Hughes and Mester 12). The concept of â€Å"Too Big to Fail† has two phases. The first phase is the positive effect that these large firms have on the economy. A large firm is very complex and organized, and as such, provides numerous economic opportunities to both the country and its citizens, such as employment, economies of scale, and better service delivery. On the other hand, it has a negative phase whereby their failure would bring down the economy to a standstill. For instance, all the small firms that depend on these big firms will also collapse, and their employees will be jobless. There would be no money flowing through the economy considering the economic crisis caused by the failure of these big firms. As such, the government takes necessary steps to eradicate these risks by supporting these big firms with a bailout whenever they are in crisis. However, they use taxpayers’ money, which is another burden to the country (Feldman and Stern 13). The Freeman newspaper article discussed the concept at one point in time whereby analysts argued over the inclusion of the concept in the banking sector. The introduction of the concept in 1984 to the economy of the United States and especially to the banking sector in the country emerged after the failure of the Continental Illinois. This failure led to a massive economic crunch in the country, and as such, the government took proactive steps to bail out the bank. By introducing the concept, the US government overlooked the reasons why the bank failed in the first place. As such, the concept only worsened the banking condition in the country, instead of the remedy it was to provide, as practitioners in the banking

Fieldwork plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Fieldwork plan - Essay Example 2009: 73). The realm of civil society in Saudi was for long a neglected field and least studied have been conducted in this region among others of Middle East and GCC countries. Activists and intellectuals advocating for developments and reforms concerning human rights as social actors have gradually been effectively active since early 2000s. The increased advocacies on human rights have subsequently increased the space for people to pressure governments from bellow thereby representing a greater challenge (Alhargan, 2012). This PhD thesis aims to investigate the nature of civil society in Saudi Arabia and examines the suitability of the civil society theories and to what extent such theories can be applied to the Saudi context. Moreover, this research aims at determining whether the same theories should modify and develop to guide those who are interested in this field. Notably, this fieldwork aims at collecting primary qualitative data on civil society in Saudi Arabia. Such data will be collected in various forms and structures; furthermore, that data will contain depicting functions it performs, the influence it has upon the broad society and the ruling powers, and the effectiveness by which it discharges these functions. The fieldwork also aims to gather in-depth information about the role of the religious leadership in the development of civil society, and their influence on political authority. The research shall also obtain information about tribal regional and sectarian identities and their impact on civil society. Numerous studies have since concentrated on the relationship between civil society and religion. This has been so for long time particularly since the Roman Catholic Church concentrated its focus on marginalized areas and politically unstable regions. According to Alhargan, local actors advocating civil rights mainly arose from the religious establishment, unaffiliated government clerics, independent rights activists