Abraham Lincoln The Man That Changed America History Essay

Abraham Lincoln The Man That Changed America History Essay This one man was able to fight for, work for, and love his country so much that he single-handedly brought about changes that had previously only been dreamt of. This astonishing individual accomplished more in 30 years than most men do in their entire lifetime. Perhaps one of the most remarkable men in the history of the United States, Abraham Lincoln changed the course of our history forever. On February 12, 1809, Nancy Lincoln gave birth to a son, whom she named Abraham. This child, named after his grandfather, was born in Hardin County, Kentucky. Abraham had two siblings, Sarah, who was two years older, and Thomas, who was three years younger. However, Thomas, Abrahams only brother, unexpectedly died shortly after birth. The Lincolns were not a significantly wealthy family; they lived in a log cabin, and Thomas Lincoln worked very hard for every cent he earned. In fact, Thomas had to take on two jobs, farming and carpentry, in order to support his family. Partly on the account of slavery, but chiefly on the account of the difficulty of land titles in Kentucky, Thomas Lincoln moved his family to Pigeon Creek, Indiana. (Lincoln Bicentennial). In 1716, after buying property, Abraham helped his father with much of the work involved in settling into this 160-acre piece of land. Just two years after the move, in 1818, the Lincoln family suffered yet another tragedy when Abrahams mother died from contaminated milk. Just a year after Nancys death, Abrahams father remarried a widow, with three children of her own, by the name of Sarah Bush Johnston. Abraham and his stepmother grew very close, and she treated him as if he were her own child. She encouraged him to grow in his knowledge and understanding of things, and was said to have started his childhood education. (Burns). Although Abraham had previously gone to school for a couple of months, he never had any inspiration to learn until he received this encouragement from his stepmother. If one put all of Abrahams schooling together, one would find that he received less than one year of actual school in his entire life. This means that Abraham Lincoln had so little education, that he could be considered a completely self educated man. He showed a special interest in books and reading and knew his Bible very well even though he never attended church. At the age of 19, Abraham Lincoln had grown into a man of 64 and was stronger than anyone in town, leading to his first job offer. The offer came from a man by the name of James Gentry, and it was to bring a shipload of cargo to New Orleans. After delivering the cargo, with James Gentrys son, on a boat Abraham had built by hand, James was amazed by Abrahams incredible skill and reliability. He asked Abraham to work in his local store, and Abraham jumped at the opportunity to make some more money. While working there, he would often hear men speak of politics; this sparked an interest, which slowly grew to a flame, in young Abraham. During this time, however, Abrahams sister, Sarah, died giving birth to a child, causing much grief in his life. Soon after her death, Abrahams relatives wrote his father, saying how greatly efficient and productive the soil in Illinois was. This inspired Thomas Lincoln to once again move his family to a different part of the country. (Lincoln Bicentennial ). This time however, Abraham did not stay with his family for very long. Instead, he went up to New Salem, Illinois, and life on his own had finally begun. Between 1831 and 1832, Abraham tried various occupations, and learned very much, including the basics of mathematics. However, when the Black Hawk War began, Lincoln was one of the first to enlist in the American militia. Abraham never saw any action personally, but he was still elected captain of his company. He served his men as best as he possibly could until the war ended, just a couple months later. Once safely back in New Salem, Abraham took on the job of postmaster, and was placed in charge of the local post office. As word of this honest, hardworking, and diligent man spread throughout Salem and the surrounding towns, Abraham acquired the nickname Honest Abe. During this time, Abraham learned more grammar and began to develop a formal and proper way of speaking. He decided to run for state legislature, ultimately beginning his political career, but lost to one of his rivals. This defeat did discourage Abraham Lincoln, but rather, drove him to persevere, strive for excellence, and be the best he could be. In 1834, Abraham made a second attempt at politics, and once again ran for state legislature, only this time, he won. He was representative of the state of Illinois and gained the approval and trust of many of his fellow countrymen. After he won the election, he took up the study of law. With his love of debating, storytelling, and reading, he found his calling in law and politics. (National Museum of American History). While he was a lawyer, Abraham Lincoln grounded his principles and opinions, especially those on slavery, making this an extremely pivotal point in his life. Lincolns years as a lawyer influenced his character, and that character eventually influenced our nation. (Kalantari). His ability to ease the witnesses, as well as the entire atmosphere of the courtroom, made him a great lawyer. For the next 25 years, Abraham served as a lawyer aside from his political career. The men and women of Illinois held such affection for Abraham Lincoln that they re-elected him three times over the next six years. In 1840, just after his third re-election, Abraham proposed to a woman by the name of Mary Ann Todd, whom he had met the year before. After breaking up and getting back together, they finally got married in November of 1842. Less than a year after their marriage, Abraham and Mary welcomed their first baby boy into the world, and named him Robert Todd Lincoln. For the next two years, Abraham not only continued to serve as state representative, but he also showed devotion to his family, proving himself to be a great father. In 1846, Abraham and Mary conceived yet another child who they named Edward Baker Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln enjoyed his time as the representative of Illinois, but it was not long before he realized that he was capable of much more. Impelled by this realization, Abraham ran for U.S. representative in 1847, at the age of 38. He won the election, but served in this position for only one term. Once this term ended, Abraham fell back on his career as a lawyer, and continued to study law books. For the next five years, Lincoln devoted much of his time to studying the issue of slavery as well. (Lincoln Bicentennial). During this time, however, Abrahams son, Edward, died at the young age of four. The Lincoln family took his death very hard and later learned it had most likely been due to a bad case of tuberculosis. In that same year, Mary gave birth to a third son, named William Wallace Lincoln. His birth guided the family through the struggle, and helped them to move on. Just three years later, in 1853, the Lincolns had yet another son, who they named Thomas Tad Lincoln. Their sons brought Abraham and Mary great joy, and Abraham was said to be a very loyal and committed father. In 1854, Abraham was again elected as state representative; however, he resigned in order to run for the U.S. senate. During his campaign, he gave a speech declaring the United States would either become all free or all slave because a house divided against itself cannot stand. It was after this debate that Lincoln received his first considerable national fame. (Abe Lincoln). Despite his national fame, Abraham lost this election. Undeterred, he made yet another attempt at the U.S. senate, in 1858, however, he was once again out-voted. Two short years later, Abraham Lincoln took the biggest step of his political career. That year, 1860, Abraham jumped at the opportunity to run for president of the United States. Not sure if he would make it or not, Abraham was campaigning against some of the top competitors in the country. After a long, hard, and stressful run, Abraham was finally elected the sixteenth president of the United States of America. Almost immediately after his election, southern states began to drop out of the union, angered by the new anti-slavery president. Eleven states ended up dropping out, and their anger eventually turned to violence in 1861, marking the beginning of the Civil War. The North fought for the abolition of slavery, and the South fought for keeping slavery. As the war raged on, Abraham Lincoln continued to fight for the right of all men as equals. Not only was Abraham fighting to free the slaves, but he was also fighting to reunite the North and the South. He believed that in order to stand, the United States had to join together as one country, instead of being a split nation. As the war neared it ´s third year, Abraham Lincoln issued one of the most important documents in history: the Emancipation Proclamation. The Proclamation declared that  ´all persons held as slaves within the rebellious states are, and henceforth shall be free ´ (National Archives and Records Administration). This document aided the northern states in the war by: allowing blacks to fight for the union army, redefining the civil war as a war of freedom, and strengthening the union soldiers mentally. The Emancipation Proclamation is quite possibly the greatest document of human freedom. (National Archives and Records Administration). As the war continued to be fought, Abraham ´s fourth year as president came near, and the time for elections came around. In 1864, Abraham Lincoln was re-elected as president of the United States. He continued doing his presidential duties just as well, if not better than before. A year after his re-election, Abraham and his wife went to see a show in Ford ´s Theatre, Washington, D.C. Around 10:00 p.m., an actor by the name of John Wilkes Booth entered the presidential booth, and shot Abraham Lincoln in the back of the head with a pistol. Abraham survived through the night, but died around 7:30 the next morning. Booth, motivated to kill President Lincoln due to disagreements on slavery, escaped, but was found and shot a few weeks later. Abraham ´s death only motivated more people to fight for the freedom and equality of all men and women alike. The very same year he died, the Civil War came to an end with the South surrendering. Due to Abraham Lincoln ´s perseverance and willpower, slavery was abolished, and America was made a free country. America ´s future had been set on a new path. The old life was thrown away, and a new chapter had begun for all Americans, black and white. Abraham accomplished more in his last few years than one could even dream to accomplish in an entire lifetime. Abraham Lincoln, one of the most extraordinary men to ever live, changed the future, lives, and hearts of Americans forever.

What is meant by internal and external drivers for change

What is meant by internal and external drivers for change With globalisation it is an important to have clear concept about business management. Business environment is the totality of all such factors which influence the working and decision making of a business organisation. Business is a commercial enterprises ventured into secure maximum possible profit and to give best services to the public. These are things, events or situations that occur the way a business operations, either in a positive or negative way. This can be called driving forces or environmental factors. They are; Internal driving forces, which are the things, situations or events that are occurred inside the business and these generally under control of the company. The main internal driving forces are given below; Technological Capacity The new discoveries make the old one obsolete. The business community has to keep itself abreast with the technological changes. And it is also an important aspect as it shapes the business operations in the long run. Today the scientists are working on such technologies which will change the entire production process. The company is not running without most modern technology, they cannot competent to others Organisational Culture Organisational behaviour can be defined as the systematic study of the behaviour and attitude of both individual and group within the organisation. Organisations that have a powerful success spirit, and always embrace change and listen to staff and customers are said to be forward looking. Forward looking organisations, they are risk takers and also they done there business very well. So organisation is the essential part of a company. There is no well organisation culture in a company, which may negatively affect the production of a company, to fight in the competitive business world, business turnover, co-ordination of employees, staff etc Financial Management Finance is the main factor of a business. Without money, no business. There is direct relationship between money and the business. According this view financial management has a powerful stand in the business organisation. In a company the finance management take decision about fund distribution like purchase of raw materials, introduce new assets, proper fund distribution etc In these reasons financial management has a powerful stand in the internal driving force. Employee Morale The level of confidence and strength of a person or group is very important of a company. The employee has no morale or they are not committed their job, the company going in down words. The employees are satisfied with their both company and job, which will make a positive energy For increasing employee morale the Corus Company introduce more programs and also they provide mental confidence to the employees. Poor Delivery Poor customer service or delivery is a universal problem that impacts on the bottom line and profit margins in all types of industries, business and services throughout the world. The time plays an important role in the business. Customers need goods and services at their own time; otherwise they select another comfortable company or services. For example; The Corus Strip products UK (CSP) The Corus Company, there were delays to delivering steel to customers on time. So that leads to loss of business. Competition Globalisation has sharpened the competition. Introduce new ideas, technologies, innovations, techniques etc are the main parts of business competition. To face the competition every organisation suffer more things like expense, organisation problems, external problems etc.. For example Corus steel company cannot competitive to other companies because production of steel in UK could be more expensive than from than other countries. In these reason the Corus Company faced many problems in the business world. High wastage The wastage makes a big trouble to the companies, and also they dont know how to overcome this problem. Every organisation looking for less wastage and more product. For example, the Corus Company falling to make products right first time meant that they had to be reworked or scrapped. II External Driving Forces External driving forces are those kinds of things, situations or events that occurred from outside of the company or organisation. And now we can discuss about, what are the external driving forces of a company. Economy There is an intimate relationship between the business firm and the economic environment. The performance of business depends up on the economic environment. At any type of financial fluctuations like inflation or deflation badly affect the business. Political Influence The political forces are directly bearing on the functioning of the business. Political influences like ideology of parties, Govt. policies, Govt decisions, political stability, tax policy, etc are positively or negatively affected the business environment. New Competitors Competition makes challenge the business world. New competitors make more trebles for other companies, because they introduce new technology, ideas, innovations and customer satisfied goods and services with reasonable price. But old companies cannot competitive with them as well because there machines, technologies and all other things are old, and they cant replace it. For example, low cost producers in Eastern Europe were taking business and its could lead to reduce demand with higher costs. Technology It is also an important aspect as it shapes the business operations in the long run business. Technology includes inventions, discoveries and new and better techniques of converting the resources in to final product. Technology helps in performing the operations in much better and cheaper way. The customer expects higher specifications, so it can maintain only new technologies. Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction is a business term, is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. It is seen as a key performance indicator within business and is part of the four perspectives of a Balanced Scorecard. In business, customers are the king. For customer satisfaction every company introduce new products, attractive packing, adopting new technology, attractive schemes, offers etc Day to day every customers looking for a new technology and high quality products, so the company update there thinking, technology, otherwise they cannot competent with others. In these reasons customer satisfaction has a powerful external driving force of a company. Both internal and external factors are driving the running business. But it under controlled by business organisation. A well organised management can be easily controlled these internal and external driving forces. In the case of Corus Company, in 2005 they introduce new cultural programme called the journey The main courses of this programme is to overcome the poor driving behaviour. For overcoming the both external and internal poor behaviour they introduce so many programmes like push up employees skills, self awareness, promotion and development programmes etc After the programme the company get a new face in the business field. There are external and internal driving forces to promote sustainable development of Corus Company. The different driving forces have different strength levels. The external driving forces provide external condition to CPS UK development. The internal driving forces are permanent fountainhead to promote Corus sustainable development. All the driving forces are indispensable to promote Corus Companies sustainable development. 2. What barriers to change existed at Corus? Resistance  to change is the action taken by individuals and groups when they perceive that a change that is occurring as a threat to them. Key words here are perceive and threat. The threat need not be real or large for resistance to occur. In its usual description it refers to change within organizations, although it also is found elsewhere in other forms. Resistance is the equivalent of objections  in sales and disagreement in general discussions. Resistance may take many forms, including active or passive, overt or covert, individual or organized, aggressive or timid. Resistance is an inevitable response to any major change. Individuals naturally rush to defend the status quo if they feel their security or statuses are threatened. Folger Skarlicki (1999) claim that organizational change can generate scepticism and resistance in employees, making it sometimes difficult or impossible to implement organizational improvements. In order to understand the concept of employee resistance, it is critical to define what is meant by the term  resistance. Change is a common occurrence within organisations, and resistance to change is just as common. There are several types of resistance to change. Understanding these different types of resistance, the company can reduce resistance and encourage compliance with change. There are basically two groups associated with a resistance to change of an organisation. (I)Individual level of sources (II)Organisational level of sources (I)Individual level of sources Individual sources of resistance to change reside in basic human characteristics such as perceptions, personalities, and needs. In the case of Corus Company they faced many problems in resistance to change, especially in internal sources. The following summarizes reasons why individuals may resist change in Corus Company. I.1 fear to unknown Some changes require that employees possess a new set of skill and hence without training. So employees will not welcome the changes of a company. In the case of Corus Company, they make some more changes for their improvement of a company, but employee resistance the changes. Because they fear about their job, current position, other benefits etc In the Corus Company, the fear of unknown badly affects the new changes of the company I.2 Lack of skills This is another problem of resistance to change of a company. If company introduce new changes that may directly affect the employees of a company At that time they update them self without any training. The employees of Corus company they had fear about their skills, current teams, and position etc I.3 Habit Resistance due to habit occurs when the employees are comfortable in their daily habits and do not want to alter them due to change, because they are already skilled and experienced person in their own works. Sudden changes or alternatives cannot accept to the employees. So it may another course of resistance to change. Employees of Corus Company, they did not change their habits and attitude, so they resist the changes of the company I.4 Ageing work force Corus Company has a powerful work force. Lot of skilled and experienced employees are the power of a company. When the company introduced new innovations, technologies, ideas that may affect the workforce of employees. Older employees has very big personal skill and experience, that cannot be transferable. So it may another reason for resistance to change of Corus Company. I.5 Economic factors Employee may fear that the change will lead to technological unemployment, because new technology is associated with education of labour intake so they resist the change. When workers resist changing, which will leads to high standards which in turn may reduce the opportunities for bonus or incentive pays. The new changes make disturbance in their work. These all things show the economic factors in resistance to change. II Organisational Sources Organisational changes are activities of transformation or modification of something. The main purpose of these types of activities is improvement of business result. Organisational changes are not simply the journey from one point to another point. Many barriers will need to be passed in this process. One of the biggest barriers is resistance that is sub component on every organisational change. Managers should have known that there are always people that will resist of a change process. Efficiency and effectiveness of a change process are in direct relation with resistance and successfully dealing with that resistance. So these are the main organisational sources for resistance to change; II.1 Threat to job status or security Job reductions had been a major problem in the steel industry since the 1970s. At the same time the Corus companys some previous changes had lead to cut jobs. So this is the course for resistance to change of a company. Other people didnt see a threat to their job because the business had previously survived difficult times. This is difficult to Corus. II.2 Unexplained changes to the time line If the time line o the change process that is spelt out of the beginning of the change process is continually shifted without explanation, employees will lose confidence in the change process and they will not share management vision. II.3 Lack of trust In an environment where there is a lack to believe, that there will be sinister motive for the change. Furthermore managers who do not trust their employees will not allow employees participation in the change process even when it is necessary. So lack of trust is another important factor of resistance to change. So these are the main resistance to change in the Corus Company. From the above reasons employees of the Corus Company did not accept the changes. Directly or indirectly barriers make many problems in the company and also it affects whole companys activity. The company also had a long term service experience with experienced employees, but they had lower productivity. For increasing productivity the company add changes and gaining more rewards rather than newer employee. Corus felt that this was an area that needed major changes, so company were suitably rewarded to the employee for higher output. 3. Analyse the approaches Corus used to overcome these barriers. Changes are an inevitable factor in any organisation. The effective and challenged leaders and management can manage changes, adopting new technology, new innovations etc Yet as inevitable as change may be, it is just as inevitable that there will also be individuals within this organisations who reject any major changes or innovations to their workplace. The barrier shows the efficiency of a company or organisation. Barriers make many problems in the company, but if a company manages theses problems, they can run a business very successfully. Some strategies which can be used to overcome this resistance to change. For example, CSP U.K. The Corus Company faced many problems like cultural issue, social issue, economical factors, habit of employees, fear of unknown, limited forces changes etc But the Corus Company overcome the barriers very well, and we can see how Corus Company overcomes the barriers. There are five tactics have been suggested for use by change agents in dealing with resistance to change in the Corus company U.K Communication There are two branches of communication, which are communication internally, within the organisation between employees and management and externally between the organisation and suppliers and customers. Organisations that fail to communicate with their customers and suppliers, changes that are in effect can face disastrous consequences. For increasing communication skills the Corus Company introduce new programme The Journey. According to this programme the employees increase their direct and indirect communication, for example they provide weekly newsletters and workshops etc Participation Where the initiators do not have all the information they need to design the change and where others have considerable power to resist. When employees are involved in the change effort they are more likely to busy into change rather than resist it. This approach is likely to lower resistance and those who merely acquiesce to change. For example, from the start it was important to the Corus Company to share with employees what might happen to the business if it is did not change. Corus give more important to their employees, also getting everyone to take ownership of the new values by physically signing up to the programme. After that the employee more involved in decision making, works etc and also their experience are recognised. So with the good participation the company can overcome the barriers. Building emotional commitment Today talent management is the key imperative, making employee commitment more important than other. The commitment makes a positive energy inside and outside the business organisation. Research on middle managers has shown that when managers or employees have emotional commitment to change, they favour the status quo and resist it. For building emotional commitment the Corus Company U.K provide many more programs. Corus provide ownership to their employee. It may more involve in decision making and their contributions. With the help of emotional commitment programme the Corus Company overcome the barriers of change. Implementing changes fairly The management seen that the change as positively. But the employees take those changes as negatively. So if a company introduce new changes of their company at the same time they think how to overcome the barriers. For example, in 2005 the Corus Company make a programme for overcome the barriers of change, and also increase employee morale. Around 150 workshops were held to spread the messages. Fortnightly newspaper clarified these values and repeated the key messages through articles on various activities, such as employees taking part in the redesigning of a control room to improve layout and safety. Billboards, intranet, video programmes and most of all, direct one-to-one conversations all reinforced the messages. And also 1500 senior managers were invited to the millennium Stadium in Cardiff. This programme is impressive venue raised expectations. However, they were served cold tea and give a presentation on a ripped projector screen. So these activities show the implementing ch anges of Corus Company. Selecting people Research suggests that to ability to easily accept and adapt is change is related to personality. Some people simply have more positive attitude towards them self, are willing to take risk and are flexible in their behaviour. Another study found that selecting people based on a resistance to change scale worked welling winnowing out those who tended to react emotionally to change or to be rigid. For example, the Corus group arrange many programmes for increasing working mentality of the employees. The journey also raised important questions about how the company managed key issue, such as alcohol or drug misuse. For keep this thing the company makes, all working sites are alcohol free. Understandably, before the change programme, any one offending in this way was likely to face disciplinary action and this is still the case in most working environment. As a result in over fifty employees that previously would have lost their jobs being retained in work. These points said that, how the Corus company overcome the barriers to change. In generally, the first key technique to overcome the resistance the barriers is that to work closely with employees. Employees are the main part of a business, so the management make creative and helpful ideas for their employees otherwise company lost their co-ordination power, employee morale, unity between employees and management. For increasing the self confidence of the employee, the company provide verity programs. In these types of programs Corus company overcome the barriers to change. 4. Evaluate the effectiveness of the change programme so far. The changes can make challenges in the world. In the same way without challenges there is no change. Significant organizational change occurs, for example, when an organization changes its overall strategy for success, adds or removes a major section or practice, and/or wants to change the very nature by which it operates. It also occurs when an organization evolves through various life cycles, just like people must successfully evolve through life cycles. For organizations to develop, they often must undergo significant change at various points in their development. Leaders and managers continually make efforts to accomplish successful and significant change its inherent in their jobs. Some are very good at this effort, while others continually struggle and fail. Thats often the difference between people who thrive in their roles and those that get shuttled around from job to job, ultimately settling into a role where theyre frustrated and ineffective. There are many schools with educational programs about organizations, business, leadership and management. Unfortunately, there still are not enough schools with programs about how to analyze organizations, identify critically important priorities to address and then undertake successful and significant change to address those priorities. Now we are going to evaluate the effectiveness of the change in the Corus Company. Corus Company was formed in 1999 when the former British steel plc merged with the Dutch company. Now the Corus Company is subsidiary of Indian owned Tata Group. In 1999 Corus has three operating divisions and 40,000employees in world wide. Corus aims to be a leader in the steel industry by providing better products, higher quality customer service and better value for money than its rivals. In 2005 CSP UK introduced a cultural plan for change called The Journey. The journey change programme at Corus Strip Products contributes to sustainability for the business. By facing up to its internal weakness, CSP has improved efficiency, increased output, lowered costs and reduced waste in an increasingly competitive steel market. This has enabled the business not just to survive but also to grow even during the economic recession of 2008 and 2009. Thanks to the Journey programme, CSP UK expects to reduce costs for the 2009/10 financial year by around  £250 million. To make sure that actions delivered results, Corus established clear targets and standards. After the journey Corus Company achieve their target. The key performance indicators are given below; -: Increased their production capacity from 4.5% to 5 million tonnes -: They reduce 20% of cost of production -: 5000 employees have signed up to the values and beliefs of the business -: Another outcome is reduction in absenteeism -: The measurable improvements in levels of quality and services for customers -: New outcome changes have increased new safety terms -: Emissions of carbon dioxide has reduced by 10%, so CSP UK exceeds Govt. Standards -: As the results of measurable improvements company make challenges in the local community For achieving company values and targets, all individuals, departments are engaged very well. This journey helps to enable further improvement of Corus Company. Individuals, teams and departments all support the improvement culture and are more engaged and committed to achieving company values and targets. This culture shift is of critical value as it will enable further improvement. Corus has implemented top-level security with controlled access for the 5000+ vehicles which enter the Corus site each day. This provides a new enhanced entry experience for employees, contractors and suppliers and demonstrates that Corus Strip Products is now seen as an organisation that is proud of itself. As a men, institution, organisation or a company as if everybody looking for a change. Because we need changes. If they fail to do so they may be left behind by the competition. change management at CPS (Corus Strip Products) UK involved bringing the issues out into the open, confronting barriers to change, winning the commitment, provide moral support to the employees, provide better and effective plan for change an also keep the internal and external relationship to the customers. The journey has helped CSP UK to get a new face in the business field. After the programme employees get more morale power from the top level management, as the result they more attached with their work. The result of the change management programme shows that, the Corus is a sustainable company and it can continue to make profits in spite of the recession. In these things said that the effectiveness of the change programme in the Corus company UK. When the Corus Company introduced new changes in their company, at that time the employee did not accept the changes in their own individual, group and social reasons. But the company overcome the resistance of change very well. This is show that the change may challenge peoples. It may even be seen as a threat. Which company make it as a challenge; they must be adopting the changes in their organisation. Word count- 3888

Character Analysis of Claudius from the Play Hamlet by Shakespeare Essa

Character Analysis of Claudius from the Play Hamlet by Shakespeare In the play, "Hamlet", Shakespeare needed to devize an evil character, a villain that is ambitious, and has the ability to scheme to get what he wants. The character would also have to contain some good qualities, such as kindness and contriteness. These good qualities make the character seem more human and thus, more believable. Claudius is this character. Shakespeare uses Claudius in his revenge theme in this play. Without the acts of Claudius, this theme just would not be. The entire play revolves around what Claudius has done, or will do. The evil traits of Claudius by far outweigh the good things he does. He is very ambitious, perhaps too ambitious. Claudius wanted to be king so badly, that he murdered his own brother to achieve his goal. This is how the revenge theme is weaved into the play. Hamlet, the dead king’s son learns of the act from a ghost, "A serpent stung me; so the whole ear of Denmark Is by a forged process of my death Rankly abused; but now that noble youth The serpent that did sting thy father’s life Now wears his crown." (Act I, Sc. V, Lines 42-46) Claudius not only wanted to be the king of Denmark, he also wanted the queen that came with it. In Act I Sc. II Lines 8-14, Claudius has just recently been crowned king and is addressing the court. He shows in his words how happy he is to be married to Gertrude, the Queen. "herefore our sometime sister, now our queen, The imperial jointress to this warlike state, Have we, as ‘twere with a defeated joy, With an auspicious, and dropping eye, With mirth in funeral, and with dirge in marriage, In equal scale weighing delight and dole, Taken to wife; ...." The ambition of Claudius lays the foundation for the theme of revenge. Without his need to be king and his willingness to do anything for it, the play would be completely different. This evil trait is, in part, what in the end kills Claudius. Claudius’ other evil trait, his scheming, also leads to his death. An example of one of Claudius’ many ‘plans’ was when he summoned Rozencrantz and Guildenstern to do some spying on Hamlet to find out what was ailing him. "Moreover that we much did long to see you, The need we have to use you did provoke Our hasty sending. Something hav... ...) was very wrong and he realises there is little that he can do to make things well.. " O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven; It hath the primal eldest curse upon’t, A brothers murder! Pray can I not, Through inclination be as sharp as will. My stronger guilt defeats my stronger intent...." (Act III Sc. IV Lines 39-43) "My words fly up, my thoughts remain below; Words without thoughts never to heaven go." (Act III Sc. IV Lines 100-101) These traits give Claudius a human side and this plays into the author’s purpose by making the reader wonder if Hamlet is going to do the right thing by killing Claudius. It gives the reader second thoughts. Claudius was the villain in "Hamlet." He showed all the necessary characteristics of an evil character but Shakespeare put some "extra" into him. He did this be giving him somegood characteristics. What he had was a well blended character with the ability to be both a murderous bad guy to a kind hearted good guy. Shakespeare had Claudius fit well into the theme of revenge. It was all centred around him. With out him, It would have been a happy ending, or completely different.

Homophobia :: Gay Lesbian Bisexual Prejudice

Homophobia refers to a prejudicial belief that gay, lesbian, and bisexual people are threatening. They see them as sick, unnatural, immoral, or disgusting people that are inferior to heterosexuals and they deserve to be hated. Homophobia tends to occur on several distinct but joined levels. These levels are personal, interpersonal, institutional, and cultural. One of the main reasons why people tend to be prejudice against gay, lesbian, and bisexual are based on inaccurate stereotypes and lack of information that is provided by society. Society portrays sexual minorities as sick, perverted, or nonexistent. There are quite a few people who are not aware that they may know healthy gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals. Many people, fearing they might be gay, lesbian, and bisexual, prefer to attack individual who are as a way of avoiding self-identification. People tend to link homosexuality and bisexuality with sexual behavior. Since we live in a culture that is reluctant to acknowledge any form of open sexuality, homosexuality and bisexuality is slowly becoming a problem. Our society is more accepting of the traditional male or female relationship. However, we fail to notice that people can lead successful and creative lives without having to fit a set pattern. People who feel uncomfortable or uncertain about their sexual orientation or relationships think that going against the norm can be disturbing and intimidating. My friends often ask me why am I friends with people who are gay I would in return ask them why wouldn’t they be friends with someone who is gay as a way of challenging their knowledge and beliefs. For example, when someone makes a statement against gays having the right to marry, I ask them why and how they think this could possibly hurt anyone. I ask whether they feel it is fair to tell that person that his or her dreams of romance and marriage to the person he or she loves is disgusting. Would they rather have that person put such thoughts out of their minds and plan to live a loveless and passionless life?

Heroes And Villains :: essays research papers

Is a hero a person who wears tights and a cape and goes around saving the world? And is a villain a person who schemes evil plots against the hero? Even though heroes and villains might be seen differently through the eyes of individual people, we all know that not all heroes and villains are recognized for their actions. A hero can be somebody as big as Superman or someone like your mother and a villain can be somebody like Charles Manson or a fictional character such as DR Evil from Austin Powers. There are many different types of people in the world and sometimes you are at the right place at the right time and do something good or you can make wrong decisions and do something that is very bad. The hero and villain I will discuss with you, my audience, is Michael Jordan and Jeffery Dahmer. Two very well known people. Michael Jordan is an idol to not only me but to many other people of many different ages. He was an exceptional basketball player leading the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships and along the way; he was MVP of the league numerous times. He is the best player in my opinion to ever play the game. However, He is not only a good basketball player he is also a good businessman. He was a representative of ballpark hotdogs, Gatorade, and Nike just to name a few. He was always looking for opportunities to make money as any good businessman does. Even now, he is the co-owner of the Washington Wizards. Yet this is not why I look up to him, I look up to this man because he is a hard worker. He put many hours of work into his game everyday, working out to get better even on game days unlike almost everybody in the league. He was always trying to improve. He also was always a good showman. You will never see him in an interview or in a picture with something bad to say or with out a smile on his face. He knew many younger kids looked up to him and he made an effort not to disappoint anyone, always having a good positive mental attitude. He is just an all around exceptional person. The villain I will discuss with you is Jeffery Dahmer. He was a very sick and twisted person.

Theories of Leadership

Professional and Staff Development FSPSD200 Leadership Theory Simplified Allisen Penn Assistant Professor  ­ Leadership Development â€Å"Pop leadership† philosophy abounds in our culture today. Book stores have shelves full of books on leader ­ ship. Leaders and leadership are discussed daily on tele ­ vision, radio, newspapers, magazines and on the web. As a result, many mixed messages about leadership are expressed. So – how do you decide what is accurate? Read the inside cover of a leadership book and you may find that the book is more about manage ­ ment and business than leadership. A agazine or newspaper may just express the opinion of a famous person about leadership. While the perspective of a well-known leader or the insight offered in a book may be valuable, you may want to ask – is this information supported by research? An understanding of the existing leadership research may help you shape your own opinion about what is good leadership. Once you determine what is good leader ­ ship, you can begin to develop your own leadership approach. Arkansas Is Our Campus Visit our web site at: http://www. uaex. edu What is leadership? There are almost as many definitions of leader ­ hip as there are books and opinions about leadership. You may want to define leadership for yourself. Write your definition of leadership: A commonly accepted definition of leadership is a process used by an individual to influence a group of members toward a common goal (Bass, 1990; Howell and Costley, 2001). Maxwell (1993) simply states that leadership is influence. The following overview of leadership theories is intended to provide a synopsis of some of the research conducted on leadership in the last 50 years. There is a list of suggested reading (page 4) to help you learn more about the theories hat appeal to you. University of Arkansas, United States Department of Agriculture, and County Governments Cooperating Seven Common Views of Leadersh ip Describe below: There are some common beliefs, which include both fact and fiction, about leadership that can be summarized into seven views of leadership (Lee and King, 2001). 1. The Genetic View – Some people are born with leadership talents and others are not. Only certain people can learn to lead effectively; they are naturals. If you do not have this inborn talent, there is nothing you can do. 2. The Learned View – If you study leadership arefully and practice, you can learn to be an effective leader, no matter whom you are. In a sense, this is the opposite of the genetic view. This view is common in the military and among leadership development professionals. 3. The Heroic View – The only good leaders are those who perform courageous, wise and compas ­ sionate feats that the rest of us can’t. Think of the movie roles played by Gary Cooper, Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne. The perception is that this is the type of leaders who get the rest of us ou t of trouble. 4. The Top-Only View – Leadership only happens at or close to the top of an organization.Everyone else â€Å"just follows orders. † If you are not the boss, you are nothing. If you are the boss, you are everything anyone could wish for. Being â€Å"the boss† is the ultimate goal. 5. The Social Script View – When it is your proper turn to be the leader, you will be asked. When asked, you should accept and be grateful. After all, not everyone is asked. This approach is common in professional associations and civic or community organizations. 6. The Position View – If you are in the job and have the title, you are a leader. This idea is tradi ­ tional in bureaucracies and highly structured rganizations and carries some validity even in the most effective systems. If your title is phrased â€Å"director of†¦Ã¢â‚¬  or â€Å"head of†¦,† your leadership virtues are assumed. 7. The Calling View – Although not neces sarily a religious experience, a â€Å"call† to lead can be quite compelling. This concept suggests that leaders have a sense of mission or purpose. Do any of these sound familiar to you? Which one of these viewpoints have you experienced? Every leader is different, and no single theory works for all leaders. Begin to develop your own leadership approach by learning more about the following leadership theories. †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Great man Trait Behavioral Contingency Transactional Transformational Great Man. Researchers who support the Great Man theory believe that people are born to leadership. This may include members of royalty, high-ranking military officers and industry heads. Today, many people still hold this traditional belief, and even though this theory may sound oldfashioned, research suggests that some people have personality traits, behaviors and knowledge that lend themselves to leadership (Yaverbaum and Sherman, 2008). Studying famous roya l, military or industry leaders may provide you with some tools that help ou develop your own leadership abilities. Trait Theory. Similar to the Great Man theory, Trait theory suggests that the characteristics or the personality of a person may make them an effective leader. Several academics believe that potential leaders can be spotted by studying the personality traits of the individual and matching them to the characteristics of actual leaders. Trait theory was almost abandoned by leadership practitioners as leadership research evolved, but in the past few years, there has been a renewed interest and more research related to Trait theory. Leadership traits include physical or background raits, personal or ability traits and/or task or social traits such as: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Articulate Committed Decisive Determined †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Educated Energetic Integrity Intelligence Persistence Responsible Social Social Status Self-Confident James Kouzes and Barry Posner, authors of The Leadership Challenge, interviewed 75,000 people to identify the top ten characteristics needed in a leader. Their list includes the following characteristics: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Broad-minded Competent Dependable Fair-minded Forward-looking Honest Inspiring Intelligent Supportive Straightforward All of these characteristics are not personality raits. Many researchers say you don’t have to be born with all of these traits. In fact, you can develop some of these characteristics as part of your personal leadership approach. Behavioral Theory. Behavior theory focuses on what an effective leader â€Å"does. † Leadership is not something you are born with, nor do you need a set of commonly accepted traits. However, effective leader ­ ship is dependent on the right behavior. Researchers proposed that for a leader to be effective, their behavior mus t vary with the situation. In other words, you can learn how to act like a leader. that match their ability.The leader provides coaching, direction, motivation and rewards for the followers. †¢ Situational Theory recommends that different situations call for different kinds of leadership. This calls for the leader to change their style to the abilities of their followers. Transactional Theory. Transactional leadership requires that the leader and follower agree to a contract. The follower is responsible for following orders to perform a task. The leader, in turn, gives rewards for following orders in completing the task. Transactional leadership suggests that people only complete tasks when there are external rewards.However, many people accomplish tasks and reach goals because of their own internal motivation. Transformational Theory. Transformational leadership is a process in which the leader engages others, builds trust and creates a connection that increases the motivation and morality in both the leader and the follower. (Northouse, 2001). A trans ­ formational leader focuses on others and their needs in order to help them reach their potential. In many ways, transformational leadership is about a leader’s ability to create a vision related to a goal that has meaning for both the leader and follower.Personalizing Leadership Which of these theories has the most appeal to you? Write a description about how and when you would use the theory, with whom, where and what skills you may need to learn to be more effective. What theory? Behavior theories are based on categories of behavior and leadership types. The myth in this thinking is that outward behavior is enough to establish leadership. In the 1970s, research found most of the Behavior theory research to be invalid (Howell and Costley, 2001; Yaverbaum and Sherman, 2008); however, leadership behavior is still frequently discussed.Contingency Theory. In a more progressive approach to leadershi p, Contingency theory recom ­ mends matching a leader’s style to the right situ ­ ation, which involves matching to the team of people and goals. Two common Contingency theories are Path-Goal theory and Situational theory. †¢ Path-Goal Theory proposes that effective leaders help followers reach goals through motivation by involving them in fulfilling and meaningful tasks How do you plan to use what you have learned? When will you use what you learned? References and Suggested Reading Bass, B. M. (1990). Bass and Stogdill’s Handbook ofLeadership: Theory Research and Managerial Application. New York: Free Press. Howell, J. P. , and D. L. Costley (2001). Understanding Behaviors for Effective Leadership. Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. With whom do you plan to use what you learned? Kouzes, J. M. , and B. Z. Posner (2002). The Leadership Challenge. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. Lee, R. J. , and S. N. King (2001). Discovering the Leader in You: A Guide to Realizing Y our Personal Leadership Potential. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Inc. Where do you plan to use what you have learned? Lewis, J. P. (2003). Project Leadership. New York: McGraw-Hill.Maxwell, J. C. (1993). Developing the Leader Within You. Nashville, TN: Injoy, Inc. Northouse, P. G. (2001). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. What else do you need to learn to be more effective in this area? Yaverbaum, E. , and E. Sherman (2008). The Everything Leadership Book, 2nd ed. Avon, MA: F+W Publications, Inc. Printed by University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service Printing Services. ALLISEN PENN is Assistant Professor – Leadership Development with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, located in Little Rock.FSPSD200-PD-11-08N Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Director, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Arkansas. The Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, gender, age, disability, marital or veteran status, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

Emma by Jane Austen Essay

Lionel Trilling’s essay on Emma begins with the starling observation that in the case of Jane Austen, â€Å"the opinions which are held of her work are almost as interesting and almost as important to think about, as the work itself† (47). The comment is especially surprising in view of the essay’s origin as an introduction to the Riverside edition of Emma: rather than take readers straight into the novel, Trilling ponders the impossibility of approaching it in simple literary innocence, because of the powerful feeling generated by the name Jane Austen. Almost half a century later, opinions of Austen have multiplied as fresh issues have arisen to divert and divide subsequent generations of readers. Literature Review Austen’s skill in writing lies in her ability to describe the life of her characters and their surroundings in great detail – she is able to write of the world in microcosm. It is a feature of her style that there are few references to people or events outside the village in which her stories are set. This reflects the lifestyle of the day when transport was difficult and communication limited. Austen often writes about marriage and, in particular, the position of women in marriage. Genteel women did not work and they rarely acquired their own money through marriage or inheritance. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it was expected that marriage was for life. Austen’s gentle and leisurely style reflects the society she often describes – a society in which walking out for a minor shopping excursion was a major highlight. Austen skillfully uses these events to explore the values of society in a satirical way. There are a number of ways in which Austen communicates with her audience. The majority of her work is written in third-person narrative, with the narrator seeing the story from all perspectives. This is also known as the omniscient narrator. She also reveals her views through the intrusive narrator, or through her characters’ dialogue. At other times her characters will unintentionally condemn themselves through their own dialogue. It is in these situations particularly that the reader experiences some of the best Austen’s satire. The majority of dialogue in Emma comes from the female characters of the text, in particular Emma. This is an important feature of Jane Austen’s style as she is more comfortable with the speech of women than men. The women are the chatterers, full or small talk, while some of the men, especially the hero, Mr Knightley, are people of few words and discuss more serious matters. Modern readers may find many of the attitudes and customs of Emma surprising or, at times, unbelievable. The novel does, however, accurately reflect the nature of English society during the early nineteenth century. Although Austen reflects the values of nineteenth-century. England, she does not always agree with these values. It is her depiction and evaluation of this society that presents us with the subtle satire that is part of her charm and success. The Irony of Emma The American critic Marvin Mudrick followed both Harding and Wilson in his views of Austen as a subversive writer. He argued that irony was her means of defense and discovery and, like Wilson; he found intimation of lesbian desire in Emma’s infatuation with Harriet. Mudrick suggests that Emma is an unpleasant heroine who is incapable of committing herself humanity. He contentiously argues that Emma’s supposed reformation is the ultimate irony of a novel that is steeped in irony (Mudrick 181). The irony of Emma is multiple and ultimate aspect is that there is no happy ending. Emma observes Harriet’s beauty with far more warmth than anyone else, she was so busy in admiring chose soft blue eyes, in talking and listening, and forming all these schemes in the in-between that the evening flew away at a very unusual rate. The irony of Emma is multiple; and its ultimate aspect is that there is no happy ending, easy equilibrium, if we care to project confirmed exploiters like Emma and Churchill into the future of their marriages. â€Å"The influential American critic Lionel Trilling gives a ‘liberal humanist’ reading of Emma which bears some resemblances to Leavis’s moral criticism, albeit in a more relaxed and urbane tone: ‘To prevent the possibility of controlling the personal life, of becoming acquainted with ourselves, of creating a community of â€Å"intelligent love† – this is indeed to make an extraordinary promise and to hold out a rare. ’ Trilling sees the novel as a pastoral ‘idyll’ to be considered apart from the real world, with Mr. Woodhouse and Miss Bates as ‘Holy fools’. But paradoxically, he argues that this most English of novels is touched by national feeling’. Emma’s gravest error is to separate Harriet Smith from Robert Martin, ‘a mistake of nothing less of national import’. Some of Trinlling’s assumptions are distinctive of his age and class (liberal, well-to-do Manhattan intellectual life of the immediate post-war era) – the extract begins with an assumption that many later twentieth-century critics would regard as cringingly sexist – but his good judgment and intelligence as a reader, together with his unbending commitment to the serious importance of literature – shine through† ( 31). The extraordinary thing about Emma is that she has a moral life as a man has a moral life. And she doesn’t have it as a special instance, as an example of a new kind of woman, which is the way George Eliot’s Dorothea Brooke has her moral life, but quite as a matter of course, as a given quality of her nature. Inevitably we are drawn to Emma. But inevitably we hold her to be deeply at fault. Her self-love leads her to be a self-deceiver. She can be unkind. She is a dreadful snob. â€Å"Mark Schorer considers the novel by closely analyzing its verbal and linguistic patterns. He argues that Austen’s language is steeped in metaphors drawn from ‘commerce and property’, and that she depicts a world of ‘peculiarly material values’, which is ironically juxtaposed with her depiction of ‘moral propriety’. Austen’s ‘moral realism’ is concerned with the adjustments made between material and moral values. Emma must drop in the social scale to rise in the moral scale. Schorer’s contention that Emma must be punished and humiliated has been condemned by later feminist critics as representative of the ‘Girl being taught a lesson’ mode of Austenian criticism. †(98) Jane Austen’s Emma, 1816, stands at the head of her achievements, and, even though she herself spoke of Emma as ‘a heroine whom no one but me will much like’, discriminating readers have thought the novel her greatest. Her powers here are at their fullest, her control at its most certain. As with most of her novels, it has a double theme, but in no other has the structure been raised so skillfully upon it. No novel shows more clearly Jane Austen’s power to take the moral measurement of the society with which she was concerned through the range of her characters. The author must, then, choose whether to purchase mystery at the expense of irony. The reliable narrator and the norms of Emma If mere intellectual clarity about Emma were the goal in this work, we should be forced to say that the manipulation of inside views and the extensive commentary of the reliable Knightley are more than is necessary. But for maximum intensity of the comedy and romance, even these are not enough. The ‘author herself’ – not necessarily the real Jane Austen but an implied author, represented in this book by a reliable narrator – heightens the effects by directing our intellectual, moral, and emotional progress. But her most important role is to reinforce both aspects of the double vision that operates throughout the book: our inside view of Emma’s worth and our objective view of her great faults. The real evils of Emma’s situation were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself; these were the disadvantages which threatened alloy to her many enjoyments. The danger, however, was at present so unperceived; that they did not by any means rank as misfortunes with her. ’ â€Å"Duckworth’s influential book sets Austen in her historical context. In his chapter ‘Emma and the Dangers of Individualism’, he aligns Emma with that other dangerous innovator Frank Churchill. Duckworth employs binary oppositions of define Austen’s social values: conservative stability (represented by Mr Knightley) is contrasted with radical innovation (represented by Frank Churchill). The ‘open syntax of manners and morals’ is set against the ‘concealment and opacity’ of games† (79). With Churchill’s entrance, Emma is no longer the puppet-mistress of Highbury but instead becomes a marionette in Churchill’s more subtle show. Churchill’s game-playing is not to be dismissed as venial. It is symptomatic of a world in which once given certitudes of conduct is giving way to shifting standards and subjective orderings. â€Å"Marilyn Butler presents Austen as an anti-Jacobin novelist, a propagandist of conservative ideology. Butler’s study showed how the highly politicized decade of the 1790s saw a flood of novels (often by women) that were engaged in the post-revolutionary ‘war of ideas’. Butler sets Austen’s novels firmly in the camp of the anti-feminist, traditionalist ‘domestic’ novels of Mary Brunton and Jane West as opposed to those associated with reformist writers such as Mary Hays and Mary Wollstonecraft. Accordingly to this argument, in Emma Austen shows her preference for rationality and inherited moral systems over imagination and individual choice. Emma is brought to recognition of her social duty† (74). The plot to which the language harmoniously relates is the classic plot of the conservative novel. Essentially, a young protagonist is poised at the outset of life, with two missions to perform: to survey society, distinguishing the true values from the false; and, in the light of this new knowledge of ‘reality’, to school what is selfish, immature, or fallible in her. Where a heroine is concerned rather than a hero, the social range is inevitably narrower, though often the personal moral lessons appear compensatingly more acute. Nevertheless the heroine’s classic task, of choosing a husband, takes her out of any unduly narrow or solipsistic concern with her own happiness. What she is about includes a criticism of what values her class is to live by, the men as well as the women. The novel with a fallible heroine by its nature places more emphasis on the action than the novel with an exemplary heroine. But Emma is an exceptionally active novel. The point is established first of all in the character of the heroine: Emma is healthy, vigorous, and almost aggressive. She is the real ruler of the household at Harfield – in her domestic ascendancy she is unique among Jane Austen’s heroines. She is also the only one who is the natural feminine leader of her whole community. The final irony is that this most verbal of novels at last pronounces words themselves to be suspect. It has been called the first and one of the greatest of psychological novels. If so, it resembles no other, for its attitude to the workings of Emma’s consciousness is steadily critical. Although so much of the action takes place in the inner life, the theme of the novel is skepticism about the qualities that make it up – intuition, imagination, and original insight. Emma matures by submitting her imaginings to common sense, and to the evidence. Her intelligence is certainly not seen as a fault, but her failure to question it is†¦ Easily the most brilliant novel of the period, and one of the most brilliant of all English novels, it masters the subjective insights which help to make the nineteenth-century novel what it is, and denies them validity. Julia Prewitt Brown presents a compelling view of Highbury: far from being static and hierarchical, it more closely resembles a road-map of people, ‘a system of interdependence, a community of people all talking to one another; affecting and changing one another: a collection of relationships’. Brown takes issue with the Marxist critic Arnold Kettle. For Brown, the novel is seen not from the perspective of ‘frozen class division but from a perspective of living change’. Miss Bates is singled out as a crucial member of society in that she links together all the disparate ranks. Social co-operations and community are vital for protecting vulnerable single women. To ensure the harmony of the community of Highbury, ‘the life of the individual must be coordinated internally before it can function externally’ (88). Just as the structure of Emma is not causal, it is also not hierarchical. Were we to draw a picture of the novel, it would not, I believe, bring before the reader the ladder of social and moral being that Graham Hough assigns. It would look more like a road map in which the cites and towns, joined together by countless highways and byroads, stood for people. As the image of a road map suggests, Highbury is a system of interdependence, a community of people all talking to one another, affecting, and changing one another: a collection of relationships. Emma is seen as daughter, sister, sister-in-law, aunt, companion, intimate friend, new acquaintance, patroness, and bride. And each connection lets us see something new in her. Jane Nardin exmines the plight of the genteel, well-educated and accomplished heroine, whose major problem is that she has too much time on her hands. Emma interferes in the lives of others because she is bored, and has no outlet for her imagination. In contrast to Mr Knightley, who involves himself with those around him, Emma leads a life of isolation and even idleness. Marriage is Emma’s salvation because ‘as Knightley’s wife, she will enter his life of activity and involvement’ (22). Emma Woodhouse sees herself as the typical eighteenth-century heroine who uses her leisure to become an admirable, accomplished, exemplary woman, and who never suffers a moment’s ennui for lack of something to do. She plays, she sings, she draws in a variety of styles, she is vain of her literary attainments and general information, she does not the honours of her father’s house with style, and confers charitable favours on a variety of recipients – in her own eyes, in fact, she is a veritable Clarissa. But Emma’s claims to Clarissahood are hollow. Blessed – or cursed – with money, status, a foolish father and a pliant, though intelligent, governess, Emma has earned admiration too easily. A harsh view of Austen’s politics emerges from David Aers, who applies a Marxist analysis to Emma. Austen’s idealization of the agrarian, capitalist Mr Knightley nad her dismissive treatment of the disenfranchised, such as ‘the poor’, the gypsies, and even Jane Fairfax, typify her bourgeois ideology. Emma’s visit to ‘the poor’ in particular is viewed as an indication of Austen’s own capitalist values, though it should be remembered that Emma’s views are not necessarily Jane Austen’s especially as her irony is so often directed against her heroine (36). Yet while Mr Knightley is certainly Jane Austen’s standard of male excellence (without being infallible), she does present him as an agrarian capitalist, not as some kind of pseudo-feudal magnate. He is prospering well, like his capitalist tenant, Robert Martin, and yet despite his relatively modest lifestyle we are told that he has ‘little spare money’.. As a Marxist, James Thompson believes that Ausen’s novels are time-bound and historical and enact the bourgeois ideology of the period. He analyses the complexities and contradictions between the language of (public) social obligation and the ‘feeling’ of (private) individual interiority in Emma. The individual’s sense of ‘alienation’ in capitalist society turns within for ‘true authenticity’. Thompson focuses on Austen’s treatment of marriage in Emma, as a union promising ‘true intimacy’ against the threat of loneliness and solipsism (159). In contrast to Gilbert and Gubar, Claudia Johnson shows how Austen corroborates her faith in the fitness of Emma’s rule. By inviting us to consider the contrast between the rule of Emma and that of Mrs Elton. Austen is able to ‘explore positive versions of female power’: ‘Considering the contrast between Emma and Mrs Elton can enable us to distinguish the use of social position from the abuse of it’. The novel concludes not with an endorsement of patriarchy, but with a marriage between equals. Furthermore, this is shown in the ‘extraordinary’ ending which sees Knightley giving up his own home to share Emma’s and thus giving his ‘blessing to her rule’(43). In stunning contrast with Mansfield Park, where husbands dominate their households with as little judiciousness as decency, in Emma woman does reign alone. Indeed, with the exception of Knightley, all of the people in control are women. In moving to Hartfield, Knightley is sharing her home, and in placing himself within her domain, Knightley gives his blessing to her rule. â€Å"Jane Austen has been seen as a novelist who avoids the physical. John Wiltshire shows the importance of bodies in her text, and Austen’s emphasis on health and illness in Emma. Wiltshire draws upon medical and feminist theories of the body† (54-56). Through its comfortable concern with its denizens’ well-being, the novel poses series of important questions, I suggest, about the nature of health, which are put more insistently through its gallery of sufferers from so-called ‘nervous’ disorders, Not only does Isabella Knightley, as might be expected, complain of ‘those little nervous head-aches and palpitations which I am never entirely free from any where’, but even placid Harrier, even Mrs Weston, let alone Jane Fairfax, suffer from, or complain of these symptoms called ‘nerves’. But the two grand embodiments of the nervous constitution in Emma are Mr Woodhouse and Mrs Churchill and they preside, one way or another, over the novel’s action.