A Divided World and a Divided Self

Synge’s Playboy of the Western World is essentially a play of opposites. The tension between tradition and individualism is the active force that drives the characters toward the comic conflict.Shawn and Christy embody the masculine half of this equation while Pegeen Mike and the widow Quinn exemplify the feminine. Interestingly, the conflicts of the characters in isolated situations throw a brighter light on their motives than when secondary characters are present in the scene.While much of the play’s actual humor derives from the chorus-like responses of subordinate characters (notably when the pub patrons question Christy about his father’s supposed murder), the inner lives of the four main characters are explored in greater detail in direct dialogue exchanges.For this reason, it is important to consider Playboy of the Western World as a psychological as well as a social inquiry into the early 20th century Irish mind.The moral, social and familial institutions at work in the lives of the characters are inseparable from the behavior of the characters themselves and their behavior, in turn, affects the ways they perceive and challenge the institutions that establish a collective social identity. Synge’s satire, then, is fundamentally subversive. By undercutting a prevalent strain of Irish romanticism Synge effectively exposes the difference between the real and the ideal in Irish opinions about their own history and customs.The influence of religion is at the heart of Synge’s concern. Shawn’s reluctance to stay with Pegeen Mike overnight testifies to his fear of the priest’s, and by extension, the community’s censure. This is confirmed when he admits, â€Å"I'm afeard of Father Reilly; and what at all would the Holy Father and the Cardinals of Rome be saying if they heard I did the like of that?† Shawn is unable to take the passionate leap in terms of his affection for Pegeen Mike, being overly con cerned with outward appearances.Though his presence at the pub overnight will not be breaching social etiquette in any way immediately revealed by the opinions of the pub house patrons, he worries about the possibility that some vague â€Å"other† will entertain harsh opinions. For this reason, Shawn is repeatedly unable to take a stand for what he purportedly desires—marriage to Pegeen Mike.While religion is key, Shawn also demonstrates a pronounced avoidance to action of any kind. He is fearful of what he perceives as Christy’s passionate and unpredictable nature. The threat of violence is abhorrent to Shawn. However, his pacifism is not the result of moral objection but rather a product of physical cowardice.Christy, in contrast, is not concerned with the price of taking extreme action. Despite his meek exterior, his story of parricide is told with earnest, and he behaves first in such a way that he seems shell shocked by committing the murder. Later, of cour se, this turns into something else, when he begins to celebrate his action as proof as his own manliness.This is an important turn in the play because he moves from a fear of the social judgment of his illegal and immoral action into a defiant assertion of his own individualism. This shift occurs because he senses the positive (and perverse) effect his reputation as a murder has on the members of the community in general and on Pegeen Mike in particular.Once Christy recognizes the advantages he has when perceived as â€Å"dangerous† he quickly adopts a romantic and celebratory posture. His pride in the matter is exactly what sets him up for his serio-comic fall when his father, the elder Mahon, appears miraculously â€Å"raised† from the dead.Another pair of characters defined by their opposing views is that of Pegeen Mike and the Widow Quin. Their pronounced division is related to domesticity. While the Widow Quin is perceived as an outsider and generally shunned by t he community, she is more of a realist. This is evidenced when Mahon arrives and the widow does not reject Christy as a potential love interest.As an older and more mature woman, the Widow Quin is not as easily swayed by the romantic appeal Christy’s story of murder offers. She is more interested in his companionship and status as a help-mate. She is eminently practical.Pegeen Mike, however, is far different. For the twenty year old barmaid, the idea of a savage killer for a husband is alluring. Shawn’s proposal disgusts her when compared to that of Christy because he lacks the essential brutishness that defines her idea of an appropriate mate.Consider the hastiness of her words when she says, â€Å"Wouldn't it be a bitter thing for a girl to go marrying the like of Shaneen, and he a middling kind of a scarecrow, with no savagery or fine words in him at all?† She is not concerned with the pragmatic reality of what it means to be married to a man who has defied t he law. Her head is full of high romance and flattered by Christy’s sentimentally poetic use of language.

Assess the view that in todays society the family

Assess the view that in todays society the family is losing its functions (24 Marks) According to functionalists the family has lost its functions, functionalism claim there is integration and harmony between different parts of society which rely upon each other to maintain a cooperating society. Functionalists view the family as vital organs in maintaining society, functionalism concentrates on the contribution of the family towards society and how the family fits with other social institutions to create and efficient society.Functionalists like Murdock argues that the family has four main unctions; reproduction as the family provides some stability for the reproduction and rearing of children, economic as the family provides for the family in terms of food and shelter, sexual and socialisation. Murdock regards these functions as necessary in any society; he suggests the nuclear family was found in every society however it is not the only form of arrangement that can carry these fun ctions out.For functionalists the family â€Å"fulfils a number of important functions for individuals and society such as the socialisation of children and the stabilisation of adult ersonalities† Functionalists like Parsons and Dennis argue that in contemporary society many of the functions performed by the family and pre industrialised society has been removed from the family. Many argue that â€Å"these functions are being taken over by other institutions† and that these have been transferred to other institutions for example the NHS as well as the education and welfare system.Parsons refers to this as structural differentiation and he also claimed that is process has meant that modern more specialised families now only have two main basic needs; Primary socialisation of children and stabilisation of adult personalities. However many sociologists argue against claims made my Parsons and Dennis, some argue that the family has not lost its functions. Fletcher and Sho rter 1966 deny that the family has lost its functions in contemporary society.They suggest that during pre industrial and early industrial society poverty meant that functions such as welfare and education were not effectively carried out. Children were often neglected and male peasants didn't care for their wives but more about their animals. Fletchers argues that the family has now more note fewer functions placed on it for example the ealth and welfare functions of the family have been strengthened by welfare state and parents now are more preoccupied with their children's health.Social services with their powers now intervene in family cases if there are reports or suspicions of child neglect and this has increased the responsibilities of parents rather than discouraging them. Feminism however disagrees with the view that the family has lost its economic role of a unit of production and argue that it has become a unit of consumption. They also majority of home work is productive but it not recognised as uch because it is unpaid and usually done by women. They argue that the economic contribution made by women is underestimated.Radical feminist Christine Delphine and Dianna Leonard 1992 argues that some functions of production have been lost but others are pretormed to a higher standard than the past tor example washing, ironing and cleaning as â€Å"family life is much less stable than it was in the past†. A traditional function of the family is the reproduction and nurturing of children being seen as the main reason for marriage as a means of passing on family property and roviding a future workforce. However this has changed as there has been an increase in the number of people having sexual relations before marriage and out of marriage.Another traditional function of the family was industrialisation and the growth of factory production in Britain, the family was a unit of production which meant the family home was also a work place. Children woul d learn the skills needed for life from their elders and they often followed their parents footsteps in life. However this has changed as well as since the 19th century work has moved outside he home to factories and offices. Families no longer produce the goods they need they go out instead to work and earn wages to but the goods.These skills needed can no longer be learnt from the family but rather in a place of work or education. Occupations are less likely to be achieved by kinship but instead by individual merits. Lastly the family traditionally played an important role in caring for children however before the twentieth century most children were poorly looked after due to poverty. This has now changed as the modern family gets more help in caring for children hrough a range of state welfare services and growing numbers of care services such as play groups and nurseries.All the writers tend to think in terms of the family without differentiating between different family types. Graham Allan and Graham Crow 2001 argue that attempts to identify the functions of the family can be criticised because of the functionalist ‘one size fits' approach. Postmodernists and different feminists reject this view that there is one single family type which always performs certain functions. This makes it difficult to measure functions of society.

Market Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Market Strategy - Essay Example Hence, while opting for a large scale expansion in China, the company was quiet confident that its traditional organizational structure comprising of well laid out stores backed by time tested retailing concepts and culture would work well in China (Pogoda, 1994). However, Wal-Mart soon realized that the Chinese customers required different sort of merchandize and goods. Therefore, to understand the local markets, the company decided to get actively involved with the local communities and started opting for local suppliers (Taylor, 2009). This strategy of retaining the traditional organizational structure, with localized procurement worked wonders for Wal-Mart in China. Just like Wal-Mart, when McDonalds decided to go global in the 90s, the company was confident that its well-calibrated organizational approach of offering franchises at the local level would work well in the foreign markets also. Luckily, for McDonalds, the things worked well as was expected and its brand of fast food soon became a rage in the New Markets in Asia, Latin America and Africa. However, this does not mean that McDonalds simply transplanted it US based organizational structure in the foreign markets. The company was well aware that food is always about flavors, which differ from place to place and people to people. Therefore, the company not only adapted its distribution strategies and packaging as per the local preferences, but also customized its products to suit the local tastes. For example, McDonalds offers Halal fast food in the Gulf and beer in Germany (McDonalds, 2005). From the very start, Skype succeeded in establishing itself as the most popular voice communication service around the world. The company conducted its business through it internet portal. However, it was not long that Skype realized that the emerging new trends and developments in the digital technology would make it literally obsolete, if it fails to customize and adapt to the novel digital

IS-LM model Application Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

IS-LM model Application - Assignment Example Being able to solely provide a solid comparison of such leaders makes the response legitimate enough (Ljunggren, 2012). RBC always accomplishes the liberty to the opening choice of its clientele. This is achieved mainly through the bank’s innovation methods. One of the leading objectives of the bank is to be a prevailing North American monetary services firm known for its undisputed leading provision of incorporated monetary services in Canada (Ljunggren, 2012). This made RBC the best in class provision of individual and commercial monetary services in the United States of America. This made the banking services of RBC become a premier giver of chosen worldwide monetary services (Ljunggren, 2012). As part of their values, RBC’s innovative strategies produce ideologies and services to clientele to the bank and vice-versa. Working jointly is part of the innovation strategy of the bank, as well as individual accountability for high presentation. Diversity for development and innovation, and trust via incorporation in every exchange that the firm makes can also be achieved through such inno vation (Ljunggren,

'Give an account of the main mosques of Samarra' and al-Fustat in the Essay

'Give an account of the main mosques of Samarra' and al-Fustat in the early 'Abbasid period.' - Essay Example Through a discussion that begins with first developing a basic understanding of the function and form of Mosques from the medieval period, then moving through a discussion of specific structures, an exploration of the Mosques from the Abbasid period can be made in order to better understand the importance of these great structures. Function In attempting to study the architecture of the Islamic world, Hillenbrand suggests that one of the primary difficulties lies in the terminology that is used. This is due to the multiplicity of purposes that each building would serve as a function within the culture. He states â€Å"Small wonder that one and the same building could be designated by a string of descriptive terms if each did in truth refer to some aspect of its regular function†.1 In examining the ways in which the buildings of the Islamic middle ages were used it is clear that that mosques were not only used for worship, madrasas were not only used for education, and neither were mausolea used just for burial. The many needs of the culture were fit into the buildings through multiple functionalities, thus the first understanding of such buildings must be made through the idea of function. In discussing function, the first problem that can be seen in studying Islamic buildings is that there is little in the way of written information on the building of these structures. Technical renderings and information about the circumstances of how these buildings came into being are few and far between, allowing for only the buildings themselves to serve as objects of study on their construction.2 Although there is suspicion that the Islamic religious aesthetics influenced the building of Mosques during the medieval period, there is no explicit reference known or accessible to Western cultures that suggest that this is the case. Therefore, in studying the function of such buildings, one must look at the building itself to try and access this aspect and the culture in order to understand the development of needs for which the building served as a solution for cultural needs. According to Meri and Bacharach, however, most Mosques of the medieval period were designed after the creation of house that was build for Mohamed in Medina, which is located in Saudi Arabia. Literary evidence of the form of this house is more relevant than the archaeological as it is described as having a â€Å"large walled courtyard with entrances on three sides and two covered porticos, the larger of which functions as a sanctuary for the faithful where they may find shelter from the sun during prayer†.3 The original orientation of the qibla wall, the wall of the larger portico, was originally facing towards Jerusalem, and then later towards Mecca, thus providing for the importance of orientation when building a Mosque. The small portico was used as a place of shelter for those who were poor, thus setting up the division of classes within the Mosque cultural usag e. The three basic elements developed from this original structure were the courtyard for the gathering of the followers of Islam, the sanctuary for prayer, and the qibla wall.4 Form Hillenbrand lists three distinct areas in which form can be discussed. The first is in hierarchy, the second is in

The Future of Energy in the UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Future of Energy in the UK - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that illustration of the â€Å"Wicked problem† entailed in the subject of the energy crisis and fears with respect to energy management from the supply and demand concepts in the market. Stakeholders including the government through its entities such as OFGEM and the Department of Energy and Climate change among other Community Energy Strategy facilitators are all engaging accordingly in the wake of the fears of the aging energy infrastructure and facilitation. The current energy fleet whose capacity to conform to the energy requirements, climate changes and environmental protection regulations is fading, leading to their facing out from service. Evidently, in conceptualizing the situation in the course of its entire present state, the occurrences such as the soaring of the domestic electricity bills as well as the millions of people living in fuel poverty are the reflection of the â€Å"Wicked problem†. Further, recent uprising s incorporating protestors chaining themselves in the context of the indigenous sources of fuel, particularly since the discovery of the North Sea Oils reflects the spread of the energy crisis fears. The recurrent and persistent warning of power blackout expected to persist in the next three to five years from top government energy officials and related stakeholders such as energy company management reflects the situation at which the UK finds itself regarding the issue of the energy crisis. The evidence of the current aging fleet of power stations, which in effect have the damaging reputation with respect to environmental friendliness in addition to crucial infrastructure aging, all present the support for the course to initiate alternative energy sources, as OFGEM suggests in its campaign. This necessitates the course of the innovation process. The energy sector in the UK is experiencing an uphill task, having faced a combination of dire problems since the inception of the crisis in the 1970s. The establishment of the bright horizon in the name of North Sea oil and gas marked a possibility of an energy sector whose composition and development would secure the energy fears in the country. However, the realization followed accordingly that there is a need to create a new measure for intervening in the case.

Pack Journalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Pack Journalism - Essay Example And this, makes the journalist work never be the same again. Sometimes, the government that should have been protecting its citizen, including journalists, is the one allegedly involved in the killings of people in the media. Moreover, it is surprising to know that this is happening all around the world. Each country has its own stories of murdered journalist. What we can read in the news are American tank fired at the Reuters office, journalist abducted allegedly by Philippine Army, brutal murder of a journalist in Indonesia condemned, an American aircraft fired a missile at the al-Jazeera office, to mention a few. This situation is getting serious and must be stopped. Journalists are here to provide independent reporting and to deliver documentation of realities in life to the society. As years go by, the journalist work is getting riskier and scarier. From a mere observer who just re-tell stories from those involve, first hand sources, they are now largely moving into the limelight, but not for any better. Instead, the future of journalist anywhere in the world is getting dimmer and dimmer as what we can see unfolding through this rising incidence of media killings. The phrase "being read" is slowly changing its real meaning. Journalists are being read because of the news about other people or current events they wrote, which they have no involvement totally. This time they are still being read and that is only because they themselves are what the news story is all about. They are being harassed, threatened, and arrested. Just like the recent report from the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). Two French TV journalists were arrested in Northern Cyprus, which believed the incident overshadowed plans of the Turkish authorities to reform press freedom laws. Journalists once again are becoming the victim of outworn laws and their practitioners. Moreover, this time it is more frequent, worldwide, and fatal. Locale and international organizations, like the IFJ, European Federation of Journalist (EFJ), The Union of Cyprus Journalists, continuously condemn such cases of violation of the journalists' rights and of the press freedom. The rights and freedom being blatantly violated today includes, In pursuance of this duty, the journalist shall at all times defend the principles of freedom in the honest collection and publication of news, and of the right to fair comment and criticism. Journalists worthy of the name shall deem it their duty to observe faithfully the principles stated above. Within the general law of each country the journalist shall recognise in matters of professional matters the jurisdiction of colleagues only, to the exclusion of any kind of interference by governments or others. There is no more freedom in the collection of publication of news. In many countries, they are being threatened in the reports being collected and in the news being printed. One female radio broadcast journalist after giving her comments and criticism on a particular government official, she was gunned down right outside the station. Previous to this incident, another radio broadcast journalist was shot and killed in his house. These two journalists happen to be husband and wife. Moreover, in the country they were is a democratic country with laws assuring freedom of speech and of the press. They need not to be in the midst of war to be hit by a bullet. There is enough bullet really intended for them and not