Light and Darkness in Macbeth free essay sample

Shakespearean literature is often characterised by imagery. William Shakespeare uses this technique in order to give hidden deeper meanings to his pieces, as we can see in the play Macbeth. As a matter of fact, in this tragedy the audience can find many different types of imagery: plant, animal, sleep, clothing and so forth. Most of these images are associated with a human characteristic; the imagery of light and darkness is no exception. The symbols of light and darkness in Macbeth are used to illustrate the contrasts between good and evil, to explain the actions of the protagonists, and are associated with sight and blindness to emphasize drama. Being two contrasting elements, the characteristics associated with light and darkness are also opposite; light is related to innocence, truth and purity, while darkness is associated with corruption, cruelty and guilt. In Macbeth, there are many different references to these two elements, and each one is connected to certain symbols which take the form of animals, plants, day, and night. We will write a custom essay sample on Light and Darkness in Macbeth or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Ultimately, light and darkness represent good and evil. In the first scenes of Act I, the imagery of light is used when King Duncan names Malcolm as his successor and commends Macbeth for his bravery in battle by comparing them to stars, â€Å"†¦ signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine / On all deservers† (1. 4. 41-12). Duncan explains that he will award those who are virtuous and dutiful to him, because they deserve it. Because of these good qualities, namely honour and devotion, the person will shine like a star, since light is seen as good. Macbeth, however, already begins to ignore these values, â€Å"†¦Stars, hide your fires! / Let not light see my black and deep desires ;†( 1. 4. 50-52) In this case, light represents goodness and honesty. Macbeth does not want his morals to interfere with his inner ambitions. His conscience warns him not to commit the regicide, but Macbeth’s ambition and Lady Macbeth’s power of persuasion are strong, and they defeat his morality. Evil, his ‘black and deep desires’, is begin to take control of him. Light and darkness are also used to illustrate life and death. On the evening King Duncan is murdered, Lennox reports that the fire in his chimney was mysteriously blown out (2. 3. 3); the fire represented the King’s life. It is also strangely dark on the morning after the night of King Duncan’s murder, and Ross says to the Old Man, â€Å"by the clock, ‘tis day, / And yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp† (2. 4. 6-7). This signifies the start of darkness taking over Scotland, but can also be seen as a metaphor for Duncan’s life being ‘strangled’ by Macbeth, ‘the dark night’. Another example of darkness overtaking light occurs when Banquos torchlight (the one that illuminates him just enough so his murderers can see what theyre doing) is snuffed out the moment he is killed (3. 3. 5). Lastly, Macbeth responds to the news of Lady Macbeths suicide by proclaiming out, out brief candle (5. 5. 3), using the candles flame as a metaphor for her short life and sudden death. The image of the candle is used to show how vulnerable life is. It does not last for a long time and it is easily blown out. Macbeth learns this at a very high cost: his tragic end. The association of light and darkness does not only contrast and illustrate, but it is also used predominately by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, to foreshadow and describe their actions and feelings. Darkness is evidently used much more than light, and when light is mentioned, it is usually snuffed out or overtaken by darkness. This first occurs when Lady Macbeth asks thick night to come with the smoke of hell, so that her knife will not see the wound it makes in the peacefully sleeping King. She also calls for murderous spirits to prevent heaven from peep[ing] through the blanket of the dark to cry Hold, Hold! she implies that light (here associated with God, heaven, and goodness) offers protection from evil and is the only thing that can stop her from murdering Duncan (1. 5. 10-16). Later in the play, the audience can see that Macbeth does the same. After he has made the arrangements for the murder of Banquo, Macbeth tells the murderers that   Fleance his son, that keeps him company, Whose absence is no less material to me Than is his fathers, must embrace the fate Of that dark hour (3. 1. 134-137). The hour will be dark both literally and metaphorically. Literally, Banquo and Fleance will be riding after dark, and thats when they will be ambushed. Metaphorically, the hour will be dark because thats when they will meet the final darkness of death. Macbeth is asking the night to take away Banquos life, because Banquo makes Macbeth pale with fear, â€Å"Come, sealing night, Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day; And with thy bloody and invisible hand Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond Which keeps me pale! † (3. 2. 50) In scenes after the Ghost of Banquo has ruined Macbeths banquet Macbeth asks his wife â€Å"What is the night?   She answers, â€Å"Almost at odds with morning, which is which (3. 4. 125-126). Then Macbeth states his intention to continue his bloody course of action, and says,  Strange things I have in head, that will to hand; / which must be acted ere they may be scannd (3. 4. 138-39). Through these evil deeds, it is evident that Shakespeare wanted to emphasize the fact that darkness easily overtakes light. When one puts a bowl over a lit candle, its light is no longer seen. In the same way that sight and light, and blindness and darkness are used together in this analogy, Shakespeare uses these symbols together to amplify the themes certain scenes. When Macbeth is imagining what would happen if he was to kill King Duncan, he says that   Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Pity, like a naked new-born babe, Striding the blast, or heavens cherubim, horsed Upon the sightless couriers of the air, Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye, That tears shall drown the wind. Here, the sightless couriers of the air are the winds, imagined as invisible (sightless) horses. This elaborate metaphor suggests that pity for King Duncan will be like that kind of wind that blows so hard that it brings tears to your eyes. Another example is when Macbeth sees the illusion of the eight kings escorted by Banquo. As soon as Macbeth sees this, he wishes he that he could stop looking, but cannot. When he sees the first king, he says to him,  Thy crown does sear mine eye-balls , yet he keeps looking. By the time the fourth one appears, he says,  Start, eyes! (4. 1. 116), as though he could command his own eyes to jump (start) out of his head and make him blind. Like Macbeth, Lady Macbeth also has something that she does not want to see in her sleepwalking scene. She enters the scene holding a candle, and when the doctor asks her gentlewoman how the lady happens to have the candle, the gentlewoman replies,  Why, it stood by her: she has light by her continually; tis her command.   The doctor then points out,  You see, her eyes are open (5. 1. 24), and the gentlewoman replies,  Ay, but their sense is shut (5. 1. 25). Thus we see that Lady Macbeth, who eagerly awaited the dark hour of King Duncans murder, is now afraid of the dark, and though her eyes are open, she can see only her own memories of murder. Shakespeare uses the symbols of sight and blindness to emphasize the theme of guilt by personifying the guilt of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Much of this play is filled with the struggle between light and darkness, the epic battle of good versus evil, and the theme is enforced by recurring images and Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relation to them. It is, however, the precision of Shakespeare’s’ imagery, which creates clear and vivid mental pictures, that gives his writing its  unique style and quality. Shakespeare teaches an important lesson through these symbols: that if we let darkness into our lives it will take over the light unless we make an effort to change.

Dont Overdo Do

Dont Overdo Do Dont Overdo Do Dont Overdo Do By Maeve Maddox Walking past a bank the other day I noticed a sign that said We do loans. Ive known for some time that some people do lunch, but I missed the transition from making loans to doing loans. This usage of all-purpose do in a multitude of expressions is nothing new in English. Ask Bessie to do the flowers for church. Mr. Ping does our garden. The stable boys do the horses. When is the painter going to do this room? I plan to do the room in red and gold. I can do you now, Sir, said the barber. Even the word do-able which sounds so modern and breezy to my ear has been around since 1449. c1449 PECOCK Repr. I. vii. 37 A lawe..which is doable and not oonli knoweable. (OED) No doubt about itdo is a handy word that serves us well. Professional writers, however, may want to add do to their list of words to cull in a final revision. Hair and flowers may be arranged, gardens tended, and rooms decorated. And banks make loans. (At least, theyre supposed to.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Running Amok or Running Amuck?If I Was vs. If I Were

CT #2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

CT #2 - Essay Example Then consider taking your products to markets that requires them (Zhao & Thomson, 2006). Another possibility that can help take your business to a next step is amalgamation, a combination of firms (two or more) to one new firm. One of the combined firms runs that new firm. Amalgamations and mergers are perfect decision that leads to maximizing the growth of the company (Zhao & Thomson, 2006). This will help reduce the production costs and thus products will be offered at prices that are more competitive hence, capturing large market shares. Having many traffic and web pages on internet that doubles every time, there is a need to make your web site to be more visible. It is also important to program and design your web site in a very excellent since your web page contents are the ones that will attract or draw visitors to your site and make them permanent to your site (Zhao & Thomson, 2006). Expanding globally is more than just growing in terms of customers and sales. This will enable integrate the best technologies for more successful business (Zhao & Thomson, 2006). There will also be increased market shares that will enable realize sustained

Scientific method experiment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Scientific method experiment - Essay Example 56) To establish this, the experimentalist used four samples of five gases namely; Oxygen, Hydrogen, Carbon Dioxide and Sulfur Hexafluoride. He used other tools such as four testing tubes, a top- loading balance and a syringe. The experimentalist measured a volume of 50ml of each of the gas samples. By using the syringe and the balance, the experimentalist calculated the weights of each of the 50ml-sample. He observed that although the samples were of the same size, they weighed different. The vacuum weighed 0.00g Oxygen 0.54g, Hydrogen 0.11gm , Carbon Dioxide .088g and Sulfur Hexafluoride 0 .263g (Pandey et al. 56) The explanation behind this is that heavier gas samples have larger weight than the lighter ones. The gas sample cannot have more weight in this experiment as a result of change in the volume of the samples. Therefore, the change must be linked to the mass of the particles of the gas. On plotting the molecular weights against the experimental weights, the experimentalist found out that it was a straight line. This is as a result of the correlation between the mass of the constant samples and the molecular mass. Therefore, this leads to the accepting the hypothesis that it is possible to determine the molecular mass of a sample of gas simply by measuring the constant quantity against an already determined linear relationship Pandey et al.

Social Responsibility Evaluation Essay Example for Free

Social Responsibility Evaluation Essay Company Q is a small grocery store chain in a major metropolitan area. They have recently closed two stores due to high crime rate, and losing money. The store has started to provide health conscience and organic food to its customers by request. Local food banks have asked if the company would donate day-old products. The company has refused due to possible fraud and theft. The three areas that Company Q can improve are economic, philanthropic, and ethical. The first area that Company Q can improve regarding social responsibility is economic. If Company Q would open the option of donating items, they open themselves to more business. People are more willing to shop from stores who are willing to be a helpful part of society. Also by donating it may help reduce theft. If people have food available to them, then there is no need to steal. This helps the economy because stores won’t have to drive up prices to compensate for theft losses, therefore, keeping prices affordable. Also, if they are throwing product away then they should evaluate how much they are ordering. If they are throwing lot of product away then they are not making much profit. They need to reduce the quantity ordered. The second area that Company Q can improve regarding social responsibility is philanthropic. By donating day-old products, they are giving back to the community. They’re going to lose money on those products they donate just the same as if they threw it away. However, people who cannot afford to buy groceries will benefit. This will create a positive image for Company Q in the community. The third area Company Q can improve regarding social responsibility is ethical. They need to build a positive image and have a positive impact on stakeholders and consumers. The stakeholders are like consumers, they don’t want to be part of something that is negative. They will begin to pull out and money will not be there to keep Company Q in business. The more positive impact they have on stakeholders and consumers, the better chances of survival of the company. The three areas Company Q should improve related to social responsibility are economic, philanthropic, and ethical. It is important for company Q to make the changes in these areas, for they will stay in business longer. They will also have a better reputation with stakeholders, consumers and the community. With a positive reputation comes more business. More business means better financial status. Even the employees will feel better knowing they are a part of a helpful company, a boost in employee morale. These are all changes for the good of Company Q.

What is an American :: essays research papers

What is an American? Finally someone says it right !!! You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American. So an Australian dentist wrote the following to let everyone know what an American is, so they would know when they found one. An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan. An American may also be a Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans. An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses. An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God. An American is from the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God given right of each person's pursuit of happiness. An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need. When Afghanistan was overrun by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country. As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan. Americans welcome the best, the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best athletes. But they also welcome the least. The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty, welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America. Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2002 earning a better life for their families.

What Are the Strengths and Challenges of Teams at Work

What are the strengths and challenges of teams at work? Team work has been the biggest development In management of human resources for organizations In the past few decades (Norman, Cohen and Norman, 1995). It has been implemented in a wide variety of spheres and the growth of the popularity is still ongoing. It is obvious that these changes have not happened without a reason, there is something to team work that is attracting every manager like kids to an ice- cream car. Before I continue, I want to state some things so there would not be any misunderstanding further on the essay.First, I do not want any confusion when it comes to defining a team and a group, because I understand that there is not much of a difference (Ouzo, 1996) between these terms. The only thing that I want to state is that team always has an interdependent nature; they perceive themselves as a whole unit. Second, as the topic is about teams In general, the evaluation Is quite superficial and It will not be val id for every team. The way team performs depends on the size of the team, the management of It and of course the working environment It Is In.So every team has to be evaluated Independently to give an objective report. I will describe aspects that stand out amongst the others and are present for most of the teams. My goal in this essay is to evaluate teams at work environment drawing on theory and research. I am going to point out the strengths of a team-based work from member's point of view and challenges that team members have to face. Eventually, what I am trying to state is that people (managers, leaders etc. Who are leaning towards team work as the best way of getting things done have made this assumption based on feelings they have towards team-work rather than researching hurry and experiments made on the approach to get the bagger picture of what team-work consists from and what are the actual drawbacks. I am basing my work on the paper about ‘romance of teams' (Allen and Yecch, AAA) taking some Ideas from the paper, but putting them Into my own perspective. I am going to start with the most obvious strengths that teams has, because those are the ones that people are most aware of.Followed by additional strengths, that according to researches lies in our sub consciousness. After that I will describe the biggest challenges teams have to face. Strengths A team consists of several people and each one of them has their own skills, characteristics, gender, age and perception of things in general (Britton et al. , 2010). There are several definitions of a team, but this one serves the best for my purposes – ‘A group of people with a full set of complementary skills required to complete a task, Job, or project' (Chicken, 2009).Indeed each one of us Is unique and by coming together and supplementing each other we form a living organism called ‘team'. Knowledge, opinion, experience and personal views can be shared in this living mind', in this way implying additional strengths. Maybe these are not the strengths that people will mention the most when speaking about pros of teams, but they exist and they do form our feelings towards teams. I would like to continue by focusing on strengths of teams that people are unaware of or they are aware of them subconsciously.Every team is a social formation; accordingly it includes interaction with others, whether it is Just a chat that started with â€Å"how are you doing? † or a discussion about the subjective they are trying to achieve or a social evening to bring he team closer together, it does not matter. The thing that matters is that team gives you a wide range of opportunities to satisfy your social needs; it gives you a feeling of belonging (Godard, 2001 a).Alongside, comes the feeling that overtakes you, that gives you the idea that you want to be a part of a team, which is natural, because people are creatures that has been living in groups since the beginn ing of time and social desires has developed naturally and is a part of our lives. The thing is that, not everyone is aware of this phenomenon, so this is where unconscious strengths appear. To continue, I would like to introduce a research made by Diddle and Strobe, 1991.This research states that individuals perceive working in group activities to be more fun and enjoyable than working alone and that time is perceived as passing more quickly when working in a group (Allen and Yecch, Bibb). Moreover, some researches shows that working in a team can increase your mental well-being and state of mind in general (Carter, 2000). Teams provide a benefit like reduction of stress (Godard, 2001 b) which mostly comes from the fact that teams reduces uncertainty about particular situations and verifies member's beliefs and ideas (Hog and Mulling, 1999).As all the facts that are mentioned before comes together, it is only obvious that teams do paint a really nice picture about themselves in our minds. Additionally, the way how people actually perceive themselves in a group is different from the way they do outside of one. Researches have shown that people tend to take less responsibility for failures of the team and in the same time more responsibility for success of the team (Schlesinger, 1975), which is kind of illogical, but in the nature f any human being.It is much easier to assign blame to others in that way preserving your own feeling of competence, rather than admitting that you are the one to blame, and when being in a team you have the opportunity to do that, because who will possibly forbid you, except yourself. The perception of team as a unit working together plays a big role here, because in your mind you do understand that you are not the only one who is in the team, so if the team fails or succeeds then the whole team does that.To add to this idea, people tend to evaluate their own reference higher when working in a team rather than working alone, both, th eir actual expectations and conclusions, of their performance in the team has been recorded to be of a higher value (Phallus et al. , 1993). This all can be very misleading, but as long as we – human beings – will not change our nature and start seeing things as they actually are, these will be some of the most mind impacting benefits towards teamwork.Challenges The point about the diversity of a team and different people coming together that When people with different ideas and different views on life come together and has o work as one and unbreakable unit, arguments between them are inevitable. That is why certain roles have to be assigned and a specific structure formed, so the team would manage to work productively. Size and composition of a team has an influence on individual behavior, on decision making (Kooks-De Bode et al. 2008), if these aspects are not sorted out in a timely manner then one of the biggest strengths of a team can turn into a drawback and then it is Just matter of time when the team will collapse. Another challenge for a team is goal setting, which is a really important aspect when it comes to whether the work is going to be smooth and whether it is going to be without misunderstandings. Goals has to be set at the very beginning and they have to be defined very clearly to everyone in the team, so everyone would really understand what the team is trying to achieve.If this is not done, then there is a possibility that team members start to head in different directions. An equally significant set of challenges comes from too much of dependence on your teams decisions. Researches made by Stanley Amalgam, 1973 shows that when decision has o be made, team members tend to follow the point of view that is presented by others or by most members of the team, that way actually not expressing their own thoughts. Besides that, these researches shows that people tend to follow the leader of a team even if the things that are being don e are against their principles and are morally wrong.Justification to these kinds of decisions comes from the fact that any decision made in a group actually is a group decision and therefore made by several people, accordingly the responsibility is being shared amongst all of the group embers. This results in poor decision-making process, which can further result in serious damage made to the work-group itself or to the possibility of achieving the goal that has been set out. Hence, the challenge for a team is to set certain norms.Norms about how the work has to be led, to what extent members should follow their leader and what are the social, moral, ethical and physical norms that should not be crossed. To sum up the challenges, team work has to be well balanced and well organized; it has to be like a machine that does not work if one of the parts is broken. To do that you have to take in consideration a lot of aspects, starting with leaders role and importance, ending with team m embers moral and physical needs. Everything has to be balanced and managed smartly and efficiently (Allen, 1996).That is the hardest challenge to deal with in team-work and it becomes even harder if the person who is in charge of the team does not know about these elements. Before I draw the conclusion I would like to remind the fact that the Judgments being made in this essay is superficial and regards the general population of people included in teams. Therefore, I am not stating that it is true for every person. To summarize, I have stated the strengths that in my mind form the feeling towards team-work inside a person's mind. I hope that others reading these points will be able to relate to them as well.