Bertolt Brechts Mother Courage and Her Children and August Strindbergs Miss Julie Essay Example

Bertolt Brechts Mother Courage and Her Children and August Strindbergs Miss Julie Paper Ambition can define the intentions of a character in literature. In the texts Mother Courage and Her Children and Miss Julie, ambition is the force that can make or break the protagonists- Mother Courage and Jean respectively. While the degree of desire in both characters is similar, their ambitions steer off along two separate tangents. While Mother Courages ambition is to survive the war and use it to her advantage, in Miss Julie Jeans ambition is to rise up in class and take advantage of Miss Julie by using her as a catalyst. The failure of the two protagonists in achieving their goals can be attributed to their personalities, their social status, as well as certain incidents in the plays. In the play Mother Courage and her Children, the protagonist Mother Courage is seen to be the cause of her own downfall. She, a small time war profiteer1, has simple goals; to survive the war with her children and her travelling rummage business, and to make the best of what was given to her. These goals are emphasized by Mother Courage at many instances in the play, as is seen through the Sergeants reaction when he says, Could do with a swig yourself, ma. Thats life. Plenty worse things than being a soldier. Want to live off war, but keep yourself and family out of it, eh?2 Mother Courage shows a distinct love for her children and a keen eye for their safety. We will write a custom essay sample on Bertolt Brechts Mother Courage and Her Children and August Strindbergs Miss Julie specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Bertolt Brechts Mother Courage and Her Children and August Strindbergs Miss Julie specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Bertolt Brechts Mother Courage and Her Children and August Strindbergs Miss Julie specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Sergeant: I could use something else. Those boys are as healthy as young birch trees Mother Courage: Nowt doing, sergeant. Yours is no trade for my kids.3 This compassion was also focused towards her dumb4 daughter Kattrin as is shown through Mother Courages words- What happened? Someone assault you? Ill bandage it and in a week itll be all right. Worse than wild beasts, they are.5 However, this compassion can be seen as contradicted by its depth, as Mother Courage shows no more than a subtle acceptance of the hurt inflicted on Kattrin. There is no sense of anger towards those soldiers who hurt her, nor any desire for vengeance. Mother Courage has a short span of attention and often lacks attention entirely. This is evident as she is blind to the bitter truth voiced behind her- Sergeant (looking after them): Like the war to nourish you? Have to feed it something too.6 On the other hand, in Miss Julie, Jeans plight was different from Mother Courages. Jean as a valet expresses his desire as wanting to become part of the upper class, with wealth and nobility to his name through his words- I want to climb up, up to the top and look round plunder the birds nest up there where the gold eggs lie.7 Jean wants to have a title as is expressed when she says, Id be a count, and youd be a countess!8 This urge is due to his already sophisticated nature and his jealousy of his employer, Miss Julies father, the Count. August Strindberg, makes it clear that Jean is an ambitious slave who can live without honor9. This proves reason as to why Jean takes sexual advantage of Miss Julie. However, he acts dignified and respectful whilst talking to the Count. This respect is motivated by his aspiration to be the Count. This is evident from when Jean refers to the Count as his lordship10 and claims Ive [Hes] never met anyone I [he] respected as I [he] do [does] him.11 Jeans sexual act is to satisfy his sexual as well as social hunger. By taking advantage of the situation, he thinks he can run away with Miss Julie who will provide capital for his hotel venture as well as the means to become wealthy and well looked upon. However, he realizes that being an aristocrat is far from his desires. He realizes that what he was aspiring towards was not something worthier and more solid.12 Jean also eventually learns that Miss Julie cannot do anything for him- Jean: You seem I could make you into a countess, but you could never make me a Count.13 Jeans character is moulded by his ambition. He manages to convince Miss Julie to enter his room without arousing suspicion of foul play by saying, No. Into my room, then. We cant bother about conventions now. And you can trust me. I am your true, loyal and respectful-friend. Through his words, Jean shows his manipulative, deceptive and also his cunning nature. He finds no fault nor any guilt in lying to Miss Julie about his past dreams and desires of being with her- Jean: The oat-bin? Oh that was just talk14 On the other hand, Mother Courages character is also overcome by her ambition. It causes her to undermine the role of her children in her life, as well as accept her losses. She is extremely loyal to her children, but her loyalty often shifts in the case of partners and her side in the war as is depicted through her words Im joining our side this time.15 The two protagonists remain focused on achieving their goals throughout the play, indicating a steady sense of ambition and determination. This is suggestive of how their characteristics and personalities are well apt for their success. Their determination foreshadows a certain sense of this success, which is contrasted during the development of the play by their negative qualities that begin to surface. Another striking aspect shared by the duo is their unfazed nature even after the realization of having failed. After Miss Julies alleged suicide, or even prior to that, when Jean realizes that the upper class too can fall, he merely accepts the situation and carries on. Similarly, Mother Courage continues to tread forward even though, one by one, she loses her children. Neither character shows any signs of defeat or subsequent remorse at their situations. Jean does admit to his defeat shortly, but immediately goes on to attacking Miss Julie with great cunning, therefore bringing the focus away- Jean: I had no hope of winning you, of course- but you were a symbol to me of the hopelessness of my ever climbing out of the class in which I was born.16 During adverse conditions and situations, the two characters act swiftly, but not accurately. Jean entirely misinterprets his situation with Miss Julie and believes that by convincing her to move away to Switzerland with him, the entire sexual folly17 will be saved. His intentions were to use her to provide capital for a hotel business; but the tides turn when he discovers she has no money. Instead of watching Miss Julie suffer, he convinces her to take her own life as it is assumed in the text. Mother Courage faces many hardships throughout the play as compared to Jean who faces only one. She is first faced by the loss of her son Eilief, then the loss of her other son Swiss Cheese, and finally the hurt inflicted to her daughter Kattrin who subsequently dies. As seen when Eilief was taken away by the recruiting Sergeant, she simply accepts the situation, packs up her cart and continues her journey. This is shown in the dialogue between Mother Courage and her son Swiss Cheese- Mother Courage: Wheres Eilief? Swiss Cheese: Went off with the recruiter. Mother Courage (stands quite still, then): You simpleton Youll have to help your brother pull now, Kattrin.18 Mother Courage does not act as a mother is expected to; there is no distinctive outburst or backlash at any of these instances. She is a woman who simply moves along, emphasizing on the ongoing nature of the circle of life and her steady state of mind. Both Mother Courage and Jean require a second party in their ventures. Mother Courage requires a man as is seen by the diversity of the fathers of her children whereas Jean required Miss Julie- Jean: Oh, now and then a man has strength enough to hoist himself up in the world but how often does it happen?19 It shows the flaws in their independent attitudes; though they carry a large ego and a flattering show of independency. Both the characters turn towards second parties to provide a platform for them to stand upon- in Jeans case, to move upwards from, in Mother Courages case- to live stably. The two protagonists are caught in a vicious circle; one cannot leave the vicinities of his social order, while the other could not save her family, nor make a decent living from her sales during the war. Their seemingly selfish intentions attempted to be covered by noble deeds, shine through, thus leading to their downfall. Wealth and reputation comes above the death of a young woman, and similarly, wealth again comes in the view of three childrens deaths. Both characters share a distinct and compassionate desire to succeed, but are pulled away from this success by a certain negative qualities which they possess.

Educating Rita †Scene I

Educating Rita – Scene I Free Online Research Papers Educating Rita is a play written by Willy Russell in Thatherite Britain in the early 1980’s, when the role of women was to earn a living for the family and produce children to carry on the family name. Rita is a young hairdresser working in Liverpool and she is about to embark on an educating journey of finding herself through the teaching of an Open University. Frank is a university lecturer and will be teaching Rita what she wants to know about literature and another world outside of her own. Russell has interpreted the character of Rita as a copy of himself. This is because he was also a hairdresser and went to a night school to do his O levels before he became a famous writer. When we first see Frank he is in his office and appears to be looking for a book on the shelf. The audience then realises that he is actually looking for a bottle of whisky that he has hidden behind a book. This is symbolic for that Frank is hiding his drinking problems behind his work and education. Another example of Frank hiding his problems away from others is that when he drinks the whisky from a mug. This is so people won’t see his problems and the contents of the mug. The first time in which Rita in introduced to the play is her first encounter of what it’s like in Frank’s world. She gets to Frank’s door but it appears that it is stuck. She struggles to enter but eventually she gets in. This problem with the door is symbolic for that Rita will find it very hard to get I to the way of living in an educated environment. This door is also symbolic the next time Rita goes to the University. This is because she brings some oil and tries fixing the faulty door. This shows her determination to get an education and how much she wants to learn. When Rita first enters Frank’s office she is amazed. She never sits down and goes straight to the window. Throughout the play whenever she is in the office she goes to the window. Looking down at the â€Å"real students† studying on the grass. This is what Rita dreams of being. A â€Å"real student†. Frank has a picture of a naked woman on the wall. This is one of the first things that Rita notices. She says, â€Å"It’s very erotic.† And Franks reply is just â€Å"Erm yes, I suppose it is-â€Å". This shows that Frank hasn’t looked at the painting in a very long time. He also seems to have lost all interest in art and women. Both Frank and Rita both have completely different ways of living. They also have very different accents. Rita’s is a strong Liverpudlien accent whilst Frank talks with Received Pronunciation. This is where he doesn’t have an accent. It could be said that he speaks the standard way. Frank also speaks in Standard English. This is where he says his words like they are written in the dictionary and everyone will understand what he means. Also Rita swears a lot. She doesn’t know how to act in different situations so she just acts the way she normally does at home. By swearing and using inappropriate taboo language. Examples of her bad language are â€Å"tits† â€Å"sod† and â€Å"fuckin’†. Examples of Rita’s accent interpreted in the writing of the play are â€Å"y’† which is meant to be you and â€Å"won’ I† which is meant to be won’t I. Frank and Rita sometimes get confused with each other on several occasions in the play. Some examples of this are when Frank is referring to the poet â€Å"Yeats† Rita thinks he is talking about â€Å"Yates’s† the wine lodge. This is probably the most important point in the play because it shows that Frank and Rita come from completely different ways of life. Rita speaks with a lot of dysphemism. This is where the language she uses is shocking and impolite. Examples of this are when she is talking about the woman on the painting she says â€Å"tits†. The euphemistic way of saying this could be breasts. Frank speaks with a lot of euphenism. This is the way of saying something in the polite terms. He does this when Rita is saying that she is stupid and not bright enough to be a real â€Å"student†. Instead of just agreeing with Rita, Frank says, â€Å"it’s supposed to embrace a more comprehensive studentship†. Now of course Rita wouldn’t understand what Frank had just said but it is a more polite way of agreeing with her. The main themes of Educating Rita are Self-discovery, change and escapism. Russell establishes the differences between Frank and Rita by typing Rita’s accent differently, by showing that Frank speaks all his words like they are spelt in the Dictionary and so on. Research Papers on Educating Rita - Scene IThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationStandardized TestingInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesTrailblazing by Eric AndersonAnalysis Of A Cosmetics AdvertisementHip-Hop is ArtRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andResearch Process Part One19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This Nice

Individual critical review report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Individual critical review report - Essay Example Secondly, change must not be ambiguous to the employees within the organization. For that reason, the change agents should communicate the intended change and give such people time to think it over. If change is to be adopted and effectively impact on the organization, all the affected parties must be given an opportunity to decision making. Change is a continuous process that an organization seeks to undertake. It is determined by the demands within the environment. For instance, the current economic depression has made several organizations focus on reduction of cost of operation. To achieve this, the management teams in these organizations are carrying out retrenchments. On the other hand, an organization may require all the employees to have technological skills. This is especially to enable them handle the technological advancement within the organization. Recent change currently experienced In the recent past, I have been able to appreciate the need for change within an organiz ation. In the past few months, I had volunteered myself to work in a given nongovernmental organization. It deals with the services to the community including and not limited to the response and mitigation of drug use amongst the young. As one of the volunteers, my main work was to collect and file data for future reference. However, most of the work within the organization was done manually and every individual seemed comfortable about that. With the dream of expanding the organization and ensuring efficiency, the management announced that it was going to avail new technology in the organization. All the employees were therefore expected to be ready for the new organization culture. One amazing thing is that the news was received with mixed reactions by most of the employees. There are those who felt as if the new technology was going to take away their jobs. Others like me focused on the positive aspect of the new development. I knew that with the new technological advancement, th e quality of work will improve and documents will be much safer. The main aim of the proposed change apart from efficiency was to cut down the cost of operation. The organization was experiencing an inflated cost of operation owing to the increased cost of purchasing materials. Papers and books were mostly used for keeping data. There was need for downsizing to enable the organization run effectively and sustainably. It is this thought that created tension amongst the employees. The employer had to release some of them to remain with a more manageable number of employees. However bad it sounds, it is part of organization change and therefore must be carried out. The main purpose should be to ensure that organization could sustain itself. Theories employed There are various theories of change that can be used in explaining the alterations witnessed in many organizations. However, for the purpose of the organization I was working at, two main theories of change were in use. These incl uded Lewin’s 3 state model theory of change and 8-step change model. In the first category, Lewin states that change goes through three main stages. These include the unfreezing, change and the refreezing stages (Burnes 2004, p.89). This represents exactly what was happening in the organization where I was working. The first state according to this theory is to alter the culture that people have been used at. This is the