Free Essays on Death Of A Salesman

In the stories â€Å"Death of A Salesman,† and â€Å"A Doll’s House,† there are many similarities. I went on to pick one character from each story whom’s similarity interested me the most. The characters I picked were Willy Loman from â€Å"Death of A Salesman,† and Torvald Helmer of â€Å"A Doll’s House.† I picked these characters because of their motivation to make it to become successful. Both stories are about a climb for success that leads to betrayal. The story â€Å"Death of A Salesman,† comes with the symbolic meaning of the death of an â€Å"American Dream,† or the ridding of illusion as it applies to the American Dream. The story â€Å"A Doll’s House† the title reflects the main character’s life and how she was treated like treasure such as a doll. Both Willy and Torvald lives are similar to the fact that they are both trying to provide for their families, but in the end they discover a great loss. Willy Loman a salesman and a firm believer in the â€Å"American Dream,† had the notion that any man can rise from humble beginnings to greatness. In Willy Loman motivation to become successful was he felt that he believes success comes from being well liked not worrying about qualifications and being popular you well always come out on top. Willy is a Multifaceted character who portrayed a deep problem with sociological and psychological causes and done so with disturbing reality. Willy also starts to lie on the amount of sales that he is making whenever his wife asks him about his sales. Torvald Helmer is a Lawyer/Bank Manager who feels reputation plays a big part in his success to do well. Motivation was a key position in both Willy and Torvald lives to help them climb to become a success. In the story Torvald Helmer motivation was his appearance to be professional and personal and the knowing fact that his family will not want in the future. Torvald pushes his limits to get what he wants to become a succ... Free Essays on Death of a Salesman Free Essays on Death of a Salesman A Tragic Hero in Arthur Millers â€Å"Death of a Salesman† Tragedy was a very controversial issue in literature until recent years. Recent figures in literature have set a clear definition for tragedy. Author Miller is one of these figures. Plays and novels have distinguished the definition of tragedy. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary tragedy is a serious piece of literature typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that excites pity or terror. Miller’s explains that a tragic hero does not always have to be a monarch or a man of a higher status. A tragic hero can be a common person. A tragedy does not always have to end pessimistically; it could have an optimistic ending. The play Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, is a tragedy because its hero, Willy Loman, is a tragic figure that faces a superior source, being the American dream and the struggle for success. Loman also excites pity in the reader because of his defeat and his inability t o become a success or teach his children how to make their lives successful. Miller defines a flaw as â€Å"an inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what one conceives to be a challenge to one’s dignity†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Penguin USA) Loman fulfills many of the requirements of being a tragic hero. Willy is not â€Å"flawless† in his actions, which by Miller’s standards make him a tragic hero. It is not wrong for Willy to have flaws and it does not make him a weaker man but a tragic figure. Miller designed the play so that Willy could be a tragic hero and for this he needs to have a flaw. Willy’s flaw is that he is unable to see things in a more realistic perspective. Charley says something in the play that sums up Willy’s whole life. He asks him, "When the hell are you going to grow up?" Willy’s spends his entire life in an illusion. He sees himself as a great man that is popular and su... Free Essays on Death Of A Salesman From the urgency and desperation of Willy’s situation, we are bound to see the play from the angle of looking into the working of his inner life. It was meant for the audience to look into this aspect as is obvious from the dream and memory sequences. We catch glimpses of Willy’s subconscious distraught with guilt, hope and regret. It is through these scenes that we see the internal turmoil of a mind that has not come out of adolescence and because of it, is unable to help his own sons to healthy maturity. His childishness is time and again released in his angry outbursts and his refusal to listen to anyone but himself. His impatience and stubborn nature is expressed in his denial of financial constraints to Charley, his devoted friend and neighbor. He falls into dreams and imaginings from his past that tell of his delusions of grandeur. Willy regards Ben as a symbol of the success that he so desperately craves for himself and his sons. As he progresses more and more towards personal disappointments-Biff’s failure in life, loss of his job, and the realization of a low self-worth-he moves successively further into his dream world succumbing to it in a complete break down, Regularly we see Willy ´s daydreams, within his mind. It is a very clear way to tell the audience, what happened in the past, and why things are how they are, now in the present day. We as an audience gain an insight into Willy’s most intimate thoughts. His thoughts are suicidal, exploitation (affair) and back stabbing. Audiences see themselves, their parents and their children in the play. It is what makes the play outstanding.... Free Essays on Death of a Salesman â€Å"Illusion vs. Reality† The theme of illusion versus reality is very prevalent throughout this play. The most indulgent of this lifestyle is the main character Willy Loman. His whole life is based on the illusion that he is successful because he is well-liked and good looking. He raises his two sons on this premise and feeds it to them day after day. Willy is a dreamer. Willy grades his life on the success he has as a salesman. He expects his sons to follow in his footsteps as well. Biff is his main concern. Willy looks at Biff to be the one who shines in the business world. â€Å"Be liked and you will never want†.(Bedford p.1836) Willy tells this to biff while they are talking about school. The reality is that Willy is not well-liked and not successful but he still tells himself every week that he’ll â€Å"knock ‘em dead next week†. Willy says, â€Å"I’m the New England man. I’m vital in New England†. Willy is not as vital as he thinks. He says this to impress his boys. Willy’s dreams and illusions also get in the way of having a normal family. His illusion that Biff will become a great businessman interferes with the father son relationship. Biff believes that what his father tells him is true and later in life realizes that Willy has formed Biff’s values and they are not the values Biff believes in. Willy sees himself as one of the founding fathers of the company he works for and helped name the man who is now his boss. His boss sees his role differently and soon Willy is without a job and just can’t understand it. â€Å"When Willy sees how his illusion of being well-liked is not true, it kills him and ends his emotional life†.(Nadi) At the end of the play, Willy’s illusion that if he were to die and Biff received the insurance money, everything would be better. In reality, the family now has to grieve with their loss and... Free Essays on Death Of A Salesman The death of Willy Loman was tragic and he was also a fool. This was due to his character and circumstances beyond his own control. Willy’s life was built of false dreams and hopes. Willy’s main values in life are money and being well liked. All of these factors helped with Willy’s mental undoing and ultimately his death. From the start of the play you can see that Willy’s character is one of confusion and is pessimistic. Willy was on his way to Portland when he claimed that he was tired to death and had to return to New York. He comes home and talks to Linda but doesn’t know why he came back. He thinks to himself and says, ‘I stopped for a cup of coffee. Maybe it was the coffee’. This shows his confusion about why he drove 4 hours back to New York. Through out the play you hear sounds of the flute being played. This because Willy is reminiscing when he was 3 years and 11 months old his whole family was together as a family unit. So much hope, comfort and security lay before Willy. This was probably the happiest time in Willy life. Then his older brother Ben left to go to Alaska. This means that Willy never had a father figure in his life and his character was built on the capitalist society that he was living in. Willy’s character wasn’t developed by his dad. This was beyond his control and an unfortunate set of circumstances for Willy. This greatly affected him because he is not a strong person, just like his son Biff. Biff isn’t strong because when he found out what a fraud his dad was and that he was being unfaith full to Linda. He didn’t get over it and in the end ruined most of his life because he didn’t want to go to summer school. Willy is a compulsive liar and constantly brags to people about how popular and how much money he used to make. This are all false dreams due to Willy’s foolishness he doesn’t ever overcome the lies even before he dies. For example in the last few pages of Act 2 Biff bre... Free Essays on Death Of A Salesman In Death of a Sales Man every character I believe warranted pity from the reader. However, Willy Loman more than any other character was the most tragic character. Willy’s warped sense of reality, his sad meaningless existence, and eventual suicide was what made him the very representation of the contemporary tragic hero. The first characteristic of the contemporary tragic hero is the very description of Willy. I pitied Willy, and the reason I did this was because of his displacement from society. Willy wasn’t displaced from society because of usual reasons, such as a depressing personality, or individualistic views, but because Willy had no concept of reality. Willy’s morals and ideals that he believed in more than anything else, were completely untrue, and Willy couldn’t deal with that. The fact that the only values he had instilled into his children was something Willy couldn’t take, so rather than confronting that and changing, he instead fell into a fantasy world. A world where all the mattered was that you looked good, and that you were well liked. These ideas are not true at all in society, but rather to succeed you need to work hard, and do well. I pitied Willy because he couldn’t accept reality The second characteristic is that the tragic hero has a major flaw. Willy’s major flaw again, is inability to see reality. Willy refuses to see reality to the point were should he be confronted with a fact he doesn’t like, he begins to hallucinate about years ago, when his children were young, and he was successful and he could follow his shallow ideals. Now his children are failures, his son Biff has been fired from every job he’s ever had since he failed out of school because he compulsively steals from them. And his son Happy pretends to be popular with women, successful in work, and next in line to be store manager of his job, but these are all lies. Even when confronted with the facts that his sons ar... Free Essays on Death Of A Salesman In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Willy is depicted as living in his own world. The play centers around the end of Willy’s life, when the real world comes crashing through, ruining the false reality he had created for himself and his family. Throughout the play, Willy Loman uses the concept of being well liked to build a false image of reality, as shown through his teachings to his son, what he considers successful, and his reasoning for committing suicide. Willy teaches Biff the concept of being well-liked, reinforcing his own belief in the ideology and furthering his false sense of reality. Willy tries to instil his ideal of being well liked in his sons. When telling his children about how successful he is going to be during his flashback, Willy tells them he is going to be "Bigger than Uncle Charley! Because Charley is not liked. He’s liked, but he’s not well-liked" So long as Biff plays good football, wins games, gets his name in the newspapers and makes friends Willy thinks that he will succeed in life and carry on the jovial Loman tradition. Willy has staked his whole happiness on Biff’s success, but Biff is a failure" Biff’s failure comes from the fact that once high school is over, nothing happens. Biff does not go on to be a great businessman or anything like that. Instead he goes from job to job, not making his fortune like Willy thought he would. This poked a hole in the world that Willy had presen ted to Biff and Happy. Willy even convinced himself that being well liked was the key to a successful life, and chose to believe that he was well liked. Like the legendary Dave Singleman, he wants to be well liked. â€Å"Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want. You take me, for instance. I never have to wait in line to see a buyer" Even when he doubts his charisma, Linda is right there to tell hi... Free Essays on Death of a Salesman Charley says something in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman that sums up Willy’s whole life. He asks him, "When the hell are you going to grow up?" Willy’s spends his entire life in an illusion. He sees himself as a great man that is popular and successful. Willy exhibits many childlike qualities. Many of these qualities have an impact on Willy’s family. His two sons Biff and Happy pick up this behavior from their father. He is idealistic, stubborn, and he has a false sense of his importance in the world. Willy is like an impetuous youngster with high ideals and high hopes. Children always have high hopes for their future. They all want to be astronauts or millionaires. Willy always believes he can achieve that kind of success. He never lets go of his wasted life. He dreams of being the man who does all of his business out of his house and dying a rich and successful man. Furthermore, Willy also dreams of moving to Alaska where he could work with his han ds and be a real man. Biff and Happy follow in their father’s footsteps in their lofty dreams and unrealistic goals. Biff wastes his life being a thief and a loner; furthermore, Biff, along with happy try to conjure up a crazy idea of putting on a sporting goods exhibition. The problem with Willy is that he never grows up and deals with his obstacles. Willy is also a very stubborn man. He is like a little child that wants to do something their way even though they know that another option would be the wiser choice. Charley practically sets a potential job into Willy’s lap and he refuses it. Willy just was fired and needed a job. He refuses one. Willy is too stubborn to let go of his old job and take a new one. He still believes that he is at the top of his profession. When Willy does not get his way he acts just as a child would. He has tantrums such as when he basically challenged Charley to a fight after he told him to grow up. Biff is also stubborn like his father. He ne... Free Essays on Death Of A Salesman Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman, is about Willy Loman who is experiencing a crisis where he is overwhelmed by the problems of his lifetime. He wants to be viewed as a good, decent human being, and he desperately wants to believe that he is a well-liked person that doesn’t make mistakes. However, the sad truth is that Willy has made lots of mistakes throughout his life, many of which are coming back to haunt him. The biggest problem Willy experiences that is prevalent through the play, is his struggle with his own self-concept. Willy Loman believes he is not a normal person because he knows he has made mistakes in his life, and he believes that making mistakes is not a normal human characteristic. He is portrayed as a man with a false sense of self, and he has passed this false sense of self onto his sons, making them believe they are something they’re not. Willy severely regrets his failures, which include raising Biff and Happy poorly, not doing well in business, and being unfaithful to his wife Linda. He feels that these mistakes he made have caused his life to become the ultimate failure. Willy is what has come to be known as a tragic hero. He wants to do things right, but the fact is that many incidences have occurred in his life that are coming back to haunt him. Consistently throughout the drama Willy drifts in and out of dream sequences, and he is constantly haunted by memories of things that happened in the past. Willy has an â€Å"underlying fear of being displaced† and this is the major problem apparent. His age has slowly caught up to him and he realizes that he isn’t as sharp as he used to be. Willy has a slight inferiority complex, and this is shown through the continuous flashbacks he has of his dead brother Ben who struck it rich in the jungle. Ben causes Willy to feel like more of a failure because he is struggling to make ends meet and provide for his family. Another example of Willy’s... Free Essays on Death Of A Salesman â€Å"Death of a Salesman may center on personal and family breakdown but it also involves contradictions in national American ideals.† Discuss. On the surface, Arthur Miller’s groundbreaking play, Death of a Salesman, does seem firmly rooted in the â€Å"familial arena†. The whole play is structured to gradually reveal the deteriorating condition of Willy’s mind as well as the worsening relations of the entire Loman family, through a series of complex flashbacks. Beneath this, however, the structure of American society as a whole is analyzed and the ideals of the nation held up for review. Many of these come into conflict with each other, one often contradicting another, such as the ideal of the agricultural frontier versus that of the successful urban worker. The two issues are also essentially linked as it is the fact that Willy is often caught between two opposing ideals that lead to his personal breakdown, and the subsequent breakdown of his family. Willy Loman’s personal breakdown is the central issue in the play, as the title suggests. Within the first few lines of the opening scene, the audience is confronted with a man in obvious mental distress and forced to ask; is he mad or merely exhausted? Miller is instantly creating the persona of a deeply troubled man, he is quickly irritated by his wives questions and contradicts himself, firstly claiming; â€Å"Biff is a lazy bum!† then changing it to; â€Å"There’s one thing about Biff- he’s not lazy.† The audience is also quickly presented with the image of Willy becoming lost in the past and, even at this early stage, it is obvious that he has trouble distinguishing between the two. His perceptions of time and place are breaking down, a sure sign that he is no longer mentally stable. This impression of the leading character is strengthened by the first appearance of his dead brother, Ben. In this scene, as he sits playing cards with Charley, Willy is unable to distin... Free Essays on Death Of A Salesman Arthur Miller’s â€Å"Death of a Salesman† challenges the idea of the American Dream. Willy Loman represents a uniquely typical American figure as the traveling salesman, who realizes the disenchantment with the American Dream because it fails him and his sons. The death of this particular salesman raises the issues concerning the significance and value of the American dream of success. Miller portrays the Lomans as an average all American family. He does this with the setting of middle class suburbia as well as with the dialogue. The house is described as â€Å"small, fragile-seeming home† with the kitchen as the center of the household. It could be anyone’s home, in any neighborhood in America. Additionally, the dialogue of the play includes a lot of American slang: gee, Pop, babe, flunk and knock ‘em dead, and the dialect of â€Å"coulda†, â€Å"woulda†, and â€Å"gotta† are also typically American. This is very effective depicting the Lomans as an everyday American family. Willy and Linda Loman attempt to achieve their own version of the American Dream. Their lives are full of monthly payment to pay for possessions that symbolize achieving that dream, such as a car, (Studebaker), home and household appliances. These monthly payments become a source of heartache because of the struggle to pay for them, even though to them they have achieved success because they have them. They also believe they are an ideal American family. Their two sons are built like Adonises; are well liked and even idolized by their peers and seem destined for success. Willy’s typical American job, his â€Å"All American† sons and his commitment to achieve the American dream enhance Miller’s idea of the American ideal. For years Willy has believed that both he and his sons (particularly Biff), will one day be great successes. He thinks that natural charisma, good looks and confidence are the most important attributes ... Free Essays on Death Of A Salesman The American Dream Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman ends with the tragic suicide of Willy Loman, the lead character. It is the end of a life spent uselessly chasing â€Å"the American dream†. Willy has been unsuccessful in achieving the success he so desperately craves because his perception of the formula for success is fatally flawed. Willy believes that the American dream is only attainable for the popular and attractive few, and he does not believe he belongs to this elite group. Yet, Willy still works his entire life pursuing his dream. The first component of the American dream, in Willy’s eyes is a successful career. Always the dreamer, he attempts to make his mark as a salesman because â€Å"selling is the greatest career a man can want† (1859; Act 2). But when he falls short of his goals, he blames the superficiality of the business world, as evidenced in his thoughts about Bernard: â€Å"Bernard can get the best marks in school, y’understand, but when he gets out in the business world, y’understand, you’re going to be five times ahead of him. That’s why I thank Almighty God you’re both built like Adonises. Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want† (1836; Act1). Willy has ingrained his distorted views in his sons, Biff and Happy, condemning them to failure as well. Happy complains, â€Å"I mean I can outbox, outrun, and outlift anybody in that store, and I have to take orders from those common, pretty sons-of-bitches till I can’t stand it any more† (1831; Act 1). Happy thinks that just because he is stronger than those who give him orders, he should be the one to give the orders. His father taught him that that was the way to success, and it is obviously failing for Happy. A second aspect of Willy’s American dream is mat... Free Essays on Death Of A Salesman In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Willy is depicted as living in his own world. The play centers around the end of Willy’s life, when the real world comes crashing through, ruining the false reality he had created for himself and his family. Throughout the play, Willy Loman uses the concept of being well liked to build a false image of reality, as shown through his teachings to his son, what he considers successful, and his reasoning for committing suicide. Willy teaches Biff the concept of being well-liked, reinforcing his own belief in the ideology and furthering his false sense of reality. Willy tries to instil his ideal of being well liked in his sons. When telling his children about how successful he is going to be during his flashback, Willy tells them he is going to be "Bigger than Uncle Charley! Because Charley is not liked. He’s liked, but he’s not well-liked" So long as Biff plays good football, wins games, gets his name in the newspapers and makes friends Willy thinks that he will succeed in life and carry on the jovial Loman tradition. Willy has staked his whole happiness on Biff’s success, but Biff is a failure" Biff’s failure comes from the fact that once high school is over, nothing happens. Biff does not go on to be a great businessman or anything like that. Instead he goes from job to job, not making his fortune like Willy thought he would. This poked a hole in the world that Willy had presen ted to Biff and Happy. Willy even convinced himself that being well liked was the key to a successful life, and chose to believe that he was well liked. Like the legendary Dave Singleman, he wants to be well liked. â€Å"Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want. You take me, for instance. I never have to wait in line to see a buyer" Even when he doubts his charisma, Linda is right there to tell hi... Free Essays on Death Of A Salesman Dream On Time is an inescapable aspect of our daily lives, which we live by, by being in certain places at certain times. For most of us, it is easy to live in the present, taking in the day’s activities and looking to the future. In the story Death of a Salesman, the Loman family is not like the majority of society, living in the present, but living in the past and in illusions. Willy Loman is an old businessman close to the end of his career. The biggest problem for the Loman family was his efforts to bring his wife and two sons down with him as he struggles to make ends meet. He is an ignorant and stubborn man that believes that both he and his family are something that they are not. His pursuit of the â€Å"American Dream† throughout his life leads him to live completely in the past through flashbacks he has and dreams that are unfulfilled. Throughout the story, time is important to developing the play’s theme and characters by showing the downfalls of Willy an d how they affect his family and eventually, lead to his death. Willy Loman has been a businessman his whole life and has never known anything else in his life. Willy does not have Alzheimer’s disease or any other health related problem, but we know there is something very wrong with him. In the opening scene of the play, he must turn around his car because he can’t remember where he was going. Nor did he recall what he was doing and could not remember the past five minutes. â€Å"I’m tellin’ ya, I absolutely forgot I was driving. If I’d’ve gone the other way over the white line I might’ve killed somebody† (Miller 1316). From the beginning the audience is brought into these flashbacks that Willy has, because they tell us how his current mental condition has developed. In Willy’s earlier years, he was a very proud father and wanted nothing but the best for his boys. His eldest son, Biff, was a star football player and had several scholarship ... Free Essays on Death Of A Salesman Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller shows the life of a salesman as he attempts to fulfill the ‘American Dream’. Willy, the salesman and father is the main character of the story. He has two sons, Biff and Happy, and a wife, Linda. This play has always been portrayed as the focus of the American Dream; however, I see this play as the hardships of parenting. Willy tries and tries to make a good amount of money so that his sons will be financially sound. There are many minor characters that have a big impact on the storyline and plot of the play. Just the same, each of these minor characters changes the way that Willy focuses his parenting technique. Willy does not recognize the impact that each of these characters has on the interaction and influence of his children, and only sees them as the dreams/obstacles of his goals. Linda, Willy’s ever so faithful wife, tries to share in Willy’s ideals, and suffers great torment as she observes Willy’s decline knowing that she is unable to help. She is loyal and supportive even as she struggles to come to terms with the city, her husband, and her sons. Sadly, she fails to understand what happens to Willy, and fails to fathom what has occurred between him and Biff, but still manages to retain a belief in the need to treat human beings properly. Linda consistently comforts Willy into supporting Biff through his bad times, even though Willy gives up on him. Biff, Willy’s eldest son was a successful athlete in High School. Biff lacks self- assurance because of the uncertainty about his father’s attitude towards him, and his doubts about his own life and future. He has not found his place in society, but also realizes that he does not fit into any of the openings that society has made for him. His character is a result of Willy’s lies†¦he is undisciplined and disillusioned. Biff sees the city as a concrete jungle, but refuses to conform to the city’s demands. Happ... Free Essays on Death Of A Salesman In the stories â€Å"Death of A Salesman,† and â€Å"A Doll’s House,† there are many similarities. I went on to pick one character from each story whom’s similarity interested me the most. The characters I picked were Willy Loman from â€Å"Death of A Salesman,† and Torvald Helmer of â€Å"A Doll’s House.† I picked these characters because of their motivation to make it to become successful. Both stories are about a climb for success that leads to betrayal. The story â€Å"Death of A Salesman,† comes with the symbolic meaning of the death of an â€Å"American Dream,† or the ridding of illusion as it applies to the American Dream. The story â€Å"A Doll’s House† the title reflects the main character’s life and how she was treated like treasure such as a doll. Both Willy and Torvald lives are similar to the fact that they are both trying to provide for their families, but in the end they discover a great loss. Willy Loman a salesman and a firm believer in the â€Å"American Dream,† had the notion that any man can rise from humble beginnings to greatness. In Willy Loman motivation to become successful was he felt that he believes success comes from being well liked not worrying about qualifications and being popular you well always come out on top. Willy is a Multifaceted character who portrayed a deep problem with sociological and psychological causes and done so with disturbing reality. Willy also starts to lie on the amount of sales that he is making whenever his wife asks him about his sales. Torvald Helmer is a Lawyer/Bank Manager who feels reputation plays a big part in his success to do well. Motivation was a key position in both Willy and Torvald lives to help them climb to become a success. In the story Torvald Helmer motivation was his appearance to be professional and personal and the knowing fact that his family will not want in the future. Torvald pushes his limits to get what he wants to become a succ... Free Essays on Death Of A Salesman â€Å"Literature opens a dark window on the soul, revealing more about what is bad in human nature than what is good.† This simply means that english brings out negative rather than positive. This is true in many pieces of literature. In Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller this lens is supported in the American Dream. Willy Loman is a traveling salesman who believes the American Dream, that anyone can become rich and well known through only hard work, perseverance, or personality. This attitude destroys Willy’s life through the course of the novel. Characterization and Theme are used by Arthur Miller to support this lens. Characterization is used effectively in revealing what type of character Willy Loman was. Willy was like a child, he had high ideals and high hopes, but had no ambition of pursuing them. Willy believed that a good life and financial security was going to be handed to him. However, Willy is eventually overcome by his dreams and illusions. He realizes that his life is a wreck and wasted. In the end Willy makes one final profit, selling his life. He does this because he believes it will help his son Biff out. Theme is also used to support the lens. The falsity of the American Dream plays a big part in the novel. Willy is the main target of this theme. After years of working as a traveling salesman, Willy Loman has only an old car, an empty house, and a defeated spirit. Miller chose the job of salesman carefully for his American Dreamer. A salesman does not make his/her own product, has not mastered a particular skill or a body of knowledge, and works on the empty substance of dreams and promises. Additionally, a salesman must sell his/her personality as much as his/her product. Willy Loman falsely believes he needs nothing more than to be well liked to make it big. The lens, â€Å"Literature opens a dark window on the soul, revealing more about what is bad in human nature than what is good† is supported in...

Linear Regression Analysis; Women make less than men

Linear Regression Analysis; Women make less than men Free Online Research Papers Regression analysis is a statistical tool used to estimate the value of variable based on the value of another (University of Phoenix, 2004, p. 429). The goal of regression analysis is to determine the values of parameters for a function that cause the function to best fit a set of selected data observations. Team C will be using the data from our research to confirm the hypothesis. The team will be using the five-step hypothesis process to determine whether to reject or accept the null hypothesis. The analysis will assist by providing numerical data and facts. The analysis we will be using is the Linear Regression analysis. By the end of this research, Team C should be able to prove whether or not women make less money than men. Women today take on many roles and responsibilities. Not only do they work, but they also have other responsibilities in addition to their wife and motherly duties. Even with those increased responsibilities, women today hold some of the most top positions in the world and they have come this far through continuous education. According to Krefting, although women tend to go to school longer than men; they get educated in fields that don’t pay that much. Most women find jobs in childcare; hospitality; nursing; teaching; and; counseling. Men on the other hand are construction workers; engineers; sociologists; and firemen. Though men might not go to school to practice construction it may be just a talent that they have and they are paid a lot for it; but women have to work harder to move up in salary and in job positions (Krefting, 2003). Hypothesis Statement Based on the data sets, the hypothesis for our research shows is that men make higher salary than women. The data provides a comparison on income earnings based on men versus women with the influence of education. The data confirms the disproportion in income between the genders and education. By viewing the data, men’s salaries are substantially more on an annual basis. Even with the men and women having the same education levels, men are paid substantially more than the women with the same level of education. The data confirms the hypothesis that males with similar education levels make more money than women. The null hypothesis states that income depends on the gender and the mean salaries for women with a higher education still make less than a man with the same education level. The alternative hypothesis states that the income for women with a higher education is higher than the average income earnings of men with the same education level. The hypothesis is that women that have the same level of education as men and are given less pay for the same job position. Five-Step Hypothesis Test Regression Analysis Conclusion Team C has proven the hypothesis to be correct. The final decision is that women do make less money than men. This was proven through the data that we collected and analyzed through the numerical data shown. (Appendix I) The results show that even though women are educated and they may have masters and doctrines degrees, their male counterparts still make more money than they do on an annual basis. Although our hypothesis has been tested and results confirmed, the following questions are still unanswered. When will women be able to be on the same field as men? When will they be able to feel that they are equal in the workplace, and there is no favoritism present at work? Reference Longley, R. (n.d.).Why women still make less than men: Death, taxes, and a glass ceiling. Retrieved on May 25, 2009, from http://usgovinfo.about.com/cs/censusstatistic/a/womenspay.htm Dessler, G. (2004). A framework for human resource management (Third Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Doan, D. Seward, L. (2007). Applied Statistics in Business and Economics. Burr Ridge, IL: McGraw-Hill. Retrieved May 24, 2009, from https://mycampus.phoenix.eduFouts, C. (2008). Krefting, L. (2003, March). Gender, work, and organization: Intertwined discourses of merit and gender: Evidence from academic employment in the USA. Retrieved May 31, 2009, from http://classroom.phoenix.edu/afm214/secure/viewattachment.jspa?ID=8414888messageID=41100199name=interwined discourses of merit and gender evidence.pdfview=inline StatPac Inc (1997-2009). The Statistics Calculator; Statistical Analysis Tests At Your Fingertips. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on June 8, 2009 at statpac.com/statistics-calculator/counts.htm Zoppo, G. (April 28, 2009). Why Are Women Still Earning Less Than Men? Retrieved from the World Wide Web on June 1, 2009 at diversityinc.com/public/5809.cfm. Appendix I Female Male Wage Comparison Data Table Wage Industry Occupation Ed South Nonwhite Hispanic Fe Ex Marr Age Union 11186 0 0 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 0 20852 0 0 12 1 0 0 0 1 0 19 0 10997 0 4 14 0 1 0 0 0 0 20 0 14476 0 5 12 0 0 0 1 3 1 21 0 13787 0 4 11 0 0 0 0 4 1 21 0 19452 0 4 13 0 1 0 0 3 0 22 0 16667 0 3 12 1 0 0 0 4 0 22 0 15234 0 1 12 1 0 1 1 4 0 22 0 39888 0 3 12 1 0 0 0 5 0 23 0 13162 1 0 12 0 1 0 0 6 0 24 1 20793 0 0 12 1 0 0 1 6 0 24 0 19284 1 4 16 0 0 0 0 3 0 25 0 13481 0 4 12 1 0 1 0 7 0 25 0 16789 0 3 13 1 0 0 1 6 1 25 0 11702 0 2 14 1 0 0 1 6 1 26 0 11451 1 0 12 0 0 0 1 8 1 26 0 33351 0 5 16 1 0 0 1 4 1 26 0 37771 0 5 15 0 0 0 0 5 0 26 0 25670 0 3 13 0 0 0 1 8 0 27 1 13312 0 4 12 1 0 0 1 9 1 27 0 29191 0 0 12 0 0 0 0 9 0 27 0 41780 0 0 12 1 0 0 0 9 1 27 0 29977 0 4 16 0 1 0 1 6 1 28 0 25166 0 4 12 0 0 0 1 10 0 28 0 30308 0 4 12 0 0 0 0 10 1 28 0 83443 0 5 17 0 0 0 1 5 0 28 0 15957 0 2 12 1 0 0 1 10 0 28 0 21716 0 5 12 0 0 0 1 11 0 29 0 33461 0 1 16 0 0 1 0 7 1 29 1 28219 0 3 12 1 0 0 0 12 1 30 0 31691 1 0 12 0 0 0 0 13 0 31 0 60626 0 5 18 0 0 0 0 7 1 31 0 52762 0 5 18 0 0 0 0 7 1 31 0 22133 0 5 16 0 0 0 1 10 0 32 1 32094 0 3 12 1 0 0 1 14 1 32 0 16796 0 4 12 0 0 0 1 14 1 32 0 35185 1 3 14 0 0 0 1 12 1 32 0 17690 0 1 12 1 1 0 0 14 1 32 0 15193 1 0 12 0 0 0 1 15 0 33 0 75165 0 1 15 0 0 0 0 12 1 33 0 19227 0 3 12 0 0 0 1 15 1 33 0 50235 1 0 16 0 0 0 0 12 1 34 0 44543 0 2 18 0 0 0 0 10 1 34 0 24509 0 5 14 0 0 1 1 15 0 35 0 29407 0 4 10 1 0 0 0 19 0 35 0 34746 0 3 14 1 0 0 1 15 1 35 0 68573 0 5 16 1 0 0 0 14 1 36 1 28168 1 0 13 0 0 0 0 17 0 36 0 18121 1 3 12 0 0 0 1 18 1 36 0 33498 0 1 10 0 0 0 0 20 1 36 0 29390 0 0 13 0 0 0 0 18 1 37 0 26614 1 0 12 0 0 0 1 19 1 37 0 33411 1 2 12 1 0 0 0 20 1 38 0 22485 0 3 12 0 0 0 0 22 0 40 0 83601 0 5 17 0 0 1 0 18 1 41 0 55777 0 1 14 1 0 0 0 21 1 41 0 21994 0 1 12 0 0 0 1 24 1 42 0 32138 0 4 14 0 0 0 0 22 1 42 1 13318 1 0 11 1 0 0 1 25 1 42 1 33389 0 1 14 0 1 0 0 22 0 42 0 50187 0 3 12 0 0 0 1 24 1 42 0 28440 0 4 12 0 0 0 1 24 1 42 0 37664 0 5 18 0 0 0 0 19 1 43 0 15013 0 4 16 0 0 0 0 21 1 43 0 30133 2 0 10 0 0 0 0 27 1 43 0 31799 0 3 12 0 0 0 1 25 0 43 0 29809 0 4 8 0 1 0 1 29 0 43 0 16817 0 3 12 1 0 0 1 26 0 44 0 66738 0 0 9 1 0 0 0 29 1 44 0 9879 0 3 12 1 0 0 1 28 1 46 0 34484 0 3 13 1 0 0 1 28 0 47 0 49974 1 1 16 0 1 0 0 26 1 48 1 31304 0 1 16 0 0 0 1 26 1 48 0 33959 0 5 17 0 0 0 1 26 1 49 1 30006 1 3 16 0 0 0 1 27 1 49 0 19306 0 5 9 1 1 0 1 34 1 49 1 11780 0 2 11 0 0 0 1 33 1 50 0 49898 2 0 12 0 0 0 0 33 1 51 1 17694 0 4 8 0 0 0 1 38 1 52 0 57623 0 1 15 0 0 0 0 31 1 52 0 83569 0 1 18 0 0 0 0 29 1 53 0 23027 0 4 14 0 1 0 0 34 1 54 1 32786 1 0 11 1 0 0 0 37 1 54 1 46646 2 0 5 1 0 0 0 44 1 55 0 20852 1 0 12 0 0 0 1 38 1 56 0 32235 0 3 12 0 0 0 1 38 1 56 0 19388 1 0 6 1 0 0 0 45 1 57 0 26820 0 5 18 0 0 0 0 33 0 57 1 26795 0 0 7 1 0 0 0 44 1 57 0 50171 0 5 12 0 0 0 0 39 1 57 1 31702 0 3 12 1 0 0 1 39 1 57 0 36178 0 3 12 0 0 0 1 40 1 58 0 15160 0 4 8 1 0 0 1 45 0 59 0 12285 0 1 12 0 0 0 1 42 1 60 0 60152 0 5 16 1 0 0 0 38 1 60 0 29736 0 4 8 0 0 1 0 47 1 61 1 45976 0 2 12 0 0 0 0 43 1 61 1 18752 0 4 11 0 0 0 1 45 0 62 1 17626 0 3 12 0 0 0 1 45 1 63 0 19981 0 4 4 0 0 0 0 54 1 64 0 Research Papers on Linear Regression Analysis; Women make less than menResearch Process Part OneInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseThe Fifth HorsemanIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyAnalysis Of A Cosmetics AdvertisementThree Concepts of Psychodynamic19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraStandardized Testing

Gender and Sexual Studies - Women and War Research Paper

Gender and Sexual Studies - Women and War - Research Paper Example Women and War The supposed structural adjustment policies (SAP) of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is still wreaking havoc on women living in less developed countries. Labor oppression of poor women, heterosexist bureaucracy, environmental ruin, and militarization all raise weighty issues for feminist movements today.2 Although feminist movements all over the world have been diversely triumphant, we become heir to several issues women of the earlier periods confronted. However, there are new issues as well as we try to understand a world permanently blemished by the unsuccessful attempt of communist and postcolonial capitalist societies to meet the economic, social, religious, and psychological demands of most of the world’s people. Globalization has increasingly become representative of the motives and goals of the free market and companies rather than autonomy and liberty from economic, cultural, and political subjugation for all the inhabitants of t he world.3 There are several of the issues tackled in ‘women and war’. ... interventions into the Western-dominated discipline, while at the same time emphasizing the effort that can and has to be carried out to visualize and promote cross-cultural feminist unity. The topic ‘women and war’ is a key representation of the ties between mobilizing, deliberation, and analysis and the actualization of feminist unity promoted by such topic. Drawing on diverse readings and documents, the discussion has introduced a general, compelling, critical analysis of global gendered militarism, emphasizing women’s opposition to it. Furthermore, this discussion is a testimony to the flexibility, ingenuity, and profoundly critical resistance by women on the different ‘vanguards’ formed by wars across the globe. Drawing on a combination of published sources and histories, ‘women and war’ discusses the gendered intricacies underlying the public debates that came with, and still come with, the supposed global gendered militarization. W hether we are discussing the involvement of women in warfare as components of the military or as laborers on the territory, or whether we are discussing several of the emerging sexual liberties that appeared to come with the extensive marshalling of the population, this form of sweeping disruption of daily social life could always have an effect on customary concepts of gender. The dilemma, in many private and public domains, was to make sure, as much as possible, that the long-established gender structure must not be disrupted. In our interesting discussion of ‘women and war, several processes by which efforts were exerted to realize such objectives were included. The notion of nationalistic femininity aimed to unite with the different ways within which women were organized into warfare without destabilizing prevalent

Class Activity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Class Activity - Essay Example This essay focuses on group work process, that under proper conditions, encourages peer learning and peer support and many studies validate the efficacy of peer learning. Under less than ideal conditions, group work can become the vehicle for acrimony, conflict and freeloading. It may also impose a host of unexpected stresses on, for example, students with overcrowded schedules living long distances from the University. This essay refers to the effectiveness of a team in achieving the set goals while taking into great consideration, the contribution of each member of the team. There are various criteria and steps that are presented in this report to determine whether the team followed the right measures to achieve their aims and goals. It also determines the performance level of the team and the author in the making of the said project. The groups’ task was to create a tower using only the materials given to the team which were the straws, sticky tape and scissors. The team wa s to brainstorm and come up with a creative plan and an idea as to how to make a tower made of straws the best they could in 60 mins. How the tower would look like, given the creativity of each team using the maximum resources was up to the team. The tallest, the most stable and most creative group were to be awarded the number one. The researcher states that the main purpose of the activity is to assess the competencies per course guide, as well as understand the different models and theories to be applied in real life situation.

The Drawing of Nation State Boundaries in Rwanda Essay Example for Free

The Drawing of Nation State Boundaries in Rwanda Essay The drawing of Nation State boundaries in Sub-Saharan Africa didnt take tribes, religious or regional groups into account. This consequently led to the mistreatment of some groups by others, which eventually led to the majority of reasons causing civil war and strife. These drastic events stopped economic growth and perpetuated 3rd world poverty. The European powers didn’t start laying claim on Africa until the second half of the nineteenth century, when they nearly laid claim on the whole continent. Because competition was so aggressive amongst the European powers, a conference was held in Berlin in 1884 to divide up Africa. The major countries that participated were Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, and Portugal. When the conference was in progress, a majority of Africa was still under traditional African rule. Eventually (after 1900) the colonial powers managed to gain control of all areas of Africa. In his article on colonialism in Rwanda, Troy Riemer states â€Å"A new kind of racism was brought to Rwanda upon the arrival of Europeans in the 20th century. Colonists assumed their own superiority and valued those physically and geographically close to themselves† (Riemer 2011). Before the European powers colonized Rwanda the elite group was the Tutsi cattle herders. The majority of the colony was made up of peasant farmers, known as the Hutu’s. In pre-colonial times, the division between Hutu and Tutsi was sometimes blurred. Some Hutu bought cattle and were accepted into the upper classes, while some Tutsis became poor peasants. Rwanda was first colonized and governed by Germany, but was later taken over and newly ruled by Belgium. Belgium was quick to discriminate between the Hutu’s and Tutsis. â€Å"In 1933 Belgian rulers introduced ethnic ID cards and favored the Tutsis. Later they quickly switched sides and effortlessly supported the Hutu majority† (Riemer 2011). â€Å"Vengeful Hutu elements murdered about 15,000 Tutsis between 1959 and 1962, and more than 100,000 Tutsis fled to neighbouring countries† (Jones 2002). This favoritism that before colonization was not really recognized or argued with was becoming an issue between the Hutus and Tutsis. Little did anyone know, this new since of entitlement brought about by the Belgian government would cause massive amount of turmoil, hatred, heartbreak, and war in the years to come. After the Tutsi king’s passing in 1959, Rwanda has gone through a series of heartbreaking civil wars that eventually lead up to the genocide in 1994. â€Å"According to Gerard Prunier, Because of the chaotic nature of the genocide and the events leading up to it, the total number of people killed has never been systematically assessed, but most experts believe the total was around 800,000 people. This includes about 750,000 Tutsis and approximately 50,000 politically moderate Hutus who did not support the genocide. Only about 130,000 Tutsis survived the massacres (Jones 2002). Rwanda today is still continuing to rebuild economically and heal as a whole, slowly but surely. It has taken this country years after the last genocide to even consider being called ‘back on their feet’. An article was written in 2010 by the New York Times on the genocide’s 16th anniversary, discussing Rwanda’s progress since all the violence. â€Å"This country has certainly come farther in the past 16 years than even the most optimistic observers would have predicted. All of this development is important to recognize because it has been the government’s express policy to deliver basic services and economic growth to its people in order to mitigate genocide ideology† (Ruxin 2010). â€Å"Five years ago, traveling anywhere in the country was bound to be a bumpy ride, if the way was even passable. Today, east-to-west and north-to-south, the road infrastructure is impressive and continues to expand. Five years ago, the country struggled to get tourists in for $375 permits to visit Rwanda’s mountain gorillas. Today, during high season, there are not enough $500 tickets to meet the demand. Five years ago, there were no supermarkets or ATMs, and the cheapest cell phones cost $50. Today there are multiple supermarkets, over a dozen international ATMs, and cell phones that cost $14 are plentiful† (Ruxin 2010). â€Å"Against this impressive backdrop, crushing poverty still affects about 40% of the population. Millions live on tiny plots of land scarcely capable of producing adequate food for families in which the average woman gives birth to six children. It’s this latter issue –raging population growth – that continues to perplex the policy and development wonks in Rwanda† (Ruxin 2010).

Joeseph Mccarthy Essay -- essays research papers

Who was Joseph McCarthy? Joseph R. McCarthy was born in 1908 on a family farm in Wisconsin. He went to a country school and decided he was done with his education at the young age of 14. After that, he explained to his family that he was finished with his studies and wanted to become a farmer like his father. Joe began a profitable business of raising chickens after borrowing a plot of land from his father. Unfortunately, Joe became very ill and his business perished. Joe decided that he would go to work. At age 19 he became the manager of a grocery store in Manawa, a town thirty miles away. Some friends of his convinced him to go back to high school. He was a very smart man and, at the age of 20, managed to finish four years of high school in just one year. In 1930 he enrolled in Marquette University in Milwaukee where he soon succeeded in getting his law degree in 1935. He ended up moving north to Waupaca. There he ran and won the judgeship for the Tenth District of the Wisconsin Curcuit Court. In 1942, Joe enlisted in the Marine Corps even though he was exempt for the draft due to his public position. In his first two years as a lieutenant, he went on many flying missions, broke his leg on a ship during a party and gained a lot of attention from the press along the way. Although later he claimed that his injured leg was caused by ten pounds of sharpnel that he was carrying at the time. There is also a dispute about exactly how many flying mis...

Easyjet: the Future of the Company Under Government Intervention

easyJet: The future of the company under government intervention. Introduction Since the inception of the aviation industry, it has had an amazing expansion with passenger growth still at 14% as recent as 2010 [The Economist, 2011]. For the years the aviation industry has been running, each flight causes a negative externality – a root cause of market failure. To solve this problem of market failure, governments have intervened by introducing a number of regulations over the year, to protect the welfare of society. However, the externality the aviation industry causes cannot be solved so simply. Pollution of CO2 and NOx gasses are the negative externalities caused by each flight, and with daily flights the damage is forever raising. To overcome this market failure in the aviation industry, the European Union Trading Scheme will be introduced from 2012. The government will intervene by placing a cap on the amount of gasses firms are allowed to release through their flights. The theory of the plan suggests that emissions will reduce over time and will push airlines to find alternative resources. What’s The Problem? Market failure is the term that economists use to describe situations where one person incurs costs or enjoys the benefits of another's action [Shiell, A, 2010]. There are four main reasons as to why market failure occurs: Monopoly power, Public goods (see Appendix A), Asymmetric information (see Appendix B) and Externalities. Within the airline industry, the latter comes into play. Market failure caused by externalities occurs when a party that is not involved in the decision making (third party) is affected as a result of that decision. There is a negative spill over effect and this causes markets to become inefficient and therefore fail. Externalities are effects of production or consumption on third parties where the price does not cover the full social cost. They are classed as positive (see Appendix C) or negative (see Appendix D) [Helbling, T, 2010]. It is deemed that the externalities of the airline industry have more adverse effects in the form of pollution, which may lead to a decreased quality of life. This problem has been further emphasized in the wake of the constant concerns of global warming in the media. There is also the issue of other externalities such as noise pollution (see Appendix E), congestion (see Appendix E), and the forgone production in terms of a polluted area (where an airport is located) is likely to affect activities such as tourism. Negative externality caused by market failure occurs due to the market not taking into consideration the complete social cost of an action. As firms are profit maximising entities as described by neo classical economics, they will produce a greater quantity of products compared to what is socially desirable. Taking an example of the aviation industry, the social costs of the airliner carrying out more flights is an increase in pollution and the release of other toxic gasses. Equilibrium Quantity 0 Price QMARKET Demand (private value) Supply (private cost) Social cost QOPTIMUM Optimum Cost of pollution As seen by the diagram, the social optimal output level is where the demand curve intersects with the social cost curve. But this is not the case as the current equilibrium is below the optimum one, as private firms only take into account private costs, creating inefficiency and hence market failure. Graph Adopted from: Harcourt Brace ; Company. 2011). Externalities, Chapter 10. p16. There are a number of policies that can be put into the place in order to combat market failure. They may be private such as negation and compensation, or they may be implemented by government. Through direct or indirect measures such as command and control policies or market based policies such as Pigouvian ta xes. (Appendix F). The government had meticulously assessed the aviation market and concluded that there was a noteworthy negative externality in the industry. This externality caused by air travel became the government’s main concern of the industry. They discussed this at the Kyoto Protocol (see Appendix G) and decided to use command and control policies to regulate the industry in order to tackle the problem. There were three mechanisms that came about from the protocol and the third mechanism was deemed most important to the aviation industry; the European Union Trading Scheme (EU ETS). This scheme aimed to be the primary method to reduce emissions. The idea of the EU ETS revolves around the introduction of the carbon market and the cap-and-trade system. This system was introduced in 2005 and commenced an initial trial period to create the markets infrastructure. During the trial period 12,000 facilities within the EU had been placed with an emissions cap, they were not allowed to pollute more than the cap stated but they were allowed to trade these permits if in surplus. The tradable characteristic of these caps gave firms the opportunity to create abnormal profit by selling them onto other firms that need the extra emission permit. [A. Denny Ellerman and Paul L. Joskow, 2008] The topic of much debate has been as to whether governments should have intervened in the industry. It is proven that the air industry only produces 2% of the total greenhouse gasses in the E. U. Therefore, it is hard to pinpoint why governments have targeted the industry in the EU ETS. The EU have stated the main reason for this was to reduce emissions, but, there is evidence in other industries that shows an increase in taxes will not have an effect on pollution. It is important for easyJet to read Appendix H, as it will show that governments might change their approach if their current choice proves ineffective. This will help easyJet know what might be expected of the industry in the future and may also give the firm a case to argue of the current pollution cap which may be deemed unfair by private companies. The Outlook for easyJet The main carriers in the UK are easyJet, Ryan air, flybe and bmibaby. They offer lower prices due to a number of characteristics such as direct booking, high seating density, uniform aircraft types (less economies of scale on servicing and maintenance), the use of secondary or cheaper airports and no frills such as free food and air miles (see Appendix I for further information). The main selling point of easyJet is its low prices. With the new regulations being implemented by 2012 (see Appendix J), expenditure will be sure to go up but this will not only affect the individual company, but the air industry a whole. These systems set up by the Kyoto protocol will cause drastic changes to the budget airline industry. The various firms will have to rethink their cost structure and their business plans. easyJet will need to assess what changes it will have to make and how this would affect them against their competitors. In order to assess the market place, and how easyJet will be affected, Porter’s five forces model needs to be examined. It consists of substitutes available in an economy, the threat of new entrants, the power of the customer, the power of the supplier and the threat from direct competitors. Porter, 2008) The first main threat arising due to higher costs is that of substitute products. The firm will need to analyse its costs compared to alternative means of transport like trains. Currently, short haul distances are cheaper via train but for a long haul journey it is cheaper to use budget airlines, as seen by the diagram to the left. But, this is about to change with new regu lations to reduce CO2 emissions, increasing expenditure for budget airlines. Also, trains are becoming cheaper as they are electric and switching to a full online booking service. The main limitation with people switching to trains is the time constraint. Although the gap in price for long haul flights will reduce, it is hard to see customers moving to trains for these longer distances and the fact that most trains are not direct further makes it eluding for customers to keep use trains. This raises the question, if prices increase, won’t people move to more luxurious airliners such as British Airways and Virgin? This is not the case as the non budget airlines in the industry are all currently performing inefficiently when compared to the budget airlines, and it is this characteristic that will be their downfall. With costs rising due to increasing oil prices (see Appendix K) and the expenses of implementing new technology, budget airlines will still prosper. They are available to provide such a low price and their competitors like B. A will be forced to drop their price and make up the profits elsewhere, if possible. Non budget airlines are beginning to correct their inefficiency and are diversifying to stay alive in the industry but with the finite amount of oil, the budget airlines currently have an upper hand. Dr Patrick Dixon, 2008] The suppliers, in this case, the manufactures of the planes play an essential role, now more than ever, as it is up to them to figure out ways to make planes more efficient. The various firms have taken different approaches on how to deal with government intervention and environmental issues. Airbus advertised their aircraft, the A380, as being ‘more fuel efficient per passenger kilometre than a small family car’ [Emirates, 2011]. A list of furth er features of how the A380 and Emirates are driving towards fewer emissions is available in Appendix L. asyJet have also developed their technology to combat the problem by creating an unducted fan-driven aircraft that its officials believe is the next best thing in fuel efficiency [Commercial Aviation Report, 2007]. To be able to reduce CO2 emissions in the aviation industry there has to be a full focus on ways to reduce them, such as investment in new technology so planes can use alternative fuels (Appendix M) or become more efficient. This creates a trade-off where other problems caused by the aviation industry, noise pollution and the amount of NOx in the environment, will have less focus on them due to the efforts on the CO2 emissions. The suppliers of aircrafts, such as Boeing and Airbus, need to account for this. With the new regulations in place, the main threat is still easyJet’s direct competitors. The current growth in the airline industry is stagnant and will reduce in the coming years as evidenced by Appendix N and this means the firm will need to think of new, more shrewd strategies in order to survive in the market place and a list of recommendations have been listed below. The fight between competitors will now be fiercer than ever, especially between the big two of the low cost airline industry; Ryan air and easyJet. The budget airlines structure is much the same between these firms and it is important for easyJet to use a competitive strategy. Although with these new regulations, new firms will be reluctant to venture into the industry but if incumbent firms are inefficient, new airliners will come into the industry. Recommendations As the new regulations come into place, drastic changes will be made in the air industry. With pledges to reduce carbon emissions and switch to bio fuels, easyJet will have to adjust and remodel its framework. The question on how to reduce emissions is at the top of any firm’s agenda and what method it will use to tackle this problem will be crucial. The general aim is to reduce emissions via newer planes which are seen as greener and thus have a lower carbon footprint. easyJet’s biggest competitor, Ryan air, struck deals with certain airports to reduce costs for them in order for the plane carrier to bring economic benefits to the area. But this plan has backfired as the various airports are finding the deal not viable and these deals are currently being looked in to by the European Commission. When easyJet looks at a way to keep costs low, they should not follow this system as it is deemed illegal and unethical by many but instead should investigate alternative methods. In order for easyJet to set its self apart, it will need to concentrate on competitive strategies such as cost focus or differentiation focus. [Porter, 1980] With cost focus, a firm aims to achieve the lowest costs in the industry. Does the firm then invest in latest technology? This action will be capital intensive in the short run but will help in the long run. Do they concentrate on the short run and keep shareholders happy by simply purchasing excess pollution permits? With budget airlines, the factor above all others is the price. Passengers are not concerned with the pollution emitted; as long as prices remain low. Consumers are happy to pay the minimal price, and if they weren’t, they would be travelling on a more luxurious plane such as BA or Emirates. easyJet’s current stance is to constantly upgrade to new technology as they believe this will increase efficiencies but it is advisable for them to just buy new permits to keep costs low, and to invest in new planes only when need arises. Advertising plays a huge role in the modern world. We see adverts everywhere and corporations pay millions to place their name and logo on various places. What if the airliner sold advertising space in the actual planes? Costs could be considerably reduced if there were advertising opportunities on the flight whether it is on the reading material or on the screens in front of the passenger. The idea of placing adverts to ease costs comes from Freeconomics developed by Chris Anderson. These savings could be passed onto the passenger through lower ticket prices, or simply kept by the company and used for purposes such as growth. Differentiation focus is where a firm sets itself apart from the competition by doing something different. There is currently a gap in the market for mid airliners, in terms of those that are between the range of the premium and budget airlines. The firm can exploit this and step up its efforts to excel in the market. With this the firm can charge a higher price which will offset the higher costs but in return give the consumers services that add value to the product such as car rentals, free food, and higher luggage weight capacity. Also increased customer service will be beneficial if they decide to bump the prices up. There is alot of talk for the use of alternative fuels such as bio fuels and hydrogen, but the advisors point out that it is still not yet a viable option for the firm. As airlines do not manufacturer their own planes, they are reliant on the manufactures like Airbus and Boeing to incorporate planes with these new technologies and at the same time making it commercially viable. These planes will then be available throughout the industry pushing the market more towards a perfect one with homogenous products. But this again ties in with the long-term short-term plan and if the firm are reluctant to invest, they will keep using existing aviation fuels. If other airliners change, then the price of aviation fuel will reduce as the demand will be lower. From the advisors point of view, it will be more profitable to stay in the current segment due to factors such as the global economy being stagnated. In order to remain competitive and increase market share, costs need to be kept to a minimum and this will be achieved by the combination of buying excess permits and advertising. These new regulations will not only be faced by the firm in question but will be faced through the industry as a whole. The way in which the individual airliners react will show whether or not it will survive in this tightening industry. Appendix Appendix A Monopolies – It is easy to see why there is market failure when there are monopolies in the industry and it is because as they have a negatively sloping demand curve, they will tend to maximise profits by ensuring outputs remain at a level where marginal costs are exceeded by price. Public Goods – With public goods, market failure arises as the firm usually has no-rivals and it is not excludable meaning any losses are reimbursed from public tax money. Appendix B Market failure due to asymmetric information occurs when one party of a transaction has more information than the other group. One market where this occurs is in the used car market where there is the lemons problem. Adverse selection happens before the transaction as only high-risk consumers will want to buy insurance. Moral hazard occurs after the transaction as once you have insurance, you are likely to act in a more risky way. An example of this is that airliners are likely to operate in risky conditions such as those of the Icelandic ash cloud as they know if the plane gets damaged, the insurance company pays. Quantity 0 Price QOPTIMUM Demand (private value) Supply (private cost) Social cost QMARKET Value of spillover Equilibrium Optimum Appendix C Positive externalities occur when those individuals who are not directly in the market for the good in question gain benefits. Positive externalities may also have an adverse affect on markets and thus could lead to market failure as a smaller quantity than that which is socially desirable is produced. As seen in the diagram, the intersection of the demand curve and the social value curve determines the optimal output level. The efficient output is below the market equilibrium quantity. The aviation industry may bring about positive externalities such as employment opportunities and R;D; this has positive effects pasts the producer as the knowledge gained in this process may lead to other discoveries and developments. Appendix D Negative externalities transpire when there is a cost to an individual who is not directly involved in the production or consumption of a particular good e. . cigarettes. Equilibrium Quantity 0 Price QMARKET Demand (private value) Supply (private cost) Social cost Cost of pollution If there are negative externalities, the cost of production to society is larger than that to the producer. The supply curve will have to be shifted upwards in order to accommodate for the full cost of production to the society. Appendix E Noise pollution has been a growing conce rn ever since the aviation industry was set to grow at an exponential rate. It is the local residents that are in the vicinity of the airport who are mainly affected by this. There has been research to suggest that the noise caused by aircrafts is damaging to humans, there is a full list published by the World Health Organisation stating the effects of noise in Appendix G. As well as being a general annoyance noise damages health, it detracts significantly from the quality of life, it stops local residents enjoying their gardens or simply enjoying peace and quiet, it damages wildlife, it damages the learning ability of schoolchildren and it costs a great deal of money through the costs of noise mitigation and noise abatement. John Whitelegg, 2000]. The World Health Organisation(2010) states that noise has a number of adverse effects which include, hearing impairment, cardiovascular effects and pschedocrine effects. To add more to local resident woes, airports generate an amazing amount of congestion on the roads. It is a hotspot for taxi’s, buses and trains. All of these add to the general emissions we as a human race pollute. Appendix F To combat externalities there may be a number of private solutions available, one in particular is in the form of negotiation and compensation. This would mean the people producing the negative externality reimburse the third parties, other producing positive externalities are compensated by the third parties. Others may be social sanctions and moral codes. Private solutions do not always work and in the case of this occurrence, public solutions need to be taken into account to solve the problem in the form of direct or indirect government’s participation in markets. Figure Adopted from: Office of Fair Trading. (2009). Government In Markets: why competition matters. 14. The two main reasons as to why governments directly intervene in markets are to provide public goods and services that free markets would be unlikely to provide at an appropriate level and to benefit from the commercial value of public sector assets (Office of Fair Trading, 2009). Command and control policies are the regulations set by government and include forbidding certain behaviours like disallowing smoking on the plane, and it could also make cer tain behaviour necessary such as investing in low emission technology. This method of intervention is usually used in the aviation industry. Governments intervene indirectly where there are private markets that produce side-effects that have an impact on social welfare. They include certain acts like the use of tax or subsidies to combat market failure. Price Effects of a Tax Quantity Private cost with tax Private cost Private value Social Value P2 P3 Q2 Q1 Q3 Q1 = Market Value Q2 ; P2 = Full Social Cost In the aviation industry, certain market based policies are in the pipeline and may come to affect in the form of Pigouvian taxes such as fuel tax. As can be seen, the fuel tax could increase the price of an airline trip to P3 which might make consumers feel a lesser need to travel and demand would move to Q3. With this tax on fuel and the current increase in fuel prices due to the unrest in the Middle East, people would find it cheaper to use others means of transport such as trains and ferries and could this be the demise of budget airlines. Appendix G The Kyoto Protocol was a meeting within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Kyoto, Japan in 1997. It was in this meeting that 37 industrialized countries agreed to band together to reduce global emissions. From this meeting three mechanisms came about on how to reduce emissions, the first being the clean development mechanism in which members of the original 37 countries to invest in developing countries, for example installing solar panels and energy efficient boilers. The second mechanism to reduce emissions is the joint implementation mechanism; this is when the original members invest in each other’s country where it is easier cut costs [UNFCCC. int, 2011]. Appendix H In regards to the environment, government intervention could have been avoided as no one owns the property right to things such as air. Public goods are free goods available to everyone and include clean air, clean water, and biodiversity; these are mainly non excludable and non rival goods. These public goods have no property rights and thus the business and household sectors do not put enough emphasis on these goods and they often face a collective action problem. So if no one owns these, why should an airliner have to pay for pollution costs as they cannot be technically accountable to anyone? As there is no single owner of the air that is being polluted airlines could argue that it is not their responsibility and so why should they be forced the pay the full social cost. The problem of corporate social responsibility then arises; this would argue the blame for the pollution lies with the airlines as they provide a chunk of air pollution. After undertaking a wide-ranging consultation of stakeholders and the public and analysing several types of market-based solutions, the Commission concluded that bringing aviation into the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) would be the most cost-efficient and environmentally effective option for controlling aviation emissions. [European Commission Climate Action, 2011] Any form of taxation will not work as these measures have failed to work in the reduction of emissions. One example is the car industry where despite the heavy taxes; the number of car owners across Europe continues to increase. Taxation on air transport will not have any effect on the emitence of greenhouse effects but will instead have an adverse effect on the growth within the European area. Also governments putting emphasis on the aviation industry which produces less than 2% of EU emissions means that the main reason for intervention is not an environmental factor. It is unclear as to the reason why air transport is a priority in the ETS instead of larger green house gas producing industry. The impact is so small that if household heating had to improve by 15%, it would cancel out the effect of the aviation industry. Ethically, government intervention was the right way forward as leaving it to the private companies would not have proved effective as their aim is to keep private costs to a minimum. Market failure is bad for your health but social injustice is worse. [Oxford Journals. 32 (1), p12-13]. It is easyJet’s duty to abide by any government law. A number of recommendations have been put below as to how the company can best prosper with these new conventions. Appendix I Low Cost Characteristics – Low cost airliners offer a pricing strategy on a first come first serve basis and this means at the passengers who book earlier pay less. Smith, (No Date) Passenger service costs are lower because there is no free food. Sales and reservation and commission cost lower because virtually everything is done online. The number of staff on board an aircraft is reduced as they are not needed due to not serving food. Smith, (No Date) Appendix J Currently the aviation industry is not included in any of the 12,000 facilities that are included in the trading scheme. However, from the start of 2012 there will be a cap on the CO2 emissions from all international flights that arrive or depart from any EU airport. Airlines will receive the same permits and caps that the previous 12,000 facilities received. These firms will then enter the carbon market where they can buy or sell permits, whichever maybe the case. If the company finds itself with an excess amount of permits they can choose to put them into the market or to simply keep them to cover future emissions. If the airline is in need of more permits they will need to enter the market and purchase the number of permits they require. The firm should also consider investing in alternative technology that will reduce their emissions efficiently. They can also earn emission credits by taking part in the clean development mechanism. [European Commission Climate Action, 2011] The aviation industry has begun to explore new fuels e. g. Bio-fuels. It is out of necessity that new fuels are being researched as these are considers more greener compared to oil. There is currently research into using algae as a bio fuel and into other techniques to make aircrafts more environmentally friendly. Some improvements have already been made through the industry – reduced fuel consumption and passenger-friendly cabins [Commercial Aviation Report, 2007]. Appendix K Oil has always been a finite resource; it was always known it will run out at one time or another. As we approach this time the cost of oil and fuel for the aviation industry will increase as oil becomes rarer. In this time it will be budget airlines that prevail and will continue to operate irrelevant of oil prices. It is their fundamental principle that will pull them through the rising oil prices, to deliver the basic minimum a consumer needs and to charge extra for add-ons. Budget airlines have a way of finding ways to cut costs in non essential places, they will continue this practise and will eventually gain the competitive advantage over others in the industry. For those companies who exceed their permit limit will have to pay a fine, to give up or purchase extra permits to cover their emissions. [John Walker and Amrit MacIntyre, 2008] Appendix L * The Emirates A380 burns up to 20% less fuel per seat than other large aircraft * This is the most significant advancement in reducing fuel burn and emissions in four decades. Low fuel burn means lower C02 emissions. The A380 produces less than 75g of C02 per passenger kilometre, almost half of the European target for cars manufactured in 2008. * Emirates A380s will progressively feature digital inflight magazines, entertainment guides and shopping catalogues, saving 2kg per seat or almost one tonne per aircraft. * Emirates A380s, which offers more space per passenger in all classes, will also meet ICAOâ₠¬â„¢s gaseous emissions standards by a substantial margin. * We will comfortably meet current Stage Three and proposed Stage Four noise level standards. Our new Emirates A380 maintenance facilities in Dubai are state of the art, efficient buildings. * A380s feature lightweight materials that account for 25% of its structure. * Our emissions components – such as NOx – will be well under the regulated ‘cap four’ rule * Emirates is working with Airbus to further reduce weight of our future A380s. * Larger aircraft mean less take-off and landings (in passenger terms, some Emirates A380 versions would be the equivalent of flying up to seven smaller aircraft types). Emirates average fleet age is less than half that of many European airlines, meaning newer technology and efficiency breakthroughs characterise our aircraft. Appendix M The aviation industry has begun to explore new fuels e. g. Bio-fuels. It is out of necessity that new fuels are being researched as oil is a limited resource. There is currently research into using algae as a bio fuel and into other techniques to make aircrafts more environmentally friendly. Some improvements have already been made through the industry – reduced fuel consumption and passenger-friendly cabins [Commercial Aviation Report, 2007]. Appendix N Graph Adopted from: The Economist. (2011). Budget airlines: In the Cheap Seats. With traffic expected to slow, low-cost air carriers are getting fancy, p1. The graphical illustration shows the number of passengers carried by budget airlines are growing but its set to decline from 14% in 2009 – 2010 to 6% by 2013 [The Economist, 2011]. With fewer consumers entering the market, companies have to think of other ways to make money from existing customers. easyJet have approached this by increasing frequency on their routes and using more primary airports. Customer satisfaction will now become an even greater part of the aviation industry with features such as priority boarding and loyalty schemes, also the trivia of losing luggage should become a thing of past. â€Å"The low-cost carrier market used to be about fast growth and uncomplicated strategies,† says Keith McMullan, of Aviation Economics, a consultancy. â€Å"Now it is about slow growth and complicated strategies. † [The Economist, 2011] Reference List 1. [Dr Dixon, P. (2008) , Future of budget airlines, {Online Video] Available: http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=BVTxPbr_UAc. Last accesses 18/03/2011. 2. Economist. 2011). Budget airlines: In the cheap seats. Available: http://www. economist. com/node/18010533? story_id=18010533. Last accessed 03/03. 2011. 3. Elbling, T. (2010). What are Externalities?. Finance and Development. 47 (4), p2. 4. Ellerman, D and Joskow, P. (2008). The European Union’s Trading Scheme in Perspective, p1-3. 5. Emirates. (2011). Em irates greener, cleaner, quieter A380s take to the skies. Available: http://www. theemiratesgroup. com/english/our-vision-values/emirates-a380. aspx. Last accessed 10/03/2011. 6. European Commission Climate Action. (2011). Reducing emissions from the aviation sector. p1. 7. Graph Adopted from: Harcourt Brace ; Company. (2011). Externalities, Chapter 10. Available: http://www. westga. edu/~dboldt/ECON2105/CHAP10. PPT p16. 8. Hamilton, S. (2007). Airline industry grapples with increasing environmental concern. Available: http://www. leeham. net/filelib/091007CAR. pdf. Last accessed 20/03/2011. 9. Hamilton, S. (2007). Airline industry grapples with increasing environmental concern. Available: http://www. leeham. net/filelib/091007CAR. pdf. Last accessed 20/03/2011. 10. Office of Fair Trading . (2009). Government In Markets : why competition

Kingship in Macbeth Essay

In his first appearance, King Duncan performs two of the basic duties of a king: punishing the bad and rewarding the good. Upon learning of the treachery of Cawdor and the heroism of Macbeth, he says, â€Å"No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive / Our bosom interest: go pronounce his present [immediate] death, / And with his former title greet Macbeth† (1.2.63-65). The phrase â€Å"bosom interest† means â€Å"vital interests,† but â€Å"bosom† suggests that a relationship of love should exist between a king and his subject. Soon after the witches hail him as â€Å"Thane of Glamis,† â€Å"Thane of Cawdor,† â€Å"and king hereafter!† (1.3.50), Macbeth receives the news that he has been named Thane of Cawdor. This news throws him into a reverie, in which he says to himself, â€Å"Two truths are told, / As happy prologues to the swelling act / Of the imperial theme† (1.3.127-129). Macbeth’s metaphor is dramatic, or musical; he seems to be imagining himself as making a grand entrance as king, or maybe as an emperor, a king of kings. Just as the King is commenting on the treachery of the former Thane of Cawdor, in comes the new Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth. The King greets Macbeth as â€Å"worthiest cousin!† (1.4.14) and says in several different ways that he can’t thank him enough. Macbeth answers with heroic modesty that â€Å"The service and the loyalty I owe, / In doing it, pays itself† (1.4.22-23). That is, it’s payment enough to know that he did the right thing as a loyal servant of the King. Then Macbeth adds, Your highness’ part Is to receive our duties; and our duties Are to your throne and state [stateliness, dignity] children and servants, Which do but what they should, by doing every thing Safe toward your love and honour. (1.4.23-27) â€Å"Safe toward† means â€Å"to secure† or â€Å"to safeguard†; the idea is that it is every subject’s duty to do everything he can for the king, both to keep the king safe and to earn the king’s love and respect. Macbeth’s speech pictures King Duncan as the loving father of a happy family, but Macbeth is already thinking about killing him. When Lady Macbeth receives her husband’s letter about the witches’ prophecies, she is only worried that her husband is â€Å"too full o’ the milk of human kindness / To catch the nearest way† (1.5.17-18). But she’s sure she has no such problem, and she’s eager for the chance to make him see things her way. Holding the letter, and speaking to Macbeth (even though he hasn’t arrived yet) she says, â€Å"Hie thee hither, / That I may pour my spirits in thine ear; / And chastise with the valour of my tongue / All that impedes thee from the golden round,† (1.5.25-28). We might say that she’s going to nag him, but she believes that she is going to enable him to reach his potential. She will â€Å"chastise† (make him ashamed of) everything in him that prevents him from being evil enough to be king. Shortly, Macbeth appears and tells her that King Duncan will be staying with them that night. Lady Macbeth declares that King Duncan will never leave their castle alive and advises Macbeth to be a good hypocrite. He must give the king a warm welcome, the better to kill him that night. Apparently Macbeth shows a little reluctance, because she says, He that’s coming Must be provided for: and you shall put This night’s great business into my dispatch; Which shall to all our nights and days to come Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom (1.5.66-70) â€Å"Sovereign† means not only â€Å"kingly† but also â€Å"absolute.† Lady Macbeth is telling her husband that if he will only do as she tells him, they will be king and queen, with power over all. To her, the essence of kingship is ruthless power. When King Duncan is greeted by Lady Macbeth, he makes a little joke about the social difficulties of being king. He says to her: See, see, our honour’d hostess! The love that follows us sometime is our trouble, Which still we thank as love. Herein I teach you How you shall bid God ‘ield us for your pains, And thank us for your trouble. (1.6.10-14) Duncan’s whole speech is based on our ancient custom of a guest saying something like â€Å"I don’t want to trouble you,† and the host replying with some version of â€Å"It’s my pleasure.† By saying that his people’s love is sometimes his â€Å"trouble,† King Duncan is saying that his loving people go to a great deal of trouble for him, and he’s troubled by the fact that they take all that trouble. Nevertheless, when people take trouble for him, he knows that they do it because they love their king, and so he thanks them for their love. Next, referring to himself royally as â€Å"us,† the King jokingly tells Lady Macbeth that he’s saying all of this so that — instead of him thanking her for taking trouble — she will thank God and him for giving her trouble. While King Duncan is at dinner Macbeth almost talks himself out of the murder. He reflects that King Duncan is a good king, not arrogant or selfish. Macbeth says to himself that the king â€Å"Hath borne his faculties [royal powers] so meek, hath been / So clear [uncorrupted] in his great office, that his virtues / Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against / The deep damnation of his taking-off† (1.7.17-20). The day after the murder of King Duncan, Ross speaks with an old man. The Old Man’s memories go back seventy years, but nothing he can remember compares to what has happened during this night: â€Å"I have seen / Hours dreadful and things strange; but this sore night / Hath trifled former knowings† (2.4.2-4). Ross replies â€Å"Ah, good father, / Thou seest, the heavens, as troubled with man’s act, / Threaten his bloody stage† (2.4.4-6). The â€Å"heavens† are the heavens above, where God lives, and they are also the upper regions of Shakespeare’s Globe theater. Ross is saying that the heavens frown angrily (â€Å"threaten†) as they look down upon man playing his part on the stage of life, which has been made bloody by the murder of King Duncan. King Duncan should have been honored and loved, so his murder was unnatural, and Ross and the Old Man go on to tell each other of all the unnatural things that have been happening lately. They do not know that Macbeth is the murderer, but as they speak we can see that the unnatural events reflect the contrast between King Duncan and Macbeth. The Old Man says that â€Å"On Tuesday last, / A falcon, towering in her pride of place, / Was by a mousing owl hawk’d at and kill’d† (2.4.11-13). The falcon’s â€Å"pride of place† is the highest point of its flight. And the owl, which usually catches mice on the ground, went up instead of down, and killed a falcon. Also, a falcon is a day creature, and a royal companion, while the owl is an untamable bird of night and death. If things in nature stands for things in human life, King Duncan was the falcon, and Macbeth the owl. Even worse, King Duncan’s horses, â€Å"Beauteous and swift, the minions of their race, / Turn’d wild in nature, broke their stalls, flung out, / Contending ‘gainst obedience, as they would make / War with mankind.† (2.4.15-18) A â€Å"minion† is someone’s favorite. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were King Duncan’s minions. The King showered them with honors and gifts, but they turned wild and made war on their master. Thus the point is made that Macbeth’s murder of his king is a crime against nature. Just before he sends the murderers to kill Banquo, Macbeth has a soliloquy in which he states his fear of Banquo. He says that Banquo has â€Å"royalty of nature† (3.1.49), and courage, and wisdom. Macbeth also says, â€Å"under him, / My Genius is rebuked† (3.1.54-55). A man’s â€Å"Genius† is his guardian spirit, but Macbeth isn’t being particularly mystic here. He feels that Banquo is naturally superior to him, and just being near Banquo makes Macbeth feel ashamed of himself. For example, he recalls, Banquo defied the witches and challenged them to speak to him. (In contrast, we should remember, the witches’ prophecy put Macbeth into a kind of trance, a reverie of ambition and murder.) In short, Macbeth feels that Banquo is more fit to be king than he is, and for that, he’s going to murder him. After he becomes king, Macbeth has a moment when he tries to be the kind of king that King Duncan was, humble and mild. At his feast Macbeth welcomes everyone, saying, â€Å"You know your own degrees; sit down. At first / And last the hearty welcome† (3.4.1-2). The â€Å"degrees† of the guests are their social ranks. Normally, each guest would receive an individual greeting and then be escorted to his seat, with the highest ranking person sitting closest to the king, and the next highest the next closest, etc. Macbeth tells them that they know where they should sit, and welcomes everyone at once. He will â€Å"play the humble host† (3.4.4), and sit among them, showing how friendly and down-to-earth he is, even though he is now the king. However, he can’t keep up his act because un uninvited guest shows up — Banquo’s bloody ghost. Lennox and another Scottish lord have a conversation in which both of them refer to Macbeth as a â€Å"tyrant.† It’s clear from their conversation that life under a tyrant is a life of fear and lies. Because Macbeth has many spies, they need to be careful what they say and to whom they say it. As the scene opens, they have just gotten to the point at which they are sure that they are on the same side and have many of the same thoughts. As Lennox says, â€Å"My former speeches have but hit your thoughts, / Which can interpret further† (3.6.1-2). Perhaps the other Lord nods agreement, because Lennox now launches on a string of sarcasms about Macbeth. Lennox says, â€Å"The gracious Duncan / Was pitied of Macbeth: marry, he was dead† (3.6.4). This bitter joke describes both Macbeth’s facade — that he was sorry for King Duncan — and the truth about Macbeth, which was that he was sorry for King Duncan only after he killed him. Then Lennox proceeds to ridicule Macbeth’s version of everything that has happened to this point. Banquo died because he took a walk after dark, and Fleance must have killed him, because Fleance ran away. And speaking of that, wasn’t it terrible for Malcolm and Donalbain to kill their father? And of course Macbeth felt terrible about Duncan’s murder, which is why he killed the only two possible witnesses, Duncan’s grooms. If Malcolm, Donalbain, and Fleance were in Macbeth’s power, he’d certainly teach them a lesson or two about killing a father! After a bit, Lennox drops the sarcasm and turns to the subject of Macduff. He has heard that Macduff has gotten on Macbeth’s bad side because Macduff used some â€Å"broad words† (3.6.21) about Macbeth, and because he failed to show up for Macbeth’s banquet. Does the other Lord know, Lennox asks, where Macduff might be? The other Lord does know. Macduff is on his way to the English court, where Malcolm has been respectfully received by King Edward the Confessor. Macduff has gone to plead with King Edward to help Malcolm by sending to Scotland the forces of Northumberland and Siward, two English nobles famous as warriors. If Macduff is successful, Scotland will be freed of Macbeth’s tyranny. Then â€Å"we may again / Give to our tables meat, sleep to our nights, / Free from our feasts and banquets bloody knives, / Do faithful homage and receive free honours† (3.6.33-36). Under Macbeth’s tyranny, fear of his bloody knife darkens every moment of a person’s life. In contrast to this reign of terror, a true king is given â€Å"faithful homage† and he awards â€Å"Free honours.† Free honours are given by a king in recognition of service; they are â€Å"free† in the sense that person honored does n’t have to be a tyrant’s yes-man in order to receive them. When Macbeth seeks out the witches, he curses them, calls them hags, and demands that they answer his questions. They give him their prophecies, the last of which is that Banquo will be the progenitor of a long line of kings, stretching to James of Scotland and England. Macbeth is stunned, and the first witch says that they will cheer him up with music and a dance, so â€Å"That this great king may kindly say, / Our duties did his welcome pay† (4.1.131-132). The witch is being sarcastic. Macbeth is a tyrant, even to witches, and gave them no welcome; they repaid his angry demand for answers with deceptive and frightening â€Å"duties† — their prophecies. As the witches are the opposite of dutiful subjects, Macbeth is the opposite of a great and kindly king In England, Macduff pleads with Malcolm to lead an army against Macbeth. Eventually, Malcolm says that he will, but first he tests Macduff’s intentions. He wants to find out if Macduff wants what is best for Scotland, or just wants to defeat Macbeth. Malcolm begins his test by saying that Scotland will suffer even more after Macbeth is crushed. The reason: Malcolm will be more evil than Macbeth. First, Malcolm says that he will be so lustful that â€Å"your wives, your daughters, / Your matrons and your maids, could not fill up / The cistern of my lust† (4.3.61-63). Macduff’s response is more than a little wimpy. He says that uncontrolled lust is bad, but he’s sure that Scotland can provide Malcolm with enough willing women to satisfy him. But Malcolm goes on to declare that he’s also so avaricious that â€Å"were I king, / I should cut off the nobles for their lands, / Desire his jewels and this other’s house: / And my more-having would be as a sauce / To make me hunger more† (4.3.78-82). Macduff admits that avarice in a king is even worse than lust, but he’s sure that Scotland has abundance enough to satisfy Malcolm. Such lust and avarice would be bearable, balanced against good qualities. â€Å"But I have none† (4.3.91), Malcolm answers. He goes on to assert that he has not a single virtue that a king needs. Not only that, but he is positively evil, so evil that â€Å"had I power, I should / Pour the sweet milk of concord into hell, / Uproar the universal peace, confound / All unity on earth† (4.3.97-100). After describing himself as the worst possible person on the face of the earth, Malcolm then asks Macduff if someone like him is fit to govern. â€Å"Fit to govern! / No, not to live† (4.3.102-103), Macduff bursts out. Then he laments the fate of Scotland and is about to storm off, but Malcolm calls him back and unsays everything he’s just said about himself. He is, he now says, chaste, generous, and trustworthy. In short, he wil l be a true king, not the tyrant that Macbeth is. After the tyranny of Macbeth is contrasted with the goodness of Macduff and Malcolm, we are again reminded of what a good king should be. A doctor enters and tells Macduff and Malcolm that a crowd of sick people are waiting to be cured by the English king. Their sickness can’t be cured by doctors, but only by the king: â€Å"at his touch– / Such sanctity hath heaven given his hand– / They presently amend† (4.3.143-145). The doctor leaves, and Macduff asks what disease he was talking about. Malcolm explains, â€Å"‘Tis call’d the evil† (4.3.146). (The disease is scrofula, which causes ugly swellings of glands in the neck. It was called â€Å"the king’s evil† because of the popular idea that a holy king could cure it by touching the diseased person.) Malcolm goes on to speak of what a miracle-worker the English king is. He brings God’s healing power to his people, and it’s a wonder, because â€Å"How he solicits heaven, / Himself best knows† (4.3.150). In addition to being able to heal the sick, the English king â€Å"hath a heavenly gift of prophecy, / And sundry blessings hang about his throne† (4.3.157-158). Malcolm doesn’t mention Macbeth, but the only apparent reason for this description of the English king is to provide a picture of heavenly good to contrast with Macbeth’s hellish evil. Shortly after, news comes of Macbeth’s most recent act of tyranny — the slaughter of Macduff’s innocent wife and children. When she walks in her sleep, Lady Macbeth relives the moment just after the murder of King Duncan, when her husband could do nothing except stare at his bloody hands holding the bloody daggers. In her sleep she says to him, â€Å"What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account?†(5.1.37-39). Her point is that Macbeth is king (or about to be) and therefore it doesn’t matter who knows that he murdered King Duncan. She thinks (or thought) that kingly power would solve all problems, but it doesn’t save her from madness. When he is brought news of the approach of the English army, Macbeth knows that he could lose the battle, and he tries to find a way to accept defeat. In a famous passage, he tells himself that his life is not worth living: I have lived long enough: my way of life Is fall’n into the sear, the yellow leaf; And that which should accompany old age, As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends, I must not look to have; but, in their stead, Curses, not loud but deep, mouth-honour, breath, Which the poor heart would fain deny, and dare not. (5.3.22-28) We can see that Macbeth now understands the consequences of being a tyrant. He rules only by fear, which means that all those he rules hate him. Standing before Dunsinane, Siward, the leader of the English troops, comments to Malcolm: â€Å"We learn no other but the confident tyrant / Keeps still in Dunsinane, and will endure / Our setting down before ‘t†. ) He means that Macbeth seems to be so confident of the strength of his castle that he’s willing to let his enemies lay siege to it, rather than going on the attack. Malcolm replies that Macbeth really doesn’t have a choice: â€Å"Both more and less have given him the revolt, / And none serve with him but constrained things / Whose hearts are absent too† . By â€Å"more and less† Malcolm means both the nobles and the common soldiers; Macbeth the tyrant controls only those who are within reach of his sword. In the final scene, Macduff, carrying Macbeth’s head on a pole, hails Malcolm as king of Scotland and says, â€Å"Behold, where stands / The usurper’s cursed head: the time is free† . The â€Å"time is free† because they are all now free of Macbeth’s reign of terror over Scotland. Macduff then leads the men in a shout of victory and loyalty. He says, â€Å"I see thee compass’d with thy kingdom’s pearl, / That speak my salutation in their minds; / Whose voices I desire aloud with mine: / Hail, King of Scotland!† . Macduff knows that these thanes already think of Malcolm as their king, and now he asks them to join him in shouting out loud, â€Å"Hail, King of Scotland!† And so they do, honoring Malcolm, above whose head looms the severed head of Macbeth.