Historic overview

The story of the Ritz-Carlton begins with Swiss hotelier Cesar Ritz who was well known in the hotel industry as the â€Å"king of hoteliers and hotelier to kings. † Mr. Ritz redefined luxury accommodation in Europe with his management of The Ritz in Paris and The Carlton in London. Although he died in 1918, his wife Marie continued the tradition of opening hotels in his name. The Ritz-Carlton Investing Company was established by Albert Keller, who bought and franchised the name in the United States. The original Ritz-Carlton hotel was built in Boston, Massachusetts, and opened on May 19, 1927 with a room rate of $15 per night.It became known as the hotel to kings, queens, movie stars, and tycoons: Prince Charles, Irving Berlin, Bette Davis, and Howard Hughes were just a few of its notable guests. Additional locations soon opened in New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Atlantic City and Boca Raton, but all these locations did not survive the Great Depression and by 1940 only The Ritz-Carlton Boston remained. The Wyner Years: 1927-1964 On October 1926, 29-year-old Edward N. Wyner bought a third-acre parcel at the corner of Arlington and Newbury streets and formed a partnership called The Ritz-Arlington Trust with his father, George, and business associate, John S.Slater. The trust sold $2. 1 million of bonds to finance the construction of a hotel to be called the Mayflower. The 18-story, 201-foot brick building, designed by Strickland, Blodget & Law Architects, was far taller than anything else along Newbury Street at the time. Construction had started on the second floor when Wyner was persuaded by then-Mayor James Michael Curly to make the Mayflower a world-class, 300-room Ritz-Carlton Hotel, which opened May 19, 1927. Room rates were $5 to $15 per night; $40 per night for suites. After a hugely successful opening, the stock market crash of 1929 and ensuing Depression brought financial difficulties.The Wyner family funded the hotel’s operating loss es during the early 1930s, although the interest on the bonds went unpaid. Still in 1933, when only 30 guests were registered in the hotel, Wyner turned on the lights in every guest room to give the appearance the hotel was full. Wyner died of a heart attack on Dec. 5, 1961. His six sons tried to continue operation of the hotel, but it was too difficult, and a decision was made to sell. The Blakeley Years: 1964-1983 The unpaid interest on the bonds dissuaded many from trying to buy the hotel.But Cabot, Cabot & Forbes principal Gerald F. Blakeley Jr. was interested. After more than a year of legal work, Hale and Dorr succeeded at clearing the bond obligations, and in October 1964 Blakeley and associates Paul Hellmuth and Charles Spaulding acquired the Ritz-Carlton Boston for $3. 8 million. â€Å"Out of the 20 years I owned it, it made money three years. The other years it broke even, but from a public relations standpoint for CC&F, it was a tremendous asset,† said Blakeley, wh o completed a 19-story Ritz-Carlton luxury condominium complex on land adjacent to the hotel in 1981.In the late 1960s Blakeley obtained the rights to the Ritz-Carlton name in North America (with the exception of Montreal and New York). In June 1978, Blakeley was awarded the rights and privileges of the Ritz-Carlton trademark in the United States and was given a US Service Mark Registration. In August 1983, Johnson Properties bought the Ritz Boston and US trademark for $75. 5 million and established the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. In 1988, Johnson subsequently obtained the exclusive rights to the Ritz name throughout the world (except for the 210-room Hotel-Ritz Paris and the Ritz-Carlton in Montreal).The Corporate Years: 1983-1999 Johnson grew the company from the One Ritz-Carlton Boston to 30 hotels worldwide in just 10 years. He obtained financing to do so from Manufacturers Hanover Trust of New York in 1983 in the amount of $85 million secured by the Ritz-Carlton Boston. This loan wa s refinanced in 1989 by Manhattan Tops USA of New York for $136. 5 million and again in 1994 by Sumitomo Bank of Japan. By 1996, this mortgage was in default and the interest and penalties brought the total debt to $214. 8 million.By splitting this mortgage note into three parts, Sumitomo Bank was able to unbundle the Ritz Boston from the trademark rights to the Ritz brand worldwide. Blackstone Real Estate Acquisitions of New York bought the Ritz-Carlton Boston at auction for $75 million in February 1998. A month later, Host Marriott Corp. of Bethesda, Maryland, acquired the hotel from Blackstone for $100 million. Marriott International Inc. , which franchises and manages Marriott’s 325,000 rooms, bought the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. and rights to the Ritz-Carlton name worldwide from W. B. Johnson for $290 million in a two-part transaction completed in 1998.Millenium Purchase In 1998, Christopher Jeffries, founding partner of Millennium Partners, obtained Ritz franchises from Ma rriott for four hotel properties under construction: two in Washington, one in New York City, and one in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition, Jeffries was searching for a brand affiliation for the new 155-room hotel and 270-luxury condominiums he was constructing as part of Boston’s 1. 8 million-square-foot Millennium Place, a mixed-use complex on lower Washington Street. Because of noncompetition clauses, the only way he could obtain a second Ritz flag in Boston was to own the existing Ritz.Millennium Partners acquired the original Ritz-Carlton Boston for $122 million (though it had sold for just $75 million less than two years prior) and spent $50 million for renovations. Marriott agreed to allow the Ritz affiliation for the condominium complex, which will be known as The Residences at the Ritz-Carlton, and share all of the services of the hotel. In 1999, when Millennium Partners of New York, the new owners of the original Ritz-Carlton Boston, announced that the company was build ing a second Ritz-Carlton in Boston (the now-completed 193-room Ritz-Carlton, Boston Commons), there was much local disapproval.A member of the old guard summed up: â€Å"The movement of a name from one place to another doesn’t do it. There would never be that special atmosphere; a grace, decency, and ambiance that once existed. † Millennium Partners admitted they had no intentions of trying to duplicate the Ritz. Taj Purchase In October 2002, The Ritz-Carlton Boston celebrated its 75th Anniversary with a major restoration to bring the facility 21st century amenities while maintaining its 20th century decor. The Ritz-Carlton Boston has been in continuous operation since it opened in 1927.The property is a Boston landmark and anchors fashionable Newbury Street and the picturesque Boston Public Garden located in the heart of the Back Bay. In November 2006, The Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, subsidiary of the India-based Tata Group, entered into a definitive agreement to purchase The Ritz-Carlton Boston from its current owners, Millennium Partners. The $170 million transaction is scheduled to close on January 11, 2007. Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces operates 75 hotels across the world.The Ritz-Carlton Boston will be renamed the Taj Boston upon closing the purchase. The existing Ritz-Carlton Boston Common is expected to be renamed Ritz-Carlton Boston. 2000 and beyond From 2001 to 2007 Boston was home to two Ritz-Carlton hotels that faced each other on Boston Common. The Ritz-Carlton Boston Common Hotel opened in 2001. In November 2006 The Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, India luxury hotel group entered into an agreement to purchase the original 1927 Ritz-Carlton Boston from its current owners, Millennium Partners, for $170 Million.The Ritz-Carlton name was not sold to Taj Hotels. The Ritz-Carlton Boston was renamed Taj Boston on Jan. 11, 2007. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC has announced its first hotel in India. The property is slated to open in Bangalore in 2007. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company In 1983, the original hotel and the brand were sold to The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L. L. C. , based in Atlanta, Georgia which began expansion of the brand to other locations. The company grew to become the hospitality leader in the US under the leadership of Horst Schulze.His strong conviction of customer loyalty and emphasis on a value/mission driven philosophy for the â€Å"Ladies and Gentleman serving Ladies and Gentleman† became a benchmark in the industry that other companies aspired yet never reached. In 1995, Marriott International purchased a 49% stake in The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company and in 1998 purchased an additional 50% stake in the company giving it 99% ownership of the company. The company is now headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland, located in the Washington, D. C. MSA.The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company partnered with Bulgari in 2001 to operate a chain of hotels owned by and operated under the Bulgari bran d. Simon Cooper joined Ritz-Carlton in 2001 as President and Chief Operating Officer taking the helm from Horst Schulze. Cooper's mandate was to grow the chain through hotel expansion and product diversification. Under Cooper's watch the company has aggressively expanded its hotels and has added The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton (private residential units) as well as The Ritz-Carlton Club (fractional ownership residences) to the company's new development program.

An Assessment of the Impact of Mortgage and Non-Mortgage Loans

Toby Clark a senior financial analyst in MINTEL comments â€Å"There is a major need for financial education and for a drive to prompt borrowers to take a fresh look at their debts. Without a detailed understanding of exactly how much they owe and what rates they are paying, it is easy to see how the situation could spiral out of control†. This statement clearly highlights the position of the average British consumers as far as their mortgage and non-mortgage debts are concerned.It is observed by the report from MINTEL that the British consumers who have outstanding mortgage debts have a better control on the amount of their outstanding than the non-mortgage debt consumers. When the mortgage holders were asked to estimate the amount of the outstanding loan they could estimate the figure at ? 92,200 which matched with the estimation of ? 95,000 made by Bank of England and mortgage lenders. There are different purposes for which the consumers obtain mortgage and non-mortgage loa ns.The purposes also differ between different income earners. The high income earners borrow for paying a house, buying a second home or for paying the university or school fees of their children. Whereas the low income earners have totally different purposes of taking the loans like bringing up their children; paying their tax bills or meeting their regular commitments. Irrespective of the purpose for which the loans are taken the loans do have an impact on the financial soundness of the borrowers.On few occasions and for few consumers the loans become handy to take care of their financial struggle but in most of the cases the loans have had adverse impact only on the lives and finances of the consumers. Especially when the average consumer does not even know the extent of their debts the impact would be still worse. â€Å"Many debt problems are caused by poor decision making, with taking on more debt to pay back what debt you already have not always a wise move, according to the free and impartial debt advice organisation Debt Free Direct.† (Linkroll) In most of the cases the consumers get in to debt traps either due to poor decision making or not being accurately able to assess the impact the debts have on their financial capabilities and standing. This includes the decisions of debt consolidation. Quite often consumers think that debt consolidation is the best solution for solving their debt problems which will only aggravate the burden to the already debt trapped consumers. The loan burden on the borrowers is made to increase by the actions of the lenders also.Luring the customers in tot taking additional loans with the intention of just increasing their lending activities and without assessing the capabilities of the borrowers to pay back the loans often take the borrowers to a point of no return. â€Å"A number of Britons report that their debt problems are causing them difficulties in other areas of their life, according to a new study. In rese arch carried out by R3 – the Association of Business Recovery Professionals – one out of six consumers are said to be unable to manage with repayments on secured loans and credit cards†. (Loan Arrangers)With this background I intend to make an analytical study of the British Loan Market and its impact on the average British consumers. In the process I also intend to study the kinds of mortgage and non-mortgage loans available to the consumers in the UK. 1. 1 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES This study has among other things the following central objectives: 1. Studying the psychological and economical reasons for the British consumers getting in to the debt trap. 2. Analytical study of the impact of the various loans on the lives and financial wellbeing of the average consumers – including mortgage and non-mortgage loans.3. Studying the role of the banks and other lending institutions on extending the debt burden of the average British consumer 1. 2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS This study by undertaking a detailed research in the subject tries to find plausible answers for the following research questions: 1. What are the prime reasons that make the British consumers to get into the debt trap? 2. What are the major impacts that the mortgage and non-mortgage loans have on the lives of the average British consumers? 3. What are the different ways that an average British consumer can manage the debts effectively? 1.3 STRUCTURE OF THE DISSERTATION In order to present a comprehensive paper I intend to divide the paper into the different chapters. While chapter 1 introduces the subject matter of the study to the readers along with stating the research objectives and questions, chapter 2 makes a detailed review of the available literature on the subject of the impact of debts on the British consumer. Chapter 3 makes a detailed presentation of the research methodology adopted by this study for conducting the research. In chapter 4 I have included the findings of t he research and a detailed discussion on the analysis of the findings.Concluding remarks recapitulating the issues discussed in the paper and few suggestions which will enable the British consumer to manage his debts are included in the chapter 5. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW CAPM, Bonds, Securities, Economics, Finance This chapter presents a detailed review of the available literature on the debt creation by the British consumers and the impact of such debt creation on the bond and securities market, on the finance and monetary policy and economic situation of the country apart from the life styles and financial status of the individual consumers. 2.1 IMPACT OF DEBT CREATION ON BOND AND SECURITIES MARKET: A latest report from Bloomberg. com says â€Å"European 10-year bond yields held near a three-month low as an Australian hedge fund filed for bankruptcy protection on losses related to a slump in U. S. home loans, prompting speculation global economic expansion will slow. † (Lukanyo Mnyanda, 2007) There has been a widespread skepticism about the future of the bond market because of the higher levels of failure in the sub prime mortgage repayments. This phenomenon has also been felt in the UK which is evident from the statement of the credit rating firm Standard & Poor.â€Å"Standard & Poor's said business conditions for securities firms are worse than in the second half of 1998 when trading revenue slumped 31 percent after Russia's debt default. Revenue from investment banking and trading could fall 47 percent in the final six months of this year, the ratings company said. † (Lukanyo Mnyanda, 2007) 2. 1. 1USE OF OPTIMIZING MODELS IN THE CONTEXT OF CONSUMER DEBT: On the basis of micro economic foundations there are certain models that analyse the likely economic consequences of structural changes in the economy.Though in general these models help the analysts to comment upon microeconomic foundations, sometimes these models are found inappropriat e for analyzing such consequences. â€Å"This is because their parameters are generally complicated functions of an economy’s technology, institutions and government policy, and the preferences of economic agents. Subsequent changes in any of these structural characteristics would mean that those parameters, and hence the relationships between key economic variables, would be expected to change. † (Bank of England)However the optimizing models enable the analysis of the deep structural relationship which is dependent upon the individual variables in relation to the economic shocks and their identification. The optimizing models â€Å"describe the intertemporal optimisation problems facing economic agents. They often try to capture the interactions between the different types of agent in the economy (consumers, firms, government, foreign sector), each of which is assumed to solve well-defined dynamic optimisation problems, subject to certain informational and technolog ical constraints.These models can be used to analyse how economic agents might optimally respond to various demand and supply shocks that have or might hit the economy, or to changes in the structure of the economy. Equally, they can be used to examine likely explanations for observed patterns of behaviour in the data. † (Bank of England) These models are useful in †¢ Modeling consumer behaviour including consumer spending †¢ Applications to financial markets †¢ Analysis of the labour market †¢ Analysis of the role of money One of such models being widely used is the CAPM which can provide useful insights into the reasons behind the financial market changes.However there is a serious limitation of this model is that it does not perform well in the empirical tests. 2. 2 IMPLICATION OF THE RISE ON THE HOUSEHOLD DEBT ON THE MONETARY POLICY: It is observed that the increase in the household debt in the UK over the last three decades was the result of the contin ued increase in the owner-occupied buildings and the number of mortgages created as a proportion of the total households. The rise in the prices till the time of the sub prime mortgage issue was also because of this increased private ownership of the houses.However it is interesting to note that the increase in the household debt didn’t have much impact on the consumption growth. This was due to the fact that the households were focused on the accumulation of financial assets during the recent past. â€Å"Finally, while it is possible that higher levels of debt may make household consumption more sensitive to interest rate changes, this may easily be offset simply by moderating these same changes. † (Stephen Nickell) While there was some contraction in the economies of US and Germany, the UK economy remained strong during the year 2001.There was a significant relaxation in the monetary policies of the country during this period and hence the UK economy witnessed an inc rease in the domestic demand though the situation was different with the world economy which was weak and was suffering a fall in investments. The increase in the domestic demand made the overall growth rate of the economy positive. However some of the economists were of the view that such a growth in the UK GDP as against the widespread recession in other developed countries was possible only at certain implied costs.For Example in an article in ‘The Observer’ dated 27th March 2005 Fred Harrison noted that â€Å"Encouraged by low interest rates, people went on a spending spree. They reduced savings and extracted equity from their homes to fuel a consumption boom† A similar view was expressed by Hamish McRae in his article in the ‘The Independent’ stated â€Å"What is, however, clear is that the credit-fuelled spending boom is, one way or another, coming to an end†. (The Independent dated 16th March 2005). Hence it was observed that booming co nsumption resulted in a rapid expansion of debt.Thus there has been a significant increase in the debt to income ratio which was a matter of serious concern to the analysts and the financial economists. In this context Philip Thornton made the following remark in the ‘The Independent’ issue dated 30th July 2003 â€Å"Britons piled on an all-time record amount of debt last month, triggering fears that consumers have embarked on an unsustainable borrowing binge that will end in a crash reminiscent of the early 1990s† 2. 2. 1 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INCOME, CONSUMPTION AND HOUSEHOLD DEBTS:Generally it is assumed that the macroeconomic policies of the UK government had resulted in a house price bubble coupled with a boom of the consumer spending. Thus the economy got missed out from the impact of the global recessionary trends. However Stephen Nickell argues that over the period 2000 to 2003 which was supposed to be the consumption boom the average quarterly consumption growth was only 0. 77 percent very similar to the average consumption rate of 0. 72 percent that was existed over the last twenty five years.The consumption rate was also below the average consumption rate in the previous period 0f 1996 to 1999. â€Å"From 1998 to the end of 2003, the proportion of post-tax income that was consumed was relatively flat, hardly evidence of a debt fuelled consumption boom. Nevertheless, mortgage equity withdrawal (MEW) plus unsecured credit growth rose from around 2% of post-tax household income in 1998 to over 10% in 2003. So there was indeed a significant rise in the rate of household debt accumulation from 1998 to 2003 despite the fact that the ratio of consumption to post-tax income remained stable throughout.† (Stephen Nickell) With this argument the author proceeds to state the majority of mortgage equity withdrawal leads to increased financial assets accumulation and not to increased consumption. Further it is also argued that there is a strong relationship between the aggregate secured debt accumulation and aggregate financial asset accumulation especially in a period of rapidly spiraling house prices. Similarly there is no strong relationship between the factors of aggregate consumption growth and debt accumulation. In that case the following will be the effect of the household debt on the monetary policy.2. 2. 2 HIGHER LEVELS OF DEBT AND MONETARY POLICY: May et al (2004) observed â€Å"In 1975, household debt was around 38% of household post-tax income. By 2004, this had risen to around 125%. Currently, over four-fifths of household debt is secured on property, ie. consists of mortgages, and around 95% of all household debt is held by mortgagors. † As already stated the important factor causing the rise in the household debt was the increase in the number of owner-occupied buildings and the proportion of the houses carrying a mortgage.Another factor that contributed the increase in secured debts is the ch ange in the mode of financing by leaving the front end loading of the repayment of mortgages. Such a method of financing has lead to higher loan to income ratios. It also resulted in higher mortgages relative to income. Based on these basic premise there are three arguments that can be support the view that the household debt is a predominant factor in the determination of the monetary policies. 1. The first argument is based on the concept that the there will be significant impact on the bahaviour of the economy due to shocks if there is a high level of household debts.As observed by Griffiths commission â€Å"Debt is a time-bomb which could be triggered by any number of shocks to the economy at any time† (The Griffiths’ Commission, 2005, Executive Summary). Though any adverse economic shock will have the impact on the employment and the consumption levels, higher levels of debts will make the conditions worse. â€Å"The excessive debt may still induce greater precau tionary saving and a larger drop in consumption. Overall, it is hard to tell whether higher debt levels will generate a significant additional cut back in consumption which cannot be modified by easier monetary policy†2. The second argument is based on the possibility that the there may be a cut in the consumption due to the sudden realization of the debtors about the real interest on the debts and their extent of exposure to the debts in spite of their efforts to reduce the level of debts. This will create severe macro economic problems leading to large scale adjustments in the monetary policies. However this argument is countered by indicating that the inexperience of the secured debt holders being young and there may be occasions that these people may behave in an irrational way to reduce the consumption.But such phenomenon can not be identified with a majority of debts. 3. The third argument was based on the fear that with more number of people the more will be the trouble when there is a collapse in the housing market. This fear has become true presently with housing boom bubble exploding. â€Å"If house prices fall by 30 or 40 per cent, more people with mortgages means more people in negative equity. Of course, the consequences of this depend to some extent on the behaviour of lenders.If the mortgage debt continues to be treated as secured, even though some is not, then debt service costs remain unchanged. So a lot will then depend on the collateral damage associated with the collapse in the housing market and what caused it in the first place. The issue is, if some disaster happens in the housing market, does the fact that more people have mortgages make the consequences very much worse? So much worse, indeed, that monetary policy should be used to discourage individuals from taking out mortgages. † 2. 3 DIFFICULTIES OF CONSUMERS BECAUSE OF DEBT CREATION – AN OVERVIEWAccording to a research conducted by R3 – the Association of Business Recovery Professionals one out of six consumers find it difficult to manage the repayment of their secured loans and credit card payments. â€Å"Of those struggling the most with their day-to-day finances, 21 per cent of respondents were reported to have encountered debt problems as a result of becoming ill, with a third (33 per cent) highlighting redundancy as the source of their monetary difficulties. † (Secured Loan News) Educational loans taken for higher studies form a major proportion of debts to be repaid by the 50 percent people in the age group of 18 – 24 years.The same is the case with one third of the people in the age group of 25 – 34 years still struggling to settle the loans taken for their educational purposes. A study carried out by Abbey in early 2007 showed that the British consumers had to pay ? 48. 7 billion by way of unexpected bills and charges over the previous year. On an average 79 percent of the British people have spent money on unbudgeted things and the average cost of such spending is estimated at ? 1375. Some of the issues identified with the debt creation in the UK are:? The personal lending figures stood at ? 1,318 billion as of July 2007 signifying that the British consumers are indebted on an average twice as the citizens of other European Countries. The people with serious debt management problem are estimated at 7 to 9 million Britons. ? A majority of the people have no savings or definite plans for savings to meet any unexpected future expenditure. A proportion of less than 50 percent of the people only have made adequate provisions for meeting the exigencies of a drop in their income level or other serious financial difficulties.? Some important statistics indicate that a substantial proportion of the population suffer from serious financial worries and resultant stress due to the increase of their debt burden. These statistics show that â€Å"74% of British couples find money the most diffi cult subject to talk about; 32% lie to their partners about how much they spend on credit cards; 35% are kept awake at night worrying about their finances†. ? According to the estimate from Bank of England around 50 percent of the people who have identified their debts as a serious burden on them belong to the lower income groups.It is the case with those people who live in the housing provided by the loca authorities are likely to live in debt burden at two times the average person has. ? Debts being burdensome on their own are also responsible for several other social problems and debt and these problems are interdependent on each other in terms of their cause and effect. Groups of people like those out of work, school dropouts, people from single parent families or unemployed parents are more likely to have serious debt management problems. 2. 4 REASONS FOR DEBT CREATION Consumers obtain loans for different purposes.Similarly people in different income groups and different strata of life opt for secured and unsecured loans for various purposes depending on their life styles and needs for different purposes. The main reasons cited for increase in the debts of the consumers is the increased availability of the loans, overspending and the desire to ‘buy instantly’ doing major purchases like purchase of cars or spending on a foreign vacation. The debt management problems of majority of the British consumers have arisen due to these and other reasons most of which are emotional spending.However why people get into serious debt problem is a very complicated question to find the answers there for. Though there are several factors responsible for leading the consumers to severe debt problems the following are some of the major causes that create a ‘debt trap’ for the British consumers: 2. 4. 1EASY AVAILABILITY OF DEBT: In recent years the economy of the country was doing extremely well resulting in lower rates of inflation, low inter est rates and low levels of unemployment.This economic buoyancy there had been an increased demand for the credit and the cost of such credit was low. The highly competitive financial services industry had been innovative to find many a number of products to suit the needs of various strata of people. â€Å"Today over 400 mainstream financial institutions compete fiercely to satisfy consumer demand. † (Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach) In this background it can be said that the easy availability of credit was the main reason for the creation of more debts by the average consumer.2. 4. 2 DIFFERENT TACTICS OF THE LENDERS TO ATTRACT THE PEOPLE Although the banks do not explicitly solicit or lure the vulnerable people to sell their financial services products, the products themselves have been so designed in addition to the lending practices of the banks to target the vulnerable people. Such practices include â€Å"aggressive marketing; a lack of transparency in calculating the cos t of borrowing; undue care in lending and a lack of data-sharing. † (Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach)Though it cannot be said that the banks and other lending institutions purposely target the vulnerable people â€Å"customers are often enticed into over-borrowing with disastrous consequences; research evidence suggests there is a strong correlation between serious indebtedness, drug and alcohol addictions and family breakdown. † (Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach) This often leads to a situation where the vulnerable people stand the chances of more likely to get into serious debt problems. 2. 2. 3 LOW FINANCIAL CAPABILITIESIt is observed out of a poll conducted in the year 2004 that 33 percent of the people in the UK are not confident enough to handle money issues and only 30 percent of them even knew the basic interest calculations which forms the basis financial intelligence. If this is kind of financial knowledge that an average British consumer has then there is no doubt that such people may not be in a position to make sound financial decisions concerning their personal finances including availing of secured and unsecured loans.Such lack of financial knowledge will make them drown in serious financial struggle as a result of unmanageable debts they have contracted. 2. 4. 4 LACK OF SAVING CULTURE: The trend of today’s Britain is ‘buy now and pay later’ as against the traditional way of living of saving money to buy assets. This has seriously disturbed the saving habit of the people over the period of time. In the current scenario more than 50 percent of the British pensioners make a cut on their other needs to settle their annual fuel bills.The decline in the habit of saving is one of the main reasons for the increased debt problems. Unless the saving habit of the people change drastically the situation of debt problems is likely to grow into greater magnitude. 2. 4. 5 MATERIALISTIC ATTITUDE OF THE MODERN SOCIETY The attitude of the society towards borrowing and its effects on life has considerably changed over the last few decades. Credit is no more considered as dangerous as it was perceived once upon a time. Now it is considered as more neutral and beneficial to the society.With this change in the attitude people have become more materialistic to obtain loans to buy the things irrespective of the need for such things in their lives. This is evident from the buying habits of British consumers exhibited in the following section. In one of the surveys conducted by Abbey, the financial service provider, it is learnt that â€Å"Britons have spent more than ? 169 billion on items that they rarely, if at all, use. Overall the average consumer has paid out some ? 3,685 through unnecessary objects, which could consequently impact upon their ability to handle their day-to-day finances.† (Secured Loan News) The survey also revealed that half of all consumers own an expensive clothing item which they wear on ly occasionally and over 35 percent of them have unworn shoes. â€Å"However, women were reported to be driving pointless fashion spending. Some 58 per cent of females were said to have unused garments, with this figure falling to 45 per cent for footwear. Meanwhile, spending on such products accounted for 45 and 23 per cent respectively among men. † (Secured Loan News)Electronic items, computer game console or video cameras and cooking equipments, repeated purchase of fine china items, exercise equipments, beauty gadgets that are not frequently used are some of the other items on which the British consumers spend their money and create debts for themselves. â€Å"However, financial problems could be particularly increased for those 288,000 people who have bought a second home in Britain which they claim to make little use of, which as a result may see them to struggle to make secured loan repayments. † (Secured Loan News) 2. 5 LEVEL OF CONSUMER CREDITThere has been a steady growth in the consumer lending in the period during the 1990s to early 2000s. But the growth has been sluggish after the climb in the last decade. According to the statistics released by Datamonitor â€Å"unsecured Loans and borrowing via other forms of consumer credit fell by 4. 5 per cent over the course of last year (2006) to ? 207. 8 billion†. (Secured Loan News) Maya Imberg the financial service analyst from Datamonitor says â€Å"A weaker labour market, combined with high consumer debts and weakened consumer confidence, meant that consumers cut down considerably on spending and aimed to repay more of their debts over 2006.† The study also indicated that the debt outstanding for an average customer stood at ? 4,522 in Consumer credit debt for the year 2006, which is against the ? 4,510 recorded for the year 2005. This outstanding debt figure was corroborated by the statistics released by the financial charity Credit Action which estimated the debt due by an average Briton at ? 4,550 by way of debts obtained on unsecured personal loans, credit cards, overdrafts and other forms of borrowing. This amount was estimated as at the end of March 2007.Credit Action has compiled the following statistics on the UK personal debt as on 1st of September 2007 which is alarming: ? â€Å"Total UK personal debt at the end of July 2007 stood at ? 1,355bn. The growth rate increased to 10. 1% for the previous 12 months which equates to an increase of ? 117bn. ? Total secured lending on homes at the end of July 2007 stood at ? 1,140bn. This has increased 11. 0% in the last 12 months. ? Total consumer credit lending to individuals in July 2007 was ? 214bn. This has increased 5. 3% in the last 12 months.? Total lending in July 2007 grew by ? 10. 3bn. Secured lending grew by ? 9. 2bn in the month. Consumer credit lending grew by ? 1. 1bn. ? Average household debt in the UK is ? 8,856 (excluding mortgages). This figure increases to ? 20,600 if the average is based on the number of households who actually have some form of unsecured loan. ? Average household debt in the UK is ? 56,000 (including mortgages). ? Average owed by every UK adult is ? 28,550 (including mortgages). This grew by ? 210 last month. ? Average outstanding mortgage for the 11.8m households who currently have mortgages is ? 96,560 ? Average interest paid by each household on their total debt is approximately ? 3,700 each year (this equates to 9% of take home pay). ? Average consumer borrowing via credit cards, motor and retail finance deals, overdrafts and unsecured personal loans has risen to ? 4,515 per average UK adult at the end of July 2007. ? Britain's personal debt is increasing by ? 1 million every 4 minutes. † (Credit Action) A pictorial representation of the growth in the UK personal debt is depicted below

Advantages and limitations of research methodology

Advantages and limitations of research methodology This chapter explains about the research methodology used in this project. It tells about the advantages and limitations of the method selected. The method used in this business project is Case Study research methodology. Case study attempts to describe relationships that exist in reality, mostly in a single organisation. Case study depends on the approach of the person conducting research, the data collected and the analytical technique used. Reality can be found in detailed manner by researcher, than it is possible through experiment or surveys, with the analysis of more variables. This research methodology is a useful technique as new ideas and theories can be built and tested. Case study analysis provides an opportunity to study the details in its natural settings. By using case study analysis, researcher can ask ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions in order to understand the complexity of each and every process taking place. Case study analysis provides multiple methods to collect data and gather information from any people, group or organisations. In this case study research methodology, the type of data used for research purpose is secondary data. Secondary data is some form of existing information that is already collected for some purpose. Secondary data can be collected by means of library research. The advantage of using secondary data is that the data has been already collected and the researcher can directly make use of the already collected data. Another advantage of using secondary data is the depth of details available. Also the data collection process in secondary data is performed by experts and professionals so the details present in it will be accurate and exact. This project examines the Customer Relationship Management and how it influences the organisation’s sustainability and stability. In the case study analysis, the importance of Customer Relationship Management is clearly understood. Also the case study of eBay is analysed and investigated. LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter examines the most relevant and current literature on E-Business and E-commerce and the process of Customer Relationship Management. It also examines the importance of Customer Relationship Management to improve firm’s performance. This business project has been drawn from a range of theoretical works. This chapter will also identify the relevant areas in relation to the objectives of this project using the following literatures: E-BUSINESS AND E-COMMERCE: According to (Adnam, R.Z. 2003), in the emerging global economy, e-commerce and e-business have increasingly become a necessary component of business strategy and a strong catalyst for economic development. E-Business is all about the use of internet by any organisation to sell or exchange their products and services to make profits. E-Business is defined as the organised effort of individuals to produce and sell, for a profit, products and services that satisfy so ciety’s needs through the facilities available on the internet (Canzer, B. et. al., 2003). E-Commerce is the use of electronic communication channels and processing data in the digital format for any sort of business activities that create value. E-Commerce is the use of the internet and the web to transact business; more formally, digitally enabled commercial transactions between and among organisations and individuals (Laudon and Traver, 2007). E-Commerce is the use of electronic communication and digital information processing technology in business transactions to create, transform and redefine relationships for value creation (Adnam, R.Z. 2003). The use of E-Commerce has changed the way the business is taking place and has changed the way the organisation handles its customers and competitors. . Electronic commerce has the potential to radically alter some economic activities and surrounding social environment (Wyckoff and Colecchia, 1999). E-Commerce is rapidly reshapin g the way companies compete with their competitors in an attempt to acquire a greater market share (Chou, 2001).

IT and facilities functions by Schwartz Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

IT and facilities functions by Schwartz - Essay Example However, these systems are of no use to facilities management team. Ironically, facilities management holds the responsibility of costs saving, of which energy saving is a critical practice and core area where costs can be saved. Energy consumption is the maximum in the data center, as explained by Schwartz (p.1). Role of IT in facilities management has bee highlighted throughout the article. Considering that data center consumes maximum energy, the virtualization technology helps in minimizing the number of servers required. Energy-saving virtualization technology is one reason IT is getting involved in energy infrastructure management (Schwartz, p.1). However, this system could be risky if the server fails. Here, facilities management comes into picture, which can help by involving in management of the data center. For this, the facilities manager should be equipped with IT working skills. Sharplin, the CEO of Site Controls, emphasizes the need and benefits of IT in facilities mana gement in the real estate industry, which include lower costs of energy, decreased equipment maintenance costs, reduce carbon footprint and increased efficiency (Schwartz, p.2). In this article, Schwartz clearly underpins the significance of involvement of facilities managers in IT functions and/or have substantial knowledge of IT that can be implemented for successful facilities management and cost-saving practices. Indirectly, Schwartz also indicates that facilities management can be accomplished by using sophisticated IT systems; this would require facilities managers to be equipped with IT skills and understanding. This process would also require successful integration of facilities management and IT infrastructure. Integration between these two functions would again mean that facilities managers obtain a thorough understanding of working of IT systems.

INSURANCE MARKETS & OPERATIONS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

INSURANCE MARKETS & OPERATIONS - Essay Example The various impacts of the risks that affect the insurance industry are analyzed along with their impact upon the demand and supply of insurance. Nonetheless the impact of the demand and supply upon the insurance and upon the industry as a whole is examined along with their impacts upon alternation of the industry structure. Factors that affect various insurance operations are determined with the intensity of their impact regarding the change in supply and change in the insurance industry thus resulting in the change in the structure. The future of the insurance amounting to various factors that accounts for the change in the industry and how they shall be impacting the industry in the future is analyzed. The scope of the industry in the future regarding changes in the demand and supply along with the structural changes that shall be evolved so as to benefit from the external factors is determined (Rejda, n.d.). The response of the industry regarding the factors is analyzed in curren t and future terms and the future of the insurance industry is determined regarding change and the external factors. ... Amal, et al., 2012). The external factors of the insurance industry are discussed in detail below. Risks The insurance industry is to account and tackle risks that are faced by various entities. The change in the intensity of the risk determines the demand and supply of insurance. The structural risks that have evolved in the recent years when the company mergers enhanced and various companies started consolidating the risk increased. There are various risks factors affecting the insurance industry and they are categorized differentially along with the nature and impact (Coomber, 2006). The change in the risks that are to be faced the insurance industry changed in accordance so as to manage those risks. Economic Risks The economic risks increased when the global crises in various economies increased and thus impacted the insurance industry. Major systematic financial failures resulting in the closure of many corporates such as Enron and Lehman Brothers Bank has gathered the intention towards reconsideration of risk (Jeffrey & Amy, 2004). The economic changes around the world have caused the insurance industry to realize the intensity of the risks that in increasing and thus account for the changing and increasing risk of economy to incorporate in its operations and structures. The financial imbalances around the globe and the change in the incomes have caused the insurance industry to reanalyze the demand of the insurance. Environmental Risks The definition of the risks totally changed when the environmental changes in the globe began much of a concern. The development and the impact of the risks that is faced by the environment caused the insurance industry as how the

Museums are catalysts for regeneration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Museums are catalysts for regeneration - Essay Example They are able to connect the past with the present, serve as reminders of a historic past, and provide a link between the old generation and the new one. They enable people to explore collections for inspiration, enjoyment, and learning. Investing in cultural projects such as museums has been the task of tourism, which is both indispensable and necessary. Likewise, urban development strategy has been the investment in cultural projects such as iconic museums and arts centers intended to enhance city image alongside catalyzing private sector participation and attracting tourists (Grodach 2008). Museums possess educational and cultural mandates, which are being transformed as institutions continuously play an increasingly important part in economic development and tourism promotion strategies (Tufts and Milne 1999). Museums are concerned with not only its traditional public mandate, but also with its ability to enhance consumption experiences while contributing to a diversified tourism product. The museum as a catalyst for cultural landscape regeneration is seen in its expansion in variety as well as explosion in popularity over the last decades, in which marked change in its role in society is significantly observed (Falk and Dierking 2002). In the past, the museum was oriented primarily towards research and collection. Today, it is increasingly viewed as an institution for public learning and has placed an emphasis on education – a task that it never did in the past (Falk and Dierking 2002). The issue of educating the public did not arise in the past and visits then were conducted privately. It must also be noted that, museums used to be for public collections alone, shared with others selectively by the curator. Although for many, the museum remains to hold a secondary function, it was observed that over time, its role as a public asset has become increasingly important (Falk and Dierking 2002). A quarter of century ago, most

A Study on the Effect of De-Selection on Elite Youth Footballers Essay

A Study on the Effect of De-Selection on Elite Youth Footballers - Essay Example The entrants to the scholarship program were from the best players between age 16 and 19. Each of the participants performed two interviews. Each interview averaged a time of sixty minutes. The interviews were conducted in locations of their choice. The interviews did not follow a tight schedule; instead, they were reflexive with provisional themes prepared moments before the interviews. The role of the interviewer was to enable the interviewee to narrate his tale in his own manner. Thus, the interviewer was an active listener. The interviewer stored each interview in an audiotape and transcribed before another interview took place. The interviewer pursued emerging issues in the next interview. After the accumulation of the data, the researchers analyzed it by reading the transcripts with the view of identifying narrative segments and themes in the transcripts. They then followed this with writing analytical memos to provide links to common themes. The researchers followed these iden tical concepts in the next meeting. From the data obtained, the researchers were able to reconstruct the lives of the correspondents before and after their de-selection. The methodology used and justification for its use. ... 572). In the interpretive biography, researchers begin by finding written documents and other records. Some may be of a quantitative nature, but it is relevant if it helps describe a person’s life. Nevertheless, the main material in this research emanates from the numerous interviews the researcher has with the respondent. Of most interest, are events that led to a remarkable change in the respondent’s life. The researcher may want to visit the actual place where the event occurred. After this, the researcher tries to decipher the meaning of those events in the respondent’s life. The researcher may rely on his impression about the event. The interpretive biography method involves the use and acquisition of documents pertaining to a subject’s; personal life, accounts and narratives that elucidate on significant milestones in a person’s life. The central focus of the interpretive biography method is a person’s life experiences (Lewiss-Beck & Br yman 2004, p. 507). The use of the biographical method has its basis on the argument that, those who lived are the only ones who can know their lives. Alternatively, through their representations, which include stories and personal narratives among others. The meaning of these events is only visible in the performances of those who lived those lives. According to Thomas Murray 2003, researchers design biographies to serve several functions. One of the purposes is to preserve a record of a prominent person’s development and contributions. Another purpose is to correct mistaken identities. It can also serve to teach readers lessons through another person’s life or to trace public and private actions of the subject in view of finding

Economic evaluation (comparing scenarios) Assignment

Economic evaluation (comparing scenarios) - Assignment Example In the current society, it is considered to be an analytical tool that focuses on managing issues ascribed to uncertainty. Base Case: In the case that financial resources amounting to 1029.8 dollars, are used to solve challenges ascribed to acquisition of PEP, an incremental value of 258.6 dollars would be spend to cater for improving the quality of life leading to 21.418 quality life added year. However, the value of QALY would reduce to 21.399 if only 771.2 dollars are spent to solve HIV challenges without PEP. Worst Case: In the case that an amount of 1098.5 dollars is directed towards solving HIV issues by use of PEP, the QALY would reduce to 15.958 with an incremental cost of 1033.7 dollars. However, if the challenges associated with HIV are solved by investing 62.2 dollars, there would not be incremental costs with an increased QALY of 15.993. Best Case: 2614.6 dollars is directed towards purchasing PEP to solve HIV challenges the QALY would increase to 36.488, with no increased incremental. However, if other methods rather than PEP is used, the costs would rise to 9046.8 dollars with an incremental value of 6432.2 dollars with a relatively lower QALY value

Focus on a single management issue of an organisation (United Nation Essay

Focus on a single management issue of an organisation (United Nation or Interpol) - Essay Example While discussing the below mentioned case we can consider how different perspective of organization behavior comes into play to solve the issue, whether it was solved effectively or not and if not what extra can be done to solve it properly. The case study that we will be discussing is about the United Nations The United Nations: Competencies, Integrity and core value: Reform for the Future Organization Overview: Hanhimaki (2008), in his book gave a short but insightful introduction of the United Nations. According to his study â€Å"we the people of the United Nations† was the catch line behind the formation of the United Nations. It was founded in the year1945 with four major aims. These were; to ensure that no war takes place between the countries and there should be peace and harmony; ensure that people have faith in fundamental human rights all around the world in every country; It should ensue that international law being respected and followed by every country and final ly ensure a better standard of life and promoting social progress. The basic problem of the UN was there from the day one. Although, foundation of this body reduces the risk of another world war but it was unable have control over inter fights within the countries (Like in middle east Asia). The fundamental human rights were all time low in South Africa for a long period of time, but a not able to ensure that its law helps the people to overcome this issue. So , there are a few drawbacks and limitations also in the function of the UN. (Hanhimaki, 2008, pp. 1-3) Present concerns related to the UN : According to Mead (2012), presently Untied nation is a toothless organization, which is being flouted and ignored more often or not by different countries. The consequences of different resolution taken by the UN are almost nil. The greatest example of that is the recent visit of the UN team in Syria, where they're greeted with artillery barrages. Countries like Iran , North Korea give no importance to the UN’s resolution. According to him, the UN is less prestigious and less influential comparing to that of the 1940s and 1950s. Mead in his study pointed out following reason due to which the UN is becoming less important for the countries worldwide. These are, The toothlessness of its resolution as more and more government simply ignoring it (Mead, 2012). Incoherence of the UN: The function of the UN is based on one idea that the different governments of different countries are same in some real sense in some parameter, So the power of voting in the general assembly is same for example in case of India as well as Chad.With the increase of irrelevant and small states in the UN assembly, the effectiveness or importance of its decision started to lose its value (Mead, 2012). Outdated Policy and process are one of the major concerns of the UN. The security council of the UN is still based on 1945’s compromise between that’s time political powers like USSR, UK, and USA. China and France were not the major power that time. But at present the permanent members of the Security council of the UN are not the only great power’s of the world. Countries like Japan and India being the super power not the member of the UN, so they don't take the decision seriously (Mead, 2012). The UN is filled with the representative

Left For Dead Essay Example for Free

Left For Dead Essay It was a horrific experience that I would never want to go through again. At first it was just a normal night, a little rough but nothing too major. We were just off the coast of Leyte and Guam when we were hit by two missiles. At first I was just lying in bed and thought it was a problem with the engines until the abandon ship order was given. The abandon ship order is the worst nightmare for any seamen. There was nothing I could do except follow procedures, I woke all the other men that hadn’t been woken up yet and we rushed to the deck, grabbed a life jacket and waited until the ship was close enough to the water so that when we jumped we would not die on impact. Hitting water from high enough up is like hitting concrete. We dove into the water and swam as fast as we can could away from the sinking ship so that we didn’t get pulled under from the under tow. Once we were a safe distance away we hung onto the raft like our life depended on it. We had been told that a distress signal had been sent out and that it would only be a couple of hours before help arrived. Several hours later there was still no help and the first sign of sharks was when one of the singles was attacked and taken down within a matter of seconds. I tried not to think about the dangers lurking around but with so much time you could not help but run it through your mind. The hardest part was deciding whether to let the injured go or to keep them and risk the fact that they were attracting the sharks. After two days there was still no sign of help and many of us were beginning to get delusional. Men were swimming off because they thought they saw an island or hula girls. Others dehydrated themselves by drink the cold water at their feet because they thought it was fresh. On the third and fifth days there were only about 30 men left and some were wielding weapons and getting restless. Luckily we were able to convince them to let them go and continue to work together and live for as long as possible. Finally on the fifth day there was a sign of hope. There was a plane fly over at about 3000 ft. We began to wave wildly and light flares to get its attention, it flashed its lights at us and that was when we knew we would be saved. It sent out to the other ships and planes with our coordinates and rescue information. The biggest surprise to me was that it landed in the ocean. He managed to land safely and we started to pile into the plane and on the wings. The next sign was a ship, a little black dot on the horizon. That was when I had full hope that we would be rescued and could go home. The trauma that I have faced over the last several years is almost unbearable and has changed my life. Just recently my family and I took a trip to Maui and we were supposed to go on the submarine but I could not get it out of my mind that I was on the ship all over again and I was going to drown. Even the sound of running water gives me nightmares, making me feel like I’m swimming for my life in the water all over again. Immediately when I returned home I was put in psychology classes to try to get rid of my trauma or lower the affect. These classes have not made any difference and I have recently become an alcoholic to numb the pain. It puts me in a state of mind that helps me forget about what I went through. I know it is not a sane way to deal with it but my traumas have come to a point where I cannot handle them anymore. The Price Chapter 11 talks about the fight-or-flight response and relates it to a squirrel and a dog and a cat and a dog. Also, the traumas and what they were called at different time periods and the symptoms of post-traumatic stress. They also talk about what six people did when the arrived home and how they handled the disaster. The rest of the chapter is about the reunions that the survivors had and how they handled them.

Love in Shakespeares Sonnets

Love in Shakespeares Sonnets Introduction In his poem, Scorn not the Sonnet (Poetical Works, 1827), Wordsworth famously said that the sonnets were the key with which Shakespeare unlocked his heart and whilst this can certainly be seen to be the case, the sonnets do much more than that. Writing of various forms of love, and indeed of love itself, using the contemporary sonnet form, Shakespeare develops the aspects of love which the sonnets reflect into an all-encompassing discussion on the major themes of life itself that continue to inform and direct the human condition, a fact which is perhaps partly responsible for their continuing popularity with both public and critics alike. This dissertation sets out to discover, through close reading of carefully selected representative sonnets and critical context, the way Shakespeare accomplishes this. The sonnet form as Shakespeare, whose 154 sonnets were first published in 1609, and his contemporaries used it was introduced into England in the sixteenth century by Sir Thomas Wyatt who translated sonnets in the Petrarchan form from the original Italian: As we should expect in a period when he [Shakespeare] was beginning to write the sonnet, allusions to Petrarchism become increasingly common. (Whitaker, 1953, p. 88) The Shakespearian or Elizabethan sonnet form differs from the Italian, originally developed by Petrarch in the fourteenth century, principally in form. Both styles are usually comprised of fourteen lines but have a different rhyme sequence and structure. The Petrarchan sonnet consists of an octet (a sequence of eight lines in which the theme is opened) and the subsequent sestet (which reflects on the theme it has introduced), whilst the Shakespearian is structured in iambic pentameter in three quatrains and a couplet, the three quatrains rhyming in abab form and the final couplet rhyming cc. It is important to understand Shakespeares structure because it so often reflects the theme, with the three quatrains each addressing a different aspect of the sonnets focus and the couplet usually providing an epigram summing up the idea which the sonnet reflects. Indeed, Shakespeare does not only use the sonnet form in his poems but also within his plays, incorporating what a contemporary audience would recognise to be evidence of true and even holy love. The most famous example of this is in the first meeting between Romeo and Juliet, written in 1594, where their words are exchanged in sonnet form: Romeo: If I profane with my unworthiest hand This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss. Juliet: Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much, Which mannerly devotion shows in this; For saints have hands that pilgrims hands do touch, And palm to palm is holy palmers kiss. Romeo: Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too? Juliet: Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer. Romeo: O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do; They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair. Juliet: Saints do not move, though grant for prayers sake. Romeo: Then move not while my prayers effect I take. (Shakespeare, William. 1954. Romeo and Juliet, Act I, Scene v, p. 30) This is an excellent example of the innovative way in which Shakespeare uses the sonnet form and it is therefore appropriate to look at it in detail in the introduction to this dissertation in order to show the aspects of love with which the discussion will be concerned: From the early poems to the young man of rank, urging him to marry and have a son, through the idealising attempts to negate the space of social difference in the mutuality of private love, to the bitter wit of the Will poems to the dark woman, the player-poet seeks to reduce the gap between addresser and addressee that is the very condition of the Petrarchan mode. It has not escaped commentators or audiences that in Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare represents a moment of reciprocity via the archetype of in commensurability: a sonnet, uniquely shared by Romeo and Juliet in Act 1. (Schalkwyk, 2002. p. 65) In the first quatrain, Shakespeare has Romeo, who was previously infatuated with Rosaline, a state we are given to understand that he has often found himself in before this, declare his feelings in holy imagery which Juliet, in the second quatrain, immediately picks up on and develops. Thus, though inversion of the traditional male role as director is not removed, Shakespeare gifts Juliet with an aspect of equality with Romeo, by making her his equal in wit, a gender specific imperative which is found in both his plays and sonnets alike. Moreover, in the third quatrain, the lovers share their feelings and the structure itself, with each taking separate lines of the sonnet. This mutuality reflects how the play will develop, with Juliet continuing to grow in strength, and also shows the importance of the connection between what appears to be love and what is true love, associated fundamentally with God, as evidenced by the religious imagery of pilgrims and saints and perhaps most impor tantly palmers, which signifies one who has made the pilgrimage to Rome. The contemporary audience would recognise this first dialogue between the lovers as emblematic of true love precisely because it is expressed in the sonnet form. Also, Shakespeare establishes the connective between true love and religion which, as will be seen in the dissertation discussion, is another feature of the sonnets as a whole and indeed the sonnet form. The way in which Romeo and Juliet share the sonnet is, as is noted above (Schalkwyk, 2002. p. 65), very different from the way that the older Petrarchan sonnet form implements the structure to address the theme or indeed object of love. Shakespeares concept of love as expressed in the sonnets is essentially based upon reality, human beings interacting or regarded as representative of love without the necessity to involve the idea of worship as is certainly the case with Petrarchs Laura. Although many of the sonnets are addressed to an unknown and somewhat generically enigmatic female, referred to as the Dark Lady by critics, the sense of the sonnets being concerned with human love in all its aspects is always primary, as Shakespeare writes in Sonnet CXXX: I grant I never saw a goddess go; My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground: (Shakespeare, William. 2003. Shakespeares Sonnets. ed. Katherine Duncan Jones. p.375) This is a thought that he completes by following the colon with a couplet summation that despite this, or perhaps because of it, his love is as rare as any belied with false compare. It is clear that love for Shakespeare is as concerned with humanity as much, if not more, than the conception of love and the distant, silent, object of that love as divine. Thus, the idea that Romantic love has little to do with love as it is actually experienced is another aspect of love with which the sonnets are concerned and which this dissertation will address. Indeed, one imperative which seeks to involve a less direct form of love is the notion of Platonic love, or love as an ideal, as expressed in Sonnet CXVI: Let me not to the marriage of true minds/Admit impediments (Shakespeare, William. 2003. Shakespeares Sonnets. ed. Katherine Duncan Jones. p.343). It is generally accepted that the first seventeen of the sonnets are addressed to a young man and in these Shakespeare turns more frequently to the idea that marriage should be the object of a mans life. However, he then turns, in sonnets XVIII-CXXVI, to homoerotic expressions of love to a man, identified, simply because of the dedication on the first (possibly unauthorised) publication, by Thomas Thorpe, as Mr. W.H.: The interpretation of the expression only begetter is doubtful. Did Thorpe mean that Mr. W. H. was the fair youth of the sonnets (though on this reading the dark lady also has a claim as a begetter, to some of the sonnets), or was he merely the gentleman who gave Thorpe the manuscriptMr. William Harvey perhaps, who in 1598 married the widowed mother of Lord Southampton? The manuscript can only have come from one in the innermost circle of those who knew Shakespeare and his noble friend. If Southampton was the friend, William Harvey may have been the only begetter. (Alexander Nisbet, 1935, p. 94) Like the Dark Lady, the young man is not identified within the sonnets and the location of his identity has similarly exercised scholars across the generations. However, although it is certainly true that spurious identification is of passing interest: The identity of the fair youth matters much more to those who believe that the poems grew from personal experience than to those who believe that they are poetic fictions, influenced more by sonneteering convention than by life. (Bate, 2008, pp. 41-2) Bates point is well-taken since the actual identity of the object of love is indeed much less important to an appreciation of the sonnets than their importance as representative of aspects of love: Somehow the poems convince each reader that what he or she sees in them is what is really there. But somehow they then sneak up behind you and convince you of something completely different. (Bate, 2008, p. 43) It might be argued, in fact, that precisely because of the lack of knowledge concerning the individual to whom the sonnets are addressed, readers have formed a generic connective with them across the generations which is cathartic in its anonymity: How do we lesser mortals know to perform our lesser miracles of life? Again we face the enigma of all creation, which Shakespeare himself has simply accepted and has nowhere attempted to explain. What was there when there was nothing? And how does something more forever come from something less? Whether the creation be instantaneous, in six days, or in aeons of ages the miracle is no less. And in it we live, and move, and have our being. And perhaps, alas!, have in us too little of the poet to see that there is any miracle at all. (Baldwin, 1950, p. 384) Thus, the individual biographical aspects of the sonnets, though of interest, can never be a primary informative and this may, indeed, be beneficial, as we shall hope to see. Chapter One: The Marriage of True Minds Little is known about Shakespeares life and this has given rise to much speculation about his biographical background: It is one of the ironies attendant on the growth of Shakespeares reputation that even the most diligent scholarship has been able to uncover very little of the background of the poets personal or public life. However, the poverty of detail has merely spurred his biographers to increased scholarly, inferential, and imaginative activity. (Marder, 1963, p. 156) What is certain, since it is documented through baptism of the children, is that he was married to Anne Hathaway, a fairly well connected Stratford girl, older than himself, when he was eighteen, and they had three children: a daughter, Susanna, and twins, Hamnet and Judith. Despite this, or maybe because of it, he spent the vast majority of his life away from home in London where most of his writing took place. There has been a great deal written about how happy or otherwise the couple might have been, especially since he left Anne nothing in his will except his second best bed. Many have read this as an insult but perhaps a more appropriate reading is that the best bed was for guests and the second best the marriage bed therefore to bequeath this to his wife, far from being an insult, was a love token. Carol Ann Duffy writes of this in her sonnet Anne Hathaway: The bed we loved in was a spinning world of forests, castles, torchlight, clifftops, seas where he would dive for pearls. (Duffy, The Worlds Wife, 2000, p. 30) This tender version of love would seem much more appropriate, especially since the first seventeen of the sonnets, known as the procreation sonnets, are largely concerned with the recommendation of marriage to a young man. If Shakespeare was so violently against marriage then it seems unlikely that he would have recommended it. However, as always with the sonnets, this is not as straightforward as it seems with the directive to marry being somewhat complicated by other imperatives with which Shakespeare is clearly concerned, not least his affection for the Fair Youth. The early sonnets in the sequence should be considered as they pertain to the question of marriage itself, therefore, rather than as they relate to Shakespeares life: Shakespeares Sonnets raise a number of problems. We do not know when they were written, to whom they are addressed, nor even if they are certainly autobiographical. (Knight, 1955, p. 3) With this in mind it is not only preferable but essential, therefore, to qualify any discussion on the possible relationship between the sonnet topics and Shakespeares life with the reminder that we know so little about the latter that any inferences must be regarded as tenuously speculative at best. Thus, the marriage question which relates to the first seventeen sonnets cannot be seen as directed in any major sense by the poets own life: The greatest sonnets, those which are neither wholly conventional nor wholly autobiographical, preserve this balance between embroilment and detachment in a way which is truly dramatic. A personal experience may underlie each, but it is experience transmuted, as in the plays, into the correlative form of characters in action. To some degree these characters are the dramatic counterparts of actual people-the youth, the dark woman-though they are not the people themselves. Others belong, as personages, only to the microcosm of poetry: Time, for example, one of the most powerful villains among Shakespeares dramatis personae; and above all, Shakespeares own diverse masks and moods, fully realised and understood. (Mahood, 1988, p. 90) The idea that the sonnets are in any way biographical must, indeed, be questioned but it must also be remarked that the way the words are used within the sonnets might be attributable to Shakespeares personal consciousness: The nature of the wordplay in the Sonnets varies according to whether Shakespeare is too remote or too near the experience behind the poem or whether he is at a satisfying dramatic distance from it. When he is detached, the wordplay is a consciously used, hard-worked rhetorical device. When his complexity of feeling upon the occasion of a sonnet is not fully realised by him, the wordplay often reveals an emotional undercurrent which was perhaps hidden from the poet himself. But in the best sonnets the wordplay is neither involuntary nor wilful; it is a skilfully handled means whereby Shakespeare makes explicit both his conflict of feelings and his resolution of the conflict. (Mahood, 1988, p. 90) Thus, when in Sonnet CXVI he writes of the marriage of true minds (Shakespeare, William, 2003, p.343) he is perhaps inviting us to infer a connective between what he writes and what he feels, an altogether different kind of marriage, metaphorical rather than literal and certainly more of the mind than of the heart. As the sequence begins, the poet addresses the youth familiarly but in an almost didactic tone, of the older to the younger, as here in Sonnet I: From fairest creatures we desire increase, That thereby beautys rose might never die, But as the riper should by time decease, His tender heir might bear his memory: But thou contracted to thine own bright eyes, Feedst thy lights flame with self-substantial fuel, Making a famine where abundance lies, Thy self thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel: Thou that art now the worlds fresh ornament, And only herald to the gaudy spring, Within thine own bud buriest thy content, And, tender churl, makst waste in niggarding: Pity the world, or else this glutton be, To eat the worlds due, by the grave and thee. (Shakespeare, William, 2003, p.113) The importance of this sonnet in establishing the poets themes throughout the sequence must be stressed, as here we see Shakespeare writing of the transience of beauty, the selfishness of the individual, the battle between desire and fulfilment, the beauty of the natural world and its comparative with human beauty (to which he will return in the well-known Sonnet XVIII and elsewhere) and the basic responsibility of man to procreate or, as the sonnet has it, increase and thereby beautys rose might never die. All of these relate to the human condition and also perhaps to Shakespeares own concerns: In the case of a poet, I suggest it is chiefly through his images that he, to some extent unconsciously, gives himself away. He may be, and in Shakespeares case is, almost entirely objective in his dramatic characters and their views and opinions, yet, like the man who under stress of emotion will show no sign of it in eye or face, but will reveal it in some muscular tension, the poet unwittingly lays bare his own innermost likes and dislikes, observations and interests, associations of thought, attitudes of mind and beliefs, in and through the images, the verbal pictures he draws to illuminate something quite different in the speech and thought of his characters. (Spurgeon, 1935, p. 4) Thus, the fact that the boy is referred to in relation to fairest creatures facilitates the poets directive that this places upon the individual a responsibility: beauty is not given to die but to be carried on by the tender heir. The register is imperative and commanding, with the poet adopting the voice of one who has the authority to instruct by reason of superior age and wisdom, hence perhaps the juxtaposition of riper and decrease in the preceding line to reference to the tender heir and memory. The youth is instructed that he is, in common parlance, his own worst enemy, Thy self thy foe, since he does not see the waste of his beauty which lies in his refusal to share his gifts with posterity via procreation. This accusatory tone is extended to the self-abuse of masturbation in Within thine own bud buriest thy content, which also bears the pun of pleasure and substance, and the youth referred to as a glutton and tender churl, the latter implying an indulgence in the chiding of t he boy. This is, of course, the supreme image of the waste with which the poet is concerned since to make a famine where abundance lies is almost seen as a blasphemy, refusing, selfishly, to procreate and eat the worlds due by the selfish pursuit of personal indulgence: contracted to thine own bright eyes, as with Narcissus, in love with his own reflection and failing to see the self-destruction that is inherent in this. In addition, by referring to the boy in terms of a rose, the poet introduces the classic Romantic emblem of love as well as re-emphasising the transience of the poets beauty. This idea of beauty and its connective with nature is again related in terms of a comparative with natures beauty and inveterate perishability in Sonnet XVIII: Shall I compare thee to a summers day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summers lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimmed, And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or natures changing course untrimmed: But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou owst, Nor shall death brag thou wanderst in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou growst, So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. (Shakespeare, William, 2003, p.147) The comparison of the transience of natures beauty with that of the youth to whom the poem is addressed is clear, yet the rhetoric of the opening seems to imply an equivocal nature to the connective of the extended metaphor that follows. The tentativeness of the image is also emphasised by this questioning in the first line and it enhances both the intimacy of the register of address and the relationship of the poet with the wider readership. This latter is important because it is so much a concern in the poem, with the idea of immortality attached here to writing as it was previously attached to procreation. The common denominator here is the idea of creation itself and its connective with the eternal. This is perhaps one of Shakespeares more famous sonnets, if not the most famous, therefore it is fitting that in a dissertation concerned with the aspects of love which the sonnets present, attention should be paid to the aspect of the writing which pertains to the process of creation and its connective with the reader. It is interesting to note, indeed, that the poet chooses to stress the importance of the eternal lines which he is composing and how this overcomes the basic transience of life and beauty whether in nature or humanity. Indeed, the punctuation of this sonnet is indicative of its imperative since there is frequent usage of the colon throughout, implying a thought begun and completed in each quatrain, functioning almost as enjambment and enhancing the idea that the many aspects of beauty and life which this sonnet covers are embodied within one thought as evidenced in the single extended metaphor which informs the sonnet as a whole. The poets almost godlike assimilation of the power to grant immortality appears dangerously hubristic in abstract and indeed encourages the inference that Shakespeare was aware of the strength of his poetic gifts and their ability to confer a kind of immorality on the object of love, who by the end of the sonnet has become subject to the sonneteer rather than in command. As the poet is also using his gifts to describe the loved one via nature, the features of the numinous within nature become connected with this hubristic stance. Thus, natures changing course and Chance, which significantly begins a line, are to some extent negated, or at least qualified, by the poets art. Features of life which terrify, therefore, such as death cannot brag in the face of the eternal nature of Art: Shakespeare prophetically felt the immortality and universality of his plays even though he seems to have made no great effort toward their preservation in print. (Marder, 1963, p. 361) This might, this sonnet would seem to suggest, also be extended to the sonnets. Indeed, in daring to criticise the glories of nature, Shakespeare appears to place creative Art above it, since it, unlike all that is natural, survives, only, though, as long as it is appreciated, as the final couplet significantly testifies: So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. In this way, Shakespeare demonstrates an awareness of the fundamental importance of the connection between writer and reader, reinforced perhaps by his experience as an actor and writer of drama. Hence, the voice of the actor may be perceived in the words of the sonneteer and universality as well as the eternal perceived in both: On this planet the reputation of Shakespeare is secure. When life is discovered elsewhere in the universe and some interplanetary traveler brings to this new world the fruits of our terrestrial culture, who can imagine anything but that among the first books carried to the curious strangers will be a Bible and the works of William Shakespeare. (Marder, 1963, p. 362) Thus, Shakespeare may be seen, via the sonnets and plays, to transcend what is perceived as immediate in aspects of love and engage with the eternal. Chapter Two: I do believe her though I know she lies The potent sexual content of the sonnets becomes a major directive following the romantic turning point of Sonnet XVIII. The sequence moves powerfully from restrained yet poetic discussion of aspects of love to explicit sexual references which are concerned more with lust than love and often deceit is linked to this and this duplicity is most often associated with the heterosexual sonnets. Importantly, the passion is not directed solely towards heterosexual love, instead it involves an equal, if not stronger, reflection of homoerotic desire, with the Fair Youth and the Dark Lady equally powerful in the poets passion, indeed, often the two overlap producing an androgynous aspect to the passion which also appears in the plays: The first thing that startles the reader about the sonnets is the emotional virtuosity of the protagonist. The poems appear to have been composed over a longer period of years, and to cover a greater range of passionate experience, than any one of the plays. In recognizing the variety of moods and attitudes Shakespeare accumulates in the sonnets, we may choose either to admire his protean nature as an actual passionate friend and lover, or to stress his dexterity in accumulating such an extraordinary range of amatory motifs from literary sources. Either his own nature was unusually flexible and susceptible, or he deliberately chose to display the full scope of literary permutations of which emotional relationships are capable. Probably both views are true: he dexterously coordinated first-hand experience with the accumulated resources of the sonnet tradition, from the solemn and sentimental to the cynical and outrageous. (Richmond, 1971, p. 19) This is particularly noticeable in Sonnet XX where the poet longs for the youth to be a woman and the homoerotic replaces the marital directive which appeared in the didactic tone of the first sonnets in the sequence: A womans face with natures own hand painted, Hast thou, the master mistress of my passion; A womans gentle heart, but not acquainted With shifting change, as is false womens fashion: An eye more bright than theirs, less false in rolling, Gilding the object whereupon it gazeth; A man in hue all hues in his controlling, Which steals mens eyes and womens souls amazeth. And for a woman wert thou first created; Till Nature, as she wrought thee, fell a-doting, And by addition me of thee defeated, By adding one thing to my purpose nothing. But since she prickd thee out for womens pleasure, Mine be thy love and thy loves use their treasure.(Shakespeare, William, 2003, p.151) Shakespeare confronts directly here the clear belief that women are duplicitous and deceitful and that the master mistress of his passion, though gifted with a womans gentle heart is not acquainted/With shifting change, as is false womens fashion. The eye, the traditional window of the soul, is more bright but less false. Thus, the poet suggests that the beautiful youth has all a womans best gifts but none of her faults, a state of perfection to be idealised in desire. Shakespeare develops this by writing directly of the sexual difference where the punning prickd is clearly a reference to the redundancy of the penis for the poet. Nature here is the enemy, even the jealous sexual predator, having me of thee defeated thus frustrating the desires of the poet by changing what he perceives to be the original intention, to create a woman, in the addition of the male organ of procreation. The amorphous image appears to be the ideal with neither male nor female specifics to obscure or defeat the perfection of the union. Whether this desire is linked to Shakespeares own desire is equivocal as are all inferences of autobiographical content, it is tempting but dangerous to make too may autobiographical assumptions. However: In depicting this blend of adulation and contempt, and in all those sonnets where verbal ambiguity is thus used as a deliberate dramatic device, Shakespeare shows that superb insight into states of strangely mixed feelings which enabled him to bring to life a Coriolanus or an Enobarbus. Like Freud, he found the causes of quibbling by studying his own quibbles; and the detachment which such an analysis implies imparts to the best of the Sonnets that objectivity we look for in the finest dramatic poetry. (Mahood, 1988, p. 110) Certainly, there is a Freudian homoerotic subliminal here but there is no evidence to suggest that this was an actual experience of the poet any more than we can say that he wrote Hamlet therefore he must have experienced being the Prince of Denmark. To do either is to ignore Shakespeares imaginative genius and his ability to transmute the fancy into the creative, with both forming then a reality which has little if any connection with fact. So, although Shakespeare may have had sexual liaisons with both sexes and been crossed in love, the genius is in producing what can be seen to be unrelated to what might possibly have occurred in fact into an emblem of a generic tendency in humanity to which most of us can relate: If Shakespeares speaker fictionalized the young man, so too he fictionalizes himself (Berry, 2001, p.1). Having said that, Sonnet XX has been seen as offering significant clues not only to the nature of Shakespeares own sexuality but also to the identity of the Fair Youth himself and certainly to the reality of the human image even in its placing, as Kathryn Duncan Jones has pointed out in her notes to her 2003 edition of the Sonnets (the edition used throughout this dissertation): The placement of this anatomical sonnet at 20 may allude to a traditional association of this figure with the human body, equipped with twenty digits (Duncan Jones, 2003, p. 150). The direct connection which Duncan Jones makes between anatomy and imagination in this sonnet is interesting in that it breaches the gap between what might be seen to be metaphorical and what is actually a human figurative. Indeed, she goes on in her Introduction to expand on this: Many more numerological finesses may be discerned. For instance, the embarrassingly anatomical sonnet 20 [which] probably draws on primitive associations of the figure with the human body, whose digits, fingers and toes, add up to twenty (Duncan Jones, 2003, p. 101). As to the identity of the youth to which clues are supposedly to be found in this sonnet, they largely attach to the usage of the word, or name it is suggested, of hue and hues (spelt Hew and Hews in the Quarto). This, it has been mooted, might relate to a specific individual, especially as critics have noted that the name appears in one form or another, even if only in disparate letters, throughout the sonnet. As with much of the investigation into a connective between Shakespeares life and his Art, the link is at best speculative and at worst spurious and in either case somewhat superfluous: The sonnets have an extraordinary capacity to elicit categorical statements from their interpreters. It is announced that the youth is Southampton, the youth is Pembroke, the youth is nobody, the dark lady is Mary Fitton, she is Aemilia Lanyer, she is nobody, the sonnets are based on experience, they are not based on experience, the love was not homosexual, the love was homosexual, the love was a dramatic fiction which ha

Free Native Son Essays: Naturalism and Determinism :: Native Son Essays

Naturalism and Determinism in Native Son "Today Bigger Thomas and that mob are strangers, yet they hate. They hate because they fear, and they fear because they feel that the deepest feelings of their lives are being assaulted and outraged. And they do not know why; they are powerless pawns in a blind play of social forces."   This passage epitomizes for Richard Wright, the most radical effects of criminal racial situation in America. However, perhaps the most important role of this passage is the way in which it embodies Wright's overall philosophy of Naturalism or Social Realism. The naturalist perspective in the passage is evident through the use of the most crucial features of Naturalism. The passage also echoes the most crucial features of Determinism. namely fear, hate and mob mentality. In a critical analysis of this passage there are many single phrases to dissect. One such phrase is, "They hate...." The hatred that is felt by the white mob is a product of their guilt. It is the guilt like that of Mr. Dalton that is so strong that he tries to "undo it in a manner as naà ¯ve as dropping a penny in a blind man's cup."   Wright further speaks of this guilt when Max states, "The Thomas family got poor and the Dalton family got rich. And Mr. Dalton, a decent man, tried to salve his feelings by giving money. But, my friend, gold was not enough! Corpses cannot be bribed! Say to yourself Mr. Dalton, 'I offered my daughter as a burnt sacrifice and it was not enough to push back into it's grave this thing that haunts me.'" This s tatement embodies the very core of social reality of the time, and in essence, Social Realism. "They fear...." What fear is Wright speaking of? Wright speaks of the fear that both the blacks and the whites feel. Bigger's fear and hate is a direct result of the way he sees society. Bigger sees in a garish light the failure of his society. He sees it's cultural and political ideals and promises, and he refuses to accept the compromises that most individuals make for simple self-preservation (as was in Bessie's case.) The white's fear is different. They fear loosing the power and control that they have over the blacks. The whites believe that if they correct the socioeconomic state of the black they will, in essence, be compromising their seat of power. Free Native Son Essays: Naturalism and Determinism :: Native Son Essays Naturalism and Determinism in Native Son "Today Bigger Thomas and that mob are strangers, yet they hate. They hate because they fear, and they fear because they feel that the deepest feelings of their lives are being assaulted and outraged. And they do not know why; they are powerless pawns in a blind play of social forces."   This passage epitomizes for Richard Wright, the most radical effects of criminal racial situation in America. However, perhaps the most important role of this passage is the way in which it embodies Wright's overall philosophy of Naturalism or Social Realism. The naturalist perspective in the passage is evident through the use of the most crucial features of Naturalism. The passage also echoes the most crucial features of Determinism. namely fear, hate and mob mentality. In a critical analysis of this passage there are many single phrases to dissect. One such phrase is, "They hate...." The hatred that is felt by the white mob is a product of their guilt. It is the guilt like that of Mr. Dalton that is so strong that he tries to "undo it in a manner as naà ¯ve as dropping a penny in a blind man's cup."   Wright further speaks of this guilt when Max states, "The Thomas family got poor and the Dalton family got rich. And Mr. Dalton, a decent man, tried to salve his feelings by giving money. But, my friend, gold was not enough! Corpses cannot be bribed! Say to yourself Mr. Dalton, 'I offered my daughter as a burnt sacrifice and it was not enough to push back into it's grave this thing that haunts me.'" This s tatement embodies the very core of social reality of the time, and in essence, Social Realism. "They fear...." What fear is Wright speaking of? Wright speaks of the fear that both the blacks and the whites feel. Bigger's fear and hate is a direct result of the way he sees society. Bigger sees in a garish light the failure of his society. He sees it's cultural and political ideals and promises, and he refuses to accept the compromises that most individuals make for simple self-preservation (as was in Bessie's case.) The white's fear is different. They fear loosing the power and control that they have over the blacks. The whites believe that if they correct the socioeconomic state of the black they will, in essence, be compromising their seat of power.

Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been Essays -- Joyce Carol Oates s

"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" by Joyce Carol Oates â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been†, is one of the many short stories written by Mrs. Joyce Carol Oates that has become highly recognized. It was inspired by a magazine story about a serial killer. It quickly it became very popular andwas even the basis for the 1985 hit movie, â€Å"SmoothTalk†. Like many other short stories and novels written by Joyce Carol Oates, â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been† is a story that is consumed by evil, the theme. In the story evil is projected through the eyes of the characters.(Weinberger 207) Joyce Carol Oates has been labeled by many as a, â€Å"writer of psychological realism†(Wegs 69), which is seen in this story. Tied in with the theme are three particular literary elements that interlink all of the scattered details, leaving the readers in awe at the end of the narrative. The three literary elements contributing to the short story are irony, imagery and symbolism. Irony is an importa nt element in â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where HaveYou Been.† The title itself is ironic since it is two questions that Connie is never asked. No one has ever asked, where she was going, nor has anyone ever inquired where she has been.(sullivan 535) What is also ironic is that although she is the victim in this tale, she actually welcomes and invites this demonic provocation.(Hurly 64) Her fears that have always overtaken he subconscious self drive her into distorted separation of mind and body in which sher ealizes that her unconscious self has betrayed her.(Wegs 70) Something else somewhat ironic is when Arnold Friend says,† I’ll hold you so tight you won’t think you have to try to getaway or pretend anything because you’ll know youca... ...ublications of the Mississippi Philological Association 1985, p98-105 Mark Robson Oates's "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" Explicator Summer 1982, v40 n4 p59-60 Christina Marsden Gillis "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?": Seduction, Space, and a Fictional Mode Studies in Short Fiction Winter 1981, v18 n1 p65-70 Kevin J. Harty Archetype and Popular Lyric in Joyce Carol Oates's "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" Pennsylvania English 1980-81, v8 n1 p26-28 Joyce M. Wegs "Don't You Know Who I Am?": The Grotesque in Oates's "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" Journal of Narrative Technique January1975, v5 n1, p66-72 Walter Sullivan Where Have All the Flowers Gone?: The Short Story in Search of Itself Sewanee Review Summer 1970, v78 n3 p535-537 online sources Encarta.com Cornell university online Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been Essays -- Joyce Carol Oates s "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" by Joyce Carol Oates â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been†, is one of the many short stories written by Mrs. Joyce Carol Oates that has become highly recognized. It was inspired by a magazine story about a serial killer. It quickly it became very popular andwas even the basis for the 1985 hit movie, â€Å"SmoothTalk†. Like many other short stories and novels written by Joyce Carol Oates, â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been† is a story that is consumed by evil, the theme. In the story evil is projected through the eyes of the characters.(Weinberger 207) Joyce Carol Oates has been labeled by many as a, â€Å"writer of psychological realism†(Wegs 69), which is seen in this story. Tied in with the theme are three particular literary elements that interlink all of the scattered details, leaving the readers in awe at the end of the narrative. The three literary elements contributing to the short story are irony, imagery and symbolism. Irony is an importa nt element in â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where HaveYou Been.† The title itself is ironic since it is two questions that Connie is never asked. No one has ever asked, where she was going, nor has anyone ever inquired where she has been.(sullivan 535) What is also ironic is that although she is the victim in this tale, she actually welcomes and invites this demonic provocation.(Hurly 64) Her fears that have always overtaken he subconscious self drive her into distorted separation of mind and body in which sher ealizes that her unconscious self has betrayed her.(Wegs 70) Something else somewhat ironic is when Arnold Friend says,† I’ll hold you so tight you won’t think you have to try to getaway or pretend anything because you’ll know youca... ...ublications of the Mississippi Philological Association 1985, p98-105 Mark Robson Oates's "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" Explicator Summer 1982, v40 n4 p59-60 Christina Marsden Gillis "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?": Seduction, Space, and a Fictional Mode Studies in Short Fiction Winter 1981, v18 n1 p65-70 Kevin J. Harty Archetype and Popular Lyric in Joyce Carol Oates's "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" Pennsylvania English 1980-81, v8 n1 p26-28 Joyce M. Wegs "Don't You Know Who I Am?": The Grotesque in Oates's "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" Journal of Narrative Technique January1975, v5 n1, p66-72 Walter Sullivan Where Have All the Flowers Gone?: The Short Story in Search of Itself Sewanee Review Summer 1970, v78 n3 p535-537 online sources Encarta.com Cornell university online