Race and Alabaster Essay Example for Free

Race and Alabaster Essay Othello and Desdemona’s marriage was doomed from the start. Even considering the racial nature of the marriage, his lack of a constant home, and the improper method of his courting, there is another reason why their marriage would never have worked. Othello’s label of Desdemona prevents him from considering her a person. He thinks of her instead as superior to himself in every way, to the point that she is a god. Her race, beauty, and status make her godly in his mind. Because Othello thinks of Desdemona as â€Å"Alabaster†(5. 2.5) he will never consider her capable of responding to his love. Because Othello is at his wit’s end when he refers to her as â€Å"Alabaster†, he is speaking out of his heart. After Othello reads the letter from Venice, he begins to speak in less cohesive manner. For instance the line, â€Å"Pish! Noses, ears, and lips. Isn’t Possible? Confess! Handkerchief! O devil! †(4. 1. 42) contains none of Othello’s former eloquence. He begins to speak with word association, rather than in complete sentences. For instance, the word â€Å"confess! † brings up the word â€Å"Handkerchief!†, and â€Å"devil! †. Because Desdemona, the handkerchief, and the sense of maliciousness were on his mind so much, he begins to express with abstract words and ideas instead of sentences. Although this makes his lines harder to read, they show us what he is constantly thinking of. Instead of clear and concise lines, they are a torrent of his true feelings. Therefore when he describes Desdemona as â€Å"Alabaster†, we can be sure it is his inner picture of her. Alabaster’s beauty gives you an idea about his feelings of bodily inferiority to her. Alabaster is a naturally beautiful stone, used by ancient Egyptians and Chinese to make statues and vases. This word choice gives the reader a sense of his feelings of inadequacy to Desdemona. He is never said to be ugly, on the contrary, he is described as â€Å"far more fair than black†(1. 3. 291). He must have felt some sensitivity about his physical appearance. In contrast, he describes her face as â€Å"fair as Dian’s visage†(3. 3. 389), Dian most likely being the god of healing in Celtic mythology. This implies both beauty and health. He then goes on to say â€Å"begrimed and black as mine own face†(3. 3. 390). Othello superimposes her clean and young white face with his grimy old black face. The fact that he believed her to be unfaithful with Cassio further proves his insecurity. Cassio is a clean white man with golden hair. Cassio is all of the beauty that Othello can not be, and is therefore able to provide something that he cannot. This makes Cassio a threat to Othello’s masculinity. Othello most likely gains this opinion of Cassio from his nonchalant attitude. When Cassio says â€Å"I never knew a woman love man so†(4. 1. 111) Othello immediately jumps to the conclusion that he is referring to himself and Desdemona. Othello is on the offensive with Cassio without any proof, simply because of his physical appearance. Alabaster’s smooth white surface illustrates the racial inferiority he feels to Desdemona. Race plays an enormous part in Othello’s relationship with Desdemona. Although he is an upstanding citizen and a good solder he is still unfit to marry because of his race. A reoccurring theme in the way that people refer to Othello is that of a great black beast. He is often described as an â€Å"Old black ram†(1. 1. 87) or a â€Å"Barbary Horse†(1. 1. 110). There is a sense that he is animalistic, even though in real life he is sophisticated and civilized. This spiteful talk is a back-handed reminder that he is a moor. The constant inference that he is a beast may have caused him to believe it himself. Othello believes that Desdemona could not love an ugly animal like himself. This puts her sincerity into doubt when she says that she loves him. Alabaster is a rock, and can not return any feelings of love that Othello gives to it. This is part of a feeling that Desdemona is something elemental and beyond him. For instance in the same speech he describes her as having â€Å"Promethean heat†(5. 2. 12), Prometheus being the god that stole fire for man. Therefore â€Å"Promethean heat† would refer to the element of fire in its purest form, something divine and primeval. He also says that her death should bring â€Å"A huge eclipse of sun and moon†(5. 2. 97). This paints her as something cosmic in scale, so large and important that the entire universe should be changed in her passing. Othello puts her on a different scale than himself. When he dies he says only that â€Å"in your letters†¦ [you should] speak of me as I am†(5. 2. 338). While he is normal, she is a cosmic and divine being, unfit to love a mortal like himself. This creates insecurity in Othello. He begins to ask how can a rock, or fire, or a star in the night sky love him? Because of his high view of her, he creates a complex of his own insignificance. From his point of view, Desdemona is unable to love him because she is too elemental to have emotion. Othello has, put simply, encased Desdemona in alabaster. He has formed an opinion of her that she is unable to break free of. Because he has so strongly locked her into this state of mind he is unable to think of him in any other way. She is so high up on the pedestal that he puts her on that he is unable to see who she truly is. This is Othello’s failing. By making her too powerful, too divine, any minor fault is a glaring defect to her immaculate surface. Then at the first flaw, she becomes low and nothing, and he needs to return her to her former glory. He must â€Å"Quench thee†¦ [and] again they former light restore†(5. 2. 9). He fails to see her love through her alabaster covering.

Entry Criteria to the Euro :: Euro Finances Economics Essays

Entry Criteria to the Euro 1.Entry criteria The four entry criteria are set out in Article 121(1) of the EC Treaty. A Member State must satisfy all four criteria in order to be able to enter the euro area. (Treaty quotes Source: http://europa.eu.int/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l25014.htm [02/02/2004]) 1.1. Price Stability The Treaty stipulates: "The achievement of a high degree of price stability [...] will be apparent from a rate of inflation which is close to that of, at most, the three best-performing Member States in terms of price stability." The inflation rate of a Member State must not exceed by more than 1.5% that of the three best-performing Member States in terms of price stability for a year preceding the test for criteria compliance. TEST PASSED ----------- 1.2. Government Finances The Treaty stipulates: "The sustainability of the government financial position [...] will be apparent from having achieved a government budgetary position without a deficit that is excessive [...]". This stipulation gave rise to two criteria being drawn up by the Commission for the Council of Finance Ministers. A. The annual government deficit must not exceed 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of the preceding financial year to the test for criteria compliance. B. Outstanding government debt must not exceed 60% of GDP at the end of the preceding financial year to the test for criteria compliance. TEST PASSED 1.3. Exchange Rates The Treaty stipulates: "the observance of the normal fluctuation margins provided for by the exchange-rate mechanism of the European Monetary System, for at least two years, without devaluing against the currency of any other Member State." A. The Member State must have controlled its exchange rate in line with the Euro within the normal margins of the exchange-rate mechanism, without any break during the two years preceding the test for criteria compliance. B. The Member State must not have devalued its currency against the Euro on its own initiative during the same period. The pound has been controlled in line with the normal margins of the ERM and there has been no devaluation in the last two years. TEST PASSED ----------- 1.4. Long-Term Interest Rates The Treaty stipulates: "the durability of convergence achieved by the Member State [...] being reflected in the long-term interest-rate levels". The nominal long-term interest rate must not exceed 2%of the three best-performing Member States in terms of price stability. The period taken into consideration is the year preceding the test for criteria compliance.

Is there enough evidence to prove why Celts settled down in Hambledon hill? Essay

Today, Hambledon Hill is one of Dorset’s most impressive and distinctive landmarks. Now, it is home to a few grazing cows, but in the past it has been the home of many people. Some of the most well-known inhabitants of the hill in the past were the Celts of Dorset’s Durotrige tribe, during the Iron Age. There are many reasons why these people choose to settle on Hambledon, and this essay aims to examine why Hambledon was chosen. Before deciding why the Celts chose Hambledon as the location for a settlement, we need to look at who they are, and therefore what they would need from a settlement. As the Celts did not often record things in writing, the evidence that modern historians have is derived from two sources. The first of these are writings by their invaders, the Romans, and the second is archaeological evidence. The people that this essay is studying lived on the hill from circa 750BC to the Roman occupation of 43AD. They were the first farmers, growing their own crops, and rearing their own animals, so therefore flat and fertile land would be an essential requirement of a fort. Archaeological artefacts such as ploughs and other farming machinery found across Europe show that the Celts were farmers, and gives a helpful insight into the crops grown, and methods of farming. The Celts kept many animals such as cattle and sheep for produce such as wool, leather, milk and meat, and horses were certainly kept for transport and working in agriculture. The Celts also grew forms of barley, wheat and rye. Another essential aspect of the fort would be defence. An invading Roman Soldier described the Celts in Dorset as ‘a sturdy people, fierce and warlike’. If they were ‘warlike’ they were likely to start wars and a fort that was easy to defend would be an distinct advantage over the enemies. Archaeological evidence shows that the Celts had basic forms of money, which they used to trade with other tribes, so being geographically close other tribes was an advantage for a settlement. So, having examined what the Celts would require from a settlement, the task is to investigate the properties of Hambledon Hill and it’s ability to provide the required site for a settlement. Initially, the most obvious aspect of Hambledon Hill is evident in its name; ‘Hill’. This would have been an important reason why the Celts chose to inhabit the vicinity, due to the obvious defensive advantages of high ground. Defence was definitely an important advantage, as during the Neolithic period, the Roman Armies were rampaging across Europe and Northern Africa, so the Celts needed to be able to defend themselves. In addition to this threat, the Durotriges may have required defence from other parts of the Celtic society, such as the Belgae from the east, and Dumnonii from the west. The Celts significantly added to the defences, building huge ramparts and ditches Another important aspect in discovering why the Durotriges settled on Hambledon Hill is found in the ground. The hill and surrounding countryside are covered in green grass, showing an abundance of fertile and well irrigated soil, and the land around the fort is also very flat. This meant that the Celts would be able to provide for most their dietary needs near the fort; there was no need to transport food over large distances, and it was not essential to trade for food with other tribes, so a blockage of food supply roots was unlikely to be instantly devastating to the population of the fort. Another advantage is that the soil was relatively easy to dig. As the above image shows, the Celts constructed ramparts around the summit of the fort, to aid the defence. If the hill was made of another material, it would probably not have been possible to dig the comprehensive rampart system. In the present age, the fort is a surrounded by a small amount of woodland. When the Celts settled, the hill was surrounded by woodland, and this would have been another important factor in choosing the site for a settlement. The woodland meant many things to the people; it gave them wood for building their homes and fuelling fires, it would have given then somewhere to hunt, and there also may have been a spiritual aspect. Much archaeological evidence shows that the Celts believed that some types of trees were special or sacred in some way, especially the oak. Many of the Celtic religious festivals involved the worship of trees, and the word ‘druid’ is believed to have originated from the Celtic from ‘knowledge of the oak’. Although the Neolithic inhabitants of Hambledon Hill are probably the most well known, the hill had been a home to many peoples for generations before. Archaeological evidence shows that people chose to live on the hill during the Palaeolithic and Neolithic eras, probably due to many of same factors that drew in the Iron Age people. The fortifications highlighted in red on the diagram show the Northern section of the fort, which was inhabited by the Neolithic people. The earlier inhabitancy of the hill may have been an influence on the decision to settle there for many reasons. The first of these is that the Neolithics had already had a settlement on the hill, so the basic infrastructure previously existed – pathways, houses and ramparts were all in existence, so less work was required on Hambledon than if a new site had been chosen. There may have been another element in the decision to settle; the people may have wanted to live where their ancestors did, possibly to live near the remains of their ancestors and probably to share the same holy site. Allowing previously religious sites to fall into disuse and disrepair would probably have been regarded as a form of sacrilege, so the Iron Age Celts may have thought that living near the sites would please their ancestors. A further reason that the Celts would have chosen to settle on Hambledon Hill is it’s close proximity to other forts, such as Hod Hill, and the other settlements shown on the map above. This would be important for defensive and economic reasons. People could be moved from one fort to aid the defence of the other, and if one fort was captured, survivors could escape to the undefeated one. Economically, having so many forts in close proximity to each other meant that trading between them could happen easily. Being close to other forts also helped to prevent inbreeding with the inhabitants of a single fort, resulting in an overall healthier and more resistant population. Another advantage with the geographical location is the proximity to the coast. Although the Hill could not be described as ‘coastal’ it is within travelling distance of the coast, so goods could be brought in from overseas. To conclude, as with any decision to settle, the choice of Hambledon Hill was affected by many things. The strong defensive position was essential, and the presence of woodland, water and flat, fertile land was also vital. The previous inhabitancy of the site would have been an indication that it was an advantageous place to reside in, and the proximity to other forts was also very important. Sources School provided source http://www.Roman-Britain.org The Celts by Robin Place Peoples of the past series: Macdonald Invaded Islands by RJ Unstead

Disparities Of Justice How Positive Change Is Made...

Disparity in Justice: How Positive Change is Made Difficult To discuss racial issues in today’s political climate is to walk on a tight rope in an effort to open Pandora’s Box. With the media coverage of police brutality and the rise of groups such as â€Å"Black Lives Matter†, Americans are once again faced with the topic of racial discrimination in our justice system. Despite how divisive this issue can get, both sides must concede that something is terribly wrong here: black men are incarcerated at a rate six times more than whites and one in three black men will go to jail at least once in their life (Rehavi). Most would agree that racial profiling is a large contributor to this phenomenon, yet the difference of opinion begins to split†¦show more content†¦Figure 2 shows us that African Americans are being arrested at a rate three times higher than whites annually. If our justice system was truly neutral, then the amount of whites and blacks going to prison for their crimes should be relatively the same. Unfortunately, we do not have a neutral justice system, and African Americans are being arrested at a rate far higher than whites while committing crimes at a near equal pace. Most people would probably agree that African Americans are treated unfairly by our justice system, yet crimes are still crimes despite whatever one’s skin color may be. One might wonder why African American’s can’t just take the initiative and curtail their crimes to get on the good side of the law. A proponent of this argument, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, suggests that African Americans should â€Å"cut (crime) down so†¦ white police officers don’t have to be in black areas† (502). So why haven’t African Americans jumped on this opportunity? To answer this, we must first look at the current mechanisms that are sending African Americans to prison in droves. 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