George Gershwin Essay -- essays research papers

One of the most influencial composers of the 1920’s was George Gershwin. Gershwin was the most celebrated and wealthiest American composers of the 1920’s. In this paper I will discuss Gershwin’s life as a child and his upbringing and how his music expressed the dreams of every American Citizen by mixing different styles of music like Jewish, black, jazz, classical, blues and put them into one genre and created absolute music. George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn, New York on September 26, 1898. As the son of immigrant parents, Georges father had many jobs, so they were forced to live in many locations. George had two brothers, Arthur and Ira, and one sister, Francis. Although, George was the most well known of the family, his brother Ira was also a successful lyricist. Also, it was Ira’s interest in music that made their parents purchase the first family piano. However, it was George that took the immediate interest in playing the piano. George played by ear before his parents purchased piano lessons for him. George began to study music seriously at the age of twelve. After studying and perfecting his talent, under the guidance of Charles Hambutze, Gershwin was taught proper techniques, lyricism, and harmony. This opened up a the worlds of Chopin, Liszt, Debussy and Schoenberg (Ewen 58-60). Gershwin was offered a job at Remick’s Music Publishing House in Tin Pan Alley. Gershwin jumped at the opportunity to become the youngest pianist ever employed at the popular music capital of the world. Gershwin , at the young age of fifteen, quit school and became a song plugger. (Schwartz 21). The purpose of a song plugger was to make a song become a hit. Everyday hundreds of singers and actors came to Tin Pan Alley looking for fresh new materials. The song pluggers could improvise and transpose a song on the spot to fit a particular singer or actor. Soon, everyone was going to Gershwin to compose music. George Gerswhin 3 It wasn’t long before Gershwin figured out that he wanted something different in his life, and began composing for himself. In 1916, Gershwin had his first song printed and published. It was this first publication that led to him meeting famous lyricist, Irving Caesar. Gershwin and Caesar decided to work together on a Broadway musical. This was a dream come true for Gershwin, and a major turning po... ...gery and died on July 11, 1937 in Hollywood California. Ira Gerwhin saved a great deal of George’s work and shared it with younger people, including Michael Feinstein, whose recordings include some of Gerswhin pieces. Gerswins compositions are still today being played on mainstream media on a regular basis. Commercials feature Gerswins music regularly. United Airlines used Rhapsody In Blue for years as its marketing theme. H&R Block recently encouraged their clients to think of their services as â€Å"Someone To Watch Over Me.† Visa also used â€Å"I Got Rhythm† in their marketing theme. Motion Pictures still use Gerswhin’s music for their themes and plots. In Mr. Holland’s Opus, a student sings the love ballad â€Å"Someone to Watch over Me.† When Harry Met Sally featured numerous Gerswhin songs, including â€Å"Lets call the whole thing off.† George Gerswhin 7 Gerswhins music is studied by students everywhere. His talents are still gracing the world and his memory lives on through his fans and admirers worldwide. Gerswhins music will continue to be played and listened to by people worldwide and will continue to be an inspiration to music lovers everywhere.

Essay on Shakespeares Sources for A Midsummer Nights Dream

Shakespeare's Sources for A Midsummer Night's Dream  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's most-performed plays: a delightful comedy, but full of enough potential tragedy to avoid becoming saccharine. Much of that tragic possibility comes from Shakespeare's sources, as he directly acknowledges in Act V. The entertainments Philostrate proposes, all stories taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses, show the unhappy endings all too likely to spring from tales like that of the four lovers of Shakespeare's play, or the strife-torn fairy rulers. "The battle with the Centaurs, to be sung / By an Athenian eunuch with the harp" (V.i.44-5) is the first of Philostrate's suggestions, and the most blatant. Centaurs are almost an epitome of the dangerous fairy-world that underlies so much of Shakespeare's play: half-man, half-beast, they recall Bottom's similar, albeit more humorous, condition. Lust and jealousy cause the undoing of the marriage feast, for the Centaurs' theft of women provokes a battle. Thanks to the fairy intervention, all in Shakespeare's play are happy with their spouses: but how might the wedding have been marred if Demetrius and Lysander both still loved Hermia? "These are the forgeries of jealousy" (II.i.81) cries Titania to Oberon, and their contention, likewise a result of lust and jealousy and unbridled nature, luckily enters the play only peripherally. Theseus' law, and fairy medicine, overrules the lusty, animal side of love and prevents such violence from marring, indeed unmaking, the comedy. "The riot of the tipsy Bacchanals, / Tearing the Thracian singer [Orpheus] in their rage" (V.i.48-9) is an alternate selection, but one just as significant. "The mad Ciconian women" (p.259) cry "There is ... ... scene. The meta-drama overcomes the actual play, and what was tragic becomes "tragical mirth," what was a dire warning to heed society's laws or fear the consequences is a gross entertainment and slapstick. Theseus' laws have overcome the bloody, passionate side of love: the man himself appears to have ceased his earlier, youthful amours to settle down with a wife, Hippolyta, vigorous enough to match his own martial nature. Indeed, he discounts the entertainments as those which he has already heard or told -- they are old news to him, settled affairs, and he needs hear of them no more. The only reason "Pyramus and Thisbe" receives a hearing is its odd synopsis -- and equally odd presentation! Shakespeare shows the alternate endings his play could all too easily have taken, to make us relish all the more the happy solution he and the characters have found.   

Calculation for Calorimetry

CALCULATIONS Determining the amount Limiting Reagent used. nlimiting reagent = Molarity x Volume or Mass / Molar Mass Example: Limiting reagent is 5mL of 1. 0 M HCl nlimiting reagent = Molarity x Volume nlimiting reagent = (1. 0 [mol/L]) x 0. 005 [L]) = 0. 005 mol Determining the qrxn and qcal. qrxn + qcal = 0 -qrxn = qcal qrxn = ? Hrxn x nlimiting reagent qcal = Ccal ? T qrxn = – Ccal ? T + mcsolid ? T (note: only if there is a precipitate formed in the reaction) Examples: 1) Calibration of the calorimeter given that: ?Hrxn = -55. 8 kJ/mol and nLR = 0. 005 mol qrxn = ? Hrxn x nlimiting reagent qrxn = -55. 8 [kJ/mol] x 0. 005 [mol] = -279 J qcal = -(219 J) = 279 J (2) Determining the qrxn of a given chemical reaction: NH3 (aq) + H+ (aq) ? NH4+ (aq) And given that: ? T = 3. 5 Â °C and Ccal=111. 6 J/Â °C qrxn = – Ccal ? T + mcsolid ? T qrxn = -( 111. 6 [kJ/Â °C] x 3. 5 [Â °C]) = -390. 6 J qcal = -(-390. 6 J) = 390. 6 Determining the Ccal. Ccal = qcal / ? T Example:Giv en qrxn = -279 J and ? T = 2. 5 Â °C Ccal = -qrxn / ? T Ccal = -(-279 J) / (2. 5 Â °C) = 111. 6 J/Â °C Determining the experimental ? Hrxn. ?Hrxn = qrxn / nLR Example: Given: NH3 (aq) + H+ (aq) ? NH4+ (aq) With qrxn = -390. 6 J and nLR = 0. 005 mol ?Hrxn = qrxn / nLR ?Hrxn = -390. 6 J / 0. 005 mol = -78. 1 kJ/mol Determining the theoretical ? Hrxn. ?Hrxn = ? nproductHÂ °f product – ? nreactantHÂ °f reactant Example: Given that: NH3 (aq) + H+ (aq) ? NH4+ (aq) Substance? HÂ °f (kJ/mol) NH3 (aq)-80. 9 H+ (aq)0. 00 NH4+ (aq)-132. 51 ?Hrxn = ? nproductHÂ °f product – ? nreactantHÂ °f reactant ? Hrxn = {-132. 51 kJ/mol}-{-80. 29 kJ/mol} = ?Hrxn = -52. 2 kJ/mol Determining the %error. %error = (|? Hexperimental – ? Htheoretical|) / (? Htheoretical) x 100% Example: Given: ? Hexperimental = -78. 1 kJ/mol and ? Htheoretical = -52. 2 kJ/mol %error = |(? Hexperimental – ? Htheoretical) / (? Htheoretical) | x 100% %error = |(-78. 1 kJ/mol) – (-52. 2 kJ/ mol) / -52. 2 kJ/mol| x 100% = 49. 6 %

Chinese Civilization Essay

The land here is broad and diverse. Among this immense piece of earth, one can find both farmer and businessman; mountain and plain; drought and rainfall; wasteland and farmland. It is vast, it is multifaceted. And yet these collections of disparate and dissimilar presences are bound as one, side by side with each other. They are together, they are connected. They are united, united under one name: China. It is impossible to choose a single word that exactly represents all the land of China. The Himalayan Mountains might have â€Å"majesty,† or the Forbidden City might have â€Å"opulence,† but certainly the two are quite different and cannot be swapped. Yet there is a word that can describe all the land of China: the cities, the mountains, the villages, the plains, the towns, the rivers, the deserts. That word is Beauty. China’s cultural sphere has extended across East Asia as a whole, with Chinese religion, customs, and writing systems being adapted to varying degrees by neighbors such as Japan, Korea and Vietnam. The first evidence of human presence in the region was found at the Zhoukoudian cave. It is one of the first known specimens of Homo erectus, now commonly known as the Peking Man, estimated to have lived from 300,000 to 780,000 years ago China ranges from mostly plateaus and mountains in the west to lower lands in the east. Principal rivers flow from west to east, including the Yangtze (central), the Huang He (Yellow river, north-central), and the Amur (northeast), and sometimes toward the south (including the Pearl River, Mekong River, and Brahmaputra), with most Chinese rivers emptying into the Pacific Ocean. In the east, along the shores of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea there are extensive and densely populated alluvial plains. On the edges of the Inner Mongolian plateau in the north, grasslands can be seen. Southern China is dominated by hills and low mountain ranges. In the central-east are the deltas of China’s two major rivers, the Huang Heand Yangtze River. Most of China’s arable lands lie along these rivers, and they were the centers of China’s major ancient civilizations. Other major rivers include the Pearl River, Mekong, Brahmaputra and Amur. Yunnan Province is considered a part of the Greater Mekong Subregion, which also includes Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. [47] In the west, the north has a great alluvial plain, and the south has a vast calcareous tableland traversed by hill ranges of moderate elevation, and the Himalayas, containing Earth’s highest point, Mount Everest. The northwest also has high plateaus with more arid desert landscapes such as the Takla-Makan and the Gobi Desert, which has been expanding. During many dynasties, the southwestern border of China has been the high mountains and deep valleys of Yunnan, which separate modern China from Burma, Laos and Vietnam. The Paleozoic formations of China, excepting only the upper part of the Carboniferous system, are marine, while the Mesozoic and Tertiary deposits are estuarine and freshwater, or else of terrestrial origin. Groups of volcanic cones occur in the Great Plain of north China. In the Liaodong and Shandong Peninsulas, there are basaltic plateaus. Part II CONTRIBUTIONS Society. Hundreds of ethnic groups have existed in China throughout its history. The largest ethnic group in China by far is the Han. This group, however, is internally diverse and can be further divided into smaller ethnic groups that share similar traits. Over the last three millennia, many previously distinct ethnic groups in China have been Sinicized into a Han identity, which over time dramatically expanded the size of the Han population. However, these assimilations were usually incomplete, and vestiges of indigenous language and culture still often remain in various regions of China. Because of this, many within the Han identity have maintained distinct linguistic and cultural traditions while still identifying as Han. Several ethnicities have also dramatically shaped Han culture, e. g. the Manchurian clothing called the qipao became the new â€Å"Chinese† fashion after the 17th century, replacing earlier Han styles of clothing such as the Hanfu. The modern term Chinese nation (Zhonghua Minzu) is now used to describe a notion of a Chinese nationality that transcends ethnic divisions. China has over 50 minority groups. Each group has different languages, customs, and traditions. Gap between the Rich and the Poor. The Chinese society was structurally complex and not much is known about it. Research is still on. Life in old Chinese society on a normal working day was hard and industrious for the farmers while luxurious and laid back for nobles and merchants. There was a wide demographic gap between the farmers and kings and nobles. The farmers were far more in population as compared to nobles. They were economically exploited and were made to work very hard. The nobles lived in luxurious palaces while the farmers in China survived in small huts. Naturally the nobles were highly regarded and lived with great riches. Religion. There are three main religions in China. They are Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. They were suppressed by the CCP during the 20th century, but they are still alive and penetrating the minds of Chinese today. These religions are all widespread, and aside from other world religions, they all originated in China. Confucianism was the official philosophy throughout most of Imperial China’s history, and mastery of Confucian texts was the primary criterion for entry into the imperial bureaucracy. China’s traditional values were derived from various versions of Confucianism. A number of more authoritarian strains of thought have also been influential, such as Legalism. There was often conflict between the ideas and philosophies, for example, the Song Dynasty Neo-Confucians believed Legalism departed from the original spirit of Confucianism. Examinations and a culture of merit remain greatly valued in China today. In recent years, a number of New Confucians (not to be confused with Neo-Confucianism) have advocated that democratic ideals and human rights are quite compatible with traditional Confucian â€Å"Asian values†. With the rise of European economic and military power beginning in the mid-19th century, non-Chinese systems of social and political organization gained adherents in China. Some of these would-be reformers totally rejected China’s cultural legacy, while others sought to combine the strengths of Chinese and European cultures. In essence, the history of 20th-century China is one of experimentation with new systems of social, political, and economic organization that would allow for the reintegration of the nation in the wake of dynastic collapse. Economics. By roughly 10,000 BCE, in the Neolithic Era, agriculture was practiced in China. Stratified bronze-age cultures, such as Erlitou, emerged by the third millennium BCE. Under the Shang (ca. 1600–1045 BCE) and Zhou (1045–771 BCE), a dependent labor force worked in large-scale foundries and workshops to produce bronzes and silk for the elite. The agricultural surpluses produced by the manorial economy supported these early handicraft industries as well as urban centers and considerable armies. This system began to disintegrate after the collapse of the Western Zhou Dynasty in 771 BCE, preceding the Spring and Autumn and Warring states eras. As the feudal system collapsed, much legislative power was transferred from the nobility to local kings. A merchant class emerged during the Warring States Period, resulting in increased trade. The new kings established an elaborate bureaucracy, using it to wage wars, build large temples, and perform public works projects. This new system rewarded talent over birthright; important positions were no longer occupied solely by nobility. The adoption of new iron tools revolutionized agriculture and led to a large population increase during this period. By 221 BCE, the state of Qin, which embraced reform more than other states, unified China, built the Great Wall, and set consistent standards of government. [5] Although its draconian laws led to its overthrow in 206 BCE, the Qin institutions survived. During the Han Dynasty, China became a strong, unified, and centralized empire of self-sufficient farmers and artisans, though limited local autonomy remained. The Song Dynasty (960–1279 CE) brought additional economic reforms. Paper money, movable type, the compass, and other technological advances facilitated communication on a large scale and the widespread circulation of books. The state control of the economy diminished, allowing private merchants to prosper and a large increase in investment and profit. Despite disruptions during the Mongol conquest of 1279, the Ming Dynasty continued the Song’s economic development. However, when the isolationist Qing Dynasty came into power, China’s economic development began to slow. Europe’s rapid development during the Industrial Revolution enabled it to surpass China—an event known as the great divergence. Trade with foreign nations on a large scale began during the reign of Emperor Wu, when he sent the explorer Zhang Yi to contact nations west of China in search of allies to fight the Xiongnu. After the defeat of the Xiongnu, however, Chinese armies established themselves in Central Asia, starting the famed Silk Road, which became a major avenue of international trade Paper and Printing. The greatest Chinese discoveries of all times which the whole world accepts even today are the art of paper making, printing, gun powder and magnetic compass. Paper making was an art which developed in ancient China and they used silk, cloth, bark, fiber and hemp. Later during the Han Dynasty, about 1800 years ago, paper making was refined and was being made from hemp and bark and later from bamboo. Printing technology was invented in ancient China as far back as the 8th century and by 868 they were using wood block printing which was used to print the first book in the world. Advancement in the technology came by 11th century when movable ceramic printer was invented during the rule of the Song Dynasty. By the time the Tang dynasty came to power in ancient China, printing and paper making techniques had prompted the invention of books and book shops in the cities. Compass and Gun Powder. The invention of these two had put ancient China in the fore front in terms of scientific discovery and development. The compass was extremely useful for trade and sea travel. Here they used magnets to magnetize a pointer made of iron. Later the western world borrowed the technique for the navigation on the sea. Gun powder was invented by accident when the ancient Chinese found that throwing some types of mineral powders in the fire produces color and sparkling flame. They used the technology for making fireworks. Later the same gunpowder changed the art of modern warfare when it was used by the European powers against their enemies. Politics and Government. Ancient China had monarchy, i. e. government headed by an emperor and a royal family. Chinese rulers also called monarchs based their government on the Confucian model, which taught that the ruler was a virtuous man who led by example†¦ Despotic leadership. China like many other countries at that time was an agriculture based country with the river Yangtze as its lifeline. During the ancient period the king would be the leader and would be more of a dictator than a king for the people who would take decisions beneficial to them. He has un-surpassing power in all areas be it economy or governance or agriculture which was the livelihood of the people. Earliest incident of despotic leadership could probably be traced back to the Hsia dynasty (2200 – 1750 BC) when the emperor Yao picked Shun as his successor to help his people who were burdened by the regular floods. Enlightened Leadership. Shun can be given credit for being an enlightened leader, but he was very harsh on his people. He could put any of his people to death if they did not agree with his leadership. Other punishments included using whip, stick and fines for small offences. He was succeeded by Yu, who founded Hsia, the first dynasty. During this dynasty the Chinese government or the emperor employed huge labor to work under four groups: military, farming, construction workers and textile labor. Textile labor were given the task of weaving silk thread by hand to make clothes for the royal family, construction work included public work such as building wall, enlarging canals for agriculture etc. Military. Ancient China was most of the time caught in battles against the Huns or the invaders. In military the casualty was very high, because at that time it was quiet common to have mass warfare killing thousands at the same time; ordinary soldiers were simply treated as pawns by the king and other leaders. Shan Dynasty (1750-1040 BC) was ruthless when it came to battles, they even made the whole family fight in battles together because he believed they would fight better with each other. Position of Women. The Shan Dynasty followed the philosophy of Yin and Yan and believed in giving lesser role to women in the society as compared to men. Women were not given opportunities and were treated as inferior. Efforts to reform the Chinese Government. The Chou Dynasty (1040 -256 BC) tried to bring improvements in the government after the corrupt Shan Dynasty and tried to employ the feudal system. This new form of government in ancient China collapsed and ended up with Warring states period (403- 221 BC). Furthermore, corrupt emperors caused the country to fall apart into a continuous war like situation. It was after these that the enlightened Qin Dynasty ruled, which tried to reform and unified the country and builds the Great Wall of China. The Ancient Chinese Government was more of Despotism rather than Enlightened Monarchy which works for the betterment of the people. Legal Systems. Many of the ancient legal systems were considered to be harsh by modern day standards. When societies were beginning to establish civil order and a government hierarchy often many premises seemed extreme; for example, Hammurabi’s Code and the eye for an eye principle or the torture practices common in Medieval Europe. Although, modern China may be suspected of human rights abuses, Ancient China’s legal system was based on morals and the inherent good of the citizens. The Ancient Chinese legal system evolved through the principles of Confucianism and Legalism along with the traditions and morals of Ancient Chinese life. Confucianism. Confucianism as a philosophy gained prominence in the early existence of Ancient China. The Confucian philosophy believed that social control and social order could only be created through education. Confucianism influenced the Ancient Chinese legal system as it believed that humans were inherently good and that order was based on respect for the King and one’s fellow man. The early legal system of Ancient China was as a result, hesitant to utilize codified or written law. This was because codified laws served to tell people what to do without explaining the reasoning. Instead of codified law, the legal system of Ancient China was initially intended to be secondary to moral reasoning. It was believed under Confucianism that by ruling through traditions, norms, and morals that those who broke the accepted conditions would be ashamed and ostracized from society. Over time however, it became clear that in some circumstances people’s self-interest would differ from society. It was because of this that the premises of Confucianism were mixed with those of Legalism to form the first codified law in Ancient China. Legalism. Legalism in contrast to Confucianism was based on the concept that humans were predisposed to evil or wrongdoing. This belief led to the understanding that codified law and punishments were needed in order to maintain order in society. When Ancient China began to incorporate these principles into their legal system a focus was placed on the ruler. It was important to these principles that the ruler remained above the law so that his word could act as a guide. It was also important to Legalism that a ruler was respected so that his laws and punishments were seen as just. As Ancient China’s legal system evolved it remained important that the law had the respect of the people and that the people understood the traditions. Important Principles. Ancient China’s legal system is one of the oldest legal traditions and yet unlike modern day systems there was no separation between civil and criminal law. The legal system of Ancient China was structured around the ruler being able to unify society’s interests while maintaining respect. This premise is why any crimes against the ruler received no mercy. After the ruler in Ancient China the family was held in the highest regard; this is why crimes against the family were considered one of the greatest offences. In general Ancient China’s legal system attempted to enforce filial piety, to uphold the respect of family ancestors, to avoid legal action when possible, to create deterrents to actions and to control outbursts. In comparison, to many other early legal systems, China’s system was relatively relaxed and centered on the citizens rather than government mandates. Ancient China’s legal system was founded on the traditions of the society it was meant to control allowing the system to evolve into the present day Culture. Daily life in Ancient China is as mysterious as it is old. The ancient Chinese were master creators, artists, craftsmen and warlords. They created paper, gunpowder for battles, matches, cannons, compass, umbrellas and many more. They created many artifacts. They developed many martial arts and other art forms such as calligraphy. They used coins with holes in them. As there were no banks at that time they used to collect the money through strings in the coins. Ancient China was ruled by many dynasties and was constantly plagued with war. The peasants celebrated spring which was a very important festival in their life. It was celebrated during spring to welcome a good harvest and good fortune. Usually young men and women paired up and sang and danced. Like today, even in ancient China the Dragon was a sign of good luck. Chinese art is well known throughout the world. Its painting and calligraphy established the guiding principals by which other civilizations would emulate. In Chinese art, each object has its own subjective meaning, and can be interpreted in many ways. To the Chinese, color and form are not just words, but are a part of what makes them a unique people; there ability to surround themselves with beautiful architecture and lavish technique know no bounds. People around the world love Chinese food, and so they should. Lots of tradition and care has gone into some of today’s finest and most famous dishes. In addition, Chinese medicine has been around for centuries, but only recently has it become a new, and almost baseline treatment, for common ailments such as headaches and fevers. Ancient Chinese Paintings. There are very few remains of paintings of ancient times except on ceramic and tiles, a clear historic development can be traced only after 5th century AD. Hundreds of caves of Buddhist wall paintings and scrolls dating back to late 5th century AD have been discovered. A highly organized system of representing objects was discovered different from the western perspective; the greatest strength of this art is its incomparable mastery of lines and silhouette. The art of figure painting reached it’s height during the Tang Dynasty, which also saw the rise of the great art of landscape painting executed as brush drawings with color washes Chinese Music and Poetry. Ancient Chinese music can be traced back to Neolithic age based on the discovery of bone flutes. Poetry and Music were influenced by the Book of Song, Confucius and the Chinese poet and statesman Qu Yuan. In the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties music was only for the royal families and dignitaries, entering the mainstream only in the Tang Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty ,Kunqu, the oldest form of Chinese opera developed and it was during this time that the writers and artists came up with new form of lyric poetry –Ci. Other Art Forms. There were other forms of art apart from the ones mentioned above during ancient times in China like Seals, Calligraphy, Embroidery, kite making, paper cutting and shadow puppetry. Ancient Chinese culture boasts of glorious forms of Art and traditional crafts which are just two of the many jewels in China’s 5000 year history.

Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story Chapter 4~5

Chapter 4 Blooms and the City of Burned Clutches C. Thomas Flood (Tommy to his friends) was just reaching red-line in a wet dream, when he was awakened by the scurry and chatter of the five Wongs. Geishas in garters scampered off to dreamland, unsatisfied, leaving him staring at the slats of the bunk above. The room was little bigger than a walk-in closet. Bunks were stacked three high on either side of a narrow aisle where the five Wongs were competing for enough space to pull on their pants. Wong Two bent over Tommy's bunk, grinned apologetically, and said something in Cantonese. â€Å"No problem,† Tommy said. He rolled over on his side, careful not to scuff his morning erection on the wall, and pulled the blankets over his head. He thought, Privacy is a wonderful thing. Like love, privacy is most manifest in its absence. I should write a story about that – and work in lots of geisha girls in garters and red pumps. The Crowded Tea House of Almond-Eyed Tramps, by C. Thomas Flood. I'll write that today, after I rent a post-office box and look for a job. Or maybe I should just stay here today and see who's leaving the flowers†¦ Tommy had found fresh flowers on his bed for four days running and they were beginning to bother him. It wasn't the flowers themselves that bothered him: gladiolas, red roses, and two mixed bouquets with big pink ribbons. He sort of liked flowers, in a masculine and totally non-sissy way, of course. And it didn't bother him that he didn't own a vase, or a table to set it on. He'd just trotted down the hall to the communal bathroom, removed the lid of the toilet tank, and plopped the flowers in. The added color provided a pleasant counterpoint to the bathroom's filth – until rats ate the blossoms. But that didn't bother him either. What bothered him was that he had been in the City for less than a week and didn't know anyone. So who had sent the flowers? The five Wongs let loose with a barrage of bye-byes as they left the room. Wong Five pulled the door shut behind him. Tommy thought, I've got to speak to Wong One about the accommodations. Wong One wasn't one of the five Wongs with whom Tommy shared the room. Wong One was the landlord: older, wiser, and more sophisticated than Wongs Two through Six. Wong One spoke English, wore a threadbare suit thirty years out of style, and carried a cane with a brass dragon head. Tommy had met him on Columbus Avenue just after midnight, over the burning corpse of Rosinante, Tommy's 74 Volvo sedan. â€Å"I killed her,† Tommy said, watching black smoke roll out from under the hood. â€Å"Too bad,† Wong One said sympathetically, before continuing on his way. â€Å"Excuse me,† Tommy called after Wong. Tommy had just arrived from Indiana and had never been to a large city, so he did not recognize that Wong One had already stepped over the accepted metropolitan limit of involvement with a stranger. Wong turned and leaned on his dragon-headed cane. â€Å"Excuse me,† Tommy repeated, â€Å"but I'm new in town – would you know where I can find a place to stay around here?† Wong raised an eyebrow. â€Å"You have money?† â€Å"A little.† Wong looked at Tommy, standing there next to his burning car with a suitcase and a typewriter case. He looked at Tommy's open, hopeful smile, his thin face and mop of dark hair, and the English word  «victim » rose in his mind in twenty-point type – part of an item on page 3 of The Chronicle: â€Å"Victim Found in Tenderloin, Beaten to Death With Typewriter.† Wong sighed heavily. He liked reading The Chronicle each day, and he didn't want to skip page 3 until the tragedy had passed. â€Å"You come with me,† he said. Wong walked up Columbus into Chinatown. Tommy stumbled along behind, looking over his shoulder from time to time at the burning Volvo. â€Å"I really liked that car. I got five speeding tickets in that car. They're still in it.† â€Å"Too bad.† Wong stopped at a battered metal door between a grocery store and a fish market. â€Å"You have fifty bucks?† Tommy nodded and dug into the pocket of his jeans. â€Å"Fifty bucks, one week,† Wong said. â€Å"Two hundred fifty, one month.† â€Å"One week will be fine,† Tommy said, peeling two twenties and a ten off a thinning roll of bills. Wong opened the door and started up a narrow unlit staircase. Tommy bumped up the stairs behind him, nearly falling a couple of times. â€Å"My name is C. Thomas Flood. Well, actually that's the name I write under. People call me Tommy.† â€Å"Good,† Wong said. â€Å"And you are?† Tommy stopped at the top of the stairs and offered his hand to shake. Wong looked at Tommy's hand. â€Å"Wong,† he said. Tommy bowed. Wong watched him, wondering what in the hell he was doing. Fifty bucks is fifty bucks, he thought. â€Å"Bathroom down hall,† Wong said, throwing open a door and throwing a light switch. Five sleepy Chinese men looked up from their bunks. â€Å"Tommy,† Wong said, pointing to Tommy. â€Å"Tommy,† the Chinese men repeated in unison. â€Å"This Wong,† Wong said, pointing to the man on the bottom left bunk. Tommy nodded. â€Å"Wong.† â€Å"This Wong. That Wong. Wong. Wong. Wong,† Wong said, ticking off each man as if he were flipping beads on an abacus, which, mentally, he was: fifty bucks, fifty bucks, fifty bucks. He pointed to the empty bunk on the bottom right. â€Å"You sleep there. Bye-bye.† â€Å"Bye-bye,† said the five Wongs. Tommy said, â€Å"Excuse me, Mr. Wong†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Wong turned. â€Å"When is rent due? I'm going job hunting tomorrow, but I don't have a lot of cash.† â€Å"Tuesday and Sunday,† Wong said. â€Å"Fifty bucks.† â€Å"But you said it was fifty dollars a week.† â€Å"Two fifty a month or fifty a week, due Tuesday and Sunday.† Wong walked away. Tommy stashed his duffel bag and typewriter under the bunk and crawled in. Before he could work up a good worry about his burning car, he was asleep. He had pushed the Volvo straight through from Incontinence, Indiana, to San Francisco, stopping only for fuel and bathroom breaks. He had watched the sun rise and set three times from behind the wheel – exhaustion finally caught him at the coast. Tommy was descended from two generations of line workers at the Incontinence Forklift Company. When he announced at fourteen that he was going to be a writer, his father, Thomas Flood, Sr., accepted the news with the tolerant incredulity a parent usually reserved for monsters under the bed and imaginary friends. When Tommy took a job in a grocery store instead of the factory, his father breathed a small sigh of relief – at least it was a union shop, the boy would have benefits and retirement. It was only when Tommy bought the old Volvo, and rumors that he was a budding Communist began circulating through town, that Tom senior began to worry. Father Flood's paternal angst continued to grow with each night that he spent listening to his only son tapping the nights away on the Olivetti portable, until one Wednesday night he tied one on at the Starlight Lanes and spilled his guts to his bowling buddies. â€Å"I found a copy of The New Yorker under the boy's mattress,† he slurred through a five-pitcher Budweiser haze. â€Å"I've got to face it; my son's a pansy.† The rest of the Bill's Radiator Bowling Team members bowed their heads in sympathy, all secretly thanking God that the bullet had hit the next soldier in line and that their sons were all safely obsessed with small block Chevys and big tits. Harley Businsky, who had recently been promoted to minor godhood by bowling a three hundred, threw a bearlike arm around Tom's shoulders. â€Å"Maybe he's just a little mixed up,† Harley offered. â€Å"Let's go talk to the boy.† When two triple-extra-large, electric-blue, embroidered bowling shirts burst into his room, full of two triple-extra-large, beer-oiled bowlers, Tommy went over backward in his chair. â€Å"Hi, Dad,† Tommy said from the floor. â€Å"Son, we need to talk.† Over the next half hour the two men ran Tommy through the fatherly version of good-cop-bad-cop, or perhaps Joe McCarthy versus Santa Claus. Their interrogation determined that: Yes, Tommy did like girls and cars. No, he was not, nor had he ever been, a member of the Communist party. And yes, he was going to pursue a career as a writer, regardless of the lack of AFL?CCIO affiliation. Tommy tried to plead the case for a life in letters, but found his arguments ineffective (due in no small part to the fact that both his inquisitors thought that Hamlet was a small pork portion served with eggs). He was breaking a sweat and beginning to accept defeat when he fired a desperation shot. â€Å"You know, somebody wrote Rambo?† Thomas Flood, Sr., and Harley Businsky exchanged a look of horrified realization. They were rocked, shaken, crumbling. Tommy pushed on. â€Å"And Patton – someone wrote Patton.† Tommy waited. The two men sat next to each other on his single bed, coughing and fidgeting and trying not to make eye contact with the boy. Everywhere they looked there were quotes carefully written in magic marker tacked on the walls; there were books, pens, and typing paper; there were poster-sized photos of authors. Ernest Hemingway stared down at them with a gleaming gaze that seemed to say, â€Å"You fuckers should have gone fishing.† Finally Harley said, â€Å"Well, if you're going to be a writer, you can't stay here.† â€Å"Pardon?† Tommy said. â€Å"You got to go to a city and starve. I don't know a Kafka from a nuance, but I know that if you're going to be a writer, you got to starve. You won't be any damn good if you don't starve.† â€Å"I don't know, Harley,† Tom Senior said, not sure that he liked the idea of his skinny son starving. â€Å"Who bowled a three hundred last Wednesday, Tom?† â€Å"You did.† â€Å"And I say the boy's got to go to the city and starve.† Tom Flood looked at Tommy as if the boy were standing on the trapdoor of the gallows. â€Å"You sure about this writer thing, son?† Tommy nodded. â€Å"Can I make you a sandwich?† If not for a particularly seedy television docudrama about the bombing of the World Trade Center, Tommy might, indeed, have starved in New York, but Tom senior was not going to allow his son to be â€Å"blowed up by a bunch of towel-headed terrorists.† And Tommy might have starved in Paris, if a cursory inspection of the Volvo had not revealed that it would not survive the dampness of the drive. So he ended up in San Francisco, and although he could use some breakfast, he was more worried about flowers than about food. He thought, I should just stick around and see who's leaving the flowers. Catch them in the act. But he had been unemployed for more than a week, and his midwestern work ethic forced him out of his bunk. He wore his sneakers in the shower so his feet wouldn't have to come in contact with the floor, then dressed in his best shirt and job-hunting jeans, grabbed a notebook, and sloshed down the steps into Chinatown. The sidewalk was awash with Asians – men and women moving doggedly past open markets selling live fish, barbecued meat, and thousands of vegetables that Tommy could put no name to. He passed one market where live snapping turtles, two feet across, were struggling to get out of plastic milk crates. In the next window, trays of duck feet and bills were arranged around smoked pig heads, while whole naked pheasants hung ripening above. The air was heavy with the smells of pressed humanity, soy sauce, sesame oil, licorice, and car exhaust – always car exhaust. Tommy walked up Grant and crossed Broadway into North Beach, where the crush of people thinned out and the smells changed to a miasma of baking bread, garlic, oregano, and more exhaust. No matter where he went in the City, there was an odoriferous mix of food and vehicles, like the alchemic concoctions of some mad gourmet mechanic: Kung Pao Saab Turbo, Buick Skylark Carbonara, Sweet-and-Sour Metro Bus, Honda Bolognese with Burning Clutch Sauce. Tommy was startled out of his olfactory reverie by a screeching war whoop. He looked up to see a Rollerblader in fluorescent pads and helmet closing on him at breakneck speed. An old man, who was sitting on the sidewalk ahead feeding croissants to his two dogs, looked up momentarily and threw a croissant across the sidewalk. The dogs shot after the treat, pulling their cotton-rope leashes tight. Tommy cringed. The Rollerblader hit the rope and went airborne, describing a ten-foot arc in the air before crashing in a violent tangle of padded limbs and wheels at Tommy's feet. â€Å"Are you okay?† Tommy offered a hand to the skater, who waved it away. â€Å"I'm fine.† Blood was dripping from a scrape on his chin, his Day-Glo wraparound sunglasses were twisted on his face. â€Å"Perhaps you should slow down on the sidewalks,† the old man called. The skater sat up and turned to the old man. â€Å"Oh, Your Majesty, I didn't know. I'm sorry.† â€Å"Safety first, son,† the old man said with a smile. â€Å"Yes, sir,† the skater said. â€Å"I'll be more careful.† He climbed to his feet and nodded to Tommy. â€Å"Sorry.† He straightened his shades and skated slowly away. Tommy stood staring at the old man, who had resumed feeding his dogs. â€Å"Your Majesty?† â€Å"Or Your Imperial Highness,† the Emperor said. â€Å"You're new to the City.† â€Å"Yes, but†¦Ã¢â‚¬  A young woman in fishnet stockings and red satin hot pants, who was swinging by, paused by the Emperor and bowed slightly. â€Å"Morning, Highness,† she said. â€Å"Safety first, my child,† the Emperor said. She smiled and walked on. Tommy watched her until she turned the corner, then turned back to the old man. â€Å"Welcome to my city,† the Emperor said. â€Å"How are you doing so far?† â€Å"I'm†¦ I'm†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Tommy was confused. â€Å"Who are you?† â€Å"Emperor of San Francisco, Protector of Mexico, at your service. Croissant?† The Emperor held open a white paper bag to Tommy, who shook his head. â€Å"This impetuous fellow,† the Emperor said, pointing to his Boston terrier, â€Å"is Bummer. A bit of a rascal, he, but the best bug-eyed rat dog in the City.† The little dog growled. â€Å"And this,† the Emperor continued, â€Å"is Lazarus, found dead on Geary Street after an unfortunate encounter with a French tour bus and snatched back from the brink by the mystical curative scent of a slightly used beef jerky.† The golden retriever offered his paw. Feeling stupid, Tommy took it and shook. â€Å"Pleased to meet you.† â€Å"And you are?† the Emperor asked. â€Å"C. Thomas Flood.† â€Å"And the ‘C' stands for?† â€Å"Well, it doesn't really stand for anything. I'm a writer. I just added the ‘C' to my pen name.† â€Å"And a fine affectation it is.† The Emperor paused to gnaw the end of a croissant. â€Å"So, C, how is the City treating you so far?† Tommy thought that he might have just been insulted, but he found he was enjoying talking to the old man. He hadn't had a conversation of more than a few words since he arrived in the City. â€Å"I like the City, but I'm having some problems.† He told the Emperor about the destruction of his car, about his subsequent meeting of Wong One, of his cramped, filthy quarters, and ended his story with the mystery of the flowers on his bed. The Emperor sighed sympathetically and scratched his scruffy graying beard. â€Å"I'm afraid that I am unable to assist you with your accommodation problem; the men and I are fortunate enough to count the entire City as our home. But I may have a lead on a job for you, and perhaps a clue to the conundrum of the flowers.† The Emperor paused and motioned for Tommy to move closer. Tommy crouched down and cocked an ear to the Emperor. â€Å"Yes?† â€Å"I've seen him,† the Emperor whispered. â€Å"It's a vampire.† Tommy recoiled as if he'd been spit on. â€Å"A vampire florist?† â€Å"Well, once you accept the vampire part, the florist part is a pretty easy leap, don't you think?† Chapter 5 Undead and Somewhat Slightly Dazed French people were fucking in the room next door; Jody could hear every groan, giggle, and bed spring squeak. In the room above, a television spewed game-show prattle: â€Å"I'll take Bestiality for five hundred, Alex.† Jody pulled a pillow over her head. It wasn't exactly like waking up. There was no slow skate from dreamland to reality, no pleasant dawning of consciousness in the cozy twilight of sleepiness. No, it was as if someone had just switched on the world, full volume, like a clock radio playing reality's top forty irritating hits. â€Å"Criminal Presidents for a hundred, Alex.† Jody flipped onto her back and stared at the ceiling. I always thought that sex and game shows ended at death, she thought. They always say â€Å"Rest in peace,† don't they? â€Å"Vas – y plus fort, mon petit cochon d'amour!†* * â€Å"Do it harder, my little love pig!† She wanted to complain to someone, anyone. She hated waking up alone – and going to sleep alone, for that matter. She had lived with ten different men in five years. Serial monogamy. It was a problem she had been getting around to working on before she died. She crawled out of bed and opened the rubber-lined motel draperies. Light from streetlights and neon signs filled the room. Now what? Normally she would go to the bathroom. But she didn't feel the need to. I haven't peed in two days. I may never pee again. She went into the bathroom and sat on the stool to test her theory. Nothing. She unwrapped one of the plastic glasses, filled it with water and gulped it down. Her stomach lurched and she vomited the water in a stream against the mirror. Okay, no water. A shower? Change clothes and go out on the town? To do what? Hunt? She recoiled at the thought. Am I going to have to kill people? Oh my God, Kurt. What if he changes? What if he already has? She dressed quickly in her clothes from the night before, grabbed her flight bag and the room key and left the room. She waved to the night clerk as she passed the motel office and he winked and waved back. A hundred bucks had made them friends. She walked around the corner and up Chestnut, resisting the urge to break into a run. Outside her building she paused and focused on the apartment window. The lights were on, and with concentration she could hear Kurt talking on the phone. â€Å"Yeah, the crazy bitch knocked me out with a potted plant. No, threw it at me. I was two hours late for work. I don't know, she said something about being attacked. She hasn't been to work for a couple of days. No, she doesn't have a key; I had to buzz her in†¦Ã¢â‚¬  So I didn't kill him. He didn't change or he wouldn't have been able to go to work at all in the daylight. He sounds fine. Pissed, but fine. I wonder if I just apologize and explain what happened†¦ â€Å"No,† Kurt said into the phone. â€Å"I took her name off the mailbox. I don't really care, she didn't fit the image I'm trying to build anyway. I was thinking about asking out Susan Badistone: Stanford, family money, Republican. I know, but that's why God made implants†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Jody turned and walked back to the motel. She stopped in the office and paid the clerk for two more days, then went to her room, sat down on the bed and tried to cry. No tears would come. In another time she would have called a girlfriend and spent the evening on the phone being comforted. She would have eaten a half gallon of ice cream and stayed up all night thinking about what she was going to do with her life. In the morning she would have called in sick to work, then called her mother in Carmel to borrow enough money for a deposit on a new apartment. But that was another time, when she had still been a person. The little confidence that she had felt the night before was gone. Now she was just confused and afraid. She tried to remember everything she had ever seen or heard about vampires. It wasn't much. She didn't like scary books or movies. Much of what she could remember didn't seem true. She didn't have to sleep in a coffin, that was obvious. But it was also obvious that she couldn't go out in the daylight. She didn't have to kill every night, and if she did bite someone, he or she didn't necessarily have to turn into a vampire – an asshole, maybe, but not a vampire. But then again, Kurt had been an asshole before, so how could you tell? Why had she turned? She was going to have to get to a library. She thought, I've got to get my car back. And I need a new apartment. It's just a matter of time before a maid comes in during the day and burns me to a crisp. I need someone who can move around during the day. I need a friend. She had lost her address book with her purse, but it didn't really matter. All of her friends were currently in relationships, and although any of them would offer sympathy about her breakup with Kurt, they were too self-involved to be of any real help. She and her friends were only close when they were single. I need a man. The thought depressed her. Why does it always come to that? I'm a modern woman. I can open jars and kill spiders on my own. I can balance a checkbook and check the oil in my car. I can support myself. Then again, maybe not. How am I going to support myself? She threw her flight bag on the bed and pulled out the white bakery bag full of money and emptied it on the bed. She counted the bills in one stack, then counted the stacks. There were thirty-five stacks of twenty one-hundred dollar bills. Minus the five hundred she had spent on the hotel: almost seventy thousand dollars. She felt a sudden and deep-seated urge to go shopping. Whoever had attacked her had known she would need money. It hadn't been an accident that she had turned. And it probably hadn't been an accident that he had left her hand in the sunlight to burn. How else would she have known to go to ground before sunup? But if he wanted to help her, wanted her to survive, why didn't he just tell her what she was supposed to do? She gathered up the money and was stuffing it back in the flight bag when the phone rang. She looked at it, watched the orange light strobing in rhythm to the bell. No one knew where she was. It must be the front desk. After four rings she picked up. Before she could say hello, a gravelly calm male voice said, â€Å"By the way, you're not immortal. You can still be killed.† There was a click and Jody hung up the phone. He said, be killed, not you can still die. Be killed. She grabbed her bag and ran out into the night.

Business Ownership Essay

There are three different forms of business ownership, the Sole Proprietorship, the Partnership, and the Corporation. Each of these businesses have major advantages and disadvantages. The sole proprietorship is a business which is owned and managed by one individual. Some of its advantages are, the ease of formation, its management control, and its distribution of profits. Some of the disadvantages are, its unlimited liability, the lack of continuity, the capital requirements. Let’s begin with the advantages. A sole proprietorship is very easy to create. Anyone who wants their own business simply needs to get the necessary licenses from, for example, the state, the county, and/or their local government. After he or she obtain these licenses, he/she can begin operating their business. In a sole proprietorship, the sole proprietor has full control over his/her operations. Because he/she has this control, they can respond quickly to the changes that may occur in the market. This is a great motivator for a sole proprietor because he/she can keep up with the trends. The sole proprietor also owns all the profits that his/her business takes in. They themselves own the business and therefore do not have to distribute the profits with anyone else. The only thing that he/she needs to do with the profits is pay the company expenses and the rest is theirs to do with as they please. This tends to be a great incentive for a sole proprietor. Next, we have the disadvantages. The sole proprietorship has unlimited personal liability. The sole proprietor is personally liable for all of the businesses debts. He/she is the sole owner, which means there is no one else responsible to contributing to the payment of debts. This is one of the biggest disadvantages of a sole proprietorship. There is also a lack of continuity in a proprietorship. If for some reason the sole proprietor dies, retires, or becomes incapacitated, the business could end. When this happens, if a member of the family, or an employee, does not take over the business, the business could be in big trouble. A proprietorship is usually a small business, and to find good employees that are dedicated to staying with the business could be hard. The reason for this is that most people look for security, and advancement in their employment, this usually does not exist in businesses which are small. If no one takes over the business, and the business had debts, creditors can go to the courts for a petition to sell off the assets so that they can pay back these debts, therefore the business has discontinued. It is also very hard in a sole proprietorship to obtain capital. Most banks and other lending institutions have certain formulas/requirements for determining how eligible a borrower may be. Many proprietorships do not meet these formulas/requirements and are therefore limited to whatever capital the owner has to contribute, and whatever money he/she can borrow. This can be a major set back in a proprietorship depending on the amount of capital the owner has to invest. The next form of business ownership is the partnership. A partnership is an association of two or more people who co own a business for the purpose of making a profit. Some of its advantages are its ease of formation, its distribution of profits, its capital requirements, and its taxation. Some of its disadvantages are, its unlimited liability, its lack of continuity, and it management control. Once again, let’s start with the advantages. The partnership, like the sole proprietorship, is also easy to establish. All the owners have to do is obtain the necessary business licenses, and submit a few required forms. If the business is run under a trade name, the partners will have to file for a certificate to conduct their business. When the accomplish all of the above, they can start operating their business. In a partnership, an agreement is usually made up outlining the share of profits each partner should receive. It is necessary for the partners to abide by this agreement when it comes to distributing the profits to ensure that each partner receives the right amount. Besides for this technique, there are no restrictions as to how the partners distribute the company’s profits, they just need to stay consistent with the agreement. A partnership also has a broader pool of capital than the sole proprietorship. In comparison to the sole proprietorship, the partnership has several owners instead of one. This means that each partner’s personal assets will support a larger borrowing capacity from lending institutions. When you are a part of a partnership, the business is not subject to federal taxation. A partnerships net income/losses are passed along to the partners as personal income, in which the partners have to pay income tax on. This way, the partnership avoids â€Å"double taxation†. Next, we have the disadvantages of the partnership. One of its main disadvantages is its unlimited liability. One partner is given the title of the general partner. This means that if there are any problems (for example with debts), that partner assumes full responsibility. This is also why the general partner is usually the partner with the least personal resources. A partnership, once again like the Sole Proprietorship, has a lack of continuity. Complications begin to arise if one of the partners die. A partnerships interest inheritance is often non-transferrable because the remaining partner may not agree on working with the person which inherited that portion of the partnership. This would cause great implications in the partnership because one person is no longer there, which means the work that person was responsible for now has to be distributed among the rest. There is a way of avoiding this problem though, the partners can agree on who will obtain the partnership interest in the event of them dying. Lastly, there is great potential for conflicts in a partnership. There is no longer one owner which means control is distributed among several people.  With several people in control, there is no way to completely avoid conflicts. However, the partners will have to learn to work through their problems by communicating with each other. If they do not do this, their conflicts will remain unresolved which could end up being the cause of their partnership, and business, failing. Communication is essential in a partnership, as it is in any form of business. Finally, there is the corporation. A corporation is a separate legal entity apart from its owners, in which receives the right to exist from the state in which it is incorporated. It is the most complex of the three major forms of business ownership. Some of the advantages are, its limited liability, its capital requirements, and its continuity. Its disadvantages are, the cost and time in the incorporation process, the double taxation, and the loss of management control. A corporation lets its investors limit their liability to the corporation by letting them decide the total amount of investment in the business. This is allowed because it is a separate legal entity, whereas a Sole Proprietorship and a Partnership are not. This also gives the corporation stockholders legal protection towards their personal assets outside the business. A corporation has great ability when it comes to attracting capital. The only limitation they have, is the number of shares authorized in its charter, this too can be changed. The corporation can raise money by simply selling shares of some of its stock to investors. This way they gain money to begin business and expand. A corporations future does not lie in the hands of one individual person. It has shares worldwide, and will continue to live as long as people invest in it. The only way a corporation can discontinue, is if it fails to pay its taxes or is limited to a specific length of life by the charter. Next, there are the disadvantages. To start a corporation it can be costly  and time consuming. The actual creating of the corporation can cost between $500 and $2,500. There are also fees involved in establishing a corporation which does not exist with a sole proprietorship, or a partnership. In some states you need the assistance of an attorney to establish the corporation, whereas in others you can do it all on your own. A corporation also has the disadvantage of double taxation. This means that it must pay taxes on its net income at the federal level, in most states, and to some local governments as well. The corporation pays taxes on dividends at the corporate tax rate, then stockholders must pay taxes on the dividends they receive from the same profits at the individual tax rate. As you can see it is being taxed twice. There’s also a potential loss of control by the founder(s) of the corporation. When shares are sold in the company, you are really selling shares of ownership, which gives some control to the person who bought the share. The more shares the founder sells to gain capital, the more control he/she is losing. This could be a big problem and amount to a great loss of control for the founder if he/she needs a large capital infusion. Lastly, the profits of the corporation are widely distributed. People all over the world can obtain shares on the corporation, and therefore receive dividends from the corporation. Therefore the profits are widely distributed among all the shareholders. As you can see from the information I have given, there are three major types of business ownership. All of these types have their advantages and disadvantages, so it depends on what you decide is better for you in starting a business.

Characters in Hamlet Essay

The first proper theater as we know it, was called the Theatre, built at Shoreditch, London in 1576 and the owner was James Burbage. James Burbage had obtained a 21 year lease with permission to build the first playhouse, aptly named ‘ The Theatre ‘. Before this time plays were performed in the courtyard of inns or inn-yards, or sometimes, in the houses of noblemen or in extreme circumstances on open ground. After the Theatre, further open air playhouses ( theaters ) opened in the London area, including the Rose Theatre (1587), and the Hope Theatre (1613). The most famous Elizabethan playhouse ( theater ) was the Globe Theatre (1599) Page When Shakespeare started his career in the theatre , there wasn’t a proper institution for theatrical performances, and companies played mostly in the court yards of inns, in castles or mansions of great Lords that invited the artists to perform . Women were not allowed to act , being considered a rather vulgar profession for a woman, therefore, the female parts were impersonated by young boys, with wigs and make-up. There were no special props or adequate scenery, so when an out-side scene was needed, stage-boys were pretending to be trees or walls , they carried a board with a yellow sun drawn to symbolize the sunrise or a silver moon to indicate that it was night. For the battle scenes , one or two horses were brought on stage (by a horse-keeper) and for the inner scenes , a table and some stools were enough . Shakespeare’s play â€Å"Henry VIII† marked a premiere in point of costumes and ‘special effects’ but it lead to the tragic accident, as the straw back-stage caught fire during a war scene where cannons were suggested by means of flares. Nobody died but the theatre burnt to the ground (having been made of wood , with a stone foundation) . 2 The project to rebuild Shakespeare’s Globe was initiated by the American actor, director and producer Sam Wanamaker after his first visit to London in 1949. Twenty-one years later he founded what was to become the Shakespeare Globe Trust, dedicated to the reconstruction of the theatre and the creation of an education center and permanent exhibition. After 23 years spent tirelessly fundraising, advancing research into the appearance of the original Globe and planning the reconstruction with the Trust’s architect Theo Crosby, Sam Wanamaker died in 1993, the site having been secured, the exhibition undercroft structurally complete and a few timber bays of the theatre in place. Three and a half years later the theatre was completed. Shakespeare’s Sources of inspiration (predecessors and contemporary artists) The University Wits Sir Phillip Sidney (30 November 1554 – 17 October 1586) became one of the Elizabethan Age’s most prominent figures. Famous in his day in England as a poet, courtier and soldier, he remains known as the author of Astrophel and Stella (1581, pub. 1591),inspired by Penelope Devereaux, the future Lady Rich; Shakespeare also organised his sonnets in chronological order and rendering his real-life experience (The Dark Lady). Christopher Marlowe- was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. The foremost Elizabethan tragedian next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his own mysterious and untimely death(Marlowe is often alleged to have been a government spy). Marlowe’s first play performed on stage in London stage was Tamburlaine (1587) about the conqueror Timur, who rises from shepherd to warrior. It is among the first English plays in blank verse. From this play, Shakespeare borrowed the archetype of the usurper, creating outstanding figures of usurpers in his own plays, only judging their guilt, and, consequently , their punishment, according to the weight of their deeds: -Richard III and Claudius( ‘Hamlet’) are evil from the very beginning , they do not repent , so , they are given a violent death – Henry IV repents on his death bed , giving wise advise to his son, the future Henry V , who is to become an ideal king, and he dies as a result of battle wound . – Macbeth is more a victim of his wife’s ambition, proving weakness , and , thus, they both lose their mind. The Jew of Malta, about a Maltese Jew’s barbarous revenge against the city authorities, has a prologue delivered by a character representing Machiavelli. The play is known for its unsympathetic portrayal of nearly all its characters. From this play Shakespeare borrowed the shrewd Jew , but in his plot Shylock (his Jewish merchant) is not allowed to put his evil plans into practice. A common misconception about Marlowe, based solely upon Doctor Faustus, is that he himself was a proponent of the ‘dark arts’. It is certainly true, when one considers the aforementioned play, that Marlowe had studied incantation rituals, but whether he practised them is another matter entirely. From this play , Shakespeare took the idea of controlling the forces of nature , getting the power by means of knowledge and applied it in â€Å"The Tempest†. Thomas Kyd-was an English dramatist, the author of The Spanish Tragedy, and one of the most important figures in the development of Elizabethan drama. Shakespeare learned the structure of a tragedy , taking the idea of revenge and turning into a complex ,philosophical one, â€Å"Hamlet† . John Lyly- was an English writer, best known for his books Euphues, The Anatomy of Wit and Euphues and His England. Lyly’s linguistic style is known as Euphuism. Shakespeare mocked at this exceedingly metaphoric style in his â€Å"Love’s Labour’s Lost† . The Sonnets Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets arranged in almost a chronological order : the first 126 are dedicated to FRIENDSHIP , while from 127 – 154 they speak of a mysterious ‘Dark Lady’ and are dedicated to ‘PASSION’. The two feelings are both called ‘ love’ in the sonnets but there is a clear-cut distinction made between ‘Friendship’ which is described as a lasting, solid feeling based on admiration , mutual interests and loyalty( ‘ the ever fixed mark/that looks on tempest and is never shaken’-sonnet 116), while passion is described as a transient, tormenting feeling based on physical attraction . The friend to whom the first 126 sonnets are dedicated is the Earl of Southampton, Shakespeare’s friend and patron of arts. In his house , Shakespeare got acquainted with the Italian sonnet, music and painting , as well as the works of his contemporary dramatists and novelists Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Kyd and John Lyly. Rumour says it that the appearance of the Dark Lady spoiled their relationship due to jealousy and suspicion . The fashion of the time (and even nowadays, quite often) the love for the beloved woman was described in idealistic terms, often extensively metaphoric , comparing her with a Goddess or with the perfect elements of nature . Shakespeare makes the portrait of the Dark Lady by opposition to the fashionable perfect image (‘My mistress’s eyes are nothing like the son/ Coral is far more red than her lips red’†¦- sonnet 130) trying to demonstrate that the beloved person does not have to be the embodiment of perfection so that your feelings should be true and unique. SONNET 18 ‘ Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s 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 nature’s changing course, untrimmed: But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st, Nor shall Death brag thou wand’rest in his shade When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st. So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. ‘ Page 4 The opening line poses a simple rhetorical question which the rest of the sonnet answers. The poet compares his friend to a summer’s day(as nature was seen as perfect) and finds him to be â€Å"more lovely and more temperate†, more balanced (the term ‘ temperate’ was chosen to be appropriate to both human and natural world) because summer is tainted by occasional winds and the eventual change of season. While summer must always come to an end, the poet’s feelings for his friend are eternal. Moreover, his art may even make their friendship last beyond death ( the metaphor in â€Å"thy eternal summer shall not fade,† stands for the everlasting youth and beauty of his friend in his heart). The poet’s love is so powerful that even death is unable to curtail it. (‘ Nor shall Death brag thou wonders in his shade / When in eternal lines to time thou growst’)The poet’s feelings live on for future generations to admire through the power of the written word – through the sonnet itself. The final couplet explains that the beloved’s â€Å"eternal summer† will continue as long as there are people alive to read this sonnet: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. Sonnet 130 My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips’ red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damask’d, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks; And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know That music hath a far more pleasing sound; I grant I never saw a goddess go; My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground. And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare. Shakespeare makes the portrait of the Dark Lady by opposition to the fashionable perfect image (‘My mistress’s eyes are nothing like the son/ Coral is far more red than her lips red’†¦- sonnet 130) trying to demonstrate that the beloved person does not have to be the embodiment of perfection so that your feelings should be true and unique. Page 5 Sonnet 116 Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove: O no! it is an ever-fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken; It is the star to every wandering bark, Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken. Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle’s compass come: Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved. Along with Sonnets 18 (â€Å"Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? â€Å") and 130 (â€Å"My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun†), Sonnet 116 is one of the most famous poems in the entire sequence. The definition of love that it provides is among the most often quoted and anthologized in the poetic canon. Essentially, this sonnet presents the extreme ideal of friendship : it never changes, it never fades, it outlasts death and admits no flaw. What is more, it insists that this ideal is the only love that can be called â€Å"true†Ã¢â‚¬â€œif love is mortal, changing, or impermanent, the speaker writes, then no man ever loved. The basic division of this poem’s argument into the various parts of the sonnet form is extremely simple: the first quatrain says what love is not (changeable), the second quatrain says what it is (a fixed guiding star unshaken by tempests), the third quatrain says more specifically what it is not (â€Å"time’s fool†Ã¢â‚¬â€œthat is, subject to change in the passage of time), and the couplet announces the speaker’s certainty. What gives this poem its rhetorical and emotional power is not its complexity; rather, it is the force of its linguistic and emotional conviction. Sonnet 91 Some glory in their birth, some in their skill, Some in their wealth, some in their body’s force, Some in their garments, though new-fangled ill, Some in their hawks and hounds, some in their horse; And every humor hath his adjunct pleasure, Wherein it finds a joy above the rest. But these particulars are not my measure; All these I better in one general best. Thy love is better than high birth to me, Richer than wealth, prouder than garments’ cost, Of more delight than hawks or horses be; All this away, and me most wretched make. Page And having thee, of all men’s pride I boast; Wretched in this alone, that thou mayst take 6 Modern interpretation Some people are proud of the social status they’ve inherited; some people of their abilities; some of their wealth; some of how strong they are; some of their clothes, though the clothes are trendy and weird; some are proud of their hawks and hounds; some of their horses; and every individual temperament has its particular pleasure, something the person enjoys above  everything else. But I don’t measure happiness by any of these things. There’s something else that’s better than them all. To me, your love is better than high social status, more valuable than wealth, more worth being proud of than expensive clothes, and more enjoyable than hawks or horses. And having you, I have something better than what other men are proud of—except I’m wretched in this one respect: You can take all this away from me and make me completely wretched. The Historical Plays  Shakespeare’s historical plays form a chapter apart , though almost all of them belong to the first period of his dramatic creation (Henry VI, Richard III, Richard II, King John, Henry IV , Henry V and Henry VIII) Shakespeare considered monarchy as the ideal ruling system and makes a clear-cut distinction between lawful and unlawful successions to the throne; on his death bed, Henry IV says to his son : ‘†¦. God knows, my son, By what by-paths and indirect crook’d ways I met this crown; and I myself know well How troublesome it sat upon my head. To thee it shall descend with bitter quiet, Better opinion, better confirmation. ’ In ‘Henry V’ the authority of the king is shown as further consolidated , the monarch being presented as an ideal ruler. In the chronicle plays , Shakespeare expresses his great love for his country (‘A precious stone set in the silver sea’†¦/ This throne of Mars/ This England†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢- Richard II)at a time when England was endeavouring to consolidate its national unity and its position of a great power. Page 7 Julius Caesar BRUTUS Be patient till the last. Romans, countrymen, and lovers! hear me for my cause, and be silent, that you may hear: believe me for mine honour, and have respect to mine honour, that you may believe: censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses, that you may the better judge. If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar’s, to him I say, that Brutus’ love to Caesar was no less than his. If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer:-Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men? As Caesar loved me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was valiant, I honour him: but, as he was ambitious, I slew him. There is tears for his love; joy for his fortune; honour for his valour; and death for his ambition. Who is here so base that would be a bondman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so vile that will not love his country? If any, speak; for him have I offended. I pause for a reply. [†¦.. ] Enter ANTONY and others, with CAESAR’s body [†¦] First Citizen This Caesar was a tyrant. Third Citizen Nay, that’s certain: We are blest that Rome is rid of him. Second Citizen Peace! let us hear what Antony can say. Page 8 ANTONY You gentle Romans,-Citizens Peace, ho! let us hear him. ANTONY Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones; So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus Hath told you Caesar was ambitious: If it were so, it was a grievous fault, And grievously hath Caesar answer’d it. Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest-For Brutus is an honourable man; So are they all, all honourable men-Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral. He was my friend, faithful and just to me: But Brutus says he was ambitious; And Brutus is an honourable man. You all did see that on the Lupercal I thrice presented him a kingly crown, Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition? Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; And, sure, he is an honourable man. I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke, But here I am to speak what I do know. You all did love him once, not without cause: What cause withholds you then, to mourn for him? O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts, And men have lost their reason. Bear with me; My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, And I must pause till it come back to me. First Citizen Methinks there is much reason in his sayings. Second Citizen If thou consider rightly of the matter, Caesar has had great wrong. Third Citizen Page 9 Has he, masters? I fear there will a worse come in his place. Fourth Citizen Mark’d ye his words? He would not take the crown; Therefore ’tis certain he was not ambitious. First Citizen If it be found so, some will dear abide it. Second Citizen Poor soul! his eyes are red as fire with weeping. ANTONY O masters, if I were disposed to stir Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage, I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong, Who, you all know, are honourable men: I will not do them wrong; I rather choose To wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you, Than I will wrong such honourable men. But here’s a parchment with the seal of Caesar; I found it in his closet, ’tis his will: Let but the commons hear this testament-Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read-And they would go and kiss dead Caesar’s wounds And dip their napkins in his sacred blood, All We’ll hear the will: read it, Mark Antony. The will, the will! we will hear Caesar’s will. ANTONY Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read it; It is not meet you know how Caesar loved you. You are not wood, you are not stones, but men; And, being men, bearing the will of Caesar, It will inflame you, it will make you mad: ‘Tis good you know not that you are his heirs; For, if you should, O, what would come of it! Fourth Citizen Read the will; we’ll hear it, Antony; You shall read us the will, Caesar’s will. ANTONY Will you be patient? will you stay awhile? I have o’ershot myself to tell you of it: I fear I wrong the honourable men Whose daggers have stabb’d Caesar; I do fear it. Fourth Citizen They were traitors: honourable men! Second Citizen They were villains, murderers: the will! read the will. ’ Page 10 â€Å" Julius Caesar† is usually ranked as a historical play but this is just a background for profound debates on friendship, honour ,and guilt. The real tragic hero of the play is not Julius Caesar who is betrayed and murdered but Brutus , a noble character who performed a fatal guilt( misjudgement and mistrust)for which he had to pay with his life . He is not punished by Moiras ( as it happens in the Greek tragedies )but takes his own life when realising his mistake. Even if Brutus is a professional orator, Mark Antony is a better master of wordsand of human weaknesses. Shakespeare practices his tremendous oratoric skills in the monologues of both Brutus and Antony. While Brutus uses merely oratoric devices and keeps a certain imposing distance between himself and his audience ( â€Å" Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman ? / If any, speak, for him have I offended â€Å" )Mark Antony gets closer to his audience ( even though rejected at first ) pretending he was one of them ( â€Å" Friends, Romans ,countryman, lend me your ears! †). The frequency of oratorical devices is very poor as he knows well these means are not common for simple people. He makes use of proverbs to appeal to their wisdom and sensitivity : â€Å"The evil that men do lives after them ; The good is often interred with their bones†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The grammatical devices of the English language seem to be more appropriate for his audience , as he knows their linguistic instinct will enable them to decode his message conveyed in fewer words but with the same hidden , subtle charge of meaning. Shakespeare selectively uses different types of structures ( like archaic vs. modern subjunctive ) when used by different representatives of various social strata. For showing DOUBT , the citizens use the old form of subjunctive (â€Å" If it be found so †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) while Antony , an educated man , uses the modern subjunctive( â€Å"If it were so†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). After getting their attention and benevolence by using friendly words and proverbs as indirect and gentle forms of reproach, Antony indirectly spread doubt ( by using a subjunctive ) upon the accusations brought by Brutus to Caesar (â€Å" If it were so†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) . He pretends to have been granted permission to speak but from now on he permanently counterbalances his words with those of Brutus, always preceded  by a disjunctive conjunction (but, yet) â€Å"But Brutus says he was ambitious †¦. Yet, Brutus says he was ambitious †¦. † which suggest opposition. His arguments are most of the times accompanied by emphatic DO used to stress upon the reality of his own words: â€Å" You all DID see how on the Lupercal I I thrice presented him the kingly crown And he DID thrice refuse: was this ambition? † or : â€Å"But here I am to speak what I DO know . You all DID love him once, not without cause : What cause withholds you then to mourn for him? † His reproaches to them are always indirectly addressed either as proverbs or as hidden hints towards their possible misjudgment or even as rhetoric questions addressed to some abstract personifications: â€Å"Oh, Judgment, though are fled to brutish beasts And man have lost their reason . † But he immediately draws their attention towards his own suffering : â€Å" Bear with me †¦ My heart is in the coffin, there, with Caesar, And I must pause till it come back to me†¦Ã¢â‚¬  which allows them time to internalise his hints and draw the conclusions he had wanted them to come to. Even with the mob , Shakespeare creates different types of people as they really are around us : more or less intelligent , with a stronger or weaker personality, liable or stubborn. The first citizen represents the voice of popular wisdom : â€Å" Methinks there is much reason in his sayings †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. I fear it will a worse come in his place†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The second citizen is more educated then the others . His phrases a re molding after Antony’s even though he cannot reach his eloquence ; however he can have his own opinion : â€Å" If thou consider rightly to the matter  Page 11 Caesar has had great wrong†¦. † The third citizen does not have an opinion of his own but gladly borrows the others’ â€Å" Has he masters ? † The fourth citizen is a practical and direct person : â€Å"Mark’d ye his words? He would not take the crown; Therefore ‘tis certain he was not ambitious. â€Å" †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ You shall read us the will , Caesar’s will† Modal verbs are themselves masterly used to suggest more message than they seem. For instance , after mentioning the will of Caesar , Antony pretends not to intent to read it . He wanted to give them the impression that the conspirators forbid him to but he does not say it directly. He uses instead the model â€Å" must not† which obviously will be decoded as interdiction : â€Å" Have patience gentle friends, I MUST NOT read it. â€Å" He is so sly that he always pretends he does not want to do something when in fact this is exactly what he does, informing them about their being Caesar’s heirs, insinuating their state of mind ( â€Å" You are not wood, you are not stones ,but men, / And being men, hearing Caesar’s will/ It will inflame you , it will make you mad. † or â€Å" For if you should, oh, what would come of it†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) . And the results are soon to come: â€Å" They were traitors, honourable men They were villains, murderers: the will! † However, when he finds Brutus’ body on the battlefield, Antony weeps for his friend, praising his real virtues and showing he understood from the start Brutus’ motivation in joining the plot. ‘This was the noblest Romans of them all’[†¦ ] He , only , in a general honest thought And common good to all, made one of them His life was gentle , and the elements So mixed in him , that Nature might stand up And say to all the world : This was a man â€Å". The real gift of Shakespeare was the masterful use of language and the perfect knowledge of people and typologies . Everybody speaks according to the social strata they belong , their time and trade as well . This is what makes his characters so realistic and immortal. They personify and utter centuries old human passions, fears, sorrows, dreams, hopes, struggles and vices. They can always be real and this is what makes Shakespeare so special. Page 12 Richard III Richard III is an intense exploration of the psychology of evil, and that exploration is centered on Richard’s mind. Critics sometimes compare Richard to the medieval character, Vice, who was a flat and one-sided embodiment of evil. However, especially in the later scenes of the play, Richard proves to be highly self-reflective and complicated— making his heinous acts all the more chilling. Perhaps more than in any other play by Shakespeare, the audience of Richard III experiences a complex, ambiguous, and highly changeable relationship with the main character. Richard is clearly a villain—he declares outright in his very first speech that he intends to stop at nothing to achieve his nefarious designs. But despite his open allegiance to evil, he is such a charismatic and fascinating figure that, for much of the play, we are likely to sympathize with him, or at least to be impressed with him. In this way, our relationship with Richard mimics the other characters’ relationships with him, conveying a powerful sense of the force of his personality. Even characters such as Lady Anne, who have an explicit knowledge of his wickedness, allow themselves to be seduced by his brilliant wordplay, his skillful argumentation, and his relentless pursuit of his selfish desires. Richard’s long, fascinating monologues, in which he outlines his plans and gleefully confesses all his evil thoughts, are central to the audience’s experience of Richard. Shakespeare uses these monologues brilliantly to control the audience’s impression of Richard, enabling this manipulative protagonist to work his charms on the audience. In Act I, scene i, for example, Richard dolefully claims that his malice toward others stems from the fact that he is unloved, and that he is unloved because of his physical deformity. This claim, which casts the other characters of the play as villains for punishing Richard for his appearance, makes it easy to sympathize with Richard during the first scenes of the play. It quickly becomes apparent, however, that Richard simply uses his deformity as a tool to gain the sympathy of others—including us. Richard’s evil is a much more innate part of his character than simple bitterness about his ugly body. But he uses this speech to win our trust, and he repeats this ploy throughout his struggle to be crowned king. After he is crowned king and Richmond begins his uprising, Richard’s monologues end. Once Richard stops exerting his charisma on the audience, his real nature becomes much more apparent, and by the end of the play he can be seen for the monster that he is. When Richard claims that his deformity is the cause of his wicked ways, he seems to be manipulating us for sympathy, just as he manipulates the other characters throughout the play. As a result, Richard III does not explore the cause of evil in the human mind so much as it explores its operation, depicting the workings of Richard’s mind and the methods he uses to manipulate, control, and injure others for his own gain. Central to this aspect of the play is the idea that Richard’s victims are complicit in their own destruction. Just as Lady Anne allows herself to be seduced by Richard, even knowing that he will kill her, other characters allow themselves to be taken in by his charisma and overlook his dishonesty and violent behaviour. This tendency is echoed in Richard’s relationship with the audience for much of the play. Even though the audience is likely to be repulsed by Richard’s actions, his gleeful, brilliant, revealing monologues cause most viewers to like him and even hope that he will succeed despite his obvious malice. Page 13 GLOUCESTER Now is the winter of our discontent Made glorious summer by this sun of York; And all the clouds that lour’d upon our house In the deep bosom of the ocean buried. Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths; Our bruised arms hung up for monuments; Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings, Our dreadful marches to delightful measures. Grim-visaged war hath smooth’d his wrinkled front; And now, instead of mounting barded steeds To fright the souls of fearful adversaries, He capers nimbly in a lady’s chamber To the lascivious pleasing of a lute. But I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks, Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass; I, that am rudely stamp’d, and want love’s majesty To strut before a wanton ambling nymph; I, that am curtail’d of this fair proportion, Cheated of feature by dissembling nature, Deformed, unfinish’d, sent before my time Into this breathing world, scarce half made up, And that so lamely and unfashionable That dogs bark at me as I halt by them; Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace, Have no delight to pass away the time, Unless to spy my shadow in the sun And descant on mine own deformity: And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover, To entertain these fair well-spoken days, I am determined to prove a villain And hate the idle pleasures of these days. Page 14 Hamlet HAMLET To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, ’tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause: there’s the respect That makes calamity of so long life; For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely, The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay. The insolence of office and the spurns That patient merit of the unworthy takes, When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death, The undiscover’d country from whose bourn No traveller returns, puzzles the will And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; And thus the native hue of resolution Is sickled o’er with the pale cast of thought, And enterprises of great pith and moment With this regard their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action. ’ Page 15 [†¦. ]POLONIUS:How does my good Lord Hamlet? HAMLET Well, God-a-mercy. LORD POLONIUS Do you know me, my lord? HAMLET Excellent well; you are a fishmonger. LORD POLONIUS Not I, my lord. HAMLET Then I would you were so honest a man. LORD POLONIUS Honest, my lord! HAMLET Ay, sir; to be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man picked out of ten thousand. LORD POLONIUS That’s very true, my lord. HAMLET For if the sun breed maggots in a dead dog, being a god kissing carrion,–Have you a  daughter? LORD POLONIUS I have, my lord. HAMLET Let her not walk i’ the sun: conception is a blessing: but not as your daughter may conceive. Friend, look to ‘t. LORD POLONIUS [Aside] How say you by that? Still harping on my daughter: yet he knew me not at first; he said I was a fishmonger: he is far gone, far gone: and truly in my youth I suffered much extremity for love; very near this. I’ll speak to him again. What do you read, my lord? HAMLET Words, words, words. LORD POLONIUS What is the matter, my lord? HAMLET Between who? Page 16 LORD POLONIUS I mean, the matter that you read, my lord. HAMLET Slanders, sir: for the satirical rogue says here.