Celtic Lifestyle
During the period when the Celts existed, which is approximately 800 BC - 400 AD, they were just a little tribe compared to other large civilizations such as the Romans and Greeks. They still managed to conquer many regions and prove victorious in most of their battles. Who were these Celts that survived numerous struggles? Where did they originate? What kind of social structure did they have? What kinds of beliefs did they have? What sort of weapons and armor did they use in battle? What were some of their military tactics? These are some of the questions that will be evaluated in the following paragraphs.
The Celts were tall, fair-skinned warriors who were well built, had blond hair and blue eyes. Some of them washed their hair in lime water to increase the hue of it. Some of them shaved their beards, but others let them grow long. Some also shaved their cheeks and let their moustaches grow so long that they would cover their mouth. While eating, they sat on wolves or dog skins. They ate at low tables, like the Chinese, and were served by young boys and girls. They cooked big quarters, usually from a pig or calf over a fire on a spit and the hero was served the biggest portion. Seeing as how the they were so aggressive and easy to anger, they often fought during meals or challenged each other to fights.
The Celts lived in the Western region of Europe called the Normandy region. Normandy is a small region in the north of France, but they spread out from that region through all of France and Belgium. They also conquered areas in the western part of Germany, through the Black Forest region, along the Jura Mountains of Switzerland, along the Alps and to the upper part of Spain in the Pyrenees Mountains. They expanded their region to Spain and Portugal in 600 BC and through Italy, beyond the Alps in 386 BC. In 325 BC - 279 BC, they conquered areas throughout Greece, and in 278 BC they expanded into Asia Minor. But around 250 BC, the Romans regained their power in Italy and pushed the Celts back towards Gaul (modern day France) until 52 BC when the Romans, under command of Julius Caesar finally pushed them out of main land Europe and into England and then into Ireland, where the Celts fended themselves from any further attack from their southern and eastern neighbors.
In 476 AD, centuries of amassed knowledge in science and philosophy, literature and the arts lay in peril of destruction alongside the physical Roman Empire. Thomas Cahill's book How the Irish Saved Civilization sheds light upon the role of the Irish people in the conservation and rebirth of civilization and the Western tradition after the fall of the Roman Empire. It is here that Cahill opens his book and after a brief description of classical civilization, that we are given a look at another people, far different from the Romans and Greeks- the vibrant and intriguing Celts. How these people came in contact with the civilized world and how they assisted in pulling the West out of the Dark ages is, then, the paramount of Cahill's argument.
Runciman, W.G., Greek Hoplites, Warrior Culture, and Indirect Bias, The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Vol. 4 No. 4, Dec. 1998.
food. They had a war club with also was made for war and hunting was made out of a stone
Drugs used to help mental illnesses; however, they aren’t always the easiest to deal with. With new drugs being discovered each year, they each will have many side-effects that may not be known to the world. Just remember that there are other options when dealing with children with mental illnesses, than medication such as Xanax, Zyprexa, Lexapro, Adderall, and Dexedrine. It may not be best to use the “easy-way-out” when handling a young child with a mental illness. With prescribing medications to children, they may ruin the child’s life, by causing life-changing effects to happen to child’s body. There is no sense of using medications unless it is absolutely necessary, like when the child is sick with the flu or has a sinus infection. Choose another pathway for your child to cope with their mental illness.
The ancient mythology of Ireland is one of its’ greatest assets. The glorious, poetic tales of battles, super humans, demigods and heroes ranks among the best of ancient literature. The book of the Dun Cow, (Lebor na huidre), was written around 1100 and contains stories from the eighth and ninth centuries. The Book of Invasions, (Lebor Gabala), tells how the mythical ancestors of the Irish, the God-like Tuatha Dé Danann, wrestled Ireland (or Erin) from misshapen Fir Bolg in fantastic battles. The Fir Bolg were traditionally linked to Gaul and Britain so the analogy between them and the invading English was complete.
We can see this in the play, as we read we learn more about the character of Hedda Gabler. She is the daughter of a General who expected a life if glamour and wealth and rebels against the boredom of a dull, narrow existence by vindictively scheming against everyone around her. Hedda also strives to ruin Eilert Lovborg, the intellectual she once rejected as a suitor. She is meddling in Eilert’s life for her own amusement and control.
Ancient Celtic society was a little bit different from those of today. They were governed by a council of nobles; the king was not the law maker, but rather law applier. Their religion and believes also differ from those of today. They had a polytheistic religion which included the existence of more than one divine-being just like Greek or Norse mythology. Women were prominent in the society, they had more rights than that time Roman and Greek women did. They lived on better conditions than most of the modern world women live today. They went to fight in the battle while other society’s women looked after their children, cleaned their houses and cooked for their husbands. Ancient Celtic women did all of those things, too, except for these ones; they could own their own property, get a divorce, choose their own husband, be a judge, doctor, teacher, poet, a druid; briefly they even have chance of getting a job . Little girls were trained to fight with weapons like swords. Even in Ireland of 1940’s, women were responsible for the care of vegetables, pigs and some farmer animals, just a few of women worked outside and they lost these jobs on marriage.
Hedda Gabler's personality type is of a different character than Nora Helmer's. She expresses herself wickedly, for her own enjoyment; not caring of other peoples feelings. Hedda has feelings of confinement and frustration, with her life, and directs her bottled up energy at people with an ill temperament. "Life becomes for Hedda a ridiculous affair that isn't worth seeing to the end. Life isn't tragic…life is ridiculous…and that's what I can't bear" (Henrik Ibsen's Notes). Hedda doesn't want to know and face the reality that she's pregnant. For her, this would mean she is permanently trapped in her life, with no chance of escaping. Hedda ended up married to her husband George Tesman, because of a lie that she told to him about liking a house that he was writing about, to make him feel better. From there she was trapped, because he was the only man to ask for her hand, and was stuck in a loveless relationship. Whereas Nora married Torvald, because she fell in love with him when they were younger.
The first snowfall signals the true arrival of the winter season in the Canadian tundra and woodland. A gray wolf sets out on a hunting expedition in the fresh, brisk air of the morning. A young, innocent bison, has been separated from its herd, it will soon be killed. In the eye’s of an unaware onlooker, the act is pure evil; that little bison did not deserve to die; however, the wolf is a mother and has hungry pups to feed. The pups would otherwise starve to death if she didn’t go hunting. Hedda Gabler is that wolf in Henrik Ibsen’s play Hedda Gabler. On the superficial level, Hedda establishes herself as immoral and with a sole intent to hurt others. Sympathetically, the wolf was purely hunting for survival. Similarly, Ibsen progressed
Hedda was born to a great, wonderful, highly regarded and respected general, General Gabler. Because she was his daughter people would show great respect and loyalty towards her. She was used to people listening and obeying her; she just loved having power over others. When Hedda and her husband, George Tesman got back from their honeymoon George’s aunt, MissTesman was telling the maid how particular Hedda is after growing up as General Gablers Daughter, “Well of course. General Gabler’s daughter. What a life she had in the General’s day! Remember seeing her out with her father-how she’d go galloping past in that long black riding outfit, with a feather in her hat." Now that her father is gone she has seemed to lost the power she once had. The only thing she has left is a large portrait of him that hangs over the coach in the inner room and a set of pistols her father left her. Hedda tries time after time to gain the attention and control she once had until she shot herself under the stress of this unbeatable battle.
Gatsby’s ego was a rare and complicated one. He had a miscued balance of his id and superego; his id overpowered all other qualities, while his superego settled at the bottom of his inner character. This is was made Gatz such an outstanding character. Normally a character's conscience would overpower their wants, but in Gatsby’s case it was the opposite. His success led to an increase in his social standards, which led to his increase in confidence. This buildup led to the explosion of ideas about Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship. “‘Your wife doesn’t love you,’ said Gatsby. ‘She’s never loved you. She loves
Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler introduces its audience to a paradoxical protagonist, Hedda Tesman. Ibsen’s delineation of Hedda presents her as a petty and frivolous woman whose sole motivation is to seek her own amusement with no regard to those around her. If some tragedy had befallen Hedda in her formative years and thus shaped her into the cold, callous woman she would become, Ibsen purposely omits this from this play: whatever judgment the audience might make of Hedda as a character must derive almost exclusively from the behaviors she exhibits in each of the work’s four acts. Ibsen does not intend for his audience to readily sympathize with Hedda. By not endearing Hedda to his audience, the subject of her suicide in the final act is made all the more baffling, surprising, and, incidentally, more interesting. By limiting the audience’s access to Hedda’s emotional development as a character, Ibsen is able to create a character infinitely more complex than one who merely succumbs to the overwhelming agony of a perpetually sorrowful life. Ibsen meant for the question as to why Hedda saw suicide as her only viable option to burn in the collective mind of his audience. To a less astute observer, Hedda’s suicide might be perceived as a senseless end to a senseless existence. A careful, thoughtful analysis of the play, however, reveals that a perfect storm of circumstances coalesce to create a climate in which Hedda is driven to her final act of desperation.
In the beginning when the reader meets Hedda Gabler, one can see how she is quite a high maintenance character by how she complains that the maid has "left the French windows open... and the room's flooded with sun" (Ibsen 1469). Exerting her power over her husband, George Tesman, she demands him to draw the curtains, which he does complacently. Later Hedda notices an old hat lying on the chair and worries that someone may have seen it. When she learns that the hat belongs to Miss Tesman, George's dear aunt, she does not apologize for her comment and sarcastically describes the hat as "really smart," which shows her tendency to belittle others, even if they are family. Hedda utters to her husband, "But what a thing to do, throw her hat down in someone's drawing room. People don't do such things" (Ibsen 1470). The author depicts Hedda as a neurotic woman who criticizes the actions of others in an attempt to demonstrate her self- imposed superiority over others. Her pretentious comment introduces the theme of a high and mighty character, which readers will begin to hate, who eventually succumbs to the pressure of appearing perfect in society.
While it can not be argued that Hedda is the perfect tragic victim in all ways, one must also consider that the same could be said for a great many characters in other plays and works of writing that we consider to be tragic. Even though she may display certain characteristics that do not fit perfectly with Aristotle’s definition it can not and should not be said that she is anything but a tragic victim. This meshing together of original ideas and classic conventions toward tragedy make Hedda as a character and Hedda Gabler as a play into something that is relatable, vivid and multi-dimensional.
Among all of the characters in the book, Pearl is the most exemplary individual and possibly the human embodiment of individualism. Although she is a product of two Puritans, she is not a child of Puritans; she is a child of nature; she is the only child ever displayed as being born in the New World. While growing up, Pearl is unapologetically bold, right down to her luxurious clothing, handmade by her mother, who chooses to instead remain in the Puritan fashion of gray and simple clothes.