Social and Spiritual Energy in Middlemarch
I do not believe that it is sufficient to say that Middlemarch explores the ways in which social and spiritual energy can be frustrated; it would be more appropriate to say that Middlemarch explores the ways in which social and spiritual energies (ideals if you will) are completely destroyed and perverted. One need only look to Lydgate to see an example of idealism being destroyed by the environment in which it is found. At the start of the novel, we are introduced to the "young, poor and ambitious" and most of all idealistic Doctor Lydgate, who has great plans for the fever hospital in Middlemarch. Throughout the novel, however, we see his plans frustrated by the designs of others, though primarily the hypocritical desires of Nicholas Bulstrode. The second example of the idealism of the young being destroyed by the old is that of Dorothea. This can be seen by her continuing desire to "bear a larger part of the world's misery" or to learn Latin and Greek, both of which are continually thwarted by Casaubon, though this ends after his death, with her discovery of his selfish and suspicious nature, by way of the codicil.
The character who has their ambitions and ideals brought most obviously low is Lydgate. The earliest example is when he has to make the choice between Fairbrother and Tyke. Both of these characters are rather poor examples of the clergy (Fairbrother because of his gambling, and Tyke because of his rather lazy attitude). Our sympathies are clearly with Fairbrother for a number of reasons; he doesn't gamble because he wants to, but because the wage he receives from running his parish alone is too small to support him and the various members of his family that rely on him. Lydgate has to make the choice between some one he likes as a person (Fairbrother) and someone who he needs help from (Bulstrode). It is clear that Lydgate is very similar to Fairbrother in a number of ways; both are scientists, and both have great hopes for the future. It would therefore seem to be the case that Lydgate would automatically support Fairbrother. However, Bulstrode uses his money and his influence to ensure Tyke's success.
Bulstrode is another example of a character that has had his idealism and destroyed, though not by Middlemarch.
...on between the non-Maquiladora and Maquiladora industries I feel the inefficient producers will be wiped out. Therefor, Maquiladora employees will need better training, education, incentives as well improved working conditions and higher wages. Operations will also have to be streamlined in order to reap the benefits of economies of scale and scope.
“Let you not mistake your duty as I mistook my own. I came into this village like a bridegroom to his beloved, bearing gifts of high religion; the very crowns of holy law I brought, and what I touched with my bright confidence, it died”, hinting to how he was doing great wrong in the community. The statement "Ambition can corrupt even the most steady and kind", is proven to be true. Here are some reasons how it has been proven.
Religion, Myth, and Magic in Robertson Davies’s Fifth Business. Interwoven with light and shadows, Robertson Davies’s Fifth Business is penetrated with fantastical elements that rub uneasily against feelings of guilt. A snowball thrown by young "Boy" Staunton misses Dunstan and hits Mary Dempster, causing the premature birth of Paul and the insanity of Mary. Guilt ensues and threatens to envelop Dunstable, Dunny, and Dunstan.
...el, The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson accentuates the fact that society’s expectations of a character causes negative impacts upon their lives through the creation of a struggle to achieve his goal. Ian is an impeccable example of this because he is prone to adolescent tendencies due to youth. Ian struggles to achieve his goals due to the following expectations: to leave Struan, for a superior opportunity to become successful; to strive for a medical career, since he excels at the trade already; and to … Society is too abrupt in its assumptions of an individual, these assumptions often catch one unprepared, spreading chaos and confusion through one’s mind. It would be substantially more beneficial if society did not place expectations at all.
However Dickens also has those characters that are supposed to be good and evil except the reader can't always tell which is which, this happened with the peasants and aristocrats. At first the peasants are supposed to be the good and the aristocrats the evil, yet when the peasants have control they are just as bad as the aristocrats. When the aristocrats had all of the power they were bloodthirsty. They would "sentence a youth to death" for not kneeling for monks. This was a very bad time and this seems and is extremely evil. It seems as if the peasants were good, yet when the tables turned they acted the exact same way as the aristocrats. The peasants had "eleven hundred defenseless prisoners killed just because they could. So the peasants were just as evil as the aristocrats, even though both thought they had just cause.
Women slaves were subject to unusually cruel treatment such as rape and mental abuse from their master’s, their unique experience must have been different from the experience men slaves had. While it is no secret that the horrors of the institution of slavery were terrible and unimaginable; those same horrors were no big deal for southern plantation owners. Many engaged in cruelty towards their slaves. Some slave owners took particular interest in their young female slaves. Once caught in the grips of a master’s desire it would have been next to impossible to escape. In terms of actual escape from a plantation most women slaves had no reason to travel and consequentially had no knowledge of the land. Women slaves had the most unfortunate of situations; there were no laws that would protect them against rape or any injustices. Often the slave that became the object of the master’s desires would also become a victim of the mistress of the household. Jealousy played a detrimental role in the dynamic the enslaved women were placed within. Regardless of how the slave felt she could have done little to nothing to ease her suffering.
The Niagara Movement was a radical protest organization; its members were highly educated African-Americans; ‘The Talented Tenth’.This short-lived movement launched a campaign for equality for African-Americans, with an emphasis on political rights. However the movement was unsuccessful due to lack of financial support, causing its dissolution. The NAACP was a coalition of African-American and White educated radicals who sought to remove legal barriers for full citizenship of African-Americans. The NAACP was successful due to its triumph of many segregation and discrimination cases. DuBois was one of the founding members of the organization; he became known for editing it’s publication ‘The Crisis’; in which he denounced White racism and demanded that African-Americans stand up for their rights. DuBois’ publications were socially successful because they increased Black pride and confidence. These two organizations were able to conduct productive political efforts because their members were well educated, thus showing that DuBois’ ‘Gradualist Political Strategy’ was rational. DuBois’ strategy was politically efficient in the sense that it exercised the importance of political equality on the
Throughout history, the United States has initiated policies, peace agreements, or laws which were believed to bring prosperity, and success, however those policies as a result were created in the U.S. best self-interest. One of these policies is known as NAFTA, which was a trade agreement created to open up free trade around the globe, however this policy backfired, deeply scaring and deteriorating the Latin American economy, and its people. Specifically, NAFTA known as the North American Free Trade Agreement, took effect on January 1, 1994 was a treaty which entered by the United States, Canada, and Mexico used to eliminate tariff barriers, in order to encourage economic prosperity between these three countries. A quarter century later, the
Truth and idealism can lead individuals onto an enlightened path, however, with questionable ideals an individuals life can be persuaded inaccurately. In the Shakespearean Drama, Macbeth, the main characters experience misguidance from their own mislead ideals, which created significant disorder among themselves and the country of Scotland. Ambition combined with the unrighteous forces of Macbeth and Lady led them predominantly to deadly consequences. Macbeth and his wife are engrossed by the witches prophecies which directed them both to irrational thinking and absurd actions. These actions defined both characters throughout the play and impacted their demise tremendously. The ideals of the powerful couple, along with their overbearing ambition, lead their reality into an unconscionable future and their eventual death.
The rise of the NAACP, was in effect long before the first members came together as a unit, the spirit of freedom was already being heard through the cries of those lynched, forced to endure public disgrace and ignorance through like of education, the American Negro. Before the first letter was typed, the spirit of writers such as August Meier, and John Hope Franklin were being purged through the blood of their fallen comrades. Yet being in the ground, their voices cry out what does it take for a black man to receive justice as free men. In the spirit of the rise of the NAACP, there were many challenges and obstacles they had to confront, lynching, the Jim Crow laws and educating newly freed slaves of their worth in this hostile society. It is my hope that the voices of Moorfield Storey, Mary White Ovington ans W.E.B. Du Bois will show the validity of the NAACP as a platform to the success of people of color, yesterday, today and whenever needed.
...rn day society, illusive ambitions can be incredibly detrimental, just as they are demonstrated to be in Macbeth. Ambitions, if they are untamed, can be an impediment to free will; they can overpower your good conscience, possibly leading you into causing death and destruction. They can also corrupt one’s mental health, while practically morphing that person’s perception of reality into something demonstrably wrong and twisted. Finally, they can boost ones ego to a point where that person is engulfed and imprisoned in the vehemence of their own denial, which can ultimately bear fatal consequences. If one’s hopes and desires are innately destructive, then it logically follows that that one’s ambition is also innately destructive; be wary of one with an immense ambition.
The National Association for Advancements of Colored People (NAACP) is a widely recognized civil rights organization built by advocates who desire to achieve equality for all victimized of racial discrimination. Since being founded in 1909 among supporting advocates, the NAACP holistically shares support on the following black policy issues: inequality in political, educational, social and economic opportunities granted for all citizens, need for legislative change to diminish racial prejudice and replenish equal rights, ensure communities are well acquainted with their constitutional rights and knowledgeable enough to use them in advantage of achieving racial progress and need for more conscious awareness of effects of racial discrimination
The exact opposite of the points mentioned thus far are made manifest within the character of Beowulf. Beowulf is easily able to defeat Grendel once Grendel has lost all hope of winning, ". . . remembered his final / Boast and, standing erect, stopped / The monster's flight. . ." (440-443). Beowulf is also, instead of insecure and under-confident, overly confident and a braggart.
In her novel Middlemarch, George Eliot’s job is to compare different types of existence and their relevance to one another—where each character is faced with a struggle to resolve his/hers desires with the realities of life. In the novel, both the character of Dorothea Brooke and Dr. Lydgate share a similar form of imagination, where both create an image in their mind of the ideal marriage. Such images can be seen as illusions and it is through these illusions the characters must surrender to reality, as they must make an effort to understand the desires that sparked their imagination from the start, and must attempt to make peace with their existing situations. Eliot, through her narration, attempts to exemplify through these two characters this common inclination of human nature to create what we desire as a tool when dealing with life that is both limiting and disappointing.
Ambition can be a good thing; however too much ambition can be deadly. In this case it was extremely deadly. The establishment of social statuses gave people a reason, not a justified reason, but a reason to step on others to move up the social ladder. Claudius murdered his brother for his crown. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern betray their best friend Hamlet, because he would have been the downfall of them. Too much ambition eliminates morals and judgment. Too much ambition makes only one person important and that person is the person it has infected. Due to the deadly nature of an ambition overload the ending result in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet was death of the royal family. The determination of Claudius to get to the top of the social ladder fell through and brought him and everybody associated with him down with him.