Far from the madding crowd Essay Example for Free

Far from the madding crowd Essay In Far From the Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy examines different types of love. Consider the relationships Bathsheba has with Gabriel, Boldwood and Troy; consider also Troys relationship with Fanny Robin. What conclusions does Thomas Hardy wish us to draw about the nature of love? Support the points you make with close reference to the text. You must also mention the social context of the novel and any relevant literary tradition. Bathsheba is a very vain woman who likes to think very highly of herself, in the first appearance she makes in the novel, she is admiring herself in the mirror. The last word in Chapter 1 is vanity. Hardy has established some of the features of two of the main characters and made us curious about this development of the relationship between Oak and this vain but handsome girl. Bathsheba was not a conventional woman of her time. She was an unusual for a woman of her time because she was very independent. She also refused her first offer of marriage although penniless and living with her aunt. Women at this time relied heavily on marriage. Women at that time often also married for security. Bathsheba is quite teasing with men, for example, when Gabriel Oak holds her hand, she suggests: But I suppose you are thinking you would like to kiss it? You may if you want to. But when Gabriel says, I will. She instantly says, No you wont! This shows that she is teasing, and she can get some men crazy about her. Her relationship with Gabriel has its ups and downs. Gabriel cares for Bathsheba so much but as the novel goes on, Gabriel realizes that there is no chance that he will marry Bathsheba because two other obstructions are in the way, the similarly vain Sergeant Troy and Mr. Boldwood. Bathshebas relationship with Mr. Boldwood is very awkward because, she only sent the valentine letter as a prank. It all started off when Liddy and Bathsheba were writing a Valentine letter to little Teddy Coggan. But Liddy suggests, What fun it would be to send it to the stupid old Boldwood, and how he would wonder! Bathsheba does not agree to the idea at first and says, No, I wont do that. He wouldnt see any humour in it. She was right. But Boldwood takes it so seriously and becomes absolutely obsessed with her, My life is a burden without you, I want you I want you to let me say I love you again and again! When Bathsheba tells him the truth about the Valentines card, Boldwood does not want to and cannot accept the fact that it was a joke and a prank: No, no, no. Dont say thoughtlessness! Make me think it was something more that it was a sort of prophetic instinct the beginning of a feeling that you would like me. Then Troy comes into the novel. During that period of time, there were strict rules governing the etiquette of behaviour about men and women being alone together and they certainly would not publicly touch each other or their clothes. This makes their meeting highly irregular. Bathsheba would be particularly vulnerable in this situation. Troy is similarly vain and teasing like Bathsheba, this enchants her, Thank you for the sight of such a beautiful face! He also often repeats the word, Beauty aimed obviously at Bathsheba. When they depart after their first encounter, she is very happy and feels flattered. She looks in the mirror (as usual) and repeats Troys words, Goodnight beauty! Bathsheba is aware of her beauty, and she feels that if some handsome man in uniform compliments her on her looks, then that is very rewarding for her and it boosts her self-confidence. Also, Troys showmanship with his sword swept Bathsheba off her feet. Also, because Bathsheba would have been very nai ve and inexperienced in the ways of love, she found it very hard to resist Troy. Bathsheba and Troys relationship, was more of a sexual love than a real love: She felt powerless to withstand or deny him. He was altogether too much for her. Another sign of Bathshebas vanity was that, she only married Troy because he had said he saw a more beautiful woman. So, Bathsheba went all the way to Bath just for Troy. But later on in the novel, Troy does not show that same feelings as when they first met. Instead, Troy becomes more involved into Fanny Robin and regrets ever turning her down. The type of love Fanny Robin loves Troy with all her heart; she even walks miles just for him. Many young women in the Victorian times would have eloped to marry soldiers. This was called Scarlet fever. This would be a disgrace to the girl and her family. Hardys aunt Martha was said to have eloped with a soldier When she asks Troy when they will be wed, Troy does not even understand what she is talking about. Fanny asks, When will it be? Troy then asks What? Then Fanny tries to remind Troy, That you promised. Troy again, forgetful, I dont quite recollect Then Fanny desperately says, O you do! Dont speak like that. It weighs me to the earth. It makes me say what ought to be said first by you. Fanny wants to get desperately married, but Troy wants her mainly for sex and for more of a casual relationship. Troy gets very angry and upset when he sees the coffin with Fanny Robin and the baby in it. Tragically, Fanny died of childbirth. The baby was still born. Many deaths occurred due to lack of technology including childbirth. He completely forgets about what he had with Bathsheba and thinks of what he could have had with Fanny. Troys reaction to her death and his disregard for Bathsheba shows he is the type of man who only wants what he cannot have. When Fanny was alive, Troy showed little interest in her predicament. I think that the message Thomas Hardy is trying to get out is that love can only be true, not just for jokes and pranks (the valentines letter. ) Love also has to have two people involved not like Fanny Robin and Troy at the start of the novel. In conclusion, Hardy ended the novel happily, because he knew that is what the readers wanted to read. The story was printed into a monthly magazine and for a Victorian readership; a happy end involved a marriage. Bathsheba was first attracted by Troys good looks and superficial charm and preferred these qualities to the more traditional ones of security and love offered by Oak and Boldwood. But when Fanny dies, Bathsheba finally realizes that Troys is actually a womanizer and he is disloyal. Hardy, himself did not rate marriage very highly as he had an unhappy marriage. So by the end of the novel, Bathsheba becomes more sensitive to others and realizes that she should have accepted Oaks initial proposal, rather than Troys, and that she would have been much happier with Oak.

Teenage Pregnancy: It Can Be Prevented Essay -- Social Issues Teen Pre

Teenage Pregnancy: It Can Be Prevented According to the Students Against Destructive Decisions website there are more than 750,000 teen pregnancies a year. Teen pregnancy is one of the most difficult issues that teens and their families face today. Most teen pregnancies causes both involved to take up low paying jobs, drop out of school, and continue to become more and more stressed from then on. Schools offer sex education classes, but direct it fully towards abstinence. In this decade, many more kids are becoming sexually active. Schools should teach comprehensive sex education because it can prevent teenage pregnancy with both abstinence, and birth control teaching. Advocated for Youth, a group to help young people make informed and responsible decisions about their reproductive and sexual health states â€Å"Comprehensive sex education addresses both abstinence and age-appropriate, medically accurate information about contraception. Comprehensive sex education is also developmentally appropriate, introducing information on relationships, decision-making, assertiveness, and skill building to resist social/peer pressure, depending on grade-level.† This suggests that comprehensive sex education not only teaches actual contraception, birth control, and promotes abstinence, but it teaches more to help any age deal with the likelihood of sexual activity and how to react and deal. There are several ways to tackle comprehensive sex education. One way to ensure that teenagers don’t get pregnant is to teach abstinence. Abstinence is choosing not to have any type of sex. With abstinence, no barriers or pills are necessary because the person is not sexually active. According to kids health.org â€Å"Abstinence is 100% effective in... ... can use this information, but it’s on how sex education is helpful and how it’s proven to work with teenagers. Source #5: from a Search Engine-Google. Freking, Kevin. â€Å"Study Indicates that Teaching Abstinence Only in Schools Doesn't Equal Less Sex for Students.† 14 April 2007. 6 Dec 2010. . -I can use this article to quote for my naysayer and how teaching birth control is very effective to prevent teenage pregnancy. Source #6: from a Search Engine-Google [keywords: comprehensive sexuality education curriculum] Van Dorn, Betsy. â€Å"Comprehensive Sex Education.† 2010. 6 Dec 2010. . -I can use this to learn more about comprehensive sex education, and see opposing sides for a naysayer.

Escapism in the Sun Also Rises

The characters whose story Hemingway tells in The Sun Also Rises are referred to as â€Å"the lost generation. † These characters, all greatly affected by the tragedies of war, were disillusioned with their own country and attempted to find solace in Paris. In the hustle bustle and excitement of the city, they still seem to long for some sort of escape and this is where Hemingway brings in pastoral language and other forms of escapism. The novel begins with a long epigraph from Ecclesiastes (read).This epigraph is intended to show the reader that nature is a constant, while people are not. This basically means that our lives and hardships are seemingly insignificant and that no matter how bad an experience a person has one day, another day will always come. The sun will always rise and set, the wind will always blow, and the rivers will always flow into the ocean. This idea is essential in order to understand the importance of pastoral language. The Oxford English Dictionary d efines the word pastoral as poetry, music, pictures, etc: portraying rural life or characters, esp. n an idealized or romantic manner. (Read definition&next) While Paris was meant to be an escape from the wartime and the reminders of their lives in America before the war, it is still difficult for them to cope because the city is still very similar to their old lives and is full of corruption. (read) Hemingway creates pastoral interludes in which the men escape from the social, sexual, and monetary competition of the city to a more idyllic setting.For example, Bill and Jake go on a trip to the countryside and are able to enjoy the freedom from the busy schedules of city life as well as a new openness with one another when Bill expresses his deep feelings of friendship for Jake that would’ve been considered inappropriate to express by social standards. Jake desperately wants to escape from his problems, however he carries a constant reminder of what he went through because of his injury.Lady Ashley and his desire for what can never happen between them is another constant reminder of what he has gone through which never allows him to escape his war. So, while the pastoral setting was a good break for him, it doesn’t allow him to completely regain his masculinity. Instead, he uses a forced masculine attitude as a form of escapism. In comparison to the count, Jake is a small and seemingly weak man. The count dates Brett, buys her things such as dinner flowers and champagne. Brett treats Jake lovingly but it is almost in a tantalizing way because she knows nothing will happen etween them. In order to keep up his many image, Jake begins to spend money frivolously as the count does, even though he is by no means wealthy. (Read) Jake isn’t the only one that the pastoral setting doesn’t help when it comes to escaping the memories of the war. After the war, women had a new place in the world because during the war they had to work while the m en were away. Brett is unable to use the country as a place of solace because women were still supposed to be traditional and that type of confinement wouldn’t allow her to forget the things she saw as a nurse.Instead, she turns to a somewhat wild lifestyle consisting of alcohol and men as her own form of escapism. The characters seem to be constantly looking for a way to escape their problems rather than fixing them or simply accepting that there are some things that can’t be changed. They cling to ideas of what could have been, even up to the very last lines of the book. Through their constant efforts to escape, they never seem to grasp Hemingway’s idea that the world is bigger than one person’s suffering.

The Political Sins Of John Stewart By Robert Hariman

Cynicism as most of you know is the manipulation of the greater public to pursue one’s interests. Another definition of it is that it is the enlightenment of the majority of which in regards to the right work done, income might be acquired. The notion of personal interest varies among different people but is argued to be the core of cynicism. This paper is going to oppose accusations about cynicism on John Stewart basing its arguments on; the critical forum in defence of John Stewart by Robert Hariman and the critical conference on the political sins of John Stewart by Roderick P. Hart and E. Johanna Hartelius. Publicity can be paradoxical such that as much as it is nice to be recognizable to almost everybody, there is also the lack of†¦show more content†¦The gaps are derived from the Constitution itself, on the freedom of speech. Everybody reserves a right to make comments on matters of state provided they do not infringe on the rights of another. The defence argues that the prosecution fails to see the humorous techniques of the Daily show (Hariman, 274). The above statement is true as the failure of one man to recognize the joke in a statement should not be the reason to convict someone for committing political heresy. In the 21st century the year of accusation of John Stewart, people exercise the freedom of speech. As such there is the emergence of various channels through which people can air their opinions like social media forums, blogs upon which similar messages and jokes are passed. Does it mean that we are going to jail every individual that engages in constructive crit icism on political matters on various communication forums? Addressing the issue on the media of transfer of the said â€Å"political heresy† is of vital importance. This is because it helps draw the line between a democratic society with freedom of speech and an anarchy society where words are restricted to only those that please the powers that be. The defence agrees with the above statement when it argues whether we will find contentment in the prosecution s idea of public life (Hariman, 274). In my opinion, I feel the defendant expresses a more concrete argument in defence of John Stewart laying facts wide open and appealing to the