Hamlet: The Dionysian Character Essay -- GCSE Coursework Shakespeare H

Hamlet: The Dionysian Character      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hamlet, from Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Hamlet, is the embodiment of the Dionysian man. Time and time again, Hamlet displays the traits of Frederick Nietzche's Dionysian individual: Hamlet's inability to think rationally, his illusion between his emotional reality and true reality, his rejection of pleasurable human desires, his impotent personality prevents action, and his realization that if justice is brought to his uncle, that will not change what has already happened (The Birth of Tragedy, section 7) (Dictionary.com, "dionysian"). Hamlet exemplifies these characteristics throughout the play, which ultimately bring about his own death. Had Hamlet's character embraced physical action rather Dionysian thought, the "something rotten" in the state of Denmark would not have led to his own self destruction (HAMLET, 1.4, 96).    Hamlet's inability to think rationally plagues him through the entire play. If Hamlet had not sworn to his father's ghost to avenge his death, he could have instead confronted Claudius about the matter instead of thinking irrationally by plotting and testing his uncle for guilt (1.5, 94-114). Earlier in the play, Hamlet has the first player "speak the speech" that he has told him to speak in "The Mouse-trap," which he uses to determine Claudius's guilt in his father's death. Hamlet believes that this modification to the play will incite a reaction from King Claudius, which it in fact does, but the king's words of "Give me some light: away!" is not adequate evidence to prove Claudius's guilt of his father's death nor does it appear to anyone, besides Hamlet, as a rational method for testing his guilt (3.2, 256). Shortly after the play in Hamlet, Hamlet proc... ...ented with a situation in which they need to take action, the Dionysian person is unable to take the correct action at the necessary time in order to do justice to the situation. Thinking about the situation and not acting will do nothing for the Dionysian individual except satisfy the indulgence of thought. This is Hamlet's downfall; he cannot act at the necessary time and change his own fate.    Sources Cited Dictionary.com Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Birth of Tragedy. New York: Dover Publications, 1995. Hoy, Cyrus, ed.   Hamlet: An Authoritative Text, Intellectual Backgrounds, Extracts from the Sources, Essays in Criticism.   New York: W. W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1963. Shakespeare, William. The Complete Works of Shakespeare. Updated Fourth Edition. Ed. David Bevington. New York: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers, Inc., 1997.

Peter Kolchin, American Slavery

For the past quarter century Edmund S. Morgan has been one of the most prolific and respected authors of early American history. This is an excellent, in depth survey of Virginia?s colonial experience, with an emphasis on how the seemingly contradictory institutions of slavery and equalitarian republicanism developed simultaneously. Indeed, Morgan argues that Virginians? definition of freedom, and their very ability to establish a republican political system, rested upon the creation of African slavery. Morgan shows that institutionalized slavery did not necessarily have to become part of British colonization; the earliest Englishmen to dream of a colonial empire hoped for the establishment of a utopian community in which natives could benefit from enlightened English governance that recognized the inherent rights of all men. Early English explorers even helped to organize revolts against the Spanish by their slaves in Latin America, and while they were motivated by their own interests in doing so, they clearly were willing to treat their slave co-conspirators as equals. However, the utopian phase of colonization died with the failed settlement at Roanoke in the 1580s. The founders of Jamestown quickly learned racism towards the Indians, whom Morgan speculates they goaded into warfare out of frustration at their own inability to support themselves. The settlement eventually became prosperous as the colonists learned to produce tobacco for market, but it was hardly the ideal society envisioned by the founders. Labor shortages were endemic, as to make a profit planters needed to control a large number of indentured servants. Unfortunately (for the planters), laborers needed only to serve for a limited period before setting up business for themselves, and thus creating competition for the planters. To check this competition, planters made it difficult for freedmen to buy lands of their own (land was plentiful, but acreage with access to shipping had been almost totally monopolized by the large planters), which resulted in freedmen foregoing planting, and becoming lazy, shiftless, and at times rebellious. Moreover, planters treated their indentured servants so poorly that as news of their condition drifted back to England, fewer of the mother country?s poor were willing to indenture themselves, especially as the burdens of overpopulation were being reduced at home.

Aggression and Emotional Intelligence - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1176 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2019/05/06 Category Psychology Essay Level High school Tags: Emotional Intelligence Essay Did you like this example? It is a word which we use almost every day to characterize the behavior of other people and sometimes even for ourselves. Aggression is a range of behaviors that is intended to harm another individual who does not wish to be harmed. This definition includes three features. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Aggression and Emotional Intelligence" essay for you Create order Aggression is how you respond or behave and you can see it in a persons behavior. For example- you can see a person hitting, slapping, shooting and cursing someone. It is not an emotion that is taking place inside a person, such as feeling angry. Second feature is that it is intentional not accidental, such as a player accidentally broke leg of another player, it was not showing aggression. Although harm was happened but there was no intent to harm. In addition to that, not all intentional behavior that hurt other persons are aggressive behavior la dentist might intentionally give a patient a shot of novocaine (and the shot hurts), but the goal is to help rather than hurt the patient. Third, the victim doesnt want to get harmed. Aggression can harm the other person as well as yourself physically, mentally or psychologically. FACTORS THAT LEADS TO AGGRESSION 1) CHEMICAL INFLUENCES Testosterone- This is a male sex hormone which is found in both males and females, but males have more amount of it. Thats the reason why males are more aggressive. High level of testosterone can increase the aggressive behavior. Reduction in level of testosterone even through castration reduces aggressive behavior.- Serotonin- In the brain, information is communicated between neurons (nerve cells) by the movement of chemicals across a small gap called the synapse. The chemical messengers are called neurotransmitters. Serotonin is one of those neurotransmitter which has been called the feel good neurotransmitter. Low level of serotonin reduces the aggressive behavior in both humans and animals. For example- violent criminals have deficit of serotonin- Alcohol- Alcohol is associated with aggressive and violent behavior. Half of the crimes are committed by individual who are intoxicated. Alcohol doesnt causes, it increases violent and aggressive tendencies.- Cor tisol- It is the human stress hormone. Aggressive people having low cortisol level experience low level of stress because of it they do not have fear of the consequences of their behavior. So, they are more likely to get engaged in aggressive behavior. 2) AGGRESSIVE CUES Weapons- seeing a weapon and mere presence of a weapon increases aggression, it is an effect which is called weapons effect.- Violent media- In media, including television programs, films and video games, violence is a common theme. It is found in studies that violent media increases aggression. Not everyone who sees violent media becomes aggressive, and not everyone who is aggressive sees violent media. Media violence is not the only factor that causes aggression, but it is an important factor. 3) PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS Drive/Psychological frustrations- When people are blocked from achieving their goals it leads to frustration which can consequently lead to aggression. It is an expression to the frustration of a goal oriented behavior by an outside source. Such goals include basic requirements like food, shelter, food, water, sex, love or recognition. Individuals stuck in negative situations where they only see negativity feel threatened and as a result respond in aggressive manners. Therefore, aggressive manner in this case is a result of a reaction to a situation in which an individual is in.- Social learning- People may acquire aggressive behaviors through experience or observational learning processes. This provides guidelines for describing beliefs as well as expectations that channel social behaviors. The social influences such as role models, reinforcements and situational factors contribute to expression of aggressive behaviors. Children learn to be aggressive when they observe violence in mass media and therefore learn aggressive scripts. Moreover, observation of violence in the family may result to aggressive behaviors in children (Anderson Bushman, 2002).- Deindividuation- When people are in large groups or crowds, they tend to lose a sense of their individuality or self-awareness. They instead take the identity of the group in which they are in and as a result stop thinking as an individual and instead think as a group. This leads to committing acts of aggression and violence that they would normally not do when they are alone. They do not take responsibility for their aggressive acts since they have lost their individual sense that others are aware of them and also their own sense and thus not being aware of their thoughts or actions (British Broadcasting Corporation, 2003 ). EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE:Emotional Intelligence refers to the capability to identify, manage and control ones own emotions as well as of others. This term was first appeared in English literature was in an unpublished doctoral dissertation by Payne in 1986 (Matthews, et al., 2002). Since then, it has captured the interest of both press (e.g. Goleman, 1995; CooperSawaf, 1997; Hein, 1997; Stiener, 1997; Wessinger, 1998) and of scientific researchers (e.g. Davis et al. 1998; Mayer, Caruso and Salovey, 2000; Petrides and Furnham, 2001, 2002). COMPONENTS OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE According to Daniel Goleman, there are five key elements of emotional intelligence: 1) Self-awareness- It the ability to recognize and understand your own emotions, is a critical part of emotional intelligence. Not only recognizing your emotions, it is being aware of the effect of your own actions, moods, and emotions of other people. Person who possess this self-awareness have a good sense of humor, are confident in themselves and their abilities, and are aware of how other people perceive them. 2) Self-regulation- It is all about expressing your emotions appropriately. Those who are skilled in self-regulation tend to be flexible and adapt well to change. They are also good at managing conflict and diffusing tense or difficult situations. Goleman suggests that those with strong self-regulation skills are high in conscientiousness. They are thoughtful of how they influence others and take responsibility for their own actions. 3) Empathy- It is the ability to understand how others are feeling, is absolutely critical to emotional intelligence. But this involves more than just being able to recognize the emotional states of others. It also involves your responses to people based on this information. An empathetic person has compassion and is able to connect with other people on an emotional level, helping them respond genuinely to other peoples concerns. 4) Motivation- Intrinsic motivation also plays a key role in emotional intelligence. People who are emotionally intelligent are motivated by things beyond mere external rewards like fame, money, recognition, and a claim. Instead, they have a passion to fulfill their own inner needs and goals. They seek things that lead to internal rewards, experience flow from being totally in tune with an activity, and pursue peak experiences. 5) Social Skills- To interact well with others is another important aspect of emotional intelligence. True emotional understanding in People who are emotionally intelligent are able to build trust with other people, and are able to quickly gain respect from the people they meet. People who are emotionally intelligent are able to build trust with other people, and are able to quickly gain respect from the people they meet.