Friday, January 24, 2020

Dorian Gray And The Lady Of Shallot: Stepping Out Of The Shadows Essay

During one’s life, one must step out into the real world and experience all of what the world has to offer. In order to attain a well-balanced life both mentally and socially, one may seek any way possible to live life to the fullest. We were put on this earth to live- not just simply by breathing in and out everyday, and making life the best it can possibly be. It has been said that you have not really died if you have lived. This theory has been applied to several pieces of literature. In the book The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and â€Å"The Lady of Shallot† by Alfred Lord Tennyson, two characters have not lived their life to the fullest extent. In the aforementioned literature, the characters of Sibyl Vane and the Lady of Shallot lived their lives through the invulnerability of constant security. Sibyl Vane is an actress who is greatly devoted to her acting career. She is so consumed by her realm of acting that she does not experience the many other aspects and joys that life has to offer. All her heart, soul, and mind is put into her hobby, as it envelops her entire existence. Sibyl solely depends on this mindset to carry her throughout her life. Leading a life similar to that of Sibyl Vane’s is the Lady of Shallot. In this poem, she is condemned to weaving and forbidden to ever look out of her window down to the wonderful city of Camelot. If she should look down, a terrible curse shall be laid upon her. Both Sibyl Vane and the Lady of Shallot are artists who lead very sheltered lives and have an unfortunate fate ahead of them. Before the story beings, Oscar Wilde describes the effects that art has on a person. He states, â€Å"All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril. Those who read the symbols do so at their peril. It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors (Wilde 3).† These sheltered lives allow the women to remain in their safe little worlds, apart from what other ways of life the world has to offer. In order for them to lead a less â€Å"curtained† life, they needed to take more chances in hopes of more goodness and reality to welcome into their lives. When speaking to Dorian Gray, Sibyl’s lover, Sibyl admits that her life was consumed by the theatre. She confesses: †¦Before I knew you, acting was the one reality of my life. It was only in the theatre that I lived†¦. I believed in e... ... quite possibly not have been what they were. Experience in dealing with the outside world would have strengthened them to be more independent, stronger people. Furthermore, a broader lesson of these works of literature would be to just get out there and live. Step off the stage, step out of the tower, and hide the mirror. Perhaps take a chance once in a while. Do not just go through the motions of life, and live it to the fullest extent. One can lead a more happy, fearless life if he or she can really go out and experience it. In conclusion, the writings The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and â€Å"The Lady of Shallot† by Alfred Lord Tennyson convey certain lessons of life. The characters of Sibyl Vane and the Lady of Shallot lived their lives through the sanctity of constant security, and died as a direct result of their shadows. During one’s life, one must step out into the real world and out of the shadows. In order to be balanced both mentally and socially, an individual may pursue any way possible to live life to one’s high expectations. Do not get caught up in life’s shadows. Step out of the darkness and into the light, hoping to not be consumed by the invulnerability

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Compare and Contrast How the Main Protagonists Experience Being Outsiders Within Their Respective Societies.

Compare and contrast how the main protagonists experience being outsiders within their respective societies. The experience of being outsiders is explored by William Shakespeare in ‘Othello’, Emily Bronte in ‘Wuthering Heights’ and Robert Browning in his Dramatic Monologues. Shakespeare explores the theme of alienation through a character considered an outsider by the society in which he lives in. Similarly Emily Bronte explores Heathcliff and the obstacles he faces at Wuthering Heights. Browning’s Dramatic Monologues illustrate the minds of psychotic lovers who are all possessive and delusional.In all the three texts the outsiders are rejected and are to an extent responsible for their own position in the society. While some are underprivileged others deprive and almost punish themselves for not being accepted. The characters within the three texts are undoubtedly affected by their ‘otherness’ and feel ostracised by those who surround th em. In Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff is an outsider because he is never accepted as part of the Earnshaw family. He is described as a â€Å"dark-skinned gypsy† and this prevents him from being acknowledged as a foster brother to Catherine and Hindley.Mr Earnshaw was the only character Heathcliff could trust, however Hindley began to terrorise and mistreat him which made him feel unwanted. He labelled him as a â€Å"beggarly interloper! † and an â€Å"imp of Satan†. However, the most eccentric aspect of Heathcliff’s character is his name. He is referred to as simply ‘Heathcliff’ and does not carry the Earnshaw’s last name, as he is not blood related. Furthermore the name Heathcliff is a name of a deceased son of Mr Earnshaw, therefore Heathcliff is seen as an inferior character who is deprived of a sense of identity.Similarly in Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ the protagonist is a black military man, but unlike Heathcliff he is considered to be a noble and respectful soldier amongst the Venetian people. Othello seems to be proud of his heritage and his achievements and although he is a foreigner, he is seen as a useful character that can bring success to the city of Venice. From the beginning of the play he is referred to as a â€Å"moor† and â€Å"thick lips† by both Iago and Roderigo. This may suggest that Iago and Roderigo are simply jealous that an outsider can receive so much recognition from their own people.Both Othello and Heathcliff are labelled for their differences by characters that see no place for them in the community. Othello’s vocation is not the only aspect of his life that is envied by characters; his marriage to Desdemona evidently causes problems with her father, Brabantio, but also fuels Iago’s jealousy and hate. Brabantio accuses Othello of â€Å"enchanting† his daughter and using witchcraft to lead her astray as she would not have loved him vol untarily. It seems contradictory to allow Othello to fight the city’s sieges, but oppose his marriage to a Venetian woman.Othello’s marriage to Desdemona grants him a theoretical citizenship, where he would have to be recognised as a Venetian. Othello is a powerful figure within the society and it is patent that he favours it above any nation. In spite of this, Brabantio, and Iago in particular, feel that this is an invasion of their country. His ‘otherness’ impedes him from being an equal and although he is seen as a virtuous military leader, society would not accept his relationship with Desdemona.Likewise Heathcliff’s relationship with Catherine cannot be accepted by society, but unlike Othello, Heathcliff is not a respected or useful member of society thus society cannot tolerate someone they won’t benefit from. Robert Browning’s Dramatic Monologues illustrate the minds of characters that become psychotic and aim to possess their l overs. ‘My Last Duchess’ presents a manipulative and heartless Duke, who is completely made redundant by his wife. Browning presents the Duke as a character who lacks remorse and whose jealous nature introduce us to dark and sinister qualities.He portrays his character as naive and ignorant even after the death of his wife. Browning’s choice of not allowing the Duke to blame himself for his failed marriage and realising that he is an outsider builds on the image of a psychotic character that will not rehabilitate any time soon. Heathcliff similarly does not accept that he is in the wrong. â€Å"I do hate him- I am wretched –I have been a fool! † Isabella realises the extent to which her naivety has played a role in Heathcliff’s evil intention. Heathcliff on the other hand his not regretful for the way he used Isabella as a means to an end and his plan to terrorise Hindley and Edgar.The Duke has not realised how his actions had an impact on hi s wife, not mentioning that he himself killed her. He is not sorry for the way he behaved but Isabella on the other hand has realised her wrong doing and is at this point regretful. Both Heathcliff and the Duke continue to live life on the outside and have not taken the opportunity of renewing themselves to be accepted. The Duchess rejected the Duke by disregarding the expensive gifts he brought for her. Heathcliff too is rejected by Catherine and later by Isabella. â€Å"How very black and cross you look!And how- how funny and grim! But that’s because I’m used to Edgar and Isabella Linton†. Catherine has begun to distance herself from Heathcliff because she’s realised that there would be a possibility of the two living as â€Å"beggars†, while life with Edgar will â€Å"aid Heathcliff to rise†. He therefore no longer had someone on the same wavelength as him. This ulterior motive Catherine had, which she believed would reward both her and H eathcliff, demonstrates Catherine’s naivety to the social structure of the Victorian era and the limitations set by society.The narrator in ‘The Last Ride Together’ is also rejected by his mistress but in contrast his acceptance of this makes him dissimilar to the Duke and Heathcliff. In this poem Browning portrays human success and the limitations people face. Although the lover’s life has been â€Å"meant for fails†, he has accepted his fate with his mistress and so accepts his failure of not being able to get her as part of his success. Othello on the other hand has major success in â€Å"wooing† Desdemona which could suggest that the rejection and success these characters receive could reflect the extent to which they are seen as outsiders.Porphyria’s lover is depicted as an outsider like the Duke but the narrator in this poem is far more psychotic. Browning’s use of language indicates that Porphyria is from a higher class t han her lover â€Å"gay feast†, â€Å"dripping cloak and shawl†, â€Å"soiled gloves† paints an image of a wealthy and independent woman. There is a clear issue of class and wealth in both of these Browning poems and it seems to be the root of the problems faced by the lovers. In ‘Wuthering Heights’ money and power is also a major issue which causes the unfortunate events endured by the protagonist.When Heathcliff returns to the Heights as a gentleman â€Å"in dress and aspect† rather than a â€Å"scavenger†, there is a rise in his wealth and power. Although he abuses his new status to fulfil is evil intention, he has conformed and it now appears that he is compliant. Unlike Heathcliff, Porphyria’s lover doesn’t conform so that he feels up to par to Porphyria, instead his jealousy of her escalates into murder. Wealth and class are important issues to address when considering the position of an outsider. Othello’s o therness is overlooked because his power and status dictates his class and wealth and his overall reputation.On the other hand the Duke believed that his wealth was enough for his wife. His psychopathic nature separated him from the Duchess, restricting her liberty and autonomy. The Duchess’ position as a substandard wife could have threatened the Duke’s role as her husband and made her a liability to his wealth and reputation. In comparison, Heathcliff is also a threat and his ‘otherness’ makes him, not only an outcast but a menace to the established system. Edgar Linton dislikes the fact that Heathcliff is interfering with the already constructed and workable social constitution by behaving in a way that suits him.Edgar Linton’s reaction to Catherine â€Å"welcoming a runaway servant as a brother† proves that his presence can cause conflict within the family unit as well as the community. â€Å"I shall be as dirty as I please: and I like t o be dirty, and I will be dirty†. Bronte uses particular language to display a noncompliant and inflexible character whose principles dominate his logic. The semi colon and comma suggests that Heathcliff is trying to convince both Catherine and himself that his decision to remain an outsider is the right choice. Desdemona is equally a threat to Othello as she is able to tarnish his reputation which defines him as a man.Iago has made Othello believe this but it is in fact Iago who feels threatened by Othello’s success and achievements. Iago may not want to rise in social superiority but seeing someone being regarded as an honourable character makes him resentful. ‘The Laboratory’ describes a psychotic and revengeful female character whose husband favoured â€Å"Pauline† and â€Å"Elise†, other women besides her. Browning uses religious references to create an image of the narrator before she became a deranged outsider. â€Å"Empty church, to p ray God in†, the narrator has lost her faith in Christianity and her plan to kill proves this.Killing goes against one of the Ten Commandments, ‘Thou shall not kill’. No proper Christian will contemplate murder knowing that it is against their religion. This could suggest that the narrator has lost her faith in God after losing out on love. Christianity also says ‘Thou shall not commit adultery’ and her ex lover broke this commandment. The narrator here is irrational as she is trying to make two wrongs a right because despite her ex lover committing adultery her plan to kill will not make things right. Shakespeare’s use of imagery draws attention to the division between black and white or good and bad between Othello and Desdemona.When Othello’s views begin to resemble Iago’s, he becomes cynical about women and relationships. His race becomes more of a problem and Desdemona is referred to as â€Å"that cunning whore of Veniceâ₠¬  instead of a â€Å"fine/fair woman†. â€Å"Her name that was fresh is now begrimed and black as mine own face†, Desdemona is now seen by Othello as an outsider as much as he is seen as an outsider by Iago. He views himself and Desdemona negatively due to his presumption of her infidelity. Desdemona’s actions have reflected on Othello and this has made him almost blames himself for being an outsider and particularly for being black.Iago convinced Othello that Desdemona would want somebody more like herself, white, middle class and defiantly someone who can be acknowledged by her father as an appropriate suitor. It could be said that he views himself and Desdemona negatively because he doesn’t fit the requirements Iago created and made him believe. The narrator in ‘The Laboratory’ however does not perceive herself in a negative way. â€Å"I am here† she thinks she has outsmarted her ex lover and his mistress but has failed to realise that she is an outsider and her actions are those of an immensely psychotic and jealous person.This has made her see her ex lover’s relationship with his mistress as negative instead of understanding that she will soon be in the wrong too. Porphyria’s lover is similarly in denial as he has convinced himself that his actions can be justified. â€Å"No pain felt she† this quote shows that the lover is adamant his actions have not caused any problems. â€Å"I am quite sure she felt no pain†, here he tries to manipulate himself into thinking his actions were correct by eliminating any doubts in his mind. Iago greatly benefits from this tactic by using it on Othello but Porphyria’s lover is trying to control himself and his mind.He has an inability to differentiate right from wrong as well as not being able to distinguish his fantasy from reality. Browning presents this as the beginning of the poem by using pathetic fallacy and personification to descr ibe his jealous and irrational character,â€Å"tore the elm-tops down for spite†. Browing’s use of verbs such as â€Å"awake’ and â€Å"vex† compares human qualities to that of nature, the wind destroys the ‘elm-tops’ but Porphyria’s lover goes further than this and commits murder. The setting is personified to reflect the lover’s characteristics and so the coming events are somewhat foreshadowed.To conclude, the main characters in all the three texts experience alienation within their respective societies. While for some it is due to their psychological impairments others do not quite fit in the social establishment. They are expected to keep within their boundaries as they may cause disturbances to the community. It can be suggested that the outsider’s own morals and values are being pushed aside which may force them to conform. Bibliography Spark notes York notes advance: Othello and Wuthering Heights www. elitenotes. com Work count: 2,176

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

An introduction to the Delphi Language

Welcome to the sixth chapter of the FREE online programming course:A Beginners Guide to Delphi Programming.Before you start developing more sophisticated applications by using the RAD features of Delphi, you should learn the basics of the Delphi Pascal language. Delphi Language: tutorials Delphi language, a set of object-oriented extensions to standard Pascal, is the language of Delphi. Delphi Pascal is a high-level, compiled, strongly typed language that supports structured and object-oriented design. Its benefits include easy-to-read code, quick compilation, and the use of multiple unit files for modular programming. Heres a list of tutorials, an introduction to Delphi Pascal, that will help you learn Delphi Pascal. Each tutorial will help you to understand a particular feature of Delphi Pascal language, with practical and easy to understand code snippets. Object Pascal Variable Scope: now you see me, now you dont. Typed constantsHow to implement persistent values between function calls. LoopsRepeating operations in Object Pascal in Object Pascal in Object Pascal in Object Pascal. DecisionsMaking decisions in Object Pascal or NOT. Functions and ProceduresCreating user defined subroutines in Object Pascal. Routines in Delphi: Beyond the BasicsExtending Object Pascal functions and procedures with default parameters and method overloading. The basic layout of a Pascal/Delphi program. String Types in DelphiUnderstanding and managing string data types in Delphis Object Pascal. Learn about differences between Short, Long, Wide and null-terminated strings. Ordinal and Enumerated Data TypesExtend Delphis built-in types by constructing your own types. Arrays in Object PascalUnderstanding and using array data types in Delphi. Records in DelphiLearn about records, Delphis Pascal data structure that can mix any of Delphis built in types including any types you have created. Variant Records in DelphiWhy and when to use variant records, plus creating an array of records. Pointers in DelphiAn introduction to pointer data type in Delphi. What are pointers, why, when and how to use them. Writing and using recursive functions in Object Pascal.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Some exercises for you...Since this Course is an online course, there is much you can do to prepare for the next chapter. At the end of each chapter Ill try to provide several tasks for you to get more familiar with Delphi and the topics we discuss in the current chapter.   Ã‚  Ã‚  To the next chapter: A Beginners Guide to Delphi ProgrammingThis is the end of the sixth chapter, in the next chapter, well deal with more sophisticated articles on the Delphi language. A Beginners Guide to Delphi Programming: Next Chapter Sophisticated Delphi Pascal techniques for Beginners