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Character Juxtaposition: The Twoness of Macbeth

Shakespeare's Macbeth relays the tale of a Scottish general, at first presenting a seemingly brave and noble warrior. Macbeth is eventually prompted by ambition to seek the throne upon hearing a prophecy from a trio of supernatural forces, ultimately resulting in his kingship and consequent death. While the tragedy centers around the dualistic battle between good and evil, many two-folded conflicts exist within the play, resulting in the congruence of King James's monarchy with Macbeth's. By applying dualism to characters in the play, Shakespeare provides a comparative extension of the English crown, specifically through the juxtaposition of characteristics of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to those of other figures within the play, as well as to those of themselves.

The thematic development of the twoness throughout Macbeth can be linked to the dualism of politics during the time the play was written. Most likely composed in 1606 during the early reign of King James I, Shakespeare not only uses Macbeth to pay homage to his king's Scottish lineage, but crafts the play as a mirror-image of the duality faced by James during his rule. With his coronation as England's king in 1603, James held onto his Scottish crown, making him ruler of both countries. Macbeth "simultaneously incorporates an uneasy attitude of hostility toward Scotland along with a vision of union between the two countries," reflecting the conflicting nature of James's regime (Bevington 1259). The King's resolute desire to unite both his kingdoms, combined with the notion that "Scotland was a constant worry on England's northern border" (Bevington 1259), no doubt shaped an inner conflict within James. Shakespeare's Macbeth juxtaposes both Macbeth and his wife with other characters in the play and with each other, and this technique can be seen as a manifestation of King James's inner dualistic conflict over Scotland and England.

As an extension of King James's inner struggle over two countries, the dualism of Macbeth's character in the play is found in the juxtaposition of Macbeth's evil characteristics with his humane qualities. Macbeth evinces a dualism within himself, much like King James. Macbeth constantly fluctuates between his murderous plots and his self-doubt and despair. In his soliloquy, Macbeth observes, "He's here in double trust; /First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, /Strong both against the deed; then, as his host, /Who should against his murderer shut the door, /Not bear the knife myself" (1.7.12-16). Here it seems as though Macbeth realizes the depravity of his plot, yet he still commits murder out of his desire to become king. He ends his speech by proclaiming, "I have no spur /To prick the sides of my intent, but only /Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself /And falls on th' other" (1.7.25-8). Macbeth is too ambitious to allow his conscience to stop him from murdering his way into power, yet too morally conscious to be happy about his evil actions. Much of his behavior throughout the play is an equivocation because he never quite takes one position over the other, but exists as both good and evil. This duplicity of character relates to James's hesitation to choose one country over the other.

The duality of Macbeth's personality is not only juxtaposed with King James's own two-sided conflict, but it gives Macbeth's character something that other Shakespearean villains lack-humanity. Shakespeare's portrayal of Macbeth illustrates the negative effects that ambition and guilt can have on a man who lacks strength of character. Though Macbeth may be seen as irrevocably evil, his weakness of character separates him from Shakespeare's other villains, who are all strong enough to conquer guilt and self-doubt. Macbeth, though able to carry out corrupt and evil schemes, is ill-equipped for the psychological consequences of his crimes. He is completely subject to choice and free will, and his options are not much different from the audience's daily choices in life, adding to the human qualities of Macbeth's character. In essence, "we discover a hidden similarity between Macbeth's dramatic situation and everyday life. The everyday incidents that we might take as examples of ethical thinking come to us as a tale told," relating Macbeth to the audience in a way unseen in any of Shakespeare's other plays (Keller 42). His human qualities present a character that is indeed evil, but capable of guilt and remorse at the same time, illustrating yet another dualistic tension within the mind of Macbeth. While Shakespeare undoubtedly did not consider his own king evil or corrupt, he relates the basic notion of inner conflict to King James through the juxtaposition of Macbeth's character.

In addition to the binary personality of Macbeth, his relationship with Banquo also serves a dualistic function. Each character takes a different fork in the road, and this bifurcation is also an extension of King James's struggle to rule two opposing countries. Upon hearing the witches' prophecy in Macbeth, Banquo says to them, "If you can look into the seeds of time /And say which grain will grow and which will not, /Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear /Your favors nor your hate" (1.3.58-61). Banquo's indifference to the Weird Sisters' mystical predictions conveys to the audience that he is unwilling to fall prey to the powers of the supernatural. Banquo "strongly resists the blandishments of fortune as well as its buffets" when he chooses to disregard the witches as untrustworthy (Bevington 1256). Banquo is somewhat tempted by the witches' words later in the evening, but he never fully entertains the idea or magnitude of power the prophecy suggests. Though Banquo is later murdered, his character remains untainted from guilt or evil because he ultimately chooses to resist the temptations of the otherworldly innuendos.

Macbeth, on the other hand, represents the other prong of the fork in that he wholly believes in the divination and becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. He begs of the Weird Sisters, "Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more," hinting at his gullibility, as well as his deep desire for power (1.3.70). Almost immediately Macbeth determines that he will have to reach his way to the throne using murder and conspiracy, though none of the witches relay this method to him. Later, in the first scene of Act Four, Macbeth seeks the witches again and implores them to prophesize his fate a second time. His eagerness for power and ambition overshadows his rationality, and he fulfills the prediction himself. Macbeth "is ripe for [the witches'] insinuations: a mind free of taint would see no sinister invitation in their prophecy of greatness to come" (Bevington 1256).

In the great irony of Macbeth, the Elizabethan audience would have recognized that the protagonist of the play did not have to murder Duncan to become king since Scotland did not have a patriarchal lineage line to the throne during this time. Rather, Macbeth deemed the witches trustworthy and followed the path opposite Banquo's, eventually leading to his own death as a tainted man. As mentioned, "Scotland was a constant worry on England's northern border...and, from an English point of view, manifesting the kind of tyranny that the English especially feared," alluding to the notion that King James had before him two contrasting paths to chose from--England and Scotland (Bevington 1259). The metaphor displayed through the different roads taken by Banquo and Macbeth in relation to fate correlate to King James's struggle to steer the paths of both Scotland and England.

Lady Macbeth also delineates the reign of James through the juxtaposition of her character with that of the witches. Throughout Macbeth, Shakespeare correlates Lady Macbeth and the Weird Sisters through a series of subtle characteristics, and through this he also incorporates James's reign into the play. The Weird Sisters resemble the Three Fates of Greek mythology, who weave the fabric of human life and have the power to cut the thread to end it. Much like the Fates, the witches act as puppeteers, seeming to manipulate Macbeth's extreme ambition. Likewise Lady Macbeth dictates the scene of Duncan's murder, controlling and exploiting Macbeth's sense of manhood as one may control a puppet. Lady Macbeth and the witches are also linked to each other by obscure gender roles. When Banquo sees the Weird Sisters, he asserts to them, "You should be women, /And yet your beards forbid me to interpret /That you are so," implying a blurred gender image of the witches (1.3.45-7). Similarly, Lady Macbeth takes on manly characteristics by taking control to plan Duncan's murder, and the "sexual aversion...allies Lady Macbeth with the witches or weird sisters" (Bevington 1257).

Lady Macbeth is further aligned with the Weird Sisters after reading Macbeth's letter relating the first prophecy. She summons, "Come, you spirits /That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here /And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full /Of direst cruelty," once again adding a masculine tinge to her character by scorning her female traits and requesting to be "unsexed" (1.5.40-3). In addition to gender-bending, Lady Macbeth's incantations directly juxtapose her with the witches. During the time Macbeth was written, the invocation of evil spirits was considered a heinous offense and "although Lady Macbeth never obtains the epithet of witch during the play, she would have been considered a witch according to the Witchcraft Statute of 1604. Whether or not the evil spirits actually materialized, the conjuring of evil qualifies as witchcraft. The very act of summoning demonic powers transforms her into the witch of the 1604 Statute" (Levin 30). The resemblance of Lady Macbeth to the Weird Sisters in Macbeth establishes a connection with King James because of his ties to the supernatural. In 1598 King James wrote Daemonologie, and heing was "keenly interested in witchcraft" (Bevington 1259). Shakespeare's juxtaposition of the female protagonist with the witches not only sparked the King's interest in the play, but the coupling of characters allows for further correlation between Macbeth's and James's roles as a dual kings.

Perhaps the most apparent, yet complex, duality lies within the chiastic relationship of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. In the beginning, the audience views Macbeth as a capable warrior who becomes disillusioned by his ambition for power. He tends to equivocate throughout the first half of the play, telling Banquo the witches' prophecy "Cannot be ill, cannot be good" (1.3.132). Macbeth is unable to form a definite opinion or position and is plagued by self-doubt, only able to accomplish Duncan's murder with the prodding of his wife. He illustrates his irresolution right before murdering Duncan. Macbeth hesitates and asks Lady Macbeth, "If we should fail?" (1.7.59).

Upon committing the crime, Macbeth is unable to cope with the psychological guilt and paranoia that results from his actions. The audience recognizes his break with reality when he is harried by Banquo's ghost at the banquet. Yet, as the play progresses, Macbeth becomes non-equivocal and gains his former sanity. He reverts back into his warrior mode and becomes similar to Lady Macbeth's indubitable character seen early in the play. After the witches' final predictions, Macbeth exudes confidence and tells his servant, "The mind I sway by and the heart I bear /Shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear" (5.3.8-9). Moments later he relates to Seyton, "I'll fight till from my bones my flesh be hacked. /Give me my armor," and Macbeth is again viewed as a lucid and determined warrior (5.3.32-3). His character progresses from an unsure, pussyfooted figure to one of clear-cut direction.

Lady Macbeth forms a chiasmus, or inverted parallelism, with her husband, providing a reversed duality between the two characters. Within the first couple acts of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is highly unequivocal. She controls and manipulates situations and exists as the brains and the will behind Duncan's murder. Lady Macbeth overrides her husband's hesitations and continually goads him about his masculinity, emanating self-assurance and ruthless ambition. She tells her husband, "When you durst do it, then you were a man; /And, to be more than what you were, you would /Be so much more the man," (1.7.50-2). After her husband's descent into madness at the banquet, she takes control of the situation and covers for him, relaying to the guests that "My lord is often thus, /And hath been from his youth. Pray you, keep seat" (3.4.53-4).

Later, however, Lady Macbeth mentally deteriorates into a semblance of Macbeth's earlier persona. She is reduced from a woman of great strength and will to one who sleepwalks throughout the castle, incapable of making a decision, by her desperation to rid her hands of an invisible stain. Lady Macbeth slowly goes insane, and the gentlewoman tells the doctor that "It is an accustomed action with her to /seem thus washing her hands. I have known her /continue in this a quarter of an hour," to which Lady Macbeth replies, "Yet here's a spot" (5.1.28-31). She cannot seem to remove the blood from her hands in her mind's eye, and by the conclusion of the play, Lady Macbeth's character weakens to such extent that she commits suicide. Like Macbeth, she is eventually unable to cope with the actuality of her crimes. However, instead of gaining decisiveness from her madness like Macbeth, Lady Macbeth fully succumbs to her guilt and allows it to irrevocably break her spirit. By the beginning of the fifth act, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have inverted their roles, with him as the incontestable character and her as the equivocal character. With the use of chiasmus as a literary technique, Shakespeare once again applies a dualistic approach to characterization in the play.

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Macbeth incorporates a multitude of themes, fundamentally bringing together a work outwardly concerned with the battle between good and evil. Upon deeper analysis, however, Macbeth exists as a play chiefly threaded with dualistic elements, mirroring the two-sided conflict of King James I. By juxtaposing Macbeth and Lady Macbeth with other characters as well as with themselves, Shakespeare amplifies the two-ness of James's simultaneous reigns over Scotland and England.

Works Cited

1. Bevington, David, ed. The Complete Works of Shakespeare. New York: Pearson Education, Inc., 2004.
2. Keller, Gregory J. "The Moral Thinking of Macbeth." Philosophy and Literature 29 (2005): 41-56.
3. Levin, Joanna. "Lady Macbeth and the Daemonologie of Hysteria." ELH 69 (2002): 21-55.
4. Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. The Complete Works of Shakespeare. Ed. David Bevington. New York: Pearson Education, Inc., 2004.

In "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" Mark Twain depicts various characters in the story according to his own moral and social beliefs. He portrays some characters as admirable or virtuous, and others as dislikeable or amoral. These portrayals reflect Twain's own sociological, religious, and moral belief system.

Twain portrays the main character of the story, Huck Finn, in a very positive light. This is no surprise, but when you examine Huck's traits you can see the values Twain sees as being desirable. For example, Huck is a very morally good person. This is evident when he helps the runaway slave, Jim, to escape slavery by taking a raft up the Mississippi river, and when he foils the con job by telling the eldest Wilks sister the truth.

Huck was a physically abused son of an alcoholic. This creates sympathy in the reader, which makes him more likeable. His charm, however, lies in his personality. Huck is the embodiment of youthful rebellion, and childish adventure. His freedom from everyday rules and regulations give him freedom that other boys his age can only dream about. His rugged adventurousness gives him naturalism.

These qualities go straight to the heart of any boy in Huck's age group, which is why this book has always been so popular among young readers. These qualities could also imply that Twain has great appreciation for youth and a naturally adventurous spirit.

Another character Twain portrays in a positive light is Jim. Again Twain uses sympathy to get the reader to feel sorry for or take pity on Jim. He is a runaway slave, viewed to some as property but portrayed here in a very human perspective. Jim is shown as a person who befriends Huck, and greatly misses his wife and children. Jim is humanized in a book where he could very easily been objectified. In fact, it was a societal norm to treat blacks as objects in the setting of the book, and many other characters do so. This is relevant to Twain's own views on slavery. Twain was known to have anti-slavery beliefs, and more openly gets this idea across in some of his other writings. According to Twain critic Jim Zwick, "First made public through the New York Times in 1985 after it was authenticated by Twain scholar Shelley Fisher Fishkin, Mark Twain's letter to Francis Wayland is an important document. Unlike Huckleberry Finn, which masks the author's views through both Huck's first-person narration and the use of satire, the letter to Wayland directly expresses Twain's thoughts on racism in American society and the responsibility of America's white citizens. His conclusion that "the shame is ours, not theirs, and we should pay for it," iscertainly far from David Horowitz's assertions that centuries of slavery benefited African Americans and that calls for reparations are somehow "one more assaulton America" (Zwick). Twain was known for having anti-slavery views, and the humanization and sympathy for Jim are evidence of that.To give an example of a character that Twain looks down upon, we can examine the details of the Duke and the King. The Duke and the King are very upper class nobles from another country that take some very immoral action. They manipulate and lie to a small town, claiming to be benefactors of someone'sdeath. The con job is an attempt to steal a sum of money from the family of thedeceased man. The Duke and the King also show Twain's anti-slavery views, because they are all right with slavery as long as it can make them some quick cash. This is shown when they try to turn Jim in to the slaveholders for a reward. These negative actions cast a shadow of doubt on the characters, causing them to be disliked by the reader. This reflects Twain's attitudes towards foreigners and his anti-aristocratic views.

The Grangerfords and the Shepardsons are another example of Twain's anti-aristocratic views. Twain portrays these two aristocratic families as having money, and being pro-slavery. In the story, the two families are in a heated dispute, ending in the deaths of both families. The two families killed each other by placing money ahead of human life.

Twain gives a very broad look into his views on civilization as a whole in this book. He does this by portraying characters in a good light if they have values he supports, and portraying them in a bad light if he disagrees with their qualities. Through the characters of Aunt Polly and the Widow Douglas, Twain shows how he views maternal figures that are not biological mothers. Using this approach, the qualities of religion, education, rules, laws, and some money are good aspects of civilized life (represented to Huck as Aunt Polly and the Widow Douglas).

However, Twain also has some negative views on society as a whole, as can be seen by examining other characters. The slave hunters, the Duke and the King, and the Grangersons and the Shepardsons all represent a part of society Twain does not agree with. Slavery. These characters are all portrayed by Twain as being amoral, criminal, and murderous. They all seem to have a common trait of excessive greed. Greed is a part of society represented by many of the characters in the story. The Duke and the King are some of the greediest characters in the book. Their lack of morality causes them to commit crimes and trick people in order to satisfy their greed. The slave hunters are out searching the river for a human being in order to trade him in for money. It is obvious Twain does not look highly upon these people. The Grangerfords and the Shepardsons are aristocratic and upper class slave owners in a murderous feud with each other. Not one side knows how the feud got started, but they continue to kill each other each year. This shows a lack of brotherly and neighborly love on the parts of these two families. It also implies that Twain believes in the value of loving one's neighbor.There has been much controversy over this book in the past and some have gone so far as to call it racist. However, if one looks at the portrayal of Jim, it is possible to see Twain's sympathy for blacks, and the struggle they have gone through. Otherwise, Jim would not have been depicted as a human being with sympathy for his feelings and emotions.Twain was not only a great writer, but also a great thinker with strong ethical and sociological beliefs. Twain lets these beliefs show through in the characters of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Works Cited

Zwick, Jim. "Mark Twain's Reparations for Slavery". Essay. (2002): Online. Internet. Available: www.boondocksnet.com

Table of contents

1. Introduction
2. Methods
PopulationMeasures
3. Results
4. Conclusions

Introduction

Surfing is a popular sport practiced at competitive and recreational levels on beaches worldwide. At a competitive level, surfing requires various high intensity physical capacities, such as muscular strength and endurance, balance, postural control and neuromuscular coordination. In addition, athletes are also subject to external factors such as different ocean currents, wind orientation, type of sea floor, size of the waves, water temperature and contact with the board and other surfers, among other factors; these factors require quick and efficient adaptations from the athletes. Nowadays, surfing has become an even more acrobatic and dynamic sport, particularly at competitive levels, increasing the number of injuries acquired while riding waves. The adoption of an incorrect posture due to instability of the board as well as the environment during the course of manoeuvers, generates the ideal scenario for injury to occur. The evaluation of postural control in a surfer is a challenge for sports science and injury prevention researchers. This analysis is necessary so as to assess surfers sensorimotor control, in order to implement injury prevention strategies and to adopt specific training practices out of the water. However, the aquatic environment is hostile for electronic equipment, making it difficult to measure and acquire data concerning postural parameters.

There are several studies that developed an electronic solution to determine the kinesiological variables a surfer’s body is exposed to (e.g., force and acceleration); this has contributed to the understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the occurrence of injuries. However, in these studies no surfers were evaluated. The evaluation of postural control in different profiles of surfers is important to understand if variables such as participating in competitions and exhibiting better execution of techniques, as well as being older (greater maturity) and/or having more years of practice could influence movement control, allowing individuals to perform the manoeuvers more efficiently. This study aimed to characterise, through surf-like postural assessment, the postural control that surfers perform, in order to understand which factors could lead to greater or inferior control of the centre of pressure (CoP).

Methods

A cross-sectional descriptive survey was used to collect data in this study. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Algarve Regional Health Administration. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants; if under 18 years of age, the informed consent was signed by parents (or the individual who was legally responsible).

Population

The study population comprised Portuguese surfers residing in southern Portugal. The study included both males and females, and participants were eligible for inclusion if they were 8 years of age or older. All participants agreed to participate voluntarily in the research.

To be included, volunteers had to have no injuries at the moment (self-reported), had to have been practicing surfing for at least one year, with at least one training session per week, and had to be available to be present during data acquisition sessions.

Measures

Measuring instruments included a questionnaire and a force platform. Data were collected in Portimão city (south of Portugal), in different places: Portimão Surf Club, Future Surfing School, Play Surf School and Fisiorider Office, in 2016. Based on a previous study7, a specific questionnaire was used. This questionnaire was applied to a sample of 101 competitive surfers (85.1% male; n = 85), aged 10 to 44 years (19.3±7.2 years), who participated in the Regional Circuit of the South and Lisbon area in 2015. The questionnaire included questions about age, gender, position of the feet on the board ("regular" - used the left foot forward and the right foot back, or "goofy" - right foot forward and left foot back), level (recreational or competitive athlete), years of practice, frequency of training per week, participation in competitions in last year, model of boards. The questionnaire was administered by a researcher with substantial experience in this field. The questionnaire was administered via interview. The researcher did not interfere with the volunteer’s opinion or produce biased answers, and was able to clarify any possible doubts or questions raised by the volunteers. For the evaluation of postural behaviour, a force platform (Footscan® Plate RSscan International, version Balance 2nd generation) was used. Postural balance control was evaluated through the length, amplitude and area travelled by the centre of pressure (CoP) displacement (vertical projection of the centre of gravity on the support base) of a subject standing with bipedal support. The sampling frequency was set at 50 Hz (number of points/sec). The force platform was positioned on the top of a surfboard, which was located on the top of a Bozu (inverted hemi sphere) to simulate, as much as possible, the instability associated with the movement carried out to catch a wave (Figure 1). The orientation of the board took into account the classification of surfers as "regular" or "goofy" (related to the position of the feet).

Results

In the group who had up to five years of surf practice, differences in CoP displacement in the mid-lateral direction (38.69mm versus 30.21mm), the CoP path length (2079.49mm versus 1635.90mm) and the CoP sway area (251.36mm2 versus 161.69mm2) were statistically significant (p?0.05), compared with those who had more than five years of surf practice. In the group of surfers who were less than 18 years of age, displacement in the mid-lateral direction (38.30mm versus 30.54mm) and the length (2059.50mm versus 1652.89mm) were statistically significant (p?0.05), compared to older surfers.

Conclusions

Younger surfers and those who had up to five years of practice showed greater displacement of the CoP. These data are necessary for adopting injury prevention strategies, and specific training.

Table of contents

1. History of Modernism
Clean Lines and Simplified FormsOpen Floor Plan and FunctionalityThe Use of Modern Systems and Materials
2. Examples of Open Floor Plans and Modern Materials
Use of Natural Light and GlassLack of Ornaments and Mouldings
3. Evaluation of Modern Buildings
Le Corbusier’s Villa SavoyeBarcelona Pavilion by Mies van der RoheRonchamp Chapel by Le CorbusierBosjes Chapel, Wellington, South Africa

The following research paper will critically engage with the architectural movement known as Modernism. This will be done by engaging in its formal, spatial, tectonic, philosophical and the broad contextual characteristics, to establish a theoretical framework. This frame work will then be applied in evaluating four architectural projects, to establish how successful the buildings follow or differ from this framework.

Modernism can be seen as a style or a philosophy of architecture. It is a huge global movement known for clinging minimalism and pushing away ornament. Minimalism strives to broadcast a message of simplicity, with basic geographic forms, simple materials and elements with no decorations. (Architecture, 2017)

Modernism is infused and surrounds or has a hold on Futurism, De Stijl, Bauhaus and constructivism. All these themes have an influence in modernism and help shape the theoretical framework of Modernism. Modernism gets various characteristics from other influences. The main characteristics used to describe modernism are; asymmetric compositions, use of reinforced concrete, flat roofs, use of general cubic shapes, use of ribbon windows and no ornaments or moldings. (Architecture, 2017)

History of Modernism

According to various sources, modernism developed from romanticism’s fight against the results of the industrial revolution. There are three periods in which the history of modernism in architecture can be divided into, the being; early, modern and late. Between the 1920’s and the 1950’s, modernism in architecture arose, although the age of reason and growth to higher technology is where it originated from. As best stated by Ela Poursani in her book called Modernism as a Response,” The modernist motto ''A house is a machine for living in'', stated by Le Corbusier in 1921, refers to a building having the purity of form of a well-designed machine and an architecture that is functional as machine parts. This 'machine aesthetic' that originates from Descartes defines one of the central concepts of modernism.” (Poursani, 2003)

This statement by Ela Poursani is supported by many well-known architects, as it describes one the concept linked to modernism. As many architects had to adjust their way of thinking and designing due to the industrial revolution and the great use of machinery across the world. Many architects said they then followed no style, as modernism was more than a style, it was a new view at the world, stimulated by a new way of looking at time and space. Modern designers in the 1920s, started to adapt to the possibility of mass production and new technologies. The central theme in modernism then became the aesthetic of the machine. Two architects then started to promote this language, namely; Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier. (Anthony S. Denzer, 2004)

Clean Lines and Simplified Forms

Simplicity in form and design represents the “modern look”. Basic shapes, forms and clean lines creates an abstraction which modern architecture is based on. Therefore, the characteristics of modernism is simple, geometric forms, plain rectangular shapes and linear elements. This can be seen in the Weissenhof Siedlung building which will be further evaluated further on in the research paper. (Anthony S. Denzer, 2004)

Open Floor Plan and Functionality

Functionality is also a term that characterizes the form of a modern building. Functionality means things are build or done for a specific purpose. The saying ‘Form follows function’ best defines the term functionality. The concept of an open floor plan is entangled into functionality. One of modernisms characteristics is to allow multiple working and living spaces to not be separated spaces but rather function as a multi-use area. (Norberg-Schultz, 1950)

The Use of Modern Systems and Materials

Modernism is well known for making use of modern materials like reinforced concrete and steel columns, which could not be done until the industrial revolution. Steel columns are often exposed, and concrete blocks is used as a finishing material as well as a functioning as a structural material. Concrete floors add emphases to the use of mass concrete in modern buildings. Modern systems like steel trusses which are spanned over long distances, allows for the ability of open floor plans as spaces would be column free. Modern systems like radiant heating systems increase human thermal comfort within buildings. (buildings, 2018)

Examples of Open Floor Plans and Modern Materials

Use of Natural Light and Glass

In modernism, windows are no longer small frames used to peek outside, but rather a much larger floor to ceiling expanded glass. This provides natural light that reaches far into the interior of the house and introduces dramatic views due to the light. These glass windows vary from large windows to horizontal ribbon windows. Ribbon windows is an expression of the facade which hangs from the structural framework. This created a break in the load bearing exterior walls the were not only structure but also façade. These horizontal windows were not able to be with traditional enclosures but became symbolic for a new direction in modern architecture. (Merleau-Ponty, 1945)

Lack of Ornaments and Mouldings

Clean aesthetic is a well-known characteristic of modernism. The removal of elaborate trims and decorative mouldings gives rise to a clean aesthetic, as the materials meet in simple yet well executed joints. Ornaments and moldings are used for decorations. In the past these were a trend as people believed that ornaments were a beauty of the buildings. In the 19th century however, Adolf Loof (a modernist architect), claimed that “Ornament is a crime”. According to his essay “Ornament is a crime”, he states that ornaments is a social crime as destroys function and potential of materials. To me, Ornament is unnecessary and does not have a function in a building. In modernism, simplicity is beauty, therefore ornamentation is unnecessary. Simple forms of materials have more function and purpose that moldings and ornaments. (Loof, 1956)

Evaluation of Modern Buildings

Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye

Villa Savoye is a key building in the development of the modernism movement. It is part of a very few houses in France to be declared a national Monument during Le Corbusier’s life time. The Savoye Family approached Le Corbusier to design them a weekend holiday home, which lead to it being the last building of Le Corbusier’s “white Villas” series. The Holiday home is situated on a site in Poissy, a small town outside of Paris, in an open field which once was surrounded by woods. Le Corbusier’s Five points of architecture was evident in this building as he was allowed freedom to explore these points due to the minimal restrictions given by the client. The key features he felt necessary for modern architecture include:

• The building being lifted of the ground by pilotis
• Open plan interiors
• A free façade independent from the buildings load bearing structures
• A flat roof that could be occupied as a terrace and a garden
• Ribbon Windows for ventilation purposes and natural lighting

Villa Savoye also shows Le Corbusier’s strong belief in a home as a “machine for living”. This belief is expressed through spatial planning, as the spaces is arranged to provide a minimalistic aesthetic and it allows the efficiency to be maximised. The sliding glazing, which is curved, at ground level is derived from the concept of the turning radius of cars of 1929. This allowed the owner to drive underneath the larger volume and easily pull into the garage which is integrated. This also gives reference to Le Corbusier’s interest in car design. A line of thin white painted concrete columns acts as support to the upper level. The lower lever is however then set back and is painted a green to resemble the surrounds forests. This creates an illusion of a floating volume above the lower level. A common feature in Le Corbusier’s work and a characteristic used to define modernism are strips of windows. This is incorporated in the building to allow them to slide open over each other and are placed on the upper level in the middle of the façade to allow as much light as possible into the interior of the building. The various characteristics defined in the framework of modernism is evident in this project, that is why it is successful in following this framework. (Ford, 1928 to 1988)

Barcelona Pavilion by Mies van der Rohe

Mies van der Rohe’s German Pavilion at the Barcelona Universal Exposition, known simply as the Barcelona Pavilion, was designed and built around twenty years before his Fransworth House. The main concept Ludwig Mies van der Rohe tried to apply in designing this project is “Less is more”. This is expressed using as little components as possible yet still containing the possibility of multiple purpose rooms and well-organized functional spaces. This comes hand in hand with the simplicity is key characteristic of modernism. The Barcelona Pavilion has a low horizontal orientation that is highlighted by the low flat roof which causes the illusion that the roof floats over both the interior and the exterior of the building. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe got his idea from the works of Frank Lloyd Wright, he learned that rectilinear spaces whose forms were fully defined. Forms were then joined so that they form an open plan, which makes the exterior and the interior of the pavilion look the same. This was what made it clear to him that less is more.

The structure of the building is created with eight steel pillars in the shape of a cross to hold up the flat roof. Large glass structures fill the interior that creates the interior walls. The grid system that was designed by Mies not serves as an underlying framework of working systems, but also as a pattern for laying pavers made of travertine. Horizontal planes are divided by vertical planes of marble and glass that seem to be free-standing in an open floor plan. This adds emphasis to the strategic layout of walls to allow a simple floor plan to seem complex in its own form. Walls in the building therefore act as directors of the spaces instead of being just structural support. Therefore, this project shows evidence of various characteristics of a modern building and helped shape modernism and its framework in many ways. (Architecture, 2017)

Ronchamp Chapel by Le Corbusier

In 1954 the Ronchamp chapel was built to function as a catholic church. The previous pilgrimage site had a stone building on it which was destroyed during the second world war. This chapel is considered one of the most important buildings of the 20th century and played a huge role in the shift away from Le Corbusier’s display of functionalist form in his earlier projects. The Roof is a monumental concrete shell structure which is curved, it is supported by columns hidden in the walls. There is a small gap underneath the walls which allows a slither of light to filter into the inside of the building. Like most of Le Corbusier’s work, the interior follows a simple floor plan, even though the exterior gives the impression of a complicated layout. The main structure of the building contains thick masonry walls, provide structural support and more stability because of its curved nature.

The interior and exterior walls of the chapel made use of mortar as finishing and the roof was left as is to show the marks from the casting of the concrete. This is a fundamental characteristic of modern buildings as what materials are used influence the successfulness of that building within the framework of modernism.

Mass concrete is a characteristic most modern buildings obtain. Three thick walls curl from the outside to create small chapels on the side of the main space. This technique used by Le Corbusier differs from his previous works as it is normally not thick walls used to define spaces but, yet this chapel still functions as a simple plan building. In 2011 the Renzo Piano workshop created a monastery at the bottom of the hill of the chapel, but in 2014 the chapel was vandalized. After this occurrence a famous photographer Xavier Delory created various images which contained Le Corbusier’s Building wrapped in his own murals. He said that that would serve as a reminder that modern buildings were designed to be able to adapt to any changes no matter how big. And that is a characteristic which arose from my analysis of this building. Although there is a lack of major characteristics established in the framework of modernism, like ribbon windows or a flat roof, it still adapts to its circumstances and provides aesthetic as well as functionality through its design. (Ford, 1928 to 1988)

Bosjes Chapel, Wellington, South Africa

This Chapel is designed by a south African born architect, named Coetzee Steyn, from the London based stay studio. Calm sculptural form reflects the surrounding mountains as it gives tribute to the historical Cape Dutch Style gables around the Western Cape. The building was constructed by a thin concrete shell. The roof holds up itself as it reaches down to touch the ground in a dramatic way. Each wave like surface of the roof then rises back up to a peak which compliments the façade of the building. The white form of the building draws from the cultural and religious background of those who will occupy the space. A very reflective pond ads emphases to the weightlessness of the structure of the building. The chapel rises from the flat land it sits on, providing a hierarchical focal point within its surroundings. The interior is a Large open space for assembly which is formed by a simple rectangular plan. The floors which are strongly polished reflect the light internally. This modest palette of materials creates a neutral background to the impressive framed views of the mountains and vineyards. To keep the assembly space and structural form of the roof clean, other elements of the buildings functionalities are either discretely within the outer corners of the garden around the building or hidden. According to the architect Coetzee Steyn, “An open embrace which invites in, the chapel is also a space that extends outwards into the valley and mountains beyond, raising the awareness of God’s creation in the immediate environment.” The open plan space within the chapel and the lack of firm walls for enclosure, among other things, explains why it can be seen as a modern building which follows the modernism movement and is successful in doing so.

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The modernism movement is a popular one in the sense that all architects know about, but it is far from popular when it comes to architects who agree with it. As stated before modernism is infused with many other movements and can also be applied to not only architecture but also art, music, even a life style and many other things. Throughout the research process I tried to engage in characteristics which describe the modernism movement. I did this in order for me to establish a theoretical framework, which in essence helped me to critically analyze and engage in various buildings from around the world. After the frame work was established it was then easy to understand whether or not buildings follow the framework.

In the one-act play “Trifles,” there are countless examples of symbolism and characterization through the use of strong female roles. By showcasing the women as leads in this play, it was able to take on a more feministic essence to it, which is something the readers might not have experienced had the play been written from the view of a man. Susan Glaspell was able to display an abundance of character development for a short play using strong symbolism and the prevalent idea of the point of view and roles between men and women because after all “women are used to worrying about trifles” (Glaspell).

Firstly, “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell is a one-act play originally performed in August 1916. This is a time period, as many know, where women are seen as lesser than men. At this time, women did not even have suffrage yet. The play starts off with the discovery of John Wright being strangled to death in his home. The county attorney and Sheriff Peters find Mrs. Minnie Wright to be the main suspect in this murder. Although these two men are investigating the murder, it turns out that Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale are the ones who are actually going to solve the crime. Of course, the men did not think anything of the women, they merely made remarks about the women worrying only about “trifles.” The men implied that the women are lesser when talking about how women only care about trivial things. Regardless, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale solved the case when they came upon Mrs. Wright’s dead bird, wrung by its neck. They realized that Mr. Wright killed Minnie’s bird and that it was the last straw. The women knew how poorly Mr. Wright treated Mrs. Wright during their abusive marriage. It became clear that Minnie murdered Mr. Wright as the final revenge of her dead bird. The women decide to stick together for Minnie’s sake and hide the evidence of the bird. They know how Minnie is feeling because they two have felt it in this oppressed lifestyle. The play ends with the case unsolved.

Moreover, symbolism is discovered in many parts of the play. For instance, the dead bird found during the play is symbolic for the marriage between Mr. and Mrs. Wright. It can be inferred that they were involved in a domestic abuse relationship. In the beginning, just like Minnie, the bird was exuberant and full of life. In fact, she was even compared to a bird by another character in the play. “She--come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herself--real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and--fluttery. How--she--did--change” (Glaspell). This type of symbolism may very well be considered to be “2 by 4 symbolism” because of how evident the second meaning is. At the end of the play, it was revealed that Mr. Wright killed Minnie’s bird. Readers can infer that this was just the final nail on the coffin and it is why Minnie decided to murder her husband. The dead bird makes it obvious to the readers that it stands for Minnie and her marriage. Mr. Wright had been chipping pieces of her away with his abuse. The dead bird means that it is the end. Another thing that stuck out to the readers is that the women were rarely called by their first names. They were all called “Mrs.” This means that the women are simply seen as property to their husbands. It shows that society thinks nothing of the women, they think that the women are all a part of their husbands. Without their husbands, the women are nothing.

Similarly, characterization was developed with Mrs. Minnie Wright’s character early on in the play through the point of the view of the men. In the beginning, it was described to the audience that she was extremely worried about her jars of fruit and the other chores around the house. This shows society’s role of the women at this time in 1916. She is concerned about her household duties. The men made comments about Mrs. Wright’s worry about the preserves, saying “‘well! Can you beat the women! Held for murder and worryin' about her preserves’” (Glaspell). As seen in this example, the men think that they are far more superior than the women. They think that all the women are good for is cooking, cleaning, and bearing children. The idea of women in this one-act play can be compared to the idea of women in the short story “Doll House.” At the end of “Doll House,” the main woman of the story states that her husband sees her as nothing more than a doll. The situation is similar in the play “Trifles.” The men in this play see all of the women as mere objects. Both “Trifles” and “Doll House” were written in the early 1900’s so it makes sense that the view of the women was the same in both pieces of literature. Had either one of these plays been written from the main point of view of the male leads, these works may have been very different. It would be possible that the readers would get a glimpse of even more oppression of the women. Even written from a mostly feminine point of view, “Trifles” still manages to show that the men reduced the women into objects whose main job was to worry about household chores.

Overall, Susan Glaspell developed the men and women in this play through exuberant use of characterization. Every character was symbolic for something else in one way or another. The characterization of Mrs. Minnie Wright was primarily formed from the observations and thoughts of other characters. This also shows how women were seen in this time period. “Trifles” was a feministic piece that showed the oppression of the women through the clear point of view from the men and obvious symbolism.

Ophelia’s situation in Shakespeare’s Hamlet not only invokes pity in the reader but also provides an example of the nature of men and women and accentuates Hamlet’s tragic flaws. Shakespeare so beautifully links the female with the liquid, insanity, and frailty through this character that we often fail to realize the underlying message he intended for us. Ophelia’s mistreatment by the various men in her life drove her to insanity, and eventually to her symbolic death.

Ophelia had little self-esteem to begin with. When Laertes confronts her about her relationship with the prince Hamlet, she simply complies. He does not try to be sensitive when he tells Ophelia that Hamlet’s love is “a fashion and a toy in blood, a violet in…nature, forward, not permanent, sweet, [and] not lasting” (1.3.7-9). Laertes, however, is the least of the harmful influences the male sex has on Ophelia. Ophelia’s father Polonius is incredibly unkind, insensitive, and disrespectful of his daughter. Polonius does not credit Ophelia with enough common sense to be able to judge anything on her own. He cruelly twists her words and tells her she should consider herself a baby. His mistreatment of his daughter permanently forges an emotional barrier between Ophelia and the male sex.

Ophelia’s frailty makes her vulnerable to exploitation, for deceit’s sake by her father, and for lust’s sake by Hamlet. In what literary scholars have come to know as the “nunnery scene”, Polonius uses Ophelia to spy on Hamlet to find out the reason for his “madness”. Hamlet tests Ophelia’s loyalties when he asks her, “Where’s your father?” (3.1.141). When Ophelia outright lies to him, he loses his temper. Hamlet tells Ophelia that he never loved her, probably in an attempt to make her forget him because he knows that they can never have a relationship while he still has this revenge to carry out. Of course, Ophelia does not see this, so she is silently but effectively hurt. When he tells her to “get thee to a nunnery” (3.1.148-149), he could be referring to a convent, or, he could be making the first of many cruel manipulations of words and referring to a brothel. Hamlet notices in himself some womanly characteristics that he does not like, like his excessive mourning for his father and his hesitance to kill Claudius. As critic Showalter states, “Hamlet's disgust at the feminine passivity in himself is translated into violent revulsion against women and into his brutal behavior towards Ophelia”.

Showalter also notes eloquently that “Water is the profound and organic symbol of the liquid woman whose eyes are so easily drowned in tears”. Ophelia cries because she truly thinks that her lover has gone crazy. This situation is not unlike that of Gertrude when Hamlet confronts her about her hasty remarriage. Hamlet warns Gertrude not to flatter herself: “Lay not that…unction to your soul that not your trespass but my madness speaks” (3.4.166-167). Gertrude attempts to comfort herself and justify her sin by attributing the accusations to his insanity, just as Ophelia tries to excuse Hamlet’s cruelty. Ophelia’s effort is a bit nobler than is Gertrude’s, but this scene is symbolic for a woman’s blame-shifting nature in general.

Hamlet appears much happier and more tolerant later in the play when things start going his way. As he sits and watches the “play within the play” with Ophelia, he makes crude, manipulative, and conflicting comments. In what at first appears to be flirtatious innuendo, Hamlet begins bullying Ophelia by manipulating her harmless banter into sexual harassment. Ophelia innocently asks, “Will he tell us what this show meant?” to which Hamlet replies, “Ay, or any show that you will show him. Be not you ashamed to show, [and] he’ll not shame to tell you what it means” (3.2.164-167). She playfully shakes a finger at him and brushes it off as flirting, but he does not stop there. Hamlet probably thinks he is furthering his attempts to expedite Ophelia’s recovery after being “dumped”, but it seems as though his plan backfires. While Hamlet tries to think like a woman, Ophelia tries to think like a man, and neither really sees the other’s perspective. Hamlet thinks that by making crude sexual references, he will disgust Ophelia and facilitate her “getting over” him. Ophelia, knowing the nature of men, sees his comments as flirting and possible reacceptance of her love. When Hamlet tells Ophelia that “nothing”, which was Elizabethan slang for the female genitalia, was a “fair thought to lie between maids’ legs” (3.2.125), or that “it would cost [her] a groaning to take off [his] edge” (3.2.273-274), he only contributes to the confusion that eventually leads to her pseudo-suicide.

Ophelia’s descent into dementia was inevitable considering the loss of her terrible father and the mixed messages she received from Hamlet, her lover. However, this is the point at which we learn the most about Ophelia. Shakespeare proves through Ophelia that there is honesty in insanity. Once grief and anxiety free Ophelia from her submissive shackles, she speaks freely about the way she feels the men in her life have treated her, and her consequential views of them: “Young men will do ‘t, if they come to ‘t…they are to blame.” (4.5.65-66). And, just like a drunken confession, she reveals the extent of her relationship with Hamlet: “Quoth she ‘before you tumbled me, you promised me to wed.’ He answers: ‘So would I ‘a done, by yonder sum, An thou hadst not come to my bed’” (4.5.67-71).

Ophelia’s manner of death is the most poignant symbol Shakespeare makes concerning the association between femininity and fluidity. The phenomenologist Gaston Bachelard deems it “a beautiful immersion and submersion in the female element” (Showalter). Similarly, Laertes laments that “too much of water hast…Ophelia, and therefore I forbid my tears. But…nature her custom holds…when these are gone, the woman will be out” (4.7.211-215). His tears are symbolic of his purging the femininity within him.

Whilst the four main characters of The English Patient are extremely powerful, and important to the reader's understanding of the story, they cannot stand alone without the patterns of imagery, symbolism and metaphor which underpin the text, and offer a complexity which extends beyond the literal level. These patterns reveal information about each character, and provide significant links between characters and ideas which lead to a greater understanding of the novel. Likewise, the plot would have little impact upon the reader were the novel not so densely coloured with these patterns of imagery, symbol and metaphor; amongst which skin, hands, mapping and the elements are particularly important.

A metaphorical idea which resonates throughout the novel, and is present in all of the characters (particularly the English patient and Caravaggio) is the concept of man as a sort of communal Book, whereby every aspect of his life, and his relationships with others are "mapped" onto him. This also operates literally, through the obvious markings of scars on the English patient, and in Caravaggio's case, the loss of both thumbs.

...his black body, beginning at his destroyed feet... ahove the shins the burns are worst. Beyond purple. Bone.

This description of the English patient's body is gruesome and confronting; it addresses the theme of pain, the construction of identity, and of course the physical evidence of his tortured past, which the reader learns more about as this imagery develops. It is almost as if his body is a landscape; a war zone onto which all evidence of suffering is mapped.

Imagery of hands is used repeatedly in the novel to communicate the theme of the ambiguity of the past and experience, but also as being an important medium for reflection and observation.

Her father had taught her about hands. About a dog?s paws?he would smell the base of it?s paw. This, he would say, is the greatest smell in the world! A bouquet!?a hint of all the paths the animal had taken during the day.

Whilst hands are explored as a medium for recording history and experience, the idea of past experience as ambiguous and subjective is very important to the text. Whilst Hana's father recognises the reflexive nature of the body, and hands, he does not acknowledge the other side to the argument; the fact that experience and identity can be hidden through the physical nature of the body. This manifests itself in the scarred state of the English patient; a man (despite his 'label') without nation, name or a tangible, accessible past. The scars on his body allow him to live as a blank canvas, and any speculations as to his possible identities, are just that; speculations, despite how credible they may be.

To find "truths', is an impossible task, as the nature of history and experience is subjective. However, the body is a canvas onto which every experience is recorded, and this is evident in all of the characters of The English Patient.

A love story is not about people who lose their heart but about those who find that sullen inhabitant who, when it is stumbled upon means the body can fool no one, can fool nothing- not the wisdom of sleep or the habits of social graces. It is a consuming of oneself and the past.

This writing of the English patient's refers to this metaphor, of experience as being "mapped" onto an individual through powerful emotions such as love. His love affair with Katharine affects him so much so, that when the affair comes to an end through Katharine's insistence, Almasy is so damaged that he begins displaying obvious behaviour in public without being aware of it. His love of Katharine has possessed him, almost like a devouring or predatory animal, like the "jackal" he later compares himself to while it is unclear as to whether Clifton was directly told of the affirir, it is implied that he just knew intuitively; the casualties of this love affair, Katharine and Almasy, could not hide their "scars".

Imagery describing the setting of the novel links to the idea of the villa as a paradise, and escape for the shell-shocked survivors, whilst the desert is an oasis; a calm, yet dynamic spiritual ground, governed by the elements. Both settings are linked with the symbolism of the elements, and the desert especially contains many references to water.

He, who has never felt alone in the miles of longitude between desert towns. A man in a desert can hold absence in his cupped hands knowing it is something which feeds him more than water.

The "unmarked" nature of the desert is something which Almasy loves, as within it he feels alive, free and nourished, without the restrictions placed upon him through nations and identity. The desert is linked to the element water, as it refreshes and enlivens the soul, and also the imagery of hands, and their healing properties.

He sank to his knees and came towards the burned pilot and put his cold hands on his neck and held them there.

In the desert you celebrate nothing but water.

The imagery of hands and skin, along with the elements of fire, water, air and earth are all linked together in the descriptions of both settings, and overlap in their explorations of the themes of the novel. The element of water is particularly important to the setting of the desert, as its scarcity symbolises the harshness and brutality oft he environment, and also the war which has an impact on both settings; the Villa and the desert.

Regarding characters' connections to the elements, whilst the English patient is clearly linked to fire, Hana is similarly linked to water. Water represents her need to be cleansed, and to cleanse others from the harshness ofwar. The purity of water relieves and numbs her symptoms of shell-shock, and she is able to escape into this 'fantasy-paradise' of the Villa, that she has constructed for herself and the other characters.

She wets her hands and combs water into her hair till it is completely wet. This cools her and she likes it when she goes outside and the breezes hit her, erasing the thunder.

The ritualistic nature of Hana's connections with water are evidence of her need for something to sustain her spiritually. Having lost everyone who was ever close to her through war, Hana escapes her own past sufferings, and those of others, through her connection with the elements, particularly water. This is also mirrored in the desert setting, where Katharine's preoccupation with the moisture of her surroundings in England prevents her from understanding and perceiving the beauty of the 'nameless' desert, as Almasy does. This appropriately links to Katharine's need for tradition, for a tangible link to her ancestors, the family name, and her identity.

She would have hated to die without a name.

Katharine's link to water (in many ways, the complete opposite of fire), and to her need for a recognisable identity provide an interesting and necessary contrast to the English patient, who is linked to fire and the obvious construction of identity.

Fire and burning is linked to the apocalyptic experiences that all characters suffer throughout the course of the novel, right up until the end, where Kip is betrayed by his paternal coloniser England, and makes a journey back through the ruins of European civilisation, "re-mapping" his path for life. Fire is portrayed as a destroyer, But also as a hidden healer; it marks an end, but also marks a new beginning for some. When the English patient fell burning in to the desert, it was indeed and end for him; metaphorically if not physically. His body is incredibly destroyed by the fire, his skin burned the "colour of aubergine". For the English patient, fire is representative of anger, regret, and sorrow, but is also the elemental mediator of human actions. Clifton had planned to kill Almasy, Katharine and himself in a murder suicide, which, whilst it does not work out exactly according to plan, has tragic circumstances. However, whilst Almasy survives to live a few more years, it is not without continuous pain and suffering. No characters survive without being 'touched' in some way by the elements; either positive or negative. His lover having died in the Cave of Swimmers, amongst her chosen element of water, the fire has then destroyed all evidence of her existence. All he has left are his memories, which, blurred by the growing dosages of morphine, are also, as the novel raises into serious question, unreliable. Prior to this, when Katharine insists upon their separation as lovers, Almasy experiences another end.

His hunger wishes to burn down all social rules, all courtesy.

Katharine and Almasy's relationship is effectively destroyed by the expectations of European culture. He wishes to "burn" these strict social codes in order to give priority to what really has meaning; love. The consuming nature of fire is also linked to the intense emotional and physical desire expressed in the relationship between these two lovers.

...the heart is an organ of fire.

Once captured by love, the heart is "burning and consuming", it can never return to the way it was. In this instance, fire is seen as a new beginning; the consuming nature of fire is linked to love.

What he does gain through fire however, is the ability to detach himself from his name, race and past; his identity is stripped, or burnt off, along with the skin on his body. What and who he was is of no importance to him, and he is finally able to relinquish all labels, as he was wishing to his whole life. Ironically, the months before death, while confined to a bed in a villa far away from the desert he loves, he is able to gain psychological freedom.

I fell burning into the desert..

Then his legs are free of everything and he is in the air, bright not knowing why he is bright until he realises he is on fire.

These intriguing comparisons, between destruction and fire, between fire and love, are epitomised in the above quote which holds a painful beauty in its language. The element of air, is part of his journey through fire; another level or stage he must endure in suffering. Both sides of fire are revealed; illumination, light, a new beginning, versus pain, death and apocalypse. The symbolism of fire in the novel is no different to the other symbolism and imagery, in that there is always a complex and sometimes contradictory nature to the themes explored through such references.

When Kip hears of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, images of fire and destruction fill his mind.

If he closes his eyes he sees the streets are full of fire. It rolls across cities like a burnt map, the hurricane of heat withering bodies as it meets them, the shadow of humans suddenly in the air.

In this instance, fire can be seen as a conquerer of all other elements; its consuming nature spreads over into other elements, almost 'betraying' the purity of water, or the freedom of air with its destructive, scorching flames. The character most linked with fire, the English patient, is also seen as a betrayer of sorts; a spy, a man guilty of adultery, a man unable to save his lover from death, and also a betrayer in Kip's eyes. To Kip, the English patient represents European colonial powers, and their destructive nature. It is not of importance to him that the English patient may not even be English, he still feels betrayed by the colonial powers he has been mimicking his whole life. However, fire is also associated with Klp, who is literally "in the line of fire" everyday, through the possible dangers of defusing bombs. While he does not betray anyone, it is the fire that betrays him; firstly his partner is killed, and then the English powers who bomb Hiroshima betray his expectations, and his trust in their wisdom and culture. These images again return to Kip a little later in the novel, just prior to his leaving the villa.

When he closes his eyes he sees fire, people leaping into rivers into reservoirs to avoid flame or heat that within second burns everything, whatever they hold, their own skin and hair, even the water they leap into.

Kip's acknowledgment of the evils of war and Western civilisation come suddenly, and spread like fire, pursuing his consciousness to the point where he must re-evaluate his situation, and identity. As the coda informs the reads of Kip's return to India, it suggests that he has overcome this 'internal' fire, and he, like the English patient, is now free.

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Patterns of symbolism involving the elements are integral to the meaning of the novel. The four main characters, Hana, Caravaggio, the English patient and Kip, are all linked together, and complement each other in what resembles a constellation, perhaps a reference to the four elements which permeate the novel; fire, water, air and earth, although they are non-specifically related to each character. The imagery in the novel is descriptive, poetic, and at times confiontational, which acts to shock the reader into acknowledging the incredible circumstances under which all characters are 'surviving', towards their own struggles to freedom. The implementation of imagery, symbolism and metaphor also mirror the horrors of the wa rin which these four people are involved. The themes explored through the elements in particular, are complex and contradictory, just as the elements are themselves. Sometimes harsh, sometimes cleansing, and almost always painful, these elements shape the characters and plot, and reside in much of the imagery explored in the novel. The techniques of symbolism, metaphor and imagery develop the novel's themes of love, war, suffering and identity, which inform a reading of the novel which would not be as powerful through use of characters and plot alone. The subtlety and eloquence through which these themes are explored really inspire thought and reflection in the reader, which in turn credits a more complex understanding of the novel.

Charles Dicken's Bleak House is considered one of the most complex and greatest novels of the English language. The novel has many characters and sub-plots being told by two different narrators. This 750-page novel satires the English judicial system, which helped promote legal reforms in the 1870's. How could Andrew Davies possibly translate this novel into just an 8-episode T.V. series. Making Bleak House into a show has already been done before in the year 1985, where most of the audience said that it was superb and one of the greatest adaptations of the novel that they have ever seen. How will Andrew Davies differentiate from this series? Is it even possible for him to have a better adaptation of the novel then the 1985 series did?

Every time that a literary work is translated into a movie or show, most of the audience believes that a lot of things were left out and that the book will always be superior. Movies and shows only give a slight insight into the world that is perceived by the literature. It is impossible for every image, feeling, and effect to be translated from a novel into a movie or show. Individuals that have read the books and go see the movie will always be disappointed because the book is always the original and correct way of presenting the literature. People have their own interpretation and image of what the book is supposed to look like. 500 different readers of the same book may have 500 different ideas of a character’s appearance. On top of that, if the actor doesn't live up to what the reader expected, then the reader will be disappointed. There is also a limited amount of storytelling in a movie or show, and the script may not do the story justice. This comes with the questions of why directors and writers still try to adapt novels into movies and shows. Why do these writers still take the huge task of disappointing and letting down the audience who read the novel? Through this thinking and my love for the novel Bleak House, I created the question: To what extent did Andrew Davies adapt Charles Dickens's novel into his T.V. show series Bleak House?

A serial in literature is when a larger single work, often a work of narrative fiction, is published in smaller, sequential installments usually in the newspaper. During the 19th and 20th centuries serialized fiction grew in popularity, which was during the Victorian era. Novel serialization was T.V. before T.V. Readers would wait for the newspaper and or magazine to come out so that they could read the next serial of their story. The first major success of a serialized piece of literature was Charles Dickens's, The Pickwick Papers, in 1836. Many authors were inspired by Dickens way of serialization. This new way of storytelling continued and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who created Sherlock Holmes stories originally for serialization in The Strand magazine. Overtime, this British way of doing things translated over to America. The first significant American works to be released in serial format is Uncle Tom's Cabin.

As time progress into the late 20th and early 21st centuries, serialization of novels began its slow decline because of the rise in broadcasting. Newspapers began focusing more on entertainment and television. Serializing, this way of breaking a large piece into parts translated into television. Television broadcasts were being separated into episodes like novels were broken up into small pieces. This is one way how Andrew Davies Bleak House T.V. series was like Charles Dickens's novel. This breakdown of the story has a very important effect on the reader/watcher. After each episode or serial, the audience is left with suspense and curiosity. They want to know what is going to happen in the story, so they are left wondering until the next episode or serial comes out. This keeps the audience on their feet and draws them in. In an interview with BBC Andrew Davies said that he hopes that his half-hour format will leave viewers wanting more. “The thing that was uppermost in our minds was to tell the story in a way that made people absolutely die to know what happens next."

After saying that, Andrew Davies clearly made the show episodic to be like the serial feel of the novel. After entertainment became popular, serialized novels became quite unpopular, however, some writers still serialized. Recently writers began serializing their novels on the World Wide Web. In 2011, pseudonymous author Wildbow published Worm, which remains one of the most popular web serials of all time. As of the week of April 17, 2017, 170 thousand unique people have read Worm Many aspiring authors also use the web to publish free-to-read works in serialized format independently as well as web-based communities. Many of these books receive as many readers as successful novels; some have received the same number of readers as New York bestsellers. Bleak house was serialized in this fashion

Andrew Davies left out more than ten characters in his adaptation of the novel: The wife of Snagsby, the law stationer; the wife and grandson of the moneylender Smallweed; the law clerk Tony Jobling; the bankrupt Jellyby; Sir Leicester Dedlock's several cousins; and the Bagnet family, friends of the ex-soldier Sergeant George. Andrew Davies has never made it clear why he has erased those characters from his adaptation of the novel. These weren’t characters that were just in the background of the story and didn’t have an impact. They were very important to the plot and storyline of the novel. The storyline concerning Mrs. Snagsby's paranoid jealousy of her husband is omitted altogether. This is because wife of Mr. Snagsby isn’t even in the adaptation. In the novel, the possession of Lady Dedlock’s letters involve Tony Jobling and Smallweed junior. Since Davies left these characters out, he used Mr. Crook, a landlord, and Mr. Guppy, a clerk at Mr. Kenge’s law firm, as the characters involved in the possession of her letters.

The final plot that was portrayed differently in the show was the reconnection of George and his mother, which in the novel was brought about by Mrs. Bagnet. In the show there was no Mrs. Bagnet, so Esther Summerson and Mr. John Jarndice found his mother and told her where her son was. These are all examples of elements left out of the show that were in the book, however there is one example of a sub-plot that was part of the show but not in the book. Mr. Tulkinghorn is Sir Leicester Deadlock’s lawyer and the lead attorney of the Chancery Court. He is the mysterious antagonist that Dickens and Davies choose not to solve. Throughout both works that reader/viewer is wondering what Mr. Tulkinhorn’s true intentions are up until the end. He is the devil figure in the story and has sinister intentions to hurt Lady Deadlock.

In the novel there is a narrator that shows the motives and deeds of Mr. Tulkinhorn. In the show there is no narrator, so Andrew Davies created a character known as Mr. Clamb. He is the Clerk of the foul lawyer. Mr. Clamb is sort of the confidante of Mr. Tulkinghorn. The confidante is someone that a character reveals his/her main thoughts, personality and motives to. The casting was a gift unto itself with BBC’s most talented actors playing in every role. Every actor portrayed their respective characters in a perfect way that would make Dickens proud. One of the most mesmerizing performances was Phil Davis as Mr. Smallweed.

In the novel Mr. Smallweed is desribed as an angry, paralyzed many whose only emotion is greed. The only thought that is ever on this man’s mind is profit. His body in the novel is described as barely human. He is paralyzed in a chair 24/7 and on top of that his granddaughter, Judy, must fluff him up like a pillow every few minutes. He is a nasty old man who is as foul on the inside as he is on the outside. In literature a monster is described as someone or something that brings sensation of disgust to the reader. On top of that, the monster has no redeeming qualities and has no heart. Mr. Smallweed is nasty in everything he does: screaming at everyone including his granddaughter, trying to extort George and Sir Leicester Deadlock, and trying to keep and sell the final will that would solve the Jarnidice and Jarndice case. Phil Davis executed this role in a way that made you feel disgusted and creeped out every time he was shown on the screen.

The set and the costumes add another dimension to the story. Charles Dickens’ works were associated with London, which is the setting of many of his novels. Dickens didn’t use London as a backdrop, instead he centered his works about London and its characters. No character played a role as important as London itself. The unique ways that he described London with all five sense brought a new perspective to the city. This description became known as Dickensian London. Dickensian London is a character in itself. Charles Dickens had a son named Charles Dickens who wrote a popular guide book to London, using his father's description of the city. The book was called, Dickens's Dictionary of London

This is the map that the guidebook is based around. In the legal district behind the courts on Chancery lane, is Lincoln’s Inn Fields, which in “Bleak House” are described as "the perplexed and troublous valley of the shadow of the law." Dickens used words like dull, dingy, and dusky when describing the square. Andrew Davies perfectly portrayed Dickensian London in his adaptation of “Bleak House.” The city is always covered and fog and the lighting is minimal. Every outdoor scene consists of heavy rain and lightning, adding to the gloominess of the setting.

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In chapter one of the novel Charles Dickens uses this imagery to describe the setting “Fog everywhere. Fog up the river, where it flows among green aits and meadows; fog down the river, where it rolls defiled among the tiers of shipping, and the waterside pollutions of a great (and dirty) city. Fog on the Essex marshes, fog on the Kentish heights. Fog creeping into the cabooses of collier-brigs; fog lying out on the yards, and hovering in the rigging of great ships; fog drooping on the gunwales of barges and small boats. Fog in the eyes and throats of ancient Greenwhich pensioners, wheezing by the firesides of their wards; fog in the stem and bowl of the afternoon pipe of the wrathful skipper, down in his close cabin; fog cruelly pinching the toes and fingers of his shivering little 'prentice boy on deck.

Some people are willing to do just about anything for love and on the account of it. This is evident in everyday life, as one may watch a friend change for a loved one. However, it does not make a difference whether the change occurs consciously or unconsciously. The important thing is that it occurs. Remarkably, love has a way of transforming people. It may turn a common boy into a gentlemen, a hardened convict into a compassionate man or a beautiful bride into miserable figure in faded and yellow dress. In the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, love alters the lives and personalities of Miss Havisham, Pip and Magwitch three characters who have had the fortune or misfortune to encounter it.

The most memorable metamorphosis transpired in Miss Havisham. Once young and frivolous, she fell in love with a handsome man named Compeyson who played with her emotions and, since she was fairly well off, used her for her money as well. He broke her heart with a letter he sent to her the day of their wedding. She received it while she was dressing for her marriage at twenty minutes to nine the hour and the minute at which she afterwards stopped all clocks. (Great Expectations Pg. 168. Many years later, she was still exactly as she had been the day of her wedding only much, much older. The bride within the bridal dress had withered like the dress, and like the flowers, and had no brightness left but the brightness of her sunken eyes. (Great Expectations Pg. 53.) Her love for Compeyson had been so strong that her broken heart never healed. She renounced the world and shut herself up in her house never to see daylight again. There is no doubt that it was her blind devotion, unquestioning self humiliation, utter submission, trust and belief (Great Expectations Pg. 224) which caused her to act with such means. Consequently, over the years she transformed herself into a bitter and somewhat cruel, old eccentric woman in a faded and yellow bridal dress.

Miss Havisham was not the only character who underwent a drastic change as a result of falling in love. When Pip fell in love with Estella a beautiful girl with no heart who was adopted by Miss Havisham in order to wreak revenge on all of the male sex(Great Expectations Pg. 164), he too changed. Estella wounded him with her pride by calling him common, she insulted him and looked down upon him, but Pip loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness and all discouragement that could be (Great Expectations Pg. 216). When Pip First Met her, he decided that he wanted to be a gentleman on her account (Great Expectations Pg. 216) and so began the process of his transformation. With ambition to spare and a lot of luck, Pip went to London to pursue his goal. Estella was of course the inspiration of it, and the heart of it. (Great Expectations Pg. 216) Pip completely recreated himself as a gentleman all because, in his mind, he thought that if he could only be less coarse and common, he could win Estellas heart.

Conveniently enough for Pip, Magwitch a convict whom Pip helped when he was a little boy, financially supported Pips dream of becoming a gentleman. When Pip first encountered Magwitch, he described him as a fearful man, all in coarse gray." (Great Expectations Pg. 2) However, after Pips noble act in assisting Magwitch, Magwitch swore that every penny he earned from that moment on, would go to benefit Pip. He grew to love Pip as his son. This was evident when Magwitch said Lookee here Pip. Im your second father. Youre my son more to me than any son. Ive put away money, only for you to spend (Great Expectations Pg. 298). Magwitch risked his life to go see him in London. Even when he was apprehended, he did not demand much of Pip despite what Pip owed him. It best a gentleman should not be knowed to belong to me now. Only come to see me as if you come by chance alonger Wemmick. Sit where I can see you when I am swore to, for the last o many times, and I dont ask no more.(Great Expectations Pg. 416) That was Magwitchs only wish for Pip to fulfill. Since Magwitch loved Pip so dearly, he became a better person. Instead of always worrying about his own well-being, he sacrificed his life in order for Pip to have the opportunity he never had. Love brought out qualities such as generosity and kindness in Magwitch that were not evident in his personality when his character was first introduced.

Magwitch, Pip and Miss Havisham all changed as a result of love. Their personalities changed, their values changed some for the better, some for the worse. Pip became a gentleman due to his love for Estella, Miss Havisham wasted away, nursing her broken heart becoming bitter and old, while, Magwitch spent many years making a gentleman so he could one day go and see him. It is evident that love changed all their lives and most would agree that love has a habit of doing that to people. Some changes that take place are drastic while others arent, some conscious and some not, but all are undeniable. Whether or not these change are gladly received does not stop them from occurring again and again. This is the way it has been in the past, this is the way it is in the present, and this is the way it will continue being in the future.

Education and knowledge are both very important. We should all take advantage of receiving information in all fashions however they may come. Many highschool teens are taking further step to further their education. College is seen as a stepping stone for many people in our society to obtain a good career and the best way to transition through childhood to adulthood. Are too many people going to college? Is written by Charles Murray and he argues strongly the subject. For everyone to be able to answer this question we must understand the importance of college and liberal arts. 

Murray decides to directly answer why he believes that too many people are going to college and does not waste anytime expressing his point of view. Murray’s argument leans on both answering this question as either yes or no. I honestly think that he means no, Not everyone should go to college. He makes some great point on why it maybe unnecessary. His belief is that if education was spread out in lower grades that children would be able to obtain more information and college would not be needed. His argument is that you should not be obtaining further knowledge of what you should already know it’s repetitive. Charles Murray then argues quoting college is not worth the time or money. As he states that everyone needs to have some sort of knowledge. When he gets to changing his opposition to make mends with the opposing side he quotes,“Saying to many people are going to college is not the same as saying that the average student does not need to know other common knowledge.” They do need to know more of what it is they already know. The argument in the article specified that those who are good with there curriculum before college , should be pushed into college because they will enjoy it. Those who are not at good standings are most likely to fail college if their worked is not evenly distributed for them to meet in between where they can study , attend school and still be able to have a personal life. 

College is a decision only you can make for yourself, sometimes hearing others opinions can help you make a decision but , if it is not something you believe will help you then you should do what is best for you. It depends from person to person. College is different for everyone, experiences are different. College is not good for all, this is why many college students drop out before they complete the years for college. Then there are those continue for a few years , then you have those who just don’t even bother to go or think about going. Murray argues that college is not the only way a person can be successful in life. Society highly pressured this and does not give any space for students to think aloud. Murray does not believe college is for everyone, but he does think everyone should go and see if it is something that they can handle. Which ever path is chosen it can lead to success , and happiness. 

As for Sanford J. Ungar he believes that everybody must attend college and obtain a degree his argument is that. His Argument details how college helps you deal with issues that are to come down the line of being a young adult. Ungar states that if someone has a degree that person is more than capable in being successful in the career they would like to Persue. He pressures college education most importantly because, in his argument he states that “ A liberal-arts degree is a luxury that most families can no longer afford”. So if you have the opportunity to go , you should. Career Education is what he believes strongly about liberal education. Ungar knows college is expensive but, he suggests that everyone must go to college and that there are ways around it. In my opinion I agree with both Ungar and Murray. They make many valid points on various reasons why you should go to college. Each of them are correct depending on the circumstances of the individual. 

In my opinion it is your choice and your duty to make college a option for yourself. Going to college has its stages. Everyone is different and we all handle life differently. Some people can handle the pressure more well than others. In the society we live in today going to college is highly pressured that you go to college; just because you do not go to college does not mean you will be unsuccessful. After highschool for many of us It is unclear what it is we would like to be doing. College shouldn’t be rushed we all need time to think and collect our thoughts . If you have your time and dedication you will either choose to go to college or you may disregard the thought of wanting to go. Everyone should at least go to really see what it is like and determine if this is the path they want to take.   

Works Cited

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5. Hacker, A. (2011). Higher education? How colleges are wasting our money and failing our kids—And what we can do about it. St. Martin's Griffin.
6. Pascarella, E. T., & Terenzini, P. T. (2005). How college affects students: A third decade of research. Jossey-Bass.
7. Roksa, J., & Arum, R. (2011). Academically adrift: Limited learning on college campuses. University of Chicago Press.
8. Roth, M. S. (2015). Beyond the university: Why liberal education matters. Yale University Press.
9. Turner, B. S. (2016). The rise of the meritocracy. Routledge.
10. Vedder, R., Denhart, C., & Robe, J. (2014). Why does college cost so much? Center for College Affordability and Productivity.