Are Shakespeare’s Sonnets Autobiographical? Essay

Are the Sonnets, wholly or in part, autobiographical, or are they merely â€Å"poetical exercises† dealing with imaginary persons and experiences? This is the question to which all others relating to the poems are secondary and subordinate. For myself, I firmly believe that the great majority of the Sonnets, to quote what Wordsworth says of them, â€Å"express Shakespeare’s own feelings in his own person;† or, as he says in his sonnet on the sonnet, â€Å"with this same key Shakespeare unlocked his heart.† Browning, quoting this, asks: â€Å"Did Shakespeare? If so, the less Shakespeare he!† to which Swinburne replies, â€Å"No whit the less like Shakespeare, but undoubtedly the less like Browning.† The theory that the Sonnets are mere exercises of fancy, â€Å"the free outcome of a poetic imagination,† as Delius phrases it, is easy and specious at first, but lands us at last among worse perplexities than it evades. That Shakespeare, for example, should write seventeen sonnets urging a young man to marry and perpetuate his family is strange enough, but that he should select such a theme as the fictitious basis for seventeen sonnets is stranger yet; and the same may be said of the story or stories apparently underlying other of the poems. Some critics, indeed, who take them to be thus artificially inspired, have been compelled to regard them as â€Å"satirical† intended to ridicule the sonneteers of the time, especially Drayton and Sir John Davies of Hereford. Others, like Professor Minto, who believe the first 126 to be personal, regard the rest as â€Å"exercises of skill, undertaken in a spirit of wanton defiance and derision of commonplace.† The poems, to quote Dowden, â€Å"are in the taste of the time; less extravagant and less full of conceits than many other Elizabethan collections, more distinguished by exquisite imagination and all that betokens genuine feeling. . . . All that is quaint or contorted or ‘conceited’ in them can be paralleled from passages of early plays of Shakespeare, such as Romeo and Juliet, and the Two Gentlemen of Verona, where assuredly no satirical intention is discoverable.† If the Sonnets were mostly written before 1598 when Meres refers to them, or 1599 when Jaggard printed two of them, or in 1593 and 1594, as Sidney Lee assumes, and if most of them, as the same critic believes, were â€Å"little more than professional trials of skill, often of superlative merit, to which the poet deemed himself challenged by the efforts of contemporary practitioners,† it is passing strange that Shakespeare should not have published them ten or fifteen years before they were brought out by the pirate Thorpe. He must have written them for publication if that was their character, and the extraordinary popularity of his earlier poems would have assured them a favourable reception with the public. His fellow-townsman and friend, Richard Field, who had published the Venus and Adonis in 1593 and the Lucrece in 1594, and who must have known of the circulation of the sonnets in manuscript, would have urged him to publish them; or, if the author had declined to have them printed, some pirate, like Jaggard or Thorpe, would have done it long before 1609. Mr. Lee tells us that Sidney, Watson, Daniel, and Constable circulated their sonnets for a time in manuscript, but he tells us also that the pirates generally got hold of them and published them within a few years if the authors did not do it. But the history of The Passionate Pilgrim shows that it was not so easy to obtain copies of Shakespeare’s sonnets for publication. It was the success of Venus and Adonis and Lucrece (the fourth edition of the former being issued in 1599, and the second of the latter in 1598) which prompted Jaggard to compile The Passionate Pilgrim in 1599; and it is a significant fact that he was able to rake together only ten poems which can possibly be Shakespeare’s, and three of these were from Love’s Labour’s Lost, which had been published in 1598. To these ten pieces he added ten others (eleven, as ordinarily printed) which he impudently called Shakespeare’s, though we know that most of them were stolen and can trace some of them to the authors. His book bears evidence in its very make-up that he was hard pushed to fill the pages and give the purchaser a tolerable sixpence-worth. The matter is printed on but one side of the leaf, and is further spun out by putting a head-piece and tail-piece on every page, so that a dozen lines of text sandwiched between these convenient pictorial devices make as fair a show as double the quantity would ordinarily present. Note, however, that, with all his pickings and stealings, Jaggard managed to secure but two of the sonnets, though a considerable number of them were probably in existence among the author’s â€Å"private friends,† as Meres expressed it a year before. The pirate Newman, in 1591, was able to print one hundred and eight sonnets by Sidney which had been circulated in manuscript, and to add to them twenty-eight by Daniel without the author’s knowledge ; and sonnets by Watson and Constable, as Mr. Lee tells us, were similarly circulated and pirated. How, then, are we to explain the fact that Jaggard could obtain only two of Shakespeare’s sonnets, five years or more after they had been circulating among his friends ? Is it not evident that the poems must have been carefully guarded by these friends on account of their personal and private character? A dozen more of those sonnets would have filled out Jaggard’s â€Å"larcenous bundle of verse,† and have obviated the necessity of pilfering from Barnfield, Griffin, Marlowe, and the rest; but at the time they were in such close confidential keeping that he could get no copies of them. In the course of years they were shown to a larger and larger number of â€Å"private friends,† and with the multiplication of copies the chances of their getting outside of that confidential circle were proportionally increased. We need not be surprised, then, that a decade later somebody had succeeded in obtaining copies of them all, and sold the collection to Thorpe. Even if we suppose that the Sonnets had been impersonal, and that Shakespeare for some reason that we cannot guess had wished to withhold them from the press, we may be sure that he could not have done it in that day of imperfect copyright restrictions. Nothing could have kept a hundred and fifty poems by so popular an author out of print if there had not been strong personal reasons for maintaining their privacy. At least seven editions of the Venus and Adonis and four of the Lucrece appeared before Thorpe was able to secure â€Å"copy† for his edition of the Sonnets. If, as Mr. Lee asserts, Southampton was the patron to whom twenty that may be called â€Å"dedicatory† sonnets (23, 26, 32, 37, 38, 69, 77-86, 100, 101, 103, and 106) are addressed, it is all the more remarkable that Shakespeare should not have published them, or, if he hesitated to do it, that his noble patron should not have urged it. He had already dedicated both the Venus and Adonis and the Lucrece to Southampton; and Mr. Lee says that â€Å"three of the twenty dedicatory sonnets [26, 32, 38] merely translate into the language of poetry the expressions of devotion which had already done duty in the dedicatory epistle in verse that precedes Lucrece.† Other sonnet-sequences of the time (including the four mentioned by Mr. Lee as pirated while circulated in manuscript, except Sidney’s, which were not thus published until after his death) were brought out by their authors, with dedications to noble lords or ladies. Shakespeare’s Sonnets, so far as I am awa re, are the only exception to the rule. Mr. Lee himself admits that â€Å"at a first glance a far larger proportion of Shakespeare’s sonnets give the reader the illusion of personal confessions than those of any contemporary;† and elsewhere he recognizes in them more â€Å"intensity† than appears in the earlier poems except in â€Å"occasional utterances† of Lucrece; but, for all that, he would have us believe that they are not personal, and that their â€Å"superior and more evenly sustained energy is to be attributed, not to the accession of power that comes with increase of years, but to the innate principles of the poetic form, and to metrical exigencies which impelled the sonneteer to aim at a uniform condensation of thought and language.† I cannot help agreeing with those who regard their personal character as no â€Å"illusion,† and who believe that they clearly show the increase of power which comes with years, their true date probably being 1597-98 rather than 1593-94. For myself, I could as soon believe the penitential psalms of David to be purely rhetorical and fictitious as the 129th Sonnet, than which no more remorseful utterance was ever wrung from a soul that had tasted the ashes to which the Sodom-apples of illicit love are turned in the end. Have we there nothing but the â€Å"admirable fooling† of the actor masquerading in the garb of the penitent, or the satirist mimicking the conceits and affectations of the sonneteers of the time? If this is supposed to be the counterfeit of feeling, I can only exclaim with Leonato in Much Ado, â€Å"O God! Counterfeit! There was never counterfeit of passion came so near the life of passion!†

Multi Layered Security Plan Essay

Simplicity of user’s passwords can be a major problem so we need to implement complex passwords including eight or more characters, both upper and lower case, and use of at least one special character. Passwords will need to be changed every three months and the same password cannot be used again for one calendar year. In the workstation domain, we need to make sure that each of the workstations, whether desktop or laptop, has antivirus and malware protection installed on them. Laptops are very vulnerable for loss or theft, so all company laptops should have an encrypted hard drive so that if they are stolen, the data contained on them is not recovered by anyone but the owner. For the LAN domain, we need to have training about email scams. Most users know not to access suspicious emails when on our system but a quick training course will help. Also, adding spam filters will help get rid of most of the junk email, so there is much less risk of employees opening emails containing malware. In the LAN-to-WAN domain, we need to shut down the FTP server we have running and switch it over to use secure FTP so that only users allowed on our system can access our FTP server. In the WAN domain, we need to make sure that we have firewalls set up on our network to filter all incoming traffic. A firewall will stop all traffic coming on to our system that is not meant or not wanted on the Richman Investments network. For the remote access domain, we need to make sure the VPN we use is secure so that our employees are not exposing sensitive data to anyone outside of our network. In order to do this we will make sure that everyone using a VPN to access our network has to authenticate to the system to get authorization. For the systems/application domain, we need to lessen chances for attacks on our servers. This will be done by figuring out which ports and services are not being used and shutting off access to those ports. This will give hackers less ways onto our system. Also we need to make sure all servers have the latest patches and updates. These updates provide the latest security patches and keep our servers running at their full potential with less likelihood of vulnerabilities. Applying all these security measures will ensure a much safer environment, technically speaking. This multi-layered security approach will help keep our network secure and running smoothly.

A Personalised Induction Will Always Be More Effective Essay Example for Free (#3)

A Personalised Induction Will Always Be More Effective Essay ? Every successful hypnotherapy session must have an induction ensuring that the client is relaxed and is in a disassociated state in order fully experience the process. The type of induction used can be dependent on the personal preferences of the therapist or the type of hypnotherapy being undertaken in the session. There has been some debate as to whether a generic induction will be suitable for all clients or as some hypnotherapists advocate that only a personalised screed to each client will do. Commercial hypnotherapy which is produced for the mass market is widely available in CD, book or e formats. These materials deal with common issues such as giving up smoking, weight loss etc and by their very nature have to be generic as there is no option for personalisation. However as there is no therapist present at these sessions, the success of commercial non personalised screeds cannot be assessed. In my opinion, commercial materials can reach many people but they are more about making money for the person producing them than about making a difference for the individual. It is also impossible to have a personalised induction if the therapist is holding a group session. In hypnosis the therapist relies on verbal communication rather than on body language. Psychology professor Albert Mehrabian studied communication and stated that how humans communicate can be broken down into quantities; ie words account for 7%, tone of voice accounts for 38%, and body language accounts for 55%. Therefore the vocabulary the therapist uses becomes vitally important to how successful the therapy will be for the client. Therapists who prefer a personalised approach believe that preparation of the client is essential especially if they have no previous experience of hypnotherapy and/or have pre-conceived ideas. Discussion before the session is crucial to discover what the client’s expectations are and when necessary, allay fears and correct their beliefs. During this discussion the therapist can also probe to discover the clients’ preferred or dominant modality. Modalities were defined by Bandler and Grinder the â€Å"Language of our minds†. (Chrysalis, Module 2). The three major modalities are, Kinaesthetic (feeling), Visual (sight), Auditory (hearing) as well as the two minor modalities of Olfactory (smell) and Gustatory (taste). As individuals we all have a preference for the way we perceive and process our experiences and in order to create a personalised induction, the therapist will try to ascertain the client’s preference during the initial interview and discussion. During the induction, the client may have his eyes closed or the therapist may not be within sight, so communication with the client using their preferred imagery will help them feel more comfortable. Kinaesthetic people have a preference for vocabulary which will invite them to feel. For example in an induction where the client is in their special place outdoors, you could suggest the client feels the warmth of a breeze as it moves through the trees. Whereas for those with a visual modality it could be suggested that they imagine leaves moving in the warm breeze in the nearby trees, while those with an auditory modality may feel more comfortable if it is suggested that they can hear the rustle of the leaves when they are moved by the warm breeze. Language and imagery can also have a negative effect on the client, Karle and Boys (1987, p45) suggest that imagery is first planned with the client to ensure it is acceptable and congenial. The example they use is suggesting descent by means of using a lift to a client who is phobic of lifts. Therefore it is important to have some personalisation in the induction. There is, however, a risk of mis-judging an individual during the initial interview and consultation that the therapist must be aware of. The client may present an image that they think the therapist wants to see; also as humans our feelings can change frequently throughout the day which causes us to react differently. And until the therapist gains a deeper understanding of the client a truly personalised induction may not be achieved yet the client has successfully reached a deeper hypnotic state. When creating an induction it is suggested by Karle and Boys (1987) that therapists use a technique known as â€Å"Compounding† which employs all modalities in the sensory descriptions and suggestions. While the content of the inductionis one area which can be personalised, the delivery of the induction is also a major influence on how accepting and comfortable the client will be. During the initial interview and as the relationship between client and therapist grows, the style of induction most suited to the client should be employed. They are referred to today as â€Å"Permissive† and â€Å"Authoritarian†. However as with the modalities, the style preference of the therapist will be a major influence on the style employed in the induction. Sandor Ferenczi, a Hungarian psychoanalyst who practised in the early 1900s first investigated these styles after moving away from Freudian theory and developing relaxation therapy. He called them ‘maternal’ and ‘paternal’ and used them in his induction delivery. He considered the maternal style to be nurturing, caring, supportive and permissive while he considered paternal to be direct, authoritarian and aggressive. (Chrysalis, Module 2). Dave Elman, a stage hypnotist and entertainer working in 1948, at the invitation of doctors began to work on induction techniques. He continued in this career writing books on the subject and teaching students up to his death in 1968. He is well known for using his preferred authoritarian style of induction which he adapted from the sharp commands used in stage shows. Conversely, Milton Erickson, born 1901, utilised the permissive style of induction together with indirect suggestion. He believed that ‘people must participate in their therapy’ and was skilled at using metaphors to assist his therapy. Erickson believed that it was not possible consciously to instruct the unconscious mind, and that authoritarian suggestions were likely to be met with resistance. He firmly stated that the unconscious mind responds to openings, opportunities, metaphors and symbolic language. He advocated that effective hypnotic suggestion should be â€Å"artfully vague†, leaving space for the client to fill in the gaps with their own unconscious understandings – even if they do not consciously grasp what is happening. The skilled hypnotherapist constructs these gaps of meaning in a way most suited to the individual subject – in a way which is most likely to produce the desired change (Wikipedia. rg) Authoritarian inductions will be more directional and commanding; they allow the hypnotherapist to be in charge with the client following a set of demands. This can work well on some clients who respond to authority and like set boundaries. An authoritarian induction will be straightforward with no embellishments, for example making commanding statements such as, ‘Close your eyes, you are in control at all times’, ‘You are now feeling relaxed’. Clients who prefer authoritarian styles may have a logical preference; it has also been shown to work well for those individuals who are sceptical. While this approach may seem to be domineering, it only creates an illusion that the therapist is in total control. In fact the client has to be willing to participate and therefore is actually fully in control and can stop the therapy at anytime. Once the client has relaxed into a trancelike state, suggestions and choices can then be introduced. Permissive inductions are gentler where the therapist is the facilitator, allowing the client to make their own choices while in a safe reassuring environment reinforcing the therapist’s initial discussion with the client. Sentences used will be suggestive, for example, ‘You may like to close your eyes now’ or, ‘In your own time choose when to relax the muscles in your arms. ’ This style allows use of imaginative scenarios and metaphors. Clients who will respond to the permissive style are considered to be generally caring, like to please and are imaginative and have strong imagery skills. Direct and indirect suggestion can also be employed in the induction. Indirect suggestion can be beneficial with clients new to hypnotherapy that are resistant either through anxiety or negativity and when the authoritarian approach would not be appropriate. Milton Erikson preferred indirect methods (Chrysalis, Module 2) because he believed that the client should actively participate in their therapy. Erickson created a number of techniques known as ‘techniques of utilisation’ that could be used on people who seem resistant to hypnosis, whether they were resisting through anxiety or stubbornness. † Erickson’s techniques were very manipulative but very subtle, and allowed the individual client to take control of their own healing. He believed that if one technique does not work you must find one that does work. He believed in encouraging the resistance that the individual was exhibiting so that they would feel more comfortable responding within their own boundaries rather than those set by the therapist. In a typical example, a girl that bit her nails was told that she was cheating herself of really enjoying the nail biting. He encouraged her to let some of her nails grow a little longer before biting them, so that she really could derive the fullest pleasure from the activity. She decided to grow all of her nails long enough that she might really enjoy biting them, and then, after some days, she realised that she didn’t want to bite them anyway. Indirect suggestion also opens the opportunity to use metaphor and imagery. This is particularly effective with children where storytelling and fantasy is something they can readily associate with. Karl and Boys (1987, p150) state that it is vital that each step should be adapted to suit the age, cultural background, developmental stage and intellectual and educational status of the child. Thus indicating that a personalised induction for children is imperative to achieve success and limit any negative effects. Direct suggestion as with the Authoritarian style will be more effective with clients who prefer this approach; however compounding the two styles as with the modalities will be effective as it ensures you are connecting with the client via their preferred style. Other styles of induction that can be employed is the â€Å"confusion technique†. This is used on individuals who may be very rigid and analytical. They are prone to criticise and would want to pick everything apart instead of relaxing into the hypnosis. By giving a confused message which contains little to understand, the client’s brain will be forced to shut down and go into a trancelike state. In this method there can be no personalisation for the client to focus on. In conclusion I think that in order to build a genuine rapport with the client, the therapist should always aim to personalise the induction, in relation to the reasons the client is seeking hypnotherapy. It is imperative to always carry out an in depth discussion to assess the client’s needs and to identify if there are any underlying factors which may prevent the therapist from treating the client. e psychosis. Also a client’s likes dislikes and phobias must be taken into account, therefore it is important to listen carefully to the client and be respectful of their needs. However it must also be accepted that an individual’s preferences and modalities are not fixed precisely because we are individuals whose reactions can change regularly throughout the day; therefore it would be preferable to compound all modalities and styles into the induction. It is also important to remember that the therapists’ preferences will also have an influence on how the induction is carried out and on the relationship with each individual client. Therefore I conclude that all inductions on a one to one basis are personalised inductions based on what the therapist has learned about the client and by learning what works best for that client. A Personalised Induction Will Always Be More Effective. (2017, Feb 07).

Film paper Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Film paper - Movie Review Example Like the said film, Blade Runner underlines the inability of humanity to relinquish their exclusive control over the definition of being human. These films have differences in semantics, mostly in the physical look and attitudes of the people and the outward aspects of their settings, but locations, archetypes, and actors express what it means to be truly human or inhuman, while syntax emphasizes the interconnection between capitalism, materialism, and dehumanization, where androids argue that the core of humanity is inside them, because of their capacity to change and to learn from within. The semantics of these films are different because of the differences in the physical looks and overall climate of science. The introduction parts of the films showcase the difference in the tone of the film’s plot. Blade Runner opens the audience to a world of darkness, where Replicants threaten the existence of humanity. The city erupts in some places with fire, as if technology has developed into a dangerous beast, or rather, humans have become beasts themselves. Gloomy weather rains incessantly on the people, as if to reflect the muddiness of human living. In contrast, Bicentennial Man begins in the residence of an ordinary-looking family, where a father brings home a prized robot. Replicants are evil androids out to kill their maker, while Andrew Martin (Robin Williams) embodies a friendly robot, ready to serve and to love the family who bought him. In Blade Runner, Replicants are already rebelling against the humans, while Andrew represents the humorous android that sim ply wants to help humans and make them happy. The settings deserve further analysis and comparison. In both films, the societies are much more advanced, where robotics are everywhere. In Blade Runner, technology makes lives easier and the same goes for Bicentennial Man. Robots are created to improve the quality of life of human beings. Nevertheless, the settings of these films

Should Organisations Have a Mentoring Scheme for all Employees Essay

Should Organisations Have a Mentoring Scheme for all Employees - Essay Example According to Olian, Carol et al (2004), studies show that the age of the mentor and the work experience of the mentee has no effect on the relationship between the two. Mentoring at the organizational level Mentoring literally means to advise or train someone, but at organizational level, mentoring changes meaning. Mentoring at organization levels does not limit itself only to advising and training but to a complex system of employer and employee relationship involving notions of reflection, openness, uncertainty, complexity and restoration. Mentoring is being studied alone from decades, where mentoring in organization is relatively newer research. Mentoring is a precious tool for managing and bringing a change in any organisation. (Conway, 1995). It is also considered as an economical way of transferring knowledge from a specialist to a learner. (Bjorson & Dingsoryr, 2005) According to a research conducted by Trevor, more women proteges than men felt that their thinking and performa nce was inspired by mentoring. Functions of a Mentor The mentor’s role is to act as a guide, provide insight, and also advise a mentee in his/her department to reach the highest potential level. Mentors advise on the basis of their professional and personal experiences and guide the mentee on short/long term basis depending on the company’s policy. The mentee’s performance is not usually catered but through guidance, help and advice, the mentor helps the mentee to provide great insights, fast move learning, and also support and improve any drawback of the mentee. On-the-job relationships between employees and employers have been greatly focused in recent years and great emphasis has been laid. There are two types of mentoring; informal or formal in an organization. Informal developmental relationships occur naturally in the workplace between senior managers, lower managers and, subordinates or peers. A combination of assistance is provided through such relations hips such as feedback, role modelling, counselling, mentoring, coaching, and skill building. Thus it brings lasting benefits to an organization.( Singh, Bains  &Vinnicombe, 2002) However, with the passage of time, informal developmental relationships have declined. This decline is mainly due to changing demographics, introduction of technology, and intense competition. As informal relationships decline, there is a rise in formal mentoring called â€Å"formal developmental relationships†. These are distinguished from informal relationships by the fact that they are assigned, maintained, and monitored by the organization, usually through an established program. An employee can interact with senior manager, peer or external consultant in a formal relationship. Although, nowadays, most organization facilitate on creating and implementing programs that would help relationship between senior and junior managers to get better. This helps the communication, trust, and productivity to rise as both sides of managers feel part of one organization. (Douglas, 2003) Formal mentoring is widely being used in the organizations which are rapidly changing and becoming leaner in hierarchy. This type of mentoring helps in the personal and career development of employees. (Tabbron, Macaulay, Cook, 1997). Prof. Dr. Antal Arriene presented four case studies of formal mentoring

Why is there a higher prevalence of lupus SLE found among females of Literature review

Why is there a higher prevalence of lupus SLE found among females of Afro Carribbean origins - Literature review Example These hormonal imbalances have the capability of changing the genetic makeup of an individual, resulting to the development of Lupus SLE. However, it is important to explain that genetics alone is not the factor responsible for the development of Lupus SLE amongst women. Another important factor is the environment. The environment plays a role in the development of Lupus SLE because of the ultra violet rays of the sun. Research indicates that women, who are heavily exposed to the ultra violet rays of the sun, are always vulnerable to developing Lupus SLE. In terms of ethnicity, Lupus is more common in people of African descent. One of the major reasons advanced, is because of the high rates of poverty amongst these people, making them to be unable to afford medical treatments in regard to the type of contraceptives to use. In as much as this is information that has been given, this fact is disputed, because hormonal changes are not the only factors responsible for the high rate of Lupus amongst women. This paper is a critical analysis of the ethnic and sex differences in the epidemiology and clinical course of lupus. This paper will analyze the ethnic and sex differences in the clinical and epidemiology course of Lupus. In meeting the objective of this paper, there will be a need of understanding the genetic predisposition of Lupus. This is important in helping us to understand why women and people of African origin are vulnerable to an attack by Lupus. Furthermore, for purposes of understanding this disease, and its epidemiological and clinical cause, there will be a need of identifying its causes. These are well explained in this paper. This paper would also identify and explain the neuropsychiatric consequences of lupus, and an example is the Lupus fog. It would further explain the epidemiology of this disease, and this is in relation to

Factors To Consider In Setting Up A Business Essay

Factors To Consider In Setting Up A Business - Essay Example In addition, Lawrence (2013) a lawyer from a foundation that gives legal advice, suggested that when one is considering a structure for his business, promoter should consider who will own the business and what the activities will be. His choice of business structure will also depend on the type of business proposed, financial needs, and number of owners. In a separate standpoint, MacFarland, (1974, pp 60-61) said businesses are always profit seeking ventures, and as such considerations should also be given to customers perceptions. He said that a lot of businesses fail because of lack of capital, business knowledge, and inefficiency in management. Above views have been supported in the work of Dorman (2011). However, she adds business planning as an important element in business decisions. A business plan is more of a statement of goals and action plan needed to achieve them. Other organizations stated economic factors as underlying principle for choices. The Forestry Dept of FAO (20 05) cited that external, internal and individual factors determine the structure of an organization. External factors are concerns in the environment which are not under the control of owners. These are economic, socio-economic and administrative factors that could affect structure. Internal factors are purpose and organizational instruments while individual choices refer to costs and benefits. Options people have when making decisions to organize Answers to above factors will solidify the type of business structure to be organized on whether it will be a sole proprietorship, general partnership, limited liability company, or a corporation since every structure has advantages and disadvantages. When one chooses an option he thinks is needed for the business, proponent should prepare himself of potential risks and liabilities, the investment needs, costs of maintaining the business structure and framework of income tax. Evaluating these decisions when a new business is starting up Be fore anything else, the proponent must have a personal assessment of his strength and weaknesses and must have a definite goal to success. Stephenson, (n.d.) of the Entrepreneur Magazine, stated that for someone to succeed in business, he must enjoy what he is doing because his satisfaction will be manifested in the success of the business. The owner must take the business seriously and must also believe in the products or services he is selling. The owner must be able to make plans, direct, and above all manage his money wisely. When the proponent is starting with a little budget, the decision to start with sole proprietorship or a general partnership seem logical because he will find it easy to set up, since it only needs one person to organize. He does not need to report to anybody as he is the boss. Sole proprietorship is simplified as it is not required to fill up many government documentations, follow specific rule, aside from having lower taxes. Mconnon (n.d.) said many small businesses started this way then later on changed structure of ownership as it grows. However, sole proprietorship is not free from headaches, as succession is not clear; there is a risk of losing business in case of death and total disability. Sole proprietorship finds it difficult to attract investors, thus it has limited financial resources. Owner has total personal liability on its debts and obligations; while profits are taxed as personal income. General partnership In order to augment owners’ capital, he/she may invite a partner into the business. This way, a general partnership is formed wherein both agree to share in capital and management of business. In general partnersh

The Privacy on a Workplace Legal Aspects Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Privacy on a Workplace Legal Aspects - Essay Example Discipline is a touchy subject when it comes to examination under the light of legal liability. The biggest reason for this is that many actions that a Human Resources department might take could be construed as retaliatory or discriminatory in nature; even if this was not the intent. As such, the process of discipline should be clearly aligned in such a way as to obviously work to give the employee an opportunity for growth and realization of the negative aspect or trait that led him/her to be disciplined. A good rule of thumb is to allow a silver-lining to every form of discipline so that if the issue ever came up in a court of law the employer could reasonably show the court that they have provided both a form of punishment for said action as well as providing a way that the employee could maximize their overall benefit in the given situation; thereby providing him her with an incentive to perform in a better/more appropriate way in the future.With regards to pre-employment testin g, this provides a backbone of the employment process as it currently exists within the United States. It is a tool for employers to gauge the level of aptitude that potential hires can necessarily bring to specific jobs and skill sets. Although appropriate to determine ability, the pre-employment test loses all of its appropriateness when it is used to discriminate based on a variety of illegal factors. These include but are not limited to factors that relate to the race, age, gender, sexual orientation.

Sir Richard Branson, Chairman, Virgin Group, Ltd. Case Study Research Paper - 1

Sir Richard Branson, Chairman, Virgin Group, Ltd. Case Study - Research Paper Example All these researches conducted had their particular pros and cons, insufficient assumptions and certain limitations (Lussier & Achua, 2007). However, researchers in this field have not given up and they are try their best come up with a strong theory. Recent developments in this field have been the research conducted on situational and transformational leadership style (Northouse, 2010). So far researchers have not been able to come up with a theory that can be classified as exclusive. The theories present by these new breed of researchers are a mere derivation of the earlier work in this field. The most notable work on leadership that his lived on till today is the work of researchers like: Max Wber, MacGregor Burns, Bernard M. Bass, and etc (Northouse, 2010). Scenario Analysis: This mini scenario is about Sir Richard Branson, who is the chairman of the Virgin Group. The Virgin Group is the world’s most recognized corporate brand. The Group comprises of companies from differe nt industries, this makes this group heavily diversified. The extent to which this group is diversified makes the operations of this group very complex and intricate. However, due to the broad and insightful vision of its chairman, the group remains till this day one of the most profitable group in the 21st century. The chairman can be classified as a person who is easy going, very flexible and enjoyable to work with. He does not shy away from competition, risk and challenges. One of his qualities is that he never succumbs under pressure and failure. Sir Richard is very open about his mistakes and likes to speak about his mistakes openly with any regret, because he believes that one should never get deject from failures and these failures are part of the learning process. He is forward looking and does not like to lament about the past. He believes that his employees are the most valuable assets of his company and therefore he never lets go of an opportunity where he could nurture h ealthy working relationship with them. To Sir Richard, opinion of the workers matters a lot and he uses their input coupled with is intuition to handle a daunting situation. He makes sure that the employees feel that their input does matter to him and they should keep sending him their opinions and understanding. Sir Richard is of firm believe that in order to keep the company on its current road of growth and prosperity, he needs to encourage risk taking behavior in employees and to support their initiatives to influence the group’s market place. One this which Sir Richard is very good at is his ability to form diversified teams to work on the diversified projects of the group. He firmly believes in delegating responsibility to his employees, by this he ensures employee engagement and retention. Sir Richard is one of those people who are more concerned about their relationships. As a result of this he tries to keep everyone in his surrounding happy and satisfied. This method of leading his organization has allowed him to create a dynamic and progressive working environment in his organization. Most importantly he is a person who likes to extend his trust onto his employees; employees seeing this gesture of their chairman project to him and his company their sincere loyalty and efforts. All of this has played a major role in creating the Virgin Group of the 21st century.

Uniform commercial code Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Uniform commercial code - Assignment Example It would be advisable to communicate directly with them. If they refuse to cooperate and clear the front porch, it would then be acceptable to contact the lawyer. You need to inspect the compound and confirm that the cleaning and laundry supplies are indeed piled there. It would be easier if this matter could be resolved amicably out of court. 3. Inform the worker to leave the dishwasher as it is. Call the dishwasher service line to ask for assistance. Ask them to inspect the dishwasher and ascertain the damage done. If they agree to fix the dishwater and also reimburse plates, then that would be a fair settlement. It would be vital if you could keep the melted plates as evidence in case they are required. 4. Call the son and ask him to explain to you exactly what happened. Inform the lawyer of everything that has happened, and have the boy to talk to the lawyer and narrate the whole story to him. The medicine that the guest used should be stored in a safe place and left untouched. It would be important to contact the police and inform them of the entire situation. 5. Communicate with the food supplier and request a meeting with him to discuss the issue. Ask him to calculate how much this would cost. Inform the lawyer of this new development and then carefully go ahead with these plans. It is important to keep all the typed documentation of all the necessary requirements, as well as signed agreements, receipts, and bills. 7. Inform him that it is possible to pay by cheque. Ask for photocopies of his identification documents. Keep a photocopy of the cheque, as well as one of the bank slip. Keep these documents in safe storage and ensure you have all of his contacts. 9. Confirm attendance with the B&B restaurant owner. Make sure that you have accompaniment as you go meet him. Do not reveal too much company information and keep the meeting brief and formal as possible. 10. Inspect the scene of the accident and make sure you

Cloud Computing †Risk or Opportunity Essay Example for Free

Cloud Computing – Risk or Opportunity Essay Abstract Cloud computing is a term that refers to sources and computer systems available on demand through the network, which can provide a number of computer services integrated without being restricted local resources in order to make it easier for the user and include those resources space for data backup and synchronization self also includes processing capabilities software and scheduling of tasks and push e-mail and remote printing, and the user can control when it is connected to the network in these resources through a simple software interface simplifies and ignores a lot of detail and internal processes. Cloud computing has become increasingly popular because it offers users the illusion of having infinite computing resources, of which they can use as much as they need, without having to worry about how those resources are provided. It also provides greater scalability, availability, and reliability than users could achieve with their own resource The core property in cloud computing that held computing in the cloud; for clarity, the treatment process (and related data) is not confined to the place (places) private and unknown. Thus, this model is the antithesis of the treatment process is located in one or more of the servers are well known. Exposure model cloud of criticism and attack because of privacy advocates, for the ease of large governing the hosting companies for services cloud, and then, can impose censorship and domination, whether legal or illegal, the communication process as well as the data stored in between the user and the host company Introduction Cloud computing has become a ubiquitous term and largely discussed topic in the global information technology (IT) world. Cloud computing has changed dramatically the ways in which organizations and individuals communicate, collaborate and compute. The concept of cloud computing ensures a cost–effective transformation of utility computing principle that allows users and providers a convenient access to resources in a self-service and ‘pay as you go fashion’. Consequently, cloud computing has reduced the cost associated with system administration as well as aided in improving resource utilization and accounting. Since last few years, cloud computing has resulted in a number of positive impacts on the IT ecosystem, thereby giving rise to new markets and widely scattered new user communities (European Commission, 2012). Contextually, the concept of cloud computing is the outcome of the direct industrial needs to enhance resource utilization without intervening consumer requirements. In other words, the concept ensures the use of the available resources in more efficient manner (European Commission, 2012). The paper intends to critically examine the opportunities and the risks associated with cloud computing and draws a valid conclusion on its adoption by organizations. Cloud Computing: Definition, Models and Services Cloud computing was initially used in an academic perspective by Prof. Kenneth K Chellapa who illustrated it in 1997 at the Informs Conference in Dallas as â€Å"a computing paradigm where the boundaries of computing will be determined by economic rationale rather than technical limits† (Petri, 2010). There are various definitions of cloud computing however the most appropriate and broadly accepted definition is being provided by North America National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST). According to NIST, â€Å"Cloud Computing is a model for enabling convenient, on demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort to service provider interaction† (Petri, 2010). There are many cloud computing models for business purposes including: Public Cloud: Public cloud model is provided by vendors and can be accessed over the internet or private network. One or more data centers are used by this model which is shared by multiple customers (Weitz, 2010). Private Cloud: Private cloud model is managed and used internally by the organizations which utilizes ‘shared services model’ and makes variable usage of virtualized computing resources. The data stored in the model are managed within the organization (Weitz, 2010). Hybrid Cloud: As the name suggests, the hybrid model is the mixture of public cloud services and private cloud architecture. The model is designed to meet certain specific needs of customers (Weitz, 2010). Community Cloud: Community cloud model is used across the organizations having similar requirements and objectives. Community cloud model is established using public cloud services in order to ensure collaboration among the companies (Weitz, 2010). Cloud Computing Services Cloud computing services are provided mostly in the following ways: Software-as-a-Service (SaaS): Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) has been operational in the market since many years. Currently, businesses are more interested in shifting licensing software to subscribe services particularly on the basis of per user and per month among others (Weitz, 2010). Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS): Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) includes development of such environment that allows developers to build software applications that can be offered as services to customers or to general users (Weitz, 2010). Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS): Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) provides customers or users with storage, network and other various fundamental resource requirements in order to run arbitrary applications (Weitz, 2010). Literature Review According to Etro (2009), cloud computing is a recently evolved internet based technology that stores large information in servers and provides that information as services on demand to clients. Accordingly, its impact is spectacular on both consumers and companies. Furthermore, he stated that consumers can access all their documents and data from any devices such as laptops, mobile phones and tablets while the companies can rent hardware and software from the service providers and pay as they use the services like other services availed by the companies such as electricity (Etro, 2009). Petri (2010) postulates that, cloud computing is one of the most discussed IT innovations in the last few years. Hence, risk management is the most critical area which draws a serious attention. He emphasized that future is relatively uncertain when associating cloud computing with security factor. He critically points out that cloud vendors should quickly address the security and other related concerns for ensuring better customer satisfaction (Petri, 2010). According to Bein, Bein Madiraju (2010), cloud computing is a new paradigm of computing that has evolved in the recent times as an expensive way for providing storage and software. They further stressed that many companies are moving ahead with an intention to make cloud computing easy to use. They advocated that there are huge potential for consumers to exploit the cloud computing technology (Bein, Bein Madiraju, 2010). According to Gartner Inc (2012), continuous monitoring of cloud computing technologies and usual updates to the enterprises’ cloud strategies are necessary to prevent any cost related errors for the subsequent few years. It also stated that cloud computing technology will have significant impact on the level of its adoption over a period of time (Gartner Inc, 2012) According to Pokhriyal (2012), cloud computing would contribute towards increasing complexities relating to data storage and users access to applications as well as other frequently conducted processes. She also stated that risk of exposure of critical data is more with the use of cloud computing technology. She advocated that business firms may also witness security breaches and hacking that shall make the cloud storage relatively ineffective and inefficient (Pokhriyal, 2012). According to Willcocks, Venters, Whitey (2011), cloud computing technology is changing the ways of IT business services in terms of data delivering and managing. Accordingly, cloud computing has escalated the importance of delivering effective services and for this reason the IT and business services urgently need to raise the level of service competency and should focus on the availability of quality services to meet the customer expectations (Willocks, Venters, Whitley, 2011). In the words of Horwath, Chan, Leung, Pili (2012), cloud computing has the potential to bring certain drastic changes in the organizations as witnessed in case of the internet during the last decade of the 20th century. They emphasized that by applying cloud computing technology without proper care and due-diligence may result in unforeseen problems. Consequently, executives must be aware of risks and other issues of cloud computing in order to derive significant benefits out of the provided services (Horwath, Chan, Leung, Pili, 2012). According to Santos, Gummadi, Rodrigues (2012), cloud computing enables organizations to cut costs associated with resource storage, network bandwidth and other relevant data. However, they argued that concerns about the privacy, confidentiality and integrity of the data and computation can be considered to be the major deterrents for those organizations which are looking forward to embrace cloud computing (Santos, Gummadi, Rodrigues, 2012). According to Hinchcliffe (2009), cloud computing will transform IT business scenario by a large extent and it will have to balance between the risks and the benefits associated with cloud computing models. Therefore, he points out certain major risks associated with such transformations including security of organizational data that is stored in the cloud, loss of control over cloud resources and reliability factor. He also stated that the efficient use of cloud computing will enable market validation and prototyping of new approaches at much faster and relatively less expensive rate than ever before (Hinchcliffe, 2009). According to Weitz (2010), cloud computing will be playing a major role in the future of IT and shall bring in enormous opportunities for the organizations. Consequently, he stated that larger organizations will also have an opportunity for cutting the existing costs of IT infrastructure with the use of cloud computing models. However, he also highlighted the risks related with cloud computing and expressed his deep concerns relating to the security and confidentiality of certain relevant data (Weitz, 2010). Hyek (2011) in his report, ‘Cloud Computing Issues and Impacts’, postulated that, cloud computing models should comply with laws and regulations in each of its operations. The processing of data by the cloud service providers must be in conformity with governments’ requirements (Hyek, 2011). According to Curtis, Heckman, Thorp (2010), the most important factor related with the cloud computing model is the concern about the security and privacy of data while adopting cloud computing models (Curtis, Heckman, Thorp, 2010). According to the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (2010), in its report, ‘Cloud Computing: Opportunities and Challenges for Australia’ considers the importance of government and its roles in encouraging researchers and business sectors to adopt cloud computing models. The report emphasized that government should formulate strategies that initiate business sectors to adopt cloud models for their resource and application requirements. The report precisely described the responsibility of the cloud service providers in terms of proper management of data in order to prevent any situation that may result in loss of vital data (Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, 2010). According to Catteddu Hogben, (2009) cloud services provide expedient storage accessible by various devices along with other benefits including useful communication and instant multi-point collaboration. They also emphasized that level of risk may tend to vary significantly based on the type of cloud model. It is for this reason that customers should be aware of the probable risks associated with cloud computing models and they should strive to transfer the risks to the providers (Catteddu Hogben, 2009). Characteristics of Cloud Computing A few of the relevant characteristics of cloud computing are elaborated below: On-Demand Self Service: Cloud computing providers offer various computer services such as applications, e-mail and network without involving human interaction with various service providers engaged in certain specific services only. Currently, there are multiple organizations that provide cloud computing services based on on-demand self services such as Google, Amazon Web, Microsoft and IBM among others (Information System Audit and Control Association, Inc, 2012). Broad Network Access: Cloud services are available over the network, specifically over the internet and are accessed through certain standard mechanisms such as personal laptops, mobile phones, tablets and iPads among others (Information System Audit and Control Association, Inc, 2012). Resource Pooling: The cloud computing models of the providers are shared with various resources in order to serve multiple clients. The resources united together may consist of processing, network bandwidth, storage of data, memory, virtual machines and email service (Information System Audit and Control Association, Inc, 2012). Rapid Elasticity:The capacities of cloud services can be swiftly and elastically provisioned, in a few instances robotically as well to quickly balance out and release to scale in quickly. Furthermore, the capacities accessible for provisioning frequently emerge to be infinite and can be procured in any amount at any time (Information System Audit and Control Association, Inc, 2012). Measured Services: The resource usage of cloud computing can be measured and reported to both providers and customers related to the amount of services utilized. Hence, cloud computing service providers charge the customers for the resources that they have actually used i.e. ‘pay as you use’. Considering the fact, more the customers utilize the cloud computing services, more they have to pay and vice-versa (Information System Audit and Control Association, Inc, 2012). Multi-tenacity: Multi-tenacity is one key characteristics related to cloud computing which is being advocated by Security All iance. Multi-tenacity is related with the requirement for segmentation, ‘policy-driven enforcement’, control, service levels, billing models and isolation for the different consumer requirements (Information System Audit and Control Association, Inc, 2012). Cloud Computing: Opportunities and Risk Assessment Cloud Computing Opportunities Opportunities derived from cloud computing are related with cost reduction to increase flexibility and decrease complexity which benefits the customers in terms of higher returns on their investments. Certain vital opportunities and benefits provided by cloud computing comprise: Cost Saving: Cloud computing customers are liable to pay merely for computing services and resources that they use rather than making permanent investments on resources or leasing equipments that may or may not be utilized fully at all times. Cloud computing enables to share IT resources with multiple organizations and facilitates them to access as per their requirements which can be related as operating expenses (OPEX) and not as capital expenses (CAPEX) (Petri, 2010). Speed of Deployment: Cloud service providers can meet the needs of the organizations for computing resources quickly and efficiently than other internal informati on technology functions. The customers do not have to wait for months for crunching large data. They can simply rent resources for limited period and can avail huge benefits at considerably reduced time (Petri, 2010). Scalability and Better Alignment of Technology Resources: An organization is able to scale up as well as down its capability from a single server to multiple numbers of servers with no capital expenses through the use of cloud service models. An organization is also able to deploy additional storage capacity over the web (Petri, 2010). Decreased Efforts in Managing Technology: Owning and operating of IT functions are often costly and time consuming. However, cloud computing enables an organization to concentrate more time on its purposes and goals (Petri, 2010). Environmental Benefits: Cloud computing also results in environmental benefits. If all the organizations replace their private data centers with cloud computing, it will significantly reduce the overall power consumption and carbon emissions (Petri, 2010). Higher Value Added: Cloud computing does not only provide software functionality but it also provides the customers with relevant information and data which was traditionally supposed to be created by the customers themselves (Petri, 2010). Cloud Computing Risks Risk is an event that prevents the organizations from achieving their determined purposes and objectives. Certain risks associated with cloud computing are stated below: Disruptive Force: Facilitating innovation and cost saving aspects can itself be viewed as risk to the existing cloud computing organizations. By lowering the barriers to entry, new competitors may pose a serious threat to certain cloud computing business models (Horwath, Chan, Leung, Pili, 2012). Residing In the Same Risk Ecosystem as the Cloud Service Provider (CSP) and Other Tenants of the Cloud: Organizational reliance on third party involved in managing cloud solutions will increase legal responsibility and incident escalation among other core areas. By following the actions of CSP may impact the organizations in certain direct and indirect ways (Horwath, Chan, Leung, Pili, 2012). Lack of Transparency: A cloud computing service provider does not facilitate complete information regarding its processes and operat ions. Consequently, cloud customers have only little knowledge about the storage locations and algorithms that are implemented or used by the cloud service providers in relation to computing and controlling resources of customers’ data (Horwath, Chan, Leung, Pili, 2012). Reliability and Performance Issues: Even though efficiency of cloud computing may get disrupted due to risk events such as system failure that may occur without any early alerts to the end users. Hence, system failure may be viewed as a distinctive challenge posed to cloud computing (Horwath, Chan, Leung, Pili, 2012). Security And Compliance Concerns: Cloud computing supports various processes that may tend to evolve security and retention concerns in relation to its compliance with certain specific laws such as Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). The cloud service providers may have no obligation to reveal such information associated with privacy of certain laws such as US Patriot Act and EU Data Protection Directives among others (Horwath, Chan, Leung, Pili, 2012). High Value Cyber Attack Targets: The over-dependence of multiple organizations on single cloud service providers may tend to create vulnerability of cyber attacks then those used by a single organization (Horwath, Chan, Leung, Pili, 2012). Risk of Data Leakage: The risk of data leakage is also more where multiple organizations share their resources through cloud environment. Consequently, cloud service providers do not provide adequate data privacy and confidentiality of resources which the organizations intend to secure from intruders (Horwath, Chan, Leung, Pili, 2012). Conclusion Cloud computing has changed dramatically the ways in which the organizations communicate, collaborate and compute. In general, cloud computing refers to delivery of scalable IT resources over the web particularly internet. An organization can purchase or rent software on need basis or according to usage which results in less investment and consumption on the part of the organization. Cloud computing facilitates the organizations to manage their IT requirements remotely, at much lowered costs. It further enables organizations to share resources in a single place or through a single cloud service provider. The organizations do not have to make heavy investments on establishment of their own IT infrastructure as cloud computing models provide organizations with established database for fulfillment of their IT demand. Moreover, organizations and users are charged or billed on the basis of their resource consumption. Despite having numerous benefits of adopting cloud computing models, there also exist certain risk factors which restrict the scope of cloud computing. Security and privacy are the prime issues restricting the adoption of cloud computing. Since multiple organizations will be consolidated on single cloud computing, there exists more vulnerability of data hacking. Consequently, cloud computing service providers do not guarantee the adequate safety for data losses and leakages which at times deters organizations from adopting cloud computing solutions. Nonetheless, if organizations cautiously consider the risk factors associated with cloud computing related solutions then these risk events can be overcome efficiently. Considering this aspect, it can be stated that organizations should adopt cloud computing solutions. By adopting cloud computing solutions, they can avail numerous opportunities that shall help them to grow and sustain their business profitably. References Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. (2010). The roles of government in cloud computing. Cloud computing: opportunities and challenges for Australia, pp. 13-19. Bein, D., Bein, W. Madiraju, P. (2010). Web applications and cloud computing. The impact of cloud computing on web 2.0, pp. 1-6. Curtis, W. B., Heckman, C. Thorp, A. (2010). Security and Privacy Considerations. Cloud computing: e-discovery issues and other risk, pp. 1-5. Catteddu, D. Hogben, G. (2009). Top security risks. Cloud Computing: Benefits, Risks And Recommendations For Information Security Cloud Computing, pp. 2-125. Etro, F. (2009). Features and implications of cloud computing. The economic impact of cloud computing on business creation, employment and output in Europe, pp. 2-33. European Commission. (2012). Introduction background. Advances in clouds, pp. 1-7. Gartner Inc. (2012). Gartner outlines five cloud computing trends that will affect cloud strategy through 2015. Retrieved from http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1971515 Horwath, C., Chan, W., Leung, E. Pili, H. (2012). COSO enterprise risk management for cloud computing. Enterprise Risk Management For Cloud Computing, pp. 1-20. Hyek, P. (2011). Security and privacy. Cloud computing issues and impacts, pp. 12-46. Hinchcliffe, D. (2009). Eight ways that cloud computing will change business. Retrieved from http://www.majorcities.org/generaldocuments/pdf/zdnet_eight_ways_that_cloud_computing_will_change_business.pdf Information System Audit and Control Association, Inc, (2012). Essential characteristics of Cloud Computing. Retrieved from http://www.isaca.org/Groups/Professional-English/cloud-computing/GroupDocuments/Essential%20characteristics%20of%20Cloud%20Computing.pdf Pokhriyal, R. (2012). Cloud computing myths explained: part 1. Retrieved from http://www.cloudtweaks.com/2012/10/cloud-computing-myths-explained-part-1/ Petri, G. (2010). Risks of cloud computing. Shedding light on cloud computing, pp. 25-30. Santos, N., Gummadi, K. P. Rodrigues, R. (2012). Towards trusted cloud computing. Retrieved from http://www.mpi-sws.org/~gummadi/papers/trusted_cloud.pdf Willcocks, L., Venters, W. Whitley, E. A. (2011). Clear view of the cloud: The business impact of cloud computing. Cloud computing, (1). Weitz, C. (2010). Barriers of cloud computing. A Balancing Act What Cloud Computing Means For Business, And How To Capitalize On It, pp. 1-9.

Compare Gothic Architecture and Troubadour Poetry Essay Example for Free

Compare Gothic Architecture and Troubadour Poetry Essay Europe had alot of cultural diversity. Gothic Architecture and Troubadour poetry can be compared geographically by their first settings; compared artistically by man expressing himself; and culturally contrasted because of associated religion. Both Gothic architecture and Troubador poetry can be compared because of their settings. It can be shown that Gothic Architecture can be compared because gothic cathedrals popped up in France during the Middle Ages. Its further told that Troubadour Poetry can be compared because the Troubadours emerged in southern France, and the poets were in the Middle Ages too. Both Gothic Architecture and Troubadour Poetry can be compared because of man expressing himself. It can be explained that Gothic Architecture can be compared because it was a way to show the power and clarity that the Catholic Church had over its subject with its insane height. This is further argued that troubadour poetry can be compared because it idealized their perception of romantic, courtly love through words. Gothic Architecture was a catholic characteristic. On the other hand, Troubador Poetry was not with the catholic beliefs. The contrast with the Gothic Architecture can be defended because the distinct features of it was on cathedrals . The contrast with Troubadour Poetry is justified because it was from a gnostic christian group, called the Cathars, who rivaled against against and were suppressed by the Catholic Church. The Gothic Architecture and Troubadour Poetry both have the same setting and the need for expression through a medium, but differ in religious association.

Women in Jane Eyre and Madame Bovary

Women in Jane Eyre and Madame Bovary The presentation of women in Charlotte Brontà «Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s Jane Eyre (1847) and Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary (1857) is one of the principal informatives of the novels. Clearly, the presentation of women in each case is influenced by the authorial directive which drove the novels and certainly the gender related issues can be seen to be connected to this. In addition, the structural imperative of the narrative voice invites a specific perception of the women which is only essentially revealed when the text is examined closely, particularly in terms of contrast and comparison. In both the novels to be discussed here, the central protagonist is female and events are arranged around a woman’s life and struggles in a society designed by men for the convenience of men. Also, the books each have an eponymous heroine which invites the initial perception that the entire narrative is to be fundamentally built upon a female centre of consciousness (though Flaubert, in common with many critics, thought the novel guilty of ‘faulty perspective’[1], partly because of this, perhaps). However, this must be qualified by the interaction with other female characters which each novelist uses both to develop the plot and intensify the reader’s understanding of the titular heroine’s actions in each case. Both novels also present images of women who in different ways either reflect or challenge perceived notions of how women should behave in contemporary society. Indeed, it might be said that each of these books question the basis upon which fundamental mores of the era were based and deviated from accepted moral standards. Perhaps because the chief agents of this in both novels are women, the books were thought even more outrageous than might otherwise have been the case though ‘stereotypes and prejudices have at least some positive aspects’[2] even if only in their repudiation. However, though Brontà «Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s novel opens by establishing a deeply disturbing matriarchal environment which does little to challenge the idea of the stereotypical ‘wicked-stepmother’, in the person of Jane’s reluctant guardian, her aunt, Mrs Reed, by whom she is degraded in a home where the child is ‘less than a servant’[3], it nevertheless gives the author, through Jane, the opportunity to intimate that the roots of an inner-strength and self-reliance which are to be so important to her in the future are imbedded in her childhood trials. The inevitable inference, perpetuated by the fact that a considerable amount of Jane’s suffering is inflicted by women, is that cruelty in some sense straitens the character. Moreover, the embryonic woman may be perceived in Jane’s acceptance of this treatment: This reproach of my dependence had become a vague sing-song in my ear; very painful and crushing, but only half intelligible.[4] Jane’s subsequent subjugation, both as a pupil at Lowood School and in her position as a governess, the ultimate ‘non-persona’ of nineteenth century female existence and one of which the author had personal experience, may be seen to be endured with extraordinary patience because of these early insults. Indeed, Brontà « wrote the character of Jane to be ‘plain, small, and unattractive, in defiance of the accepted canon’[5] and like herself, in fact, so her women are inevitably influenced by this directive: ‘Why was I always suffering, always browbeaten, always accused, for ever condemned? Why could I never please?’[6] This desire to ‘please’ is quite definitely connected here with the female stereotype which to some extent Jane’s later behaviour negates. Thus, Brontà «Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s portrayal of the female child is, to invert Wordsworth, ‘mother of the woman’ for the injustice of her treatment is forcibly emp hasised, as it is later at Lowood (the cruelty of which was autobiographical as two of Brontà «Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s sisters died at a school very similar to it). It is crucial that Jane’s sufferings should be seen to be inflicted by women, for as Jane says, ‘I doubted not-never doubted—that if Mr. Reed had been alive he would have treated me kindly’[7]. Clearly, the author’s directive is to display how very different is the cruelty of women inflicted upon their own sex from that of men who, like Rochester, involve a sexually charged sadistic element in their cruelty towards women. Flaubert’s novel creates rather a different consciousness, however, and the directive for this is possibly created by the passion of the novel, which was for a time banned in France on the grounds of obscenity. Emma Bovary, unlike Jane Eyre, is driven less by the sense of injustice brought about by her familial circumstances than her desire for a more passionate existence than her husband, the mediocre doctor Bovary, can provide. In a sense, she is the antithesis of Jane, since she longs not for a simple existence with a loving husband, that she has, but for a life of which she has read in romantic fiction, symbolised by her desire for ‘a marriage at midnight by the light of torches’[8] (though this has been shown to be also a custom rather than an idiosyncratic whim[9]). Emma is, from the first, presented sensually: ‘she shivered as she ate, thereby causing her rather full lips, which, in moments of silence, she was in the habit of biting, to fall slightly apart.’[10] Anticipating Hardy’s description of Tess eating a strawberry offered by her seducer, Flaubert focuses the attention of the reader immediately upon Emma’s mouth, slightly open, in an unconsciously provocative attitude. In this, she is very different from Jane, who is presented as demure to the point of austerity, perpetually dressed in dark clothes, partly due to her situation but also, the reader might infer, due to a repressed self-image. (Interestingly, Flaubert often dresses Emma in blue, with varying numbers of flounces; this would be recognisable in the Catholic France as the colour traditionally associated with the Virgin Mary.) Nowhere is this more evident than when she is compelled by Rochester to attend an evening party at Thornfield and we see her juxtaposed with the flirtatious Blanche Ingram and the party who, dressed in white ‘flock’[11] into the drawing room like ‘white plumy birds’[12] in stark contrast to the soberly dressed Jane, all in grey. The women speak in an ‘habitual’[13] way, indicating that it is both natural and practised: a register of opposite inflection which suggests the elaborately artificial, indicative of their representation, via Jane’s perspective, at least, and since Jane’s voice is that of the book, that is the view we are invited to share. As she says, ‘Miss Ingram [†¦] was self-conscious— remarkably self-conscious indeed’[14]. Brontà «Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s employment of the term ‘self-conscious’ is interesting since it encapsulates, in the two meanings of the term, the difference between Blanche and Jane. Blanche is conscious of herself as a vain exposition but Jane is self-conscious in terms of abnegation. Significantly, at this point, the narrative register switches, to present the scene as if Jane is watching it: ‘I sit in the shade—if any shade there be in this brilliantly-lit apartment; the window-curtain half hides me’[15]. (Apparently Charlotte was also self-effacing at parties, where she would hide behind the curtains in order to be both present and not so.) The author thus employs a dual vicariousness of experience, since she is speaking autobiographically behind the veil of Jane who is now watching herself in a recalled reactive, ‘I might gaze without being observed’[16] as she remarks. The women’s conversation is at best indiscreet and at worst cruel, as they discourse on the nature of governesses, ‘the whole tribe’[17], almost as one might of a separate and inferior species of being which they undoubtedly beli eve to be true, in common with most of the aristocracy of the time. Moreover, they speak of an ‘immoral tendency’[18] which they believe to be present in the governess and the entire lack of privacy which attaches to the position. Charlotte had experienced this herself, no doubt, in her life as a governess, belonging neither upstairs nor downstairs and loathed by servants and masters alike. The Ingram party are representative of women who subjugate others of their sex within the class conscious society in which the novel operates, and by showing them as vain and shallow as well as unkind, Brontà « invites the reader to infer that their judgements are likewise via an intimate distancing. It is interesting to compare this behaviour of Jane’s with that of Emma Bovary at a ball. Far from wishing to hide herself, Emma longs both to see and be seen on a larger stage than that of the ‘country town’ of the title: Emmas heart gave a faint flutter as she stood in the line of dancers, her partners fingers lightly laid upon her arm, waiting for the first stroke of the fiddlers bow to give the signal for starting. But very soon her emotion vanished. Moving to the rhythm of the orchestra, she swam forward with a gentle undulation of the neck. A smile showed upon her lips at certain tender passages on the violin, when, now and again, it played alone and the other instruments were hushed. The sound of gold coins chinking on the baize surfaces of card-tables was clearly audible. Then, with a crash of brass, the music would once more strike up loudly. Feet took up the measure, skirts swelled, swishing as they touched one another, hands were given and withdrawn, eyes, downcast a moment before, were raised again in silent colloquy.[19] This intense sensuousness follows Emma’s mockery of her husband’s desire to dance and it is clear that she wishes to enjoy this experience in solitude though not of course in isolation. She desires her husband’s absence and thus Flaubert separates the passionate Emma from the practical one. There is a danger and excitement here for which Emma longs and which is represented not only in the ‘silent colloqu[ies]’ but also in the ‘chinking’ of the ‘gold coins’ at the card tables. Flaubert foreshadows Emma’s own risk-taking here as she is thrilled by the intensity of the atmosphere in a way that Jane most decidedly is not. Further, Emma’s feelings are present in the way in which the author describes Emma’s points d’apuis involving the reader in her sensuality as ‘she swam forward with a gentle undulation of the neck’. How different is this subliminal image of the swan from that rendered by Jane? Moreover, Flaubert’s intense desire for verisimilitude will not allow for the shadowy and duplicitous register of the faux autobiographical first person narrative which Brontà « adopts, and which was imitated by such notable authors as Dickens in David Copperfield (1850) and therefore attempts to present Emma as both fragile and strong, flippant and serious, a fully rounded woman, in fact, having her feet firmly on the ground in some areas but hopelessly romantic in others: Sometimes she sketched, and Charles found much delight in standing at her side, watching her bend above her drawing-board, half closing her eyes the better to judge the effect of her work, or rolling little pellets of bread between finger and thumb. The quicker her hands moved when she played the piano, the greater his surprise. She struck the notes with a sure touch, and could run down the keyboard from treble to bass without a moments pause. [†¦] But there was another side to Emma. She knew how to run her house. [†¦] Because of all this the consideration shown to Bovary increased. [20] It is important that Bovary ‘came to value himself the more highly for possessing such a wife’[21] as he thus inverts the received notion that a woman’s status derived from her husband, not the reverse. ’The difference within writing is then coextensive with the difference between the sexes’[22] and for the essence of mediocrity, Charles Bovary, the gifted, artistic yet apparently level-headed Emma, is the equivalent of a modern day trophy wife. Therefore, when he is betrayed by her infidelities the pain is all the greater. Marriage was the principle duty of both men and women in the centuries up to and including the nineteenth and after, and the marital state, as well as deviations from it, drives the narrative throughout both novels. Emma is highly regarded not just because she is beautiful and artistic but because she can adequately fulfil what society expects of a wife. Further, it is reasonable to assume that the latter approbation would be prin cipally granted by the provincial matrons who will later disapprove so strongly of her behaviour. Thus, Flaubert exposes both the inherent hypocrisy of the society and the restrictive expectations of the role of a wife. Both parties to such a union are ultimately unhappy and Flaubert at least offers a reason for Emma’s behaviour by means of emphasising her husband’s mediocrity: Had Charles but shown the will to listen, had he but suspected the movement of her thoughts, or seen but once into her mind, her heart would, she felt, suddenly have released all its wealth of feeling, as apples fall in profusion from a shaken tree. But as their lives took on a greater intimacy, so did detachment grow within her mind and loose the bonds which bound them.[23] Analysis of a translated text is always problematic but the semantic field is so apparent here that it is possible to comment on the text with some degree of accuracy. Clearly, what drives this damning description of Charles is the fact that he manifestly has a choice; it is as if he makes no effort towards understanding his wife and thus the ‘intimacy’ which might have been is displaced by ‘detachment’. Moreover, the idea that they are ‘bound’ by their respective postures impacts upon the metaphorical rendering of the passion contained within Emma. Similarly, the repressed passion of Jane cannot be released until Rochester has in a sense been emasculated so that he needs Jane and understands her need to have an existence of her own without entrapment. This picture of woman as imprisoned within both body and soul by the propriety of a fundamentally hypocritical society is literally true of Rochester’s ‘mad’ wife, Bertha Mason. Perhaps because of the tendency to focus upon Jane and Rochester’s romance, the plight of Bertha is rarely examined and she is confined to a Gothic stereotype which reflects Charlotte’s reading, as does the Byronic Rochester, but leaves little room for a sympathetic reading of the woman’s existence. She is simply presented as an impediment derived from an entrapment in Rochester’s youth: Mr. Rochester flung me behind him: the lunatic sprang and grappled his throat viciously, and laid her teeth to his cheek: they struggled. She was a big woman, in statue almost equalling her husband, and corpulent besides: she showed virile force in the contest—more than once she almost throttled him, athletic as he was. [†¦]That is my wife, said he. â€Å"Such is the sole conjugal embrace I am ever to know—such are the endearments which are to solace my leisure hours! And this is what wished to have† (laying his hand on my shoulder): â€Å"this young girl, who stands so grave and quiet at the mouth of hell, looking collectedly at the gambols of a demon. I wanted her just as a change after that fierce ragout. Wood and Briggs, look at the difference! Compare these clear eyes with the red balls yonder—this face with that mask—this form with that bulk; then judge me, priest of the gospel and man of the law, and remember, with what judgment ye judg e ye shall be judged!†[24] Mrs. Rochester is accorded no dignity either by her husband or Jane, indeed the terms of address attached to her are those of ‘lunatic’, ‘demon’ and the entirely divorced from human delineation of the ‘fierce ragout’. Brontà « betrays her own lack of compassion here, as she distances the reader from any possibility of empathy by making Bertha appears as a monster, ‘big’ and ‘corpulent’, inhuman, in fact. She intriguingly applies the adjective ‘virile’ to the woman, too, and thereby invites an animalistic sexuality which has, in fact, the reader is led to believe caused Rochester to marry her in the first place, unaware of her family’s genetic tendency towards insanity. Moreover, by using a direct comparative with Jane, Brontà « subliminally and possibly unconsciously, suggests a debasement of the female sex in Rochester’s terminology. Both women are referred to as objects, ‘thisâ€℠¢ and ‘that’, and their comparative merits highlighted in a detached and oddly disconcerting way. In addition, his language is unpleasantly possessive, ‘that is what I wished to have’. Finally, he appeals the justice of his case to God, suggesting that his attitude is correct, even under Divine examination, disparagingly referring to both the ‘priest of the gospel and man of the law’. So effective is the author’s manipulation of this that the reader, as is undoubtedly the intent, forgets the inherent immorality and cruelty which all those present display. In this sense, the novel is guilty of corrupting the reader’s moral sensibility since it invites a faulty and amoral judgement based upon the romantic imperative the novelist pursues. The fact that Bertha is a woman, not an alien being, does not appear to enter the collective consciousness, here. Sexuality is inextricably bound up with the image of ‘the lunatic’, her e, as Rochester speaks of the ‘conjugal embrace’ to which he is tied. It is clear to see, then, that for this author, the sexual drive has within it a link to a kind of wildness which sits uneasily with the image of the ‘grave and quiet’ Miss Eyre, especially since Bertha tears Jane’s wedding veil on the eve of the proposed bigamous marriage, a Freudian symbol, perhaps, of the virginal bride’s impending sexual ‘violation’. Even Bertha’s imprisonment may be likened to the earlier entrapment of Jane in ‘the red room’, itself a Gothic interlude and teeming with female sexual symbolism. It is no accident that when she leaves Thornfield, Jane recovers, after an indeterminate and somewhat wayward and directionless journey in the abode of the seemingly asexual St. John Rivers and his sisters, Diana and Mary. It is later revealed that these women are related to Jane and they are like her, even to the extent of both being governesses. They are, of course, delivered to the reader as positive images, as was Miss Temple her role-model at Lowood, and the antithesis of the artificiality of Blanche and the animalistic Bertha. The fact that Jane is literally removed from her previous existence with all its inherent passion to the quietude of a parsonage says much about the didactic split in the presentation of women within Jane Eyre. Certainly, the author is keen to connect love with a kind of sanctity and passion is somewhat marginalised into areas which have significantly dark connectives. The well-read and steadily sympathetic sisters have little in common with the women Jan e has encountered at Thornfield and indeed, even St. John himself seems insipid when compared to Rochester, thus the author’s ambivalence towards female sexuality is fundamentally present in the juxtaposition of the images of the female which are the inverse connectives between the world of Thornfield and that of the Rivers family. It may be remarked, in fact, that Jane disapproves even of the affectations of Adele, the child of a woman with whom Rochester has had a sexual relationship though he is not Adele’s father. Thus, even the innocence of the child appears to be tainted, in the author’s mind (since Jane is her centre of consciousness), by her mother’s sexually promiscuous past. This idea of female sexuality identifies much of the imperative behind Flaubert’s novel, with his central character suffering a restricted life which we infer to be as unfulfilling sexually as it is temperamentally. Emma and Charles Bovary form an ill-matched couple but their respective discontentment stems from an intrinsic disparity that relates to more than their different aims and desires. In fact, the novel has been called ‘the tragedy of dreams’[25] and this is indeed an apt description. Flaubert created in Emma the tragedy of a woman both awakened and doomed by passion: Pleasure and pain metamorphose into each other. Innocence is unmasked and altered by corruption. In Madame Bovary, following the disappointment of her marriage, these changes occur in Emma because of Rodolphe. Flaubert’s corrosive irony in the narrative treatment of his characters does not lessen the pain of love or the lyrical power of Emma’s erotic awakening.[26] Emma is, then, an inverse of Jane, since her life is thwarted by marriage whereas Jane’s is fulfilled by it. In part, this is due to the nature of the narrative because Emma is not in love with Charles as Jane undoubtedly is with Rochester. There is an interesting irony, though, in that Brontà «Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s novel is born of her reading whereas Flaubert depicts his heroine as in part destroyed by the romantic dreams which have emanated from hers: In the days before her marriage she had fancied that she was in love. But the happiness love should have brought her did not come. She must, she thought, have been mistaken, and set herself to discover what it was that people in real life meant by such words as ‘bliss’, ‘passion’ and ‘intoxication’words, all of them, which she had thought so fine when she read them in books.[27] Flaubert was of the ‘realist’ school and by producing a heroine corrupted by the romances with which she had been indoctrinated, he emphasises the difference between a woman’s life in reality and as lived vicariously in the projected images of female enchantment to which Emma here refers. Moreover, Flaubert foreshadows Emma’s ultimate tragedy by the ominous words, ‘[she] set herself to discover what it was that people in real life meant by such words as ‘bliss’, ‘passion’ and ‘intoxication’’. Emma’s innate passion for romantic love is revealed as a childhood sensibility and therefore basic to her. She has been educated in a convent (which Charlotte with her anti-Catholic prejudices would have found appalling in itself) but even there she sees the ‘metaphors of affianced lover, husband, divine wooer and eternal marriage, which were for ever recurring in the sermons that she heard, [and that] mo ved her heart with an unexpected sweetness’[28]. By juxtaposing love, marriage and religion, Flaubert again invites a religious connective with Emma herself. As was noted earlier, he often dresses her in the blue of the ‘Blessed Virgin’ and here he is quite provocatively bringing together, in Emma, the twin images of woman in the nineteenth century collective consciousness as either ‘Madonna’ or ‘whore’. In addition to her fictionalised pictures of love drawn from books and religion, Emma is influenced by the stories of an ‘old maid’[29] who visits the convent and because she belongs ‘to an old family of gentlefolk ruined by the Revolution’[30] she ‘enjoyed the special favour of the archbishop’[31] and was almost part of the convent, privileged to eat with the nuns. This reveals much about the class-consciousness of nineteenth century France as well as the perception of women, since the archbishop controls not only the nuns but also who may be thought worthy to consort with them. Ironically, this old lady sings to the girls ‘love songs of the previous century’[32] and: [†¦] told stories, brought news of the outside world, executed small commissions in the town, and secretly lent to the older girls one or other of the novels that she carried in the pockets of her apron, and that she herself devoured in the intervals of labour. They were concerned only with affairs of the heart, with lovers and their lasses, with persecuted damsels for ever swooning in solitary pavilions, with outriders meeting a violent death on every journey, and horses foundering on every page, with dark forests and agonies of sentiment, with vows, sobs, tears and kisses, with moonlit gondolas, with groves and nightingales, with cavaliers who were always brave as lions, gentle as lambs, and virtuous as real men never are, always elegantly dressed and given to weeping with the copious fluency of stone fountains.[33] Again, Flaubert the realist presents a tongue in cheek picture of the ‘positive’ images for girls selected by the church, since the old maid of whom the archbishop thinks so highly is potentially dangerous. She also enters into secret negotiations with the girls and bridges the protective gap between the convent and the outside world and fills their heads, as she does her own, with images straight out of Gothic Romance. Flaubert also emphasises that the heroes in these stories are ‘virtuous as real men never are’, which foreshadows Emma’s later tragic romances with men as they actually are. Thus, Flaubert brilliantly involves the reader in a broad sweep of society’s image of women and the external influences which encroach upon them despite the best efforts of enclosure perpetrated by the patriarchal society in which the novel operates. In many ways, Emma’s future self is determined by her childhood as much as is that of Jane. When Emma is eventually ‘in love’ she is betrayed and because of this she is doomed since she has so inveterately been schooled in the expectations of the romantic novel. Through Emma, then, Flaubert is able to develop the theme of a reactive against a genre of which he powerfully disapproved. A further, deeply Freudian, image of women is produced via Charles’ relationship with his mother. This controlling woman has arranged her son’s first marriage, by which she never feels threatened, but is much less secure as ‘her sons favourite’[34] now that he has Emma in his life: Charless love for Emma seemed to her like an act of treachery to her affection, a trespassing on ground which was hers by right.[35] This bizarre connective of displacement, with all its psychoanalytical implications, has resonance later when Emma, uninterested in her daughter, Berthe, for a long time suddenly becomes maternal following rejection by her lover. In this way, Flaubert once again examines the nature of the connective between the images of womanhood commonly represented in contemporary society. In addition, he examines the corrupting influence of the over-bearing mother, who ‘remind[s] him of her pains and sacrifices on his behalf’[36] and Charles is caught in the all too familiar trap, even today, of wanting both to honour his mother and please his wife: Charles did not know how to answer these outbursts. He respected his mother but was deeply in love with his wife. He held the formers judgement to be impeccable, yet found the latter beyond reproach.[37] The extraordinary contemporaneousness of this dilemma emphasises the fact that perhaps Flaubert’s novel holds up better than the more popular Jane Eyre with its outdated mores and Gothic imagery. Perhaps this preference is, in fact, an enduring symbol of a generic resistance to the ‘real’ in the novel and the fact that women remain largely the readers of such fiction as Charlotte’s rather than Flaubert’s is indicative of an inherent, if politically incorrect, desire in the female to seek romance. The women in both of these novels stand against what society expects of them but the very different nature of their stance is represented powerfully by their contrasting endings: Jane Eyre becomes the happy wife whilst Emma Bovary commits suicide. Tracing these endings gives an indicator of society’s perceived apprehensions of a woman’s role and the individual author’s widely different directives. However, there is no simplicity to this as Jane’s resolution is gained only by means of the ‘diminishment’ of Rochester; she has to become his nurse, as she was once his comfort and refuge, before she can become his wife: The caged eagle, whose gold-ringed eyes cruelty has extinguished, might look as looked that sightless Samson. And, reader, do you think I feared him in his blind ferocity?—if you do, you little know me. A soft hope blent with my sorrow that soon I should dare to drop a kiss on that brow of rock, and on those lips so sternly sealed beneath it: but not yet. I would not accost him yet.[38] Rochester is portrayed here as the Byronic hero sufficiently reduced in status as to make it possible that Jane can be his ‘equal’, it is almost as if Brontà « somehow feels that the dynamic presence of Rochester would itself be reduced if he were not in some way diminished in order to marry her. Thus, the novelist’s own perceptions come under scrutiny since there is a clear ambivalence in a woman who seems throughout her semi-autobiographical and intensely personal novel to promote an image of a woman who can stand alone but who subliminally, perhaps, becomes a reductive image in her marriage. Addressing the reader directly, as she does when she famously declares that she married Rochester, Jane suggests that the reader does not, perhaps, ‘know’ her after all. Emma’s suicide is handled much more directly in keeping with the woman Flaubert has sought to reveal, even in death seeming both passionate and beautiful: Emma was lying with her head on her right shoulder. The corner of her open mouth formed, as it were, a black hole in the lower part of her face. Her two thumbs were flexed inwards towards the palms of the hands. There was a powdering of what looked like white dust on her lashes, and her eyes were beginning to disappear in a viscous pallor which gave the impression that spiders had been spinning a delicate web over their surface. The sheet sagged between her breast and her knees, rising, further down, to a peak above her toes. It seemed to Charles as though some great weight, some mass of infinity, were lying upon her.[39] The overwhelming impression here, especially in Charles’ perspective, is that Emma is a woman crushed by her passions and surrendering to guilt, ‘a mass of infinity’, which is perhaps appropriate given the mores of the time. However, Emma is as the reader first saw her, with her mouth parted, albeit here transmuted to the ‘black hole’ which forms the ‘lower part of her face’. Is this then the inversion of her passionate nature or merely the novelist’s naturalistic rendering of a corpse? The delicacy of the description suggests a sympathetic