Hamlet Ophelia Shakespeare

Hamlet Ophelia Shakespeare Hamlet The Bad Shakespeares tragedy of Hamlet is considered to be Shakespeares finest tragedy. Throughout this play Hamlet experiences a variety of emotions however it is the emotions that are portrayed in Act III that define his character. Hamlet is presented in an unfavorable light based on his dealing with Ophelia, his mother and the killing of Polonius. In Act III Hamlets true personality came through and he was portrayed as a heartless person based on his actions with various characters. Hamlets dealing with Ophelia revealed that he was dishonest and was harsh in the way he spoke with her. Ophelia had confronted Hamlet about the letters and gifts that he had given her and he lied saying I never gave you aught (3.4.98). Hamlet later embarrasses her by telling her that he once loved her however he doesnt now. Poor Ophelia is ashamed and says I was the more deceived (3.1.122). Ophelia truly believed that Hamlet had loved her however he is now denying everything, including the letters and gifts that he gave her. Of course the abuse does not stop there. Hamlet tells Ophelia to Get thee to a nunnery (3.1.123) so that she wont breed more sinners and then chastises her for acting like a whore and painting (3.1.143) her face. Hamlet rebukes her saying that God has given you one face and you make yourselves another (3.1.143-144). Ophelia was disheartened that Hamlets noble mind is here oerthrown (3.1.150). Hamlet certainly showed himself to be offensive and harsh and his actions would hurt anyones feelings. Hamlets revenge on women certainly did not stop with Ophelia. The next woman to receive Hamlets wrath is his own mother, Gertrude. Gertrude called Hamlet to her room to try and find out what was wrong with him. However, Hamlet had decided that he was going to be cruel, not unnatural (3.2.370). Hamlet was going to tell his mother what he thought of her and was going to speak daggers to her but use none (3.2.371); he was going to be malicious with his words. Hamlet proceeded to tell Gertrude that because she had married her first husbands brother so quickly the heavens were sick at the act (3.4.52). She had married such a wonderful man and when he died she married Claudius and dropped from such a lofty position. Hamlet told her that she stewed in corruption, honeying and making love (3.4.94). Gertrude was so hurt by this that she begged that he speak No more (3.4.103). Hamlet yelled at her to Confess yourself to heaven. Repent whats past (3.4.151-152). Poor Gertrude could only respond that thou hast cleft my heart in twain (3.4.158); Hamlet had broken her heart. Hamlets tone and actions were so scary and erratic to Gertrude that she asked him if Thou wilt not murder me (3.4.22)? Hamlet is definitely portraying an individual that is heartless and without soul. An individual that has a conscience, self respect or dignity would never resort to terrifying their mother. Hamlets reign of terror ended with him killing Polonius. When Hamlet had scared his mother so much she called out for help and Polonius replied from behind the curtains. Hamlet said How now, a rat (3.4.25) and stabs through the curtain not knowing who was behind it. This would appear to have been an accident however when Hamlet realized that it was Polonius he did not show any remorse. Hamlet was expecting it to be Claudius behind the curtain however when he found out that it was Polonius he said I took thee for thy better (3.4.33; he thought it was someone more important. Hamlet then proceeded to call him a wretched, rash, intruding fool (3.4.32). Hamlet just killed a man and yet shows no grief or remorse over his actions. Instead he simply tells the rat that he got what he deserved. At the end of the scene he drags Polonius out of the room without dignity or care. In conclusion, Hamlet proved to everyone that he is truly a sinful person with no respect for human life or the feelings of others. Hamlet even referred to himself as proud, revengeful, ambitious (3.1.126). Throughout Act III Hamlet lied, berated and killed for his own benefit. These are not the qualities that someone of a positive nature would possess. The dealings that Hamlet had with Ophelia, his mother and the killing of Polonius prove that Hamlet is a negative force to be reckoned with which was clearly determined in Act III.

Examining the Conflict of Good versus Evil in Young Goodman Brown Essay

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story entitled Young Goodman Brown is about a man who takes his journey to the forest to attend a special congregation—without knowing its real purpose in his life. Goodman Brown, the narrative’s protagonist believes that his faith is constant, true, and immovable, but as he takes his journey to the forest, readers realize that the main character’s faith is depthless. He creates evil thoughts throughout his journey, which makes his faith weaker, especially when he encounters the prayerful and vigilant people of his community during his walk. As he steps into the forest to attend the congregation, the evil starts to shake his faith and begins to disrupt his beliefs. The conflict of good versus evil is depicted through Goodman Brown’s unstable mind, inconsistent faith, and distrust to the people around him. This conflict changes Goodman Brown’s idea of trust and faith, as well as his way of life and relationship to others, especially his wife. The conflict of good versus evil emerges through Goodman Brown’s unstable mind, but his wife, Faith, is trying to keep his belief. When Young Goodman Brown is about to leave, his wife said: â€Å"Then God bless you! And may you find all well when you come back† (Hawthorne 190). Goodman Brown’s journey is for the benefit of evil—though he insists that it is for him and Faith, but his wife is trying to restrict him to continue his travel. However, even if Goodman Brown is blessed by his wife in his journey, he is aware of the evil’s existence and its power to hide and seek in the forest. While walking, he said: â€Å"There may be a devilish Indian behind every tree. What if the devil himself should be at my very elbow!† (191). The devilish Indians are symbolisms of evil in this novel—and due to his unstable mind, Goodman Brown is prone to evil thoughts. Even if he has faith and belief in his religion, Goodman Brown cannot stop himself from thinking about negative thoughts because the evil is leading him to the devil’s congregation. Therefore, Goodman Brown’s unstable mind serves as the evil’s instrument to disrupt his faith. Conflict between good and evil exists when Goodman Brown begins his distrust to his community. As he thinks about the devil and his wife, Goodman Brown asked the traveler: â€Å"Friend, my mind is made up. Not another step will I budge on this errand. What if a wretched old woman do choose to go to the devil when I thought she was going to heaven: is that any reason why I should quit my dear Faith and go after her?† (195) As Goodman Brown walks into the forest, he encounters different people taking their journey to the congregation—they are the prayerful and religious ones in the community. As he sees them, he begins to distrust them, which makes him think of going back to his wife. Goodman Brown does not know how to identify the difference between good and evil in the middle of his journey, so when he sees Faith into the congregation, he said: â€Å"My Faith is gone! There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come, devil; for to thee is this world given† (197). Faith is not only the protagonist’s wife, but also a symbolism of his belief in his religion. When he says his Faith is gone, it means that his faith to his community disappears because he believes that these people lives with the devil and not with their God. Goodman Brown fails to trust the people around him and think that they are evil because deep inside him, he is defending himself from being part of the devil. Goodman Brown experiences conflict of good versus evil due to his inconsistent faith. The forest is a symbolism of evil because there is â€Å"no church had ever been gathered or solitary Christian prayed† (196)—and Goodman Brown takes this path as a sign of his union with the devil. Despite of his wife’s disapproval, the protagonist continues his journey, which proves his inconsistent faith to his religion. When he is about to see the congregation and feel the evil spirit within his midst, the protagonist realizes that his faith is gone with him. As he tries to restore his faith, Goodman Brown shouted: â€Å"With heaven above and Faith below, I will yet stand firm against the devil!† (196). The protagonist is trying to use his faith to keep him away from harm, but his soul is offered to the evil. Seeing his community being part of the congregation is a justification of his inconsistent faith because he does not trust anyone around him, even his faith that should only be his source of strength. As he demonstrates his inconsistent faith, his evil attacks his body, mind, and soul. Goodman Brown is a good man, but he fails to bring his faith in his journey to the forest. The conflict of good versus evil emerges when he decides to leave Faith and takes his journey alone. He leaves his faith in his house and thinks that he can overcome any obstacle in his path, but he is unsuccessful because unstable mind, inconsistent faith, and distrust to the people around him become the instrument of evil to own his mind, body, and soul. As a result, Goodman Brown’s mind, body, and soul are eaten by the devil—and no matter how he tries to keep his faith; he cannot restore his belief because the evil lies within his wholeness.

Critical Review of a Paper Investigating the Application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour to Alcohol Consumption During Pregnancy

Introduction The paper to be reviewed is an investigation by Duncan, Forbes-McKay and Henderson (2012) into the application of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB, Ajzen, 1988, 1991) and its effectiveness in predicting intention to carry out health related behaviours. The TPB is a social cognition model, meaning that it seeks to predict intention to carry out a behaviour and to understand why individuals may fail to adhere to a behaviour to which they were once committed. The theory claims that three variables can be used to predict an individual’s behaviour: the individual’s attitude toward the behaviour, the attitude of significant others toward the behaviour and the individual’s perceived control over a behaviour. Perceived control over behaviour is governed by both internal factors such as an individual’s skills or available resources, and external factors such as actual opportunities to carry out the behaviour. Unlike the individual’s attitude toward the b ehaviour and the attitude of others, perceived control over the behaviour is believed to influence both the intention to carry out the behaviour and the behaviour itself. In particular, the authors were investigating whether the TPB could be used to predict intention to consume alcohol during pregnancy. Previous research has found the TPB to be useful for predicting a range of other health related behaviours (Godin and Kok, 1996) and alcohol consumption behaviours in particular (Marcoux & Shope, 1997; McMillan & Conner, 2003). The authors focused on the role of TPB in being able to predict the consumption of alcohol during pregnancy. Drinking during pregnancy is a major health issue. It has been found to influence a number of outcomes for the child including maladaptive behaviours (Sood et al., 2001) and weight at birth (Mariscal et al., 2006). Despite its relation to negative outcomes for the child, up to 54% of women in the UK have claimed to have consumed alcohol during their pre gnancy (Bolling et al., 2007). Study Description 130 women based in the Aberdeenshire area returned a questionnaire that was distributed to them at their 20-week pregnancy scan. Of these, analysis was carried out on 116 women. The questionnaire included questions designed to gather information on demographic details, past and present alcohol consumption, and TPB variables. The TPB variables included measuring the participants’ intention to engage in the behaviour, their attitude toward the behaviour, their beliefs about the subjective norm and their perceived behavioural control. The study found that the majority of participants made changes to their drinking behaviour once they found out that they were pregnant, with these changes taking the form of a reduction in alcohol consumption. 64.7% abstained from alcohol altogether during their pregnancy, 34.5% continued to drink to some level and 0.9% did not answer. Of those women who continued to drink during their pregnancy, 13.4% were drinking above the recommended maximum lev els whereas the rest were drinking one to two units between two and four times per month. It was also found that although most participants received information about drinking during their pregnancy, 12.9% received no information. In relation to the TPB theory, it was found that women who abstained from drinking after finding out they were pregnant had significantly higher scores on the intention scale, suggesting that they had a significantly greater intention to quit alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Abstaining participants also had significantly higher scores on the subjective norm scale, indicating that they felt more pressure from what others thought about drinking during pregnancy. Abstainers were also found to have significantly lower scores on the attitude scale, suggesting a much less positive attitude toward the behaviour of drinking during pregnancy. In contrast,, the scale that measured perceived behaviour control did not show any significant differences between thos e women who abstained and those who continued to drink during their pregnancy. Attitude toward the behaviour and the influence of what others thought of the behaviour were found to be strongly and significantly correlated with intention to carry out the behaviour of abstaining from alcohol during pregnancy. TPB was able to explain 59.3% of variance in intention to drink during pregnancy. Furthermore, the theory was able to correctly classify 91.8% of cases and as a result, was statistically able to distinguish between drinkers and abstainers. The authors concluded that as attitude was found to have the greatest statistically significant contribution to predicting intention and to contribute significantly to predicting actual behaviour, it would be an ideal candidate for intervention focus. As perceived behaviour control was the only TPB component found not to contribute, the authors suggest that the model without this component would be appropriate for predicting intention to consume alcohol during pregnancy. Critical Review The reviewed article addressed an important health issue, namely investigating how drinking alcohol during pregnancy could be reduced by understanding what drives or stops women from having the intention to carry out this behaviour. The finding that attitude toward drinking whilst pregnant has a significant impact on both intention to drink during pregnancy and actual drinking during pregnancy could have wider clinical and educational applications. Nevertheless, the authors are vague in how their findings could be applied in the real world and fail to make useful suggestions based on their data. The finding that some women were not provided with information pertaining to the consumption of alcohol during pregnancy is also an important one because it highlights that some health trusts are failing to help women make informed decisions about this subject. However, it is not touched upon in the discussion. The study’s introduction is a little weak in that it does not make an overly convincing argument as to why their chosen topic is important and worth investigating. It makes only a brief reference to the negative impact that alcohol consumption can have on both mother and baby, and the literature to which it refers is quite outdated. This suggests that a thorough and recent literature review may not have been carried out. Furthermore, the study could present a much stronger argument as to why the TPB may be applicable to this health behaviour in particular. There is some justification in that the authors of the paper chose this particular theory on the premise that a socially-based theory such as TPB could highlight risk factors for the consumption of alcohol during pregnancy that could be more easily influenced than previous risk factors that have been identified such as drinking habits before pregnancy and socioeconomic status (Stewart & Streiner, 1994; Yamamoto et al., 2008) . Risk factors such as these cannot be easily changed. In contrast, risk factors based on attitudes toward a behaviour can be more easily altered through education or government interventions. The discussion does not flow particularly well and the overall conclusions of the study are not entirely clear. An advantage of the TPB is its holistic approach. It attempts to understand the behaviour of an individual in the context of both an individual’s attitude toward a behaviour, their perceived control over that behaviour and how they perceive others to judge the behaviour. However, our intentions to carry out a behaviour or not are the result of an incredibly complex process during which many variables are taken into account. Although the limitations of the study’s methodology are touched upon in the discussion, the authors fail to explore the limitations of the TPB and how these may affect their findings. For example, McKeown (1979) argued that negative health behaviours are determined on the individual level by the choices we make to behave in a certain way. Therefore, the theory may place too much emphasis on the importance of what others think of a behaviour. Indeed, in the current study, individual attitudes toward a behaviour were found to be more influential than subjective norms. One criticism of this study is its potential lack of representativeness, both culturally and geographically. Ethnic minorities made up only 6.9% of the sample, meaning that the results may not be generalisable to ethnic minorities. Furthermore, the sample was collected from only one geographic area, although the authors argue that their findings are in keeping with previous studies that used samples from a much wider geographical area (Anderson et al., 2007; Bolling et al., 2007). There may also have been a bias in the way in which participants were recruited. Women were approached by the researchers whilst awaiting their 20 week antenatal scans in hospital. The scans are designed to screen for any anomalies in the baby and to check that development is normal. These scans are not compulsory, potentially creating a bias in the sample. For example, Alderdice et al. (2007) found that women without qualifications or women from areas of high deprivation were significantly less likely to u ptake an offer of a 20 week screen for Downs Syndrome than women from affluent areas or women with degree-level qualification. This suggests that the women who were approached by the researchers in the current study may have been under-representative of women from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Furthermore, the study does not provide detail on the demographic information of the women who responded to the questionnaire, which would have been useful in evaluating generalisability. The measure used to ascertain TPB variables was developed using guidelines for the development of questionnaires designed to measure TPB behaviours (Francis et al., 2004). However, the measurement used was not a validated questionnaire. Furthermore, the authors do not provide examples of how they measured the three variables of intention, subjective norm and perceived behaviour control. This means that the measure cannot be opened up for scrutiny or re-used in later studies to assess its validity and reliability. Before the main study, a small pilot study was carried out with seven pregnant women to ensure that the questionnaire was easy to understand. Pilot studies are essential for establishing a sound study design (van Teijilngen & Hundley, 2001). Although, it should be noted that the authors did not report the results of any reliability or validity tests. As part of the test battery, the study did use the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, a reliable and valid measure for gathering information on alcohol consumption that was developed by the World Health Organisation (Saunders et al., 1993, Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network, 2004). This measurement has been reported to be superior to other measures designed to collect data on the same subject (Reinert & Allen, 2002). Self-report measures in themselves have a number of limitations. Firstly, they are subject to social desirability bias. Social desirability bias acknowledges that participants may report carrying out behaviours that are socially desirable or may cover up being involved in behaviours that are frowned on. Based on the finding that subjective norms had a significant impact on both intention and behaviour, social desirability bias may have affected the results of this study. If participants were so influenced by what others thought of alcohol consumption during pregnancy, then they may have been likely to cover up occasions on which they did drink during their pregnancy. This means that the number of participants who did drink during pregnancy may have been higher than the study reported. Recommendations for Improvement and Future Research If this study is to be replicated, it could be improved in a number of ways. Firstly, ethnic minorities must be better represented. Great Britain is now a multi-cultural country and research must reflect this. The authors must provide more information or a copy of the questionnaire designed to measure TPB variables so that reliability and validity can be assessed. A useful future study would be to assess the impact of an intervention designed to change the attitude of women who do not perceive drinking alcohol during pregnancy to be an issue. As attitude was found to be the most important factor in intention to carry out this behaviour, the currently reviewed study would be strengthened if an intervention based around attitude was found to change behaviour. References Ajzen, I. (1988). Attitudes, personality, and behavior. Milton Keynes, UK: Open University Press. Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 179-211. Alderdice, F., McNeill, J., Rowe, R., Martin, D. & Dornan, J. (2008). Inequalities in the reported offer and uptake of antenatal screening. Public Health, 122(1), 42-52. Anderson, S., Bradshaw, P., Cunningham-Burley, S., Hayes, F. Jamieson, L., MacGregor, A. et al. (2007). Growing up in Scotland: A study following the lives of Scotland’s children. Edinburgh, Scotland: Scottish Executive. Bolling, K., Grant, C., Hamlyn, B. & Thornton, A. (2007). Infant Feeding Survey, 2005. Leeds, UK: The Information Centre. Duncan, E.M., Forbes-McKay, K.E. & Henderson, S.E. (2012). Alcohol use during pregnancy: An application of the theory of planned behaviour. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 42(8), 1887-1903. Francis, J.J., Eccles, M.P., Johnstone, M., Walker, A., Grimshaw, J., Foy, R. et al. (2004). Constructing questionnaires based on the theory of planned behaviour: A manual for health service researchers. Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK: Centre for Health Services Research. Godin, G. & Kok, G. (1996). The theory of planned behaviour: A review of its applications to health-related behaviors. American Journal of Health Promotion, 11, 87-98. Marcoux, B.C. & Shope, J.T. (1997). Application of the theory of planned behaviour to adolescent use and misuse of alcohol. Health Education Research, 12, 323-331. Mariscal, M., Palma, S., Llorca, J., Perez-Iglesias, R., Pardo-Crespo, R. & Delgado-Rodriguez, M. (2006). Pattern of alcohol consumption during pregnancy and risk for low birth weight. Annals of Epidemiology, 16, 432-438. McKeown, T. (1979). The role of medicine. Dream, mirage or nemesisOxford, UK: Blackwell Publisher Ltd. McMillan, B. & Conner, M. (2003). Using the theory of planned behaviour to understand alcohol and tobacco use in students. Psychology, Health, and Medicine, 8, 317-328. Reinert, D. & Allen, J.P. (2002). The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT): A review of recent research. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 26(2), 272-279. Saunders, J.B., Aasland, O.G., Babor, T.F., de la Fuente, J.R. & Grant, M. (1993). Development of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT): WHO collaborative project on early detection of persons with harmful alcohol consumption. Addiction, 88, 791-804. Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network. (2004). The management of harmful drinking and alcohol dependence in primary care: A national clinical guideline. Edinburgh, Scotland: Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network. Sood, B., Delaney-Black, V., Covington, C., Nordstrom-Klee, B., Ager, J., Templin, T., et al. (2001). Prenatal alcohol exposure and childhood behaviour at age 6 to 7 years: I. Does- response effect. Pediatrics, 108(2), 34-43. Steward, D.E. & Streiner, D. (1994). Alcohol drinking in pregnancy. General Hospital Psychiatry, 16, 406-412. van Teijilngen, E. & Hundley, V. (2001). The importance of pilot studies. Social Research Update, 35, 1-4. Yamamoto, Y., Kanieta, Y., Yokoyama, E., Sone, T., Takemura, S., Suzuki, K. et al. (2008). Alcohol consumption and abstention among pregnant Japanese women. Journal of Epidemiology, 18, 173-182.

Learn the French Word Maudit

The informal French adjective maudit, pronounced moh-dee, is an exclamation that means darned, blasted, or hateful. A more archaic definition is accursed. Examples Oà ¹ sont ces maudites clà ©s?Where are those darned keys?Aprà ¨s ce cours, je ne veux plus voir ce maudit livre.  After this class, I dont want to see this hateful book anymore.