Hamlet’s and Laertes’ Revenge: Which One Seems More Justified Essay

When one does an intentional (or even unintentional) act to the detriment of another, the aggrieved party or his or her loved ones may vow for vengeance against the perpetrator of the act. It has always been the kind of emotion that causes a person to feel hatred, show hostility, and display aggressive behavior, revealing the worst of him or her. Revenge can sometimes be bitter and relentless, but some people also call it sweet and fulfilling at times. Thus, it has been a common theme and concept in literature. The world of literature has been flooded with numerous tales about revenge and its consequences. Although most of these stories are tragic and melodramatic, they have nonetheless created a remarkable impact on the readers’ consciousness about the reality and nature of revenge. Shakespeare has been proven by history itself to be a one-of-a-kind literary artist who was able to launch and create many successful tragic plays about revenge. One of his most popular plays about this emotion is that of the life of Hamlet, the prince of Denmark. In this play, Hamlet found several reasons to kill and to make a lot of people suffer due to the death of his beloved father who was mercilessly murdered. However, in the play, there is another character who had the same reason to of taking revenge — Laertes, whose father was killed by Prince Hamlet himself, and whose sister killed herself because of the sorrow brought by their father’s death. Considering Hamlet’s and Laertes’ vow for vengeance, it can be inferred that although they both share the same reason for being revengeful, only Hamlet’s revenge appears to be justifiable in the sense that he knew the truth behind his father’s death, whereas Laertes was blinded by Claudius’ lies and took revenge upon the wrong person. Hamlet’s Revenge The cause of death of Prince Hamlet’s father was actually unknown to the entire kingdom. After his father’s death, his uncle Claudius married his mother and took over the throne. It was only when the spirit of his father appeared in front of them when the real reason of his death was unfolded. The ghost revealed that it was actually the ambitious Claudius himself, the brother of Hamlet’s father, who killed him in order to put the entire kingdom as well as his wife in his possession. Angered by the ill-fate of his father and the unforgivable, abusive, and unjust actions of his uncle Claudius, Hamlet vowed to take revenge on Claudius in order to give his father’s horrible death its due justice. The knowledge of his father’s murder and of his mother’s betrayal of her wedding vows with Hamlet’s father filled him with so much anger and vengeful spirit, as clearly reflected in the following lines: Oh God! A beast that wants discourse of reason Would have mourn’d longer – married with mine uncle, My father’s brother; but no more like my father Than I to Hercules. Within a month, Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears Had left the flushing in her gallà ¨d eyes. (1.2.150-155) This was the start of his revenge. After this point, he almost went mad with all the thoughts that kept running inside his head. He was torn between morality and his revengeful feeling towards his uncle and those people who betrayed his deceased father. However, if one would look closely and analyze Hamlet’s revenge, although it may look relentless and heartless, it all boils down to the fact that Hamlet realized that his father, whom he loved so much, had been mercilessly killed for selfish reasons. His anger as a son can completely be understandable since readers would be able to understand that a son’s love for his father will always be immeasurable. To think that Hamlet did all he could to be at the least careful of not punishing innocent people, it can be said that he never aimed to do worse things than avenging his father’s death. Laertes’ Revenge Just like the reason behind Hamlet’s aggressive revenge, Laertes also lost two of his love ones. That is why, in a fit of rage, he fearlessly faced Hamlet whom he believed was the sole reason behind the loss of his family. His father, Polonius, was accidentally killed by Hamlet who mistakenly identified him as Claudius, while Opehlia, Laertes’ sister, died by drowning herself into a river due to the unbearable grief caused by his father’s death. Thus, just like Hamlet, Laertes was crushed by the incidents, and he felt the same kind of anger and pain just like what Hamlet felt. However, recalling how Laertes got hostile towards Hamlet, it can be observed that Claudius made him believe that Hamlet was to blame for his father’s and sister’s deaths. Hence, brokenhearted at that time and naturally vulnerable and helpless in that condition, Laertes was easily convinced and moved by Claudius’ words. Thus, he started to feel that overwhelming anger and drive to kill Hamlet regardless of what ways or process he had to go through. The events which occurred next were a series conspiracies and plots that Laertes made in order to bring Hamlet down. He also went to Claudius to seek help and advice as to how to kill his mortal enemy. His mind was then clouded by Claudius’ deceiving words which allowed evil to close Laertes’ heart to anything and made him a relentless and merciless enemy of Hamlet. He also succumbed to the evil plans of Claudius that were designed to kill Hamlet in the surest of ways. Although Hamlet succeeded in killing Laertes first, he was still wounded by the sword covered with poison which immediately cut his breath shortly after Laertes fell to the ground. Thus, it may seem that the driving force behind Laertes’ revenge was the deception of Claudius. Unlike Hamlet, Laertes’ revengeful acts were pushed and encouraged by someone else’s motives and intentions which were that of Claudius. As it appears, while Hamlet decided on taking revenge on the people who brought upon his father’s death, Laertes, who went so weak to deception, was nothing but Claudius’ dummy who did just what the deceitful character wanted, without knowing the truth behind the deaths of his loved ones. Which Revenge Appears More Justified? Upon exploring Hamlet’s and Laertes’ revenge, it appears clearly that both of them felt anguished and pained due to the death of their loved ones. The death of Hamlet’s dear father was so cruel and unjust that he himself felt that he should do what he can to make his father’s murderers pay for the crime that they committed. On the other hand, the reason behind Laertes’ revenge was merely fed by Claudius’s lies who wanted to eradicate Hamlet as his opponent from the kingdom. It clearly implies that Laertes’ revenge was pushed through by deceitful and selfish reasons which covered his eyes from seeing the truth behind his family’s death. With this, it can be safe to say that Hamlet’s revenge is more justified in the sense that he knew the truth that his father has been murdered and therefore, justice must make the murderers pay for their crime, while in Laertes’ case, he had been so weak to deception that his anger and hostile treatment of Hamlet had no real and true basis. The tale which made him so angry had been fabricated by Claudius’ lies which made him fight for the wrong reasons and kill the wrong person. However, in whatever ways revenge is justified by others, it is still unacceptable to me since no one must take justice in his or her own hands. To fulfill their vengeance, Hamlet and Laertes had to hold justice in their hands, but as it appears, a person can easily be deceived; therefore, one’s revenge can always be misled, just like what happened to Laertes. Hamlet’s revenge only appears justifiable as he knew the truth completely. Thus, although Hamlet and Laertes shared similar reasons behind their revenges, only Hamlet’s revenge appears to be justifiable in this context.

Testing the Principle of Proxemics

I went to a Tim Horton set beside a woman. I set in a casual distance of 2. 5 to 3 feet next to her without talking. She looked at me and smile. Without talking I started observing her. She had a quick and careful glance at me, a suspicious look. She seemed scared and not normal. By looking at her face, I felt that probably she takes drugs. Without saying anything, she just walked out. The way she walked out, it seemed like she got scared of me for some reason. Next day I went to the same place and set facing a man who was alone.Without talking to that man I started reading the newspaper (just to show him that I am reading newspaper, actually I was observing him). He looked at me multiple times and was smiling. Seemed like he wanted to start a conversation. The goal of interview is to gather information which typically designed to allow the interviewer to learn about the interviewee in a non-threatening way. On the other side an interrogation is a more aggressive interview, in the se nse that the same ultimate goal is present as with an interview, but the means of reaching that goal take on a slightly different feel.The role of proxemics in meeting these goals are very significant. Increasing the amount of eye contact, the feeling of comfort and the amount of verbal response by the interviewee have been goals of investigators in designing interview situations. There is less eye contact at closer distances and less eye contact when the interview is conducted in a large room. In one study, when the interview was performed at distances between the interviewer and interviewee of 2 feet, 4'/z feet, and 9 feet, the greatest amount of talking by the interviewee occurred at 9 feet.Rapport always affects the quality of the interviewing process. It is a productive interpersonal climate. By building report both parties in an interview get along with each other which makes the interview more successful. An interviewee is more likely to cooperate with someone with whom they feel comfortable and to bring this comfort rapport is an essential thing. Rapport-building establishes harmony in the interview, leads to free discussion and creates willingness in the mind of the interviewee.Some forms of non-verbal communications for developing rapport are given bellow: 1. Smile 2. Eye contract. 3. Good Posture. 4. Tone of Voice Good eye contact and confidence are the personal qualities of the interviewer that enable him or her to conduct successful interrogations. Also an interviewer should be able to listen what the interviewee is saying, and know how to engage them in an active conversation with encouragement, energy, and interest.

Business environment report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Business environment report - Essay Example The oil and gas industry, established after the discovery oil pits near early civilisations and subsequent utilisation of the liquid, is characterised by numerous petroleum products that are because of purification processes accorded the crude oil. Petroleum is a crucial element to the economy with numerous applications across all industries, and it is, therefore, critical to maintain the supply to drive the global economy. Apart from driving the global economy, the industry provides employment chances to many workers around the world. BP plc is a major player in the oil and gas industry and is ranked fifth by market capitalisation as well as revenues. Owing to the significance of this company in the society, it is serves as a prime subject of evaluation based on performance in view various environmental factors. While focusing on environmental scanning, this paper seeks to explore the political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors that influence BP†™s performance. However, this paper overlooks the physical infrastructure and corporate organisation with regard to governance since these are internal aspects influenced by the institution’s service mandate. ... Governments exercise their regulatory powers in the oil and gas industry through trading policies that seek are geared to ensure sustainability of the much-depended commodity. The recent oil spill at the Gulf of Mexico involving BP asserts the role of political organs in organisations. Following this incidence, President Obama visited the site and offered to increase the work force in efforts to clean up the spill while calling for stronger oversight to avoid such incidences. Evidently, BP has been under enormous scrutiny following the incidence that caused rifts among entities calling for harsh penalties against the company and those assisting in the clean-up exercise (Kapucu 2011, p.23). It lies within the government’s responsibility to ensure that environmental accidents are avoided or responded to promptly. Similarly, the oil industry is often subject to political stability where prices fluctuate owing to harsh economic environments created. Political instability and tensi on affects the cost of production by encouraging hoarding, which creates artificial crisis in the sector. Moreover, diplomatic relations play a critical role in fostering international trade and expansion of multinational corporations. BP is placed in a unique platform that is supported by favourable political structures, which encourage foreign investment and understand the benefits realised by the endeavour. With its headquarters in the United Kingdom, compliance to the European Union’s regulation policies with regard to fuel components is key to BP’s operations. Economic Notably, prevailing economic factors play a major role in influencing the national and international economy. For this reason, it is

Lucretia of Rembrandt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Lucretia of Rembrandt - Essay Example This second version, painted in 1666, portrays Lucretia moments after she had plunged the knife into her heart. What follows is a discussion of the composition and technique used in Rembrandt's 1666 Lucretia. It includes such factors as placing, pose and expression of the figure, the use of colour, tonal range, and lighting effects. Finally, it ends with Rembrandt's treatment of the female virtue. Placing. In the world of art, the technique of tenebrism is used in this painting. Tenebrism refers to a stark contrast of dark and light shades within a painting such as utilized in Lucretia. Rembrandt places Lucretia in the foreground of the painting and sets her against a dark background. Lucretia then appears jumping out or moving into the viewer's space. As such Rembrandt involves the viewer, which helps convey the dramatic and emotionally wrenching scene. Pose and expression of the figure. Rembrandt's excellent attention to detail allows the viewer to observe the intricate designs on Lucretia. The model is dressed in a decorative, highly stylized dress indicating enormous wealth. The head of Lucretia is bent to one side and lowered a little as though in shame and in anguish. At the left portion of her white robe is a long streak of dripped blood. The white robe appears slashed beyond comfortable length in the middle of her bosom, indicating unwelcome hands. On the weighty left hand of Lucretia, she holds a string hanging from higher space as though just by a slight pull she would be lifted up in deathly space. Round her neck is the ready loop of the noose. On her right hand is a dagger pointed to herself, ready to harm. From just the sight of blood stains, however, she might as well have already cut herself to death and is slowly dying. There is an expressed effort to die by all means in Lucretia. Meanwhile, the face is that of loneliness and resignation from life. She appears to have cried so much in her despair. Use of colour. There is a fantastic element of colour coordination throughout this painting of Rembrandt. The colour of the rope, her fluffy white silk cuffs, her silky blouse, and her golden jewellery shows continuity of colour. Tonal range. Tone is important to painting, perhaps even more than color. Tone is how light or dark a color is, rather than what the actual color is. Implementing tone in a painting is often bothersome to artists because people get distracted by the strong appeal of color. The master of color, Henri Matisse, said (in his A Painter's Notes, 1908): "When I have found the relationship of all the tones, the result must be a living harmony of all the tones, a harmony not unlike that of a musical composition." In other words, if a painting is going to be successful, the artist must get his tones right, otherwise it's just going to be visual noise. In Lucretia, Rembrandt had no problem about tonal range. Every element went in harmony with each other. Lighting effects. There are tricky details with lighting effects such as the falling cushion and pearls, caught symbolically in Lucretia's shift. Movement is downward as though expressing some undressing not by the subject but by an outside force that is not welcome. The cushion is

Restorative Justice Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Restorative Justice - Assignment Example ative justice works as a crime prevention tool because any crime cannot be observed out of social context and community justice has a constructive influence on the offender. According to Dignan (2005), restorative justice as an effective tool of crime prevention allows to ‘govern the future’, instead of only thinking about mistakes of the past. The benefits of Restorative Justice to the Community are the following: restorative justice allows the Community to be involved into the process of justice, defining crime not only as lawbreaking, but also as harming to different kinds of victims; restorative justice involves different parties into the process and the problem of crime become not only the problem of the government, but also the problem of the community; restorative justice defines success differently and it allows to understand and satisfy victims’ needs end offenders’ responsibilities in a full degree. Thinking about the benefits of restorative justice to the Offender it becomes understandable that offenders returning to the community after the term of their punishment have a possibility to be successfully reintegrated to their communities and families, and continue normal life, instead of being out of the community for the whole

Discuss the history (literature), art, sculpture, architecture, other Essay

Discuss the history (literature), art, sculpture, architecture, other archaeological nds, inscriptions, coins, and so forth abou ROMAN VILLAS - Essay Example o sectors in the Britain, those who were known as the well-off only had to occupy the villas and the poor who were the majority occupied the Celtic houses. The villas have paints on the tops which were different and the changing artistic styles. The walls were not or never plastered, this different information in the artist’s works was mostly borrowed from the Greeks art. The arts found in the Romans are presumed to be borrowed from the Greek hence most of the art work of the Roman villas and the Greek villas are same and closely related (Elaine K. Gazda). The presences of the Romans villas in other provinces show Romanization and the acceptance of the architectural forms and practices by the local elite. The proliferation of the villas in the Italy is a drastic transformation of the economy, it is regarded as capitalism in the empire and it was a clear indication of division in the social class. The villas are considered in two forms; the social and the economic way in which the intensity of change between different empires are considered (Grant). The roman art is considered in two ways; the public work and the private work. The public work is more pronounce than the private because as it’s per the public monument will always continue to provide a chronological armature in the field of the roman art with abroad view of the history. The public work of the roman art is more commemorate major historical events, religious rites and imperial policies through public monuments which express the collective ideas and achievements of the roman people. For the work of the private sphere it is upon them to turn forms and images that express the personal belief, taste and self-perceptions of the Romans. This art work helps to know the place and the position of individuals (Kemp). The private work art poses certain problem in that the scant documentation is available to student of art but the student is outside the purview of the official Rome. Also the meaning of the

Activities to enhance learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Activities to enhance learning - Essay Example Technology can be used to enhance learning and education. Traditional classrooms are increasingly being replaced by virtual classrooms in the globalized education system. Some of the systems that can be used in the promotion of online learning include the use of the audience response systems and clickers. At the same time, advanced institutions are using simulation in the laboratories to prepare the students from the professional market experiences. Distance learning happens when the learner is separated from the teacher geographically and time-wise. According to instructional technology, distance learning is the process of extending resource sharing opportunities to other classrooms through the use of video and multimedia communications. This essay aims at having a creative look into the online activities that enhance student learning, assessment and engagement through critical thinking. These analytical suggestions can greatly improve the learning outcomes of the N534 course. The I nternet is one of the most important media when it comes to online learning environment and technology. Online learning especially in nursing is known to reduce time and space barriers in the process of learning. Online learning can be entirely electronic or a hybrid of learning environments. Hybrid learning tends to combine virtual learning strategies with face-to-face learning. The Internet is known to have introduced the concept of pluralisation of place. This means that persons and participate in multiple environments using a virtual atmosphere. In the case of online learning, the instructor is responsible for moderating and mentoring students. However, the students are expected to have a strong self-drive. The e-learning atmosphere is known to provide a platform for students’ discussions across the continents (Allen, 2007). Students in a nursing class can access online resources, share important documents through online applications and submit examination in the online c lassroom (Bonk & Zhang, 2008). Technology has allowed online students to interact with faculties and mentors. In the online learning environment, materials are presented through videotaping, audio taping, and links to websites. There are interactive websites designed to host online learning environments (Bonk & Zhang, 2008). In the case of learning environments, the interaction can be real-time, which is also known as synchronous, or asynchronous. Synchronous online interactions entail the use of chat room in the process of teaching (Allen, 2007). This involves typing. Asynchronous communication means leaving messages that others can read in their convenience (Shea-Schultz & Fogarty, 2002). In the online learning strategy, the entire programs and group courses are offered online. Online learners can attend virtual universities like California Virtual University. There are unique materials that serve as a means of promoting online learning and teaching. Successful learning must be as sessed on a regular basis. The method of learning has a great impact in the process of learning (Bonk & Zhang, 2008). The entire process and assessment of learning require substantial institutional and financial investment. Institutions must invest in faculty development, infrastructure, and equipment. Technology aided teaching strategies dramatically affect the way teaching and learning occurs. This challenges the traditional relationship between academic institutions and students. Students must be encouraged to participate in the learning process. This entails inviting them to speak in the classroom (Shea-Schultz & Fogarty, 2002). This learning strategy can have a profound effect if the teacher creates a safe environment for the students to learn. The teacher is expected to summarize discussion from time to time. This helps in highlighting key points and allows students to follow on the discussion (Allen, 2007). Th

Kingdoms of Life Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Kingdoms of Life - Assignment Example Life cycle of malaria parasite consists of two hosts. In the process of blood meal, female Anopheles mosquito that is malaria-infected injects sporozoites into its host (human) (stage 1). Inoculated sporozoites then infect cells of the liver (stage 2) and develop into schizonts (stage 3), which finally burst and discharge merozoites (stage 4). Merozoites are responsible for infections in red blood cells. RhizopusThe life cycle of Rhizopus nigricans (black bread mold) is identical with several members of phylum Zygomycota. Mold experiences both frequent periods of sexual and asexual reproduction. Gametangia combine (fuse) in the first reproduction stage (sexual). The results from these fusions are Zygosporangium, which then forms a dense coat awaiting favorable conditions to proceed further with development. Favorable conditions will give way for germination of zygosporangium into sporangium. Finally, asexual reproduction follows. In asexual reproduction, sporangium produces spores, w hich are ultimately dispersed. FernFerns have sporangia that are responsible for production of spores (stage 1). Through meiosis, spores, signified by half the chromosomes of parent plant, are produced (stage 2). Produced spores are then released to the air. In case they land on soil with suitable growing conditions, they develop into gametophytes (which are entirely separate fern plants). FrogThe life cycle begins with mating process-commonly referred to as amplexus (stage 1). The process can last a number of days.

The Destruction of the Indies and the Middle Passage Essay Example for Free

The Destruction of the Indies and the Middle Passage Essay Bartolomà © de las Casas was one of the first proponents of Indian rights in the New World. A priest and historian of his day, responsible for preserving Christopher Columbuss journals, de las Casas also wrote works such as The Devastation of the Indies and Apologetic History of the Indies. Labeled a heretic and traitor, de las Casas documented the war on the Indians by the Spaniards and argued the Indians cause, at great personal risk, before the Spanish court. The following account gives a sympathetic description of the natives, outlines the Spanish lust for gold, and details a nearly unbelievable torture of several Indians. SOURCE: From The Devastation of the Indies by Bartolomà © de las Casas. English Translation Copyright  © 1974 by The Crossroad Publishing Company. Reprinted by permission of The Crossroad Publishing Company. And of all the infinite universe of humanity, these people are the most guileless, the most devoid of wickedness and duplicity, the most obedient and faithful to their native masters and to the Spanish Christians whom they serve. They are by nature the most humble, patient, and peaceable, holding no grudges, free from embroilments, neither excitable nor quarrelsome. These people are the most devoid of rancors, hatreds, or desire for vengeance of any people in the world. And because they are so weak and complaisant, they are less able to endure heavy labor and soon die of no matter what malady. The sons of nobles among us, brought up in the enjoyments of lifes refinements, are no more delicate than are these Indians, even those among them who are of the lowest rank of laborers. They are also poor people, for they not only possess little but have no desire to possess worldly goods. For this reason they are not arrogant, embittered, or greedy. Their repasts are such that the food of the holy fathers in the desert can scarcely be more parsimonious, scanty, and poor. As to their dress, they are generally naked, with only their pudenda covered somewhat. And when they cover their shoulders it is with a square cloth no more than two varas in size. They have no beds, but sleep on a kind of matting or else in a kind of suspended net called hamacas. They are very clean in their persons, with alert, intelligent minds, docile and open to doctrine, very apt to receive our holy  Catholic faith, to be endowed with virtuous customs, and to behave in a godly fashion. And once they begin to hear the tidings of the Faith, they are so insistent on knowing more and on taking the sacraments of the Church and on observing the divine cult that, truly, the missionaries who are here need to be endowed by God with great patience in order to cope with such eagerness. Some of the secular Spaniards who have been here for many years say that the goodness of the Indians is undeniable and that if this gifted people could be brought to know the one true God they would be the most fortunate people in the world. The common ways mainly employed by the Spaniards who call themselves Christian and who have gone there to extirpate those pitiful nations and wipe them off the earth is by unjustly waging cruel and bloody wars. Then, when they have slain all those who fought for their lives or to escape the tortures they would have to endure, that is to say, when they have slain all the native rulers and young men (since the Spaniards usually spare only the women and children, who are subjected to the hardest and bitterest servitude ever suffered by man or beast), they enslave any survivors. With these infernal methods of tyranny they debase and weaken countless numbers of those pitiful Indian nations. Their reason for killing and destroying such an infinite number of souls is that the Christians have an ultimate aim, which is to acquire gold, and to swell themselves with riches in a very brief time and thus rise to a high estate disproportionate to their merits. It should be kept in mind that their insatiable greed and ambition, the greatest ever seen in the world, is the cause of their villainies. And also, those lands are so rich and felicitous, the native peoples so meek and patient, so easy to subject, that our Spaniards have no more consideration for them than beasts. And I say this from my own knowledge of the acts I witnessed. But I should not say than beasts for, thanks be to God, they have treated beasts with some respect; I should say instead like excrement on the public squares. I once saw this, when there were four or five Indian nobles lashed on grids and burning; I seem even to recall that there were two or three pairs of gri ds where others were burning, and because they uttered such loud screams that they disturbed the Spanish captains sleep, he ordered them to be strangled. And the constable,  who was worse than an executioner, did not want to obey that order (and I know the name of that constable and know his relatives in Seville), but instead put a stick over the victims tongues, so they could not make a sound, and he stirred up the fire, but not too much, so that they roasted slowly, as he liked. I saw all these things I have described, and countless others. And because all the people who could do so fled to the mountains to escape these inhuman, ruthless, and ferocious acts, the Spanish captains, enemies of the human race, pursued them with the fierce dogs they kept which attacked the Indians, tearing them to pieces and devouring them. And because on few and far between occasions, the Indians justifiably killed some Christians, the Spaniards made a rule among themselves that for every Christian slain by the Indians, they would slay a hundred Indians. Among the noteworthy outrages they committed was the one they perpetrated against a cacique, a very important noble, by name Hatuey, who had come to Cuba from Hispaniola with many of his people, to flee the calamities and inhuman acts of the Christians. When he was told by certain Indians that the Christians were now coming to Cuba, he assembled as many of his followers as he could and said this to them: Now you must know that they are saying the Christians are coming here, and you know by experience how they put So and So and So and So, and other nobles to an end. And now they are coming from Haiti (which is Hispaniola) to do the same here. Do you know why they do this? The Indians replied: We do not know. But it may be that they are by nature wicked and cruel. And he told them: No, they do not act only because of that, but because they have a God they greatly worship and they want us to worship that God, and that is why they struggle with us and subject us and kill us. He had a basket full of gold and jewels and he said: You see their God here, the God of the Christians. If you agree to it, let us dance for this God, who knows, it may please the God of the Christians and then they will do us no harm. And his followers said, all together, Yes, that is good, that is good! And they danced round the basket of gold until they fell down exhausted. Then their chief, the cacique Hatuey, said to them: See here, if we keep this basket of gold they will take it from us and will end up by killing us. So let us cast away the basket into the river. They all agreed to do this, and they flung the basket of gold into the river that was nearby. This cacique, Hatuey, was constantly fleeing before the Christians from the time they arrived on the island of Cuba, since he knew them and of what they were capable. Now and then they encountered him and he defended himself, but they finally killed him. And they did this for the sole reason that he had fled from those cruel and wicked Christians and had defended himself against them. And when they had captured him and as many of his followers as they could, they burned them all at the stake. When tied to the stake, the cacique Hatuey was told by a Franciscan friar who was present, an artless rascal, something about the God of the Christians and of the articles of the Faith. And he was told what he could do in the brief time that remained to him, in order to be saved and go to Heaven. The cacique, who had never heard any of this before, and was told he would go to Inferno where if he did not adopt the Christian Faith, he would suffer eternal torment, asked the Franciscan friar if Christians all went to Heaven. When told that they did he said he would prefer to go to Hell. Such is the fame and honor that God and our Faith have earned through the Christians who have gone out to the Indies. The Middle Passage, from Olaudah Equianos Interesting Narrative This account of the middle passage comes from one of the first writings by an ex-slave and the originator of the slave narrative. Equiano was born in Nigeria and was kidnapped into slavery at the age of eleven. After a time in the West Indies, he was sold to a Virginia planter before becoming the slave of a merchant. Years later he was able to buy his freedom and at the age of 44, he wrote The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, The African. Written by Himself. Equiano became an abolitionist and made the expedition to settle the colony of ex-slaves at Sierra Leone. . . . The first object which saluted my eyes when I arrived on the coast was the sea, and a slave ship, which was then riding at anchor, and waiting for its cargo. These filled me with astonishment, which was soon converted into terror when I was carried on board. I was immediately handled and tossed up  to see if I were sound by some of the crew; and I was now persuaded that I had gotten into a world of bad spirits, and that they were going to kill me. Their complexions too differing so much from ours, their long hair, and the language they spoke, (which was very different from any I had ever heard) united to confirm me in this belief. Indeed such were the horrors of my views and fears at the moment, that, if ten thousand worlds had been my own, I would have freely parted with them all to have exchanged my condition with that of the meanest slave in my own country. When I looked round the ship too and saw a large furnace of copper boiling, and a multitude of black people of every description chained together, every one of their countenances expressing dejection and sorrow, I no longer doubted of my fate; and, quite overpowered with horror and anguish, I fell motionless on the deck and fainted. When I recovered a little I found some black people about me, who I believe were some of those who brought me on board, and had been receiving their pay; they talked to me in order to cheer me, but all in vain. I asked them if we were not to be eaten by those white men with horrible looks,  red faces, and loose hair. They told me I was not; and one of the crew brought me a small portion of spirituous liquor in a wine glass; but, being afraid of him, I would not take it out of his hand. One of the blacks therefore took it from him and gave it to me, and I took a little down my palate, which, instead of reviving me, as they thought it would, threw me into the greatest consternation at the strange feeling it produced, having never tasted any such liquor before. Soon after this the blacks who brought me on board went off, and left me abandoned to despair. I now saw myself deprived of all chance of returning to my native country or even the least glimpse of hope of gaining the shore, which I now considered as friendly; and I even wished for my former slavery in preference to my present situation, which was filled with horrors of every kind, still heightened by my ignorance of what I was to undergo. I was not long suffered to indulge my grief; I was soon put down under the decks, and there I received such a salutation in my nostrils as I had never experienced in my life: so that, with the loathsomeness of the stench, and crying together, I became so sick and low that I was not able to eat, nor had I the least desire to taste  anything. I now wished for the last friend, death, to relieve me; but soon, to my grief, two of the white men offered me eatables; and, on my refusing to eat, one of them held me fast by the hands, and laid me across I think the windlass, and tied my feet, while the other flogged me severely. I had never experienced anything of this kind before; and although, not being used to the water, I naturally feared that element the first time I saw it, yet nevertheless, could I have got over the nettings, I would have jumped over the side, but I could not; and, besides, the crew used to watch us very closely who were not chained down to the decks, lest we should l eap into the water: and I have seen some of these poor African prisoners most severely cut for attempting to do so, and hourly whipped for not eating. This indeed was often the case with myself. In a little time after, amongst the poor chained men, I found some of my own nation, which in a small degree gave ease to my mind. I inquired of these what was to be done with us; they gave me to understand we were to be carried to these white peoples country to work for them. I then was a little revived, and thought, if it were no worse than working, my situation was not so desperate: but still I feared I should be put to death, the white people looked and acted, as I thought, in so savage a manner; for I had never seen among any people such instances of brutal cruellty; and this not only shewn towards us blacks, but also to some of the whites themselves. One white man in particular I saw when we were permitted to be on deck, flogged so unmercifully with a large rope near the foremast, that he died in consequence of it; and they tossed him over the side as they would have done a brute. This made me fear these people the more; and I expected nothing less than to be treated in the same manner. I could not help expressing my fears and apprehensions to some of my countrymen: I asked them if these people had no country, but lived in this hollow place (the ship): they told me they did not, but came from a distant one. Then, said I, how comes it in all our country we never heard of them? They told me because they lived so very far off. I then asked where were their women? had they any like themselves? and why, said I, do we not see them? they answered, because they were left behind. . . . The stench of the hold while we were on the coast was so intolerably loathsome, that it was dangerous to remain there for any time, and some of us had been permitted to stay on the deck for the fresh air; but now that the whole  ships cargo were confined together, it became absolutely pestilential. The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost  suffocated us. This produced copious perspirations, so that the air soon became unfit for respiration, from a variety of loathsome smells, and brought on a sickness among the slaves, of which many died, thus falling victims to the improvident avarice, as I may call it, of their purchasers. This wretched situation was again aggravated by the galling of the chains, now become insupportable; and the filth of the necessary tubs, into which the children often fell, and were almost suffocated. The shrieks of the women, and the groans of the dying, rendered the whole a scene of horror almost inconceivable. Happily perhaps for myself I was soon reduced so low here that it was thought necessary to keep me almost always on deck; and from my extreme youth I was not put in fetters. In this situation I expected every hour to share the fate of my companions, some of whom were almost daily brought upon deck at the point of death, which I began to hope would soon put an end to my miseries. Often did I think many of the inhabitants of the deep much more happy than myself. I envied them the freedom they enjoyed, and as often wished I could change my condition for theirs. Every circumstance I met with served only to render my state more painful, and heighten my apprehensions, and my opin ion of the cruelty of the whites. One day they had taken a number of fishes; and when they had killed and satisfied themselves with as many as they thought fit, to our astonishment who were on the deck, rather than give any of them to us to eat as we expected, they tossed the remaining fish into the sea again, although we begged and prayed for some as well as we could, but in vain; and some of my countrymen, being pressed by hunger, took an opportunity, when they thought no one saw them, of trying to get a little privately; but they were discovered, and the attempt procured them some very severe floggings. . . . . . . I and some few more slaves, that were not saleable amongst the rest, from very much fretting, were shipped off in a sloop for North America. . . . While I was in this plantation [in Virginia] the gentleman, to whom I suppose the estate belonged, being unwell, I was one day sent for to his  dwelling house to fan him; when I came into the room where he was I was very much affrighted at some things I saw, and the more so as I had seen a black woman slave as I came through the house, who was cooking the dinner, and the poor creature was cruelly loaded with various kinds of iron machines; she had one particularly on her head, which locked her mouth so fast that she could scarcely speak; and could not eat nor drink. I was much astonished and shocked at this contrivance, which I afterwards learned was called the iron muzzle . . .

Human Rights Violations Essay Example for Free

Human Rights Violations Essay Human rights are commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being.[1] Human rights are thus conceived as universal (applicable everywhere) and egalitarian (the same for everyone). These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national and international law. The doctrine of human rights in international practice, within international law, global and regional institutions, in the policies of states and in the activities of non-governmental organizations, has been a cornerstone of public policy around the world. The idea of human rights states, if the public discourse of peacetime global society can be said to have a common moral language, it is that of human rights. Despite this, the strong claims made by the doctrine of human rights continue to provoke considerable skepticism and debates about the content, nature and justifications of human rights to this day. Indeed, the question of what is meant by a right is itself controversial and the subject of continued philosophical debate. Many of the basic ideas that animated the human rights movement developed in the aftermath of the Second World War and the atrocities of The Holocaust, culminating in the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Paris by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. The ancient world did not possess the concept of universal human rights. Ancient societies had elaborate systems of duties conceptions of justice, political legitimacy, and human flourishing that sought to realize human dignity, flourishing, or well-being entirely independent of human rights. The modern concept of human rights developed during the early Modern period, alongside the European secularization of Judeo-Christian ethics. The true forerunner of human rights discourse was the concept of natural rights which appeared as part of the medieval Natural law tradition that became prominent during the Enlightenment with such philosophers as John Locke, Francis Hutcheson, and Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui, and featured prominently in the political discourse of the American Revolution and the French Revolution. From this foundation, the modern human rights arguments emerged over the latter half of the twentieth century. Gelling as social activism and political rhetoric in many nations put it high on the world agenda. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. History of concept The modern sense of human rights can be traced to Renaissance Europe and the Protestant Reformation, alongside the disappearance of the feudal authoritarianism and religious conservativism that dominated the Middle Ages. Human rights were defined as a result of European scholars attempting to form a secularized version of Judeo-Christian ethics. Although ideas of rights and liberty have existed in some form for much of human history, they do not resemble the modern conception of human rights. According to Jack Donnelly, in the ancient world, traditional societies typically have had elaborate systems of duties conceptions of justice, political legitimacy, and human flourishing that sought to realize human dignity, flourishing, or well-being entirely independent of human rights. These institutions and practices are alternative to, rather than different formulations of, human rights. The most commonly held view is that concept of human rights evolved in the West, and that while earlier cultures had important ethical concepts, they generally lacked a concept of human rights. For example, McIntyre argues there is no word for right in any language before 1400. Medieval charters of liberty such as the English Magna Carta were not charters of human rights, rather they were the foundation and constituted a form of limited political and legal agreement to address specific political circumstances, in the case of Magna Carta later being recognised in the course of early modern debates about rights. One of the oldest records of human rights is the statute of Kalisz (1264), giving privileges to the Jewish minority in the Kingdom of Poland such as protection from discrimination and hate speech. The basis of most modern legal interpretations of human rights can be traced back to recent European history. The Twelve Articles (1525) are considered to be the first record of human rights in Europe. They were part of the peasants demands raised towards the Swabian League in the German Peasants War in Germany. The earliest conceptualization of human rights is credited to ideas about natural rights emanating from natural law. In particular, the issue of universal rights was introduced by the examination of the rights of indigenous peoples by Spanish clerics, such as Francisco de Vitoria and Bartolomà © de Las Casas. In the Valladolid debate, Juan Ginà ©s de Sepà ºlveda, who maintained an Aristotelian view of humanity as divided into classes of different worth, argued with Las Casas, who argued in favor of equal rights to freedom of slavery for all humans regardless of race or religion. In Britain in 1683, the English Bill of Rights (or An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown) and the Scottish Claim of Right each made illegal a range of oppressive governmental actions. Two major revolutions occurred during the 18th century, in the United States (1776) and in France (1789), leading to the adoption of the United States Declaration of Independence and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen respectively, both of which established certain legal rights. Additionally, the Virginia Declaration of Rights of 1776 encoded into law a number of fundamental civil rights and civil freedoms. Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen approved by the National Assembly of France, August 26, 1789. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. —United States Declaration of Independence, 1776 These were followed by developments in philosophy of human rights by philosophers such as Thomas Paine, John Stuart Mill and G.W.F. Hegel during the 18th and 19th centuries. The term human rights probably came into use some time between Paines The Rights of Man and William Lloyd Garrisons 1831 writings in The Liberator, in which he stated that he was trying to enlist his readers in the great cause of human rights. In the 19th century, human rights became a central concern over the issue of slavery. A number of reformers, such as William Wilberforce in Britain, worked towards the abolition of slavery. This was achieved in the British Empire by the Slave Trade Act 1807 and the Slavery Abolition Act 1833. In the United States, all the northern states had abolished the institution of slavery between 1777 and 1804, although southern states clung tightly to the peculiar institution. Conflict and debates over the expansion of slavery to new territories constituted one of the reasons for the southern states secession and the American Civil War. During the reconstruction period immediately following the war, several amendments to the United States Constitution were made. These included the 13th amendment, banning slavery, the 14th amendment, assuring full citizenship and civil rights to all people born in the United States, and the 15th amendment, guaranteeing African Americans the right to vote. Many groups and movements have achieved profound social changes over the course of the 20th century in the name of human rights. In Europe and North America, labour unions brought about laws granting workers the right to strike, establishing minimum work conditions and forbidding or regulating child labor. The womens rights movement succeeded in gaining for many women the right to vote. National liberation movements in many countries succeeded in driving out colonial powers. One of the most influential was Mahatma Gandhis movement to free his native India from British rule. Movements by long-oppressed racial and religious minorities succeeded in many parts of the world, among them the African American Civil Rights Movement, and more recent diverse identity politics movements, on behalf of women and minorities in the United States. The establishment of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the 1864 Lieber Code and the first of the Geneva Conventions in 1864 laid the foundations of International humanitarian law, to be further developed following the two World Wars. The World Wars, and the huge losses of life and gross abuses of human rights that took place during them, were a driving force behind the development of modern human rights instruments. The League of Nations was established in 1919 at the negotiations over the Treaty of Versailles following the end of World War I. The Leagues goals included disarmament, preventing war through collective security, settling disputes between countries through negotiation and diplomacy, and improving global welfare. Enshrined in its charter was a mandate to promote many of the rights later included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. At the 1945 Yalta Conference, the Allied Powers agreed to create a new body to supplant the Leagues role; this was to be the United Nations. The United Nations has played an important role in international human-rights law since its creation. Following the World Wars, the United Nations and its members developed much of the discourse and the bodies of law that now make up international humanitarian law and international human rights law. Philosophy The philosophy of human rights attempts to examine the underlying basis of the concept of human rights and critically looks at its content and justification. Several theoretical approaches have been advanced to explain how and why human rights have become a part of social expectations. One of the oldest Western philosophies of human rights is that they are a product of a natural law, stemming from different philosophical or religious grounds. Other theories hold that human rights codify moral behavior which is a human social product developed by a process of biological and social evolution (associated with Hume). Human rights are also described as a sociological pattern of rule setting (as in the sociological theory of law and the work of Weber). These approaches include the notion that individuals in a society accept rules from legitimate authority in exchange for security and economic advantage (as in Rawls) – a social contract. The two theories that dominate contemporary human rights discussion are the interest theory and the will theory. Interest theory argues that the principal function of human rights is to protect and promote certain essential human interests, while will theory attempts to establish the validity of human rights based on the unique human capacity for freedom. Non-governmental Organizations International non-governmental human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International Service for Human Rights and FIDH monitor what they see as human rights issues around the world and promote their views on the subject. Human rights organizations have been said to translate complex international issues into activities to be undertaken by concerned citizens in their own community Human rights organizations frequently engage in lobbying and advocacy in an effort to convince the United Nations, supranational bodies and national governments to adopt their policies on human rights. Many human-rights organizations have observer status at the various UN bodies tasked with protecting human rights. A new (in 2009) nongovernmental human-rights conference is the Oslo Freedom Forum, a gathering described by The Economist as on its way to becoming a human-rights equivalent of the Davos economic forum. The same article noted that human-rights advocates are more and more divided amongst themselves over how violations of human rights are to be defined, notably as regards the Middle East. There is criticism of human-rights organisations who use their status but allegedly move away from their stated goals. For example, Gerald M. Steinberg, an Israel-based academic, maintains that NGOs take advantage of a halo effect and are given the status of impartial moral watchdogs by governments and the media. Such critics claim that this may be seen at various governmental levels, including when human-rights groups testify before investigation committees. Human rights defenders Main article: Human rights defender A human rights defender is someone who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. Human rights defenders are those men and women who act peacefully for the promotion and protection of those rights. Corporations Multinational companies play an increasingly large role in the world, and have been responsible for numerous human rights abuses. Although the legal and moral environment surrounding the actions of governments is reasonably well developed, that surrounding multinational companies is both controversial and ill-defined.[citation needed] Multinational companies primary responsibility is to their shareholders, not to those affected by their actions. Such companies may be larger than the economies of some of the states within which they operate, and can wield significant economic and political power. No international treaties exist to specifically cover the behavior of companies with regard to human rights, and national legislation is very variable. Jean Ziegler, Special Rapporteur of the UN Commission on Human Rights on the right to food stated in a report in 2003: [T]he growing power of transnational corporations and their extension of power through privatization, deregulation and the rolling back of the State also mean that it is now time to develop binding legal norms that hold corporations to human rights standards and circumscribe potential abuses of their position of power. —Jean Ziegler In August 2003 the Human Rights Commissions Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights produced draft Norms on the responsibilities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises with regard to human rights. These were considered by the Human Rights Commission in 2004, but have no binding status on corporations and are not monitored. Human rights violations Human rights violations occur when actions by state (or non-state) actors abuse, ignore, or deny basic human rights (including civil, political, cultural, social, and economic rights). Furthermore, violations of human rights can occur when any state or non-state actor breaches any part of the UDHR treaty or other international human rights or humanitarian law. In regard to human rights violations of United Nations laws, Article 39 of the United Nations Charterdesignates the UN Security Council (or an appointed authority) as the only tribunal that may determine UN human rights violations. Human rights abuses are monitored by United Nations committees, national institutions and governments and by many independent non-governmental organizations, such as Amnesty International, International Federation of Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, World Organisation Against Torture, Freedom House, International Freedom of Expression Exchange and Anti-Slavery International. These organisations collect evidence and documentation of alleged human rights abuses and apply pressure to enforce human rights laws. Wars of aggression, war crimes and crimes against humanity, including genocide, are breaches of International humanitarian law and represent the most serious of human rights violations. In efforts to eliminate violations of human rights, building awareness and protesting inhumane treatment has often led to calls for action and sometimes improved conditions. The UN Security Council has interceded with peace keeping forces, and other states and treaties (NATO) have intervened in situations to protect human rights. Substantive rights Right to life Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life. —Article 6.1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights The right to life is the essential right that a human being has the right not to be killed by another human being. The concept of a right to life is central to debates on the issues of abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia, self defense andwar. According to many human rights activists, the death penalty violates this right. The United Nations has called on states retaining the death penalty to establish a moratorium on capital punishment with a view to its abolition. States which do not do so face considerable moral and political pressure. Freedom from torture Throughout history, torture has been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion. In addition to state-sponsored torture, individuals or groups may be motivated to inflict torture on others for similar reasons to those of a state; however, the motive for torture can also be for the sadistic gratification of the torturer, as in the Moors murders. Torture is prohibited under international law and the domestic laws of most countries in the 21st century. It is considered to be a violation of human rights, and is declared to be unacceptable by Article 5 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Signatories of the Third Geneva Convention and Fourth Geneva Convention officially agree not to torture prisoners in armed conflicts. Torture is also prohibited by the United Nations Convention Against Torture, which has been ratified by 147 states. National and international legal prohibitions on torture derive from a consensus that torture and similar ill-treatment are immoral, as well as impractical. Despite these international conventions, organizations that monitor abuses of human rights (e.g. Amnesty International, the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims) report widespread use condoned by states in many regions of the world. Amnesty International estimates that at least 81 world governments currently practice torture, some of them openly. Freedom from slavery Main article: slavery Freedom from slavery is an internationally recognized human right. Article 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms. Despite this, the number of slaves today is higher than at any point in history,[68] remaining as high as 12 million to 27 million, Most are debt slaves, largely in South Asia, who are under debt bondage incurred by lenders, sometimes even for generations. Human trafficking is primarily for prostituting women and children into sex industries. Groups such as the American Anti-Slavery Group, Anti-Slavery International, Free the Slaves, the Anti-Slavery Society, and the Norwegian Anti-Slavery Society continue to campaign to rid the world of slavery. Right to a fair trial Main article: Right to a fair trial Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him. The right to a fair trial has been defined in numerous regional and international human rights instruments. It is one of the most extensive human rights and all international human rights instruments enshrine it in more than one article. The right to a fair trial is one of the most litigated human rights and substantial case law has been established on the interpretation of this human right. Despite variations in wording and placement of the various fair trial rights, international human rights instrument define the right to a fair trial in broadly the same terms. The aim of the right is to ensure the proper administration of justice. As a minimum the right to fair trial includes the following fair trial rights in civil and criminal proceedings: the right to be heard by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal the right to a public hearing the right to be heard within a reasonable time the right to counsel the right to interpretation Freedom of speech Main article: Freedom of speech Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used. In practice, the right to freedom of speech is not absolute in any country and the right is commonly subject to limitations, such as on libel, slander, obscenity, incitement to commit a crime, etc. The right to freedom of expression is recognized as a human right under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and recognized in international human rights law in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Article 19 of the ICCPR states that [e]veryone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference and everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writin g or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice. Freedom of thought, conscience and religion Main articles: Freedom of thought, Conscience, and Freedom of religion Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. —Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Freedom of thought, conscience and religion are closely related rights that protect the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to think and freely hold conscientious beliefs and to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance; the concept is generally recognized also to include the freedom to change religion or not to follow any religion. The freedom to leave or discontinue membership in a religion or religious group—in religious terms called apostasy—is also a fundamental part of religious freedom, covered by Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Human rights groups such as Amnesty International organises campaigns to protect those arrested and or incarcerated as a prisoner of conscience because of their conscientious beliefs, particularly concerning intellectual, political and artistic freedom of expression and association. In legislation, a conscience clause is a provision in a statute that excuses a health professional from complying with the law (for example legalising surgical or pharmaceutical abortion) if it is incompatible with religious or conscientious beliefs. Rights debates Events and new possibilities can affect existing rights or require new ones. Advances of technology, medicine, and philosophy constantly challenge the status quo of human rights thinking. Future generations In 1997 UNESCO adopted the Declaration on the Responsibilities of the Present Generation Towards the Future Generation. The Declaration opens with the words: Mindful of the will of the peoples, set out solemnly in the Charter of the United Nations, to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war and to safeguard the values and principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and all other relevant instruments of international law. —Declaration on the Responsibilities of the Present Generation Towards the Future Generation Article 1 of the declaration states the present generations have the responsibility of ensuring that the needs and interests of present and future generations are fully safeguarded. The preamble to the declaration states that at this point in history, the very existence of humankind and its environment are threatened and the declaration covers a variety of issues including protection of the environment, the human genome, biodiversity, cultural heritage, peace, development, and education. The preamble recalls that the responsibilities of the present generations towards future generations has been referred to in various international instruments, including the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (UNESCO 1972), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (UN Conference on Environment and Development, 1992), the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (World Conference on Human Rights, 1993) and a number of UN General Assembly resolutions relating to the protection of the global climate for present and future generations adopted since 1990. Sexual orientation and gender identity See also: LGBT rights by country or territory Sexual orientation and gender identity rights relate to the expression of sexual orientation and gender identity based on the right to respect for private life and the right not to be discriminated against on the ground of other status as defined in various human rights conventions, such as article 17 and 26 in the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and article 8 and article 14 in the European Convention on Human Rights. Through the way many because of their religious beliefs claim that they support human rights in general while denying that LGBT rights are human rights, LGBT rights stand prominent in the very defense of the universal principle of the human rights. If human rights are understood in a way that makes it possible to exclude the basic rights of certain groups only because of certain religious and cultural prejudices, we find that the principle of universality is taken right out of the human rights, and human rights are transformed to a se t of rules only reflecting certain historically values. Homosexuality is illegal in 76 countries[citation needed], and is punishable by execution in seven countries. The criminalization of private, consensual, adult sexual relations, especially in countries where corporal or capital punishment is involved, is one of the primary concerns of LGBT human rights advocates. Other issues include: government recognition of same-sex relationships, LGBT adoption, sexual orientation and military service, immigration equality, anti-discrimination laws, hate crime laws regarding violence against LGBT people,sodomy laws, anti-lesbianism laws, and equal age of consent for same-sex activity. A global charter for sexual orientation and gender identity rights has been proposed in the form of the Yogyakarta Principles, a set of 29 principles whose authors say they apply International Human Rights Law statutes and precedent to situations relevant to LGBT peoples experience. The principles were presented at a United Nations event in New York on November 7, 2007, co-sponsored by Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. The principles have been acknowledged with influencing the French proposed UN declaration on sexual orientation and gender identity, which focuses on ending violence, criminalization and capital punishment and does not include dialogue about same-sex marriage or right to start a family.[95][96] The proposal was supported by 67 of the then 192 member countries of the United Nations, including all EU member states and the United States. An alternative statement opposing the proposal was initiated by Syria and signed by 57 member nations, including all 27 nations of the Arab League as well as Iran and North Korea. Trade Although both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights emphasize the importance of a right to work, neither of these documents explicitly mention trade as a mechanism for ensuring this fundamental right. And yet trade plays a key role in providing jobs. Some experts argue that trade is inherent to human nature and that when governments inhibit international trade they directly inhibit the right to work and the other indirect benefits, like the right to education, that increased work and investment help accrue. Others have argued that the ability to trade does not affect everyone equally—often groups like the rural poor, indigenous groups and women are less likely to access the benefits of increased trade. On the other hand, others think that it is no longer primarily individuals but companies that trade, and therefore it cannot be guaranteed as a human right.[citation needed] Additionally, trying to fit too many concepts under the umbrella of what qualifies as a human right has the potential to dilute their importance. Finally, it is difficult to define a right to trade as either fair or just in that the current trade regime produces winners and losers but its reform is likely to produce (different) winners and losers. See also: The Recognition of Labour Standards within the World Trade Organisation and Investor state dispute settlement Water See also: Water politics and Right to water In November 2002, the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights issued a non-binding comment affirming that access to water was a human right: the human right to water is indispensable for leading a life in human dignity. It is a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights. —United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights This principle was reaffirmed at the 3rd and 4th World Water Councils in 2003 and 2006. This marks a departure from the conclusions of the 2nd World Water Forum in The Hague in 2000, which stated that water was a commodity to be bought and sold, not a right. There are calls from many NGOs and politicians to enshrine access to water as a binding human right, and not as a commodity. According to the United Nations, nearly 900 million people lack access to clean water and more than 2.6 billion people lack access to basic sanitation. On July 28, 2010, the UN declared water and sanitation as human rights. By declaring safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right, the U.N. General Assembly made a step towards the Millennium Development Goal to ensure environmental sustainability, which in part aims to halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. Reproductive rights Main article: reproductive rights Reproductive rights are rights relating to reproduction and reproductive health. The World Health Organisation defines reproductive rights as follows: Reproductive rights rest on the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health. They also include the right of all to make decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence. — World Health Organisation Reproductive rights were first established as a subset of human rights at the United Nations 1968 International Conference on Human Rights. The sixteenth article of the resulting Proclamation of Teheran states, Parents have a basic human right to determine freely and responsibly the number and the spacing of their children. Reproductive rights may include some or all of the following rights: the right to legal or safe abortion, the right to control ones reproductive functions, the right to quality reproductive healthcare, and the right to education and access in order to make reproductive choices free from coercion, discrimination, and violence. Reproductive rights may also be understood to include education about contraception and sexually transmitted infections, and freedom from coerced sterilization and contraception, protection from gender-based practices such asfemale genital cutting (FGC) and male genital mutilation (MGM). Information and communication technologies Main articles: Right to Internet access and Digital rights In October 2009, Finlands Ministry of Transport and Communications announced that every person in Finland would have the legal right to Internet access. Since July 2010, the government has legally obligated telecommunications companies to offer broadband Internet access to every permanent residence and office. The connection must be reasonably priced and have a downstream rate of at least 1 Mbit/s. In March 2010, the BBC, having commissioned an opinion poll, reported that almost four in five people around the world believe that access to the internet is a fundamental right. The poll, conducted by the polling companyGlobeScan for the BBC World Service, collated the answers of 27,973 adult citizens across 26 countries to find that 79% of adults either strongly agreed or somewhat agreed with the statement: access to the internet should be a fundamental right of all people. Relationship with other topics Human rights and the environment There are two basic conceptions of environmental human rights in the current human rights system. The first is that the right to a healthy or adequate environment is itself a human right (as seen in both Article 24 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, and Article 11 of the San Salvador Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights). The second conception is the idea that environmental human rights can be derived from other human rights, usually – the right to life, the right to health, the right to private family life and the right to property (among many others). This second theory enjoys much more widespread use in human rights courts around the world, as those rights are contained in many human rights documents. The onset of various environmental issues, especially climate change, has created potential conflicts between different human rights. Human rights ultimately require a working ecosystem and healthy environment, but the granting of certain rights to individuals may damage these. Such as the conflict between right to decide number of offspring and the common need for a healthy environment, as noted in the tragedy of the commons. In the area of environmental rights, the responsibilities of multinational corporations, so far relatively unaddressed by human rights legislation, is of paramount consideration.[citation needed] Environmental Rights revolve largely around the idea of a right to a livable environment both for the present and the future generations. National security See also: National security and Anti-terrorism legislation With the exception of non-derogable human rights (international conventions class the right to life, the right to be free from slavery, the right to be free from torture and the right to be free from retroactive application of penal laws as non-derogable),[120] the UN recognises that human rights can be limited or even pushed aside during times of national emergency – although the emergency must be actual, affect the whole population and the threat must be to the very existence of the nation. The declaration of emergency must also be a last resort and a temporary measure. —United Nations. The Resource Rights that cannot be derogated for reasons of national security in any circumstances are known as peremptory norms or jus cogens. Such United Nations Charter obligations are binding on all states and cannot be modified by treaty. Examples of national security being used to justify human rights violations include the Japanese American internment during World War II, Stalins Great Purge, and the modern-day abuses of terror suspects rights by some countries, often in the name of the War on Terror.

Post War Cultural Revolution in the UK

Post War Cultural Revolution in the UK The Emergence of the Teenager Consumer in the 1950’s A turning point in history the post-war cultural revolution gave rise to one of the most interesting and powerful phenomenon of that time: the youth subculture. Supported by an uprising economic and cultural change, the teenagers of the 1950’s, left their mark in history by being the ones that turned away from tradition and started their own culture. Influenced by American style, film and music, British youngsters created a world where they could do anything they wanted because they had everything: they had the money, they had the time, and everything around them was built to fit their desires and pleasures. Nothing was going to stop them having the time of their lives. The Youthquake Osgerby explains that â€Å"youthquake is a phrase charged with connotations of deep-seated generational upheaval†. It is a term coined by cultural commentators like Richard Neville, Kenneth Leech or Peter Lewis in the 1970’s. Apparently, the term â€Å"youthquake† was used to describe â€Å"the seismic transformations (†¦) occurring in young people lives during the 1950’s and 1960’s† (Osgerby, 2004: 16). Since the World War Two ended, cultural changed divided the world into â€Å"two generational armed camps† (Neville, 1970: 13, cited in Osgerby 2004: 16) and Leech (1973:1) believed that the 1950’s had been â€Å"supremely the decade of the teenager† since youth culture became such an international phenomenon through the rise in â€Å"commercial interest in both the textile and recording industries†. However, rather than being a total shock and break with the past, the youthquake had some early signs. The mass entertainment industry emerged in the Victorian Era, ready for the urban working class which had been gradually extending their income and leisure time (Osgerby, 2004: 17). A visible consumer group of this period were the working youngsters, who, with their spending power, laid the base â€Å"for an embryonic youth leisure market† (Osgerby, 2004: 17). Young people had a healthy income and no family responsibilities therefore there were â€Å"better off than at almost any other age and could afford to go out and enjoy themselves† (Springhall 1980: 89 cited in Osgerby, 2004: 17) An estimative study by David Fowler shows that between the wars youth’s money wages rose between 300% and 500%. Because of their lack of responsibilities, youngsters could retain almost 50% of their earnings which means that they enjoyed a higher standard of living than the rest of the family. â€Å"A commentator in Manchester described how a nineteen year old semi-skilled youth employed in a an iron factory could earn a pound a week and, after surrendering twelve shillings to his parents for board, was free to spend the remainder on clothes, gambling and the music halls† (Osgerby, 1998: 6) Of course, these things increasingly attracted the attention of entrepreneurs and manufacturers who were planning of creating a youth market (Osgerby, 2004: 18). During the early 1920’s and 1930s â€Å"a hard-sell youth market† arose and cinemas, magazine publishers, dance halls and commercial music halls all started to make a profit from the spending power of the young workers (Fowler, 1995: 170 in Osgerby, 2004: 18). The rise of the commercial youth market has occurred well before the 1950’s and 1960’s. Osgerby explains that â€Å"by the end of the Victorian Era, on both sides of the Atlantic, manufacturers, advertisers and media industries were already tapping into young people’s spending power, the trend picking up momentum during the 1920’s and 1930’s† (2004: 19). Mort (1997, cited in Osgerby, 2004) states that Britain’s development as a modern consumer economy was slower compared to the US. If America has an economic growth during the war, Britain’s economy was â€Å"brought to its knees† after the Second World War which meant consumer spending had a hesitant development. Consequently, compared to the US, teenage consumerism developed slower in Britain. Nevertheless, the British youth market gradually came into its own (Osgerby, 2004: 26). During the 1950’s and 1960’s standards of living were boosted by full employment and a sustained rise in money wages. That is when everything started to come into shape. Teenagers as a consumer group – â€Å"SELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT† Osgerby (1998) states that â€Å"the characteristics that seemed to set youth apart as a distinct group were not their bio-psychological attributes, but their distinctive patterns of media use and practices of commodity consumption†. But how did these young people become such an important consumer group? Firstly, the post war era saw the so called â€Å"baby boom† which ensured a growth in the young population. The number of people aged under twenty increased from around three million in 1951 to just over 4 million in 1966 (Department of Employment, 1971: 206-207, cited in Osgerby, 2004). Just like in the United States, education expansion also helped youth in becoming a distinct social group. Secondly, throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s, during the economic boost, with the expansion of the consumer industries and reconfiguration of the traditional labour markets the levels of youth employment increased immensely. Consequently, with the growth of the teenagers spending power came the development of the youth market: cinemas, record companies, music halls, magazines, fashion houses and so on, all saw a huge expansion. Assisted by a new army of advertisers and marketers, the market started to sel l products geared to the teenagers’ pleasures and desires. (Osgerby, 2004: 9, 10) En entire entertainment industry emerged, interested only in catering for the urban working youth with expanding disposable income and leisure time. Everyday habits and tastes became simply consumer goods, and markets started to exploit them as much as they could. New products and services, new fashion styles, new consumer patterns emerged, â€Å"suggesting† the British new identities, desires and pleasure and how to live their metropolitan lives. By the late 1950’s, youth became known for and associated with spending per se. Mark Abrams’ market research shows that â€Å"young people, more than any other social group, has materially prospered since the war† (cited in Osgerby, 1998: 26) Youth subcultures adapted their styles from consumer objects, which was very shocking for critics of all political persuasions, since their cultural insubordination was â€Å"allied to a consumerism that touched a very un-British hedonism as it squandered its money on extravagant clothing, pop records, scooters, over-priced frothy coffee, motor bikes, drugs, clubs and attempts to create a perpetual weekend† (Chambers, 1986: 42) The American influence Post War reconstruction of Britain, was influenced by the expansive image of America and its industrial and cultural power. Since America was the most capitalist society in the world, it became the summation of all Britain’s fears of foreign, urban and commercial forces that would destroy the English â€Å"way of life† (Chambers, 1986: 36). The American way of life became an inspiration for the Brits, both culturally and in terms of material goods. The increased availability of cheap colour magazines â€Å"brought a proliferation of advertising for luxury commodities, much of it originating in America† (Jackson, online resource). Despite all the protests coming from cultural intellectuals such as Richard Hoggart (The uses of literacy, 1957) and Raymond Williams (Culture and Society, 1958) who feared that Americanization would be the end of British culture, Hollywood films, commercial television, glossy magazines and consumer goods was everything the British consumers could have ever wished for. Films portrayed the life that most British people just dreamed of. One of the most known and cited films of that time was â€Å"Rebel without a cause† (1955, directed by Nicholas Ray) starring James Dean. He played the role of a bored teenager with an affluent middle class life style. Even if he had his own car and a home filled with luxury consumer goods, â€Å"Jim Stark† the character of James Dean, was full of distress, anger and resentment. He quickly became a role model for most of the British teenagers. The unique position of post-war teenagers, physically almost adult yet excluded from adult roles and responsibilities, with considerable disposable cash, and familiar from early childhood with the products of modern mass media healthy, well-fed, and energetic, yet involved in less hard physical work than many of their ancestors this privileged, new position seemed merely to throw into sharp relief for them the limitation of their existence and to give them the opportunity to respond in new ways to these conditions. Music-use became one of the main chosen instruments of their response. (Dick, 1992) Young Brits started to turn away from their parents and the British tradition, creating their own cultural expression. Inspired by the early American rock’ n’ roll, and Hollywood films, they created a series of spectacular and distinctive British subcultures such as: The Teds –working class Londoners, around 1953 with distinguishable characteristics as – quiffs, Elvis, flick-knives, crepe soles, alcohol; The Mods –working class Londoners, around 1963 Jamaican – rudeboy / Italian style, US soul, purple hearts, The Small faces, scooters, amphetamines; Youth culture was full of contradictions: they had a strong desire to express their individuality but they were wearing the same clothes as their mates and they were rebelling against the capitalism that they were already slaves to. (Milestone, 1999) Conclusion British history and all its changes and turns was massively influenced by the two World Wars, but mostly by the Second World War which was, according to Osgerby (1998) â€Å"a decisive turning point in the nation’s social, economic and political life†. At the beginning of the 1950’s Britain was still exhausted, both financially and morally after years of war and its cities were still bombsites. However, it was in the 1950’s that Britain started to rise again, entering a period of increased wealth and freedom, and many of the old traditional structures began to be challenged, particularly by the young (online resources). The essay shows how the phenomenon of youth subculture and consumerism started quite early but peaked around the 1950’s, when economic, social and cultural developments provided the perfect environment. Influenced by American culture, the British teenagers created their own world, a world of music and motorcycles, of freedom and entertainment, where nothing was more important than being stylish and cool, and having things to show it. Bibliography Chambers, Iain (1986) Popular Culture, The Metropolitan Experience, London: Routledge Osgerby, Bill (1998) Youth in Britain since 1945, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Osgerby, Bill (2004) Youth Media, Abingdon: Routledge Online resources Katie Milestone ,The Guardian, Saturday 18 December 1999 http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1999/dec/18/weekend7.weekend5 as accessed on 4th Jan 2015 Andrew Jackson, Designing Britain 1945-1985 http://www.vads.ac.uk/learning/designingbritain/html/crd_cultrev.html as accessed on the 20th Dec 2014 http://britishrock.weebly.com/1-birth-of-teenage-culture-1950s-britian.html as accessed on the 20th Dec 2014 All the photos were saved from https://images.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=ssl

Dylan Thomas :: Biography Biographies Essays

Dylan Thomas      Ã‚  Ã‚   "There is in the Welsh bardic tradition much that is absolutely fundamental to Thomas' writing: its highly lyrical qualities; its strict formal control and an essentially romantic conception of the poet's function in society." (Selby 98) These traits parallel the three themes that will be belaboured in this essay: the aural/oral appeal of Dylan Thomas' work; his meticulous obscurity; and the role of the poet in society.    I:  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of Thomas' more controversial and distinctive characteristics is his musicality. It is surprising that anyone would bring this up as a complaint; music is considered by many to be the purest art, and the highest poetry that which approaches nearest to music. Perhaps it is understandable that those critics who would limit meaning and contextualise art would also be aesthetically oriented such that they would find it offensive that a form for the eyes and mind should be so solicitous of the lips and ears.    It is also suggested that Thomas may be sacrificing meaning to sound, but this is hard to swallow when one considers the amount of effort he puts into codification (showing attention to meaning) and the fact that his poems simply aren't nonsense.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   While attention to sound is considered a minor matter in many modern critical streams, it has always played a privileged part in Romantic aesthetics:    Sounds as well as thoughts have relation both between each other and towards that which they represent, and a perception of the order of those relations has always been found connected with a perception of the order of the relations of thoughts. Hence the language of poets have ever affected a certain uniform and harmonious recurrence of sound, without which it were not poetry, and which is scarcely less indispensable to the communication of its influence, than the words themselves, without reference to that peculiar order. (Shelley 92)    Even if it is true that the sound in some way detracts from the meaning, it is only in a temporary fashion, and is calculated. Stewart Crehan suggests: "Thomas' obscurity is calculated to foreground sound and its pleasures before the meaning sinks in." (Crehan 42) The sound has a hypnotic quality which opens up the mind and makes it more susceptible to the subtle suggestions of murky metaphysical musings.

John Steinbecks Experience and Writing Essay -- Authors

At the age of thirteen, most children are still naà ¯ve to their future self-professions. However, in 1915, a boy at the mere age of thirteen was encouraged by his English teacher to become a writer (French 1). Unbeknownst to the teacher, the boy would arguably become a writer on equal terms to D.H. Lawrence, John Keats, or William Faulkner. The boy in question is John Steinbeck. Though Steinbeck’s era was a time of isolation and sorrow, between the economy and global conflicts the desperate times allowed many opportunities for Steinbeck. For example, he would intentionally immerse himself in unfavorable conditions that others experienced without a choice. In particular, the experiences with the Great Depression and World War II allowed John Steinbeck to change the world with a pen and paper. Perhaps the biggest influence in Steinbeck’s writing can be seen from his experiences of the Great Depression while he lived in California. Before Steinbeck made his living as a writer, he would experience the world from various points of views as he worked jobs such as a surveyor, bricklayer, ranch hand, and a store clerk (John Steinbeck). Seeing the world from the perspective of a hard laborer allowed Steinbeck to form his initial views that would become the basis for his early stories. The crisis that grasped California during 1930-1936 was the Dust Bowl, which according to a website dedicated to the great depression states â€Å"a million acres of farmland across the Plains became worthless due to severe drought and overfarming† (Causes of). Because of the despairing situation, Steinbeck was able to experience the severity first hand on many occasions. In fact, in 1935, Steinbeck was allowed to spend a week in Weedpatch where a camp wa... ... to realize before it is too late. Works Cited Bloom, Harold. John Steinbeck. New York: Bloom's Literary Criticism, 2008. Print. "Causes Of The Great Depression | The Great Depression | Causes, Effects, Timelines." Causes Of The Great Depression | The Great Depression | Causes, Effects, Timelines. Croft Communications. Web. 09 May 2012. French, Warren G. John Steinbeck's Nonfiction Revisited. New York: Twayne, 1996. Print. John (Ernst) Steinbeck." Contemporary Literary Criticism Select. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center. Web. 7 May 2012. Noble, Donald R. The Steinbeck Question: New Essays in Criticism. Troy, NY: Whitston Pub., 1993. Print. Tedlock, E. W., and C. V. Wicker. Steinbeck and His Critics. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico, 1957. Print. Swisher, Clarice. Readings on John Steinbeck. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven, 1996. Print.

Religious Language and Concepts in Romeo and Juliet

Religious Language and Concepts in Romeo and Juliet The epistle of Saint John unequivocally states, â€Å"Love comes from God† (1 John 4:7). This statement not only explains the source of love but it also provides a means to understand both love and God. If love is from God, then an understanding of love can be derived from knowing God. Thus, the converse, knowing love provides a level of knowledge concerning God, is true. In light of this conclusion, it only seems natural that the two should intersect when trying to describe one another. William Shakespeare employs Christian language and concepts in the play Romeo and Juliet to not only effectively conveys the gravity of love but also to provide metaphorical undertones to the play’s conclusion. It is apparent that Shakespeare intentionally used religious language and concepts in order to elicit the implications that are attached with the words. By glossing over these words as two-dimensional adjectives much of Shakespeare’s beauty and genius is lost and the intrinsic harmony connecting love and God is unknown to the reader. The play Romeo and Juliet is steeped in religious language and constructions. The possible examples are numerous and wide ranging, but some are used to convey love while others are used to drive the thematic plot. For organizational purposes, the usages of religious language that help convey the meaning of love will be addressed first followed by an explication of the thematic usages or religious language. An excellent example of how Shakespeare implements religious language and concepts in order to describe the transcendent emotion of Love is in Romeo and Juliet’s first meeting. While courting Juliet, Romeo says, â€Å"My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand, To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss. † (1:5:97-98) Prior to this statement Romeo had equated Juliet with a holy shrine and he then employs the religious concept of pilgrimage in the following lines. On a very surface level, this makes sense considering that a holy shrine is an end goal and pilgrims, like lips moving in for a kiss, travel to the end goal. However, it seems rather evident that Shakespeare meant much more than simply making a comparison for movement in this statement. The term pilgrim calls to mind the departure from a known place into an unknown, holy land for the sake of obtaining salvation. By using ‘pilgrim’ to describe the kiss shared between the two lovers implies that Romeo and Juliet are going to depart from their current love-starved world and move into a holy world of love. Another example of where Shakespeare implements religious language is when Romeo says, â€Å"I take thee at thy word: Call me but love, and I’ll be new baptized; henceforth I never will be Romeo. (2:2:49-51) Again, as in the previous statement, Shakespeare implemented religious language in order to describe how love is a transcendent and unearthly entity. In the realm of Christianity, Baptism is the sacramental shedding of earthly imperfections and wedding of the soul to Heaven’s dominion. Romeo’s statement uses the word and concept of baptism to express that by being called Juliet’s lover, Romeo would shed his earthly self an d enter the world of love where his name would no longer matter. Both of these statements allow Shakespeare to describe the transcendence of love, and logically the only way to describe the transcendence of love is by implementing religious words and concepts that are themselves transcendent. It is rather evident why Shakespeare employed religious language instead of using secular or earthly language and concepts. As stated previously, both love and God are entities that find their origin outside of earthly confines. The fact that both love and God manifest themselves on earth creates a dilemma when one attempts to describe their essence. Trying to describe God or love with words that are limited to earth’s confines is similar to the proverbial square peg in a round hole. This is why it would not be conducive for Shakespeare to describe love with secular or earthly words. The inadequate secular language would lose much of love’s weight and Shakespeare’s genius would be repressed. Shakespeare’s usage of religious language not only allows for better description of love itself but Shakespeare also uses it as a vehicle for metaphor. The central message of Christianity is the redemptive sacrifice of the ‘unblemished lamb’, Jesus Christ, known as the Gospel. When Romeo kisses Juliet and says, â€Å"Thus from my lips, by yours, my sins are purged. † (1:5:109) The purging of sins inevitably draws up thoughts about the Gospel within the reader’s mind and although the metaphor is not brought to denouement within just this one line, the groundwork is set out. Later in the play, Juliet says in regards to performing her mock-death, â€Å"Things that, to hear them told, have made me tremble; And I will do it with out fear or doubt, To live an unstained wife to my sweet love. † (4:1:86-88) This line again is drenched in Gospel metaphor. The word ‘unstained’ is a queue for the reader that this line is not merely a secular, two-dimensional statement and with this in mind, Juliet seems to share much of Jesus Christ’s emotions in the biblical account of Him praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. Both Jesus and Juliet are apprehensive of their looming deaths, both admit that they are afraid, and both choose to confront their fears with confidence. With both this line and the previously stated line it is relatively clear that Shakespeare created certain parallels between Juliet and Jesus Christ. These parallels come to an ultimate conclusion at the play’s conclusion. At the end of scene five, when both Romeo and Juliet are dead, it becomes evident that Shakespeare’s metaphor of Christ has come to conclusion. After both of the families realize that their respective children are dead they give up their long held resentment towards each other. This reconciliation seems to echo the reconciliation found after Jesus Christ’s death. Obviously, in no way is Juliet an airtight allegory for the Gospel. However, these statements and constructions are undeniable in their intentional resemblance to Christ and the Gospel story. Shakespeare manipulating his plot to facilitate the Gospel metaphor implies that he felt strongly about the need to use God to describe love. Jesus Christ came from heaven and through His death brought salvation for the sinful world. Juliet embodied love and through her death brought reconciliation to the town of Verona. Shakespeare, through his metaphors, is attempting to convey a very weighty assessment on love. The metaphor conveys that love is not of this world but instead from God and thus to know either God or love is to know something of both. It also suggests that love has a very real salvation within it, the ability to reconcile relationships and transcend earthly pettiness. It seems ironic that despite the fact that God created the world, worldly terms fall short of describing His essence. Likewise, it is equally ironic that love, an entity that seemingly controls the vast majority of all human interactions in one way or another, is not readily described by commonplace terms. Juxtaposing these two ironies makes it evident as to why William Shakespeare implemented religious terminology and metaphors in order to fully convey the essence of love. Romeo and Juliet were undoubtedly in love with each other and it is fitting that their holy love could not be constrained by either the unholy confines of Verona or of secular diction.