Overview of The Education of Women by Daniel Defoe

Overview of 'The Education of Women' by Daniel Defoe Best known as the author of Robinson Crusoe  (1719), Daniel Defoe was an extremely versatile and prolific author. A journalist as well as a novelist, he produced more than 500 books, pamphlets, and journals. The following essay first appeared in 1719, the same year in which Defoe published the first volume of Robinson Crusoe. Observe how he directs his appeals to a male audience as he develops his argument that women should be allowed full and ready access to education. The Education of Women by Daniel Defoe I have often thought of it as one of the most barbarous customs in the world, considering us as a civilized and a Christian country, that we deny the advantages of learning to women. We reproach the sex every day with folly and impertinence; while I am confident, had they the advantages of education equal to us, they would be guilty of less than ourselves. One would wonder, indeed, how it should happen that women are conversible at all; since they are only beholden to natural parts, for all their knowledge. Their youth is spent to teach them to stitch and sew or make baubles. They are taught to read, indeed, and perhaps to write their names, or so; and that is the height of a woman’s education. And I would but ask any who slight the sex for their understanding, what is a man (a gentleman, I mean) good for, that is taught no more? I need not give instances, or examine the character of a gentleman, with a good estate, or a good family, and with tolerable parts; and examine what figure he makes for want of education. The soul is placed in the body like a rough diamond; and must be polished, or the luster of it will never appear. And ’tis manifest, that as the rational soul distinguishes us from brutes; so education carries on the distinction, and makes some less brutish than others. This is too evident to need any demonstration. But why then should women be denied the benefit of instruction? If knowledge and understanding had been useless additions to the sex, GOD Almighty would never have given them capacities; for he made nothing needless. Besides, I would ask such, What they can see in ignorance, that they should think it a necessary ornament to a woman? or how much worse is a wise woman than a fool? or what has the woman done to forfeit the privilege of being taught? Does she plague us with her pride and impertinence? Why did we not let her learn, that she might have had more wit? Shall we upbraid women with folly, when ’tis only the error of this inhuman custom, that hindered t hem from being made wiser? The capacities of women are supposed to be greater, and their senses quicker than those of the men; and what they might be capable of being bred to, is plain from some instances of female wit, which this age is not without. Which upbraids us with Injustice, and looks as if we denied women the advantages of education, for fear they should vie with the men in their improvements. [They] should be taught all sorts of breeding suitable both to their genius and quality. And in particular, Music and Dancing; which it would be cruelty to bar the sex of, because they are their darlings. But besides this, they should be taught languages, as particularly French and Italian: and I would venture the injury of giving a woman more tongues than one. They should, as a particular study, be taught all the graces of speech, and all the necessary air of conversation; which our common education is so defective in, that I need not expose it. They should be brought to read books, and especially history; and so to read as to make them understand the world, and be able to know and judge of things when they hear of them. To such whose genius would lead them to it, I would deny no sort of learning; but the chief thing, in general, is to cultivate the understandings of the sex, that they may be capable of all sorts of conversation; that their parts and judgments being improved, they may be as profitable in their conversation as they are pleasant. Women, in my observation, have little or no difference in them, but as they are or are not distinguished by education. Tempers, indeed, may in some degree influence them, but the main distinguishing part is their Breeding. The whole sex are generally quick and sharp. I believe, I may be allowed to say, generally so: for you rarely see them lumpish and heavy, when they are children; as boys will often be. If a woman be well bred, and taught the proper management of her natural wit, she proves generally very sensible and retentive. And, without partiality, a woman of sense and manners is the finest and most delicate part of Gods Creation, the glory of Her Maker, and the great instance of His singular regard to man, His darling creature: to whom He gave the best gift either God could bestow or man receive. And ’tis the sordidest piece of folly and ingratitude in the world, to withhold from the sex the due luster which the advantages of education gives to the natural beauty of their minds. A woman well bred and well taught, furnished with the additional accomplishments of knowledge and behavior, is a creature without comparison. Her society is the emblem of sublimer enjoyments, her person is angelic, and her conversation heavenly. She is all softness and sweetness, peace, love, wit, and delight. She is every way suitable to the sublimest wish, and the man that has such a one to his portion, has nothing to do but to rejoice in her, and be thankful. On the other hand, Suppose her to be the very same woman, and rob her of the benefit of education, and it follows- - If her temper be good, want of education makes her soft and easy. Her wit, for want of teaching, makes her impertinent and talkative. Her knowledge, for want of judgment and experience, makes her fanciful and whimsical. If her temper be bad, want of breeding makes her worse; and she grows haughty, insolent, and loud. If she be passionate, want of manners makes her a termagant and a scold, which is much at one with Lunatic. If she be proud, want of discretion (which still is breeding) makes her conceited, fantastic, and ridiculous. And from these she degenerates to be turbulent, clamorous, noisy, nasty, the devil! The great distinguishing difference, which is seen in the world between men and women, is in their education; and this is manifested by comparing it with the difference between one man or woman, and another. And herein it is that I take upon me to make such a bold assertion, That all the world are mistaken in their practice about women. For I cannot think that God Almighty ever made them so delicate, so glorious creatures; and furnished them with such charms, so agreeable and so delightful to mankind; with souls capable of the same accomplishments with men: and all, to be only Stewards of our Houses, Cooks, and Slaves. Not that I am for exalting the female government in the least: but, in short, I would have men take women for companions, and educate them to be fit for it. A woman of sense and breeding will scorn as much to encroach upon the prerogative of man, as a man of sense will scorn to oppress the weakness of the woman. But if the women’s souls were refined and improved by teaching, that word would be lost. To say, the weakness of the sex, as to judgment, would be nonsense; for ignorance and folly would be no more to be found among women than men. I remember a passage, which I heard from a very fine woman. She had wit and capacity enough, an extraordinary shape and face, and a great fortune: but had been cloistered up all her time; and for fear of being stolen, had not had the liberty of being taught the common necessary knowledge of women’s affairs. And when she came to converse in the world, her natural wit made her so sensible of the want of education, that she gave this short reflection on herself: I am ashamed to talk with my very maids, says she, for I don’t know when they do right or wrong. I had more need go to school, than be married. I need not enlarge on the loss the defect of education is to the sex; nor argue the benefit of the contrary practice. ’Tis a thing will be more easily granted than remedied. This chapter is but an Essay at the thing: and I refer the Practice to those Happy Days (if ever they shall be) when men shall be wise enough to mend it.

Internal and External Factors of Labour Market Essay

Internal and External Factors of Labour Market - Essay Example Labour market of Europe is suffering for aging workforce issues. Study suggests that there will be 4% hike in aging population within next eight years (Krenn and Oehlke, 2001). Companies are aware of the fact but they do not have much choice left due to following reasons: The world is going through one of the most turbulent financial period in the history of mankind. Companies are struggling due sluggish growth rate and low return on investment. They are not ready to invest money on recruiting new staff and designing training & development. Companies like P&G use â€Å"Build from within† strategy in order to give new job responsibility to existing employees without hiring external candidates. Many companies use â€Å"Build from within† strategy in order to reduce cost of developing untrained and fresh human resource pool. In 1993, Polachek and Siebert proposed Human Capital theory in order to address aging population issue (Polachek and Siebert, 1993, pp. 23-67). They h ave pointed out that life can be segregated into two phases. In the first phase young people develop human capital in terms of skill, knowledge and education while in the second phase they earn employment on the basis of developed human capital. The study suggests that substandard aging population has less human capital in comparison to talented young human resource. Human capital decreases due to aging. Labour market is heterogeneous because employers can never forecast accurately future productivity of particular employee.

Different Points of View on the Global Warming Essay

Different Points of View on the Global Warming - Essay Example It will be crucial to building a resonance scientific understanding of the systems through which climate change discloses, and, on the foundation of this information, to alleviate its force as far as possible while adjusting to its effects (Schreuder, 2009, p. 13). 1. The Facts: According to the 4th assessment report, there is proof that Africa is warming quicker than the global average, and it is likely to persist. It is projected that by 2100, temperature changes will drop in ranges of about 1.4 to almost 5.8?C raise in mean surface temperature contrasted to 1900, and around 10 to 90cm increase in mean sea level. This warming is most over the heart of semi-arid boundaries of the Sahara also the central southern Africa. Before the atmospheric amount of carbon dioxide equivalent has multiplied by two, the worlds mean precipitation is anticipated to be around 1-5 % more than 1900. Under the least warming situation, equatorial east Africa will have rainfall increase by 5-20 % during De cember, January as well as February and diminish by 5-10 % during June, July also August (Schreuder, 2009, p.39). Agricultural production with foodstuff security in most areas of Africa is likely to be strictly compromised by climate change, as well as climate variability. Climate change will deteriorate the water stress presently faced by some nations; while some of those nations, presently not at risk of water stress, will be affected. Changes in an array of ecosystems are by now being noticed faster than expected, mainly in the Southern African environments. Climate change and unpredictability could also lead to the flooding of low lying lands, comprising coastal settlements. Human health could also be more negatively affected by climate change with climate variability, for instance there has been a raise in the frequency of malaria in southern Africa as well as East African highlands. These unfavourable effects together with poverty, institutional frame works and Poor policy, ca use Africa to be one of the most susceptible continent to climate change as well as climate variability. It is established that the anthropogenic climate force is the chief cause of climate change. This comprises of green house gases, land surface changes and aerosols. Research has shown that while a rise in the amount of green house gases would augment global warming, a rase in atmospheric aerosols would reduce it, although alterations in the land cover could either augment or reduce the local temperature (Schneider, 2002, p.22). The increase in the GHG since industrialization in the 1900s is the main cause of the ongoing global warming. The raise has been related to a rise in the burning of fossil fuels, growing dependence on fossil fuel driven technologies, elevated population growth rates and land use results. More increase in the GHG altitudes is anticipated in the future as the developing nations are becoming further industrialized. Nevertheless, any increase in GHG increases the â€Å"green house† characteristics of the earth’s environment. These gases permit solar radiation to go through the atmosphere but hinder the reflected heat from escaping back into the apace which results to the earth’s temperature rise. Climate change is the main factor defining human advancement issues of the generation.  

James Fennimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans Essay Example for Free

James Fennimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans Essay In James Fennimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans (1992), we witnessed death, integrity, pride, love, violence and revenge portrayed through the struggle over a piece of land between the French and English in a war that took place sometime in 1757. Not only that, since the novel was written in the early 1990’s, when women’s liberation and â€Å"girl power† are the predominant themes, the author also incorporated a different form of struggle between the main characters in the novel.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I will focus on the character of Alice and Cora, the two heroines in the story and will attempt to make a comparison of the two characters in light of the commonly-accepted views on what a woman should be.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Alice and Cora Munro, as portrayed in the novel, are sisters who embarked on a journey to visit their father. Their journey, as can be expected is doomed from the beginning and is fraught with violence, revenge, conflict and emotional drama. In the novel, Cora, the older sister was depicted as a strong-willed woman who has no qualms in making her own decisions. Alice, the younger sister, is on the other hand, took the role of a fragile, weak-hearted woman who is always in need of rescuing and assistance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is apparent from the start that this difference in personality will probably result in conflict between the two sisters. It is surprising though that there was no remarkable conflict as between the two sisters in the novel. In fact, it is their stark differences of personalities which kept these two sisters together. Cora, the ever reliable and brave older sister is always looking out for the welfare of her younger sister. Alice, depicting the traditional notion of femininity, graciously lets her sister and their escorts do their task of protecting her.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is also worth stressing that the personality differences between Cora and Alice extends to their physical appearance. Cora is a brunette and has a strong feature while Alice is blond-haired thereby accentuating even more her frail physical features. It seems that Cooper had in mind the traditional, stereotypical notion of weak-blond-strong-brunette syndrome when he came up with his set of heroine characters.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Interestingly enough, the heroines in the novel find themselves in a complex entanglement of emotions and feelings. As can be expected, the strong-willed Cora falls for reckless Uncas while Alice, the sentimental heroine, on the other hand, captures the heart of the perfect gentleman, Major Heyward.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In sum, although Alice and Cora were portrayed as having opposite personalities and physical attributes in the novel, it also cannot be denied that in more ways than one, they are also alike. Both are loving daughters whose main purpose from the onset of the journey, is to reunite with their father. Alice and Cora while seemingly in contrast in personalities also share the same attributes inherent in all women which is the ability to love and show intense feelings toward the opposite sex. The brunette-blond contrast is not really an issue here and it is not uncommon for sisters, especially half-sisters to be totally different in physical features.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I think that James Fennimore Cooper, in coming up with the character of Alice and Cora, simply wanted to impress on his readers the two types of women and how these differences can be reconciled and co-exist in a given situation. Furthermore, in a contemporary period, women are seen as possessing diverse traits and personalities akin to Cora and Alice. The stereotyping of blonds and brunettes unfortunately has not been obliterated although, with the advent of women’s liberation, it is difficult nowadays to categorize women into two limited persona such as that of Alice and Cora. Bibliography: Cooper, James Fennimore. The Last of the Mohicans. Bantam Classics, 1826. Ebert, Roger. The Last of the Mohicans. Chicago Sun-Times 25 Sept. 25, 1992. Kempley, Rita. The Last of the Mohicans. The Washington Post. 25 Sept. 25, 1992. â€Å"The Last of the Mohicans: Summaries and Commentaries.† 8 July 2008 http://education.yahoo.com/homework_help/cliffsnotes/the_last_of_the_mohicans/56.html.

ECON 4131, International Finance, Spring 2002, Exam 1 :: UMN Minnesota Business Economics Finance

Midterm Exam International Finance April 8, 2002 Answer all questions in examination booklets 1. (10 points) Use the BOP accounts guide on the last page of this exam to indicate where each of the following transactions should be recorded in the U.S. balance of payments (e.g.: â€Å"i3†, â€Å"e2†, etc.). Bear in mind that each transaction should generate a capital account and a current account entry. a) The U.S. buys $1m. of lumber from Canada b) Japan buys $500K of fish from an Alaskan fishing outfit c) The U.S. contracts a Panamanian flagged vessel for shipping on the Mississippi d) Mexican migrant workers wire $2m. home for Cinco de Mayo celebrations e) A Panamanian flagged ship purchases a $100K insurance contract from a U.S. firm 2. (10 points) The nation of Pecunia had a current account deficit of $2 billion and a nonreserve capital account surplus of $900 million in 1998. a) What was the â€Å"balance of payments† of Pecunia that year? What happened to the country’s net foreign assets? b) Assume that the foreign central banks neither buy nor sell Pecunian assets. How did the Pecunian central bank’s foreign reserves change in 1998? How would this official intervention show up in the balance of payments accounts of Pecunia? c) How would your answer to (b) change if you learned that foreign central banks had purchased $1.2 billion of Pecunian assets in 1998? How would these official purchases enter the foreign balance of payments accounts? 3. (15 points) Derive (show your work) the following, and provide a brief explanation: a) Uncovered interest rate parity b) Covered interest rate parity 4. (10 points) Define â€Å"neutrality of money† and discuss why money is thought to be â€Å"neutral† in the long-run. 5. (10) Define â€Å"Purchasing Power Parity† and discuss the reasons why it might or might not hold. 6. (15 points) In our formal model of exchange rate determination under â€Å"sticky prices† a) What do the two curves represent?

Of mIce and Men, how Steinbeck creates sympoahty and animosity towards Curley’s Wife Essay

In of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Curley’s wife sparks much debate and controversy, being an extremely important character in the book as she symbolises the gender inequality and discrimination of the period. At the start of the novella, we assume she is just a plot device, but later on find out that there is much more about her and she has a very important role in the book as being the only woman. During the 1930’s women were treated unequally to men, and weren’t treated with as much respect, which is reflected later when we realise that Curley’s wife isn’t addressed with a name. The attitude to women at the time contrasts with how gender inequality is now; women have the right to vote and they are now appreciated. The novella is set in the 1930s in Soledad, near Salinas, California. The novella was set during the American depression. Soledad, meaning loneliness in Spanish is also cleverly used as the place name of where the fictional ranch is set. This merges in with the theme of loneliness that runs throughout the novel, foreshadowing what we later find out about Curley’s wife’s life on the ranch. The Great depression was triggered by the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and left millions of people unemployed. All the while people lost confidence, felt insecure and the American Dream had vanished, linking to what all the men on the ranch want, but now seems impossible to achieve. Because of the ranch being an isolated and primitive, the lifestyle was lonely. Steinbeck uses his personal experience as a ranch worker to describe how the workers felt: George says that â€Å"ranch workers are the loneliest people in the world and don’t belong nowhere†. Steinbeck also portrays loneliness through characterisation. Perhaps the loneliest character, which Steinbeck creates in the novel, is Curley’s wife. She is the only female in the ranch and although she is married, you never witness the distinct couple of Curley and his wife together. She is never really noticed, hence the sense of sexual discrimination. Section 1: Of Mice and Men is filled with tragic events which come in a crucial structure that are hinted throughout the book. In fact, even the title foreshadows the unfortunate situations that take place. â€Å"Of Mice and Men† comes from the poem by Robert Burns – To a Mouse. ‘The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men/ gang aft agley./ An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain./ Forn  promis’d joy!’. The poem tells us that the best things always go wrong and leave you with nothing but grief and pain, this relates to the novella well because the best dream for Curley’s wife was to be in the ‘pitcures’, but because her mother took them away (she believed) her dreams was shattered and now is left in an unhappy marriage on a ranch where she doesn’t belong. The first moment that we hear about Curley’s wife is when Candy describes her in the bunkhouse, through gossip. He describes her as a sex object, sounding quite negative towards her. Steinbeck first describes her in a less judgmental way, not really showing a strong opinion of her, unlike Candy’s view which is much more frustrated and clear: ‘well i think Curley’s married†¦a tart’. When Candy describes her as a ‘tart’ and the use of an ellipsis, shows that he recoils when using such a derogatory term. The reader already pictures Curley’s wife in their head, and we immediately seem to dislike her, but also sympathise for her because she is gossiped about before the reader even meets her and can make their own decision. One of the reasons why we first hear about Curley’s wife before we meet her is because the men on the ranch all dislike Curley, and they all presume she is as mean as he is. Again, when she is introduced, an ill feeling overcomes the atmosphere indicating that Lennie will be getting into a mess with her. George states in the very beginning that he is always getting into mishaps, â€Å"You do bad things and I got to get you out,†. In the first scene, we learn that Lennie likes to stroke mice and other soft creatures, but has a tendency to kill them accidentally. This foreshadows the death of his puppy and the death of Curley’s wife. Furthermore, when George recounts that Lennie grabbed the woman’s dress in Weed and would not let go, the reader anticipates that similar trouble will arise at the ranch, especially once Curley’s flirtatious wife appears on the scene. Lennie being naà ¯ve and has limited intelligence, showing that he is somewhat childish and interprets his feelings different to how we might understand these feelings. When he describes Curley’s wife as ‘Purty’ we get the sense that he considers her on her looks alone. The vernacular language again shows that he is childlike, and makes him sound real. In society, from where the book was published up till now, the elderly are no longer useful because they aren’t as able. The shooting of Candy’s dog symbolises that there is not need for the elderly to live, representing that Lennie is the dog, because he is not as mentally  able as the other men on the ranch. Candy mirrors George- he has to suffer and has lost his partner, just like Candy lost his dog that kept Candy company, but no longer can, linking back to the idea of everyone always ending up lonely. The contrast between the first chapter and the last also shows his death because the same scene goes from the peaceful field to the violent death of the water snake at the beginning of the novella. Section 2: Throughout Of Mice and Men, we feel that a lot of the characters feel real to us. This is because of the vernacular Steinbeck uses. Curley’s wife seems to be a hard character, but might not be as strong as she would like to appear. She strives to make an impression in front of all the men, because she is the only woman on the ranch, one could interpret this like she knows that the men might be attracted to her and thinks she has an advantage. ‘She was heavily made up’ describes that she wears a lot of makeup; this makes the reader get a sense of ill feeling towards her, although whilst also feeling sensitivity for her because this could illustrate that she wears so much makeup to hide herself, and uses it as a mask. Also, she could be so made up because she still wants to imagine herself as an actress; all the stars where makeup and look magnificent. When Curley’s wife first speaks, her voice is described with having ‘a nasal, brittle quality’. The word ‘nasal’ suggests a high, whiney voice, which does not match her powerful facade and links to previous suggestions of being fake and disguising her real persona with her appearance. The fact that she feels unable to show her true self for fear of being hurt, creates sympathy in the reader. After the gossip we hear about Curley’s wife, we finally meet her. Her physical appearance of ‘full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made- up’, as well as ‘fingernail painted red’ and elaborate hair, further build on our preconceptions of her. Red, the colour of her attire and the style of her hair and makeup suggest some sexuality. Additionally, she use suggestive and provocative body language, ‘she put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward’, and her flimsy excuse to be with the men in their quarters contribute to the rancher’s view of her as a ’tramp’. She both talks and acts playfully and flirtatiously in  front of the other ranch workers. She could behave in this manner because her sexuality is her only weapon to gain attention, thus Candy’s description of her seems accurate after her first appearance in the novel. Through her physical appearance and her own actions, Candy’s description of Curley’s Wife seems accurate after her first appearance in the novel. On the other hand, Curley’s Wife’s appearance could be seen as naivety and simply youthful desire to be found attractive. Red is a primary colour therefore children are attracted to it, it is a colour children want to wear because it is bright and has an element of happiness in it. Therefore Curley’s Wife wearing the colour red may symbolise a child’s attraction to bright colours portraying her as youthful or girly. Curley’s wife is such a complex character, and we see this in the letter Steinbeck wrote to Miss Luce describing her. Steinbeck heard that Miss Luce was struggling to play the role of Curley’s wife in 1938, in the letter he included her as ‘knowing utterly nothing about sex’ and Curley’s wife is an innocent woman under all the defenses she has built up against all the comments directed to her. In of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Curley’s wife sparks much debate and controversy, being an extremely important character in the book as she symbolises the gender inequality and discrimination of the period. At the start of the novella, we assume she is just a plot device, but later on find out that there is much more about her and she has a very important role in the book as being the only woman. During the 1930’s women were treated unequally to men, and weren’t treated with as much respect, which is reflected later when we realise that Curley’s wife isn’t addressed with a name. The attitude to women at the time contrasts with how gender inequality is now; women have the right to vote and they are now appreciated. The novella is set in the 1930s in Soledad, near Salinas, California. The novella was set during the American depression. Soledad, meaning loneliness in Spanish is also cleverly used as the place name of where the fictional ranch is set. This merges in with the theme of loneliness that runs throughout the novel, foreshadowing what we later find out about Curley’s wife’s life on the ranch. The Great depression was triggered by the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and left millions of people unemployed. All the while people lost confidence, felt insecure and the American Dream had vanished, linking to what all the men on the ranch want, but now seems impossible to achieve. Because of the ranch being an isolated and primitive, the lifestyle was lonely. Steinbeck uses his personal experience as a ranch worker to describe how the workers felt: George says that â€Å"ranch workers are the loneliest people in the world and don’t belong nowhere†. Steinbeck also portrays loneliness through characterisation. Perhaps the loneliest character, which Steinbeck creates in the novel, is Curley’s wife. She is the only female in the ranch and although she is married, you never witness the distinct couple of Curley and his wife together. She is never really noticed, hence the sense of sexual discrimination. Section 1: Of Mice and Men is filled with tragic events which come in a crucial structure that are hinted throughout the book. In fact, even the title foreshadows the unfortunate situations that take place. â€Å"Of Mice and Men† comes from the poem by Robert Burns – To a Mouse. ‘The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men/ gang aft agley./ An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain./ For  promis’d joy!’. The poem tells us that the best things always go wrong and leave you with nothing but grief and pain, this relates to the novella well because the best dream for Curley’s wife was to be in the ‘pitcures’, but because her mother took them away (she believed) her dreams was shattered and now is left in an unhappy marriage on a ranch where she doesn’t belong. The first moment that we hear about Curley’s wife is when Candy describes her in the bunkhouse, through gossip. He describes her as a sex object, sounding quite negative towards her. Steinbeck first describes her in a less judgmental way, not really showing a strong opinion of her, unlike Candy’s view which is much more frustrated and clear: ‘well i think Curley’s married†¦a tart’. When Candy describes her as a ‘tart’ and the use of an ellipsis, shows that he recoils when using such a derogatory term. The reader already pictures Curley’s wife in their head, and we immediately seem to dislike her, but also sympathise for her because she is gossiped about before the reader even meets her and can make their own decision. One of the reasons why we first hear about Curley’s wife before we meet her is because the men on the ranch all dislike Curley, and they all presume she is as mean as he is. Again, when she is introduced, an ill feeling overcomes the atmosphere indicating that Lennie will be getting into a mess with her. George states in the very beginning that he is always getting into mishaps, â€Å"You do bad things and I got to get you out,†. In the first scene, we learn that Lennie likes to stroke mice and other soft creatures, but has a tendency to kill them accidentally. This foreshadows the death of his puppy and the death of Curley’s wife. Furthermore, when George recounts that Lennie grabbed the woman’s dress in Weed and would not let go, the reader anticipates that similar trouble will arise at the ranch, especially once Curley’s flirtatious wife appears on the scene. Lennie being naà ¯ve and has limited intelligence, showing that he is somewhat childish and interprets his feelings different to how we might understand these feelings. When he describes Curley’s wife as ‘Purty’ we get the sense that he considers her on her looks alone. The vernacular language again shows that he is childlike, and makes him sound real. In society, from where the book was published up till now, the elderly are no longer useful because they aren’t as able. The shooting of Candy’s dog symbolises that there is not need for the elderly to live, representing that Lennie is the dog, because he is not as mentally able as the other men on the ranch. Candy mirrors George- he has to suffer and has lost his partner, just like Candy lost his dog that kept Candy company, but no longer can, linking back to the idea of everyone always ending up lonely. The contrast between the first chapter and the last also shows his death because the same scene goes from the peaceful field to the violent death of the water snake at the beginning of the novella. Section 2: Throughout Of Mice and Men, we feel that a lot of the characters feel real to us. This is because of the vernacular Steinbeck uses. Curley’s wife seems to be a hard character, but might not be as strong as she would like to appear. She strives to make an impression in front of all the men, because she is the only woman on the ranch, one could interpret this like she knows that the men might be attracted to her and thinks she has an advantage. ‘She was heavily made up’ describes that she wears a lot of makeup; this makes the reader get a sense of ill feeling towards her, although whilst also feeling sensitivity for her because this could illustrate that she wears so much makeup to hide herself, and uses it as a mask. Also, she could be so made up because she still wants to imagine herself as an actress; all the stars where makeup and look magnificent. When Curley’s wife first speaks, her voice is described with having ‘a nasal, brittle quality’. The word ‘nasal’ suggests a high, whiney voice, which does not match her powerful facade and links to previous suggestion In of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Curley’s wife sparks much debate and controversy, being an extremely important character in the book as she symbolises the gender inequality and discrimination of the period. At the start of the novella, we assume she is just a plot device, but later on find out that there is much more about her and she has a very important role in the book as being the only woman. During the 1930’s women were treated unequally to men, and weren’t treated with as much respect, which is reflected later when we realise that Curley’s wife isn’t addressed with a name. The attitude to women at the time contrasts with how gender inequality is now; women have the right to vote and they are now appreciated. The novella is set in the 1930s in Soledad, near Salinas, California. The novella was set during the American depression. Soledad, meaning loneliness in Spanish is also cleverly used as the place name of where the fictional ranch is set. This merges in with the theme of loneliness that runs throughout the novel, foreshadowing what we later find out about Curley’s wife’s life on the ranch. The Great depression was triggered by the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and left millions of people unemployed. All the while people lost confidence, felt insecure and the American Dream had vanished, linking to what all the men on the ranch want, but now seems impossible to achieve. Because of the ranch being an isolated and primitive, the lifestyle was lonely. Steinbeck uses his personal experience as a ranch worker to describe how the workers felt: George says that â€Å"ranch workers are the loneliest people in the world and don’t belong nowhere†. Steinbeck also portrays loneliness through characterisation. Perhaps the loneliest character, which Steinbeck creates in the novel, is Curley’s wife. She is the only female in the ranch and although she is married, you never witness the distinct couple of Curley and his wife together. She is never really noticed, hence the sense of sexual discrimination. Section 1: Of Mice and Men is filled with tragic events which come in a crucial structure that are hinted throughout the book. In fact, even the title foreshadows the unfortunate situations that take place. â€Å"Of Mice and Men† comes from the poem by Robert Burns – To a Mouse. ‘The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men/ gang aft agley./ An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain./ For  promis’d joy!’. The poem tells us that the best things always go wrong and leave you with nothing but grief and pain, this relates to the novella well because the best dream for Curley’s wife was to be in the ‘pitcures’, but because her mother took them away (she believed) her dreams was shattered and now is left in an unhappy marriage on a ranch where she doesn’t belong. The first moment that we hear about Curley’s wife is when Candy describes her in the bunkhouse, through gossip. He describes her as a sex object, sounding quite negative towards her. Steinbeck first describes her in a less judgmental way, not really showing a strong opinion of her, unlike Candy’s view which is much more frustrated and clear: ‘well i think Curley’s married†¦a tart’. When Candy describes her as a ‘tart’ and the use of an ellipsis, shows that he recoils when using such a derogatory term. The reader already pictures Curley’s wife in their head, and we immediately seem to dislike her, but also sympathise for her because she is gossiped about before the reader even meets her and can make their own decision. One of the reasons why we first hear about Curley’s wife before we meet her is because the men on the ranch all dislike Curley, and they all presume she is as mean as he is. Again, when she is introduced, an ill feeling overcomes the atmosphere indicating that Lennie will be getting into a mess with her. George states in the very beginning that he is always getting into mishaps, â€Å"You do bad things and I got to get you out,†. In the first scene, we learn that Lennie likes to stroke mice and other soft creatures, but has a tendency to kill them accidentally. This foreshadows the death of his puppy and the death of Curley’s wife. Furthermore, when George recounts that Lennie grabbed the woman’s dress in Weed and would not let go, the reader anticipates that similar trouble will arise at the ranch, especially once Curley’s flirtatious wife appears on the scene. Lennie being naà ¯ve and has limited intelligence, showing that he is somewhat childish and interprets his feelings different to how we might understand these feelings. When he describes Curley’s wife as ‘Purty’ we get the sense that he considers her on her looks alone. The vernacular language again shows that he is childlike, and makes him sound real. In society, from where the book was published up till now, the elderly are no longer useful because they aren’t as able. The shooting of Candy’s dog symbolises that there is not need for the elderly to live, representing that Lennie is the dog, because he is not as mentally  able as the other men on the ranch. Candy mirrors George- he has to suffer and has lost his partner, just like Candy lost his dog that kept Candy company, but no longer can, linking back to the idea of everyone always ending up lonely. The contrast between the first chapter and the last also shows his death because the same scene goes from the peaceful field to the violent death of the water snake at the beginning of the novella. Section 2: Throughout Of Mice and Men, we feel that a lot of the characters feel real to us. This is because of the vernacular Steinbeck uses. Curley’s wife seems to be a hard character, but might not be as strong as she would like to appear. She strives to make an impression in front of all the men, because she is the only woman on the ranch, one could interpret this like she knows that the men might be attracted to her and thinks she has an advantage. ‘She was heavily made up’ describes that she wears a lot of makeup; this makes the reader get a sense of ill feeling towards her, although whilst also feeling sensitivity for her because this could illustrate that she wears so much makeup to hide herself, and uses it as a mask. Also, she could be so made up because she still wants to imagine herself as an actress; all the stars where makeup and look magnificent. When Curley’s wife first speaks, her voice is described with having ‘a nasal, brittle quality’. The word ‘nasal’ suggests a high, whiney voice, which does not match her powerful facade and links to previous suggestions of being fake and disguising her real persona with her appearance. The fact that she feels unable to show her true self for fear of being hurt, creates sympathy in the reader. After the gossip we hear about Curley’s wife, we finally meet her. Her physical appearance of ‘full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made- up’, as well as ‘fingernail painted red’ and elaborate hair, further build on our preconceptions of her. Red, the colour of her attire and the style of her hair and makeup suggest some sexuality. Additionally, she use suggestive and provocative body language, ‘she put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward’, and her flimsy excuse to be with the men in their quarters contribute to the rancher’s view of her as a ’tramp’. She both talks and acts playfully and flirtatiously in  front of the other ranch workers. She could behave in this manner because her sexuality is her only weapon to gain attention, thus Candy’s description of her seems accurate after her first appearance in the novel. Through her physical appearance and her own actions, Candy’s description of Curley’s Wife seems accurate after her first appearance in the novel. On the other hand, Curley’s Wife’s appearance could be seen as naivety and simply youthful desire to be found attractive. Red is a primary colour therefore children are attracted to it, it is a colour children want to wear because it is bright and has an element of happiness in it. Therefore Curley’s Wife wearing the colour red may symbolise a child’s attraction to bright colours portraying her as youthful or girly. Curley’s wife is such a complex character, and we see this in the letter Steinbeck wrote to Miss Luce describing her. Steinbeck heard that Miss Luce was struggling to play the role of Curley’s wife in 1938, in the letter he included her as ‘knowing utterly nothing about sex’ and Curley’s wife is an innocent woman under all the defenses she has built up against all the comments directed to her. s of being fake and disguising her real persona with her appearance. The fact that she feels unable to show her true self for fear of being hurt, creates sympathy in the reader. After the gossip we hear about Curley’s wife, we finally meet her. Her physical appearance of ‘full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made- up’, as well as ‘fingernail painted red’ and elaborate hair, further build on our preconceptions of her. Red, the colour of her attire and the style of her hair and makeup suggest some sexuality. Additionally, she use suggestive and provocative body language, ‘she put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward’, and her flimsy excuse to be with the men in their quarters contribute to the rancher’s view of her as a ’tramp’. She both talks and acts playfully and flirtatiously in  front of the other ranch workers. She could behave in this manner because her sexuality is her only weapon to gain attention, thus Candy’s description of her seems accurate after her first appearance in the novel. Through her physical appearance and her own actions, Candy’s description of Curley’s Wife seems accurate after her first appearance in the novel. On the other hand, Curley’s Wife’s appearance could be seen as naivety and simply youthful desire to be found attractive. Red is a primary colour therefore children are attracted to it, it is a colour children want to wear because it is bright and has an element of happiness in it. Therefore Curley’s Wife wearing the colour red may symbolise a child’s attraction to bright colours portraying her as youthful or girly. Curley’s wife is such a complex character, and we see this in the letter Steinbeck wrote to Miss Luce describing her. Steinbeck heard that Miss Luce was struggling to play the role of Curley’s wife in 1938, in the letter he included her as ‘knowing utterly nothing about sex’ and Curley’s wife is an innocent woman under all the defenses she has built up against all the comments directed to her.

Quotes From A Passage to India by E.M. Forster

A Passage to India is a famous modern novel by E.M. Forester. Set during the English colonization of India, the novel dramatically depicts some of the conflicts between the Indian people and the colonial government. Here are a few quotes from A Passage to India. So abased, so monotonous is everything that meets the eye, that when the Ganges comes down it might be expected to wash the excrescence back into the soil. Houses do fall, people are drowned and left rotting, but the general outline of the town persists, welling here, shrinking there, like some low but indestructible form of life.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 1On the second rise is laid out the little civil station, and viewed hence Chandrapore appears to be a totally different place. It is a city of gardens. It is no city, but a forest sparsely scattered with huts. It is a tropical pleasaunce washed by a noble river.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 1They all become exactly the same, not worse, not better. I give any Englishman two years, be he Turton or Burton. It is only the difference of a letter. And I give any English woman six months. All are exactly alike.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 2He has found out our dinner hour, thats all, and chooses to inter rupt us every time, in order to show his power.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 2A Mosque by winning his approval let loose his imagination. The temple of another creed, Hindu, Christian, or Greek, would have bored him and failed to awaken his sense of beauty. Here was Islam, his own country, more than a Faith, more than a battle cry, more, much more.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 2Islam an attitude towards life both exquisite and durable, where his body and his thoughts found their home.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 2That makes no difference. God is here.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 2As he strolled down hill beneath the lovely moon, and again saw the lovely mosque, he seemed to own the land as much as anyone who owned it. What did it matter if a few flabby Hindus had preceded him there, and a few chilly English succeeded.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 2I want to see the real India.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 3Come on, Indias not as bad as all that. Other side of the earth, if you like, but we stick to the same old moon.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 3Adventures do occur, but not punctually.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 3In England the moon had seemed dead and alien; here she was caught in the shawl of night together with earth and all other stars. A sudden sense of unity, of kinship with the heavenly bodies, passed into the old woman and out, like water through a tank, leaving a strange freshness behind.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 3It is easy to sympathize at a distance. I value more the kind word that is spoken close to my ear.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 4No, no, this is going to far. We must exclude someone from our gathering, or we shall be left with nothing.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 4No, it was not picturesque; the East, abandoning its secular magnificence, was descending into a valley whose farther side no man can see.- E.M. Forster, A Passa ge to India, Ch. 5Because India is part of the earth. And God has put us on the earth in order to be pleasant to each other. God is love.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 5he did not realize that white has no more to do with a colour than God save the King with a god, and that it is the height of impropriety to consider what it does connote.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 7A mystery is only a high sounding term for a muddle. No advantage in stirring it up, in either case. Aziz and I know well that India is a muddle.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 7Aziz was exquisitely dressed, from tie-pin to spats, but he had forgotten his back-collar stud, and there you have the Indian all over; inattention to detail, the fundamental slackness that reveals the race.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 8 Her hand touched his, owing to a jolt, and one of the thrills so frequent in the animal kingdom passed between them, and announced that their difficulties were only a lovers quarrel.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 8And when the whole world behaves as such, there will be no more purdah?- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 11But he [Aziz] himself was rooted in society and Islam. He belonged to a tradition, which bound him, and he had brought children into the world, the society of the future. Though he lived so vaguely in this flimsy bungalow, nevertheless he was placed, placed.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 11All the love he felt for her at the Mosque welled up again, the fresher for forgetfulness.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 13You keep your religion, I mine. That is best. Nothing embraces the whole of India, nothing, nothing and that was Akbars mistake.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 14But suddenly, at the edge of her mind, Religion appeared, po or little talkative Christianity, and she knew that all its divine words from Let there be light to It is finished only amounted to boum.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 14I have had twenty five years experience of this country--and twenty five years seemed to fill the waiting room with their staleness and ungeneroisity--and during those twenty five years, I have never known anything but disaster result when English people and Indians attempt to be intimate socially.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 17They are not to blame, they have not a dogs chance--we should be like them if we settled here.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 18They had started speaking of women and children, that phrase that exempts the male from sanity when it has been repeated a few times.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 20But every humane act in the East is tainted with officialism, and while honoring him they condemned Aziz and India.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 20The sound had spouted after her when she escaped, and was going on still like a river that gradually floods the plain. Only Mrs. Moore could drive it back to its source and seal the broken reservoir. Evil was loose...she could hear it entering the lives of others.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 22Her Christian tenderness had gone, or had developed into hardness, a just irritation against the human race; she had taken no interest at the arrest, asked scarcely any questions, and had refused to leave her bed on one awful last night of Mohurram, when an attack was expected on the bungalow.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 22As soon as she landed in India, it seemed to her good, and when she saw the water flowing through the mosque tank, or the Ganges, or the moon caught in the shawl of night with all the other stars, it seemed a beautiful goal and an easy one.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 23by what right did they claim so much importance in the world and assume the title of civilization?- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 24Ronnys religion was of the sterilized Public School brand, which never goes bad, even in the tropics. Wherever he entered, mosque, cave or temple, he retained the spiritual outlook of the fifth form, and condemned as weakening any attempt to understand them.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 28The poem for Mr. Bhattacharya never got written, but it had an effect. It led him towards the vague and bulky figure of a mother-land. He was without natural affection for the land of his birth, but the Marabar Hills drove him to it. Half closing his eyes, he attempted to love India.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 30Suspicion in the Oriental is a sort of malignant tumor, a mental malady, that makes him self-conscious and unfriendly suddenly; he trusts and mistrusts at the same time in a way the Westerner can not comprehend. It is his demon, as the Westerners is hypocrisy.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 32Thus Godbol e, though she was not important to him, remembered an old woman he had met in Chandrapore days. Chance brought her into his mind while it was in this heated state, he did not select her, she happened to occur among the throng of soliciting images, a tiny splinter, and he impelled her by his spiritual force to that place where completeness can be found.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 33My heart is for my own people henceforward.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 35Then you are an Oriental.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 36But the horses didnt want it-they swerved apart; the earth didnt want it, sending up rocks through which riders must pass single file; the temples, the tank, the jail, the palace, the birds, the carrion, the Guest House, that came into view as they issued from the gap and saw Mau beneath: they didnt want it, they said in their hundred voices, No, not yet, and the sky said, No, not there.- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Ch. 37