What impact did the Atlantic slave trade have on the nations of the Essay

What impact did the Atlantic slave trade have on the nations of the West African interior - Essay Example As the slave traders only left the old and the young behind, with the young and able bodied Africans all captured to be sold later, therefore it was very hard for those who were left behind to revive the economy and make a living for themselves, resulting, often, in starvation and more deaths. Those who were captured were transported by forced marches across the continent, further causing deaths. Moreover, not all who were captured were transported to other continents, which resulted in their displacement within the continent, which caused adverse affects to the region they were left in. There was massive relocation on the part of many communities, as they did not want to be within short distance of the slave traders’ route, which caused them to lose all advancements they had made in their present areas. Not only that, as these communities were more focused on saving themselves and trying to hide from the slave traders, they had little or no economic and technological development. As the Europeans were involved completely in the slave trade, they did not want the African states to centralize due to the adverse affects of this centralization to the slave trade. Due to this reason, the European powers did not allow much political progress to be made in the region. This also resulted in despotic rulers or elders, often if not always funded by Europeans, being placed over the people, who did not allow much interaction between the states, and who often, suppressed their own people and allowed the slave trade to go on. All of this caused the continent to be pushed back in time with little or no progress being made at any level. The African people were often disorganized with the whole continent lagging far behind in its economic, political and social growth. The slave trade was the first step, therefore one can say, in leaving the doors open for European colonialism in the African continent, which was a further cause for the problems of the

Child Abuse Mandatory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Child Abuse Mandatory - Essay Example From the essay it is clear that within the US, almost all state governments have established statutes to ensure that child abuse cases are reported in seeking to manage the process. There are professional groups and institutions which have been identified and handed the responsibility to legally report incidents of child abuse within the various states. It, therefore, becomes an obligation of the selected organisations to ensure the laws are enforced, through ensuring that all the cases are reported as stipulated within the law. Within the state of California the following state statutes are utilised in the mandatory child abuse reporting. While these has been many debates on the mandatory child reporting since the first enactment of such law in 1963, the current issues are contained in The Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA)[i]  which was enacted in 1980. It continues to be amended in order to provide specific details like the persons required to report, the procedures a nd many other elements of the reporting. The Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act came into force within the state of California in 1980 and has been amendment to clarify terms and provide better definitions of terms This paper discusses that  legal obligation that is required of the reporting agencies is the ability to support any reported incidents. When an individual completes the mandated report form, and they present a report they should be able to sign as a way of confirming knowledge or understanding the information contained within the context of the report provided.

Literature Cape Essay Example for Free

Literature Cape Essay Many critics attempt to show how the disguise relate to the different parts, and/or different characters of the play. This story explores a cariety of themes and issues, however disguise, deceit, celebration and festivity are the major, more prominent ones. Although the play is a â€Å"silly play† said by Samuel Pepys, who saw the play on three occasions, many critics feel the play’s use of language used to deceive and the failure of characters to communicate properly and effectively and truthfully, made it confusing. The Twelfth Night (January 6th) is actually the Epiphany. During the Epiphany noble households sponsored numerous performances of plays, masques, banquets and kinds of activities. This story opens up to a man, Curio dressing for the plans of that night. While dressing, he confesses how he feels towards a woman named Olivia. Olivia, a well-to-do woman, wants little Analysis of Major Characters Viola Like most of Shakespeare’s heroines, Viola is a tremendously likable figure. She has no serious faults, and we can easily discount the peculiarity of her decision to dress as a man, since it sets the entire plot in motion. She is the character whose love seems the purest. The other characters’ passions are fickle: Orsino jumps from Olivia to Viola, Olivia jumps from Viola to Sebastian, and Sir Toby and Maria’s marriage seems more a matter of whim than an expression of deep and abiding passion. Only Viola seems to be truly, passionately in love as opposed to being self-indulgently lovesick. As she says to Orsino, describing herself and her love for him: She pined in thought, And with a green and yellow melancholy She sat like patience on a monument, Smiling at grief. Was not this love indeed? (II. iv. 111–114) The audience, like Orsino, can only answer with an emphatic yes. Viola’s chief problem throughout the play is one of identity. Because of her disguise, she must be both herself and Cesario. This mounting identity crisis culminates in the final scene, when Viola finds herself surrounded by people who each have a different idea of who she is and are unaware of who she actually is. Were Twelfth Night not a comedy, this pressure might cause Viola to break down. Sebastian’s appearance at this point, however, effectively saves Viola by allowing her to be herself again. Sebastian, who independent of his sister is not much of a character, takes over the aspects f Viola’s disguise that she no longer wishes to maintain. Thus liberated by her brother, Viola is free to shed the roles that she has accumulated throughout the play, and she can return to being Viola, the woman who has loved and won Orsino. Orsino and Olivia Orsino and Olivia are worth discussing together, because they have similar personalities. Both claim to be buffeted by s trong emotions, but both ultimately seem to be self-indulgent individuals who enjoy melodrama and self-involvement more than anything. When we first meet them, Orsino is pining away for love of Olivia, while Olivia pines away for her dead brother. They show no interest in relating to the outside world, preferring to lock themselves up with their sorrows and mope around their homes. Viola’s arrival begins to break both characters out of their self-involved shells, but neither undergoes a clear-cut change. Orsino relates to Viola in a way that he never has to Olivia, diminishing his self-involvement and making him more likable. Yet he persists in his belief that he is in love with Olivia until the final scene, in spite of the fact that he never once speaks to her during the course of the play. Olivia, meanwhile, sets aside her grief when Viola (disguised as Cesario) comes to see her. But Olivia takes up her own fantasy of lovesickness, in which she pines away—with a self-indulgence that mirrors Orsino’s—for a man who is really a woman. Ultimately, Orsino and Olivia seem to be out of touch with real emotion, as demonstrated by the ease with which they shift their affections in the final scene—Orsino from Olivia to Viola, and Olivia from Cesario to Sebastian. The similarity between Orsino and Olivia does not diminish with the end of the play, since the audience realizes that by marrying Viola and Sebastian, respectively, Orsino and Olivia are essentially marrying female and male versions of the same person. Malvolio Malvolio initially seems to be a minor character, and his humiliation seems little more than an amusing subplot to the Viola-Olivia-Orsino- love triangle. But he becomes more interesting as the play progresses, and most critics have judged him one of the most complex and fascinating characters in Twelfth Night. When we first meet Malvolio, he seems to be a simple type—a puritan, a stiff and proper servant who likes nothing better than to spoil other people’s fun. It is this dour, fun-despising side that earns him the enmity of the zany, drunken Sir Toby and the clever Maria, who together engineer his downfall. But they do so by playing on a side of Malvolio that might have otherwise remained hidden—his self-regard and his remarkable ambitions, which extend to marrying Olivia and becoming, as he puts it, â€Å"Count Malvolio† (II. v. 30). When he finds the forged letter from Olivia (actually penned by Maria) that seems to offer hope to his ambitions, Malvolio undergoes his first transformation—from a stiff and wooden embodiment of priggish propriety into an personification of the power of selfdelusion. He is ridiculous in these scenes, as he capers around in the yellow stockings and crossed garters that he thinks will please Olivia, but he also becomes pitiable. He may deserve his come-uppance, but there is an uncomfortable universality to his experience. Malvolio’s misfortune is a cautionary tale of ambition overcoming good sense, and the audience winces at the way he adapts every event—including Olivia’s confused assumption that he must be mad—to fit his rosy picture of his glorious future as a nobleman. Earlier, he embodies stiff joylessness; now he is joyful, but in pursuit of a dream that everyone, except him, knows is false. Our pity for Malvolio only increases when the vindictive Maria and Toby confine him to a dark room in Act IV. As he desperately protests that he is not mad, Malvolio begins to seem more of a victim than a victimizer. It is as if the unfortunate steward, as the embodiment of order and sobriety, must be sacrificed so that the rest of the characters can indulge in the hearty spirit that suffuses Twelfth Night. As he is sacrificed, Malvolio begins to earn our respect. It is too much to call him a tragic figure, however—after all, he is only being asked to endure a single night in darkness, hardly a fate comparable to the sufferings of King Lear or Hamlet. But there is a kind of nobility, however limited, in the way that the deluded steward stubbornly clings to his sanity, even in the face of Feste’s insistence that he is mad. Malvolio remains true to himself, despite everything: he knows that he is sane, and he will not allow anything to destroy this knowledge. Malvolio (and the audience) must be content with this self-knowledge, because the play allows Malvolio no real recompense for his sufferings. At the close of the play, he is brought out of the darkness into a celebration in which he has no part, and where no one seems willing to offer him a real apology. â€Å"I’ll be revenged on the whole pack of you,† he snarls, stalking out of the festivities (V. i. 365). His exit strikes a jarring note in an otherwise joyful comedy. Malvolio has no real place in the anarchic world of Twelfth Night, except to suggest that, even in the best of worlds, someone must suffer while everyone else is happy. I n the kingdom of Illyria, a nobleman named Orsino lies around listening to music, pining away for the love of Lady Olivia. He cannot have her because she is in mourning for her dead brother and refuses to entertain any proposals of marriage. Meanwhile, off the coast, a storm has caused a terrible shipwreck. A young, aristocratic-born woman named Viola is swept onto the Illyrian shore. Finding herself alone in a strange land, she assumes that her twin brother, Sebastian, has been drowned in the wreck, and tries to figure out what sort of work she can do. A friendly sea captain tells her about Orsino’s courtship of Olivia, and Viola says that she wishes she could go to work in Olivia’s home. But since Lady Olivia refuses to talk with any strangers, Viola decides that she cannot look for work with her. Instead, she decides to disguise herself as a man, taking on the name of Cesario, and goes to work in the household of Duke Orsino. Viola (disguised as Cesario) quickly becomes a favorite of Orsino, who makes Cesario his page. Viola finds herself falling in love with Orsino—a difficult love to pursue, as Orsino believes her to be a man. But when Orsino sends Cesario to deliver Orsino’s love messages to the disdainful Olivia, Olivia herself falls for the beautiful young Cesario, believing her to be a man. The love triangle is complete: Viola loves Orsino, Orsino loves Olivia, and Olivia loves Cesario—and everyone is miserable. Meanwhile, we meet the other members of Olivia’s household: her rowdy drunkard of an uncle, Sir Toby; his foolish friend, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, who is trying in his hopeless way to court Olivia; Olivia’s witty and pretty waiting-gentlewoman, Maria; Feste, the clever clown of the house; and Malvolio, the dour, prudish steward of Olivia’s household. When Sir Toby and the others take offense at Malvolio’s constant efforts to spoil their fun, Maria engineers a practical joke to make Malvolio think that Olivia is in love with him. She forges a letter, supposedly from Olivia, addressed to her beloved (whose name is signified by the letters M. O. A. I. ), telling him that if he wants to earn her favor, he should dress in yellow stockings and crossed garters, act haughtily, smile constantly, and refuse to explain himself to anyone. Malvolio finds the letter, assumes that it is addressed to him, and, filled with dreams of marrying Olivia and becoming noble himself, happily follows its commands. He behaves so strangely that Olivia comes to think that he is mad. Meanwhile, Sebastian, who is still alive after all but believes his sister Viola to be dead, arrives in Illyria along with his friend and protector, Antonio. Antonio has cared for Sebastian since the shipwreck and is passionately (and perhaps sexually) attached to the young man—so much so that he follows him to Orsino’s domain, in spite of the fact that he and Orsino are old enemies. Sir Andrew, observing Olivia’s attraction to Cesario (still Viola in disguise), challenges Cesario to a duel. Sir Toby, who sees the prospective duel as entertaining fun, eggs Sir Andrew on. However, when Sebastian—who looks just like the disguised Viola—appears on the scene, Sir Andrew and Sir Toby end up coming to blows with Sebastian, thinking that he is Cesario. Olivia enters amid the confusion. Encountering Sebastian and thinking that he is Cesario, she asks him to marry her. He is baffled, since he has never seen her before. He sees, however, that she is wealthy and beautiful, and he is therefore more than willing to go along with her. Meanwhile, Antonio has been arrested by Orsino’s officers and now begs Cesario for help, mistaking him for Sebastian. Viola denies knowing Antonio, and Antonio is dragged off, crying out that Sebastian has betrayed him. Suddenly, Viola has newfound hope that her brother may be alive. Malvolio’s supposed madness has allowed the gleeful Maria, Toby, and the rest to lock Malvolio into a small, dark room for his treatment, and they torment him at will. Feste dresses up as Sir Topas, a priest, and pretends to examine Malvolio, declaring him definitely insane in spite of his protests. However, Sir Toby begins to think better of the joke, and they allow Malvolio to send a letter to Olivia, in which he asks to be released. Eventually, Viola (still disguised as Cesario) and Orsino make their way to Olivia’s house, where Olivia welcomes Cesario as her new husband, thinking him to be Sebastian, whom she has just married. Orsino is furious, but then Sebastian himself appears on the scene, and all is revealed. The siblings are joyfully reunited, and Orsino realizes that he loves Viola, now that he knows she is a woman, and asks her to marry him. We discover that Sir Toby and Maria have also been married privately. Finally, someone remembers Malvolio and lets him out of the dark room. The trick is revealed in full, and the embittered Malvolio storms off, leaving the happy couples to their celebration. Themes, Motifs amp; Symbols Themes Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary  work. Love as a Cause of Suffering Twelfth Night is a romantic comedy, and romantic love is the play’s main focus. Despite the fact that the play offers a happy ending, in which the various lovers find one another and achieve wedded bliss, Shakespeare shows that love can cause pain. Many of the characters seem to view love as a kind of curse, a feeling that attacks its victims suddenly and disruptively. Various characters claim to suffer painfully from being in love, or, rather, from the pangs of unrequited love. At one point, Orsino depicts love dolefully as an â€Å"appetite† that he wants to satisfy and cannot (I. i. 1–3); at another point, he calls his desires â€Å"fell and cruel hounds† (I. i. 21). Olivia more bluntly  describes love as a â€Å"plague† from which she suffers terribly  (I. v. 265). These metaphors contain an element of violence, further painting the love-struck as victims of some random force in the universe. Even the less melodramatic Viola sighs unhappily that â€Å"My state is desperate for my master’s love† (II. ii. 35). This desperation has the potential to result in violence—as in Act V, scene i, when Orsino threatens to kill Cesario because he thinks that -Cesario has forsaken him to become Olivia’s lover. Love is also exclusionary: some people achieve romantic happiness, while others do not. At the end of the play, as the happy lovers rejoice, both Malvolio and Antonio are prevented from having the objects of their desire. Malvolio, who has pursued Olivia, must ultimately face the realization that he is a fool, socially unworthy of his noble mistress. Antonio is in a more difficult situation, as social norms do not allow for the gratification of his apparently sexual attraction to Sebastian. Love, thus, cannot conquer all obstacles, and those whose desires go unfulfilled remain no less in love but feel the sting of its absence all the more severely. The Uncertainty of Gender Gender is one of the most obvious and much-discussed topics in the play. Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare’s so-called transvestite comedies, in which a female character—in this case, Viola—disguises herself as a man. This situation creates a sexual mess: Viola falls in love with Orsino but cannot tell him, because he thinks she is a man, while Olivia, the object of Orsino’s affection, falls for Viola in her guise as Cesario. There is a clear homoerotic subtext here: Olivia is in love with a woman, even if she thinks he is a man, and Orsino often remarks on Cesario’s beauty, suggesting that he is attracted to Viola even before her male disguise is removed. This latent homoeroticism finds an explicit echo in the minor character of Antonio, who is clearly in love with his male friend, Sebastian. But Antonio’s desires cannot be satisfied, while Orsino and Olivia both find tidy heterosexual gratification once the sexual ambiguities and deceptions are straightened out. Yet, even at the play’s close, Shakespeare leaves things somewhat murky, especially in the Orsino-Viola relationship. Orsino’s declaration of love to Viola suggests that he enjoys prolonging the pretense of Viola’s masculinity. Even after he knows that Viola is a woman, Orsino says to her, â€Å"Boy, thou hast said to me a thousand times / Thou never should’st love woman like to me† (V. i. 260–261). Similarly, in his last lines, Orsino declares, â€Å"Cesario, come— / For so you shall be while you are a man; / But when in other habits you are seen, / Orsino’s mistress, and his fancy’s queen† (V. i. 372–375). Even once everything is revealed, Orsino continues to address Viola by her male name. We can thus only wonder whether Orsino is truly in love with Viola, or if he is more enamoured of her male persona. The Folly of Ambition The problem of social ambition works itself out largely through the character of Malvolio, the steward, who seems to be a competent servant, if prudish and dour, but proves to be, in fact, a supreme egotist, with tremendous ambitions to rise out of his social class. Maria plays on these ambitions when she forges a letter from Olivia that makes Malvolio believe that Olivia is in love with him and wishes to marry him. Sir Toby and the others find this fantasy hysterically funny, of course—not only because of Malvolio’s unattractive personality but also because Malvolio is not of noble blood. In the class system of Shakespeare’s time, a noblewoman would generally not sully her reputation by marrying a man of lower social status. Yet the atmosphere of the play may render Malvolio’s aspirations less unreasonable than they initially seem. The feast of Twelfth Night, from which the play takes its name, was a time when social hierarchies were turned upside down. That same spirit is alive in Illyria: indeed, Malvolio’s antagonist, Maria, is able to increase her social standing by marrying Sir Toby. But it seems that Maria’s success may be due to her willingness to accept and promote the anarchy that Sir Toby and the others embrace. This Twelfth Night spirit, then, seems to pass by Malvolio, who doesn’t wholeheartedly embrace the upending of order and decorum but rather wants to blur class lines for himself alone. Motifs Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes. Letters, Messages, and Tokens Twelfth Night features a great variety of messages sent from one character to another—sometimes as letters and other times in the form of tokens. Such messages are used both for purposes of communication and miscommunication—sometimes deliberate and sometimes accidental. Maria’s letter to Malvolio, which purports to be from Olivia, is a deliberate (and successful) attempt to trick the steward. Sir Andrew’s letter demanding a duel with Cesario, meanwhile, is meant seriously, but because it is so appallingly stupid, Sir Toby does not deliver it, rendering it extraneous. Malvolio’s missive, sent by way of Feste from the dark room in which he is imprisoned, ultimately works to undo the confusion caused by Maria’s forged letter and to free Malvolio from his imprisonment. But letters are not the only kind of messages that characters employ to communicate with one another. Individuals can be employed in the place of written communication—Orsino repeatedly sends Cesario, for instance, to deliver messages to Olivia. Objects can function as messages between people as well: Olivia sends Malvolio after Cesario with a ring, to tell the page that she loves him, and follows the ring up with further gifts, which symbolize her romantic attachment. Messages can convey important information, but they also create the potential for miscommunication and confusion—especially with characters like Maria and Sir Toby manipulating the information. Madness No one is truly insane in Twelfth Night, yet a number of characters are accused of being mad, and a current of insanity or zaniness runs through the action of the play. After Sir Toby and Maria dupe Malvolio into believing that Olivia loves him, Malvolio behaves so bizarrely that he is assumed to be mad and is locked away in a dark room. Malvolio himself knows that he is sane, and he accuses everyone around him of being mad. Meanwhile, when Antonio encounters Viola (disguised as Cesario), he mistakes her for Sebastian, and his angry insistence that she recognize him leads people to assume that he is mad. All of these incidents feed into the general atmosphere of the play, in which normal life is thrown topsy-turvy, and everyone must confront a reality that is somehow fractured. Disguises Many characters in Twelfth Night assume disguises, beginning with Viola, who puts on male attire and makes everyone else believe that she is a man. By dressing his protagonist in male garments, Shakespeare creates endless sexual confusion with the Olivia-ViolaOrsino love triangle. Other characters in disguise include Malvolio, who puts on crossed garters and yellow stockings in the hope of winning Olivia, and Feste, who dresses up as a priest—Sir Topas—when he speaks to Malvolio after the steward has been locked in a dark room. Feste puts on the disguise even though Malvolio will not be able to see him, since the room is so dark, suggesting that the importance of clothing is not just in the eye of the beholder. For Feste, the disguise completes his assumption of a new identity—in order to be Sir Topas, he must look like Sir Topas. Viola puts on new clothes and changes her gender, while Feste and Malvolio put on new garments either to impersonate a nobleman (Feste) or in the hopes of becoming a nobleman (Malvolio). Through these disguises, the play raises questions about what makes us who we are, compelling the audience to wonder if things like gender and class are set in stone, or if they can be altered with a change of clothing. Mistaken Identity The instances of mistaken identity are related to the prevalence of disguises in the play, as Viola’s male clothing leads to her being mistaken for her brother, Sebastian, and vice versa. Sebastian is mistaken for Viola (or rather, Cesario) by Sir Toby and Sir Andrew, and then by Olivia, who promptly marries him. Meanwhile, Antonio mistakes Viola for Sebastian, and thinks that his friend has betrayed him when Viola claims to not know him. These cases of mistaken identity, common in Shakespeare’s comedies, create the tangled situation that can be resolved only when Viola and Sebastian appear together, helping everyone to understand what has happened. Symbols Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. Olivia’s Gifts When Olivia wants to let Cesario know that she loves him, she sends him a ring by way of Malvolio. Later, when she mistakes Sebastian for Cesario, she gives him a precious pearl. In each case, the jewel serves as a token of her love—a physical symbol of her romantic attachment to a man who is really a woman. The gifts are more than symbols, though. â€Å"Youth is bought more oft than begged or borrowed,† Olivia says at one point, suggesting that the jewels are intended almost as bribes—that she means to buy Cesario’s love if she cannot win it (III. iv. 3). The Darkness of Malvolio’s Prison When Sir Toby and Maria pretend that Malvolio is mad, they confine him in a pitch-black chamber. Darkness becomes a symbol of his supposed insanity, as they tell him that the room is filled with light and his inability to see is a sign of his madness. Malvolio reverses the symbolism. â€Å"I say this house is as dark as ignorance, though ignorance were as dark as hell; and I say there was never man thus abused† (IV. ii. 40–42). In other words, the darkness—meaning madness—is not in the room with him, but outside, with Sir Toby and Feste and Maria, who have unjustly imprisoned him. Changes of Clothing Clothes are powerful in Twelfth Night. They can symbolize changes in gender—Viola puts on male clothes to be taken for a male— as well as class distinctions. When Malvolio fantasizes about becoming a nobleman, he imagines the new clothes that he will have. When Feste impersonates Sir Topas, he puts on a nobleman’s garb, even though Malvolio, whom he is fooling, cannot see him, suggesting that clothes have a power that transcends their physical function. Twelfth Night Analysis of Fools A fool can be defined in many meanings according to the Oxford English Dictionary On Historical Principles. The word could mean a silly person, or one who professionally counterfeits folly for the entertainment of others, a jester, clown or one who has little or no reason or intellect or one who is made to appear to be a fool (word originated from North Frisian). In english literature, the two main ways which the fool could enter imaginative literature is that He could provide a topic, a theme for mediation, or he could turn into a stock character on the stage, a stylized comic figure. In William Shakespeares comedy, Twelfth Night, Feste the clown is not the only fool who is subject to foolery. He and many other characters combine their silly acts and wits to invade other characters that evade reality or rather realize a dream, while our sympathies go out to those. It is natural that the fool should be a prominent amp; attractive figure and make an important contribution to the action in forming the confusion and the humor in an Elizabethan drama. In Twelfth Night, the clown and the fools are the ones who combine humor ;amp; wit to make the comedy work. Clowns, jesters, and Buffoons are usually regarded as fools. Their differences could be of how they dress, act or portrayed in society. A clown for example, was understood to be a country bumpkin or cloun'. In Elizabethan usage, the word clown is ambiguous meaning both countryman and principal comedian. Another meaning given to it in the 1600 is a fool or jester. As for a buffoon, it is defined as a man whose profession is to make low jests and antics postures; a clown, jester, fool. The buffoon is a fool because although he exploits his own weaknesses instead of being exploited by others. he resembles other comic fools. This is similar to the definition of a Jester who is also known as a buffoon, or a merry andrew. One maintained in a princes court or noblemans household. As you can see, the buffoon, jester and the clown are all depicted as fools and are related ;amp; tied to each other in some sort of way. They relatively have the same objectives in their roles but in appearance wise (clothes, physical features) they may be different. In Shakespeares Twelfth Night, Festes role in this Illyrian comedy is significant because Illyria is a country permeated with the spirit of the Feast of Fools, where identities are confused, uncivil rule applauded and no harm is done. In Illyria therefore the fool is not so much a critic of his environment as a ringleader, a merry-companion, a Lord of Misrule. Being equally welcome above and below stairs.. makes Feste significant as a character. In Twelfth Night, Feste plays the role of a humble clown employed by Olivias father playing the licensed fool of their household. We learn this in Olivias statement stating that Feste is an allowed fool(I. v. 93) meaning he is licensed, privileged critic to speak the truth of the people around him. We also learn in a statement by Curio to the Duke that Feste is employed by Olivias father. Feste the jester a fool that the Lady Olivias father took much pleasure in(II. iv. 11). Feste is more of the comic truth of the comedy. Although he does not make any profound remarks, he seems to be the wisest person within all the characters in the comedy. Viola remarks this by saying This fellows wise enough to play the fool(III. i. 61). Since Feste is a licensed fool, his main role in Twelfth Night is to speak the truth. This is where the humor lies, his truthfulness. In one example he proves Olivia to be a true fool by asking her what she was mourning about. The point

Company Contract: Constitutions and Director Role

Company Contract: Constitutions and Director Role Question 1. Is the contract enforceable against Beanstalk Ltd owing to the fact that Jack did not have the capacity to enter into that kind of contract? Employees of a company have a clear mandate on their powers and this are usually spelt out in the in the articles and memorandum of association of a given company. The corporation act has come in handy to address this scenario. Section 124 dwells on the powers of the company and its legal status. Sec 124 (2) provides that a company legal capacity to do a particular thing is not affected by the fact that the company interests are not served by doing it. Section 125 of the CA is to the effect that a company constitution may have an express restriction on the way a company may exercise its powers. Suffice to note that the exercise of a power by the company is not invalid merely because it is contrary to an express restriction or prohibition in the company’s constitution. Subsection 2 is to the effect that an act done by the company is not invalid merely because it is contrary to or beyond any objects in the company’s constitution. Sec 126 is to the effect that an agent appointed by the company and he has the power to make, vary, ratify or discharge a contract. The person may be exercising express or implied authority and on behalf of the company. The power may be exercised without using a common seal. The court always takes the view that the duty to act in good faith in the best interests of the company means that the directors must act in the interests of the shareholders as a collective group as illustrated in the Greenhalgh v Arderne Cinemas Ltd[1]. In addition to the above sections, section 128 entitles one to make assumptions in section129 in relation to dealings with a company. The company is not entitled to assert in proceedings in relation to the dealings that any of the assumptions are incorrect. Section 130 on the other hand is to the effect that a person is not taken to have information about a company merely because the information is available to the public from ASIC. Section 128(4) is to the effect that a person is not entitled to make an assumption in section129 if at the time of the dealings they knew or suspected that the assumption was incorrect. Section 129(b) details the presumption in section 128. Section 129(2)(b) is to the effect that one may assume that a director has authority to exercise the powers and perform the duties customarily exercised or performed by a director or company secretary of a similar company. In our case scenario Beanstalk is obligated to pay even if Jack surpassed his powers unless they can prove that Giant ltd were aware of the limitations imposed on jack and they disregarded them. The Beanstalk constitution was available in the public record and Giant ltd had an obligation of knowing and complying with the con tents Section 130 of the CA serves to address the issue of notice on the limitations imposed on the directors or agents of the company. It provides that the company cannot escape liability on the premise that the person dealing with the company should have been aware of the limitations. The two Sections just before section 130 are of the following effect: Section 128(4) is to the effect that a person is not entitled to make an assumption in section129 if at the time of the dealings they knew or suspected that the assumption was incorrect. Section 129(b) details the presumption in section 128. Section 129(2)(b) is to the effect that one may assume that a director has authority to exercise the powers and perform the duties customarily exercised or performed by a director or company secretary of a similar company. One also need to look at the organic theory which states that where the agents of the company acts within the boundary of powers conferred to them by the company constitution or replaceable rules, then they are deemed as being the company itself as was illustrated in Northside Developments Pty Ltd v Registrar-General[2]. But this may always turn out not to be true as was espoused in the case of Smorgon v Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd[3], where it was observed that such an act requires the attribution of mental states to corporations Company’s legal capacity At common law the company could only enter into legal obligations only if its’ constitution so authorizes. Any part to the contract was deemed to be aware of any restrictions contained in the constitution of the company. Capacity is catered for under Corporations Act 2001. Section 124 accords the company the same legal capacity as an individual and this encompasses power to make an agreement. S 125is to the effect that performance of an act including entry into an agreement by the company will not be invalidated merely on the premise that its beyond the power of the company’s constitution. Thus Giant limited will not be stopped from staking it claims of payments merely because Beanstalk limited had made it constitution public as provided for under s125. Section 128 and 129 are to the effect that where one enters into any dealing with the company on the belief that he is dealing with the right person, then the company will have to honor its obligations. Thus despite the constitution being made public, section 129 and 130 states that the company is still bound by the acts of it officers who are duly appointed to carry out such a task. Thus beanstalk will have to prove that despite Giant ltd being aware of the limitations, they violated what was in the public domain. Question Two Pan Ltd is a company without a constitution. At a members meeting five items of business were passed as special resolutions and placed in a new constitution of the company. These were: that dividends can only be paid if they have been recommended by the directors and declared by the members; Dividends Dividends are the payments made out to shareholders when the company is a going concern and if the directors have approved such payments. They can only be paid if the company assets are sufficiently in excess of its liabilities immediately the dividend is declared and if the dividend is fair and reasonable to the company shareholders as a whole and this does not prejudice the company ability to pay its creditors. This is governed by sections 254T and 254U. (b) That the transfer of shares in the company requires the approval of the directors; Transfer of shares A shareholder in a company who wants to terminate his relationship with the company may decide to offload his shares by way of sale. The shareholder may encounter some difficulties if he wants to sell the shares to an outsider of the company. Some of the difficulties which may arise under the replaceable rules are: The directors have the discretion to refuse to transfer the shares and There might a restriction in the company constitution (if any) on shares transfers. Sections 707. Section 140(2) stipulates that a member may refuse to be bound by modifications after becoming a member if such a modification imposes or increases restrictions on the right to transfer the shares already held by the member, unless the modification is made: or (i) in connection with the company’s change from a public company to a proprietary company under Part2B.7; or (ii) to insert proportional takeover approval provisions into the company’s constitution. Thus the discretion of shares transfer lies with the directors unless a contrary intention as envisaged in section 140 (2) is adduced. that Wendy Weird be a director of the company for life; The CA doesn’t set the specific time for retirement of directors. One can only fail to serve as a director under the circumstances contemplated in Part 2D 3 of the CA. this can be removed by members through the annual general meeting, through resignation or incapacity. To this end one can be a director for life. Those directors of the company are to be appointed by Wendy Weird; A director may appoint another director under section 201 H (replaceable rule—see section135). A person can be appointed as a director with a view of the company establishing the requisite quorum for a directors meeting. Section 201J provides that the directors of a company may appoint 1 or more of themselves to the office of managing director of the company for the period, and on the terms (including as to remuneration), as the directors see fit. To this end Wendy can be appointed under the conditions envisaged in the above sections. That the directors may issue the company’s shares only with the approval of the members. Directors have the powers to issue new shares as provided for under section 254D. Before issuance of new shares of a given class, the directors of a proprietary company must offer them to the existing shareholders of that class. The directors must give the shareholders a statement setting out the terms of the offer. Question Three In order to obtain the funds necessary to expand its business Growth Ltd is to make a $M20 share issue. Advise the directors of Growth Ltd over the following matters. REQUIRED: Can the funds be raised from existing members or anyone else without a prospectus? (2 marks) There are several ways of raising funds by companies in Australia. Public companies (i.e. those with more than 50 non-employee shareholders) can raise funds from the general public by issuing securities. Private companies (ie proprietary limited companies that have no more than 50 non-employee shareholders) on the other hand can raise funds: From existing shareholders and employees of the company or a subsidiary company, and from the general public if the fundraising does not require a disclosure document. Section 708 is to the effect that any personal offers of a body of securities do not require disclosure to the investors. But this doesn’t apply to offers which might amount to indirect issue. Vital documents one is supposed to give potential investors when raising funds? As a general rule of procedure, if a public company is desirous of raising capital or offering securities for sale (for example shares or debentures) a disclosure document must be availed to the potential investors. This is document whose main purpose is to describe all regulated fundraising documents for the issue of securities (for example shares or debentures). All companies which are allowed to raise funds can use a prospectus. A company also relies on an offer information statement or a profile statement and this is informed by the type of fundraising one intends to carry out and whether the restrictions imposed by virtue of using these documents are satisfied. Offer information statements An offer information statement (OIS) has in it a lower threshold for disclosure but can only be used for fundraising up to $10 million. If the company intends to use an OIS then it is required to include a copy of an audited financial report with a balance date within the last six months. Profile statements This is a document which sets out limited key information in relation to the company and the offer. This kind of statements can only be relied upon if ASIC has approved their use. To this end a company can raise funds from without reliance on the prospectus. In summary, a disclosure document is not required when: an offer is a personal offer, and if: offers or invitations have been made to fewer than 20 persons in the previous 12 months, and the new offer will not result in more than $2 million being raised in that 12 months; Note: you must not advertise the offer when you rely on this exemption the offers are made to specified people who are presumed not to need disclosure because of their financial capacity, experience, or wholesale status; the offers are made to current holders of the securities; no money or other form of payment is payable for the securities; other disclosure regimes under the Corporations Act apply (i.e. takeovers, schemes of arrangement); The offer is made by certain types of financial institutions. Will the directors be safe from prosecution if they provide to investors in a prospectus everything they know that is relevant about the investment? (2 marks) The Corporations Act does not detail out everything that ought to be included in the prospectus. But section 710 is to the effect that a prospectus must contain all information that the investors (and their professional advisers) would reasonably require, and reasonably expect to find in the prospectus. This information should be availed so that the investors can make an informed assessment of material matters relating to the company and these do include: †¢ The assets and liabilities, financial position, profits and losses and prospects of the company. †¢ The rights attaching to the securities being offered. Some other information such as terms and conditions of the offer, disclosure of certain payments made to the directors and advisers in connection with the IPO and the expiry date of the prospectus must be contained in the prospectus. To this end the directors will be immune from prosecution as they will not have breached any requirement bestowed on them. If the company issues a prospectus and the directors then become aware that there is a false and misleading statement in it, what alternatives are available to them under the CA? (3 marks) Where a company directors have become aware of a false or misleading statement in the prospectus which has already been issued to the public, the can petition the ASIC to issue Stop Orders. Though these are the preserve of the ASIC to issue this can be sought so that the issues can be rectified on time. Stop orders: what they are and when we will issue one section 719 A stop order is an administrative mechanism that allows ASIC to prevent offers being made under a disclosure document where we believe it contains: a misleading or deceptive statement an omission of information required to be provided under the legislation, or a new circumstance has arisen since the disclosure document was lodged. Where a stop order is issued on a disclosure document, then the company is not allowed to offer, issue, sell or transfer its shares while that order is in force. An interim stop order may be sought for up to 21 days during which time the company will be accorded a hearing to put across its views to an independent delegate. It’s after the hearing that the interim stop order may be lifted or a final stop order on the disclosure document may issue. . Does the CA provide any protection for directors where funds are raised under a prospectus that contains a misleading statement? (3 marks) The liability for directors under corporation falls under section 1308, which provides inter alia that misleading misstatements amounts to a crime and such an offence, is one of strict liability. The CA offers protection to directors by availing the following defences. There are a range of defences available to potential civil and criminal liability, some of which include: †¢ The ‘due diligence defence’, that is, that the person has made all enquiries which were reasonable in the circumstances and having made these enquiries, they believed on reasonable grounds that a statement was not misleading or deceptive or that there was not a material omission from the prospectus. †¢ Where a new circumstance has arisen and it can be established that the person was not aware of the new matter. †¢ Establishing that the person reasonably relied on information provided by someone outside the company, such as a professional adviser, for statements contained in the prospectus But the director should not conceal such information when it comes to his attention. [1] [1946] 1 All ER 512 (CA) [2] (1990) 170 CLR 146 [3] [1976] HCA 53 Is Globalisation A Threat Or An Opportunity? Is Globalisation A Threat Or An Opportunity? Is globalisation a threat or an opportunity for business? The key objective for any business organisation is to maximise profit, if a manufacturing or service industry in any country is progressive in their field of practice, there maybe a need for them to invest or open other subsidiary operation in other country where there is a rising demand for their goods or services Sloma (2004). Furthermore, (Post et al, 1999:146) states that globalisation consist of assembling goods from components produced in several nations, buying of raw materials from overseas suppliers or selling finished goods or services to customers in other countries, also (BBC, 2011) defines globalisation as the involvement of the world becoming highly interconnected as a result of increased cultural and trade exchange. Therefore this essay would explain the cause/effect, opportunities and threat of globalisation on businesses. The main causes of globalization may; trade liberalisation, transportation, and communication (Bhagwati et al, 1983). In trade liberalisation, legislation reducing trade and foreign direct investment have been relaxed. Some governments offer tax incentives to persuade overseas companies to invest in their country, this maybe linked to what is known as free trade (BBC, 2011). Transportation is relatively becoming cheaper, fast and easy to access. People travel for holiday, business, migrate and emigrate from one country to another. Businesses organisations can ship goods and raw materials between countries more easily making goods and services from all over the world available to consumers. While communication, the internet, telephony and the television have paved way for free flow of information and ideas. Outsourcing is a example these, thus a businesses organisation in a country can have a call centre in another country answering calls from customers of the main country. One of the main effect of globalization is inequality, this refers to the income disparity that exist between countries across the world. It maybe argued that globalisation contributes in creating more wealth in developed countries, thus it does not help to close the gap between the worlds richest nations and the worlds poorest King King (2005:199). The internet can be viewed as an opportunity of globalization for businesses. The internet can also be seen as a gateway to participate in the game of globalization (BBC, 2010). Through the Internet, business organisations have been able to go beyond borders, to reach their end customers with their goods or services, thus this could be referred to e-commerce. Communications can be made quickly and easily to any anywhere in the world, but at the same time businesses are exposed to big competition, Holton (1998). There are millions of websites on the Internet, despite the seemingly easy participation, the reality of the Internet can be seen as oligopoly, Sloman (2004). Furthermore, with the internet playing a roll in globalization. It may be good for a business organisation to have access to anyone anywhere in the world, but it also exposes the business to competition. In the internet competition, winners are very few, which creates a big gap between the large and small business. Howev er, there are still opportunities for small business in the world of globalization. This could be; the variety of cultures, languages, social systems and customs, etc. Take the differences of language for illustrative example. Your website may not be seen by customers if it is only in English. Actually, many web pages in the Internet are written in English. However, the business should know there are many languages in the world. If a business website has a page in a different languages, their competitors may be reduced. Another key opportunity for business, is the transfer of technological advancement and knowledge in globalisation. Corsi (2000) points out that this has led to growth in innovation and better techniques of production to business. The main result of this is the growing income and appreciation of the companys economic achievement. Foreign migrants coming to work in multinational companies contribute to the knowledge of developing businesses thus which makes the business more efficient. Economic policies, management techniques and Increased knowledge about production methods present invaluable inputs in small businesses (SME) King King (2005). In globalization there are opportunities of cheap labour for business organisations, thus Jennifer (2005) argues that developing nations are encouraged to open their economies to international trade, with the aim that free trade would bring development and prosperity. Opening its economy to international trade does not translate to economic development and instant prosperity for developing countries, but rather it signifies the exposure of the developing economy to multi-national corporations and foreign direct investors, many of which seek to expand their operations in developing economies because of the cheap labour available in these economies. Growing portions of these cheap labour sources consist of women and MNCs have been accused of intentionally hiring economically and poor educated deprived women to reduce labour costs. With cheap labour a clothing company in the UK can sell a shirt for  £60 that cost less than 10 pence in labour to produce. While globalisation may be seen as an opportunity for big businesses, it can also be argued to be a threat to big and small businesses (SME). Carper (2010) argues that energy and transportation costs increases when jobs are outsourced, as big businesses revise their business strategy and produce goods overseas. Customer service often decreases as companies pay for their goods to be transported from a foreign warehouse to their before being dispatched to the customer. Call centers, are also affected by globalization, as its being flooded with clerks who do not speak fluent English. As energy use increases, domestic supply costs increase as more businesses compete for natural resources. Intergovernmental relations between two countries can have an influence on multinational corporations. For example, If two countries are are war, there will be no trade between them. Furthermore, business operations may be influenced by the political ties of host and home country governments even when there is no war. The United States and Japan have had an important, but difficult, relationship since the end of World War 2. The United States helped rebuild Japans steel, auto industries and shipbuilding , and by the 1970s Japans productivity had increased massively. It used its efficiencies to export steel, automobiles, and semi-conducts to the big U.S. Market. The United States has shifting political relations with Great Britain, China, Russia and Brazil, and many other nations. Economic relations are affected, for better or worse, by political change, and national political priorities shape business relations. The United States, for example, banned U.S. Manufacturing industries fro m selling military products to countries that government agencies believe may be a threat U.S. Security; it restricts high technology exports; and it has banned U.S. Companies from doing business dealings in Cuba (Post et al, 1999:159). Increased Competition is another main concern, as it is threat to domestic businesses. Government of developing countries are faced with this problem as they look to export more and import less to increase the countrys GDP. Globalisation threaten domestic companies as domestic businesses have to compete with foreign business organisation, they are forced to raise their customer satisfaction levels and standards in order to survive in the market. In addition, In developing countries, this is disturbing for domestic companies as they are unable to contend with foreign companies as they are too dependent on the government for funds and therefore lack competitive edge. And also, this is were the government moves in to protect small companies by creating trade barriers and imposing tariffs on imported products. Protectionism does not apply to only developing countries but also developed countries also have the highest trading restrains, Borkakoti (1998). In conclusion, it appears to the author, based on what this essay talks about to point out that globalisation can be an opportunity also a threat to large and small business. Furthermore, globalization has played a big role in the movement of goods and service, making resources available to consumer, it may be argued that globalisation has created global expansion for big business as it has paved the way for small domestic businesses to export their goods or service. However globalization has its disadvantages as well, because of its vulnerability to intergovernmental relations (in the case of war) and its opens domestic businesses to foreign competition. REFERENCES Anup, G (1997) E-commerce security : weak links, best defenses. Oxford: Wiley. BBC (2010) Globalization. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/industry/globalisation_rev1.shtml [Accessed: 14th March, 2011] Bhagwati, J. N, Panagariya, A., Srinivasan, T. N. (1983) International Trade. 2nd edn. Massachusetts: The MIT Press. Borkakoti, J (1998) International Trade. London: Macmillan Press Ltd Carper, T (2010) The Threat of Globalization. [Online] Available at: http://www.thaynecarper.com/globalization/ [Accessed: 20th March, 2011] Corsi, C (2000) Innovation and market globalization. Amsterdam: IOS Press. pp9 Holton, R. J. (1998) Globalization and the nation-state. London : Macmillan Press. Jennifer, M. (2005) The Double Edge of Globalization. Available at: http://www.allacademic.com//meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/0/7/0/6/8/pages70681/p70681-1.php [Accessed: 14th March. 2011] King, P King, S (2005) International Economics and International Economic Policy. 4th edn. New York: Irwin/McGraw-Hill Post, J., Lawrence, A., Weber, J. (1999) Business and Society. 9th edn. Boston, MA: Irwin/McGraw-Hill. Sloman, J. (2004) Essentials of Economics. 3rd edn. Harlow : Financial Times Prentice Hall

Are You Experienced? :: essays research papers

The Jimi Hendrix Experience released its first album in early 1967. Popular music had been leaning towards psychedelics for a couple years already and Are You Experienced? came out at about the same time as the Beatles' Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Are You Experienced? far exceeded the Beatles' triumph in complexity, capturing the essence of the late 1960's culture. Naturally the newer band did not share the immediate success of the Beatles. But its staying power has been testified to by several generations. The British version of Are You Experienced? contained a few subtle differences. Most prominent were the absence of "Purple Haze" and the addition of Hendrix standard "Red House". "Purple Haze" caught fire in America after the Monterey Pop Festival and became Jimi's signature song. Although it was said to have endless verses, Jimi generally sang only the shortened version from the album (with a few ad lib changes). The single was sent to radio stations with a note: "This song was intentionally distorted. Do not adjust." Are You Experienced?, as with most of the Experience's music, sounds heavy no matter how many times you listen to it. In actuality, the stony "Purple Haze" is about as close as they ever come to hard rock. The next song, "Manic Depression" comes in strong with the opening chords and then reveals Mitch Mitchell's trademark rolling drums. It also contains another of Jimi's solos worth listening to by any new or Experienced fan. Chas Chandler chose the quietest song on the album to give the world its first taste of Jimi Hendrix's talents. Its first single, "Hey Joe", a song written by turn-of-the-century bluesman Billy Roberts debuted at number on the pop charts. No other song written or performed by Jimi Hendrix had as much success as this one. It topped out at number 2, behind the Beatles' "Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds". When there are other people around, it makes you feel alive. But when you sit alone and listen to the music, every chord catches in your throat. "Love or Confusion" has happened upon me more than once when I was suddenly realizing the dispair of yet another relationship. If the answer to his question is not obvious during the song itself, Jimi answers it for you with his very last whisper. "Love or Confusion" is a wicked twister of emotion. It shakes you up and when you lose your sense of direction, it drops out from under you, leaving you to fall mercilessly to

Susan Glaspells Trifles - Some Observations :: Trifles Essays

Trifles I would like to make three major points. Major #1: Since this is the first play we’ve read, the stage direction really caught my eye and I tended to consider it very seriously in determining the meaning of the work. The most obvious direction, which the essay by Parrish discusses, is that neither Mr. nor Mrs. Wright ever appear in the play, and Glaspell was the first to use this type of direction (which was later recognized as uniquely her own.) Other important examples of the play’s direction (not spoken lines) are: ( ... she is disturbed now and looks fearfully about as she enters.) (Stops, his face twitches.) In a manner of returning to familiar things.) Glaspell uses this direction several times. (Silence; then as if struck by a happy thought and relieved to get back to everyday things.) (Mrs. Hale glances in a covert way at Mrs. Peters.) (Pulling herself back.) this is an emotional direction, not a physical one Glaspell’s decision to present "Trifles" as a play instead of its short story original form (titled :"A Jury of Her Peers) gives the reader an opportunity to "see" the action better than usual, and therefore get a clearer understanding of the author’s meaning. Major #2: What is the significance of "preserves?" I see the literal meaning, but what is Glaspell saying about a woman’s act of preserving things? The action in the play keeps going back to this jar of preserves (example: if the jar gets too cold, it breaks; preserves make a sticky mess; they don’t want to let Minnie know the jars broke and are not preserved.) Major #3: Does anyone know about quilting? I’m looking for more specific information on knotting vs. quilting? I think Glaspell is using this craft (and it is a way of expression like writing and painting) very subtly to get her message across, but I don't have enough information to see it, although I do see the significance of knotting and the knot around Mr. Wright’s neck that killed him. Can anyone help? Parrish writes in her essay that Glaspell wrote and produced many plays, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1931. It is interesting and meaningful to read drama because it finds yet another way for women to find and express their voices. Parrish states that Glaspell’s writing focused on women’s "desire for equality and acknowledgement in a "man’s world.

Love Marriage

As I took my marriage vows in the House of God, my glittery white wedding gown sparkling in the sun seemed like a symbol of my bright future with the man of my dreams. I looked into his passionate dark eyes, and realized that once again, I had succeeded, gotten what I wanted. No one had ever been able to come in my way ever, and now that I was married to Jai, looked like no one could. Not even my parents. My parents didn't even know Jai well. I do believe in the whole ‘mothers instinct' thing, but things were different in this case. All they knew was what they had heard from people, namely Jai's ex-wife and her mother. And of course they'd be biased, after a broken engagement, who wouldn't? Jai's ex wife kept making up stories about how violent Jai got when he was drunk, I didn't believe her, partly because I didn't want to, but another part of me sub consciously filed these ‘fables' in my memory. Mom kept insisting that she had a ‘bad feeling' about him, â€Å"If he's left her for you, what guarantee do you have that he wont leave you for some one else? † But it wasn't that way, my parents wouldn't understand. Jai needed a life partner. His wife couldn't be his companion. I was everything she wasn't. She was a slave, more like a machine who just bounced off his ideas to him. Obviously he'd be bored. I also thought that another reason was the fact that I wanted to marry by choice, and not have it arranged like her and Pa, and all the other ‘happy couples' in the world. Well, so what if Jai had fooled around in the past, or gotten into jail a few times just for small time drug dealing? That didn't make him a criminal, and it certainly didn't make me change my mind about his wonderful personality. That was his past, and at the time, I was his present, and that was all that mattered. Things started shaping up just the way I knew they would, Jai was still the exotic, tall, handsome man, with flashing eyes and a sharp mind. Nothing had changed after marriage; he still loved me with the same passion tinged with possessiveness, and he still treated me with the same respect and dignity as a gentleman, I was grateful because that was something very uncommon in the society I lived in. We shared the same interest in everything: religion, politics, and even video games. I was his companion, his equal partner, I was sure Jai would keep me happy all my life. Soon Jai got a job as an agent for a company, and it was a good job with a steady income, so I didn't mind the fact that he had to be in and out of town. Pa got us a nice apartment in a friendly neighborhood, till we could afford to pay our own rent. A few months down the line Jai had gone to Singapore for some business, and while he was away, I discovered that I was pregnant. I was thrilled beyond measure, all my parents' fears of me being unable to live a decent respectable life with a man like Jai were dismissed. My dreams were coming true; I would soon be a respected wife and mother. I thought I'd wait for Jai to return, and then surprise him. But Jai returned a little earlier than expected, hearing of my pregnancy from a family friend in Singapore. The night he returned didn't turn out to be quite as I thought it would. He came home drunk, and I was at my mother's house when he returned, and was livid to find me out of the house without his permission. That night, when I returned home, I found him on his rocking chair, awaiting my return. The first thing he said to me struck me like a lightening bolt, † I should've listened to them when they told me about you. You're finally showing your true colors aren't you? † I didn't know whom he meant by ‘them', but I was shocked by the bitterness and sharpness of his tone and could only manage to mumble a feeble â€Å"huh? † â€Å"Don't pretend! There's no need to, I know you were with Philip, and I know what you've been doing the past few months while I've been out of town,† His breath reeked of alcohol, and his words were slurred, and bitter with contempt, â€Å"You think I'm dumb huh? Huh? You think I haven't noticed you're interest in him? And I know that you're carrying proof of that.. † Philip was our young, vibrant next-door neighbor. He was quite a good looking, charming boy and I had mentioned it to Jai a couple of times. I noticed that he didn't seem too pleased about it, but I had never in my wildest dreams imagined that he would ever suspect me of being unfaithful to him. Jai went on to call me a string of demeaning nasty names, but my mind was blank. I was weak as it was, and the shock was too much for me to bear. He got up slowly and walked towards me, stopping a few inches away from me, † Where did you go? â€Å". I opened my mouth to speak, but my throat was parched, and no words could be formed. After what seemed like eternity I uttered â€Å"Ma's house†. His eyes bore into me like needles, and suddenly he struck me screaming â€Å"LIAR! If you aren't hiding anything from me then why are you so scared! † His eyes were bulging out of his sockets, and his breathing grew heavier, suddenly he caught me by my hair and flung me onto the couch. As he slapped me repeatedly, I fought to stifle my screams lest the neighbors heard; he then caught hold of my long auburn tresses and dragged me onto the floor, then lifted me and hit my head against the wall again and again and again. His fury was sated. I couldn't keep track of anything that happened after that, I just remember excruciating pain in my head, and then I went numb and blacked out. I woke up to find myself on my bed, Jai was by my side holding my hand, my head still spun, and it took me a while to recollect the events of the previous night. Jai sat with his head bowed. He whispered an apology to me, I was too weak to show any signs of acceptance, and then suddenly he started sobbing, â€Å"I can't believe I did this to you. I'm so sorry, I must've been possessed by an evil spirit. Please forgive me. I love you. I beg for forgiveness. That wasn't me. I promise to never raise my hand on you again. I'm sorry Jyoti, please forgive me. † I was scared. I didn't entirely believe him, but something inside me wanted to believe his every word. I knew my Jai, last night he was sick, he was drunk. He didn't know what he was doing. Maybe I believed him only because I knew that I had nowhere to go. I couldn't go back to my parents, because my ego wouldn't let me, nor could I let them know the torture and humiliation I had been subjected to, because I wasn't used to being proved wrong. I didn't want them to know that they had been right. So I stayed, I believed what I wanted to believe about him, he was my strength, everything else was perfect, and these were just trivial things that happened sometimes between couples, meant to be forgotten, it was the price I had to pay for my love, my impudence and what the world would see as my victory. After that incident, things were back to normal between us on the outside, but deep down I was scared, I was scared of making any wrong move. I was still not thoroughly convinced that he believed that the child I was carrying was his, because he did pass snide remarks implying that I was unfaithful to him. For a long time after that I avoided him when he was drunk, I let fear overtake my pride, and soon I let my ego dissolve in front of him. He was my husband, my master, my provider, my everything. It was the price I paid for my image in society. People admired me for being able to live with a man known by his notoriety. They thought that I had reformed him, but that was only in public. At home I slowly began to uncover his darkest secrets. After I gave birth to my baby, Rahul, I stayed at my parents' house as per the customs of our society. One night I had to come back to my house to get a few tablets that I left there before. My father offered to drive me there at around 1 in the morning. As I entered the house I heard voices from my bedroom, I decided to go take a look, thinking that maybe Jai had a few of his friends over, and as I walked in, I saw him in bed with another woman. I wasn't as shocked as I ought to have been; perhaps because deep down inside I knew this was going on, I just hadn't expected to catch him in the act so soon. As soon as he was aware of my presence he ordered the other woman to leave. I grabbed this opportunity to have the upper hand. He was the unfaithful one, not me. I started reprimanding him and he kept quiet. I thought that I was winning, he was ashamed, and had been caught in the act. But I made one little mistake. In my rage, I abused him. A clenched jaw and red, bulging eyes looked up at me. He rose and struck me on my face. I knew that my father was waiting outside for me, and under no circumstances would I let my father know, ever. So I ran out to my father, knowing the fate that awaited me the next day. The day I went back home with my baby was awful. He was drunk when I arrived, and he waited for my parents to leave before he used the events of the other night as a stick to beat me with. Thus the beatings started. Every other night at first, and then everyday for trivial things, like not serving him breakfast on time, not ironing his clothes well, and coming home late, even if I was at my parents' house. I began to feel like I could trust no one. I lived a schizophrenic existence. The humiliation of not being able to keep my husband happy and falling short of my parents definition of an ideal marriage seemed more frightening than the beatings. I tried everything I could to keep him in a cheery mood. I eliminated everything that would slightly upset him. I tried to mould my personality to fit him, so that we could live in harmony. Along with my pride there was something else, much more precious to me at stake, my baby Rahul. Even if he never showed much affection towards the baby, Jai had never raised his hand on him, and I tried my best to keep it that way. But it was inevitable. I knew that Jai had a suspicion that the baby wasn't his. One morning as I woke up to Rahul's cries, Jai was getting dressed for work, and he had not attended to the baby, but I could see that the baby's wails were increasingly annoying him. I knew that if I didn't do something to stop Rahul from crying, he too would be subjected to his father's evil. Jai probably saw my fear for my baby in my eyes, and decided to taunt me with it. He commanded me to leave Rahul alone, and ordered the baby to shut up. At this point, I knew that I had to try and save my most precious asset, and I ignored his command and reached out for my child. Jai caught my hair and dragged me away from him. I was powerless to resist. I could only pray to the Lord. Rahul's wails got louder when he saw the brutality of the scene. Jai left my hair and reached for the baby's neck, almost chocking him to death, his eyes bulged with fear and I knew that he would soon turn blue. An eternity passed before me, until I was suddenly overcome by strength so great, I can now say that it was the strength of the Lord. The strength he had given me, to save my baby. I spotted my heavy rot iron lamp on my bedside; I lifted it with all my strength and brought it crashing down at the back of his head. He fell on the floor with a thud.