Plato on reality and the soul Essay Example for Free

Plato on reality and the soul Essay Socrates believed that the soul is pure and the body is corrupted, where wisdom is accounted for the soul and needs, thus the materialistic and carnal desires are to the body. Plato’s Phaedo discussed in the world of forms. Any entity or object has a quality or feature or multiple properties. And these properties are prior conditioned to the soul. Plato’s metaphysics can be drawn primarily from the influence of his teachers Paramenides, Heraclitus, and of course Socrates. First, the concept from Parmenides’ belief that there could be only one being, and this is a never changing entity. It has a static quality. This is where Plato derived his concept of the world of forms. It is a different concept in the material world wherein it is an always changing world. Change can be accounted as the only thing common and the only thing consistent as Heraclitus described the notion of â€Å"flux†. Academicians account that most of Plato’s thinking was influenced by Socrates. Socrates however was not at all articulate in conveying a Metaphysical or Epistemological discussion; rather, he conveyed more ethical notions. For Socrates, The idea is for one to take care of the soul so one can be happy, or attain the truth. This is especially true and evident in the Phaedo where Plato accounts the last hours before Socrates separated his soul from the body. Plato’s Metaphysics can be analyzed as a completion of that of Socrates’. The notion of the world of forms or the world of ideas is an eternal and immovable form. In contrast to this world is Chaos or the world of objects which receives the form. For example, an artist created a vase; the material form of this object is only a receiver or only partakes into the idea of the vase. The object is thus not a perfect representation of the real idea of the vase. The two worlds are joined together which infuses the soul and makes possible to Heraclitus’ idea of the visible world. The world of forms can be stated as perfect and the world of objects as an approximation of it. This meant that men strive to achieve it but fall short of achieving such perfection because the body is corrupted. Forms are independent and the world of objects is dependent to forms because they seek to compare to the perfect image. But because the senses are blurred they can never be perfect. It is also evident this pattern of ideas based on Socrates. Plato points out that a man seeks for the truth and in this speculative journey makes a man better and in turn achieve good. Another evident notion of this is in discussing perfect equality. When you look at perfect equality, you notice that it is not perfectly equal. There and then we can suppose that the idea of this equality had been existent to the soul prior to the unison of it with the body. This intensifies the ideas that the soul existed before the body. However, once the soul was united with the body, the soul’s knowledge of ideas falls into the subconscious. During sleep, man reminisces and recognizes the world of Ideas and thus there is realization. The soul from the moment it unites with the body recognizes an irrational soul that is derived from the corruption of the material world, dissatisfaction and the seeking of pleasure. This soul is situated in the heart. The soul that comes from the world of Forms is situated in the head, on top of the irrational soul, controlling its impulses and conditions the body to live within the confines of reason. Plato in his writings in the Republic described that the end result of an individual in the Good. In his society (or the republic), he stated that this is the final goal of everyone and it is not just a reward. A just man, one of Plato’s virtues, is rewarded not only in this lifetime but until one is reincarnated. This eminent idea that the soul preexisted before the body in the world of forms and its separation of the soul to reach the world of forms represents how the soul is immortal. For Plato, there is a division between the world of forms and the world of objects. In his analogy of the sun, he contrasted the two as those that are merely visible and those of intellectual value. He further explains this through the analogy of the line. Plato described four forms of knowledge. One is of the idea of pure images, dreams and imaginations. In account to the concept of the soul, as discussed earlier, the soul in the preexistence of the body originally comes from the world of Forms. Once the soul infuses with the body, all its knowledge of the world of forms becomes part of the subconscious. Through dreams and the imagination, which is a process of the head, the seat of the rational soul, it recounts and reminisces the truths in the world of forms. The next is the perception of sensible objects that gives attribute and judgment to visible materials. We imply that a certain item has such an attribute but it can change in another similar form. Another one is of mathematical knowledge which is not a perfect knowledge and one of philosophical knowledge that explains more the ideas as eternal and absolute realities. The four types of knowledge can be condensed into two more specific forms. The first two can be accounted as opinions for the things in which we perceive through sensing may look like such in one way and different in another. Another one is called understanding, in which the realities of these objects can or cannot be. It is a more logical, scientific knowledge. The idea of the soul reaching the world of forms is from an inferior to a superior level and its main goal is to reach that state where happiness exists. In the world of objects, there is always dissatisfaction. He further illustrates his ideas through the cave. He stated that the world the secludes us is an illusion to what is the truth, once we step out of the cave we get blinded by the light but as we refocus and look not into the reflections and shadows, but the real perfect forms,we see the truth and the real objects. This process of release from the cave to the outside world represents enlightenment, which in the case of Socrates’ beliefs is the separation of the soul to the body, to attain the truth. In Phaedo, Socrates sums up these arguments and philosophical intertwines by pursuing death himself. According to Socrates, the only way for one to attain the truth from all the imitations and corruptions of the material world is through death. One should never be afraid of something that would give enlightenment. Man should even welcome it when the time arrives. The world of objects prohibits a man to philosophize, thus he has a hard time attaining this virtue of justice and good. There are various distractions that hinder man to the truth. Death for Socrates is the liberation of the soul. Death is also not merely a separation of the soul and body. It is a process and an end state that progresses to achieve the truth. Dissatisfactions, pleasures, emotions inhibit the call of reason and wisdom thus inhibiting philosophy. This separation is an ultimate embrace to the truth until the time comes when the soul unites with a body as an incarnate. Plato ultimately bridges the connection between the soul and the world of forms. As is reiterated, the ultimate goal of man is good, happiness and wisdom. These ideas or forms are not of existence in the world of objects. The world of objects, are perceived representations of man through various forms of knowledge, (of opinions and of logical knowledge). The objects man builds are imitations, thus they are not perfect. Man has a perception of what is perfect because the rational soul is of prior existence in the world of forms. The world of objects cannot be perfect and man cannot be happy because the human body is predisposed to various entanglements with pleasures, emotions, diseases, and imperfections. Philosophers are to accept death for it liberates man from the soul. The soul has its ultimate goal in essence is to go back to the world of forms. In that way he would be able to attain good.

language :: essays research papers

What is the Language of Thought Hypothesis? LOTH is an empirical thesis about the nature of thought and thinking. According to LOTH, thought and thinking are done in a mental language, i.e. in a symbolic system physically realized in the brain of the relevant organisms. In formulating LOTH, philosophers have in mind primarily the variety of thoughts known as ‘propositional attitudes’. Propositional attitudes are the thoughts described by such sentence forms as ‘S believes that P’, ‘S hopes that P’, ‘S desires that P’, etc., where ‘S’ refers to the subject of the attitude, ‘P’ is any sentence, and ‘that P’ refers to the proposition that is the object of the attitude. If we let ‘A’ stand for such attitude verbs as ‘believe’, ‘desire’, ‘hope’, ‘intend’, ‘think’, etc., then the propositional attitude statements all have the form: S As that P. LOTH can now be formulated more exactly as a hypothesis about the nature of propositional attitudes. It can be characterized as the conjunction of the following three theses (A), (B) and (C): (A) Representational Theory of Mind (RTM): (cf. Field 1978: 37, Fodor 1987: 17) (1) Representational Theory of Thought: For each propositional attitude A, there is a unique and distinct (i.e. dedicated)[1] psychological relation R, and for all propositions P and subjects S, S As that P if and only if there is a mental representation #P# such that (a) S bears R to #P#, and (b) #P# means that P. (2) Representational Theory of Thinking: Mental processes, thinking in particular, consists of causal sequences of tokenings of mental representations. (B) Mental representations, which, as per (A1), constitute the direct "objects" of propositional attitudes, belong to a representational or symbolic system which is such that (cf. Fodor and Pylyshyn 1988:12-3) (1) representations of the system have a combinatorial syntax and semantics: structurally complex (molecular) representations are systematically built up out of structurally simple (atomic) constituents, and the semantic content of a molecular representation is a function of the semantic content of its atomic constituents together with its syntactic/formal structure, and (2) the operations on representations (constituting, as per (A2), the domain of mental processes, thinking) are causally sensitive to the syntactic/formal structure of representations defined by this combinatorial syntax. (C) Functionalist Materialism. Mental representations so characterized are, at some suitable level, functionally characterizable entities that are realized by the physical properties of the subject having

Characters in Macbeth and The Laboratory Essay

Macbeth is arguably one of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies. Written sometime between 1603 and 1606, the play is strongly written with King James the first’s of England’s interests in mind; the supernatural. Because of this we are introduced to the idea of the paranormal and witchcraft straight way in the play with the three. This would have scared a Jacobean audience as they feared the supernatural; it also foreshadows the likeliness of disturbed characters to be introduced later in the play. In comparison, The Laboratory, a poem written by Robert Browning in the 1800’s and set in aristocratic France- before the revolution, when the old regime of the monarchy was still in place. This was a time of great diversity between the social classes, so seeing the narrator of the dramatic monologue, an affluent woman, liaising with a poor alchemist would have deeply shocked a 19th century audience, as they would believe her to be troubled, or maybe even disturbe d. Macbeth is Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy; this means that the play has no sub-plots and only concentrates on the story, and the disturbed mind, of the main character, Macbeth. The full focus on Macbeth himself emphasises his evil nature and thirst for power, portraying him as the ultimate tyrannical and disturbed character. â€Å"I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself and falls on the other† . The metaphorical language used as the reference to ‘spurs’, used to make horses go faster, shows that Macbeth feels his ambition to gain power is being limited by the king. Macbeth is shown to have great respect for the king and sees the king as almost a friend, so to describe him as a mere obstacle to overcome shows he has no moral boundaries, making him a disturbed character. Similarly, The Laboratory is a poem written in the form of a dramatic monologue, this means we hear everything that’s going on from the view of the narrator. In this case, it’s high class woman who is obsessed with getting revenge on her husband and his lovers. Her single-mindedness is shown by the poem only being about her thoughts and her fatal flaws, jealousy and revenge. These themes are shown in the poem right away. In the first stanza, the topic of poison and murder are mentioned quite blatantly. â€Å"Which is the poison to poison her, prithee?† The reader doesn’t yet know that there’s a revenge  plot, however Browning wants the reader look into the narrators disturbed mind early into the poem. He uses this fourth line like a hook to pull the reader into the poem and make them wonder why the speaker would want to kill someone. In Act 1, Scene 1 of Macbeth, we are introduced to the three witches, showing the audience that the play has a strong supernatural theme. This would have scared a Jacobean audience much more than a modern audience as witchcraft was feared much more intensely than it is today. Shakespeare used catalectic trochaic tetrameter and rhyming couplets to make the witches words sound like a spell, â€Å"Fair is foul and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air.† The oxymoron shows that the witches don’t know the difference between good and bad. This foreshadows a play of contrasts and disturbed minds. Macbeth’s words also echoes the witches in Act 1, Scene 3 â€Å"So foul and fair a day I have not seen.† We recognise the oxymoron from when the witches said it in the opening scene; this gives the audience the impression that Macbeth shares similar qualities with the witches, such as he doesn’t know the difference between good and bad, and therefore had no moral boundaries. It also foreshadows that Macbeth will have more to with the witches in the future. This makes Macbeth a disturbed character to the audience, particularly a Jacobean audience, because of his association with the supernatural. On the other hand, the subt itle to Robert Browning’s poem â€Å"The Laboratory†, â€Å"Ancien Regime†, tells us that it is set in France before the revolution, when the old regime of the monarchy was still in place. The narrator appears to be an upper class woman, a fact which is not apparent in the opening stanza, but becomes so as the poem develops; this is seen by the lexical field of wealth, â€Å"Gold, Kings, Jewels†, who is in a laboratory brewing up a poison to kill her rivals. For a 19th century audience this poem’s setting alone would be very bizarre. In aristocratic France, it was way rare for the social classes to mix, so seeing an upper class lady in the setting of a poor laboratory was very strange. The disturbance in the setting would have deeply confused the audience. The narrator even flaunts her wealth to the chemist when she begins to fantasise about what she will hide the poison in with the exclamatory sentence, â€Å"To carry pure death in an earring, a casket, A signet, a fan-mount, a filigree-basket!† This would have shocked a 19th century audience and they would have believed her to have been a very disturbed character. A Jacobean audience would think that  Macbeth is more of a tragic hero than a modern audience would. This is because a Jacobean audience would feel more sympathy towards Macbeth because of his fatal flaw, ambition. In the 1600’s the idea of succession and promotion would be much more topical than it is today, this is because one of the two main monarchs in Shakespeare’s time, Queen Elizabeth, remained the ‘Virgin’ Queen throughout her reign and therefore had no successor, creating great instability. Macbeth was promoted to Thane of Cawdor and the King called him brave â€Å"for brave Macbeth- well he deserves that name†. This would have been a massive compliment to Macbeth, so naturally he would enjoy it and want more, A Jacobean audience would have sympathised with his feelings because of the situation of their monarchy at the time. This makes him a tragic hero as he was once a great war lord that was brought down by his fatal flaw, ambition. Also, a Jacobean audience were much more likely to believe in the idea that the witches were taking over Macbeths mind. In Shakespeare time, witchcraft was a major issue as people fully believed that it was possible to be possessed by the supernatural and demonic natures as the knowledge that the women supplied was like a drug to Macbeth, and it is obvious he was fascinated by it at the start, â€Å"would they have stayed†- and continually wants more. His obsession with the witches would have made a Jacobean audience believed he had a disturbed mind, but they would have also have felt sympathy toward his as they believed he was being possessed, making him a tragic hero. However, a modern audience are more sceptical about the supernatural and would therefore see Macbeth as more of a disturbed character as we find it harder the feel sympathy towards him and see him more of a weak willed character as he frequently talks himself out of murdering his friends for his own gain, yet he does it anyway. â€Å"yet I do fear thy nature; it is too full o’the milk of human kindness/ To catch the nearest way.† It is shown that Mabeth doesn’t dislike Duncan as a king, in fact he sees him as a friend, but he is in the way of Macbeth’s fatal flaw, ambition, and so has to be killed. The upcoming murder is described as inevitable. The focus on his fall, as well as his rise demonstrates Shakespeare’s moral message th at tyrannical reins will come full circle and end in their demise. Shown also through the divine right of kings, as Malcolm finishes up on the thrown. However, in The Laboratory, as soon as we hear of the narrator’s motive we feel sympathy towards her. She is also a  victim as her husband has cheated on her, leaving her heart broken and distraught. However as we learn more of her fatal flaws, jealousy and revange, the audience realised that she does not only want to kill her emimies, but she wants to make them suffer too, â€Å"Not that I bid you spare her the pain! Let death be felt and the proof remain.† This quote from the 9th stanza shows that she wants her rivals to know that they are dying, and that she doesn’t care if she is caught to be the one responsible for their murder. A 19th century French audience would call this a ‘crime of passion’ because the persona has been wronged by the husband and would naturally want to take revenge. They wouldn’t believe that it was okay, however they would have understood why she wanted to do it more than a modern audience would, and would therefo re view her as a tragic hero. A modern audience would mostly see her actions as outright murder and would feel less sympathy to the disturbed mind of the narrator and so would see her as less of a tragic hero and more of a disturbed and jealous maniacal killer. In Act 1 Scene 5, Lady Macbeth, after being told what the witches told Macbeth about him become king, â€Å"and king here after!†, and upon receiving word that King Duncan of Scotland will be arriving that night, begins sharpening her talons. She isn’t sure there’s enough manhood to go around between herself and her husband, so she calls upon scheming spirits to â€Å"unsex me [Lady Macbeth] here.† This is her vivid way of asking to be stripped of feminine weakness and invested with masculine resolve. She imagines herself as a vessel which may be emptied out and refilled â€Å"from the crown to the toe.† One thing nobody, spirit or otherwise, has ever poured into her is â€Å"the milk of human kindness†. Lady Macbeth’s speech is very shocking to the audience as it shows the inner workings of her mind and what she really desires, power. This suggest to the audience that she may be the one with the ultimate disturbed mind as she has no d oubts that she I prepared to kill her king for her own gain. The narrator shows her power over the alchemist as she frequently dominates him and gives him orders, â€Å"Quick- is it finished? The colour’s too grim!† The idea of a woman telling a man what to do would have been unheard of in a patriarchal society such as then. However the alchemist doesn’t seem to mind as it is revealed that the disturbed woman who has come for his service is prepared to give everything, â€Å"Now, take all my jewels, gorge gold to your fill, You may kiss me old man, on my mouth if  you will!† The fact an upper class woman is prepared to let a poor alchemist kiss her shows how much this poison means to the narrator. However she pushes him away to avoid any repercussion of the poison, â€Å"but brush this dust off me, lest horror it brings†. Her quick change of mind shows the giddiness in the thought of killing her rivals. After Lady Macbeth strengthens her husband’s resolve by mocking his perceived weakness, she convin ces him that king Duncan will be murdered than night and explains her plan to him. In the beginning of Act 2 Scene 1 the setting is clearly dark (use of touch bearers) and â€Å"the candles are all out† metaphor, which is a reference to the heavens, suggests that with the physical darkness there is also a moral darkness. Shakespeare uses pathetic fallacy to set the dark scene. This foreshadows the likelihood of death and also likes with the darkness of Macbeth’s and his wife’s disturbed mind. Later on in the scene Macbeth’s soliloquy reveals for the first time the extent of Macbeth’s disturbed mind. He begins to see things that others cannot, a dagger. He asks if it is real or a â€Å"false creation/ Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?† This intensifies the atmosphere of evil but is also a symbol of the start of Macbeth’s mental torment and psychological breakdown. Just as inward debate and talk of murder is about to stifle his courage, Macbeth’s intense illusion is shattered by the bell, a signal from L ady Macbeth that Duncan’s chamberlains are asleep, â€Å"I go, and it is done; the bell invites me.† Macbeth races away to commit the heinous crime almost saying he has no choice since the â€Å"bell invites† him, taking the responsibility away from himself. This leaves the question in the audience’s mind of weather a few more moments of deliberation would have changed Macbeths disturbed mind. On the other hand, The Laboratory is written in anapaestic tetrameter, which is an upbeat rhythm that shows her calm and confident one track mind. This is also emphasised by rhyming couplets and regular quatrains, â€Å"..Tightly.. Whitely,†; â€Å"..Smithy†¦ Prithee?† However, Browning switches to dactyls on line 5, â€Å"He is with her, and they know that I know.† This change in rhythm emphasises her paranoia and makes the audience wonder whether her husband’s affaire is all just in her disturbed and paranoid mind In Macbeth’s eyes, the murder of Duncan has now made the murder of Banquo and his son a necessity and the witches predicted th at it would be Banquo’s children that end up on the thrown. Macbeth treats the murder of his best friend as a  facile task, which tell the audience that the trace of humanity under the â€Å"vaulting ambition† and the moments of reflection and regret are now gone. After the deed had been done and Banquo is now dead Macbeth sees his best friend’s ghost, ironically during his celebratory banquet after becoming king. This is the first time Macbeths friends and subjects see his disturbed minds and Macbeth begins to panic and shout at, what seems to them, to be nothing. â€Å"Prithee, see there! Behold! Look! Lo! How say you? Why, what care I? If thou canst nod, speak too.† The repetition of short exclamatory sentences and rhetorical questions shows Macbeths panic at the disturbing sight of his â€Å"gory† best friend’s ghost. To a Jacobean audience, this would be Gods punishment for committing murder and treason. The divine right of kings lead people to believe that the royal family is put there by God so to k ill Royalty is much worse than normal murder. So therefore god has sent the image of his dead friend to torment his disturbed mind for what he has done. On the other hand, a modern audience would argue that this is result of Macbeth’s guilt for ordering his best friend to be killed for no reason other than to keep his status as king for eternity. This shows his deluded and disturbed mind as there is no way that killing Banquo and his son would leave Macbeth on the thrown forever. It shows how is power hunger and disturbed character has poisoned his mind is his sub-conscious guilt has finally gotten too much. In contrast, in The Laboratory, because of her husband’s love affair with other women, â€Å"he is with her†, we can see the narrator’s mental state become more and more disturbed as the poem progresses. This can be seen through the pleasure that the speaker is feeling when talking about the imminent death of her two rivals; â€Å"grind away moisten and mash up thy paste†. These verbs show the pleasure the speaker is taking in plotting death. This is unsettling to the reader as we wouldn’t expect to see such evil thoughts in a society filled with luxury, portrayed by the lexical field of wealth â€Å"gold, kings, jewels.† The narrator frequently refers to poison with positive connotations â€Å"treasures†¦ pleasures†, this shows that she doesn’t know the difference between good and band and therefore (like Macbeth) had no moral boundaries. Browning also includes alliteration of plosives, â€Å"Brand, Burn up, Bite into its grace-â€Å" This makes the verbs sound violent and aggressive and also makes the narrator sound very disturbed when she says them. Finally, Macbeth who, by  Act 4, is far along the path of insanity becomes paranoid and feels the need to make the witches tell him more. He returns to the Witches and boldly demands to be shown a series of apparitions that tell his future. The first apparition is the disembodied head of a warrior who seems to warn Macbeth of a bloody revenge at the hands of HYPERLINK â€Å"http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/m/macbeth/summary-and-analysis/~/link.aspx?_id=D7760724761D4871B3541B0CC827B645&_z=z† Macduff. The second is a blood-covered child who comforts Macbeth with the news that he cannot be killed by any man â€Å"of woman born.† The third is a child wearing a crown, who promises that Macbeth cannot lose in battle until Birnam wood physically moves toward his stronghold at Dunsinane. Encouraged by the news of such impossibilities, Macbeth asks, â€Å"Shall Banquo’s issue ever reign in this kingdom?† The Witches present an image of a ghostly procession of future kings, led by Banquo. All this serves only to enrage Macbeth, who, trusting in his own pride reveals in an aside to the audience his determination to terminate Macduff as he is now a threat to Macbeths rein. Macbeth realises that he cannot kill Macduff at that moment in time as Macduff is off with his army in England. So instead he chooses to damage Macduff emotionally, in the hope that he would crumble in grief after hearing of the slaughter of his loved ones. This shows that Macbeth has now bee n completely in engulfed into his disturbed mind as he is now killing innocent women and children in his decent into ultimate tyranny. To both Jacobean and modern audiences his disturbing actions are unforgivable. However Macbeth’s actions do the opposite of when he intended- Macduff is spurred on by his anger and eventually takes Macbeth’s life for it. The focus on his fall, as well as his rise demonstrates Shakespeare’s moral message that tyrannical reins will come full circle and end in their demise. In conclusion, I think that Shakespeare uses the disturbed mind of Macbeth effectively to keep the audience engaged. Macbeth’s confused and disturbed mind is always flickering back on forth to what is right and what isn’t. Shakespeare presents this through his use of soliloquies and short sentences, keeping the audience fascinated and following every turn and twist of Macbeth’s disturbed mind. Contrasting to The Laboratory where Browning presents the character of the narrator as truly disturbed, yet not mad like Macbeth and she keeps a one track mind and urge to kill throughout most of the poem. This theme of  revenge leaves the reader able to sympathise with the narrator. They understand her motives and that she had been driven to this outcome. The relationship that browning builds between the narrator and the reader is effective because the reader can easily look into and understand the narrators disturbed mind, allowing the reader to stay engaged with the piece.

Birth of a Nation film critique - 1685 Words

D. W. Griffith was raised on a Kentucky farm in Crestwood, with his father, his mother, and sister. His father was a colonel in the Confederate Army, and served Kentucky as a state legislator. His family raised him Methodist, and his sister did his schooling in a one-room schoolhouse. At the age of 10, his father died and his mother left the farm to move to Louisville, Kentucky. They struggled with poverty after that, and he eventually got into acting and filmmaking. He started off as an actor when his first screenplay was rejected. However, he started working with a production company called Biograph, and soon became the main director. However, his intentions and budget did not match up with Biograph’s ideas and motives, so he left†¦show more content†¦When he tries to express his sexuality towards her, she brushes him off, which further enforces the idea that the free blacks are over sexualized. The biggest sense of loyalty from Mammy we see is when she tries to pr otect her master from union soldiers arresting him for being in the Ku Klux Klan. Gus, the Union Solider, seems to be best associated with brute and coon tendencies, which is characterized by his sexuality towards Flora. The union soldiers in general represent the brutal buck character type because they are seen as violent, uncontrollable and sexualized in the film. Gus, also has coon tendencies, however, in the way his character expresses himself. His eyes are very big and full of expression, and seem to be laughed at a lot. He is used as comic relief in addition to his role as an instigator to the Ku Klux Klan. When he comes onto Flora, he is overly sexual and aggressive towards her. He seems to be out of control as soon as the interaction starts, and ends with a chasing scene through the forest. This goes along with the Moonlight and Magnolia theme that white women are the epitome of beauty, and how frail and delicate they seem. Silas Lynch is also depicted as overly aggressive in his pursuit and proposal to Elsie Stoneman. This represents the fear of miscegenation, as well as rape. The skewed view promotes the domination of women through portrayals of white women and black soldiers. The Stoneman housekeeper, Lydia, is portrayed as aShow MoreRelatedThe Documentary Of Ava Duvernay Essay1615 Words   |  7 Pages The documentary 13th by Ava DuVernay was a visual masterpiece. The documentary provided its viewers with an array of information that spanned throughout centuries and was eloquently executed in less than 2 hours. The central focus of the film was about how the 13th amendment shaped this country and its prison system. 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Every society has different views of what it holdsRead MoreThe Long Term Effects Of British Colonization On The Feminist Movements1869 Words   |  8 PagesThe long term effects of British colonization on the feminist movements in India and Nigeria can be seen through Katherine Mayo’s Mother India, the film, â€Å"Mother India†, Misty Bastian’s Vultures of the Market Place, and Falola and Paddock’s The Women’s War of 1929. In India, imperialism delayed the advancement of the feminist movement due to the priority of the nationalist movement. In Nigeria, imperialism spurred the feminist movement due to the autonomy of the women. Throughout this essay I willRead MoreAnalysis Of The Film Bashu : A Little Stranger1881 Words   |  8 Pageswidely accepted Iranian id entity through stars Susan Taslimi as Naii, Bashu’s adopted mother and Adnan Afravian as Bashu. The film boasts a simple plot, yet the societal critiques are strong and apparent. It takes place during the Iraq-Iran war, a war brought forth from long standing border conflicts and fears of revolution. Many critics agree that Bashu is a timeless film. Although produced in 1989, this situation could happen at any point in time. The lead character, a ten-year-old boy named BashuRead MoreAnalysis Of The Prologue Of The Book By John Hinckley Jr.1411 Words   |  6 Pagesbecame a Hollywood actor (Dugard and O’Reilly 19). His acting career is a success because he is a handsome young man and very talented. By the end of his career, he had acted in 53 films. Through his acting career he meets Jane Wyman and marries her. The hardest part of their relationship was when his wife gave birth to their child too early and the baby did not make it (Dugard and O’Reilly 27). They had two other children together but they sent them away to a boarding school. This causes their relationshipRead MoreAmerican Horror Films Have Often Played On Our Societal Fears1856 Words   |  8 Pages American horror films have often played on our societal fears, and in Candyman (Bernard Rose, 1992), the film directly deals with race, reminding us that it is still very much a problem in society today, and that ‘our traumatic racial past still haunts us’ (Vern, 2015). The film ‘marks the introduction of an African-American monster to the horror mainstream’ (Donaldson, 2011) and it ‘succeeds in asking some very pointed questions about race and class’ (Elizabeth, 1992). Ultimately this is done byRead MoreStreet Angel analysis2605 Words   |  11 Pagesï ¿ ½PAGE ï ¿ ½ What sort of social critique does this Street Angel (1937) present? What does it say about issues involved in modernization? What symbols are portrayed in Street Angel (1937) Introduction Every country has specific famous era in which their cinema portrays the reality of their society, the 1930 s was the era in which China s cinema bent itself towards portraying society and modernization. A lot of distinctive features developed by Chinese film over the last hundred years are the