The Victorian ideal Essay Example for Free

The Victorian ideal Essay The Victorian ideal of womanhood is The Angel in the house. How does Dickens handle his female characters in Great Expectations and how do they relate to this ideal?  Ben A 11wd  In Great Expectations, there are a wide variety of curious and eccentric characters, but it seems that overall, there are significantly more curious female characters (Estella, Miss Havisham, Mrs Joe) than there are male characters (e.g. Mr Pumblechook). It is possible that the reason for the high number of strange women characters might be down to one or more personal experiences in Dickens life. Mrs Joe Gargery, for instance, was directly influenced by Dickens mother, Elizabeth Dickens, who sent Charles, at the age of twelve, to work in a shoe polish factory in order to support the family, who at the time were locked in prison due to the tremendous amount of debt Dickens father was in. Mrs Joe is an exaggerated caricature of Elizabeth, and the antithesis of the angel in the house. The phrase The Angel In The House has its roots in a poem written by the British lyricist Coventry Patmore. He believed that his wife Emily was the perfect incarnation of womanhood; i.e. she was beautiful, obedient, polite, a good cook etc, and it was from her influence that the 211 page volume was written in 1854, and from that poem sprung the expression used to describe a proper housewife doing her duties. Although popular, it received a lot of negative press from the more intelligent liberals both then and now, with some views being reflected by people such as Nel Noddings, who claimed that the Angel was infantile, weak and mindless. But surprisingly, Dickens was actually a supporter of the image presented by Patmore, as were the majority of individuals of the time, even if it does appear that he is criticising the angelic ideal with the character of Mrs Joe for instance, as Dickens actually held quite conservative views on the idea. Mrs Joe is possibly the least angelic person in the entire book, primarily as step by step, Dickens parallels her on every single stage with the Angel, to make her as least angelic as he can, or at least, it appears that he does. She carries with her a stick used for whacking, which Dickens ironically christens Tickler, which she uses to attack both Pip and Joe regularly. There is the image of the thimble, which would usually be used by a housewife similar to the one described in Patmores poem in order to safely knit and sew clothes, and yet Mrs Joe uses it to bash Pip on the head, which is almost the exact opposite of its original purpose. Dickens also appears to cover the ideal of women being perfect cooks, usoing the symbolism of Mrs Joe dropping nails from her top pocket into the bread dough as she is kneading it. being housewives, they would go out an earn money for the family.  The women in Great Expectations range through the social classes from the very top to the very base, and yet all of them have severe defects and are not usually very friendly or caring at all. The most evident of these are the characters of Mrs Joe Gargery and Estella, and to a lesser extent, Molly, Jaggers servant. They all come from different backgrounds, and yet one deals out physical abuse to her husband and brother, one treats the main character with neglect and pretends to loathe him out of spite simply because hes madly in love with her, and the other murdered her newborn baby, of which examples can give us quite a good idea of Dickens attitudes to class as it shows that there is no difference in how nice a person is just because of their status in society. Dickens is trying to suggest that the idea that it was the social class that you were brought up in that defined your personality and character in later life was pure speculation and had no basis in truth whatsoever. It is therefore an opinion voicing not only Dickens personal and more subtly hidden opinions on women, but also another expression of his more widely-known opinions on the Social Class system of England in the Victorian era. Dickens had a sense of social justice in that he was a firm believer that the poor of the country were being treated horribly by the people further up the class system, and although he was no radical or revolutionist, he did believe that it was wrong and so voiced his opinions quite openly in his books concerning this issue. He went from working in a factory when he was twelve to a world renowned author in 30 years, and so held these beliefs firmly and was not merely passing abstract comment on these issues.

A précis concerning Burleigh Wilkins, Can Terrorism Be Justified :: Terror Attack Septermber 11 Essays

A prà ©cis concerning Burleigh Wilkins, â€Å"Can Terrorism Be Justified† I. On September 11, 2001, I along with the rest of the nation, witnessed historical terror and devastation as the Twin Towers, a long-standing symbol of American prosperity, crumbled to the ground after two hijacked airplanes flew through them early that morning. Almost simultaneously in Washington D.C., a third airliner flew into the Pentagon, and shortly after, a fourth hijacked plane crashed in Somerset Country, PA. Few survivors emerged from the rubble; in the end, thousands were dead, and, without explanation or apology, millions of lives had been changed forever – all in a matter of minutes - a painful contrast to the far reaching affects that this sudden, single act had perpetuated. Over a month later we are only beginning to recover, further affirming the notion that will someday read like a line in a history book, that this was, is, and always will be one of the most horrible terrorist atrocities to ever plague our country. Terrorism has long been a global issue; for centuries it has gone on around the world. People with imperialist hopes for world domination often use acts of terrorism to scare smaller countries into support and subordination of the greater entity. Also, terrorism is often used to personify the hatred of one country for another. Burleigh Wilkins, who authored the piece, "Can Terrorism Be Justified?," raises the issue of whether acts of terrorism are ever morally justifiable, and utilizes situations where "a large number of people share guilt for a tragic situation," in what is known as collective guilt. According to Wilkins, terrorism is any act of violence against a group a people, whether they are the attackers or the victims of the attack. The answer to the title of the piece lies not in the definition of terrorism, but in the delineation of whether or not a terrorist act is justifiable. Wilkins uses this maxim: It is generally agreed that it is justifiable to do violence to another person in self-defense; some wars can be accommodated under the category of self-defense where this is construed in terms of a community of persons defending themselves against aggressors." Wilkins says that if we condemn unjust wars or unjust acts in wartime, then we also condemn terrorism where violence (or the imminent threat of

Sexuality Demonstrate

Demonstrate an understanding of selected theories and models in relation to social work fields of practice. Task: * A group presentation by a group of up to 5 sstudents on one model or perspective, that demonstrates knowledge of its major assumptions, strengths and weaknesses. Each group is to demonstrate how they would apply this understanding in a specific field of practice. * The perspective or model will be assigned to the groups on the first day of the class. Guidelines: * You are to work in groups of up to 5 on the perspective or model given to you on the first day of class. You are to describe the major features of the perspective or model with its major assumptions, strengths and weaknesses. You are to show how this perspective or model can be used within a social work field of practice.The group should be able to demonstrate why this perspective or model is appropriate for the selected field of practice. * Your findings are to be reported back to the class in a 30 minute gr oup presentation. Your will be required to hand to the tutor after the presentation all supporting details. This will include relevant PowerPoint, OHP, handouts and a list of references/ bibliography. * You are expected to use a vvariety of adult learning methods in your presentation. The methods can include role-play, use of transparencies or PowerPoint, board, flip charts etc.Participants:| 1| Due Date:| 19th November 2013| Time Limit:| 2 hours| Nga huanga / Learning Outcome: * Explain the processes and methods of working with individuals, families, whanau, groups, and communities underpinned by a range of theories/models. Task: * A closed book in-class test based on lecture material, class discussions and readings. Guidelines: * The test will be conducted under normal test conditions. * The test will be a closed book test. * There will be 10 minutes reading time. * The test will be up to two hours long. * The questions may include multi-choice or essay type questions or a combina tion of these.

Canada s Health Care System - 2214 Words

Canada has a publicly funded universal health care system in which accessibility to medical services for all eligible residents is guaranteed? The delivery of health care in Canada is regulated by the Canada Health Act, which requires that all insured persons have access to health services without having to pay a fee per use of a service. Canadians and Permanent Residents of Canada are covered by a provincial health plan in the province in which they reside; as such, Ontarians are insured and covered by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) Retrieved from http://www.cmcc.ca/international International students from the United States may be interested to learn that, Retrieved from http://www.cmcc.ca/international The US where health†¦show more content†¦In this system, health care is provided and financed by the government through tax payments. The government owns most hospitals and clinics; some doctors work for the government, but there are also private doctors who c ollect their fees from the government. Retrieved from http://www.cmcc.ca/international In Britain, patients never get a doctor bill. The system tends to have low costs per capita because the government, as the only payer, controls what doctors can do, and they can charge.Retrieved from http://www.cmcc.ca/international The Bismarck Model: was named after the Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismark, he invented the welfare state as part of the unification of Germany in the 19th century. This system is relatively similar to the American Healthcare. It’s an insurance system that insurers also call it â€Å"sickness funds,† financed by employers and employees through payroll deduction. The Bismark-type health insurance plans have to cover everybody, and they don’t make a profit. Doctors and hospitals tend to be private in Bismarck countries. Retrieved from http://www.cmcc.ca/international The National Health Insurance Model: this system has elements of both Beveridg e and Bismark. It uses private-sector providers, but payment comes from a government-run insurance program that every citizen