Madness in the Tales of Poe and Hawthorne Essay Example for Free

Madness in the Tales of Poe and Hawthorne Essay With madness and confusion dominating short stories such as some of the tales written by Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne, the psychological states of their main characters are of the utmost importance. The meanings of the stories depend on whether the characters are truly insane, suffering from a physical ailment or merely intensely angry and hungry for revenge. Poe’s tales â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† and â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† both explore themes of madness and premature burials. However, while Roderick Usher seems to be suffering not only from a physical illness but also from insanity which may have stem from a â€Å"history of mental disorder† (Poe, The Fall of the House of Usher), Montresor seems to have been under the grip of intense hatred that have been caused by his victim’s previous insult on his person. It may be argued that Montresor is demented like Usher, but his well-planned crime contradicts the supposition of an unhinged mind. Meanwhile, the psychological troubles of Hawthorne’s characters in â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† and â€Å"The Minister’s Black Veil† are apparently milder, but not subtler. People may regard Goodman Brown as a recluse and a snob and Minister Hooper as someone mourning over his or other people’s sins. Hawthorne explores isolation in both stories, highlighting the possible self-destruction that may result from intensely reclusive lives. Though the stories may vary and the level of mental disorder may differ, both Poe and Hawthorne present people with emotions that are overly sensitive and with mental faculties that are more distraught than most. Poe is fascinated by madness. His stories are sometimes even narrated by persons whose mental and emotional facilities are questionable. This results to a more interesting reading of each of the stories. The reader is left to wonder if he or she is able to extract the accurate account of the story or a deranged version of it. In â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† the narrator observes what goes on in his host, Roderick’s house. He â€Å"rejects evidence of the supernatural†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ He is predisposed to regard Roderick as mad and therefore to reject any explanation Roderick suggests† (Bailey 446). The narrator of the story depends on the accounts of his host, Roderick but he does not trust his friend’s sanity. This creates a tension that is experienced by both the narrator and the reader; this tension is the uncertainty of what is unfolding because it is through the guidance of such an unreliable source like an apparently mad Roderick. Montresor of â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† may not have the gaunt and unhealthy look of Roderick Usher but what he has done to his enemy, Fortunato, is exceedingly cruel. The deed may have seemed perfectly planned and efficient but someone who can avenge an insult received by murder must be somehow unhinged. The criminal’s mind is exaggerated as is evident in his narration: â€Å"THE thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge† (Poe, The Cask of Amontillado). My heart grew sick; it was the dampness of the catacombs that made it so. I hastened to make an end of my labour. I forced the last stone into its position; I plastered it up. Against the new masonry I re-erected the old rampart of bones. For the half of a century no mortal has disturbed them. In pace requiescat. (Poe, The Cask of Amontillado) Though Montresor displays some strong emotion over what he has done to Fortunato, he continues with the crime methodically. Moreover, this contradiction, along with uttering â€Å"Rest in Peace† to his victim seems to suggest that Montresor is indeed insane. In the two short stories, Poe illustrates insanity that has been passed through generations and then insanity that has been triggered simply by an insult. Nathaniel Hawthorne shows some concern about the fate of souls in his two stories â€Å"The Minister’s Black Veil† and â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†. While Poe illustrates madness that has resulted from being either inherently insane or predisposed to mental illness, Hawthorne explores zealous religiosity that can result to madness. Minister Hooper’s strong sense of religiousness has driven him to an extreme means of discerning the pious from the hypocrite. â€Å"Why do you tremble at me alone? Tremble also at each other! Have men avoided me, and women shown no pity, and children screamed and fled, only for my black veil? † (Hawthorne, The Ministers Black Veil) The man has decided to put a black veil on his face. Not even his fiancee has been able to persuade him to take off the veil which in turn has given him a continuously mourning persona. Though he is mentally capable to continue his duties as minister, he does them with a somber aura which the veil produces for him. The insistence on constantly wearing the black veil displays obsessive behavior related to his faith despite the fact that he has not actually stated what his real reason for wearing the veil is. In â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†, Hawthorne again tackles the effects of the perception of sin. Here, the main character is oppressed by what he thinks is the real knowledge of other people’s sins. What he is not aware of is that the Devil, which he has consorted with in the woods, has made him believe that every single person in his community is involved in atrocious deeds. â€Å"†¦elders of the church have whispered wanton words to the young maids of their households; how many a woman, eager for widows weeds, has given her husband a drink at bedtime and let him sleep his last sleep in her bosom; how beardless youths have made haste to inherit their fathers wealth; and how fair damsels†¦ have dug little graves in the garden, and bidden me, the sole guest to an infants funeral† (Hawthorne). Having believed the Devil’s lies, Goodman Brown is continually suspicious of his neighbors’ intentions. He even believes their good deeds to be merely pretentious displays of piety. Because of this behavior, Goodman Brown isolates himself from the rest of the community and dies a lonely death. Hawthorne explores the themes of isolation and zealous religiousness in his two short stories, expressing the dangers of the two themes. Both Poe and Hawthorne have effectively expressed the psychological terrain that their main characters are in. Through using a narrator that is either the character with the questionable mental state or one that distrusts that character, the stories become more mysterious and subject to individual interpretation while the intensity of emotions coming from the main characters are able to shine through. The two authors explore mental instability in different forms; Poe’s stories are about inherent, maybe even genetic tendencies to lose one’s mind while Hawthorne’s two tales are about isolation that has resulted from obsessive spirituality.

Euthanasia should not be legalized in the US Essay examples -- Mercy K

For the past decade all over the world, one of the most argued and debated about topics has been a patient’s right to choose to end his or her life by means of euthanasia. Euthanasia is the practice of ending a life in a painless manner. It has been and still remains an extremely controversial topic in the US. Does a person have the right to die? Should euthanasia be legalized? Legalizing euthanasia has become a burning topic to doctors, societies, governments, and nations. To me, the US government should not legalize euthanasia. I agree that people should have the right to do anything they want to do, but the death of a human is something that should not be controlled by another human. Life is a divine gift that really matters to all. According to Pope John Paul II, â€Å"A man, even if seriously sick or prevented in the exercise of its higher functions, is and will be always a man. He will never become a vegetable or an animal. The intrinsic value and personal dignity of every human being does not change depending on their circumstances.† Also, most of the people, who ask for the hel...

Polluter

Polluter Corp (the â€Å"Company†) has three manufacturing facilities in the United States, which produce various household cleaning products. The company has a fiscal year end of December 31 and was granted emission allowances (â€Å"EAs†) of various vintage years to be used between 2010 and 2030. To comply with The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (â€Å"FERC†) accounting guidance, Polluter recorded the EAs as intangible assets with a cost basis of zero.Each individual EA has a vintage year designation and those with the same vintage year designation are interchangeable, which allows entities to either buy or sell EAs to other entities, usually initiated through a broker. The Company has plans to upgrade its facilities in 2014 in order to decrease greenhouse gas emissions. It is anticipated the company will need additional EAs in fiscal years 2010-2014 but also believe there will be excess EAs after 2014.The Company operates in a capital-intensive industry and analysts and investors focus on important ratios and measures including working capital, capital expenditures, cash flows from operations, and free cash flow. The company entered into the following two separate transactions in fiscal year 2010 which will impact the Company’s results as presented in the statement of cash flows. . To meet its need for additional EAs in fiscal years 2010-2014, on April 2, 2010, the Company spent $3 million to purchase EAs with a vintage year of 2012 from Clean Air Corp. 2. In an effort to offset the costs of the April 2, 2010, purchase of 2012 EAs, the Company sold EAs with a vintage year of 2016 to Dirty Chemical Corp. for $2 million

William Shakespeare s A Midsummer Night s Dream - 867 Words

What is true love? True love is the wind, you cannot touch it, but you can feel it. True love is a gamble, it is the greatest of all risks. True love is a precious and ineffable sensation among human beings. The concept â€Å"true love† is defined â€Å"as caring about the health, well-being and happiness of another person to a greater degree than your own health, well-being and happiness† by Dr. Neder. He explained, â€Å"When you carefully consider your words, thoughts and actions, and specifically how they will benefit that other person, you’re in love.† In A Midsummer Night s Dream, William Shakespeare intertwined each individual characters. Through the concept of true love and presented to the audiences a twisted yet romantic love story. The love stories of Renaissance are richly colorful, so Shakespeare used multiple literary techniques to present to the readers a vivid image of true love. Shakespeare applied metaphor in the lines of Lysander. In Act 1, scene 1, Lysander says to Hermia, â€Å"The course of love never did run smooth. But either it was different in blood† (Shakespeare 134-135). In this line, the love is like a journey, Lysander thinks loves is rough and thwarted. It is always difficult for couples to marry. Hermia’s father, Egeus, wants Hermia to marry Demetrius but not Lysander. So Lysander thinks Egeus and Demetrius are the obstacles during the journey of love. They let love so difficult. He wants to convince Hermia to run away with him to avoid those obstaclesShow MoreRelatedWilliam Shakespeare s A Midsummer Night s Dream1339 Words   |  6 PagesHonors For A Midsummer Night s Dream By William Shakespeare 1. Title of the book - The title of the book is called A Midsummer Night s Dream by William Shakespeare. 2. Author s name - The author of the book A Midsummer Night s Dream is William Shakespeare. 3. The year the piece was written - A Midsummer Night s Dream by William Shakespeare was believed to have been written between 1590-1596. 4. Major Characters - There are three major characters in the book A Midsummer Night s Dream by WilliamRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s A Midsummer Night s Dream1474 Words   |  6 Pagesinstance, one could look at the movies A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Shakespeare in Love. The latter follows the life of William Shakespeare himself, everything from his love affair with Viola de Lesseps to his creation of Romeo and Juliet. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is one of the most famous plays of Shakespeare’s, revolving around the tumultuous relationships of four lovers, aided, and sometimes thwarted by the mischief of fairies. Although Shakespeare in Love outlines a few of the characteristicsRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s A Midsummer Night s Dream1548 Words   |  7 Pagesspoken by Helena in Act 1 Scene 1 line 234, explains that it matters not what the eyes see but what the mind thinks it sees. In the play, A Midsummer Night s Dream, written by William Shakespeare, there are several instances where the act of seeing is being portrayed. The definition of vision is the ability to see, something you imagine or something you dream. This proves that even though one has the ability to see; the mind tends to interfere and sometimes presents a different picture. VariousRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s A Midsummer Night s Dream990 Words   |  4 PagesSymbols in William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream Symbols help to play an important part in giving a deeper meaning to a story. William Shakespeare uses a variety of symbols in his play A Midsummer Night’s Dream and by using these symbols he offers some insight onto why certain events take place in the play. Symbols are sometimes hard to decipher but as the reader continues to read the symbol’s meaning might become more clear. Shakespeare uses a variety of symbols in A Midsummer Night’s DreamRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s A Midsummer Night s Dream1397 Words   |  6 PagesShakespeare’s comedies, like those of most Renaissance playwrights, involve love and its obstacles. Much of the comedy in A Midsummer Night’s Dream derives from the attempt of Lysander and Hermia to remain together while overcoming the adult authority figure who attempts to hinder the love of a young couple. The overcoming of an obstacle functions as a common motif in Renaissance comedy. The audience must wonder, however, whether Lysander and Hermia, as well as Demetrius and Helena, actually loveRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s A Midsummer Night s Dream1207 Words   |  5 PagesWilliam Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream has been categorized as a comedy play because of all the characters being passionately in love to the point of being foolish. It’s a play all about love, and the characters that are in love are only young adults, so they are still naive when it comes to love. Their naivety and foolishness regarding love is what allows them to be taken advantage of by mischievous fairies when they all run away into the woods. By critiquing the love affairs and numerousRead MoreA Midsummer Night s Dream By William Shakespeare1882 Words   |  8 PagesWritten during the Elizabethan era where gender roles played an important part in society and relationships, A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare portrays the interaction between both sexes, and the women’s respo nse to the expectation of such norms. Although the characters: Hippolyta, Hermia, Helena, and Titania, are portrayed as objects (both sexual and material) contingent upon their male lovers, they are also given empowerment. During the Elizabethan Era, and present throughout MNDRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s A Midsummer Night s Dream1277 Words   |  6 Pagestogether. Nor will love ever be a controllable compulsion. Maybe we are fools for going into the perilous, eccentric universe of love; yet what fun would life be without it? William Shakespeare s play A Midsummer Night s Dream investigates the unconventional, unreasonable and unpredictable nature of love during his time. Shakespeare conveys this through the main plot of the play, which is composed of the relationships between three couples. The three couples show examples of three different types ofRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s A Midsummer Night s Dream1442 Words   |  6 Pages William Shakespeare is estimated to have lived from 1564 to about 1616. He is often recognized as great English poet, actor, and playwright, and paved the way for many on all of those categories. Over that span he wrote many pieces that are still relevant today such as Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Macbeth. I would like to take a deeper look into one on his pieces â€Å"A Midsummers Night’s Dream.† This piece is estimated to have first been preformed in about 1595 and then later published in 1600. ManyRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s A Midsummer Night s Dream1014 Words   |  5 Pagesplay is heavily influenced by other people. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, written by William Shakespeare, is a very unique comedy in which love has a different definition with everyone in the play. The play portrays the adventures of four young lovers and a group called the mechanicals along with their interactions with woodland fairies and a duke and a duchess. This work is widely per formed around the world, and it’s no wonder, it s about the world s most popular pastime, falling in love. But as