Linguistic Structure of the Unconscious by Lacan

Linguistic Structure of the Unconscious by Lacan Lacans View of the Linguistic Structure of the Unconscious and Implications for the Relevance of Psychoanalysis to the Social World Jacques Lacan has been called the most influential psychoanalyst since Freud. The impact of his work, both as a theory of the unconscious and as a repertoire of clinical practices, is reflected in the use of Lacanian methods by over half of psychoanalysts worldwide. Lacanian concepts and constructs also are thriving outside the consulting room, in the studies of literature and film, in feminist studies and legal studies, international relations and social policy. But what does psychoanalysis have to do with the social world? Historians, social and political scientists have contested a role for psychoanalysis in their respective social domains. There is fear that psychological reduction is inevitably results, lowering the objective social sphere to the subjective level of a culture on a couch. However, the theory and practice of psychoanalysis need not be atomistic. Freud regarded the study of institutions, languages, literature and art as a necessary prerequisite to successfully comprehending the analytic experience. Like Freud, and in his project of returning to Freud, Jacques Lacan studied and borrowed from a range of disparate fields, including philosophy, structuralist anthropology, literature, music, topography and semiology/linguistics. He agreed with Freudon the legitimacy of social analysis inspired from a psychoanalytic perspective. In A Theoretical Introduction to the Functions of Psychoanalysis in Criminology (1950), Lacan expresse d his position as follows: It may be well that since its experience is limited to the individual, psychoanalysis cannot claim to grasp the totality of any sociological object, or even the entirety of causes currently operating in our society. Even so, in its treatment of the individual, psychoanalysis has discovered relational tensions that appear to play a fundamental role in all societies, as if the discontent in civilization went so far as to reveal the very joint of nature to culture. If one makes the appropriate transformation, one can extend the formulas of psychoanalysis concerning this joint to certain human sciences that can utilize them (Stavrakakis, 1999, p. 3). Anthony Elliott (1992) cited Lacans ideas as establishing the principal terms of reference for thinking about the interconnections between the psyche and social field (p. 2). In this vein, Feher-Gurewich contended that Lacans psychoanalytic approach is founded on premises that are in sharp contrast to the ones which have led to the failure of an alliance between psychoanalysis and social theory (Stavrakakis, 1999, p. 14). One set of these premises is the topic of this discussion. The following is an attempt to explain Lacans claim that the unconscious is structured like a language and to discuss the bearing this claim has on the relevance of psychoanalysis to the social world. First, a brief overview of Lacans career, or project, may assist in supporting this analysis. Overview of Lacans Project Although many perceive his theoretical works as impenetrable or as an incoherent jumble, there are common threads throughout. Lacan consistently viewed his mission to be a return to Freud. The keynote for this return was his placement of language as the central construct in theory and in practice(Clement, 1983). The Mirror Stage Beginning in the late 1930s, after the publication of numerous case studies, Lacan began to focus on the emergence of the sense of self, the function of the I. He termed this emergence the Mirror Stage in the development of a childs sense of self during the first two years of life. Drawing upon revelations from his own psychoanalytic experience, together with the work of psychologists such as Henri Wallon, Charlotte BÃÆ' ¼hler, and Otto Rank, Lacan posited that the childs emergent sense of self is formed upon entry into language, the realm of the symbolic, and always in reference to some other. That other could be the childs own image in a mirror, the mother or any number of other objects with which the child associated self via Freuds mechanism of narcissistic identification. The mirror stage is the origin of a fundamental alienation or split in the individuals sense of self. The speaking subject (I) becomes de-centered from the ideal ego (me). Because self is oriented toward an other who is perceived as ideal/omnipotent, and thus as a potential rival to the self, the ego that emerges from this stage is characterized by a hostility that threatens its very existence. Lacan concluded that human identity is formed only within this intersubjective context in which alienation and aggressivity characterize the natural state. Rather than being the first step toward the formation of a healthy and stable ego, his proposal that  mà ©connaissance,  or misperception, is central to the ego formation flew in the face of a basic construct of ego psychology, that the ego is the origin and basis of psychic stability. In 1953, Lacan broke with the dominant faction of ego psychologists and formed his own professional group, the Socià ©tà © franaise de psychanalytique (SFP). The Discourse of Rome During the first meeting of this group, in Rome that year, Lacan presented a paper which quickly became known as the manifesto of the new society. He argued that speech and, more generally, language were central to psychoanalytic practice and to any theoretical conclusions that might be extrapolated from it. He drew upon and adapted the semiologic principles of Ferdinand de Saussure and the philosophical traditions of Hegel for his theoretical vocabulary. It is during this time that Lacans public focus shifted clearly from the developmental to the linguistic. Drawing from the language of music, he posited three registers of functioning, the symbolic, imaginary and real. The symbolic, a function of speech/language, was seen as central and in dynamic interaction with the imaginary. Lacans acerbic characterization of the ego as the seat of neuros is rather than the source of psychic integration and his emphasis on the symbolic organization of the human psyche opened new territory for psychoanalytic theory. Lacan credited Freud with the concept and blamed his ego-psychologist followers for obscuring the point. Meta-theory The charge that psychoanalysts had abandoned the founding texts of their profession exacerbated tensions between the ego psychology and the SFP until Lacan left the group in 1963 to form another organization, the École Freudienne de Paris (EFP). Lacan continued his close readings of Freuds texts, but he now began to introduce a number of terms and concepts not found in Freuds own work. By the time his selected essays appeared 1966, his seminars were standing-room-only. Many in the crowd associated him with structuralists such as Jacques Derrida, Claude Là ©vi-Strauss, and Michel Foucault. As with other members of this group, Lacan was often criticized for the difficulty of his style. Within the EFP itself, many of the practicing analysts were concerned about what they perceived as the increasingly theoretical and academic emphasis of Lacans work. During this stage of his career, Lacan began work toward a meta-theory of psychoanalysis, constructing ideas about Lacanian ideas. His construct of the three registers expanded to three-plus dimensions. He attempted to recast his earlier insights in the more precise language of mathematics, employing topological figures, such as the Klein bottle and Borromean knot, to illustrate and explore the relationship among his theoretical constructs. However, many of Lacans followers criticized this approach, complaining that his arguments were increasingly incomprehensible and irrelevant to clinical practice. Lacans response was the dissolution the EFP and the founding of yet another association, the École de la Cause Freudienne, which he directed until his death in 1981. The Structure of the Unconscious and Relevance to the Social World In the  Introductory Lectures to Psychoanalysis, Freud commented that the unconscious can be compared to a language without a grammar (Laplanche Pontalis, 1983). Lacan, using structuralist linguistics, attempted to systematize this contention, arguing that the unconscious is structured like a language, and that it speaks/  ca parle. A symptom, Lacan claimed, may be read as an embodied metaphor. As Freud had argued, what is at stake within a symptom is a repressed desire objectionable to the consciously accepted self-conception and values of the subject. This desire, if it is to gain satisfaction at all, accordingly needs to be expressed indirectly. For example, a residual infantile desire to masturbate may find satisfaction indirectly in a compulsive ritual the subject feels compelled to repeat. Just as one might metaphorically describe ones love as a rose, Lacan argues, here we have a repressed desire being metaphorically expressed in some apparently dissimilar bodily activity. Equally, drawing on certain moments within Freuds papers On the Psychology of Love, Lacan argues that desire is structured as a metonymy. In metonymy, one designates a whole concept (e.g.: military force) by naming a component of it (e.g.: a sword). Lacans argument is that, equally, since castration denies subjects full access to their first loveobject (the mother), their choice of subsequent love objects is the choice of aseries of objects that each resemble in part the lost object. According to Lacan, the unconscious uses the multivalent resources of the natural language into which the subject has been inducted (what he calls the battery of the signifier) to give indirect vent to the desires that the subject cannot consciously avow. While Freud is interested in investigating how the polymorphously perverse child forms an unconscious and a superego, and becomes a civilized adult, Lacans focus is on how the infant develops the illusion commonly termed as a self. His essay on the Mirror Stage describes that process, showing how the infant forms an illusion of an ego, of a unified conscious self identified by the word I. For Lacans theory, the notion that the unconscious, which governs all factors of human existence, is structured like a language is central. Freuds account of the two main mechanisms of unconscious processes, condensation and displacement, reinforce this claim. Both are essentially linguistic phenomena; meaning is either condensed (in metaphor) or displaced (in metonymy). Lacan noted that Freuds dream analyses, and most of his analyses of the unconscious symbolism used by his patients, depend on word-play (e.g., puns, associations, etc.) that are chiefly  verbal. According to Lacan, the contents of the unconscious are acutely aware of language and of the structure of language. Hence, the unconscious, structured like a language, serves to reveal a symptom of neurosis or psychosis through this medium. Lacan followed ideas laid out by Saussure, but adapted them to his use. He argued that Freud had understood the linguistic nature of human psychology but that he had simply lacked the Saussurean vocabulary necessary to articulate it. Saussure talked about the relationship between signifier and signified in the formation of a sign, and contended that language is structured by the negative relation among signs (i.e., the existence of a sign is dependent on its distinction from another sign). For Lacan, the contents of the unconscious form signifiers and these signifiers form a signifying chain. One signifier has meaning only if it is distinct from some other signifier. There are no signifieds in Lacans model; there is nothing to which a signifier ultimately refers. If there were, then the meaning of any particular signifier would be relatively stable; there would be a relation of signification between signifier and signified, and that relation would yield meaning. Lacan posited that re lations of signification do not exist in the unconscious; rather, there are only negative relations in which one signifier can exist only if it is distinct from another signifier. Because of this lack of signifieds, the chain of signifiers constantly slides and shifts in an endless series, like actors in search of a play. There is no anchor operating in the unconscious, nothing that ultimately gives meaning or stability to the system. The chain of signifiers is constantly in play, in Derridas sense; there is no point at which a definitive meaning can crystallize. Rather, one signifier only leads to another signifier, and never to a signified (Lacan, 1966). Lacan posited this as the nature of unconscious content: continually circulating chains of signifiers, with no anchor or center. This is Lacans linguistic translation of Freuds depiction of the unconscious as a chaotic realm of shifting drives and desires. While Freud attempted to bring those chaotic drives and desires into consciousness so they could be understood and made manageable, Lacan theorized that becoming an adult, a self, is the process of trying to halt the chain of signifiers so that stable meaning, including the meaning of I, becomes possible. According to Lacan, however, this possibility is an illusion, an image created by a misperception of the relation between body and self Even sexual identity is determined by the subjects relation to the signifier, not by some innate, biological predisposition. For Lacan, what Freud described as the oedipal phase is actually a moment in which the individual faces the option of accepting or rejecting the signifier in the place of the object or the imaginary other. Although Freud called this signifier the phallus, its primary characteristic is not its status as a biological organ that one may or may not possess. Rather, this primordial signifier possesses the fundamental property of being separable from the object it represents. Freud identified this possibility as castration, but Lacan claimed that it is simply the functional principle that enables the signifier to appear as such. Sexuality and, more generally, personal identity is thus not biologically determined but instead constructed through ones relation to the symbolic order. Most of Lacans work from this period traces the connections between specific properties of the signifier and their effects in human experience. He claimed that the entire structure of intersubjective relations is determined not by the individuals involved but by the way those individuals model on a moment of the signifying chain which traverses them. Because the signifier is autonomous from the signified, the link between them, ordinarily considered to constitute meaning, is an effect of the signifier itself and its relation to other signifiers in the signifying chain. Lacan described the way that illusory meaning comes about by referencing Roman Jakobsons distinction between two poles of language, metaphor and metonymy. Lacan contended that these functions account for the sense of meaning although there is a barrier between the signifier and the signified, or between the symbolic and the real. According to Lacan, meaning never consists in language, it insists in the chain of signifiers as one supplants the other metonymically. Language seems to mean in the usual sense due to displaced signifiers that function as the signified in Saussures model. Subsequent signifiers merely refer back to earlier ones, and it is this retrospective reference that sustains the  effect  of reference in the absence of a referent or an actual signified. Lacan described this effect as the creative spark of metaphor (Beneveuto Kennedy, 1986). It is, for Lacan, the seat of the subjective. Traditionally, subjectivity has been understood as a juncture of words with objects, situated on the bar between the signifier and the signified or the border between language and the world. That border, Lacan argued, is within the unconscious. Read through Saussures influence and Lacans emphasis on the autonomy of the signifier, Freuds discovery of the unconscious established an absence in the subjects relation to the object and to the self. This absence or lack, termed the other, can be thought of as the object of desire. Lacan contended that the concept of the unconscious reveals a subject constituted in relation to an Other it cannot know and oriented toward an object that it can never possess. As discussed in the Mirror Stage, this splitting is brought about by the subjects entry into the symbolic, supplanting the imaginary unity derived through identification with the other. That identification is replaced by a more complex relation to the symbolic Other. Introduced in the Discourse of Rome the Other designates a number of concepts for Lacan; e.g., death, the symbolic father, the role of the analyst, the unconscious. For Lacan, Freuds angry father becomes the Name-of-the-Father or the Law-of-the-Father. Submission to the rules of language itself; i.e., the Law of the Father, is required to enter into the Symbolic order. To become a speaking subject, you have to be subjected to, you have to obey, the laws and rules of language. Lacan designated the structure of language, and its rules, as specifically paternal, calling the rules of language the Law-of-the-Father in order to link the entry into the Symbolic, the structure of language, to Freuds notion of the oedipus and castration complexes. The Other is posited as the center of the system, that which governs the structures shape and the manner in which all the elements in the system can move and relate. The term Phallus also is used to designate the Other, emphasizing the patriarchal nature of the Symbolic order. The Phallus limits the play of elements and stabilizes the structure. It anchors the chains of signifiers with the result that signifiers can have stable meaning. Because the Phallus is the center of the Symbolic order, of language, that the term I designates the idea of the self. Lacan has referred to this anchoring effect as a point de capiton or quilting point ( Stavrakakis, 1999). This quilting point has particular significance for the useful application of Lacanian psychoanalytic theory to social domains. Without it, the practitioner is left with a postmodern concept of an endlessly fluid chain of signifiers, signifying nothing in terms of a relatively stable identity or meaning. For Lacan, the slipping chain is halted by the prominent role attributed to certain signifiers in fixing the meaning of whole chains of signifiers. Lacan described this effect as everything radiating out from and being organized around this signifier, similar to these little lines of force that an upholstery button forms on the surface of material. Its the point of convergence that enables everything that happens in this discourse to be situated retroactively and retrospectively (Stavrakakis, 1999, p. 60). This is the point with which all concrete analyses of discourse in the psychoanalytic and the social world must operate. Discussion Lacans great contribution to contemporary culture is his teaching about rhetorical performance and cognition, doing and knowing. The revolutionary dimension of Lacans pedagogy for Felman (1987) is the dialogism of the performative and constative, how in practice they undermine, deconstruct, and yet inform each other. The interactions of doing and undoing form the dynamic basis, Felman said, of psychoanalysiss ineradicable newness (12), its evergreen vitality and unceasing revolutionary nature. Building on this insight, Lacan has shown experience, largely unconscious, to be structured like a language, since human behavior manifests the dialectical interaction of conscious and unconscious experience, the double writing of that which is  enacted beyond what can ever be  known  at any one moment. For example, Gallop (1987) pointed out that the psychoanalyst learns to listen not so much to her patients main point as to odd marginal moments, slips of the tongue, unintended disclosures. Freud formalized this psychoanalytic method, but Lacan has generalized it into a way of receiving all discourse (p. 23). Lacan was often and roundly criticized as a self-aggrandizing showman, a sloppy theoretician, an intentionally inscrutable speaker and author, a postmodern, post-structural want to be, and a polygamously perverse human. Many disciples justified his obtuse style of presenting ideas as an attempt to model his concepts within the instrument of his linguistic style. Others found his style to be sufficient reason for avoiding Lacans work altogether. In addition, his clinical practices, such as the abbreviated session, were frowned on by many traditionalists in the psychoanalytic community. However, Lacans linguistic approach to the unconscious serves as an important counter to the more-entrenched biological and neurological constructs. His synthesis of Freudian theory with Saussurean semiology generated new conceptual tools for critical research and reading in the social sphere. These tools allow a dynamic analysis of social process from the perspective of What is this doing? rather than What does this mean? References Beneveuto,B. Kennedy, R. (1986).  The Works of Jacques Lacan. London: Free Association. Clement,C. (1983).  The Lives and Legends of Jacque Lacan; A. Goldhammer(trans). New York: Columbia University Press. Elliott,A. (1992).  Social Theory and Psychoanalysis in Transition. Oxford: Blackwell. Felman,S. (1987).   Jacques Lacan and the Adventure of Insight: Psychoanalysis in Contemporary Culture.   Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Gallop,J. (1987).  Reading Lacan. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Lacan,J. (1966). Of structure as the inmixing of an otherness prerequisite to anysubject whatever. In R. Macksey E. Donato (eds),  The Structuralist Controversy, Baltimore: John Hopkins, 1970. Laplanche,J. Pontalis, J.B. (1983).  The Language of Psychoanalysis; D.Nicholson Smith (trans.). London: Hogarth. Stavrakakis,Y. (1999).  Lacan and the Political. London: Routledge.

Perhaps Othello Essay

Perhaps Othello cannot be regarded as the greatest of William Shakespeare’s tragedies, but many readers and viewers have found it incredibly exciting, logical, and most intense of all of Shakespeare’s plays. When performed, Othello is implacable in its drive toward tragedy, drawing spectators into the greatly shocking play of a husband quickly pushed to murder his blameless wife. Moreover, the Afro-American warrior Othello – the only black character in Shakespeare – becomes a husband of a white woman. Thus, the tragedy also touches on important issues that have become pressing in present period: racial prejudice and attraction to the â€Å"Other† (Othello Study Guide). Othello also allows readers to consider such important human issues as the nature of sexual jealousy and the difficulty of feeling certain about anything or anyone in this world. This paper is designed, first, to draw attention to these relevant issues in the play. Second, it will attempt to analyze these issues by exploring their many contexts so that it is possible to present various ways of understanding Othello from theoretical perspectives. Othello Shakespeare’s chief source for Othello was a story found in Giraldi Cinthio Hecatommithi, a collection of interesting tales where the major topic is marriage (Othello Study Guide). If one compares Italian story with Shakespeare’s, he or she can see English playwright’s incredible skills in transforming an ordinary story into logical and effective drama. Shakespeare modifies some parts of the story to emphasize dramatic plot and make character presentation much sharper. Further, he makes significant changes in the text, inserting and removing some parts, to dignify his protagonist and turn a melodramatic story into excellent tragedy. Othello is not created on such a huge scale as Shakespeare’s other famous tragedies. The play has neither the superhuman and magical dimensions of Hamlet and Macbeth, where the readers meet Ghost and Witches, nor King Lear’s unceasing feeling of doubt and uncertainty regarding â€Å"Nature† and the gods. Nevertheless, Othello is the only one of the four tragedies to present the reader with two separate countries as locations: civilized world of Renaissance Venice and the island of Cyprus. A. C. Bradley (1962) describes Othello as the most â€Å"masterly† of Shakespeare’s tragedies in its construction (144). Bradley stresses the fact that Shakespeare uses virtually no delaying tactics to slow down the action in the play, as, for example, in Hamlet where the hero delays his revenge, and no subplot to develop complicating consequences, as the reader finds in King Lear. Acts from 2 to 5, taking place in Cyprus, form a persistent sequence without significant interruptions. Further, however, there are some variations in pace – the slower tempo of the willow scene in acts 4 and 3, where Desdemona and Emilia take stock of the situation. In this regard, Ned B. Allen (1968) arrives at a conclusion that the instances of long time, for the most part in acts 3 and 4, are the result of Shakespeare’s sticking to Giraldi Cinthio’s slow-paced tale more densely there than the playwright does in acts 1 and 2 (13-29). Arguing that â€Å"double time† is a skilful device to heighten the credibility of the action, Ridley expresses admiration for Shakespeare’s â€Å"astonishing skill† in placing close together allusions to long time with a strong impression of a thirty-three-hour time span on Cyprus (lxx). It is, Ridley believes, a literary technique of lulling the reader into thinking that more time has passed than the action declares. In this manner, the reader does not question why, logically, Othello would be killing his wife for her supposed unfaithfulness the very night after he has brought to completion their marriage. Interestingly, among Shakespeare’s tragedies, Othello may be regarded as the least connected with social or political developments and transformations. The play does not appear to have been written on the topic of a specific historical event or social movement in the beginning of 1600s. Othello is a domestic tragedy. Thus, it exposes power plays inside relations between representatives of patriarchal society – in particular, in father-daughter and husband-wife relationships. But not like King Lear, that constantly expresses uncertainty about received â€Å"authority† as the king’s status is depreciated, Othello does not deal with the wider political branches of this social power. Nor does Othello take into consideration faults in state power that the reader can observe in Shakespeare’s history plays and Coriolanus. Although Othello is of aristocratic birth, he is not the real or possible leader of his realm (while Lear, Macbeth, and Hamlet are all kings), upon whose decisions and thoughts depend the whole state and its people. At the same time, however, Othello is concerned with important cultural and social issues. Precisely, Othello’s exact color has been much considered with references to racist issues (Shakespearean Criticism). What is important is that Othello is a black warrior, in all likelihood from North Africa, and now dwelling in a white European society. The issue of racial difference is deeply embedded in the tragedy and is very well obvious in performance. How would the character have been considered by the Jacobean public, and how is he understood this day? Does Othello make effort to incorporate or refuse to accept racist stereotypes of that time? How much does Desdemona, a white upper-class representative, breaks the moral rules of her society by making decision to marry a black warrior, and finally does Othello give approval to or reject her open and bold resistance to authority and power? Taking into consideration these questions, one can analyze ways in which Othello contributes to the discussion on two groups – black African men and white women – that were often made seem unimportant in the beginning of seventeenth century. Even though it cannot be equated with present day racial discrimination issues, color prejudice appears to have developed in England under Queen Elizabeth and King James. Black was associated with evil, Africans’ dark skins was considered to belong to the devil. Taking into account the racial prejudices of the time, it is unusual that Shakespeare decides to make his tragic hero an Afro-American and his villain the white Iago. Critic John Salway, for example, considers that Shakespeare introduces the general preconceptions regarding Africans by means of the racist discourse of Iago and Brabantio – Iago glibly utters slander about Othello as â€Å"lusty Moor† and â€Å"devil†, while Brabantio, who â€Å"lov’d† Othello as a warrior, ascribes responsibility to him for winning his daughter’s love through â€Å"damned† witchcraft (30). John Salway considers that the playwright does so only to explode these prejudices in the course of the play. In this respect, Othello’s mistake is a natural human weakness rather than a fault coming from his race. John Salway also acknowledges the long-established medieval tradition, literary and decorative, that connected the black man with lower rank in society and damnation. The author argues, at the same time, that a countercurrent of religious discourse and art, for example, the special importance given to inner holiness over outward appearance and the description of Balthazar, one of the Magi bearing gifts for the infant Christ, as a black man, provided Shakespeare with an opportunity to develop Othello as a â€Å"great Christian gentleman† (45). Salway finds no prove in the tragedy that the character is really savage, since he gains his nobility again after his tragic loss of faith in Desdemona (55-56). Martin Orkin (1987), a South African scholar keenly aware of how Shakespeare’s Othello gives occasion for racist responses, is in basic agreement with Salway’s statements. He believes that Shakespeare works â€Å"consciously against the color prejudice that can be seen in â€Å"the language of Iago, Roderigo, and Brabantio† and denies such prejudices giving emphasis to the â€Å"limitations† of â€Å"human judgment† in general as the real cause of Othello’s tragedy (170-181). All this is right from the one side: Shakespeare creates his characterization of â€Å"valiant Othello† far beyond that of the traditional stereotype. On the other side, however, there are situations in the play when Othello’s actions do generate the sinful barbarian image. This is specifically the case in act 4, where the character loses his mind in a frantic mania of jealousy (â€Å"savage madness† is how Iago gives account of it), promises to â€Å"chop† Desdemona into â€Å"messes† after overhearing the dialogue that takes place between Iago and Cassio. Moreover, Othello behaves immorally by making a physical attack on Desdemona in public. Does Shakespeare try to demonstrate color prejudice by making Othello returning again and again to the traditional image of ‘black savage’? One resistance against attack on Othello’s behavior in the play is to claim that it is a victory of Iago’s hard-hearted intrigue with him, combined with the Moor’s dramatic readiness to consider as true the negative, oversimplified stereotype of himself. It seems that Othello’s humiliating performance is almost destined to cause the audience to become unfriendly, both Jacobean and present. By the concluding part of the play, Othello is divided between the individual characteristics he has attempted to maintain as an honorary white in Venice – where the Senate has allowed him military services and even more, in contrast to Brabantio, forgave his relationship with a white woman – and his strong inner sense of himself as an African â€Å"Other†. In being fatally overwhelmed by jealousy and murdering his wife, Othello eventually describes himself as more related by blood to the ignoble Judean and the malicious Muslim Turk than to the civilized and noble Christian. Some readers and viewers may feel that Othello compensates his rank as an inspiring tragic hero in the culmination, while others may dissent in opinion. And while it is right to claim that Othello does not give approval to the deeply felt prejudices of an Iago, how does the audience feel about Emilia’s racist comments in the final part of the play? Emilia becomes the center of tragic attention when she reveals Othello’s dreadful mistake and dismantles any â€Å"just grounds† for his believing that Desdemona committed sexual intercourse with other man. Preoccupied with her frank truth-telling, the spectators are encouraged to become accomplices of her views even though they are full of racial intense dislike. Emilia refers to Othello as the â€Å"blacker devil† describing his behavior as â€Å"ignorant as dirt† and feels sorry that Desdemona was â€Å"too fond of her most filthy bargain†. These examples demonstrate the difficulty of reaching an exact decision where the play stands regarding Othello’s blackness and racial prejudice. Because of the fact that the balance of dramatic sympathies shifts from episode to episode, readers are likely to agree with Emilia’s angry release of prejudice while rejecting Iago’s coldly malicious racism, in spite of the close relationship he has established with the reader. In this regard, one can compare Othello with Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Just as The Merchant of Venice may at the same time destroy anti-Semitic prejudice (in Shylock’s probing speech â€Å"Hath not a Jew eyes? † and support it (with Shylock’s absurdly incongruous behavior and wish that his daughter â€Å"were hears’d at my foot, and the ducats in her coffin! †), it can be stated that Othello stimulates discourse regarding the racist stereotypes of the sixteenth-century life even though it supports them to some extent. It should be observed, however, that to be totally free of racism and any discrimination, the playwright would have to invent a new language with no words containing a hidden implication, no unfair treatment of a color character, and no connection in the play between blackness and evil, whiteness and good. Expressing the same idea but differently, Othello cannot go beyond the language and traditions of its culture. According to Juliet Dusinberre (1976), if black-skinned men were considered as the â€Å"Other† in the sixteenth-century Europe, then women could be also called as a painful Other in patriarchal communities. The Reformation in England is at times thought as a period when attitudes and views toward female roles, at least inside marriage relations, were becoming more liberal and humanistic (Dusinberre 3-5). Puritans encouraged an equal marriage partnership, in contrast to the accepted without question subordination of wife to her husband, and valued married chastity above celibacy. However, it can be supposed that this elevation of the married relationships might have served as a method to contain women’s uncontrollable desire rather than to encourage a real self-dependence for them. It is easy to see that Desdemona is committed to the ideal of married chastity, but she is also a woman who tries to rebel. Obviously, her courageous rejection of her father’s wishes (and, globally, those of the Venetian upper class) so that it is possible to marry a black warrior and her honest desire to follow the â€Å"rites† for which she married Othello create behavior not conforming to accepted rules and standards in Venetia. The woman has stepped beyond the permitted boundaries of her race – â€Å"Against all rules of nature,† as Brabantio describes this – and the modesty that most people expect of female gender. Shakespeare, in spite of her faults, presents the rebellious and disobedient Desdemona as a character deserving admiration. Her powerful and effective language in explaining why she chose Othello despite her father’s unwillingness, her brave strong passion for the Moor, and her spirited and powerful (even though unreasonable) defense of Cassio are all probable to win the sympathies and admiration of the readers. Desdemona’s boldness, as well as Othello’s initial approval and praise of it (he describes her as his â€Å"fair warrior† when he comes to Cyprus), all say about a marriage with mutual love and respect for each other. When living in Cyprus, however, Desdemona becomes more isolated and open to temptation and persuasion. Once Othello incorporates Iago’s views, interpreting the meaning of Desdemona’s behavior as unfaithful and indiscriminate actions, the woman has no means of opposing her husband’s violent desire to control her life. It would seem, taking into consideration these issues, that there are contradictory messages present throughout the play about what behavior is right for women. The uncontrollable female who calls into question her place in the male-dominated community is given some capacity for independent action but ironically is then punished, primarily because Othello misinterprets her actions, but also, the drama may suggest, because of her desires going beyond acceptable boundaries of taste and convention of the time. Like with the issue of racism regarding Othello’s personality, Emilia’s role emphasizes the contradictory treatment of women in the tragedy. Her passionate defense of wives in act 4 produces the double sexual standard by which relationships between men and women are determined: And have not we affections? Desires for sport? and frailty? as men have? Then let them use us well; else let them know, The ills we do, their ills instruct us so. Since Emilia expresses a convinced belief that women are men’s equals in desire and have the full right to live and act like their husbands, her declaration is potentially ungrounded in its denial of gender qualities that work only to the advantage of men. At the same time, however, the meaning of the speech, as well as what the reader knows of Emilia so far, tends to decrease the power of the statement. Emilia has the similar gender of Desdemona but not social position. As a result, Shakespeare’s readers might make little of the sense of her statements, justifying them as fitting for serving women but not actual for upper-class women. Interestingly, Emilia has surrendered to her husband’s â€Å"fantasy† herself. She subordinated herself to his fanciful idea and thus affirmed the opposite of her philosophy of independence — by presenting him the gift. Conclusion Regarded by many scholars as one of Shakespeare greatest tragedies, together with Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear, Othello has a traditional tragic plot, tracing the hero’s fall from splendor and combining together human qualities of nobility with actins and decisions that lead to unavoidable suffering and loss. Othello is, at the same time, one of Shakespeare’s most emotionally touching works. The driving power with which the extremely effective but destructive series of events develops creates an exciting sense of chaotic violent and confused movement that captivates both readers and viewers almost as much as it drives the characters. Shakespeare’s character development and his incorporation of difficult issues in the play produced an incredibly complex play that considers a number of important moral and social questions. Works Cited Allen, Ned B. â€Å"The Two Parts of Othello†, ShS, 2, 1968, in Honigmann, E. A. J. Othello. Cengage Learning EMEA, 2001. Bradley, A. C. Shakespearean Tragedy. London: Macmillan, 1962. Dusinberre, J. Shakespeare and the Nature of Women. London and Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1976. Orkin, M. Othello and the Plain Face of Racism, SQ, 38. 2, 1987. Othello Study Guide. Available from: http://www. shakespearefest. org/Othello%20Study%20Guide. htm Othello. Shakespearean Criticism. Available from: http://www. enotes. com/shakespearean-criticism/othello-vol-68 Salway, J. â€Å"Veritable Negroes and Circumcised Dogs: Racial Disturbances in Shakespeare†, in Lesley Aers and Nigel Wheale (eds. ), Shakespeare in the Changing Curriculum (London and New York: Routledge, 1991). Shakespeare, W. â€Å"Othello, the Moore of Venice†. Shakespeare Homepage. Available from: http://shakespeare. mit. edu/othello/full. html

Analysis of “Mississippi burning” Essay

Mississippi Burning is a film directed by Alan Parker that was released in 1988. It depicts the case of Mississippi Burning, which took place in 1964, where three civil rights workers went missing. The FBI was notified only to find the sheriffs office linked to the Ku Klux Klan and accountable for the disappearances of the three boys. This film follows an investigation carried out by FBI agents into the disappearances of three civil rights workers, who campaigned for the rights of â€Å"blacks†. As the case unfolds, vital evidence, such as the workers abandoned car are found and turmoils are faced by the main characters, Agents Anderson and Ward. The case proceeds when more FBI agents are called in and the sheriffs offices involvement is discovered. As a last resort, Ward does things Andersons way and as a result, information is received from the Deputys wife, which leads to the bodies being recovered and the men involved, charged with violating civil rights. The film is set in the fictional town of Jessup County in Mississippi. Segregation is prominent in this town where many of the whites; live in the town, whilst the blacks; are shown living on the outskirts in rundown houses. The setting is also presented in a manner where the town is shown to be in the middle of nowhere in order to depict the belief that their crimes would go unknown due to its isolation to the higher authorities. Mississippi Burning is a fictionalised depiction of the events in Mississippi in 1964. The movie portrays a period in history during the 1960s, where segregation and racial discrimination dominated. It was a period when civil rights movements were held to fight for the rights of â€Å"blacks† such as the Freedom Summer Movements and The Watts Riots of 1965. There was also the strong presence of racial groups such as the KKK and the corrupted authorities, who possessed great influence in those times. Many people also voiced their concerns such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King in the struggle for their civil rights. The film â€Å"Mississippi Burning† gives an accurate account of the 1960s; however a few discrepancies can be identified through analysis of that historical period. In the movie, many scenes present the reminder of segregation and racial discrimination as seen in the 1960s. These include the first scene, where a contrast is shown between the two water fountains, at the restaurant, where coloureds were separated from the whites and the strong presence of the distinctive racial groups. Some of the discrepancies identified were that there was no representations of retaliation from â€Å"blacks†, an expression that the FBI were the heroes and a stereotypical view given to all locals, which was not the case. The film, â€Å"Mississippi Burning† contains a vast array of characters, but two main characters are Ward and Anderson, who are the FBI agents in control of this investigation. Agent Ward, acted by William Dafoe, is the more conservative type of person. He was described by Anderson as the type that crossed the t’s, implying that Ward only knew one approach. Ward’s role in the movie was also primarily dominating as he made all the decisions such as interviewing witnesses and gathering evidence; however, it was apparent that with this approach, the case wouldn’t be solved. William Dafoe portrayed Ward convincingly through his attire, where he was formally dressed at all times and the use of glasses to depict a compliant attitude. The way he spoke also brought about a convincing attitude where formal language was always used. However in contrast, Agent Anderson, acted by Gene Hackman, is the type of person that does things his way. Anderson’s method was demonstrated during the film when Anderson passively scrutinised the deputy’s wife to obtain facts required for the conviction. He also orchestrated other events, for instance, the scene when the KKK members turned on each other due to  Anderson causing an internal quarrel. It is obvious that if it wasn’t for Anderson, the case wouldn’t have been solved. Gene Hackman portrayed Anderson very convincingly as his attire was always casual and his use of language depicted his aggressiveness. His stature was also related to the attitude Anderson portrayed as well as the aggressive voice that accompanied it. â€Å"Mississippi Burning† was released by Orion Productions in 1988. At this time, segregation had been minimised in most communities and equality between races and gender were on the rise. Society had become modern where living standards and the economy had increased. The â€Å"Klan† had also gone into hiding and laws had been created in order to protect the rights of each individual no matter what race they were. There were still the groups/individuals that were prejudice in different aspects of life. But, the majority had started to treat each other as equal whilst others were treated like heroes for their efforts such as Martin Luther King Jr who received a Nobel Peace Prize that year. Much progress had been made since the 1960s in regards to racism, that many people saw this movie has a way to bring about awareness. Some organisation had praised it as it gave an insight into how â€Å"blacks† were treated, but still held their heads high. People also saw the film as a way to see the true extent of what life was like for a coloured during the 1960s and to understand their pain through startling images of the â€Å"Klan’s† acts. Criticism was also expressed towards the film as many critics claimed that the â€Å"blacks† had been portrayed as helpless scared people who didn’t help the civil rights struggle, but instead, needed whites to come to their aid. Critics also fault the film, for not representing the â€Å"blacks† who played vital roles and also for the stereotyping of all Mississippians as racists. Throughout the film, the angle of a low angle shot has been extensively used to convey certain moods and emotions. This technique consists of positioning  the camera below the figure, in order to obtain a particular effect. The low angle shot was used in the film to show power and vulnerability such as in the scene when the burning cross was shown where it illustrated the powerful symbol of the cross and the supremacy it had. The shot of the extreme close up was also used where a close up was given of an object. This technique was primarily used to display qualities of a person and the expressions manifested on their faces. An occurrence in the film was just before Frank shot the civil rights workers, where a close up of his face was portrayed. This was done in order to depict his expressionless face and the way he had no remorse for his actions. A lot of emphasis was also put into the lighting used in order to create a specific atmosphere. During the film, backlight was used create an eerie atmosphere as well as suspense due to the lack of light. This occurred in the scene when Lester was attacked in order to create a sense of anticipation as well as the kidnapping of he mayor. Lastly, the technique of sound was also used where diegetic and non-diegitic sounds were used. These types of sounds included voices, where as non-diegetic sounds covered mood music. This technique was expressed during many scenes in order to set the tone such as when the characters were speaking and the mood music of gospel singing being used. This gospel singing was used to create the sad and sombre atmosphere and to also engage the viewer’s emotions. Overall, this movie was a clear depiction of the events in the 1960s and is a successful text in keeping this history alive through the passing to future generations.

Video Games Sports Games - 870 Words

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Many sport athletes like Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Clay Matthews, and Miguel Cabrera make millions from play sports in the sports industrial, but do they get paid for playing mindless video games. They would work on either their jump shot on the b asketball court, passes on the football field, or penalty shots on the soccer field. Terry loves to play actually football, but still can get blind by the screen in front of him. FIFA star Lionel Messi would give it his all to be physically fit and healthy to make his money by playing the sports he loves, than playing FIFA 15 on the Xbox 360 or Wii. Kathryn Sheller and Andrea Fradkin, are reporters that feelsShow MoreRelatedThe Effects Of Video Games On Sports956 Words   |  4 PagesSports have been around forever; since even the ancient times sports have been used for entertainment and to pass the time. 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