Innocence and Experience Essay Example for Free

Innocence and Experience Essay In Encarta Dictionary the meanings of the word ‘innocence’ are absence of being guilty of crime or offence, freedom from sin, lack of worldly experience The meanings of ‘experience’ are knowledge and skills and the sum total of things that have happened to a person and of his or her past thoughts and feelings. This essay states that innocence and experience are two states of human being. At some point of time, the child in us makes the journey from innocence to experience. We lose innocence by gaining experience through knowledge and real life incidents. The experience we gain is inevitable, whether good or bad. This is explained through two literary works: Thomas Hardy’s novel ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles’ and Blake’s two poems,’ The Lamb’ and ‘The Tyger’. In ‘Tess of d’Urbervilles’, the innocent girl Tess gains experience by losing her virginity. By killing Alec D’Urbervilles, her seducer, she loses her innocence completely and gains the experience of a criminal. She pays the price of experience by her death. Hardy’s inclusion of elements of ‘coincident’ and ‘fate’ and ‘destiny’ shows the inevitability of such experiences and the resulting tragedy in the novel. Blake in his poem ‘The Lamb’ the meek and mild lamb is the symbol of innocence and Tyger in his poem’ The Tyger’ is the symbol of experience. Through these poems Blake wants to convey that innocence and experience are â€Å"two contrary states of human soul† with respect to creation. In ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles’, Tess is an innocent country girl who is unaware of the evils of society. Her parents as well do not advise her about the danger in men-folks so she is easily seduced by Alec. Hardy writes: â€Å"Why it is that upon this beautiful feminine tissue, sensitive as a gossamer and practically blank as a snow as yet, there should have been traced such a coarse pattern as it was doomed to receive†. Again, after her loss of virginity, she gains experience and matures as a woman, her beauty is enhanced. Angel notice her and they fall in love with each other. She enjoys happiness and bliss for the time being. His love for Tess is abstract, as he calls her â€Å"Daughter of Nature† or â€Å"Demeter. † Tess is more an archetype or ideal to him than a flesh and blood woman with a complicated life. Therefore he cannot accept that Tess is not chaste, as a result he abandon hers. He realizes his mistake too late. She takes the aid of Alec after misfortune befell her family. She loses her innocence completely when she commits the crime of murdering Alec and as a result she is hanged. Hardy’s writing style of using elaborate descriptions, long sentences, elements of coincidence, fate and destiny shows Tess’ inevitable journey from innocence to experience and the resultant doom. In Blake’s poem ‘The Lamb’, Lamb symbolizes Jesus and the child is also associated with Jesus. So the lamb and child in Jesus symbolizes innocence. In The Lamb the style of repetition in the first and last couplet of each stanza helps to give the poem its song-like quality. The flowing ls and soft vowel sounds add to this effect, and also imply the bleating of a lamb or the lisping character of a childs song. In Blake’s poem ‘The Tyger’, Tyger is the symbol of experience. It is strikingly beautiful at the same time undeniable because of the underlying evil and violence. To describe the Tyger, Blake uses the imagery of ‘fire’, which is destructive at the same time illuminating. The ‘Tyger’ presents evil in society, something that cannot be denied. The style of regular and rhythmic meter of the quatrains; its hammering beat suggests the work of the creator, which is the poems central image. Blake believed that a person has to pass through a state of innocence, the Lamb as well as understand the contrasting conditions of experience, Tyger, to reach a higher level of consciousness. Blake’s vision of a creative force in the universe which makes a balance of innocence and experience is at the heart of the poem. The two literary works Hardy’s ‘Tess of d’Urbervilles’ and Blake’ ‘The Lamb’ and ‘The Tyger’ show that Innocence and Experience, both exist in human life and society and experience is an essential part of human existence whether good or bad. Work Citation: â€Å"The Tyger†. 8 October 2007. http://www. cs. rice. edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/66. html â€Å"’Songs of Innocence and Experience’: ‘The Tyger’ by Blake†. 8 October 2007. http://www. sparknotes. com/poetry/blake/section6. rhtml â€Å"’Songs of Innocence and Experience’: ‘The lamb’ by Blake†. 8 October 2007. http://www. sparknotes. com/poetry/blake/section1. html

Cleopatra :: History Biography Cleopatra Essays

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII was known for the love she had of her country, a love so great that would lead her to any means necessary for the good of it. She was born into a Macedonian family who had power and rule over Egypt. They were descended from Ptolemy I, a general of Alexander the Great who became king of Egypt after Alexander's death in 323 BC. â€Å"The ptolemaic dynasty was interlocked in goodwill and bad with the other Hellenistic states that had been wrenched out of portions of Alexander’s empire† (Huzar, 187). In this paper I will discuss who she was, and the measures she would she would go to for the good of her country.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cleopatra VII was born in 69 BC in Egypt. Her father was Egypt's pharaoh, Ptolemy XII, nicknamed Auletes or "Flute-Player." Cleopatra's mother was probably Auletes's sister, Cleopatra V Tryphaena. She had two older sisters, Cleopatra VI and Berenice IV. She also had a younger sister, Arsinole IV. There were also two younger brothers, Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV. When their father died in 51 BC, he left the rule of the kingdom to Cleopatra VII and her younger brother Ptolemy XIV. She married him, a twelve-year-old. This was not out of love for him, but out of wanting to rule. In order for her to rule she must have a consort, either brother or son.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cleopatra is one of the most talked about figures in ancient history. â€Å"She possessed many titles. Among them was Thea Neotera, the New Goddess, an echo of that great earlier Cleopatra Thea; and Philadelphus, lover of her brothers. Other titles include Philopator, lover of father, and Philopatris, lover of country. † (Grant1, 198). It was said by some that she was beautiful and irresistible. When portrayed on film she is a ravishing beauty. Others would argue that her beauty was internal rather than external; that her looks are not at all what attracted the great men of her time but her intellect and personality. She was an educated woman who could speak several languages, knew of geography, and could talk of politics. This was rare at the time, for not many women could. â€Å"Cleopatra formed a mighty plan to revive the great Ptolemaic Empire of the past by maintaining associations with two successive leaders, Julius Caesar and Marcus Antonius, who both in turn became her lovers.† (Grant, 17).

The Green Table Kurt Jooss

Paulina Milewska Kurt Jooss’ The Green Table Expressionism can be described as a movement in the fine arts that emphasized the expression of inner experience rather than realistic portrayal, looking to obtain not objective reality, but the subjective emotions and responses that objects and events arouse in the artist. Several characteristics of expressionism are distortion, exaggeration, primitivism, and fantasy. The Green Table,† a ballet by Kurt Jooss, 1932, is an ideal example of expressionism because it depicts the choreographer’s personal interpretation of war through the use of movement, music by Fritz Cohen and lighting by Hermann Mankard. The Green Table is a piece of performance created mostly by Kurt Jooss, the piece lasts thirty minutes in which different episodes of war. The first scene shows the diplomats called The Gentlemen in Black, the second scene The Farewells which show the divide between the loved ones and the soldiers that go off to the war.T he third scene is The Battle in which the battle begins and the character Death is taking each of the soldiers one by one, Death is a big part in this scene as it creates a mental image for the audience showing the dreadful times where innocent males were dying due to a diplomatic argument that was created because of the gentlemen in black. The next scenes follow which are: The partisan, the refugees, the brothel and men in black once again to show the never-ending hypocritical nonsense of the government.The choreography for â€Å"The Green Table† cannot exactly be categorized as one thing or another. Jooss seems to employ two different types of dance: one being the traditional ballet, and the other being the modern technique. The use of traditional ballet can be seen in the dance of the soldiers with their light and graceful movements, particularly the one carrying the white flag. However, the heavier movements of dancers such as Death and the Partisan Woman illustrate moder n dance technique similar to movements choreographed by Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey.The fact that Jooss utilizes both of these dance forms demonstrates his unique theories and adds a personal touch to this show. However, movement is not his only means of self-expression. The music accompaniment to this piece comes from one or two pianos which works well with the dance so that neither one overshadows the other. There are no other instruments used, the melody of the piano changes from scene to scene in order to project Jooss’ emotional responses. During the scenes with the politicians, the air of the piano is light-hearted and almost comedic.The story begins with the politicians in masks that are arguing in a non-naturalistic way using their postures and gestures for example: standing up with masks facing the audience wearing white gloves reaching their hands out with open palms portraying careless emotion. The show ends the same way which gives an impression of Jooss tryi ng to say that there will always be arguments between higher statuses that don’t help the general public but they use their powers for their own entertainment. The purpose of this was to show the detachment of these men from the war.They are in a safe situation, unexposed to war and death. When the scene changes and we see what’s happening in the lives of citizens, this tune is transformed into a thunderous and eerie song that haunts the audience. The reason for this change is to reveal Jooss’ feelings about the unnecessary brutality and death that always comes with a war, and how politicians don’t understand the horror of it. In â€Å"The Green Table† Jooss has made almost full use of the dramatic, emotional and pictorial values of light. The most obvious of all contrasts was that between Death and all the other characters.While the entire dance seemed to be set in a dark light, it was particularly dark when shown on the character representing dea th. In fact, it had almost a bluish tint to it. During the scenes when death is not part of the immediate picture there is a large spotlight in the center of the stage where all the dancing takes place, however, the stage is never fully lit. This is in order to portray death, although not always immediately present, as being all around us in a time of war. The dancer of Death is always in the background as a constant reminder and, even when he becomes the main focus, is never illuminated.This represented Jooss’ unique view because he refuses to acknowledge any positive results that war brings and only sees it ending in death and destruction. The scene with the women of war using the proxemics in a clever way is portraying the other, vulnerable side of the war. The ladies are dancing lightly and swaying from side to side portraying sorrow and negative emotions. The most important character in that scene is the old lady who is struggling to walk and is leaning forward as well a s walking on her tiptoes very lightly showing a link with the Death character who is taking her life away.Her way of walking on tip of her toes is showing that she is not standing firmly on earth and living but she is already half way in the spiritual world. This scene shows a great contrast of importance in comparison to the first and last scene. Kurt Jooss’ piece, â€Å"The Green Table,† is antiwar ballet. It’s an example of expressionism because it is a one-sided, emotional performance that uses exaggerated gestures, primitivism, and distortion in order to convey Jooss’ view on war.

The Civil War The Greatest War - 1778 Words

The Civil War is one of the most important events that has ever taken place in history. It took place in America over a four span from 1861 to 1865 that involved the Union and the Confederate states of America at that time. Over three million people fought in the war and about 600,000 of those people were killed in the war. The Union had about 2,100,000 soldiers engaged in the war and the Confederacy had about 1,000,000 soldiers involved in the war. The war resulted from a lot of sectional differences that took place between the Union and the Confederacy. The Civil War is the greatest war that has ever taken place in America, because there so many different battles and so many important people that took place in the war. The first†¦show more content†¦The Battle of Bull Run happened shortly after the Battle of Fort Sumter on July 21, 1861. Even though the Battle of Fort Sumter was considered the start of the Civil War most people today say that the Battle of Bull Run was th e start of the war. The Battle of Bull Run was fought in Virginia just a couple of miles away from Washington D.C. . Popular fervor all around the world led to President Abraham Lincoln pushing a cautious general in McDowell, leader of the Union army in Virginia, to perform a surprise attack on the Confederate troops commanded by General Beauregard, who held a very strong position on the site of Bull Run. The goal of this battle was to take out a large majority of the Confederate army so the Union could open up the way to Richmond, Virginia which was the Confederate capital, and end the war. Early on the morning of July 21st both generals were thinking of their own specific plans trying to outsmart the enemy. Halting the success of the Confederate plan was the lack of communication and the failure of coordination throughout of their unit. The Union army, however, were overwhelmed by a very complicated plan that required a high level of concentration to carry out their plan. Fighting raged throughout the entire day going back and forth between the Union and Confederate armies. The Union army finally made a push on the Confederate army, despite a lot of impressive efforts by the Confederate forces toShow MoreRelatedThe Civil War : The Greatest And Most Catastrophic War Essay1275 Words   |  6 PagesThe Civil War is an essential event in America s history. The Civil War determined what kind of nation the United States would be. Would it be a breakable confederation of absolute states or an indivisible nation with an absolute national government ? Northern victory of the war protected the United States as one nation and ended the foundation of slavery which had separated the country initially. 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