The Portrayal of Women in the Media Essay -- Advertisements Advertisin

The Portrayal of Women in the Media Redbook magazine are devoted to selling products ranging from shoes to shampoo. The entire magazine only has only 210 pages. Approximately 6-8 min of every half hour television show is produced by ad agencies. Americans are bombarded with advertisements. We see them everyday in many different forms and through different mediums. Advertisers study America’s population through a systematic breakdown and analysis of our likes and dislikes in relation to our differences. These differences include gender, sexual orientation, economic status, location, race, ethnicity, and more. Advertisers have substantial knowledge of what appeals to each of these demographics and how these demographics will respond to different stimuli (i.e. visual audio, ect.) as well as where the advertising will be most effective. In other words, advertisers find it more beneficial to target specific audiences (Furnham; Mak, 1999). One of the central audiences that advertisers focus their attention on is women. Being such a large part of society, American women are targeted along with every other group. Ads placed where women are most likely to see them are custom tailored for women. Studies give ad agencies an accurate idea of what it is that they need to show women in order to get them to buy their product and their brand. If these ads can improve a woman’s mood her increased euphoria will subliminally be linked with the stimulus (the ad). This will, in turn, have a positive effect on their attitudes toward the product and brand (Simpson; Horton, 1996). There are several strategies that are popular in both television and magazines, many of which involve images of men. Advertisers use images of men by themselves or in a variety of positions and settings to appeal to women. By far, the most common image of men in advertising is of that of the â€Å"young, white, able-bodied, and staunchly heterosex ual† man (Jackson, 1994). The vast amount companies spend to advertise is proof in itself; these ads sell products. It should be noted that all television commercials analyzed in this paper come from the Lifetime network between 1pm and 3pm. The slogan of this network is â€Å"Lifetime: Television for Women†. Basic Gender Differences Studies involving both normal and brain damaged individuals have shown associations between gender and neuralgic activity... ...Dennis A.; Cornish, Ian M. â€Å"Conservatism and Gender in the Perception of Sex-Roles in Television Advertisements†. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 1993, Vol. 77, p642. Melvin, Thomas E.; Treiber, Linda A. â€Å"Race, Gender, and Status: A Content Analysis of Print Advertisements in Four Popular Magazines†. Sociological Spectrum. Jul-Sep 2000, Vol. 20, Issue 3, p357. Meyers-Levy, Joan. â€Å"Gender Differences in Cortical Organization: Social and Biochemical Antecedents and Advertising Consequences†. Ed. Eddie M. Clark et al. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1994. Prakash, Ved. â€Å"Sex Roles and Advertising Preferences†. Journal of Advertising Research. May/Jun 1992, Vol. 32, Issue 3, p43. Simpson, Penny M.; Horton, Steve. â€Å"Male Nudity in Advertisements: A modified Replication and Extension of Gender and Product Effects†. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. Summer 1996, Vol. 24, Issue 3, p257. Stern, Barbara B.; Holbrook, Morris B. â€Å"Gender and Genre in the Interpretation of Advertising Text†. Gender Issues and Consumer Behavior. Ed. Janeen Arnold Costa. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 1994. Sutherland, Max. Advertising and the Mind of the Consumer. St. Leonards: Allen and Unwin, 1993. The Portrayal of Women in the Media Essay -- Advertisements Advertisin The Portrayal of Women in the Media Redbook magazine are devoted to selling products ranging from shoes to shampoo. The entire magazine only has only 210 pages. Approximately 6-8 min of every half hour television show is produced by ad agencies. Americans are bombarded with advertisements. We see them everyday in many different forms and through different mediums. Advertisers study America’s population through a systematic breakdown and analysis of our likes and dislikes in relation to our differences. These differences include gender, sexual orientation, economic status, location, race, ethnicity, and more. Advertisers have substantial knowledge of what appeals to each of these demographics and how these demographics will respond to different stimuli (i.e. visual audio, ect.) as well as where the advertising will be most effective. In other words, advertisers find it more beneficial to target specific audiences (Furnham; Mak, 1999). One of the central audiences that advertisers focus their attention on is women. Being such a large part of society, American women are targeted along with every other group. Ads placed where women are most likely to see them are custom tailored for women. Studies give ad agencies an accurate idea of what it is that they need to show women in order to get them to buy their product and their brand. If these ads can improve a woman’s mood her increased euphoria will subliminally be linked with the stimulus (the ad). This will, in turn, have a positive effect on their attitudes toward the product and brand (Simpson; Horton, 1996). There are several strategies that are popular in both television and magazines, many of which involve images of men. Advertisers use images of men by themselves or in a variety of positions and settings to appeal to women. By far, the most common image of men in advertising is of that of the â€Å"young, white, able-bodied, and staunchly heterosex ual† man (Jackson, 1994). The vast amount companies spend to advertise is proof in itself; these ads sell products. It should be noted that all television commercials analyzed in this paper come from the Lifetime network between 1pm and 3pm. The slogan of this network is â€Å"Lifetime: Television for Women†. Basic Gender Differences Studies involving both normal and brain damaged individuals have shown associations between gender and neuralgic activity... ...Dennis A.; Cornish, Ian M. â€Å"Conservatism and Gender in the Perception of Sex-Roles in Television Advertisements†. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 1993, Vol. 77, p642. Melvin, Thomas E.; Treiber, Linda A. â€Å"Race, Gender, and Status: A Content Analysis of Print Advertisements in Four Popular Magazines†. Sociological Spectrum. Jul-Sep 2000, Vol. 20, Issue 3, p357. Meyers-Levy, Joan. â€Å"Gender Differences in Cortical Organization: Social and Biochemical Antecedents and Advertising Consequences†. Ed. Eddie M. Clark et al. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1994. Prakash, Ved. â€Å"Sex Roles and Advertising Preferences†. Journal of Advertising Research. May/Jun 1992, Vol. 32, Issue 3, p43. Simpson, Penny M.; Horton, Steve. â€Å"Male Nudity in Advertisements: A modified Replication and Extension of Gender and Product Effects†. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. Summer 1996, Vol. 24, Issue 3, p257. Stern, Barbara B.; Holbrook, Morris B. â€Å"Gender and Genre in the Interpretation of Advertising Text†. Gender Issues and Consumer Behavior. Ed. Janeen Arnold Costa. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 1994. Sutherland, Max. Advertising and the Mind of the Consumer. St. Leonards: Allen and Unwin, 1993.

The Parasite Called Man Essay -- essays research papers

Erza Pound says that, â€Å"man is the superior animal†. Superior or not, we all have the same basic habits. When humans are scared they seek shelter, when we are hungry we eat, and when is right, we wish to pass on our genes. So how is it that man is so superior when all our instincts and urges are so primitive? Erza Pound is puzzled by why humans are superior. I think the only reason why humans are superior is because of ignorance. Humans are the only animals that don’t come to equilibrium with the environment they live in. If humans had to be compared to a certain type of living thing, they would be most like simple parasitic bacteria.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The earth, however large it may be, has it limits when it comes to natural resources. Of all animals human are the only ones that make non-biodegradable waste. When humans run out of resources in one area they go on to the next destroying the area in their path and until a new site is reached with more resources to abuse. This is much like the life history of flesh eating bacteria. About two years ago, I saw a special on 20/20 about the disease. They say that is moves at about an inch per hour and that they don’t stop feeding on the host until the host is dead. The bacteria multiply at a high rate and can migrate to other parts of the body by the blood stream. Try to look as the host body as the earth, the bacteria as the humans, and the blood stream as the oceans and river; now, anyone can see that this is no diffe...

Measure for Measure Essay: Angelo -- Measure for Measure

Angelo in Measure for Measure   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Within Measure for Measure, the character of Angelo can be seen as a case study of will over moral nature. Angelo, a deputy, is given the Dukes authority to act in his behalf while the Duke is away. The story unfolds as Angelo uses the agency he's been given in ways that many men in authoritative positions have done. It is interesting to follow his line of thought and to realize that this is a man who is not unlike many others. The main conflict between Isabella and Angelo is a contemporary problem. Measure for Measure is a unique opportunity to investigate the personality types of the characters involved in the conflict, and the study of these complex characters can give meaningful insights into the nature of human emotion and action. Angelo's job is to take over in government while the Duke investigates his own character and those of others disguised as a friar. Whilst Angelo is in power, his will, ironically is in direct conflict with the law he is trying to uphold. He propositions chaste Isabella to engage in sexual activity in exchange for the life of her brother who is to be executed because of his sexual indiscretions. It can be perhaps seen that Angelo is not an inherently evil character, that he feel from ... ...with temptation." These are lessons that can apply to everyone.    Works Cited and Consulted: Black, James. "The Unfolding of Measure for Measure." Shakespeare Survey 26 (1973): 119-28. Leech, Clifford. "The 'Meaning' of Measure for Measure." Shakespeare Survey 3 (1950): 69-71. Shakespeare, William. Measure for Measure. The Arden Shakespeare. Ed. J.W. Lever. London: Routledge, 1995. Thomas, Vivian.   Understandning Angelo in Measure for Measure.   London: Croom Helm, 1987. Wilders, John.   "The Problem Comedies."   In Wells, Stanley, ed.   Shakespeare: Select Bibliographical Guides.   London: Oxford UP, 1973.

Christian Gospel Essay

This is an inspiring story of how a man of God grew into a man of great influence. Examining his life and ministry from the wise and humble perspective that has made him one of the world’s most beloved and respected leaders, in this memoir, Graham looks back at age 78 on his lifetime of personal relationships, ministry, leadership, and experiences. He chronicles such events and stories as his boyhood in North Carolina, his first steps in ministry, details of evangelistic trips and revivals, and meetings with world and local leaders. Billy Graham’s gift has been to appreciate that in matters of faith there is no approach too simple, no argument too crude, no question too basic. The most striking thing to notice about Graham’s career concerns the most important matter, his view of God. Here the question is whether Graham’s strategies of access and ecumenicity undermine his message. The charge that perhaps they do arises from two ways in which Graham has seemed to reduce the Christian Gospel to a utilitarian device existing for other, more ultimate purposes. In the first instance, it is possible to glimpse pressure on his message from the moral calculus, singularly American, of republican citizenship. This calculus suggests that in a republic the good health of the polity depends upon the morality of the citizenry; that the best thing for personal morality is religion; and that, since Christianity is the best religion, it is positioned to do the most for America. Especially in the first part of his career, Graham was prone to statements that seemed to make the destiny of the United States loom larger than the fate of the Christian Gospel. â€Å"I seriously doubt if the old America is going to exist another generation unless we have a turning to Christ. † Some who share Graham’s beliefs would agree with him, but also wonder if he was making the penultimate into the ultimate. In the second instance, Graham throughout his career has spoken of Christianity, again in his words, as â€Å"alone† pointing â€Å"the way to individual peace, social harmony, life adjustment, and spiritual satisfaction. † For a Christian, true enough again. But priorities seem disarranged when sermons conclude as, for example, one did in New York in 1957: â€Å"All your life you’ve been searching for peace and joy, happiness, forgiveness. I want to tell you, before you leave Madison Square Garden this night of May 15, you can find everything that you have been searching for, in Christ. He can bring that inward, deepest peace to your soul. He can forgive every sin you’ve ever committed. † The charge that may be laid against the utilitarian drift of Graham’s Christian message is the charge that so troubled Martin Luther as he struggled to find a merciful God nearly five centuries ago. The heart of Luther’s spiritual dilemma was the fear that his supposed search for God was really a search for his own ease of soul, the fear that he was seeking God primarily for what God could do for him. Luther may have been overly scrupulous, but he could tell idolatry when he saw it, and tell it most clearly when he saw it up close. Billy Graham claims for himself neither Luther’s theological acumen nor his penetrating powers of self-analysis. Yet what rescued Luther from himself was also what has preserved the authenticity of Billy Graham’s message. The reason that Graham’s message, though admittedly soft at the edges, remains solid as a rock is that at its center is the Cross. In the early 1950s Graham solidified early practice by dedicating himself to the saving work of Christ as the heart of his message: â€Å"I made a commitment never to preach again without being sure that the Gospel was as complete and clear as possible, centering on Christ’s sacrificial death for our sins on the Cross and His resurrection from the dead for our salvation. â€Å" At the close of his memoirs, as at the close of so many sermons, Graham restates the appeal for conversion that is the trademark of his career. As he makes that appeal in this book there is his customary attention to what the Gospel does for us. But under girding all, from first to last, is an equally full sense of what the Gospel does to us: We are not here by chance. God has put us here for a purpose, and our lives are never fulfilled and complete until His purpose becomes the foundation and center of our lives. . . . When you [open your heart to Jesus Christ], you become a child of God, adopted into His family forever. He also comes to live within you and will begin to change you from within. No one who truly gives his or her life to Christ will ever be the same, for the promise of His Word is true: â€Å"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation† (2 Corinthians 5:17-18). We have seen this happen countless times all over the world, and it can happen in your life as well. Open your life to Christ today. If in the hands of Billy Graham, the Gospel bends, nonetheless, it does not break. To conclude that Graham has remained faithful to the message that God saves sinners for His own purposes, as well as for theirs, is the highest accolade a fellow-believer can bestow on this remarkable man. But Graham, of course, has become more than just a rallying point for Christian believers. Graham’s apparently bottomless kindness, combined with the lightning pace of his narrative—so many visits, so many good friends, so many celebrities—means that Just As I Am is not a particularly challenging book. It is, nonetheless, worth reading carefully, both because Graham is the genuine article and because many of its details and much of its tone are in fact quite useful for attempting a more complex assessment of his career.

Hester Prynne

Hester Prynne signifies a women of grace and wild spirit. Strong-willed and beautiful, Hester Prynne has also defied the Puritans ways. Though she is ladylike and prideful, she is faced with the trouble of being a sinner. The innocence of any human can be taken away in a flash, and in the case of Hester Prynne, her innocence escapes her after she commits a horrific sin. Hester is immediately isolated in her town because she commits an act of adultery, resulting in a Scarlet Letter forever engraved on her bosom, serving as a constant reminder of the mistakes in her past.In many ways throughout The Scarlet Letter, Hester overcomes her sin and redeems herself to her town, revealing her inner power and strength. Even though Hester’s situation leaves forces her to be an outcast in the town, she still confines strength and discards the label of being an â€Å"Adulteress† by showing stability. Hester Prynne is the main symbol of isolation and alienation throughout The Scarlet Letter.Nathaniel Hawthorne emphasizes her isolation by writing that she is â€Å" Alone in the world, cast off by it, and with this sole treasure to keep her heart alive, she felt that she possessed the indefeasible rights against the world† (Hawthorne 100) because of her sin. As a symbol of evil and darkness, Hester is viewed by her strict Puritan town as an outsider. After Hester’s crime of adultery was known to all, Hester's reputation and appearance of what people viewed her as is completely changed and her goodness started going unnoticed.The town's harsh thoughts of her sin are revealed through a local woman as she testifies that â€Å"†¦ At the very least, they should have put the brand of hot iron on Hester Prynne's forehead† (Hawthorne 36). Hester never escapes the feelings of being alienated in the progression of her life. Her â€Å"ornament,–the scarlet letter,–which was her doom to wear† (Hawthorne 79) was shown throughout t own, sequestering her from everyone else. Hester knows that even if she was allowed to take off the letter, â€Å"It is too deeply branded† (Hawthorne 63) and always be imprinted in her heart.This makes Hester disconnected from her holy society and forces her to become a â€Å"black flower† (Hawthorne 45). Though Hester is isolated, she is still able to find strength in herself. Hester Prynne is very unique and different from the other women in her town because of her â€Å"richness of complexion† (Hawthorne 50). A lot of her strength is revealed in the beginning of The Scarlet Letter. One of these very early examples of her strength is when Hester is put in front of the town on a scaffold.Instead of Hester shaming away from her sin when she is put in front of her town, she â€Å"appeared more lady-like†(Hawthorne 50) and confident in herself. Even when Hester has been publicly humiliated and is forced to continue wearing The Scarlet Letter on her chest, she does not try to hide her sin. As she stood there with â€Å"a certain state and dignity† (Hawthorne 50) in front of the judgemental Puritans, she overcomes fear and confines her strength. Not only does she show her toughness by not concealing her sin, but she also begins to change people’s negative opinions about her.Hester shows her goodness in the community by helping the poor and making clothes. Hester’s new attitudes allow the people to begin to interpret Hester’s Scarlet Letter differently because of her kindness. Instead of being known as the unacceptable adulterer, â€Å"they said that it meant â€Å"Able†; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength† (Hawthorne 158). This shows that Hester puts her determination above all and is able to step out of her isolation by giving back to her community. These actions enable her to fit in again as a normal citizen and redeem herself as the woman she knows she can be.All in all, it is difficult for many people to look past their own unfortunate situations and the actions for which they hold remorse. However, unlike many others, Hester is eventually able to just that. Hester experiences a great deal of suffering due to her past sin of adultery, but despite that she is still able to overcome that through her dignity and strong-will. Hester proves that The Scarlet Letter was not needed to be taken off in order for Hester to change. She also disregards multiple offerings to remove the devil’s mark from her bosom, and responds by saying that â€Å"It is too deeply branded.Ye cannot take it off. With that I might endure his agony, as well as mine† (Hawthorne 63). She clearly accepted her sin and stayed strong not only herself but for Pearl and the other around her to come full circle by the end of the novel. The Scarlet Letter provides great challenges for Hester, but she does not let the struggles get to her. By staying a strong and determined woman, Hester changes her entire life for the better and comes around to redeem herself in her small Puritan town.

Is Iago The Perfect Villain? Essay

Few Shakespearian villains radiate evilness and jealously quite as much as Iago, the unbeknown nemesis of the play’s title character, Othello. In other plays written by the bard of Avon the villains can come across as one-dimensional- weak, personified by a flaw in their genetic make-up or unattainable ambition yet Iago is a far more complex and compelling character. True, he has the power to both betray and murder those he once worked alongside, but Iago isn’t the complete cold-blooded murderer in the same sense of Macbeth or King Claudius from Hamlet. True, he meticulously plans the death of Cassio but he plans it to be by hands of Rodrigo, his puppet. In the end opportunity presents itself to Iago and he seizes the moment to stab Cassio in the back but the blow fails to kill him. Iago also reveals a moral conscience through his three soliloquy’s which I will explore in more detail later. In short Iago is like no other of Shakespeare’s villains which makes him an utterly compelling and absorbing character. And like the other characters in the play, Iago delights in absorbing us, the viewer†¦ The tragedy of Othello was believed to have been first performed in the early 1600’s and is one of Shakespeare’s more famous plays. The play is also rich in historical context and features the Moorish race heavily, leading many to believe it was influenced by a visit to the capital of the Empire by the Moorish ambassador, who is said to have met with the ruling monarch. In the play, only Iago voiced an explicitly stereotypical view on Othello and his race and, the fact that Iago is the main villain of the play, means most scholars view the play as Shakespeare’s statement on society, notably that people are the same, regardless of skin colour- a message many would do well to remember in this current day and age. The fact that Iago is the only character to mention Othello’s skin colour is also signs of one of his weakness- the fact that he is blinded by stereotypes. This character trait is explored further by Shakespeare in Iago’s soliloquies. The play Othello is one of Shakespeare’s tragedy’s, ending in a dramatic, breathtaking climax. The proud, noble and trustworthy character of Othello promotes his young solder Cassio ahead of his more experienced ally Iago, setting off a chain of events which eventually ends with the demise of Othello, his young wife Desdemona and Iago himself. Twisted with jealously and rage Iago sets out to manipulate and exploit Othello’s trustworthy nature, instead revealing him to be slightly naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve and gullible. After a series of Iago-inspired mis-understandings, Othello believes his wife to be sleeping with his new lieutenant, Cassio and thus commences to kill his wife. However not long after he fatally wounds his wife, he learns the truth from Iago’s wife and, after apologising to Cassio, kills himself. Othello is one of Shakespeare’s only plays where the villain of the piece speaks more lines then the title character or protagonist. This fact reflects Iago’s incredible contribution to the play and also sets the tone for the story- for the most part we see things from Iago’s perspective as, after the audience, Iago has the most knowledge on what is going on in the play. You could even argue that, at times, Iago knows even more than the audience, which is a trait of a true, compelling villain. We never know what face Iago is going to show next, never know what move he is going to make, partly helped by the fact that for long stretches of the play Iago is in â€Å"good† mode. He is seemingly kind, loyal and truthful to Othello, all signs of a true friend. It is only through the intimate soliloquies that the real Iago comes to the fore. Othello’s race is particularly important in the play, despite the fact that only one character slurs his race in the play: Iago. Othello is frequently called â€Å"The Moor† in the play, implying he is either of African descent or simply just a Muslim. The fact that Shakespeare does not allot Othello a specific race could be due to the fact that he wanted his audience to see that race isn’t crucial in understanding a person or character and only the narrow minded (or evil, like Iago) would see race as a barrier. The fact that Othello is not native to Italy is especially important to the play and it’s affect on it’s audience: it makes Othello’s demise more saddening and guilt tinged as Iago has manipulated a man of a different culture and robbed the only person who he felt a real, strong connection with and, who in turn, respected him back- Desdemona. In many of Shakespeare’s other plays, the phrase: â€Å"actions speak louder then words†, could be applied to the villain of the play. Many of the villain’s true characters are revealed when they are committing their piece of true evil however with Iago, it is the opposite way around. He keeps up a false face when around Othello; â€Å"pouring pestilence into his ear† with his â€Å"heavenly shows† and this is arguably the greatest of Iago’s many evil deeds. He is manipulating Othello, influencing him. This is one of the many factors that could be seen as making Iago into the â€Å"perfect villain†. Unlike other villains of plays from the same age, Iago isn’t a butcherer, a thug. He is cold, calculative- a sadist. Yet he is also intelligent, which would have frightened the Elizabethan audience watching. His intelligence and sadism are revealed in his three soliloquies, which I will explore in this essay. â€Å"Thus do I ever make my fool my purse:† Iago’s first soliloquy, included in Act one Scene 3 opens on a sinister, malicious note. This is the first line he speaks to the audience and the audience alone and Shakespeare has made it as twisted and warped as possible. Shakespeare knows that in the soliloquies he will try to gain Iago some empathy but, he is still the villain, and with a line like this opening his first soliloquy, Shakespeare doesn’t let us, the audience, forget it. Iago is commenting on how he is able to make money from fools, from manipulating them. He shows instantly that he exploits people and revels in it. He is boasting to the audience, proud of his achievements. The words â€Å"my fool† also imply that he is in complete control of the people he decides to manipulate, suggesting that he is in a â€Å"Godly† sort of position. He is also inferring that the latest fool that is â€Å"making his purse† is Othello, a man revered by others for his honest and noble nature. Shakespeare is contrasting Othello’s just nature with Iago’s snide, evil nature, juxtaposing their characters and personalities. Iago could also be referring to his accomplice Rodrigo. Despite working closely with him, Iago is only using Rodrigo as a puppet. In an ironic twist, Iago is doing to Rodrigo what made him so angry in the first place. He is overlooking Rodrigo and instead totally committed to the demise of Othello. Similarly, Othello overlooked Iago and instead lavished his praise, and a promotion, on Michael Cassio. The line: â€Å"I hate the Moor, And it is thought abroad that ‘twixt my sheets† is the first real example of Iago’s moral conscience struggling to break through in the soliloquy. On first glance, the line seems as malevolent as ever, Iago calls Othello not by his name, but by his race: Moor. Iago is also commenting on how some â€Å"abroad† (possibly referring to when he was away fighting with Othello) suspect that Othello has slept with Emilia, Iago’s wife. Indeed, it seems on first glance that the line is meant to make Iago even more evil, as it sounds like he has a solid motive for wanting to ruin the life of Othello. But when one reads between the lines one can begin to see Iago’s inner moral dilemma. After all the lines dedicated to describing how fair and just Othello is, it is highly unlikely that Shakespeare wrote this line as truth. Indeed, he is more likely to be hinting at Iago’s more sensitive nature. Iago was once a great friend of Othello’s and popular with the rest of the men. Many former solders comment on the bond shared between men on the battlefield, a love and commitment so strong that many would willingly lay down their lives for their comrades, fully aware of the possible consequences. Iago and Othello would have most likely have shared this connection, and it would have been impossible for Iago to lose it overnight. Iago is simply trying to justify his actions, in a perverse way he is almost pleading with them to accept why he is angry, and to not see him as a villain. This shows Iago’s morality and makes his character progression in the play all the more startling. Throughout the play, we see the small amount of morality Iago possesses diminish whereas in some of Shakespeare’s other plays, the villains are evil from the start, leaving them more detached from the audience and making it incredibly hard for the audience to direct any empathy towards them. The final two lines of Iago’s first soliloquy: â€Å"I have’t. It is engendered. Hell and night, Must bring this monstrous birth to the world’s light,† show once more that Iago knows what he is doing is wrong, but also hint at the fact that he has forgave any chance of redemption, and knows that his future will end in the death of his former friend, and the loss of his soul to evil. Whether this pains him, however, is never fully explored or revealed by Shakespeare. The quotation also compares Iago to the Devil, which would have shocked the Jacobean audience. People of this time would have been devoutly religious and the devil would have frightened them, as he was seen as the ultimate evil. The phrase â€Å"hell and night† implies that evil often materialises during the night, during the darkness, which juxtaposes the image of heaven and light, which could be associated to Othello. This is slightly ironic as the character of Othello is black, yet he is the â€Å"light† character being manipulated by the â€Å"black† Iago. The adjective â€Å"monstrous† proves that Iago is aware of his wrongdoing. Yet when used in his soliloquy, used after he passionately describes his plan, the word sounds very ominous and sinister. One gets the impression that Shakespeare wanted the actor portraying Iago to spit the word to the audience. The word â€Å"birth† also suggests that Iago is comparing the manifestation of his evil plan to a newborn baby. This links in with the idea of Iago hating women as he has a rather shallow relationship with Emilia and mentions in the play how he thinks women are good only for sex. In the soliloquy, by describing his plan has having a â€Å"birth† he is slurring females, as his plan is one of evil and vindictiveness. Iago’s second soliloquy continues where the first left off and provides us with a number of reasons for why Iago is so hell-bent on Othello’s destruction. Throughout this second soliloquy the possible motives of Iago progress from the rumour that Othello slept with Emilia, to the more disturbing and disconcerting motive of Iago desiring Othello’s love before destroying him, the idea of Iago being thrust into a â€Å"Godly† position. The first possible motive Iago mentions for wanting to destroy Othello is jealously. â€Å"I do suspect the lustful Moor hath leaped into my seat†¦like a poisonous mineral doth gnaw my inwards,† is evidence of this possible motive. All other evidence in the play categorically proves that it is incredibly unlikely that Othello would have slept with Emilia and it is possible that Iago too understands that Othello wound never cheat on Desdemona. However Iago finds that he has to lie to himself to keep strong and to help justify his actions to the audience, proving that he must feel some guilt. Iago is also comparing the jealously he feels to an animal or a monster â€Å"gnawing away at his inwards†. This comparison links with another line Iago speaks, however this time it is directed to Othello, not the audience. In Act 3 Scene 3 Iago tells Othello to: â€Å"Beware†¦the green eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.† In this case Shakespeare is b eing extremely ironic, as it is Iago who has succumbed to jealously and let it change his character forever, not Othello who loses his better judgement momentarily and then repents in the final scene. Iago shows in his second soliloquy that he sees people as tools, ready to be manipulated, hinting at the sense of detachment he feels. The lines: â€Å"Which thing to do, If this poor trash of Venice, whom I trash,† show this aptly. After becoming so consumed with jealously, greed or whatever is driving him on, Iago now feels no real emotional connection with ordinary people. In fact the only true relationship he has with another person is the perverse relationship he shares with Othello. Despite hating Othello, he still desires his love and praise. Iago is extremely confused and, after recoiling away from Emilia’s love the only person he feels any connection with is Othello. This makes him an extremely perverse and sadistic character, which could go some way to making him the â€Å"perfect villain†. Unlike other evil characters, who want their foes dead so they can achieve power or peace Iago has despised Othello so much that his hatred has gone full circle, and he has ended up now desiring Othello’s love again, as proved by the line: â€Å"Make the Moor thank me, love me and reward me†. This kind of relationship makes Iago seem slightly unstable thus making putting the audience one step behind Iago. Iago could commit nearly any possible action after this statement and it would still seem believable to the audience, as they recognise him as slightly un-hinged. Whereas other villains, such as Macbeth, are limited in what they can do before the story becomes too unbelievable, Iago can do just about anything as he harbours a wide range of emotions for Othello- love, respect and, ultimately, hatred. This ultimately contributes to him being the perfect villain, he is unrestricted, Shakespeare can take his character anywhere and the audience will never be able to second- guess him. This is proved in perfect fashion in the last scene of the play, where Othello and the guards confront Iago. When pushed for a reason for destroying the lives of so many people, Iago simply says: â€Å"Demand me nothing. What you know, you know. From this time forth I will never speak word.† This epitomises the character of Iago. Throughout the play, Iago evidences his love of talking and communicating and, when presented with no other characters to interact with, he instead communicates with the audience in his soliloquies. Therefore many would be forgiven for thinking Iago’s final stand involves a hail of angry metaphors and lies, as he finally lays into Othello. Yet instead he remains cool and hideously restrained. He doesn’t fulfil what people think he will do, making him unpredictable, compelling and, ultimately, the perfect villain. Iago’s third and final soliloquy reveals just how evil Iago can be. He loses most, if not all, of the empathy the audience have gained from him in the space of nearly 30 lines, in preparation for the plays finale where Shakespeare presumably wanted all of the initial, spontaneous empathy to be directed towards Desdemona, Emilia and Othello. Iago slightly sarcastically plays on the title â€Å"Honest Iago† in his third soliloquy, after many of the characters start addressing him by this title. â€Å"And what’s he then that says I play the villain, When this advice is free I give, and honest,† are the two lines that open his final soliloquy. Whilst some people feel that Iago us trying to gain some empathy by implying he is not totally in the wrong I personally don’t believe Shakespeare wanted these two lines to be spoken seriously by the actor portraying Iago. I get the impression that Shakespeare wanted these two lines to be spoken slightly sarcastically, as Iago is boasting in this sequence. By having Iago boast so close to the dramatic and disastrous finale, I believe that Shakespeare is showing that, despite being extremely clever and in many cases the perfect villain, Iago is still only human. He is mistaken here, as Othello and the guards eventually find him out and it is Emilia who revea ls his deceit, which is very ironic as Iago isn’t quiet in his contempt of women and believes all women to be stupid. Iago carefully maintains a veneer of â€Å"honesty and trust† but like many people, his outward appearance belies a inner deception. Iago is commonly referred to as Machiavellian, a term coined for Prince Machiavelli. Machiavelli is famous for his political treatise, â€Å"The Prince† which espouses, among other things, that the ends to power always justify the means. Machiavelli was a well known villain in the Jacobean era but, importantly, he was also renowned for his intelligence. By comparing the two men, Shakespeare is making an important statement: Iago is no fool. In many of Shakespeare’s other plays, the villain of the piece is foolish and slow, but in this play, the villain is arguably the smartest of all the characters. This keeps the audience on the edge of their seats, making Othello one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays. The lines: â€Å"Divinity of Hell† When Devils do their blackest sins put on, They do suggest at first with heavenly shows,† show how Shakespeare compares Iago to the Devil, implying that Iago is the physical manifestation of evil. Contrary to popular belief, the Devil, or Lucifer, is or was not a fire-spitting, all-powerful behemoth. He was instead a fallen angel, once a trusted servant of God who eventually fell to Earth after letting ambition and greed cloud his judgement. The Devil also influences others by tempting them, in a similar fashion to Iago. Whilst prone to fits of rage, such as when he kills Emilia and wounds Cassio, Iago does the majority of his work through the spoken word. He is a master of language in a similar way that the Devil is the master of temptation. Shakespeare also uses an oxymoron, â€Å"Divinity of Hell!† to represent Iago’s conflicting personality. The phrase also somewhat represents Iago, as he is the slick, controlled face of evil, able to deceive and manipulate others, making him such an affective villain. Iago ends his final soliloquy with the two lines: â€Å"And out of her own goodness make the net, That shall enmesh them all.† Here, Iago is fantasizing about putting his plan into action. He is also once again revealing the sense of detachment he feels, he is planning on manipulating Desdemona’s innocence and purity into a weapon, thus highlighting the ruthless nature of his character. The fact that Iago sees these qualities as factors to be exploited sum up his nature in perfect fashion. Iago is an opportunist, a speculator. He is extremely apt in finding a gap in someone’s character and using it to fulfil his own needs. Whilst most would see this as a weakness, Iago sees it as strength and it serves him well until he is caught. The fact that Shakespeare compares Iago manipulating everyone around him to â€Å"enmeshing people† suggests that Iago is in a higher position than everybody else. He is rounding up the other characters, and delighting in the fact that it is Desdemona’s innocence that is luring people in. He is doing the dirty work whilst using another character o take the blame. In conclusion, I do see Iago as the perfect villain. He is opportunistic, ruthless and compelling, a perfect villain in so many ways. An Elizabethan audience would most likely have at first reacted very negatively to Iago, but such is the strength of his character that his motives for destroying Othello begin to be understood long after the play has been performed. Whilst at first he seems purely evil, upon further reflection you begin to see Iago as a victim, a victim of what ambition can do to a man. The soliloquies also help Iago gain, and lose empathy. Shakespeare uses them as a tool, an instrument in engaging the audience. First the audience feel sorry for Iago, before Shakespeare turns the story on it’s head and makes Iago utterly evil once more. This all contributes to making Iago the perfect villain; he is unreadable and unpredictable, unlike other Shakespearean characters that remain the same character throughout. Iago is constantly changing, evolving and developing.

The Return: Nightfall Chapter 5

Damon was driving aimlessly when he saw the girl. She was alone, walking down the side of the street, her titian hair blowing in the wind, her arms weighted down by packages. Damon immediately did the chivalrous thing. He let the car glide to a stop, waited for the girl to take a few striding paces to catch up with him – che gambe! – and then jumped out and hastened to open the passenger side door for her. Her name, as it turned out, was Damaris. In moments the Ferrari was back on the road, going so fast that Damaris's titian hair was flowing behind her like a banner. She was a young woman who fully merited the kind of trance-inducing compliments he'd been handing out freely all day – which was a good thing, he thought laconically, because his imagination was very nearly drained dry. But flattering this lovely creature, with her nimbus of red-gold hair and her pure, milky skin, wouldn't take any imagination at all. He didn't expect any trouble from her, and he planned to keep her overnight. Veni, vidi, vici,Damon thought, and flashed a wicked smile into the middle distance. And then he amended – Well, perhaps I haven't conqueredyet , but I'd bet my Ferrari on it. They stopped by a â€Å"scenic view roundabout† and when Damaris had dropped her purse and bent to pick it up, he'd seen the nape of her neck, where those fine titian hairs were startlingly delicate against the whiteness of her skin. He'd kissed it immediately, impulsively, finding it as soft as a baby's skin – and warm against his lips. He'd allowed her complete freedom of action, interested to see whether she would slap him, but instead she had just straightened up and taken a few shaky breaths before allowing him to take her in his arms to be kissed into a trembling, heated, uncertain creature, her dark blue eyes entreating and trying to resist at the same time. â€Å"I – shouldn't have let you do that. I won't let you again. I want to go home now.† Damon smiled. His Ferrari was safe. Her ultimate yielding would be particularly pleasant, he thought as they continued their drive. If she shaped up as well as she seemed to be doing, he might even keep her a few days, might even Change her. Now, though, he was bothered by an inexplicable disquiet inside. It was Elena, of course. Being so close to her at the boardinghouse and not daring to demand to go to her, because of what he might do. Oh, hell, what Ishould have done already, he thought with a sudden vehemence. Stefan was right – there was something wrong with him today. He was frustrated to a degree that he wouldn't have imagined possible. What heshould have done was to have ground his little brother's face in the dirt, wrung his neck like a fowl, and then gone up those narrow tacky stairs totake Elena, willing or no. He hadn't done it before because of some syrupy nonsense, caring about her screaming and carrying on as he lifted that incomparable chin and buried his swollen, aching fangs in her lily-white throat. There was a noise going on in the car. † – don't you think?† Damaris was saying. Annoyed and too busy with his fantasy to go over what his mind might have heard of her speech, he shut her off, and she was instantly quiet. Damaris was lovely butuna stomata – a ditz. Now she sat with her titian hair whipping in the wind, but with blank eyes, the pupils contracted, absolutely still. And all for nothing. Damon made a hissing sound of exasperation. He couldn't get back into his daydream; even in silence, the imagined sounds of Elena's sobbing prevented him. But there would be no more sobbing once he'd made her into a vampire, a little voice in his mind suggested. Damon cocked his head and leaned back, three fingers on the steering wheel. He'd once sought to make her his princess of darkness – why not again? She would belong to him utterly, and if he had to give up her mortal blood†¦well, he wasn't exactly getting any of that right now, was he? the insinuating voice said. Elena, pale and glowing with a vampire's aura of Power, her hair almost white-blond, a black gown against her satiny skin. Now there was a picture to make any vampire's heart beat faster. He wanted her more than ever now that she had been a spirit. Even as a vampire she would retain most of her own nature, and he could just picture it: her light for his darkness, her soft whiteness in his hard, black-jacketed arms. He would stop that exquisite mouth with kisses, smother her with them – What was hethinking about? Vampires didn't kiss like that for enjoyment – especially not other vampires. The blood, the hunt was all. Kissing beyond whatever was necessary to conquer their victim was pointless; it could lead nowhere. Only sentimental idiots like his brother bothered with such foolishness. A mated vampire pair might share the blood of a mortal victim, both striking at once, both controlling the victim's mind – and joined together in mind-link, too. That was how they found their pleasure. Still, Damon found himself excited by the idea of kissing Elena, of forcing kisses on her, of feeling her desperation to get away from him suddenly pause – with the little hesitation that came just before response, before yielding herself completely to him. Maybe I'm going crazy, Damon thought, intrigued. He had never gone crazy before that he could recall, and there was some appeal in the idea. It had been centuries since he'd felt this kind of excitement. All the better for you, Damaris, he thought. He had reached the point where Sycamore Street cut briefly into the Old Wood, and the road there was winding and dangerous. Regardless, he found himself turning to Damaris to wake her again, noting with approval that her lips were naturally that soft cherry color, without lipstick. He kissed her lightly, then waited to gauge her response. Pleasure. He could see her mind go soft and rosy with it. He glanced at the road ahead and then tried it again, this time holding the kiss. He was elated with her response, with both of their responses. This was amazing. It must have to do with the amount of blood he'd had, more than ever before in one day, or the combination – He suddenly had to wrench his attention from Damaris to driving. Some small russet animal had appeared as if by magic on the road in front of him. Damon normally didn't go out of his way to run over rabbits, porcupines, and the like, but this one had annoyed him at a crucial moment. He grasped the steering wheel with both hands, his eyes black and cold as glacial ice in the depths of a cave, and headed straight for the russet thing. Not allthat small – there would be a bit of a bump. â€Å"Hang on,† he murmured to Damaris. At the last instant, the reddish thing dodged. Damon wrenched the wheel round to follow it, and then found himself faced with a ditch. Only the superhuman reflexes of a vampire – and the finely tuned response of a very expensive vehicle – could have kept them out of the ditch. Fortunately Damon had both, swinging them in a tight circle, tires squealing and smoking in protest. And no bump. Damon leaped over the car door in one fluid motion and looked around. But whatever it was, had vanished completely, as mysteriously as it had appeared. Sconosciuto. Weird. He wished he wasn't heading into the sun; the bright afternoon light cut down his visual acuity severely. But he'd had a glimpse of the thing as it got close, and it had looked deformed. Pointed at one end and fan-like at the other. Oh, well. He turned back to the car, where Damaris was having hysterics. He wasn't in the mood to coddle anyone, so he simply put her back to sleep. She slumped back into the seat, tears left to dry on her cheeks unheeded. Damon got back into the car feeling frustrated. But he knew now what he wanted to do today. He wanted to find a bar – either seedy and sleazy or immaculate and expensive – and he wanted to find another vampire. With Fell's Church being such a hot spot on the ley-line map, that shouldn't be difficult in the surrounding areas. Vampires and other creatures of darkness were drawn to hot spots like bumblebees to honeysuckle. And then he wanted a fight. It would be completely unfair – Damon was the strongest vampire left that he knew of, plus he was tick-full of a cocktail of the blood of Fell's Church's finest maidens. He didn't care. He felt like taking his frustrations out on something, and – he flashed that inimitable, incandescent smile at nothing – some werewolf or vampire or ghoul was about to meet itsquietus . Maybe more than one, if he were only lucky enough to find them. After which – delicious Damaris for dessert. Life was good, after all. And unlife, thought Damon, his eyes glinting dangerously behind the sunglasses, was even better. He wasn't just going to sit and sulk because he couldn't have Elena immediately. He was going to go out and enjoy himself and get stronger – and then sometime soon, he was going to go over to his pathetic milksop of a younger brother's place andtake her. He happened to glance in the car's rearview mirror for a moment. By some freak of light or inversion of the atmosphere, it seemed that he could see his eyes behind his sunglasses – burning red.