Abstract The paper discusses the death of Pentheus in Euripides' play, "The Bacchae" and how it is justified due to his arrogance and self-righteousness. The paper shows how Pentheus' destruction serves as a warning against all who might find themselves beginning to think they control much, if anything at all.
From the Paper "In Euripides' play, The Bacchae, we learn the importance of remembering our humanity. In the Greek world, self-righteousness is something that is rarely tolerated and arrogance is never tolerated at all. When man comes up against a god and believes that he knows more and is better, there will be a price to pay. Pentheus' destruction is necessary for several reasons. It first must be demonstrated that man has no power over the gods. He is close-minded to any new ideas and this demonstrates his arrogance. In addition, he does not always act like a king in that he does not see mankind as he really is. His death is justified because he must be an example to all men that such arrogance is destructive. Dionysus has a lesson to teach and Pentheus is just the man he needs to do it."
Abstract The paper discusses Jack London's short story "To Build a Fire", which pits an ignorant and arrogant newcomer against the frozen landscape of an Arctic winter. The paper portrays the inferior man against the superior natural forces and explains that this indicates London's understanding and great admiration for the natural world. The paper discusses how the human is shown to be consistently flawed and arrogant, while nature is painted as perfect in her unbending and uncaring force. The paper notes the criticism of London's style and substance in this story.
From the Paper "Many critics find London's work sophomoric and simple, and yet, his writings have endured over 100 years - a testament to his popularity and classic writing style. One critic notes, "So, for example, critics have often grappled with the relationship between London's socialism and Nietzscheanism, and they have sought to explain how a writer who could achieve the seamless perfection of 'To Build a Fire' could also produce an extraordinary amount of trash" (Pizer 1). While this author views "To Build a Fire "as" perfection, all who read and critique the story do not share his view."
Abstract The paper defines hubris as human arrogance in the face of the superior strength of the gods. The paper shows how, although Oedipus is a paradigmatic tragic hero because he is given a bad fate he does not deserve from birth, he is also arrogant enough to try to resist the destiny given to him by the gods. The paper therefore explains how Oedipus is guilty of hubris.
From the Paper "Classical tragedy is usually defined as the story of a great man or hero who loses his status (and very often his life) because of a single, but damning character flaw. This flaw is usually hubris, defined as human arrogance or pride in the face of the superior strength of the gods. But how is Sophocles' "Oedipus the King" the quintessential model of tragedy, the tragedy on which all other tragic plots are based? On the surface, it seems like the story of Oedipus is a tragedy not of hubris, but of an innocent man condemned from birth by the gods to a horrible fate. "
From the Paper "In his 1966 work, The Arrogance of Power, Senator J. William Fulbright criticizes the then contemporary foreign policy of the United States. Fulbright asserts that the United States' foreign policy is overly intrusive and that the goals which we hope to achieve by this domineering approach are, in reality, hindered by excessive American involvement in the affairs of other nations. In his inciting and caustic work, he calls for a revolutionary change in the execution of almost every facet of foreign policy. Fulbright buttresses his assertion not only by citing both foreign and domestic problems caused by America's foreign policy, but in addition by proposing various solutions to further the universal goal of peace. "
Tags: international, issues, united, states, policy
Abstract This paper examines the characters in "Revelation" and "Everything that Rises Must Converge" and the way O"Connor uses them to illustrate the absurdity of self-absorption and arrogance. The author points out that both stories illustrate how O"Connor uses everyday circumstances and people to make her points. Some individuals never fully grasp the extent of their prejudice; on the other hand, others do, but only after a shocking jolt of reality. The paper concludes that, by crafting realistic characters that experience radical situations, O?Connor illustrates the frailty and the strength of the human will.
From the Paper "In the story ?Revelation,? the character of observation is Mrs. Turpin, who believes she is a good person. However, as we read the story, we become aware that Mrs. Turpin's value system leaves much to be desired. We discover that she determines an individual's worth by race or how much property an individual owns. In fact, we are told that she lies in bed at night "naming the classes of people" (O?Connor 405). However, her system is flawed because she has difficulty ?classifying common people who had a lot of money "who ought to be below she and Claud" (405), good people who had lost their money and "colored people who owned their homes and land" (405-6). These thoughts illustrate Mrs. Turpin's shallow thinking."
Abstract This paper examines the premise of pride and prejudice in relation to the characters of Elizabeth and Darcy in Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice". The author points out that the public behaviors of Darcy's pride makes him appear to be an arrogant and self-serving young man. The paper relates that his behaviors are not driven by mere vanity but by a true desire to associate with only the most moral and noble of persons. The author underscores that Elizabeth holds a prejudice against Darcy's public image and must invariably undergo an evolutionary change to realize Darcy's private moral and upstanding convictions. The paper concludes that, when Elizabeth realizes that Darcy is prideful, gruff and impersonal to people who are immoral and vice-prone, she understands that this is a form of pride upon which to form a marriage.
From the Paper "When Elizabeth hears of this private side of Darcy's personality, she is astonished to realize that he does not behave proudly out of mere arrogance, but out of his own conviction for just actions and moral fortitude. This also forces Elizabeth to reconsider her rejection of Darcy first marriage proposal, but the issue of pride in Darcy's attitudes is not founded on vanity; which also provides more evidence for Elizabeth to consider accepting Darcy if he should propose marriage to her again."
Tags:arrogant, public behaviors, moral, marriage proposal, rejection
Abstract In this article, the writer notes that it is only human nature to want to start anew, to escape a life situation that one is powerless of changing or undoing. The writer maintains that this personal desire to commence a new way of life was central to almost all of the characters in 'The Tempest'. The writer discusses that if there is one character from 'The Tempest' who exhibited the most potent desire for power, authority and control over the others, it would have to be the central character Prospero. The writer analyzes the character of Prospero and maintains that he is not very easy to like, his arrogance and his seemingly uncaring attitude towards the plight of others would easily turn off any reader or member of an audience.
From the Paper "In this instance, it can be deduced that Prospero considers himself to be a generous master, for he has personally educated and taught Caliban their language, earnestly believing that language was a powerful means to know oneself. However, Caliban shuns what Prospero considers as the magnificent gift of self-knowledge because until he was taught, he never realized how different he was from the persons of Prospero and Miranda. Even when he is already away from his kingdom, Prospero still vehemently believes that what he decides, what he grants unto others are in the best of intentions and are ultimately for their best interests. In this part of the play alone, one can see the typical master-slave, colonizer-colonized relationship of the majority of conquered lands. The colonizers believe that they have the local population's best interests at hand, only to realize that this view is not shared by the colonized people."
Abstract This paper looks at the problem of fracture sociale in France. The author examines this problem as seen in "Le D"ner du Cons? and "La Haine" and compares the two with particular attention to class and social barriers in modern France.
From the Paper:
""Le D"ner de Cons? is a farcical comedy about a club of bored, successful and obnoxious Parisians whose lives revolve around a male adolescent game of one-upmanship. Pierre Brochant is an arrogant publishing executive who livens up his upper class existence by attending idiot dinners. The concept is discomforting, rooted as it is in an attitude of arrogant superiority."
Tags: alienation, class, cons, dinner, du, d?ner, france, francis, game, haine, idiot, la, le, race, veber
This paper compares the three suitors in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" and explores how Shakespeare influences the audience's attitudes towards the three men.
Abstract This paper explains that, in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice", Portia's three suitors--the Prince of Morocco, the Prince of Arragon and Bassanio-- reveal the contents of the three caskets and, by exposing their attitudes towards the caskets, indicate their true character, which heightens the dramatic tension. The author points out that, at the time the play was written England was at war with Spain so Arragon, a rather unflattering stereotype of a typical Spaniard, would have been funny to an Elizabethan audience and his name "Arragon" and "Arrogant" amusing. The paper relates that Morocco is jeered at for his skin color but Bassanio is portrayed more favorably as a Christian and Venetian, who is not proud or arrogant. Many illustrations.
From the Paper "The second suitor is the Prince of Arragon whose entrance unlike Morocco's is not pre-empted by any comments from Portia. His arrogance and pride are shown through his choice of casket and his reaction to choosing the wrong casket. He comments on the inscription of gold casket, "...I will not jump with common spirits/And rank me with barbarous multitudes" (Act II Scene ix). Thinking gold was too common for him he arrogantly discards it. He does not even stop to contemplate the lead casket saying only that it would have to look more attractive for him to hazard anything for it. The silver casket is the one that appeals to him the most because he feels that no one deserving should go unmerited. His arrogance leads him to assume that he is worthy of Portia."
This paper compares the society in Mark Twain's book "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" with the society in Jane Austen's book "Pride and Prejudice".
Abstract This paper explains that society's conventions, at the time Jane Austen and Mark Twain were writing, caused the characters to perform as they did in their respective novels "Pride and Prejudice" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". The author points out that Twain seems to be showing the reader that wealth does not matter as much as a sense of right and wrong; whereas, Austen's characters are consumed with what is right and wrong but are basing it mostly on appearances or appearances of wealth. The paper relates that Austen portrays Darcy as being an arrogant individual but this arrogance does not seem to bother Elizabeth in the least; however, Twain says the exact opposite is true when he shows the humility of Huck, who understands that he was wrong to fool Jim into believing that the night's happenings had all been a dream.
From the Paper "No longer does society (in most cases) look to see what job, what career, what income level or what economic status does the male live, instead what is happening in today's world is that women are more often employed in the workforce, and instead of the marriage being a source of stableness for the female, based on the man, cohabitation can now be shown as a more competitive environment than was heretofore shown. Studies seem to conclude that the relationships between men and women were much more likely to become a 'marriage' between the two if the man was already gainfully employed or a 'man of means'."
Tags: self-concept, conventions, wealth, darcy, marriage
From the Paper "In a society where everything has to be supported in order to have a value, one can never have too much evidence. This is the case in Michael Moore's The Big One. It is a filmed diary of a book signing tour Moore embarked upon to promote his 1997 bestseller, Downsize This. His theme throughout his tour, masked through humor, is always that corporate America is raping the common man. It is all about greed. In the course of his romp through capitalist America, he "pulls down the pants" of some of the most arrogant and reckless companies in the nation. In order to do this, he uses hard core evidence to prove his point. "
Tags: evidence, knight, michael, moore, phil, big, cinema, care
This paper analyses the novel "1984" by George Orwell and compares how present working conditions through modern technology could easily parallel the predictions in the book.
1,550 words (approx. 6.2 pages), 0 sources, 2001, $ 50.95
Abstract This paper analyses the novel "1984" by George Orwell and compares how present working conditions through modern technology could easily parallel the predictions in the book.
From the paper:
Nineteen eighty-four is a tale of future society, a society in which independent thinking is a crime punishable by death. A tale of a society that is populated with mindless, loveless, unfeeling followers of nothing. This is also a nation whose leaders are self serving and are not concerned with the common good by which all of society will benefit. A governing force known as "The Party" rules society. At the head of this government is a fictional figure known as Big Brother, whom all citizens must love and respect. The idealism of blind loyalty was embodied in this symbol. It was the center of control. In this society, privacy and freedom do not exist. The Party does not need to justify its arrogant ways because it holds all of the power.
Abstract This paper takes a look at the different family members, their individual relationships, and how a death in the family forever changes them in the novel "As I Lay Dying."
From the paper:
"Self-interest is what drives the characters in this novel, and self-interest is what destroys them as moral human beings. This aspect is what turned this story into a tragedy. There is a decent level of intellect within the minds of certain characters, but they are still nothing more and nothing less than a poor, southern, white trash family. That is all they will ever be, for their own selfishness and arrogance is what keeps them from evolving as human beings."
Abstract This paper is a discussion of the book "The Politics" by Aristotle. In this book Aristotle introduces the idea of a middle class, and argues it's significance for the good of mankind. Aristotle argues that the middle class is the most suitable class to be rulers since unlike the rich who do not want anyone to rule them, or the poor, who do not have the means to rule, they live in the middle and have seen the best qualities of both the rich and the poor.
From the paper:
"The poor, conversely, cannot be good rulers because their attributes usually consist of being overly indigent, weak, or lacking in honor. These qualities make it difficult for the poor to follow reason, and they usually become malicious and base in petty ways. If the malicious were given the entitlement to rule, it seems that their hateful and wicked ways would cause a tyrannical, or master/slave society. As was said before, the poor are full of envy for the rich and could, perhaps, attempt to revenge on those they resent. Either the rich or the poor can commit Acts of injustice. Whether it is through arrogance or malice, both are groups likely to act against the best interest of the city. The middling class must rule because both the rich and the poor, if given the claim to rule, are likely to cause nothing but injury to the cities."
Abstract This paper looks at the two elderly female characters in two of O?Connor's short stories. The paper discusses each character and the way that they perceive themselves as good Christian women. It then shows how both behave under stress, becoming arrogant, racist, blasphemous and hypocritical.
From the Paper "Flannery O"Connor writes short stories filled with horror, comedy, and religion. However, her religious themes sometimes go unnoticed. O"Connor was a devout Catholic living in the South and she was often disturbed about the world around her. She saw the hypocrisy in those who claimed to be Christian and good. Moreover, O"Connor was worried about the downfall of man due to this hypocrisy she witnessed. O"Connor channeled these feelings into her own work. Her stories are satirical and humorous, but the deeper meaning, if found, is serious. For example, O?Connor's short stories, ?A Good Man is Hard to Find,? and ?Everything That Rises Must Converge,? are not simply stories about a family getting murdered or an old lady getting beat to death. Rather, the stories portray two old ladies, both claiming to be good Christians, who come to face the horrible reality that they are hypocrites."
