What Could Shakespeare Be Saying About Honour and The Difference Between Male And Female Honour Essay Example

What Could Shakespeare Be Saying About Honour and The Difference Between Male And Female Honour? Essay Much Ado About Nothing is exactly that. It is a lot of dishonour and angst over something which never happened. So what did Shakespeare think about the gullibility and prejudices of the men and women of his time? All of the characters in the play are either honourable people unwittingly doing dishonourable things or dishonourable people deliberately doing honourable things, for example Don John: Lady Hero hath been falsely accusd, the Prince and Claudio mightily abusd, and Don John is the author of all, who is fled and gone. (5.3.102.5-9) I think this play is typical of William Shakespeares writing because he is challenging the opinions and social prejudices of the time he lived in. We will write a custom essay sample on What Could Shakespeare Be Saying About Honour and The Difference Between Male And Female Honour? specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on What Could Shakespeare Be Saying About Honour and The Difference Between Male And Female Honour? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on What Could Shakespeare Be Saying About Honour and The Difference Between Male And Female Honour? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Another strong example of Shakespeares free-thinking and non-stereotypical characters is The Taming Of The Shrew where the heroine of the story is at first a strong-willed and outspoken young woman, similar to Beatrice, who through out the course of the play is beaten, starved and mentally abused until her husband Petruchio is satisfied that he has tamed his wifes unladylike ways. As at the time this would not have been an uncommon occurrence then perhaps this play was a personal attack on events which Shakespeare may have been forced to play witness to at some point. However, having said that it was not a rare occurrence, it still shocked and concerned a lot of its early audiences when it was first played out. I think The Taming Of The Shrew was also very strongly focused on the idea of honour, however the events it involved were far more sinister than that of Much Ado About Nothing even though they are both considered comedies. Petruchios actions towards his shrewish wife Kate are not spawned from his want of a happy marriage, but from his desperately proud and egotistic personality. Those personal flaws are what makes him so neurotic about Kates behaviour as any actions on her part which are perceived to be in any way masculine impedes upon his own masculinity and therefore his male honour. This demonstrates the fact that in the sixteenth century, most married men were more concerned about what their peers thought of them than their own wives well-being. Returning to Much Ado About Nothing, the ideas of male, female and even familial honour play a prominent role in the story. However, whenever someone is dishonoured in the play, it is almost always a woman who gets blamed for it. The only exception to this rule is when Don Johns deceit is discovered, however even then, Leonato still blames Margaret even though she was probably tricked into doing it, FRIAR: Did I not tell you she was innocent? LEONATO: So are the Prince and Claudio who accusd her, Upon the error that you heard debated; But Margaret was in some fault for this, (5.3.103.27-30) Even when everyone knows that Hero is innocent and that it was all a trick played by Don John, they still do nothing about it until after Hero and Claudio, Beatrice and Benedick are married before they do anything about it which allows John time to run from the town. In the beginning of the play, Don Pedro, Claudio and Benedick have just returned from fighting a war against Don John and his comrades Borachio and Conrade. Despite this fact when they arrive in Messina, they are all together as one party and Don Pedro has seemingly forgiven his brother for whatever sparked the war. Everyone is courteous and polite to him, making no comment about it and even: LEONATO: Let me bid you welcome, my Lord, being reconciled to the Prince your brother:I owe you all duty. (1.1.27.21-22) This demonstrates how a felony or betrayal by a man is so easily forgotten, and has no effect on his honour or on his future reputation. This is almost disturbingly different to how people would have reacted if he had been a woman. They would most likely have been spitting on him in the streets and his family, rather than taking him with them wherever they went, and would have denied all associations with him. In fact, a wonderful example of Shakespearian biases is Leonatos proclamation of Do not live Hero, do not ope thine eyes; For did I think thou wouldst not quickly die, Thought I thy spirits were stronger than thy shames, Myself would on the rearward of reproaches, Strike at thy life. (4.1.79.16-20) This shows the attitudes during the sixteenth century which seem kind of skewed compared to our perceptions nowadays. Leonato is basically saying that he would rather his daughter was dead than have to live with the fact that his daughter is not a virgin. This is very different to how fathers react now, because now most young Western women are not virgins when they get married but nobody minds very much because this is generally the norm, the main exception to this rule being in the Islamic faith. In Islam, many young women are forced into arranged marriages which can put their lives in danger if they refuse. Some of these marriages are to men whom the girls have never met let alone fallen in love with which can make the faith seem very behind the times, particularly as even in Shakespeares time people were often married for love like Hero and Claudio, Beatrice and Benedick. Many of the characters seem honourable at the beginning of the play but seem to become darker as it continues. In particular John, he is a bastard so he is, even at the beginning of the play less honourable than others, like Claudio. John is quiet and submissive a lot of the time and seems grateful to his half-brother for having him with them and particularly to Leonato for welcoming him into his home as a friend, I thank you, I am not of many words, but I thank you. (1.1.27.23-24) He is often described as melancholy or morose, these words make the audience empathise with him as in Shakespearian times, to be melancholy was associated with being in love or in particularly, with being in an unrequited love, something which made a man a lot more interesting to the women and would improve what his male peers thought of him and therefore make him more honourable. Having said that, and although there is no mention of Johns emotional attachments, some portrayals of the play have implied that there is an affair between Don John and his man-servant Conrade who is also described as being born under Saturn which generally implies that they are miserable or melancholy characters (again, both supposed symptoms of being in love). This in itself would have been unheard of and possibly the most dishonourable and therefore worst thing to be branded (even worse than being a coward) and if Shakespeare had intended for John to come off as being homosexual then not only would Shakespeare have been ridiculed, his views rejected by all, and he could even have faced being arrested, committed to the dreaded Bedlam Hospital and excommunicated. Had John been homosexual, he could have looked forward to a cell in Bedlam or prison, and possibly even execution, whatever the consequences were it would certainly have made him even more of an outcast than he is already because it is only in very recent years that homosexuality has become accepted in society and even now, there are many societies which frown on it, the Catholic church and Islam in particular. John would have been completely dishonoured had someone discovered him to be homosexual. John seems almost proud of his treacherous personality as he boasts to his men: it must not be denied but I am a plain-dealing villain. he also says I cannot hide what I am: I must be sad when I have cause, and smile at no mans jest, eat when I have stomach, and wait for no mans leisure: sleep when I am drowsy, and tend on no mans business, laugh when I am merry, and claw no man in his humour. (1.3.34.2-7) This makes him seem slightly less of a villain and therefore of a more honourable character because he is actually admitting that he is a bad person. When reading the script of the play, it is quite easy to miss John a lot of the time but when the play is performed John is present during almost every scene even though he doesnt say anything in them. The fact that he is always in the scenes but never joining in the jokes or the general joviality of the group and instead feels more comfortable hovering on the outside, never quite making it into the main group rather implies that he does seem to long for the sort of camaraderie that exists between his brother, Benedick and Claudio probably made to seem particularly strong to him because of his sense of being shunned, unloved and dishonourable all his life because of his being a bastard. This was the generally conceived opinion about illegitimate children during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries however again, nowadays we do not think like this, in fact around half of the population come from single parent families with children from one night stands or failed relationships. I think Shakespeare attempts to persuade his audience to dislike and find people dishonourable based on what they do and not on whether or not their parents were married when they were born. I think this because all of the bastards written in Shakespeares plays are written as villainous or unkind characters, for another example Edmund in King Lear. However, this could be interrupted two completely different ways, one: Shakespeare wanted people to look past the characters illegitimacy and judge them on their actions, or two: Shakespeare shared the common belief of his time that if a person is illegitimate then they will always be bad people so that is what he writes them as. John is a fairly good person for the first part of the play, certainly not matching up to his brother and only starts to show his true colours, namely his black hearted villainy and his yellow-bellied cowardice. Throughout the play though, John is doing things which are dishonest and dishonourable but until he flees instead of staying to face the consequences of his actions at the end of the play, in doing this, he brands himself a coward. Being a coward is basically the only way a man could dishonour himself, whereas a woman could dishonour herself easily. For instance she could have sex out of wedlock, this is what Hero is accused of and nothing she says to the contrary seems to matter whereas if a man (any man, even John) had been accused of the same thing then he could have denied it and that would have been an end to it. The worst thing John could have done would have been to run, unfortunately he does just that: He is composd and framd of treachery, And fled he is upon this villainy. (5.1.96.20-21) In contrast, his companions Borachio and Conrade show their true honourable characters by staying behind to face the consequences of their actions even though they did it under Johns command: BORACHIO: Let this Count kill me: I have deceived even your very eyes: what your wisdoms could not discover, () my villainy they have upon record, which I had rather seal with my death, than repeat over to my shame: the lady is dead upon mine and my masters false accusation: and briefly, I desire nothing but the reward of a villain. (5.1.96.2-13) Benedick is a difficult character because he has many honourable traits but he is fickle, somewhat two faced and shallow: He hath every month a new sworn brother. (1.1.25.6-7) God help the noble Claudio, if he hath caught the Benedick, it will cost him thousand pounds ere a be cured. On the other hand, he is loyal to Beatrice and is even willing to murder his best friend Claudio to defend Beatrices cousins honour, albeit a little reluctantly at first, BEATRICE: Kill Claudio. BENEDICK: Ha, not for the wide world. () Is Claudio thine enemy? BEATRICE: that hath slandered, scorned, dishonoured my kinswoman? Act IV, Scene I, Page 84, Lines 18-31. He does eventually agree, BENEDICK: Think you in your soul the Count Claudio hath wrongd Hero? BEATRICE: Yea, as sure I have a thought, or a soul. BENEDICK: Enough, I am engagd, I will challenge him, (4.1.85.22-25) Benedick also later calls Claudio a coward, this being a direct insult, Claudio would have no choice but to meet his challenge because if he didnt then not only would he be branded a coward by everyone, he would also be extremely dishonoured and likely never properly redeem himself, this would also make him more like John than any of them would probably be comfortable with. The way honour is earned and lost in the play and in the sixteenth century, is very different for men and women, the best example of this in the play is of course Hero. The reason she loses her honour is because she is supposedly not a virgin on her wedding day, however if Claudio were not a virgin then there would be very little fuss made about it. Hero is a young woman, of honourable birth so she was respected from birth, however when it is thought that she is no longer a virgin, almost everyone turns on her except for her cousin Beatrice and her maid Margaret. Beatrice persuades Benedick of Heros innocence but it takes the Friar and even a full confession from Borachio, Conrade and Margaret before Leonato and his brother Antonio are persuaded. This demonstrates the damage that could be inflicted by even the slightest suspicion of inappropriate or dishonourable behaviour during the sixteenth century. Having said that this only happened in Shakespeares time, if you compare the characters reactions to the accusations in the play to the likely reactions of an Islamic or Muslim family today, then there would be very little difference, young women in Islam are still very much considered inferior to the men and are therefore in more danger of having false accusations thrown at them and there being tragic repercussions from it. Anoth er similarity to modern day life is the fact that had Hero been a man, then not only could she have denied the accusations of her being unfaithful but, had she wanted to, she could have owned to them and probably improved her social status by doing so, this outcome applies to the era the play is set in but also very much so in the present day. There are even prejudices and biases between classes in the play, not just between sexes. Margaret and Hero are both unfaithful in the play, however truthfully Hero is only thought to be, Margaret is seen making love to her lover, Don Johns man Borachio at Heros window: DON PEDRO: I am sorry you must hear:upon mine honour, Myself, my brother, and this grieved Count Did see her, hear her, at that hour last night, Talk with a ruffian at her chamber window, Who hath indeed most like a liberal villain, Confessd the vile encounters they have had A thousand times in secret. (4.1.79.8-15) When everyone thinks it was Hero who was seen, they are all in an uproar about it but when it is discovered that it was not Hero but her maid Margaret, nobody bats an eye that she is not a virgin because she is of a lower class and almost expected to do things so sinful as make love to a man whom she is not married to. The works of Shakespeare are unusual in the fact that many of his plays breech the typical morals and views of the people of his time. His plays, in particular his comedies, often show authority figures in a bad light. Not all authority figures but almost always the heads of families: the Lords Montague and Capulet in Rromeo and Juliet (a tragedy) are shown as quite tyrannical because their hatred for each other makes them disregard their own childrens feelings which leads to the suicide of Romeo and Juliet and the murder of Mercuchio and Tybalt. In Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare shows every authority figure in a bad light except for the Friar who, aside from Beatrice, is the only one who believes in Heros innocent the whole time. The others however, do not fare so well. Leonato and Antonio are more inclined to believe the words of three men whom they hardly know than those of their niece and daughter, and Leonato even says that he would rather Hero was dead than have to live with the shame shes supposedly brought on them all. Don Pedro, who is the Prince of Arragon, having just fought a war against his brother John and therefore knowing his intentions are likely to be less than that of a concerned companion, believes John when he says that Hero is unfaithful to Claudio, although in fairness, he does think that he himself witnessed it as well. As for Claudio, he is shown as naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve, gullible and fickle. At first he adores Hero and enlists Don Pedro to woo her for him, then when the idea is planted in his head by none other than Don John, that Pedro is only wooing Hero for himself, Claudio turns against his best friend JOHN: you are very near my brother in his love, he is enamourd on Hero(2.1.40.18-19) BEATRICE: The Count is neither sad, nor sick, nor merry, nor well: but civil Count, civil as an orage, and something of that jealous complexion, (2.1.44.13-15) then when he is told that Pedro was wooing her for him, Claudio reconciles himself to Don Pedro again and resumes his position as lap-dog. DON PEDRO: here Claudio, I have wooed in thy name, and fair Hero is won. (2.1.44.18-19) CLAUDIO: Lady, as you are mine, I am yours, I give away myself for you, and dote upon the exchange. (2.1.44.27-29) In conclusion and having studied briefly other works by William Shakespeare, it is my opinion that on the whole Shakespeare did not agree with many of the morals, prejudices or opinions held by his peers. In particular, I believe that he did not share the general opinion of male superiority, or at least not as much as others did. I believe this because almost every one of his plays features a strong willed and dominant woman, in this case Beatrice, who ends up happy. He also portrays a downtrodden or submissive woman, in this case Hero, who, at some point in the course of the play gets beaten down and defeated, whether metaphorically (Hero) or quite literally as in The Taming Of The Shrew, Kate who begins as a fiery young woman much like Beatrice who marries a man she does not love and finishes the play with a disturbing monologue about a womans job being to obey her Lord completely and never fight with him or nag him. Finally Juliet, in Romeo and Juliet who, believing her love for h er new husband to be pointless because of their warring families decides to run away with Romeo rather than stand and defend their marriage to their parents, this in my opinion misguided decision leads to both their deaths. I also think that Shakespeare felt that honour and dishonour are not things which one can be born with, rather they must be earned by ones lifes deeds, or misdeeds as the case may be. He also seems to be very judgmntal of his own sex as the bards song in the play clearly shows that Shakespeare was less than content with the way men treated women in his time and that he thought women were certainly the fairer sex: Sigh no more ladies, sigh no more, Men were decievers ever, One foot in sea, and on on shore, To one thing constant never, The sigh not so, but let them go, And be you blithe and bonny, Converting all your sounds of woe Into Hey Nonny Nonny! Victoria Holland 11BM

Free Essays on Shiseido

CASE #14 SHISEIDO COMPANY DECISION FOCUS: Shiseido was founded by Yushin Fukuhara as Japan’s first Western-style pharmacy in 1872, and has shifted back and forth from cosmetics and pharmacy. Established in the Ginza district in Tokyo in 1872, Shiseido is today a global manufacturing and sales corporation in the fields of cosmetics, salons, pharmaceuticals, toiletries, and nutritional products. After inaugurating its global business with sales to Taiwan in 1957, Shiseido began marketing to Europe in 1963 and to the United States in 1965. In Japan, Shiseido has long been considered an important force in the arts through its product designs and advertisements, which were originally overseen by the company’s first president, Shinzo Fukuhara. In 1987, the grandson of the founder took over as president. The same year Shiseido announced a 6 percent decrease in sales and a write-off in inventory of $239 million. In 1998 product mix consisted of cosmetics (74%), toiletries (16%), and other businesses (10%). They began to streamline domestic cosmetics lines to reduce inventory, eliminating products with a consistent turnover, while developing new technology and items. Shiseido’s management policies are embodied in its â€Å"Global No. 1† long-term vision, Shiseido identified three goals: technological excellence, diversified operations, and customer satisfaction. The company uses techniques like brand marketing, store marketing, and area marketing. To prepare itself for a more crowded domestic market, Shiseido is aiming for further overseas expansion, an area in which the company should pay more attention, given that its current foreign sales is only 15 percent of total income. Shiseido is planning to expand its foreign operations and increase its net foreign sales to as much as 25 percent of the total in the fiscal year 2003. Alternative Choices: 1. Establish a dominant position in the domestic cosmetics market. 2.... Free Essays on Shiseido Free Essays on Shiseido CASE #14 SHISEIDO COMPANY DECISION FOCUS: Shiseido was founded by Yushin Fukuhara as Japan’s first Western-style pharmacy in 1872, and has shifted back and forth from cosmetics and pharmacy. Established in the Ginza district in Tokyo in 1872, Shiseido is today a global manufacturing and sales corporation in the fields of cosmetics, salons, pharmaceuticals, toiletries, and nutritional products. After inaugurating its global business with sales to Taiwan in 1957, Shiseido began marketing to Europe in 1963 and to the United States in 1965. In Japan, Shiseido has long been considered an important force in the arts through its product designs and advertisements, which were originally overseen by the company’s first president, Shinzo Fukuhara. In 1987, the grandson of the founder took over as president. The same year Shiseido announced a 6 percent decrease in sales and a write-off in inventory of $239 million. In 1998 product mix consisted of cosmetics (74%), toiletries (16%), and other businesses (10%). They began to streamline domestic cosmetics lines to reduce inventory, eliminating products with a consistent turnover, while developing new technology and items. Shiseido’s management policies are embodied in its â€Å"Global No. 1† long-term vision, Shiseido identified three goals: technological excellence, diversified operations, and customer satisfaction. The company uses techniques like brand marketing, store marketing, and area marketing. To prepare itself for a more crowded domestic market, Shiseido is aiming for further overseas expansion, an area in which the company should pay more attention, given that its current foreign sales is only 15 percent of total income. Shiseido is planning to expand its foreign operations and increase its net foreign sales to as much as 25 percent of the total in the fiscal year 2003. Alternative Choices: 1. Establish a dominant position in the domestic cosmetics market. 2....

Unit 6 Case Management Discussion Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Unit 6 Management Discussion - Case Study Example The client was unusually perfect and smartly dressed. On the aspect of personality assessment, the client was apparently guarded in his responses. With respect to Summers (2012), the client remained significantly conservative and evasive, with minimum contributions accompanied by a substantial degree of suspicion. The client also appears awkward in behavior and posturing. He displayed consistent impairment in holding inappropriate sitting postures. The client was anxious throughout the entire diagnosis. During conversations, he appeared distressed and worried by the interview setting. Apart from anxiety, the client also showed significant degrees of emotional withdrawal. He was unexpressive and displayed no sign of change in moods and emotions. According to Summers (2012), this could be seen from the consistent and blunt facial expression of the client throughout the interview. Based on results from the mental status exam, numerous syndromes were established within the client’s mental problem. One symptom is that the client remained blunt and unexpressive for fear of being embarrassed or humiliated by his inappropriate actions. He also displayed elevated self-consciousness by dressing in an unusually smart manner. Summers (2012) say that additional clinical symptoms include the client’s display of extreme worry of being judged by other on what he says. In this regard, he remained rather guarded and evasive during the interview. The client’s sustained and inappropriate sitting postures suggests impairment in physical aspects when placed within a social

How can Amazon Web Services (AWS) reduce cost in the healthcare Term Paper

How can Amazon Web Services (AWS) reduce cost in the healthcare industry - Term Paper Example Additionally, the ever rising healthcare costs are one more concern that needs to be dealt with and also improving the quality of service to patients. Efforts are being made to try and reduce for patients and information technology acting as the primary enabler for this. It will be quite interesting to observe how these services will contribute towards and address these matters in the health industry. The aim of this paper is to discover the present-day state and trending of these services in the healthcare industry. Problem identification and definition Healthcare organizations and hospitals are experiencing difficult times, having to cope with increasing service and product demands within their inadequate budgets, while at the same time complying with healthcare restructurings and regulations. For all the inventions transforming the healthcare business, there is still one area where it remains nearly universally late; the application of information technology. Most healthcare syste ms are based on analogue workflows which comprises of paper-based health records, duplicated test results, and handwritten note which are usually inefficient and inconvenient in one way or another. As a result, information retrieval and updating remains slow, this in turn, leads to incompetent provision of treatment and patient care (Bower, 2012). Problem solution Amazon Web Services (also known as AWS) is a pool of remote computing services (that are also referred to as web services) that all together form a cloud computing platform and services, accessible over the Internet via Amazon.com (Tyrrell, 2009). Amazon Web Services provide a complete set of application services and infrastructure that enable one to run virtually anything in the cloud: this represents everything from big data projects and enterprise applications to mobile apps and social games. These services, to name a few include: the amazon simple storage services known as S3: Amazon S3 offers an extremely durable and accessible store for an assortment of content, extending from media files to web applications. It lets you offload your whole storage arrangement onto the cloud, where you can gain from Amazon S3’s pay-as-you-go pricing and scalability to manage your growing storage needs, distributing your content straight from Amazon S3. Another important service is the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, EC2, which allows the renting of virtual computers to, different users, which to run their personal computer applications. A user can launch, create and terminate server instances paying for the services by the hour therefore the term elastic. Another valuable amazon service is the database storage which enables users to store and access large amounts of data. Whether one is keeping pharmaceutical data for scrutiny and analysis, fiscal data for pricing and computation, photographs for resizing, S3 is the best location for storage of original content. One can then send these contents to EC2 for r esizing, computation, or other large scale analytics without sustaining any data transfer charges for transferring the data between the services. (Soman, 2011 Pp. 78) There is a lot of conversation on Amazon web services and how these services could be used in a way to benefit healthcare practices. The healthcare industry, through Amazon Web Services, is able to reduce costs, improve care, and realize business suppleness amongst other

Keeping Up with the Joneses Essay Example for Free

Keeping Up with the Joneses Essay Society has many effects on the narrator in â€Å"Two Kinds† and Madame Loisel in â€Å"The Necklace†. Whether it is helping us achieve feats or our actions in public, we can be affected both negatively and positively. In the short story â€Å"The Necklace† Madame Loisel is dirt poor. When her husband, a simple Clerk, comes home holding a white envelope which says â€Å"The Minister of Education and Mme. Georges Ramponneau beg M. and Mme. Loisel to do them the honor of attending an evening reception at the Ministerial Mansion. Madame Loisel tries her best to look as good as she can at the reception. She even borrows a necklace to look her best at the reception, this is because of how society expects us to look our best and dress up on occasion. In the other short story, Two Kinds, Ni Kan’s mother wants her to be something she doesn’t want her to be. Whether it was opening a restaurant, working for the government, or even building a house to sell it and make a profit. She basically wants her to become a prodigy, which is highly unlikely. My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America. You could open a restaurant. You could work for the government and get good retirement. You could buy a house with almost no money down. You could become rich. You could become instantly famous. Of course, you can be a prodigy, too, my mother told me when I was nine. † Her mother wants her to become a prodigy because of how society has â€Å"molded† her thoughts and actions. He r daughter, she is only best tricky, you can be best anything. What does Auntie Lindo know? For example, her mother forces her to learn the piano, which doesn’t work out very well â€Å"Three days after watching the Ed Sullivan Show my mother told me what my schedule would be for piano lessons and piano practice. She had talked to Mr. Chong † In both positive and negative ways society has affected me in many aspects of my life, society has affected how I look, how I do in school, what I want to become after High-School, what I say, how I perform in sports. In conclusion, society in a whole affects everyone, everywhere, every day in every way. This concludes my essay.

Europeans And Aborigines In The 1700s Essay -- Australia Australian H

European ships chiefly began sailing into southern Australian waters in the 18th century. These left human cargoes behind and, unlike earlier visitors, had an immediate impact on the Aborigines, who suffered interference with their economy and lifestyle as the colonists sought and secured for themselves good sources of water, sheltered positions, and access to fish—all of which were also vital to Aboriginal people. The perception that Australia was quietly â€Å"settled† without conflict with the Aboriginal people, an idea that, it has been argued, enabled the concept of â€Å"terra nullius† to be maintained, has been substantially revised in recent years. It is now generally acknowledged that resistance took place right from the first tentative encroachments by European nations into Australian waters. The Dutch sailed into the Gulf of Carpentaria in 1606 and one Dutch sailor was killed by the Tjungundji (whose hero was the warrior Sivirri). Another Dutch ship visited the area in 1623, but in attempting to kidnap people was met by 200 warriors who drove the sailors away. James Cook, in spite of the popular misconception, also met with some resistance in Botany Bay. Two Tharawal men, after sending away the women and children, stood firm against Cook’s landing. According to Cook’s account of the incident: â€Å"We then threw them some nails, beads etc. ashore which th ey took up and seem’d not ill pleased in so much that I thought that they beckoned to us to come ashore, but in this we were much mistaken, for as soon as we put the boat in they again came to oppose us upon which I fired a musket between the two which had no other effect than to make them retire back where bundles of their darts lay, and one of them took up a stone and threw at us w... ..., and movement controls and restriction of ceremonies meant that Aboriginal people were much more isolated from each other than they had been before. This, together with the influences and impact of European culture, resulted in the development of new artistic styles. In some areas gospel music with a uniquely Aboriginal (or Torres Strait Islander) flavour was written and performed, in others country-and-western music or blues styles developed. More recently have come rock music and modern dance groups such as Bangarra. From the 1950s, new materials and styles came to be used in the visual arts, including watercolours, acrylic paints, pottery, photography, landscape, abstract art, and sculpture. These also reflected the radical changes in lifestyle and economy resulting from permanent European settlement, although the effect varied considerably across the continent.

Night World : Daughters of Darkness Chapter 17

Well, she wasn't telling humans anything-but she did defy the authority of the Night World,† Ash said in his most lazy, careless voice. Quinn said succinctly, â€Å"How?† It was late Monday afternoon and the sun was streaming through the western windows of the Burdock farmhouse. Ash was wearing a brand-new shirt bought at the Briar Creek general store, a turtleneckwith long sleeves that covered the almost-healedscars on his throat and arms. His jeans werebleached white, his hair was combed over the scabon the back of his head, and he was playing the scene of his life. â€Å"She knew about a rogue werewolf and didn't tell.anybody about him.† â€Å"So she was a traitor. And what did you do?† Ash shrugged. â€Å"Staked her.† Quinn laughed out loud. â€Å"No, really,† Ash said earnestly, looking intoQuinn's face with what he knew were wide, guileless eyes-probably blue. â€Å"See?† Without taking his eyes from Quinn's he whipped a pink-and-green country quilt off the bundle on the couch. Quinn's eyebrows flew upward. He stared for a moment at Aunt Opal, who had been cleaned so that you'd never know she'd ever been buried, and who had the picket stake carefully replaced in her chest. Quinn actually swallowed. It was the first time Ash had ever seen him falter. â€Å"You really did it,† he said. There was reluctant respect in his voice-and definite shock. You know, Quinn, I don't think you're quite as tough as you pretend. After all, no matter how you try to act like an Elder, you're only eighteen. And you'll always be eighteen, and next year maybe I'll be older. â€Å"Well,† Quinn said, blinking rapidly. â€Å"Well. Well___ I have to hand it to you.† â€Å"Yeah, I just decided the best thing to do was cleanup the whole situation. She was getting on, you know.† Quinn's dark eyes widened fractionally. â€Å"I have toadmit -I didn't think you were that ruthless.† â€Å"You've gotta do what you've gotta do. For the family honor, of course.† Quinn cleared his throat. â€Å"So-what about thewerewolf?† â€Å"Oh, I took care of that, too.† Ash meandered over and whipped a brown-and-white quilt off Exhibit B. The wolf was a charred and contorted corpse. It had given Mary-Lynnette hysterics when Ash insisted on pulling it out of the car, and Quinn's nostrils quivered when he looked at it. â€Å"Sorry, it does smell like burnt hair, doesn't it? Igot a little sooty myself, keeping him in the fire†¦.† â€Å"You burned himalive?† â€Å"Well, it is one of the traditional methods†¦.†Ã¢â‚¬ Just put the blanket back, all right?† Ash put the blanket back. â€Å"So, you see, everything's taken care of. No humans involved, no extermination necessary.† â€Å"Yes, all right †¦Ã¢â‚¬  Quinn's eyes were still on the quilt. Ash decided the moment was right. â€Å"And by the way, it turns out the girls had aperfectly legitimate reason for coming. They just wanted to learn to hunt. Nothing illegal about that,is there?† â€Å"What? Oh. No.† Quinn glanced at Aunt Opal, then finally looked back at Ash. â€Å"So they're coming back now that they've learned it.† â€Å"Well, eventually. They haven't quite learned it yet†¦ so they're staying.† â€Å"They'restaying?† †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†Right. Look, I'm the head of the familyon the West Coast, aren't I? And I say they're staying.† â€Å"Ash†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. â€Å" â€Å"It's about time there was a Night World outpost in this area, don't you think? You see what's happened without one. You get families of outlaw werewolves wandering around. Somebody's got to stay here and hold down the fort.† â€Å"Ash †¦ you couldn't payNight People to strand themselves out here. Nothing but animals to feed on, nobody but humans to associate with †¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Yeah, it's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it.Besides, wasn't it you who said it's not good living your whole life isolated on an island?† Quinn stared at him, then said, â€Å"Well, I don't thinkthis is much better.† â€Å"Then it serves my sisters right. Maybe in a few years they'll appreciate the island more. Then theycan hand the job over to someone else.† â€Å"Ash †¦ no one else is going to comehere.† â€Å"Well.† With the battle won, and Quinn simplylooking dazed and as if he wanted to get back to LosAngeles as fast as possible, Ash allowed himself a small measure of truth. â€Å"I might come visit them someday,† he said. â€Å"He did a beautiful job,† Rowan said that evening. â€Å"We heard it all from the kitchen. You would have loved it.† Mary-Lynnette smiled. â€Å"Quinn can't wait to get away,† Jade said, in tertwining her fingers with Mark's. Kestrel said to Ash, â€Å"I'd just like to be around when you explain all this to Dad.† â€Å"That's funny,† Ash said. â€Å"I feel just the opposite.† Everyone laughed-except Mary-Lynnette. The big farm kitchen was warm and bright, but the windowswere darkening. She couldn't see anything in the gathering darkness-in the last two days the effects of her blood exchange had faded. Her senses were ordinary human senses again. â€Å"You're sure you won't get in trouble?† sheasked Ash. â€Å"No. I'll tell our dad the truth-mostly. That anoutlaw werewolf killed Aunt Opal and that I killed the werewolf. And that the girls are better off here,hunting quietly and watching out for other rogues. There's sure to be some record of the Lovett fam ily†¦. Dad can check out the history all he wants.† â€Å"A whole family of outlaw werewolves,† Kestrel said musingly. â€Å"Ofcrazy werewolves,† Ash said. â€Å"They were as dangerous to the Night World as any vampire hunters could be. God knows how long they've beenhere-long enough for their land to get named Mad Dog Creek.† â€Å"And for people to mistake them for Sasquatch,† Mark said. Rowan's brown eyes were troubled. â€Å"And it wasmy fault that you didn't know,† she said to MaryLynnette. â€Å"I told you-he couldn't be the killer. I'm sorry.† Mary-Lynnette captured her gaze and held it. â€Å"Rowan, you arenotgoing to feel guilty for this. You couldn't have realized. He wasn't killing for food like a normal werewolf. He was killing to protect his territory-and to scare us.† â€Å"And it might have worked,† Mark said. â€Å"Exceptthat you guys didn't have anywhere else to go.† Ash looked at Mark, then at his sisters. â€Å"I have a question. Is the territory around here going to be enough foryou?† â€Å"Of course,† Rowan said, with gentle surprise. â€Å"We don't always need tokill the animals,† Jade said. â€Å"We're getting it down pat now. We can take a little here and a little there. Heck, we can even trythe goat. â€Å" â€Å"I'd rather try Tiggy,† Kestrel said, and for a moment her golden eyes glimmered. Mary-Lynnette didn't say it, but she wondered sometimes about Kestrel. If maybe, someday, Kestrel might need a bigger territory of her own. She was a lot like Jeremy in some ways. Beautiful, ruthless, single-minded. A true Night Person. â€Å"And what about you?† Ash said, looking at mark. â€Å"Me? Uh†¦ Well, when you get down to it, I'm kind of a hamburger guy†¦.† â€Å"I tried to take him hunting last night,† Jade interpreted. â€Å"You know, just to show him. But he threw up.† â€Å"I didn't actually-â€Å" â€Å"Yes, you did,† Jade said calmly and cheerfully. Mark looked away. Mary-Lynnette noticed they didn't stop holding hands. â€Å"So I take it you're not going to become a vampire,† Ash said to Mark. â€Å"Uh, let's just say not any time soon.† Ash turned to Mary-Lynnette. â€Å"And what about the human end of things? Do we have that taken care of?† â€Å"Well, I know everything that's going on intown-by which I mean that I talked with BunnyMarten this morning. I'm so glad she's not a vampire, incidentally Mark said, â€Å"I always knew it† â€Å"Anyway, here's the quick version.† MaryLynnette held up a finger. â€Å"One, everybody knowsthat Jeremy is gone-his boss at the gas stationmissed him yesterday and went up to check the trailer. They found a lot of weird stuff there. But all they know is that he's disappeared.† â€Å"Good,† Rowan said. Mary-Lynnette held up another finger. â€Å"Two,Dad is sorry but not surprised that the stationwagon blew up. Claudine has been predicting itwould for a year.† Another finger. â€Å"Three, Mr. Kimble doesn't have any ideawhatkilled his horse-but now he thinks it was an animal instead of a person. Vic Kimble thinks it was maybe Sasquatch. He and Todd are very spooked and want to get out of Briar Creek forgood â€Å"And let's have a moment of silence to show howwe'll miss them,† Mark said solemnly, and blew a raspberry. â€Å"Four,† Mary-Lynnette said, holding up a fourthfinger, â€Å"you girls are eventually going to have to mention that your aunt hasn't come back from her ‘vacation.' But I thinkyou can wait awhile. Nobody comes out here so nobody will notice she's gone. And I think we can bury her and Jeremy safely. Even if somebody finds them, what have they got? A mummy that looks about a thousand years old and a wolf. They won't be able to connect them to the missing people.† â€Å"Poor old Aunt Opal,† Jade said, still cheerful.†But she helped us in the end, didn't she?† Mary-Lynnette looked at her. Yes, there it is, shethought. The silver in the eyes when you laugh about death. Jade is a true Night Person, too. â€Å"She did help. And I'm going to miss her,† she said out loud. Kestrel said, â€Å"So everything is taken care of.† â€Å"Seems like it.† Ash hesitated. â€Å"And Quinn is waiting down the road. I_ told him it would only takea couple hours to finish making arrangements and say goodbye.† There was a silence. â€Å"I'll see you off,† Mary-Lynnette said at last. They went together to the front door. When theywere outside in the twilight Ash shut the door be hind them. â€Å"You still can come with me, you know.† â€Å"With you and Quinn?† â€Å"I'll send him away. Or I'll go and come back tomorrow and get you. Or I'll come back and stay†¦.† â€Å"You need to go tell your father about this. Make everything right with him, so it's safe for your sisters. You knowthat.† â€Å"Well, I'll come back afterthat,†Ash said, with an edge of desperation to his voice. Mary-Lynnette looked away. The sun was gone. Looking east, the sky was already the darkest purple imaginable. Almost black. Even as she watched, a starcame out. Or-not a star. Jupiter. â€Å"I'm not ready yet. I wish I were.† â€Å"No, you don't,† Ash said, and he was right, of course. She'd known ever since she sat there by theroad, crying while her car burned. And althoughshe'd thought and thought about it since then, sitting in her darkened room, there was nothing she coulddo to change her own mind. She would never be a vampire. She just wasn't cutout for it. She couldn't do the things vampires hadto do-and stay sane. She wasn't like Jade or Kestrelor even Rowan with her pale sinewy feet and her instinctive love of the hunt. She'd looked into the heart of the Night World . . .and she couldn't join it. â€Å"I don't want you to be like that,† Ash said. â€Å"Iwant you to be likeyou. â€Å" Without looking at him, Mary-Lynnette said, â€Å"Butwe're not kids. We can't be like Jade and Mark, and just hold hands and giggle and never think about the future.† â€Å"No, we're only soulmates, that's all. We're onlydestined to be together forever†¦.† â€Å"If we've got forever, then you can give me time,† Mary-Lynnette said. â€Å"Go back and' wander a little. Take a look at the Night World and make sure youwant to give it up â€Å"I know that already.† â€Å"Take a look at humans and make sure you wantto be tied to one of them.† â€Å"And think about the things I've done to humans, maybe?† Mary-Lynnette looked at him directly. â€Å"Yes.† He looked away. â€Å"All right. I admit it. I've got a lot to make up for†¦.† Mary-Lynnette knew it. He'd thought of humansas vermin-and food. The things she'd seen in hismind made her not want to picture more. â€Å"Then make up for what you can,† she said, although she didn't dare really hope that he would. â€Å"Take time to do that. And giveme time to finish growing up. I'm still in high school, Ash.† â€Å"You'll be out in a year. I'll come back then.† â€Å"It may be too soon.† â€Å"I know. I'll come back anyway.† He smiled ironically. â€Å"And in the meantime I'll fight dragons, just like any knight for his lady. I'll prove myself. You'll be proud of me.† Mary-Lynnette's throat hurt. Ash's smile disappeared. They just stood looking at each other. It was the obvious time for a kiss. Instead, they just stood staring like hurt kids, and then one ofthem moved and they were holding on to each other. Mary-Lynnette held on tighter and tighter, her face buried in Ash's shoulder. Ash, who seemed to have lost it altogether, was raining kisses on the back of her neck, saying, â€Å"I wish I were a human. I wishI were.† â€Å"No, you don't,† Mary-Lynnette said, seriously unsteady because of the kisses. â€Å"I do. I do.† But it wouldn't help, and Mary-Lynnette knew he knew it. The problem wasn't simply what he was, it was what he'd done-and what he was going to do. He'd seen too much of the dark side of life to be a normal person. His nature was already formed, and she wasn't sure he could fight it. â€Å"Believe in me,† he said, as if he could hear her. Mary-Lynnette couldn't say yes or no. So she did the only thing she could do-she lifted her head. Hislips were in the right place to meet hers. The electric sparks weren't painful anymore, she discovered? and the pink haze could be quite wonderful. For a time everything was warm and sweet and strangelypeaceful. And then, behind them, somebody knocked on thedoor. Mary-Lynnette and Ash jumped and separated.They looked at each other, startled, emotions still tooraw, and then Mary-Lynnette realized where she was. She laughed and so did Ash. â€Å"Come out,† they said simultaneously. Mark and Jade came out. Rowan and Kestrel werebehind them. They all stood on the porch-avoiding the hole. They all smiled at Ash and Mary-Lynnette in a way that made Mary-Lynnette blush. â€Å"Goodbye,† she said firmly to Ash. He looked at her for a long moment, then looked at the road behind him. Then he turned to go. Mary-Lynnette watched him, blinking away tears.She still couldn't let herself believe in him. But there was no harm in hoping, was there? In wishing. Evenif wishes almost never came true†¦. Jade gasped. â€Å"Look!† They all saw it, and Mary-Lynnette felt her heartjump violently. A bolt of light was streaking acrossthe darkness in the northeast. Not a little wimpyshooting star-a brilliant green meteor that crossedhalf the sky, showering sparks. It was right above Ash's path, as if lighting his way. A late Perseid. The last of the summer meteors. But it seemed like a blessing. â€Å"Quick, quick, wish,† Mark was telling Jade eagerly. â€Å"A wish on that star you gotta get.† Mary-Lynnette glanced at his excited face, at theway his eyes shone with excitement. Beside him, Jade was clapping, her own eyes wide with delight. I'm so glad you're happy, Mary-Lynnette thought. My wish for you came true. So now maybe I can wish for myself. I wish †¦ I wish †¦ Ash turned around and smiled at her. â€Å"See you next year,† he said. â€Å"With slain dragons!† He started down the weed-strewn path to the road. For a moment, in the deep violet twilight, he didlook to Mary-Lynnette like a knight walking off ona quest. A knight-errant with shining blond hair and no weapons, going off into a very dark and dangerous wilderness. Then he turned around and walked backward, waving, which ruined the effect. Everyone shouted goodbyes. Mary-Lynnette could feel them around her, her brother and her three blood-sisters, all radiating warmth and support. Playful Jade. Fierce Kestrel. Wise and gentle Rowan. And Mark, who wasn't sullen and solitary anymore. Tiggy wound himselfaround her ankles, purring amiably. â€Å"Even when we're apart, we'll be looking at the same sky!† Ash yelled. â€Å"What a line,† Mary-Lynnette called back. But hewas right. The sky would be there for both of them.She'd alwaysknow hewas out there somewhere,looking up at it in wonder. Just knowing that was important. And she was clear on who she was at last. Shewas Mary-Lynnette, and someday she'd discover a supernova or a comet or a black hole, but she'd doit as a human. And Ash would come back next year. And she would always love the night. [The End]