The Social Subject in the Age of Innocence Essay Example for Free

The Social Subject in the Age of Innocence Essay The Age of Innocence major theme is based around a battle of the individual’s desire and the monotonous life, rules and duties that control New York during the eighteen seventies. The conflict is between freedom and society. It was a society â€Å"intent on maintaining its own rigid stability†. Each man and woman had its own duties and people were forced to maintain this social code that existed, even if they wanted to put their happiness into their own hands. Big decisions were made by group choice not by the individual. This is evident through the protagonist Newland Archer who has doubts and changes with his life upon meeting Ellen Olenska. The protagonist in Ethan Frome can be compared to Archer by the way they both have difficulty with their desires and duties particularly through love and freedom. Archer realises New York is suffocating him from achieving his desires. I will discuss throughout how he conflicts with his desires and duties throughout along with other characters and compare them to Ethan Fromes decisions also. The setting of The Age of Independence is eighteen seventies New York. The Cambridge Online Collections state that Edith Wharton wanted to get the â€Å"1870s right the moustaches (†not tooth brush ones, but curved slightly twisted at the ends†), the clothes and the buttonhole flowers (violets by day, gardenias by night), the manners and the language (no slang, no Americanisms â€Å"English was then the language spoken by American ladies gentlemen†). Since she had insisted that she did not want the novel taken as a â€Å"costume piece† (Letters, 433), this punctiliousness might seem surprising. But in The Age of Innocence, social details matter.† The setting alone plays a huge part in Archer achieving his desires. New York is conformed during this period people are expected to follow the social codes that are implemented. This puts a hold on Archer and Ellen’s desires to be with one another. New York has a hold on their feelings. They cannot express them in this kind of community because of judgemental eyes. The time and place in the novel controls their actions towards one another. There are expectations that are supposed to be met. A normal wealthy New Yorker would have children and get married. The worst thing that could happen in a wealthy New Yorker’s eyes is a divorce or an affair. This leaves Ellen in a difficult place while in New York. She wants to divorce her Polish husband but Archer tells her she should not as society will abandon her. Even though Archer and Ellen love each other the fact that their families would be so disappointed by them if they were to go with their gut feeling. Mary Douglas states â€Å"society does not exist in a neutral, uncharged vacuum It is subject to external pressures; that which is not with it, part of it and subject to its laws is potentially against it† (Wharton 40) this evokes that The Age of Innocence was about being around the right people and marrying into good families and not to disappoint even if there is something out ther e that one desires. Through the novel we follow Newland and how his eyes are opened to what is expected of him in nineteenth century New York. He becomes engaged to May Wellend this is a normal and expected engagement of that of him and May. May is introduced in the opening and â€Å"appears at the opera pink-faced and fair-hairedone immediately associates her name with youth and virginity† she is what is taught to be as a fiancà ©e at this period perfect for this social circle. Then there is Ellen Olenska the cousin of his fiancà ©e the contrast between the two is extreme. Ellen is different and exotic. Ellen escapes from a marriage which is a taboo in this era. This evokes how Ellen breaks away from her duties as a wife to desire happiness. She is introduced as a controversial figure. Ellen is unaware of this and what happens at the Opera. The Opera is like a courtroom people are judged here. Ellen is judged by the gossiping men and this is predictable in this society. From coming across someone different from all he sees and expected from what a woman is to be Newland finds reason to doubt what he is expected to do as his duties and desires come into place. It is like if Ellen became an inspirational figure t o him and defends her Women ought to be free as free as we are, he declared, making a discovery of which he was too irritated to measure the terrific consequences. Even though from previous chapters he is happy his own fiancà ©e follows the customs of the social circle that New York women should acquire. Although he does not approve of Ellen’s behaviour he is captivated by it. Ellen has made the subject of romance and marriage a complicating issue for him. Seeing Ellen as an outcast from the rest of the women he knew, he begins to think why the likes of May do not have experiences as what males do in New York and why they should only have one partner. May Wellend to Archer and the reader initially is a â€Å"picture of an ingenuous and demure young girl whom Archer hopes to shape into a worldly-wide mould of the married woman with whom he has recently had a two year-year-long affair† this evokes Archers duties and what he firstly hopes will become of his marriage but now that Ellen is in the frame his thoughts about life, marriage and love are different. This quote also shows the duty of May and what is expected of her in this pe riod in New York typical marriage material for Archer. Wharton based many of her novels around failing relationships as like her own with her husband. Ethan Frome and Newland Archer were both heading in the same direction. They are both stuck in a love triangle and are unable to be with the one they love because of their duty. Once Archer finds out May is pregnant his plan to stay with Ellen is abandoned due to the fact that he must be a father now. Ethan is quite similar even though he is in love and wants to leave the horrid town he lived in he was unable to because of Zeena being ill and it being his duty as a husband to stay with her. Both Ellen and Mattie play as a ray of light they were both something different from what the protagonists were expected to do, a break from normality. Mattie was something fresh and something to break away from Ethan’s monotonous life in Starkfield and Ellen was something exotic for Archer to admire in New York compared to what he was used to seeing. They act as a forbidden fruit for the protagonists. Both want the thing society doesn’t allow them to have, both wanted the thing their duty won’t allow them to have but they both conform to what is expected of them and do not follow their desires and stay in the Garden of Eden which is nothing like paradise. Ethan has Zeena to destroy his desires and Archer has May and the wealthy community of New York to destroy his. Both offer up love for them but both are hit with complications Ellen is told by May that she is pregnant so that she would leave and Zeena shortens Mattie’s stay. Newland Archer cannot belong to the socially elite because of what it is and will not be changed and this is why someone like Ellen is so exciting for him and Ethan does not belong in Starkfield as he is seen differently because of his injuries and something fresh like Mattie enhance his life. Both having a way to escape from new women in their lives makes it exciting for them. It can be realistic but both don’t take the opportunity due to their duties. Martin Scorsese’ depiction of The Age of Innocence also deals with the same themes of desire and duty as the book does. Scorsese says that â€Å"What I wanted to do as much as possible was to recreate for a viewing audience the experience I had reading the book.† He was enthralled by how Edith Wharton was able to blind the reader and he put his own persona on it. Scorsese shows Archers desire for a woman to mould through a symbol. The first thing we see when Archer meets Ellen alone for the first time just after leaving his fiancà ©e is that of a painting of a woman who is faceless. This symbolizes how Archer wanted something different from which he would have seen everyday like May who was artificial. He wanted something he could mould himself something he could fill the blank face with and not what he was supposed to have a ‘creation of factitious purity, so cunningly manufactured by a conspiracy of mothers and aunts and grandmothers and long-dead ancestress, because it was supposed to be what he wanted, what he had a right to, in order that he might exercise his lordly pleasure in sma shing it like an image made of snow.’ (Wharton 35) this evokes that Archer desired something different against his duty to be with something that actually was picturesque May and Scorsese was able to get this across by drawing our eye to the unfinished image. The conflict of desire and duty is based on the protagonists’ battle of wanting something different and sticking to something normal. He is understandably fed up with the duties that he along with people in his same wealthy state are supposed to do. With the emergence of Ellen he finds love in a place where everyone else in that society would be embarrassed about. The Age of Innocence shows how desire can throw a life off the straight and narrow. Left with though not knowing what would have been the best outcome as he does stay with May. What would have become of him if he went with his desires? Love has no limitations and it is says conquers all but not in this case he is held back from his duty as being a husband and a father instead of leaving with May.

Comparing Of Mice and Men and John Steinbecks Life Essay -- compariso

   John Steinbeck's agricultural upbringing in the California area vibrantly shines through in the settings and story lines of the majority of his works. Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men, takes place in the Salinas Valley of California. The drama is centered around two itinerant farm workers, George Milton and Lennie Small, with a dream of someday owning a place of their own. Lennie Small is a simple-minded, slow moving, shapeless hulk with pale eyes whose enormous physical strength often causes him to get into trouble. George Milton on the other hand is small in stature, clever, dark of face and eyes, and acts as Lennie's guardian and calming force. Early in the story the prospect of their ever realizing their dream seems remote, but as the plot unfolds (they meet a crippled bunkhouse worker who wants to go in with them on the scheme, and who offers offer to chip in his life savings), the probability of fulfillment rises. If the three pool their salaries at the end of the current month, they can quit and move into their farm. Lennie manages to avoid disaster for exactly three days. He gets involved with the flirtatious wife of Curley, the boss' violent son. Through a series of unfortunate events, he becomes frightened and inadvertently kills the girl. Curley organizes a group to apprehend Lennie. George gets to Lennie first and out of sympathy for his companion, shoots him in the head to spare him the pain of Curley's shotgun or the misery of incarceration. Lennie's killing of mice and later his killing of the puppy sets up a pattern that the reader expects to be followed. George's story about Lennie and the little girl with the red dress, which he tells twice, adds to this expectancy, as do the shooting of Candy's d... ...ypical Steinbeck novel in terms of simplicity, story line, and setting. Steinbeck transplants the knowledge he gained and the images he conceived of California in his writings. Works Cited and Consulted: Bloom, Harold. John Steinbeck. Pennsylvania: Chelsea House Publishers, 1999. Davis, Robert Murray. Steinbeck: A Collection of Critical Essays. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1972. Fontenrose, Joseph. John Steinbeck: An Introduction and Interpretation. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1964. French, Warren. John Steinbeck's Fiction Revisited. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1994. Lisca, Peter. The Wide World of John Steinbeck. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1958. Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York: Penguin Books USA Incorporated, 1978. Tedlock, E.W. Steinbeck and His Critics. Albuquerque: The University of New Mexico Press, 1957.    Comparing Of Mice and Men and John Steinbeck's Life Essay -- compariso    John Steinbeck's agricultural upbringing in the California area vibrantly shines through in the settings and story lines of the majority of his works. Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men, takes place in the Salinas Valley of California. The drama is centered around two itinerant farm workers, George Milton and Lennie Small, with a dream of someday owning a place of their own. Lennie Small is a simple-minded, slow moving, shapeless hulk with pale eyes whose enormous physical strength often causes him to get into trouble. George Milton on the other hand is small in stature, clever, dark of face and eyes, and acts as Lennie's guardian and calming force. Early in the story the prospect of their ever realizing their dream seems remote, but as the plot unfolds (they meet a crippled bunkhouse worker who wants to go in with them on the scheme, and who offers offer to chip in his life savings), the probability of fulfillment rises. If the three pool their salaries at the end of the current month, they can quit and move into their farm. Lennie manages to avoid disaster for exactly three days. He gets involved with the flirtatious wife of Curley, the boss' violent son. Through a series of unfortunate events, he becomes frightened and inadvertently kills the girl. Curley organizes a group to apprehend Lennie. George gets to Lennie first and out of sympathy for his companion, shoots him in the head to spare him the pain of Curley's shotgun or the misery of incarceration. Lennie's killing of mice and later his killing of the puppy sets up a pattern that the reader expects to be followed. George's story about Lennie and the little girl with the red dress, which he tells twice, adds to this expectancy, as do the shooting of Candy's d... ...ypical Steinbeck novel in terms of simplicity, story line, and setting. Steinbeck transplants the knowledge he gained and the images he conceived of California in his writings. Works Cited and Consulted: Bloom, Harold. John Steinbeck. Pennsylvania: Chelsea House Publishers, 1999. Davis, Robert Murray. Steinbeck: A Collection of Critical Essays. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1972. Fontenrose, Joseph. John Steinbeck: An Introduction and Interpretation. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1964. French, Warren. John Steinbeck's Fiction Revisited. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1994. Lisca, Peter. The Wide World of John Steinbeck. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1958. Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York: Penguin Books USA Incorporated, 1978. Tedlock, E.W. Steinbeck and His Critics. Albuquerque: The University of New Mexico Press, 1957.   

The Mirage Hotel and Casino

The Mirage Hotel and Casino (The Hotel Industry) By Gregory D. Tucker The word â€Å"hotel† didn’t appear until the 18th century. It came from the French hotel, large house, and originated in the Latin roots hospitium or hospes. Hospitality, hostile and hotels are all related words. The difficulty of identifying early travelers as friends or foes probably accounts for the conflict in meaning Friendly travelers found security and accommodations through the hospitality of their hosts. As the numbers of travelers increased, personal courtesy gave way to commercial enterprise. The hotel was born carrying with it a culture of hospitality.The hotel industry grew and flourished through the centuries by adapting to the changing social, business, and economic environment that marked human progress. During the modern times, these stages have been labeled for easy reference. The 18th century was the agricultural age; the 19th century, the industrial age. The 20th century has been the age of service. The sale of services, such as medicine, banking, education and hotelkeeping, has outpaced the manufacture and distribution of goods. The 21st century has opened with that same service culture even as it launces what is likely to be the age of technology.The Mirage was built by developer Steve Wynn and designed by Joel Bergman. It opened in November 1989 and was the first resort that was built with the money of Wall Street through the use of junk bonds. It was built on the site, formerly occupied by the Castaways and previous to that, the Red Rooster Nite Club. The Mirage was the most expensive hotel-casino in history, with a construction cost of US $630 million. The hotel's distinctive gold windows get their color from actual gold dust used in the tinting process. Hotels employ a many people with a variety of skills.Hotels have plumbers, accountants, bartenders, cooks, grounds managers, telecommunications experts, and computer trouble shooters. Depending on the s ize of the hotel will determine how many different specialists are required to work there. Managing all of the different types of people requires a organizational structure. The general manager is the person responsible for everything that happens at the hotel. Because hotels never close and are open 24 hours a day, some hotels use a rotating management schedule to cover the night, weekend and holiday periods.The general manager supervises and controls all of the departments in the hotel. The Food and Beverage Manager works with the Front Office in close coordination. They deal with the production and service of food and beverage. Food production is headed by a Chef, or Executive Chef. Services range from in room service, restaurant, the bar, and banquet and convention services. Every department that services guests falls within the responsibility of the hotel manager. The hotel manager deals with every service except for Food and Beverage. The hotel manager reports to the General M anager.Some of the most important areas of the hotel manager’s responsibility are the uniformed services, the concierge, telephone, and other departments. Hotel manager oversees the Uniformed Services department. This has included traditional jobs such as baggage porters, transportation clerks, elevator operators, bellpersons and door attendants. In recent years however, this area of the hotel industry that is on decline. Several reasons include the fact that guests travel lighter todaythan before, suitcases have wheels, and fewer pieces of luggage means fewer trips from the car to the hotel room, meaning less demand for uniformed services.In addition, because of minimum wage laws, these non-essential services are being cut. The Concierge is another department that the Hotel Manager oversees. The concierge is position that is mandated by an organization called The International Union of Concierges, in Paris, France. In Canada, this organization is called Les Clefs d’or Canada. Members wear the Golden Keys as their symbol of professionalism. Before hotels started using electronic key cards the concierge was the person responsible for guarding the hotel’s keys. Today the role of the concierge includes many duties.The Front Office is an easily identifiable area of the lobby. Functionally it is the heart of the hotel. Through the front desk flows communications with every department of the hotel. The primary purpose of the hotel is to sell rooms. For large hotels room sales account for half of the hotel’s revenue. For smaller hotels, room sales account for almost all of the hotel’s revenue. Hotel guests relate with the front desk. They go to the front desk to have all of their concerns and needs met. It is the primary guest-service centre. Structure of the Front Office and Working Hours: The front office is located in the hotel lobby.Front-desk computers have greatly reduced the amount of space the front office occupies. This has allowed for new lobby designs. A well designed lobby functions like a town centre. Modern lobbies are ideal for networking, they offer small furniture that allows for privacy for cell-phone use, as well as intimacy for cocktail gatherings. Regardless, the lobby design must provide easy access to the front office. Modern front desk design allows for impressing the guest. Factors such lighting, form, materials, and architecture are used to enhance the guest’s experience.Some front desks are nudged into lobby corners while others are lobby’s focal point. Whichever design is used, the front desk needs to provide security to the employees and to the guests. Security is enhanced when the front office employees have an unobstructed view of the lobby, all entry doors, and elevators. Hotels never close, so structure is very important. Work schedules in hotels must provide around the clock staffing, especially at the front desk. There are three main shifts in most hotels, the D ay Shift, the Swing Shift, and the Graveyard Shift.Most employees work an eight hour shift, five days a week, with two days off per week. Most employees prefer the Day Shift, which runs from 7:30am to 3:30pm. It allows for the usual workweek. Bellpersons prefer to work the swing shift, which runs from 3:30pm to 11:30pm. During this shift is when arrivals and tips are the heaviest. The graveyard shift runs from 11:30pm to 7:30am. This shift has the least guest activity, but it is important because it is when the night audit is completed. Building structure is also very important. If a hotel isn’t feasible to the eyes it will be passed up.Hotels in North America have changed considerably in recent years. Typically, these changes have been seen since the 1950’s. Changes in room sizes, amenities, and bed sizes. Another interesting feature about building structure are the cultural differences found in room and floor numbering. The Mirage isn’t like any other hotel, b ut in the same light it is. The attractions, the famous Volcano, the rooms, the restaurants and the staff are all different from other hotels/casinos and resorts, but the structure of this modern hotel is almost identical to any other hotel.Besides its construction, it is also considered noteworthy because it had set a new standard for Vegas resorts, and is also considered the father of today’s Las Vegas. The Mirage was the first hotel casino to use security cameras full time. Prior to the Mirage’s arrival the city was experiencing a decline in tourism that began in the 70’s. The Mirage is an organization that visualized dealing with customers in terms of a cycle of service, a repeatable sequence of events in which various people try to meet the customer needs and expectations at each point.When a customer considers the services that they required complete, it begins anew when he or she decides to come back for more. Works Cited James A. Bardi, Ed. D. , CHA, CHE â€Å"Hotel Front Office Management† John Wiley ; Sons Inc. 2007 Gary K. Vallen, Jerome J. Vallen â€Å" Check-In Check-Out: Managing Hotel Operation, March 2008 MGM Resorts International â€Å"The Mirage. com† 2013 Arnold M. Knightly â€Å"Blink and You’ll Miss Him† Las Vegas Review-Journal February 2007 Norm Clarke â€Å"Mystere† June 2003

Personality Assessment Of Personality Assessments

Assessment of Personality This paper introduces the overview of personality assessment approaches in use currently in society. It proceeds to review the big five personality measures, its validity in prediction of personality types (Archer, 2011). The topic on MIPS questionnaires use in personality measurements and scoring methods used by the system is reviewed. Aspects on the social desirability trait and the distortion produced in responses to evaluation questionnaires, being a significant part of the problems in personality assessment is examined. Social desirability does not have an influence on the predictive validity of personality assessments. It is not related to performance in the job. Various strategies used for reduction of social desirability have been studied. The various tools used in assessments are recapitulated including some methodological aspects (Weiner, 2009). Cultural aspects in evaluation of personality discussed are touched upon. Two case studies are used to show the real life situation of personality assessment. One of the most important findings, which has found acceptance in recent psychological research, is that testing cognitive ability is valid for a variety of different jobs. Personality tests and skills provide valuable information for certain well-defined positions, such as seller, buyer and worker in routine production. The interviews to study the person, carried out by expert psychologists are also useful when simplerShow MoreRelatedPersonality Assessments : Personality Assessment1205 Words   |  5 Pages Personality Assessment Review Miranda Basham Clarion University of Pennsylvania â€Æ' Personality Assessments A personality assessment is the measurement of personal characteristics (personality assessment | psychology). 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