lunes, 16 de noviembre de 2015
Frankenstein
Frankenstein
The book Frankenstein, published by Mary Shelley in 1818 is frequently called the world’s first science fiction novel. A scientist, Victor Frankenstein, manages to construct and animate a creature from dismembered corpses. The resulting monster, although gentle and intellectually gifted, is enormous, physically hideous and ends up being the worst kind of scientific experiment of all times.
Repulsed by his work, its creator rejects it cruelly. For this reason, the creature wanders around saddened by the rejection and seeks for companionship. He later becomes brutal as he fails to find a peer and murders for revenge.
The fact that technology was improving at an amazing degree, due to the arrival of industrialization, is dealt through the novel, and the issue of advances created by men is clearly addressed. The attention is also directed to the treatment of the poor and uneducated, and to the invasion of technology into modern life.
It is important to stand out that the Industrial Revolution was a period of transition. The technologic breakthroughs brought about a shift from manufacturing in people's homes, to the development of powered special-purpose machinery, factories and mass production. Millions of people moved with the purpose of finding a job and consequently, large slums appeared and living conditions for the poor and working classes were grim. Children were cheap employees and they ended up working in all types of industry. Besides, women of the working classes would usually be expected to go out to work for long hours in hard conditions. Furthermore, diseases were a deadly threat.
It was during this crucial industrial moment in human history that the monster was brought into existence. He was created good and made evil. From the moment he opened his eyes to the world, he just wanted to be accepted and loved. He was kind hearted and he even managed to learn about himself and gained general knowledge through the books he read and the conversations he heard from the De Lacey's. It was total rejection and exclusion what turned him hateful.
If the creature had a family that raised him and included him in these modern times, he would definitely have good relationships with them provided his affectionate, friendly and kind personality. However, if enrolled at school, things would not be easy for the monster, since today's society is characterized by pushing the abnormal aside. Even though there are always exceptions, people are completely self centered these days and there is a very strong sense of individualism. Consequently, the monster would be quickly pushed aside and considered an absolute freak. Besides, despite the fact that electricity has made life completely easier for people, the desire for money and approval has increased considerably, which has turned society into selfish and discriminative.
I personally believe that the author of the novel aimed for society to realize that people get the monsters they deserve by neglecting and ignoring others with socially unacceptable appearances or behaviours. We, as members of a society have the responsibility to reach out to the wretched members and accept and support the diversity of humankind.
French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution altered the course of modern history. It brought about the global decline of absolute monarchies and replaced them with republics.
This period of French history is known for the absolute unfair distribution of wealth, power and freedom. The French social structure of the 1870's was divided into three estates. They were the clergy, the nobility and the ordinary people. The two first groups had complete power to control the society and they were able to enjoy the benefits of being well off. The last, misfortunate estate consisted of the peasantry and the bourgeoisie. They were impoverished and remained absolutely excluded from any political action at all.
Peasants and the bourgeoisie could not earn their living. The poor conditions in the countryside had forced rural residents to move into Paris and the city was overcrowded and filled with the hungry and displeased. Besides, dry weather, floods, hard winters and hot summers had led to bad harvest and crop failures, which caused shortages of food and led to high prices for bread. As regards taxation, private collectors known as ´tax farmers´ were permitted to raise more money than the government requested. Consequently, these systems brought about an arbitrary and unequal collection of many of France's consumption taxes. What is more, France was so deeply indebted as to be effectively bankrupt. This was due to Louis XIV and his wife's extravagant expenditures on their luxurious lives and on costly wars such as The Seven Years War and the American War of Independence.
A meeting called The Estates General, was set up by the members of the three estates. The aim of the first two estates was for their luxurious and extravagant lives to continue. The estate made up of the ordinary people wanted their serious problems to be solved.The deputies of the third estate set up another meeting called The National Assembly in request for freedom and a constitution. Louis XVI ´s decisions were far from being smart. He was absolutely controlled by his extravagant wife Marie Antoinette. As a result of the tough situation that France was going through, he attempted to escape to Montmedy with his family in disguised and carrying false passports. They were discovered and eventually executed.
After the execution of Louis XVI, the reign of terror began. Robespierre, the most powerful man in France, was the mastermind. He ruled The Jacobins, who were his radical supporters. The guillotine, a new instrument for democratic power was implemented. Public executions were considered a habit. The terror was designed to fight the enemies of the revolution, and most of the people rounded up were ordinary people.When Robespierre called for a new purge in 1794 the jacobins had had enough. Robespierre was arrested and sent to the guillotine the next day. He was the last victim of the reign of terror.
Violence and revolution
Violence and revolution
The French revolution has been considered as one of the bloodiest periods in history. The violence that occurred in France during the late 18th century was persistent and it kept increasing as the revolution progressed. The peasants´ riots and constant comparisons to the British in their stable political system illustrated how unstable the Parisians were becoming and therefore, their violence grew into the most atrocious, cruel and inhuman acts for which they lacked in themselves all power to control it. Apart from that, the privileges enjoyed by the clergy and the aristocracy disturbed the crowds and for this reason, demands for change were formulated. In the novel ´A tale of two Cities´, Dickens deals with the impetuosity of the French Revolution from two different aspects.
On the one hand, he supports the cause of the revolution. Throughout the novel it is clearly described how the vicious aristocracy imposes their power and exploits the nation's poor violently. An example of this is a scene in the novel in which an aristocrat kills a child with the wheel of his carriage and casually throws the parents a coin to compensate for their loss. This is one of the reasons for which he unequivocally emphasizes the need for the peasantry to be liberated.
On the other hand, Dickens describes the indiscriminate violence caused by the revolution. He clearly stands out the subversive acts carried out by the revolutionaries themselves. Apart from that, he criticizes the cruelty in the peasants´strategies in overcoming the oppression since they uphold the violence that themselves have suffered. A horrid example which describes the cruelty of the peasants´actions is the scene in which the people sharpen their weapons and dance the Carmagnole.
To conclude this essay, it is important to stand out that through this novel not only have we had the chance to get a more detailed image as regards the savageness and ferocity of the French Revolution, but we have also been able to observe how this period become a symbol of conversion and resurrection.
jueves, 2 de julio de 2015
domingo, 28 de junio de 2015
Two views of the Glorious Revolution. Compare and contrast the two views of the Glorious Revolution: group 9
The Glorious Revolution
The BBC as well as the Parliament's website told us about the incidents that occurred during the period of The Glorious Revolution (1688-1689), and although both sites narrated the same event, it is very clear that they had different points of view about it. For instance, the BBC site revealed that the episodes in the revolution were bloodless but by force and with much loss of life most of all in Ireland and Scotland while for the Parliament site the Glorious Revolution was an expression used to describe the peaceful way in which the Parliament proclaimed its rights over the monarchy.
As regards James' exile, both websites agreed about his successful escape for France, but only the BBC site mentioned that when he made his first attempt to escape he was captured by Kent Fishermen near Sheerness and as it was an inconvenient for William, he finally allowed James II to flee the country.
One topic in which both sites came to an agreement and explained it in a similar way is the fact that James II ordered Anglican clergy to read the declaration of indulgence from the pulpit to their congregations but the Archbishop of Canterbury and six other bishops refused to do it. Their refusal to read it brought as a consequence the arrest of the seven bishops who were later sent to the Tower to wait for the trial. Nearly a month later, the Seven Bishops were acquitted by jury and enormous crowds enjoyed themselves in the streets, destroying and attacking Catholic establishments.
Although the two articles stated that James wanted to secure his religious objectives using his powers and through the test case of Godden vs. Hales, the judges declared that James II could dispense with the Test Acts without the consent of Parliament, which gave him the opportunity to introduce Roman Catholics in his privy council; and, that in 1687 the King made public a declaration of indulgence which suspended penal laws against Catholics and granted toleration to some Protestant dissenters, the Parliament article explained the events in a larger and detailed way.
Regarding the Declaration of Rights, later enshrined in law as the Bill of Rights, which established several constitutional principles, the Parliament site named and also gave details about each of them whereas the BBC site just named a few of them, for example the illegality of prerogative suspending and dispensing powers, the prohibition of taxation without parliamentary consent and the need for regular parliaments.
To conclude this essay we will point out that after reading the articles, it was evident that both sides agreed and explained nearly the same series of issues about the events, but they were connected with other episodes, such as the periods before and after the Glorious Revolution, they had different opinions and points of view and consequently they showed them in diverse manners.
We strongly believe that whenever we want to know something about a specific period in history we should look for information from different sources so as to get various versions and this way we will be able to analyse each of them and come to a more certain conclusion about the historic period in which we are interested in.
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