Baroque Period Essay Example for Free

Baroque Period Essay During the reign of King James I of Great Britain, the Puritans continued to grow.   Some Puritans were unhappy with James’s religious practices and fled first to Holland, and then to the Americas.   While religious conformity continued to be the desired agenda, the Protestants were granted freedom of worship by Parliament, but the Roman Catholics were not granted the same. The Roundheads and Cavaliers were enemies.   Roundheads were members of the Parliamentarian party during the English Civil War.   The Cavaliers were Royalists.    The main difference between the two groups was that the Roundheads had their hair cut short, while the Cavaliers kept their hair long.   The Cavaliers kept their hair long because the king found it more convenient to let his hair grow than to wash his neck.   Roundheads, on the other hand, were mostly barbers. The etiquette of the French court prescribed the activities of every person at court.   For instance, the King’s day was ritualized from the moment he woke up in the morning.   The highest-ranking person assisted with dressing the king.   Rules also governed how long the trains of the ladies’ dresses should be. Clothing in Spain was different from other countries because the Spanish tended to be more conservative than other countries.   Therefore, Spain kept styles that the rest of Europe had already abandoned. The farthingale, also known as a verdingale, is the structure by which skirts were expanded by bone or wood.   A mantilla is the veil worn by women that covers the hair.   This has come to be associated with traditional Spanish dress.   Guardinfante is the style of the oval skirt that has full, slashed sleeves and a horizontal shoulder line.   The basque is the extension of the bodice below the waistline.   A modeste is the outer layer of a skirt, while a secret is the underskirt, or second layer.   A doublet is a garment worn over men’s shirts that were tied to the breeches.   A stomacher is a U-shaped section of the front of a gown.   The mantua was the shaping of the new cut of women’s dresses. During the Baroque period, the Spanish preferred dark colors, but the French favored light shades of all colors, and rich colors such as gold and silver. Rococo Period During the reign of King Louis XV, France was engaged in costly wars that the country lost.   There was also a fiscal crisis and the king’s court was incredibly lavish, which contrasted with ordinary people’s lives.   During the reign of King Louis XVI, however, feudalism was abolished and France began to write a constitution.   The country also suffered defeats in wars with Prussia and Austria and the French Revolution ended the monarchy.   The court became less important, mostly because Queen Marie Antoinette found French court etiquette stifling. During the Rococo period, King George III ruled England.   Social life in England centered on the upper classes.   For example, men who did not have to work would wake late, eat breakfast, and then, in his nightgown, receive guests.   In the afternoon, he would go shopping or to popular spots.   After dinner, he would go to a coffeehouse or to a play.   During the summer, affluent men would vacation at a spa.   Affluent women spent their mornings receiving guests while lying in bed.   Dressing often took several hours, and after that, she would visit friends or drink tea.   Dinner was around four in the afternoon, and the evenings were spent dancing or playing cards. Frock coats were coats that men wore where the cut was looser and shorter than dress coats.   They also had flat, turned-down collars.   Panniers were wide hoops that went under skirts that made the hips look twice as large.   A robe a la Francaise was a new style of robe that had a full, pleated cut at the back and a fitted front.   A robe a l’Anglaise was a new style of robe that had a close fit in the front and at the back.   Engageants were sleeves that ended below the elbow, finishing in ruffles.   A polonaise was a petticoat and overdress in which the overskirt was puffed and looped via rings and tapes that were sewn into it.   A bustle or a hoop supported the skirt. Men in the eighteenth century who could afford wigs wore them.   Long, â€Å"full-bottomed† wigs were worn until the 1730s, but the fullness gradually shifted toward the back.   They also brushed the hair straight back from the forehead, into a slightly elevated roll.   After 1750, hair was dressed higher, and in the 1780s hair was dressed wider.   Other popular styles included wigs with queues, a lock or pigtail at the back, and club wigs or catogans with queues doubled up on themselves and tied at the middle.   King Louis XIV began the trend of wearing wigs because he was going bald.   Hats fell out of use when wigs became widespread. The hats of the day included three-cornered hats, large, flat hats that were carried under the arm, and two-cornered hats.   Men wore caps instead of wigs at home.   Common styles for the cap was a cap with a round crown and flat, turned-up brim that fit close to the crown.   Women in the eighteenth century wore simple hairstyles that replaced fontage styles.   Hair was generally waved loosely around the face and twisted up into a small bun on top of, or in back of, the head.   For formal occasions, women sometimes powdered their hair.   Women’s hats for indoors included pinners, circular caps with single or double frills around the edge, worn flat on the head, mob caps with wide, flat borders that encircled the face with high, puffed-out crowns located toward the back of the head. Lace trimming was often used, and indoor hats could be worn outdoors under other hats.   Outdoor women’s hats included hoods, small silk or straw hats with narrow ribbon bands and narrow brims. The technology that was developed that related to clothing during this time was advancements in the textile industry that expanded textile availability and lowered costs. The costume design could be inaccurate. Portraits of people wearing these clothes are many, but artists sometimes felt that portraits were not to reveal fashionable dress, but rather timeless dress.   Therefore, museum collections of these clothes and pictorial representations could be inaccurate.   For example, Sir Joshua Reynolds, a prominent English portraitist, hated fashion and urged artists to disregard what they found to be fashionable by way of dress, to only paint those characteristics that are everywhere and the same.

Expectations Fulfilled (cheating) :: essays research papers

Expectations Fulfilled When one hears stories about cheating, automatically the first response that the individual will have is that the person who cheated is heartless. Oftentimes people have mistakenly misjudged the person who has cheated on their loved one. There is always another disclosed side of the story of the deceitful person. For instance, in â€Å"The Bridges of Madison County,† Francesca Johnson is a woman who has encountered a non-intimacy life and lacks exoticness in her marriage with Richard. Unintentionally, one day she utterly falls for a stranger name Robert Kincaid. Despite an instant attraction between them, Francesca Johnson let herself be unchaste because Kincaid fulfilled her expectations, provides intimacy, and stimulates romance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In order to keep a relationship alive, one’s expectations must come through. Johnson is a woman who lives in a sheltered life. She does not do many activities nor do anything appealing. It might seem as though she lives a plain life, but in her heart she has expectations that needs to be fulfilled. â€Å"And women were starting to have expectations about their allotted place in the grander scheme of things, as well as what transpired in the bedroom of their lives. Men such as Richard-most men, she guessed-were threatened by these expectations† (108). The fact is true, a woman’s expectations are needed to be acquired or else the woman will go else where to consume it. In other words, Francesca Johnson found everything that she wanted in a man that is disguise in Kincaid. Therefore, because of Kincaid’s understanding of her, she cannot help it but to fall for him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In addition, intimacy is needed in the relationship in order to have a close bond. Johnson is a woman who loves to be intimate with her husband, Richard. Unfortunately, Richard’s lacking of intimacy has taken a toll on Francesca. In other words, â€Å"She was more of a business partner to him than anything else† (80). The emotion that Johnson is feeling is not mutual. She wants to encounter affection but however, Richard is not aware. Subsequently, â€Å"Richard was interested in sex only occasionally, every couple of months, but it was over fast, rudimentary and unmoving, and he didn’t seem to care much about perfume or shaving of any of that† (80). Thus, Richard makes Francesca feel like a loveless person who needs to break free from the life that she has. Nevertheless, the intimacy that she wanted does not lie in Richard but lies in Kincaid.

Consumer Culture Is Central to Understanding Contemporary Identities Essay

As the title suggests, this essay is going to discuss, to what extent does consumer culture affect contemporary identities. In today’s society consumer culture is everywhere and we would probably not be able to survive without it. It became such an important part of our lives that some people even build their carrier around it. Most businesses in modern societies, all around the world work as successfully as they do, simply because people became consumers and they buy their products. This essay is first going to look at why this change of attitude occurred and how exactly it brought about consumer culture. This will lead us onto how exactly consumer culture works and how it affects consumers. To answer the question fully, we will also look at the two view points on this matter. First we are going to discuss arguments which support the view that consumer culture creates modern identities. Secondly, arguments supporting the view that consumer culture is far less important than in the development of one’s identity. Before the question itself is addressed, some background needs to be drawn about this issue. To be objective about this matter, it should be pointed out straight away that consumer culture is not the key aspect affecting contemporary identities. There is one very simple explanation to why this is true. Humans have been around for a much longer period of time than consumer culture and were successfully developing their identities even before consumer culture came about. Therefore it is definitely true that in the past, there were other things creating our identities sufficiently enough. The definition of identity which Jodi Davis finds the most fitting is â€Å"My identity is determined by a complex mix of thingsâ€Å". The question however concentrates on contemporary identities. So is it possible that consumer culture managed to take over the power of all the other aspects of the creation of identity in the past 200 years? Some believe that the answer to that question is yes. In fact, Bauman argues that â€Å"The roads to self-identity, to a place in society, to a life in a form recognisable as that of meaningful living, all require daily visits to the market place†. Similarly, Featherstone states that â€Å"criteria for the good life revolve around the desire to enlarge one’s self, the quests for new tastes, and sensations, to explore more and more possibilities†. (Featherstone, pg 67) Therefore many people would be happy to say that in today’s society, consumer culture has an enormous effect on our identities. To some extent, this is true. Jagger even believes that â€Å"we become what we consume†. (Jagger, pg 45) To explain why this is true, the term â€Å"floating signifiers† needs to be explained. It refers to the fact that these days, all products and brands have a certain meaning/story behind them. People buy them because of these images they carry with them, rather than the actual use of the product. This leads us to the use vs. exchange value question. It could be argued that this was one of the main changes which caused consumerism to expand so much. Basically Use vs. Exchange conflict refers to the fact that at a certain point, people stopped buying goods for their use value and started buying them for their exchange value. Material goods are used as communicators, not utilities. (Featherstone, pg 84) Today, consumerism has reached such level of success, that people no longer buy things because they need them, but because they like this image that products give them. â€Å"Consumption, then, must not be understood as the consumption of use-values, a material utility but primarily as consumption of signs. †(Featherstone, pg 85) This way, the things we buy, create our identity, because people judge us based on what the products we use say about us. In today’s society of strangers, it is the only way to judge a person at the first sight. So for example if someone was to drive a Ferrari, people would think of him as a successful individual. This assumption would be based on the fact that to be able to afford this kind of car, the individual must be very rich. Also the brand itself gives him the image of a young successful man. This shows that automatically, without even speaking to people or getting to know them, they already judge us based on our appearance. Obviously we all want to be liked and accepted by others so we try to fulfil their expectations of us. We attempt to â€Å"live up to (but not above) the standards attached to the ‘social category’ into which we were born†. (Bauman, pg 27) These standards are also however determined by the media. Beauty ideals are set by TV, commercials and celebrities. They determine what’s â€Å"cool† and what isn’t. For example celebrities often act as beauty idols, so many women strive to look like them. This inner need to ulfil society’s expectation forces them to buy products which promise to make them look like a celebrity. Whoever does not at least attempt to fit in within these standards, or even worse, tries to do the opposite, might be stigmatised for it. For example over the past 80 years, it became very popular for women to shave their legs. It became so popular that nowadays, women who don’t do it are usually highly stigmatised. This all roots in consumerism, because the initial reason why it became popular was to force people to spend money on razors- which were until then unnecessary. Trying to fulfil these expectations creates our identity in a way. In most cases consumption of goods only affects our external identity but in some extreme cases it may even start to affect one’s internal identity. For example certain brands portray certain groups of people. So if one was to shop at Gucci or Chanel, one is expected to act a certain way. These brands carry the image of a very traditional, well behaved and upper class individual. So anyone wearing Gucci or Chanel strives to live up to the standards of these brands. That way one is already is changing his behaviour as well as his appearance, which is affecting not only his/hers external, but also internal identity. So really, when we think about it, the identity other people think we have, judging by our appearance, is very artificial and fake. This is because it is only created by the products we use, not by us ourselves. But then again, we choose which products to buy and it is us who decides how to look for other people so whatever we wear or look like, it is a bit personalized by our taste and other choices we make. Campbell brings up an interesting point in his book. He says that consumer culture develops our identity because since there is now such an enormous choice of products, it gives consumers opportunity to define their taste. They are able to decide what they like and what not. Also, since shopping malls are so anonymous, customers can try on anything they like, just to see how that â€Å"role† would fit them. This also helps them to find the image of themselves which they want to portray to other people. (Campbell, pg 159) However others believe that consumer culture is far less important than other factors in the development of one’s identity. Jodi Davis divides identity into external and internal. External is â€Å"cultural classifications (nationality, race, religion and gender) as well as societal characterizations (family, career, and position or title)†. Whereas internal is â€Å"natural gifts, strengths, capabilities; the intellectual, emotional, physical and spiritual characteristics that comprise our uniqueness and innate talents and abilities; our basic orientation toward the world around us, our learning styles, how we process and organize information, and other predisposed tendencies and characteristicsâ€Å". Davis, pg 7) As we can see, there are a lot of things which define a person’s identity. And we were to look at them individually; we would notice that we were actually already born with most of the crucial aspects of our identity and therefore are not able to change them. Our appearance is one of the very few aspects of our identity, which one can alternate. Therefore if a person is not happy with his overall identity, one of the few ways in which he can change it is through consumerism. In fact consumerism and advertising often aim to make the customer feel like this. As the ads intimidated that anything natural about the customer was worthless or deplorable, and tried to make him schizophrenically self conscious of that notion, they offered weapons by which people could eclipse themselves†. (Ewen, pg 48) If a person dresses a certain way and uses certain products, he may be able to convince some people that he fits the standards set by media. As mentioned before, this is thanks to the fact that every product we buy tells people something about us. The image the product portrays might not be true, but just the fact that a person uses that product makes people believe it. Even though the second part of this essay attempts to support the idea that there are other factors affecting contemporary identities more than consumer culture, we should not forget its importance. The fact that consumer culture helps us to change the only changeable part of our identity makes it, in my opinion, even more crucial. Consumer culture is actually very significant when it comes to understanding contemporary identities. It is its products, which create the image we try to portray to other people and that way fit into society.

Death Penalty Ineffective, Inhumane, and Immoral Essays

The death penalty is the pivot of much controversy within our society and government. Most people deem it a touchy subject, rarely making it a hot topic amongst general conversations. The issue usually raises many a blood pressure and may even have the tendency to end life-long friendships. The country is split on the issue and does not seem to find the desire to come to a compromise. While this is not true, this does not quiet the voices of people arguing for capital punishment. The issue of death penalty is wholly unconstitutional as it goes against our rights undoubtedly stated in the Constitution. The death penalty, also referred to as capital punishment, is the sentence of death after a trial finding the suspect guilty and/or†¦show more content†¦The European immigrants that migrated to the new world brought with them the practice and foundation of capital punishment. The first written execution that was carried out in the new world was of Captain George Kendall in the colony of Jamestown in 1608. He was executed for being a spy for another country. Supporters of the death penalty usually argue that it gives closure for the family of the victim but taking another person’s life will not bring back their murdered loved one (â€Å"Should the death penalty be banned as a form of punishment?†). They also state that it brings about a piece of mind if the murderer was no longer living. Even if the person was euthanized, the family will still have it haunting them for the rest of their life. It will be a spot on their psyche for as long as they shall live. Another argument that has been declared is that it will lessen the problem of overpopulation in the prison system. Again, the prison system will always be overpopulated because the government usually finds that building more prisons than schools will profit somehow. Proponents have also avowed that DNA testing will without a doubt bring certainty on the status of a person’s innocenc e. Most of the capital punishment cases in the U.S today have not maintained the practice of DNA testing before executing a suspected criminal. In the recent case of Troy Davis,Show MoreRelatedThe Death Penalty Of Capital Punishment1333 Words   |  6 Pageshave occurred in the history of the death penalty. Capital punishment has long been a controversial topic, with a countless number of cases taken up to the Supreme Court. This barbaric form of â€Å"discipline† began as early as 1750 B.C, with one of the most notable portrayals being a statement in Hammurabi s Code. Today, in the 31 states, in which the death penalty is legal, capital crimes from first degree murder, terrorism to espionage, are all punishable by death. In the last century though, thisRead MoreThe Death Penalty Is An Act Of Justice1217 Words   |  5 Pagesof the death penalty in 1976, there have been 1,434 executions in the United States (Death Penalty Information Center). Today, a debate quickly erupts when discussing the death penalty as a form of punishment in America’s Criminal Justice system. Some perceive the Death Penalty as an act of justice, while others believe it is unconstitutional. There are currently 31 death penalty states and 19 non-death penalty states in the U.S. Although opponents view this type of punishment to be immoral, unconstitutionalRead MoreThe Death Penalty Is Immoral1521 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"Dead Men Walking†, advocates strongly for the abolition of the death penalty. The non-fiction work is based on her experience being the spiritual advisor of Sonnier and other inmates on death row. Prejean believes that if people know the truth about executions, they will oppose them. In her essay â€Å"Memoirs of a Dead Man Walking†, she openly opposes the death penalty. There are four reasons for her to oppose death penalty is immoral as. Firstly, it is a torture. Secondly,, it does not work out asRead More Capital Punishment In The Unit ed States Essay examples1586 Words   |  7 PagesDefenders of the death penalty often claim that the execution of criminals will teach others not to do bad, initially decreasing crime rates. Unfortunately, statistics prove that thought to be wrong. Capital punishment also has great flaws. For example, many innocent people have been put to death because of capital punishment. There also is no consistency. Two of the same crimes can be convicted in two different states and the consequences with be different for both offenders. The death penalty shows toRead MoreThe Death Penalty Is Ineffective And Inefficient Form Of Punishment1777 Words   |  8 PagesStates. The death penalty is an ineffective and inefficient form of punishment and it should be eliminated because it is fundamentally immoral and disrespect for human life, does not deter crime, prolongs the anguish of the victims’ families, costs lots of taxpayers’ money, and worst of all, risks executions of innocent people. No matter how heinous the crime may be, condemning someone to death violates the right to life and subjects the inmate to the ultimate form of cruel, inhumane, degrading,Read MoreNegating the Use of the Death Penalty Essay1227 Words   |  5 PagesNegating the Use of the Death Penalty America has been deluded into believing that the death penalty is an effective deterrent for homicide. It is a hot issue, a favorite amongst politicians. But what these political pundits fail to mention is that conclusive evidence proves that not only is the death penalty an ineffective crime deterrent, it is also an expensive, unjust and undignified policy for any government to enact. The dignity preserved by any government that lawfully practicesRead MoreThe Effects Of Torture On Human Rights Violations1907 Words   |  8 PagesOpponents of torture believe these human rights violations are medieval and inhumane. Torture is illegal in the United States and no United States agency can legally engage in torture abroad. No country should engage in enhanced interrogation techniques because the methods are a violation of ethical principles, a violation of international law, a form of cruel and unusual punishment, ineffective in combating terrorism, and immoral, dehumanizing acts related to a lack of moral integrity. First of all,Read More Death Penalty Essay1809 Words   |  8 Pages The death penalty has both supporters and non-supporters. The following essay will not solve the issue; I will only try to persuade the reader to understand my point of view. The death penalty is justified in certain cases such as Mcveigh Vs State of Indiana; however it is unjustified in other cases, including Bloodsworth Vs State of Maryland. The death penalty is a must, especially in today’s society. With the increase in vicious crimes today, the government must act just as harsh with our justiceRead More The Issue of Capital Punishment in the United States Essay3455 Words   |  14 PagesDeath Valley: The Issue of Capital Punishment in the United States Should capital punishment be practiced in the United States? This question has been highly debated for many years because of the numerous, often conflicting perspectives from which various parties have attempted to answer it. These parties range from high-ranking politicians seeking to lower the national crime rate to the average United States taxpayer who does not want to see his or her money being spent inefficiently. In additionRead MoreThe Death Penalty Is Justified2472 Words   |  10 PagesThe death penalty is defined as â€Å"punishment by death for a crime† (dictionary.com), which is handed down by a court of law. This term is used interchangeably and has the same meaning as capital punishment. Many view that taking another life, or murder, to be one of the most heinous crimes and worthy of harsh punishment. There is little argument that criminals should be punished, but to what level? Can taking a life, regardless of reason, even the life of an individual who purpo sely and knowingly