Task 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Task 2 - Essay Example The Other will always be lesser, not as good, and below the members of the group at large. This is not a new phenomenon. It is something we have seen play itself out throughout history and it is reflected in many works of literature as well. To some extent, the concept of the Other is a means of social control. It is a method of separating out into groups those who think as we do and those who do not. If someone does not think as we do, then they must be lesser than we are. They must also be ‘against’ us. Thus, caution should be exercised when dealing with a person who is an Other. In Melissa Algranati’s essay, â€Å"Being an Other,† otherness is presented as a state of being wherein you have no peer group or cohort, outside of your own family. â€Å"I learned at a young age that there are not too many Puerto Rican, Egyptian Jews out there† (Algranati, 1996, p.135). For Algranati, the realization that you are a one-of-a-kind is startling. It forces a separateness from other people. She could not simply choose one group to identify with. She explains: â€Å"For most of my life I’ve been living in two worlds, and at the same time I’ve been living in neither† (135). Algranati finds her state of being an Other most disconcerting when she is asked to choose identification for herself on the PSAT. She talks about her confusion at even being asked to select only one group with whom to identify, since choosing one means leaving out the other, which is, as she put it, â€Å"leav[ing] out so much† (135). Our identity is i n part shaped by how other people perceive us. â€Å"But when the criteria for ascribing a certain identity include things over which you have no control –as is the case with gender, race, and sexual orientation—then whether you identify with that identity†¦is not only up to you† (Appiah, 2005, p. 70). For Algranati, both parents have spent their lives as Others as well. Her father’s family was displaced—first

Case Report on country with a large refugee Essay

Case Report on country with a large refugee - Essay Example This enforced migration highlights the humanitarian concerns, our social biases and national and international policy. What lay ahead for refugees after their battle of survival? This paper aims at analyzing from humanitarian point of view the lives of refugees, often treated as an undifferentiated mass, both before and after displacement. This paper will explore the civil trauma faced by Afghan refugees and investigate the socio cultural and political background of the Afghan refugees in Pakistan. This paper aims at highlighting the lifelong psychological and mental affects of the trauma and the kind of life in refugee camps. Afghanistan has a very long and rich history mainly due to its geostrategic position. It lies on the crossroads of many cultures and on the many Asian migration routes. It is the home of many diverse cultures and population mainly due to extensive trade and migration. This diversity is one of the most important determining factor in its politics and responsible for the current economic and political instability. The term Afghanistan evolved in the eighteenth century when Pushtuns took control of this territory. Originally the term Afghan was also termed to Pushtuns majority. This also had political implications which made all non-Pushtuns outsiders to Afghanistan. Current Afghanistan is also divided among many ethnic groups. A rough estimate reveals that Pushtuns are the dominant majority forming 40% of the population. Second biggest group is of Tajiks who constitute 20% of the population. The other important ethnic groups are Hazaras, Uzbeks and Aimaqs each forming almost 9 % of the population. Afghanistan has a long history of conflicts and wars. However it gained its first independent monarchy in 1919-1973. During this period Afghanistan managed its own independent foreign policy. The third Afghan –Anglo war fought in 1919 led by king Amanullah earned Afghanistan complete freedom. This resulted in huge migration from central Asi an countries to Afghanistan which became safe haven for Muslims and hence enriched the already diverse population of Afghanistan. Amanullah implemented the modern concept of a nation according to the wishes of the King. This became the first cause of drift between the Islamic scholars and the modern government. Throughout this independent monarch period there were many political reforms sometimes conservative and sometimes very liberal. During the last decade of the Zahir’s rule there was severe political instability with many active political parties and freedom of press. In 1965 Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) was formed in 1965 which was basically the Afghan Communist party. In 1969 elections the Communist were elected in the government. The PDPA representatives immediately took control of all the major authoritative positions and paved the way for soviet invasion and military coup of April 1978. They tried to abolish all traditional and Islamic religious cu stoms practices and policies and tried to form a secular state. This attempt became the root cause of all the internal conflict and the rise of Taliban. Afghanistan came into the international lime light with the Soviet invasion, guerrilla war fought by Afghans against the Soviet Union and the communist government. Recent history has seen huge political upheaval in Afghanistan. Civil war broke out after the fall of the Marxist government. It has also

Theories of Religion: Emile Durkheim and Max Weber

Theories of Religion: Emile Durkheim and Max Weber The topic I have chosen to discuss is religion, as theorised by Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. Religion can be recognised in every culture around the world. Therefore, sociologists examine it in order to understand why religion and the beliefs and practices associated with religion, are so significant and the position they play within society (Macionis Plummer, 2008, p610). Durkheim and Weber both carried out their work around the turn of the 19th century. Both were gripped by the religion and its role in society (Nisbet, 1975). However, the both studied religion form two very different perspectives, although both thought in evolutionary terms (Parsons, 1964, p xxvii). Durkheim holds a collectivist view of society, exploring it from the perspective that religion has a cohesive effect on people through sharing values, symbols and social norms (Macionis and Plummer, 2008, p611). Weber on the other hand, has a more individualist perspective. He focused on the sociology of religion, such as the relationship between religious ideas and commitments, with other sociological aspects, such as human behaviour in relation to economics Parsons, 1964, p xx). Durkheim was born in 1958 in France. His work, centred around social change and industrial society, however, he became focused on social and moral order and how it was achieved and maintained in society. In particular, the transition between traditional society and modern society, and how this influences how social structures and relationships are adapted and maintained (Dillon, 2010 p79). Durkheim was interested in providing a scientific basis for sociology and defining sociology as field of study which he discusses in The Rules of Sociological Method (Calhoun, et, al., 2007, p 135). During his lifetime, he published extensively. The Division of Labour, where he examined social cohesion within the modern industrialise society. Suicide discussed diminishing social bonds in modern society, and this influences patterns of suicide. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life examines how the social origins and function of religion and beliefs associated with it, and how they are reinforced b y rituals and ceremonies (Calhoun, 2007, p136). Durkheim, along with Marx and Weber, is now seen as an extremely significant classical theorist, and has had an influence across many areas, such as education, religion, and health (Calhoun, 2007, p 133). Durkheim wrote extensively in the area of religion. He recognised that religion was a social concept that needed to be explored in and of itself, as a primitive and simple level. He looked to define religion which he concluded was a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them (Durkheim, 1976, p47). This definition suggests that religion is collective within society and should be examined in this way. He identified the functions of religion in society. According to Durkheim, religion is a social cohesive. If people share a religion, the shared beliefs values and symbols, they are united by these, therefore it religion as a cohesive among these people. He suggests that as a result of this, religion underlies our moral and emotional links with others. (Macionis Plummer, 2008, p611). He claimed that religion does not conflict with science. It is not there to enhance our knowledge, instead it is there in order to provide a guide for the way we act and live (Durkheim, 1976, p416). The primary intention of religion is to influence the moral of life (Durkheim, 1976, p420). Fundamentally, the task of religion is preserving a normal, positive life (Durkheim, 1976, p29). Durkheim also claims that we organize life into the sacred and the profane, and neither can exist without the other (Durkheim, 1976, p308). The sacred is defined as anything that is extraordinary and instils a sense of reverence and sometimes fear (Macionis Plummer, 2008, p611). Another function of religion, according to Durkheim, is that religion provides a sense of purpose, meaning and comfort (Macionis and Plummer, 2008, p612). Durkheim suggests it strengthens a persons moral and feeing of guardian support. It allows people to rise out of themselves, which then helps mould their action and behaviour, which results in the collective cohesive affect on society. This, he says, is how the social institution of religion works, therefore it is society itself that is the source of the action guided by religion (Durkheim, 1976, p418). He proposes that the dream of an ideal society, an idealistic society that would eliminate evil and sufferings, suggest religion, as this is what religion aims for. This indicates that religion suggests the ideals of society, instead of explaining it (Durkheim, 1976, p420). Durkheim studied religion from a collectivist perspective. He recognised that society was becoming more individualist, however he believed that this collectivist society still existed but in another form. He believed that the new individualist forms of religion were simply another form of collectivist forms in society (Durkheim, 1976, p425). He claimed that religious beliefs were not the individual, but were common beliefs belonging to a group united by these beliefs (Durkheim, 1976, p43). Durkheim also studied the social phenomena of religion in relation to how it constrains social behaviour (Dillon, 2010, p118). His view was that the religious symbols and imagery are used by society to encourage conformity, and instil these into cultural norms. Religion is used in order to justify these cultural norms, for example, norms surrounding marriage and reproduction (Macionis Plummer, 2008, p612). Max Weber was born in Germany in 1964 to a Protestant family. Despite being a trained as a lawyer and historian, he became interested in the social sciences, in particular economics. His research was halted by a period of serious depression, however, most of his prominent work was carried out after his breakdown, such as The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (Calhoun, et al., 2007, p206). Weber was particularly interested in the cultural and non-economic sources related to social action. He investigates the sources of social phenomena from a historical and cultural perspective and how they influenced the practices within social institutions. He was a moderate left supporter of German nationalism, and helped found the German Democratic Party, as well as playing a part in the Treaty of Versailles and the Weimar Constitution, before he died in 1920 (Dillon, 2010, pp117-118). Like Durkheim, Weber recognised that there is not a known society, that doesnt include something that can be classified as religion (Parson, 1964, p xxvii). Although he also thought in evolutionary terms, he was more engaged by systems of meaning, which can be interpreted (Parsons, 1964, xxvii). He studied the subjective meaning and views of religion, and its cultural and historical origins, as well as how these produce institutional practices (Dillon, 2010, p117). He investigated the religious and cultural beliefs that are at the source of religious and social structures (Dillon, 2010, p119). He believed that these beliefs and values are worthy of investigation as they are what shape social institutions (Dillon, 2010, p125). He believed that religion played a role of stereotyping within society, as it structures and preserves social groups and relationship and provides a social identity for groups. He maintained that religion interacted with other social and cultural aspects (Harrin gton, 2005, p67). Webers most prominent work, The Protestant ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, discussed the interaction between religion and economic aspects. Weber introduced the ideal type in order to measure and compare social phenomenon. They are used in the quest to explain different social relationship and actions (Dillon, 2010, p126). As regards religion, an ideal type is the distinctive characteristics of a religion. Weber discusses Protestantism in is ideal form, and how the characteristics of this religion affect everyday life (Dillon, 2010, p127). He examines how different religious traditions and their structures influence society, particularly in relation to the economy and capitalism

Food Poisoning :: Health, Food Safety

Introduction: Every year millions of people suffer from food poisoning due to uncontrolled application of agricultural chemicals, environmental contamination, use of illegal additives , microbiological hazards and others but as a result of increasing awareness of consumers and their demands to provide them with safe, wholesome and high quality food have force many food premises to carry out a broad assessment and re-organize their systems of food control in turn to improve efficiency , rationalization of human resources and harmonizing approaches. This assessment of food control system has resulted to shift from the traditional approach which depends mainly on the final product sampling and inspection and move forward toward the implementation of a preventative safety and quality approach based on risk analysis. (FAO, 1998) Risk based approaches has been developed by World health organization (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and it is called risk analysis .(WHO,2011)-website Moreover, risk analysis is a combination of three interconnected elements which are Risk management, Risk assessment and Risk communication. (FAO/WHO training manual, 2006) Risk assessment is a scientific evaluation of risk associated with hazard either qualitatively or quantitatively .Risk management is the process where the relevant information of risk including risk assessment results are used to make decisions on how they will control the risk and implementing proper options. Finally risk communication which may define as the process by which exchange of information occur between risk assessors, managers and concerned parties. (http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/ae922e/ae922e04.htm) Government officials: In order to prepare a food products that is safe for human consumption and trade within the country or worldwide as well as maintain public confidence the government officials has a major role in this issue, yet it is clear that the government has no role in the production of food and cannot by itself to make safe or unsafe food. However, the government does play two important roles to reduce the risk of foodborne illness. The first major role is to create food standards and implement it through laws, regulations, inspection, and compliance procedures. These standards range from setting legislation to prevent food adulteration toward defining limits on the levels of pesticides residues as well as levels of pathogenic bacteria, food labelling, preparation and packaging of food. As a consequence, USDAs in recent times implemented HACCP system for meat and poultry to reduce harmful contamination and the risk of food borne illness. The second role is to address food safety problems that are beyond the control of any person participating in the food chain, which require more than a regulatory solution like for example E.

Public Punishment Essay Essay

Public punishment is an act or instance of punishing. A deterrent is something that discourages or is in intended to discourage someone from an act. In today’s society public punishment is often debated, where as in the 1800s, punishing someone publically was accepted. From community service to standing at intersections with hand written signs, public punishment can act as a deterrent or not affect that person at all. Public punishment is often frowned upon, but is effective in some, not all cases, and influences better behavior. Public punishment does not always work. Trenton General from Chesapeake, Virginia, is a troubled teen whose grades in school were below his parents’ expectations (Belkin 1). Trenton’s parents took away his video games, cell phone and made him a â€Å"work for food† sign around his neck in an orange jumpsuit (Belkin 1). His parents stated â€Å"It was an embarrassment to us that we tried so much to reach him and it seems like ever ything we did failed† (Belkin 1). His parents tried everything they could until they decided to resort to public punishment (Belkin 1). Trenton’s guardians gave him the choice of no phone for two weeks or stand on the corner with a sign with his grades posted, that method did not work (Belkin 1). Trenton stated that â€Å"because when it comes to school it’s boring† (Belkin 1). Public punishment does not always work. Public punishment is often frowned upon because of the humiliation that is brought along with the punishment. Trezhan Blaha, from Elyria, Ohio, learned his lesson when he was caught stealing from the mall (Jackson 1) . Trezhan’s mother and uncle decided that he should stand on the corner with a sign that read: â€Å"I like to steal and have no respect for my mother or authority† (Jackson 1). Blaha stated â€Å"I was embarrassed but I definitely learned my lesson† (Jackson 1). This punishment from Blaha’s guardians helped him learn his lesson and acted as a deterrent for the future.In Fulton County, Georgia, Judge Robinson is starting to crack down on new methods to punish criminals (Romaker 1). Shoplifters and prostitution are just two of many crimes in Fulton County that are being introduced to criminal t-shirts (Romaker 1). The criminal t-shirts are not meant to be a fashion statement but serve as a deterrent for other criminals (Romaker 2). The judge in the county who sentences these criminals to wear the t-shirts stated, â€Å"Public punishment, serves as a deterrent, particularly at a time when more people are being tempted to steal from others† (Romaker 1). When the economy went in the tanks, the shoplifting rate went up. To cope with the criminals these judges them neon green shirts with large, black letters announcing their crime (Romaker 2). The judges decided that criminals needed to suffer a little humility (Romaker 2). Wayne Seely, former police officer said â€Å"Judge Robinson should be commended for saying he’s had enough and doing something to discourage people from stealing† (Romaker 2). These criminal t-shirts are not only happening in Fulton County but in other counties around Georgia (Romaker 2). This public punishment was not only effective but served as a perfect deterrent for future thieves. In some instances public punishment can work very effectively or can not affect the person at all. T renton General was one of those people whom were not affected by publicpunishment despite having to hold his grades up on a busy intersection. Trezhan and the Fulton County criminals learned their lesson from the humiliation and the stares that came along with the punishment. Not all public punishment does work, but most do. As some would say â€Å"You do the crime you pay the time†. Works Cited: Belkin, Lisa. â€Å"Bad Grades= Public Punishment† The New York Times. The New York Times Company. 18 February 2009. Web 30 Oct 2012. Romaker, Janet. â€Å"Fashion Police: Judge Tailors punishment that fit Criminals to a T.† The Blade. Waveson, Ohio. 7 Sept 2012. Wed Oct 2012. â€Å"One boys very public punishment† Abcolocal .go.com.N.p., 23 Mar. 2012. Web 30 Oct 2012.

Chinese Features on Hamlet

Chinese Features on Hamlet By Xia Chen Student Number: 3070313019 Supervisor: Lu Junyan A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts in the School of Foreign Language Studies, Ningbo Institute of Technology, Zhejiang University May 10, 2011 Abstract Hamlet is considered as one of the greatest works of Shakespeare, since the play Hamlet is a magnificent example of western classic tragedies and the hero Hamlet is a combination of various personalities and contradictive human values.It becomes valuable as an important source material of study for not only literature but also sociology and anthropology. This paper is composed of four parts including introduction, main body and conclusion. The main body could be divided into two parts, which are Hamlet’s Chinese features as a human and Hamlet’s Chinese features as a tragedy. In the first part, Hamlet’s characters will be compared with Chinese traditional culture: fili al piety, the concept of family, morality and sexual discrimination. Filial piety is considered as one of the most important Chinese traditional criterions.In the play Hamlet, when the ghost of the died king, who was Hamlet’s father, asks Hamlet to revenge for him, it seems that the revenging becomes the most important thing of Hamlet, even more important than his love with Ophelia, it shows that Hamlet has a strong sense of filial piety. What’s more, to Chinese people, family is as important as one’s life. Hamlet also tries his best to protect his family in the play. In addition, Hamlet has the sense of sexual discrimination. He thinks women are petty and low, and he does not think men and women are equal, which is also a feudal character in acient China.In the second part, the play Hamlet is compared with Chinese tragedy the Orphan of Chao’s on theme and the enjoyment of tragedy. By this way, the relationship between Hamlet and Chinese culture will be c learly expressed. Keywords: revenge; love; family; Chinese culture Contents 1 Introduction1 1. 1 Research Background1 1. 3 Research Purpose2 2 Hamlet’s Chinese Fetures as a Human3 2. 1 Hamlet’s Character3 2. 2 Hamlet's Chinese Fetures6 2. 2. 1 Hamlet’s Filial Piety8 2. 2. 2 Hamlet’s Concept of Family4 2. 2. 3 Hamlet’s Sense of Sexual Discrimination4 . 2. 2 Hamlet and Golden Mean4 3 Hamlet’s Chinese Fetures As a Tragedy5 3. 1 The Orphan of Chao’s4 3. 2. A Chinese Topic: Revenge4 3. 3 A Chinese Way To Enjoy The Tragedy4 4 Conclusion10 References12 Acknowledgements13 1 Introduction 1. 1 Research Background The play Hamlet, written by Shakespeare, is considered as one of the most magnificent art works in the world, and it has been long studied by scholars all around the world. Hamlet is a story about the princess of Denmark, Hamlet, whose father was murdered by Hamlet's uncle.Hamlet's uncle married Hamlet's mother, the queen, and became t he new king, which made Hamlet so despaired and angry that he was eager to revenge for his died father. However, Hamlet was a contradictive young man and he was always hesitating, which made him feel painful in his mental world and he almost committed suicide. By the leading of a ghost, which was Hamlet's died father, Hamlet found out the truth of his father's death, then he began to pretend as he was mad so that he might have a chance to kill his uncle, the new king.Hamlet tried to show the truth to the public by a play, which made the new king angry and he decided to banish Hamlet. Fortunately, Hamlet was so clever that he made a stratagem to get rid of the punishment, and he went back to Denmark. Then, Hamlet killed his fiancee’s father as a manslaughter, which made Hamlet's fiancee Ophelia lose her mind. Ophelia's brother asked him to duel with him in front of the new king and queen. The queen drank a bottle of poisonous wine which was for Hamlet when she was watching the duel and she died.Hamlet was stabbed by a poisonous sword in the duel, before he died, Hamlet killed the new king by that poisonous sword. Hamlet is an epitome of human being. His personality is complicated and everyone might find some similarities with Hamlet. This makes Hamlet a symbolic character, and the studies on Hamlet could not only help people to know western classic literature better but also make people think deeper about their life. In this essay, the author would like to make a comparison between Hamlet and Chinese culture. 1. 2 Research PurposeMany authors emphasize on certain aspects of literature study on Hamlet or Chinese culture, like the tradition of filial piety, the comparison of Hamlet and Chinese classic literature, Hamlet’s personality and Hamlet’s value system. The author thinks that many studies on this thesis have already been done but there is not anyone who has done a general study on the topic of Hamlet’s Chinese feature, so there is the possibility for the author to do some research on it. The weakness of recent study is that most of the studies are isolated from each other.For instance, â€Å"Tradition of filial piety in China and Western culture† [1] is talking about what is common that the Chinese people tend to extremely value such filial duties as serving, respecting, filially obeying the aged parents, and worshiping their ancestors whereas such acts of filial piety are not taken so seriously in the Western culture. It could be a point that supports what mentioned in â€Å"The family relationship in Shakespeare's plays† [2], and it can help readers to go deeper into each of these two essays. However, few authors have done any study on the filial piety in Shakespeare’s plays, which makes this field blank.What's more, when Chinese readers are reading the play Hamlet, what might help them to understand the literal meaning is a dictionary or a translation work, but they may always get c onfused about the story’s culture background and Hamlet’s thoughts about love, family and life. Bacause there was not many literature which can help Chinese readers to understand Hamlet from comparing Chinese culture with Hamlet, it is necessary for the author to do some research on it so that more Chinese readers can understand Hamlet easier. 2 Hamlet’s Chinese Features as a human 2. 1 Hamlet’s characterThe Tragedy of Hamlet is one of the four most famous tragedies written by Shakespeare, and Hamlet is the protagonist in it. Throughout the whole play, the contradictory sides of his character could be seen easily. On one hand, Hamlet is a wise, brave, and kind-hearted young man; on the other hand, he is sometimes timid, careless, and even a little bit cruel. Hamlet enjoys a high social position and has a good reputation among his people. But once he is called back from the university to Danmark by his father’s sudden death, he is involved in misery and the arduous task of avenging.Life suddenly becomes so complicated and challenging for Hamlet because of his mother’s hasty marriage to his uncle, the new king and also the one who killed his father. Hamlet is young and inexperienced, and his strong character enables him to stand firm under such a difficulty. Although he feels isolated and lonely, he remains calm, contend with his uncle’s repeated persecutions by using his intelligence, and carrying out the revenge finally, though at the cost of his own life.Through the whole play, â€Å"we can see that Hamlet is neither a frail and weak minded youth nor a thought sick dreamer, on the contrary, he is fearless and impetuous in action† [3] His rushing after the ghost, killing Polonius, dealing with the King’s commission on the ship, jumping into the grave of Ophelia out of honest love and executing his final revenge during the duel with Laertes make him appears insensible to the fear of any ordinary kin d. In the play, Hamlet’s delay and hesitations in carrying out his task of revenge is also obvious.Hamlet even appears to be slow and shrinking sometimes. There are several good chances for him to kill Claudius bu everytime he just lets them slip by. Sometimes, when he fails to make good use of a chance, he will find some excuses for his inaction to comfort himself. For instance, when Hamlet is on his way to his mother’s chambe, he finds the new king is praying, he could kill the new king on the spot by his sword, but he give up the chance and he tells himself it will send someone to the heaven if kill him when he is praying.If his delay is due to the lack of evidence of the new king's crime, now he has got evidence and he should have taken immediate action, but he still fails. Hamlet often reproaches himself bitterly for the neglect of his duty. He even asks himself in genuine hesitation, â€Å"What should such fellows as I do crawling between earth and heaven? Do I linger? Can the cause be cowardice? What is it that makes me sit idle when I feel it is shameful to do so, and when I have cause, and will, and strength, and means to act ? Why in the world did not Hamlet obey the Ghost at once, and save seven of those eight lives? If he had been Laertes or Fortinbras, he would have accomplished his task in wears mourning dress and appears depressed at his mother’s marriage. † [4] When Hamlet’s mother asks him to exchange his clothing and â€Å"look like a friend on Denmark†, he says, â€Å"together with all forms, moods and shapes of grief that can demote me truly. These indeed seem, for they are actions that a man play, But I have that within which passeth show; these but the trappings and the suits of woe. The words of â€Å"play, and trappings and suits of woe† indicates that he suspects the cause of his father’s death. Knowing clearly that he is under the close watch by the new king and his followers, à ¢â‚¬Å"he speaks out the King’s crime in his mother chamber, A murderer and a villain, A slave that is not twentieth part the tithe of your precedent lord, a vice of kings, a cutpurse of the empire and the rule, that from a shelf the precious diadem stole And put it in his pocket. † [4]Fortunately, the eavesdropper Plonius is killed by mistake.But Hamlet has made a big mistake. Though his mother promises to keep what he says a secret, his rush act leads to the death of Ophelia, and the King has another reason to kill him, that is, the duel with Laertes at the end of the play. 2. 2 Chinese fetures 2. 2. 1 Hamlet’s filial piety In Chinese traditional culture, filial piety is as important as one’s life. One will get a bad reputation if he or she is considered as doing things against his or her parents. Young people are supposed to obey their parents and take good care of their parents.Especially for the well educated people, filial piety is one of the most imp ortant criterions. In acient China, people even could get an official position by treating their parents well enough. Confucius once said â€Å"Filial duty is the foundation of other duties. † [5]From this, we can see that filial piety is almost the core of Chinese social structure. However, in the western culture, people are more likely to be independent rather than always do what their parents ask them to do, and the concept of filial piety is quite different from Chinese’s view.For example, in western countries, going abroad and living far away from parents means being independent and competent, while living away from parents in acient China means being selfish and irresponsible. In the play Hamlet, when the ghost of the died king, who was Hamlet’s father, asks Hamlet to revenge for him, it seems that the revenging becomes the most important thing of Hamlet, even more important than his love with Ophelia. It is unusual that father’s order becomes the m ost important thing to a western young man, and Hamlet even lost his life for his father.There was a saying in China â€Å"It is the father's fault if a son doesn't do right. † It reflects that in China, the most important part of the relationship between father and son is succession. On one hand, it is father's responsibility to teach his son, and on the other hand, the son should always obey his father. In the play Hamlet, the old king is not only his son's father but also the idol of his son, when Hamlet said â€Å"O, that this too too solid flesh would melt, Thaw and resolve itself into a dew Or that the Everlasting had no fixed His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter. O God, God,How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world! Fie on't, ah fie, 'tis an unweeded garden That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature Possess it merely. That it should come to this! But two months dead—nay not so much, not two—So excellent a ki ng, that was to this Hyperion to a satyr. † It is obviously that Hamlet respects his father, the old king very much. Hamlet's duty in the whole story is to revenge for his died father, meanwhile, ancient Chinese people thought the most shameful thing to a man is being unable to revenge for his father.Chinese story The orphan of the Chao's is also about revenging for one's father. So, Hamlet has Chinese futures of revenging, too. 2. 1. 2 Hamlet’s Concept of Family An important Chinese feature that Hamlet has is the concept of family. From my point of view, Shakespeare's idea of family is a kind of humanism thought. It affects the characters' behavior directly and it puts forward the plots from developing or it even influences the end of a play. â€Å"Shakespeare advocates for pure love, for instance, the love betweenHamlet and Ophelia; he demotes carnal love like the love between Hamlet's mother and Hamlet's uncle. Shakespeare also promotes the harmonious conjugal relat ion which is based on love; he demotes the conjugal relation which is based on ambitions or benefits, for example, Macbeth and Mrs. Macbeth. † [6] Another thing that Shakespeare promotes is the fairness and trust between family members. He believes what breaks the love between family members is the power and influence, what’s more, power and influence also deprive the fairness between different people and lead people to guilty.In Hamlet, Hamlet demotes the love between his mother and his uncle, because it is a kind of incest, and Hamlet thinks it is sick. Chinese people think what prevent the society from collapsing are morality and ethics. Ethics means the relationship between family members should be regular and normal. Fornication must be forbidden. In China, if one's uncle married with his or her mother, he or she will be a joke of other people. 2. 1. 3 Hamlet’s Sense of Sexual DiscriminationAnother traditional Chinese feature that can be found on Hamlet is t he sense of sexual discrimination, which has influenced Chinese society for thousands of years. In ancient China, women were forbided to go to school, and they had no right to choose their husband. Women were considered as timid and inability, they had to stay home and look after their children, always obey their husband. In the play Hamlet, Hamlet says â€Å"Frailty, thy name is woman! † and â€Å"O God, a heast that want discourse of reason would have mourned longer. It shows that Hamlet looks down upon woman because his mother married his uncle soon after his father's death and he doesn't think man and woman are equal, women are more like heast than human. What's more, when Hamlet says â€Å"Ay truly, for the power of beauty will sooner transform honesty from what it is to a bawd, than the force of honesty can translate beauty into his likeness. This was sometimes a paradox, but now the time gives it proof. I did love you once. † Hamlet seems look down upon his lov er, Ophelia, too. Hamlet praises human being as the gift by god, while he thinks women are petty and low. . 1. 4 Hamlet and Golden Mean It is obvious that Hamlet is a character with hesitation, in the play, Shakespeare includes a number of other characters capable of taking resolute and headstrong revenge as required to highlight Hamlet’s inability to take action,. Fortinbras travels thousands of miles to take his revenge and finally succeeds in conquering Denmark; the plot that Laertes kills Hamlet to revenge for the death of his father, Polonius. Compared to these characters, Hamlet’s revenge is ineffectual. Once Hamlet decides to take action, he delays any action until the end of the play.What makes Hamlet a great unique piece of writing is the remarkable way in which Shakespeare uses the delay to build Hamlet’s emotional and psychological complexity. Hamlet’s revenge is delayed in three significant ways: 1. Hamlet must first find out Claudius’ guilt and tell it to the public, which he does in Act 3, Scene 2 by representing the murder of his father in a play. When Claudius went out during the performance, Hamlet becomes convinced about Clausius’s guilt. 2. Then, Hamlet intellectualizes his revenge, to contrast with the rash actions of Fortinbras and Laertes.For instance, Hamlet has the opportunity to kill Claudius in Act 3, Scene 3. He already draws his sword, but is concerned that Claudius will be sent to heaven if he is killed while praying. 3. After killing Polonius, Hamlet is sent to England and it becomes impossible for him to gain access to Claudius and do his revenge. During his trip, he decides to be more headstrong in his desire for revenge. Although he does kill Claudius in the final scene of the play, we cannot credit Hamlet will kill Claudius if Claudius does not ask him to have a duel with others.Hamlet’s inability to take action might reflect a characteristic that Chinese traditional culture has , that is the sense of â€Å"golden mean†, which is an important rule of Confucian school. â€Å"Golden mean†means that one should not do things in a radical way and never go to the extreme, there is no absolute good or bad. Hamlet’s behavior shows that he is always struggling for right and wrong, do and undo, he does not make a decision until he has no way to go. 3 Hamlet’s Chinese Features as a Tragedy 3. 1 The Orphan of the Zhao’sThe Orphan of Zhao, or Orphan of the House Tcho is a Chinese play of the Yuan Dynasty, attributed to someone named Ji Junxiang, about whom almost nothing is known. Based on an episode in Shiji, the play has its full name The Great Revenge of the Orphan of Zhao Family. Loyalty is the theme of the play Zhaoshi guer (The Orphan of Zhao), written in the second half of the 13th century. In it the hero sacrifices his son to save the life of young Zhao so that Zhao can later avenge the death of his family. It is the first Chin ese play that known in Europe.Joseph Henri Marie de Premare translated the play into French as Tchao-chi-cou-eulh, ou L'orphelin de la maison de Tchao, tragedie chinoise, which was collected in Jean Baptiste Du Halde's Description geographique, historique, chronologique, politique et physique de l'empire de la Chine et de la Tartarie Chinoise, published in 1735 (the play was published separately in 1755). Thomas Hatchett (active 1721-1741) published an adaptation of the play in English, â€Å"The Orphan of China† (1741) that changes the ending significantly so that the play conforms to classical conventions of the three unities 3. A Chinese Topic : Revenge Revenge is a common topic of Chinese traditional drama, since there was a saying in acient China â€Å"An eye to an eye and a tooth for a tooth. † Which means that if any other people hurts one, one should revenge in the same way. â€Å"The orphan of the zhao’s is considered as the Hamlet of China, because th e mean character, Zhao Wu, whose destiny is similar to Hamlet’s, and they both have the duty to revenge for their father. Zhao Wu’s father is killed by his god-father, and he lives with his god-father to bear patiently for twenty years until finally he kills his god-father. [7] Hamlet’s father is killed by Hamlet’s uncle, and Hamlet pretends to be crazy to cheat others so that he has the chance to stay with his uncle and finally he kills his uncle and revenges for his father successfully. In addition, it is full of meaning that both tragedies share the same theme: revenge. The play Hamlet describes the story of Hamlet, the Danmark prince, who takes revenge for his father. The prince Hamlet learns from his father’s ghost that his uncle Claudius poisons the king, takes the power, and marries the queen. The ghost asks Hamlet to avenge him.After several trials and struggles between evil and good, Hamlet and his uncle, the fraud whose crime is finally e xposed, perish together. Zhao the Orphan describes the story of the Zhao's suffer from slaughter because the treacherous court official named Tu An’gu frames up Zhao Dun, the official loyal to his sovereign. The disciple, Cheng Ying, in Zhao’s place sacrifices his own son to save the infant of Zhao’s family and bring him up. After the orphan acquires his life experience, he takes the revenge for his family by killing Tu An’gu.As can be seen, the two tragedies share the common topic that the evil may succeed for a while, however, destines to receive the punishment of justice. 3. 3 A Chinese Way to Enjoy the Tragedy The main idea of the Confucians is â€Å"Ren†, which can be understood as sympathy. It is said that only people who have a heart of sympathy can be considered as a person of noble character and integrity. The tragedy of Hamlet and the tragedy of the Orphan of Chao’s are very popular among people all around the world.An important fa ctor that contributes to the enjoyment of these tragedies is sympathy. It is neither the sympathy in the ethical or moral sense, nor the feeling of pity and sorrow for somebody. It is aesthetic sympathy, which means the identification of ourselves without persons or things with the result that we participate in their feelings, emotions and sentiments. In actual life, we have only one life and most of us are living a very ordinary and calm life, which sometimes seems a little monotonous.One of the charms of dramas is that in them we can live a great number of different lives, experience what we cannot experience in real life , laugh and cry with the characters as long as we substitute ourselves in their places in imagination. For example, in Hamlet, we may identify ourselves with Hamlet. With Hamlet we mourn over the death of the old king, complain of the hasty marriage of Gertrude, feel friendly towards Horatio, despise Polonius, love and suspect Ophelia and fightt heduel with Laert es.In The Orphan of Zhao, we can imagine ourselves to be the hero Cheng Ying and feel his hesitation at the princess’ request of taking the orphan out of the court, his hatred for Tuan Ku when he declared to kill all the babies in the country to search for the orphan of Zhao, his agony to see his own son being killed and his final joy at Tuan Ku’s punishment. In one word , sympathy plays a great part in the enjoyment of tragedy, both the Shakespearean tragedy and the classical Chinese tragedy. 4. ConclusionHamlet has been studied by scholars from different countries with various ethnics in almost every possible aspects for a long time, so many people might hold the idea that Hamlet is a play which has been studied throughly. However, when Chinese students and readers study on Hamlet, they always find that it is difficult to understand because of the lack of culture background and language skill. If they were told that Hamlet has some similarities with Chinese culture, the study of Hamlet might be much easier. This is one reason for the author to study on Hamlet’s Chinese features.Another reason is that few scholars have studied on the Chinese features of Hamlet. On one hand, China has a 5000 years’ history which is profound and diversified, and the Chinese values have greatly influenced the world, so the importance of Chinese culture could not be ignored; on the other hand, China has its specific traditional thoughts of ethics and human natures, so some western scholars thought there were few similarities between Chinese traditional culture and western culture. Nevertheless, Chinese culture, just like the other cultures of the world, has many assosiations with western culture, including the classic literatures.The essay has concluded some Chinese fetures on Hamlet. It provides readers to have a more distinctive mind on the relationship between Shakespeare’s works and Chinese traditional culture, and more study on this topic w ill be done in the future. References [1]. â€Å"? † [J]. ,2010(3):83-86. [2]. [J]. ,2009(4):119-121. [3]. [J]. , 2008(6):80-82. [4]. [J]. , 2009(3):52-55. [5]. The Personality Determines Destiny——The Image Building Quesitions About Hamlet [J]. ,2010(1):199-201. [6].The Contradictory Sides of Hamlet’s Character[J]. ,2004(33):429-432. [7] David L. Hall. Thinking Through Confucius [M]. New York: Albany, 1987. [8]Arthur Kleinman. Normal and Abnormal Behavior in Chinese Culture [M]. Holland: Reidel, 1981. [9]Barbara Marshall Matthews. The Chinese Value Survey: An interpretation of value — scales and consideration of some preliminary results[J]. International Education Journal, 2000(1): 117-126. Acknowledgements I would like to take this opportunity to extend my heart-felt gratitude to all my teachers and professors who have lent me a help in the process of the completion of this thesis.I am especially indebted to Mrs Lu Junyan, my supervisor, who has provided me with information, advice, criticism and encouragement. My thesis couldn’t have come out without the countless instruction and patient guidance from my supervisor. His invaluable insights and hearty encouragement have enabled me to fulfill and improve the quality of my paper. Meanwhile, my appreciation also goes to my classmates and friends. They were always willing to give me assistance and encouragement whenever I sought help from them. Finally, I wish to thank my family for their unconditional support and encouragement through my undergraduate study.