A View From The Bridge Essay Example for Free

A View From The Bridge Essay The street and house-front of a tenement building. The front is skeletal entirely. The main acting area is the living-room-dining-room of Eddies apartment. It is a workers flat, clean, sparse, homely. There is a rocker down front; a round dining-table at centre, with chairs; and a portable phonograph.  At the back are a bedroom door and an opening to the kitchen; none of these interiors is seen.  At the right, forestage, a desk. This is Mr Alfieris law office.   There is also a telephone booth. This is not used until the last scenes, so it may not be covered or left in view. A stairway leads up to the apartment, and then farther up to the next storey, which is not seen.  Ramps, representing the street, run upstage and off to the right and left.  Arthur Miller, born in 1915, wrote this play in 1955. It is set in Brooklyn, New York, in the late 1940s. Its main focus is on an Italian-American family, and the issues they face. It has a strong pedigree with an American immigrant story base. The view from the bridge is in a way the audience sitting on the fence watching the merging of this American culture dissolving the passions and identities of its inhabitants. Characters  He introduces us to the following characters:  Alfieri is used as the narrator of the play. He guides the audience along with background information, and towards the unfolding events with an unbiased overview. He helps to give us a balanced opinion of each of the characters.  Eddie is the writers symbol. He is the main focus, the protagonist, to each of the characters (his relationship with Beatrice falls apart, his true feelings for Catherine are revealed, jealousy of Rodolpho and Marcos rival). Beatrice seems to be the link to all of the important characters (the wife of Eddie, aunt of Catherine, and cousin to the immigrants Rodolpho and Marco). She keeps the peace between them, and shows deep emotion for each of them.  Catherine, otherwise referred to as Katie, is a young adult of 17. She realizes the need for her to act like shes a lady and to find her own life, take charge and do what she wants to do.  Rodolpho is the life of the play, loving life and having a big personality. He finds another problem, besides Eddies opposition to him, because of his talents to sing, cook and sew that leads others to think he is a homosexual. Marco plays the antagonist that in the end kills Eddie. His quiet character suspiciously passes through the play pre-occupied with other thoughts. He tries to keep the peace within the families, but in the end he challenges Eddies authority.  Millers use of language for the characters has an effect on how we see progress of the characters psychologically; whether they develop a sense of doom, love, jealousy or betrayal. Marco talks about his family back in Italy, the older one is sick in his chest. My wife she feeds them from her own mouth. I tell you the truth they eat the sunshine, giving us a sense of his background, personality and his opinions. Catherine really demonstrates how naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve she is through her speech. She states, I dont understand Please, tell me Well I forgot, and they are all examples of how her character is innocent and young in mind, and doesnt understand things going on around her that she should be able to comprehend. Stage directions make an even greater impact on the performance. Each character has their own style, and way of carrying themselves, which adds to the believability and realism of the stage show. A particularly good impression of this is in Act Two where the Immigration Officers come to take away the illegal immigrants, otherwise known as Beatrices cousins. We can really see the emotions of the characters flooding out, CATHERINE stands motionless, uncomprehending staring at him in a realized horror. This can raise the tension in the audience, absorbing them into the world that the act creates. It also has more of an impact; for instance, Miller could have written, MARCO walks freely to EDDIE and spits, but instead he wrote, MARCO suddenly breaks free from the group and dashes into the room and faces EDDIE MARCO spits into EDDIEs face. Stage This is basically how I imagine the stage to be set up according to the description at the beginning of Act One. It is quite spaced out, giving the audience a larger area to watch, to keep their attention for longer. What is put on the stage and the size of each area is important to create the realism of the drama. Millers use of props in the play is very specific and limited, as I mentioned before. Arthur Miller very effectively describes and includes only essential play details. This gives those performing a chance to add individual characteristics through extra props. The layout describes only the indispensable parts and props of the stage. Throughout the play, one by one, we see the relevance of each bit to the plot:  Ã‚  Now CATHERINE gets up and puts a record on the phonograph Paper Doll. This is where the phonograph in their apartment plays an important role, as Catherine uses it to challenge Eddies authority by dancing with Rodolpho, or Rodolpho with Catherine. The main story of how the personalities of these characters clash or merge happen at the dining table. It is the place where they discuss oranges are orange and lemons are green. Eddie implies that Rodolpho is hiding his sexuality, trying to be someone hes not; by saying that they paint the oranges to make them look orange.  The rocking chair comes into focus especially when Eddie is distressed, contemplating or when hes going crazy over his unhealthy obsession with Catherine, possibly symbolizing his feelings or attitude at the time. EDDIE is alone in the rocker, rocking back and forth in little surges, explains Eddies emotions. So, although these objects are mentioned only once or twice, they play a big part in setting the atmosphere and emphasizing details rather than having them said, also being effective as they are few.  The lights show the change of scenes, especially on Alfieri, when events unfold. The lights have gone down, leaving him in a glow, while behind the dull prayers of the people and keening of the women continue, not only brings the focus off the dramas climax, but keeps the solemn mood of sorrow in the background. They also highlight important parts of the play, A phone booth beings to glow on the opposite side of the stage; a faint, lonely blue. It shows different places or areas of the stage. But it could have been used even more to explain certain times of the day, or feelings and emotions of specific characters.

Your life according to shakespeare :: essays research papers

In Act II, scene VII, of the play As You Like It, a disheartened Jacques takes a long look at life:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   All the worlds a stage,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   and all the men and women, merely players;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   They have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts(1-4) It is a line that is as simplistic as it is complicated, comparing the cycle of life to that of a play. This quote, pulled from the play As You Like it, a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare, has been repeated and analyzed thoroughly throughout the years by poets and philosophers alike. This set speech, spoken by Jacques, takes a seven step look at the aging process of man: infant, schoolboy, lover, soldier, justice, pantaloon, and second childishness. With such visual dialect Shakespeare metaphorically compares the seven stages of aging, to the multiple acts of a play and the plot’s ascending and descending order much like that of life’s from infant to second childishness.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The language that Shakespeare uses for this set speech is remarkably modern. Shakespeare uses a language that is so modern for his time yet so simple for present day dialect that the set speech is often taken out of the play’s context and has achieved a reputation as a poem and has been able to remain such a popular work for so long as well as still carry meaning. For instance, Shakespeare refers to the infant as â€Å"mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.†(6). When Shakespeare wrote this, it was the first recorded use of â€Å"puke† meaning â€Å"to vomit†, before then the word had been used to mean a dignified dark brown color, according to the Oxford Dictionary(Shakespeare 2). Anyone in any time period could picture an infant curled up and spitting up on a nurses shoulder, which is what makes the language he uses so interesting. Shakespeare is able to use such vivid words that are able to reach so many different walks of lif e and still convey a deeper meaning. He also uses a few that are a little out dated in today’s society: Bearded like the pard; Capon; Wise saws; and Pantaloon. Each having its own meaning and making perfect sense in the context of the poem, if used today you would be laughed at.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Of the seven stages Shakespeare refers to, infancy is the first then he develops into the whining schoolboy.

Corporate Social Responsiblity and Wal-Mart

Corporate Social Responsibility and Wal-Mart Corporations deal with a wide variety of social issues and problems; some directly related to their operations, some are not. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be defined as â€Å"the actions of an organization that are targeted toward achieving a social benefit over and above maximizing profits for its shareholders and meeting all its legal obligations† (Ghillyer 78). If this is the case, establishing appropriate and practical ethical guidelines in the workplace seems to be a reasonable request as a basis for corporate operations. Wal-Mart should be an example in determining what constitutes the values associated with its fundamental purpose of Corporate Social Responsibility. The four components of CSR are financial, legal, ethical, and philanthropic (Barnett). These areas of CSR ought to exist within every company’s infrastructure; however, the organization’s primary focus is usually on performance and profit not on social conscientiousness. Financial being the first component of CSR is often the major factor in a company’s consideration of ethical standards. The main goal of any business is to keep its costs low and to earn a profit. Financial responsibilities in regards to CSR means that society expects that a corporation will produce needed goods and services that are desired by customers and sell those goods and services at a reasonable price while still earning a profit. The organization strives to be efficient and profitable along with keeping the best interest of the shareholders in mind (Barnett). Financially, the Wal-Mart Corporation is a multi-billion dollar industry with close to two million employees worldwide. On the positive side, Wal-Mart’s motto is â€Å"Always low prices. Always! They uphold this motto by providing low prices to consumers with a high return on investment to satisfy stockholders. On the negative side, with jobs currently being scarce, Wal-Mart seems to manage keeping costs low by demanding high productivity from their associates (employees) with seemingly low compensation. In addition, most associates cannot afford to be covered by health insurance. The consequence of this treatment of personnel is a high employee turnover rate, which seems to question management’s view that the organization is a family (â€Å"The NEW Age of Walmart†). The second component of CSR, which is representative of the legal standards and obligations, refers to the expectation that a corporation will follow the rules set down by society. This means the organization is to comply with government laws used to protect employees’, stakeholders, customers, suppliers, the community, and other competition in the marketplace. An individual business could have thousands of legal responsibilities governing almost every aspect of their operations, including consumer and product laws, environmental laws, and employment laws (Barnett). The legal challenges that face Wal-Mart are numerous. Before Wal-Mart decides to build a new store, it researches and visits specific site locations in conjunction with considering the neighborhood. It does so discretely as not attract attention attempting to protect against opposition to the development of a new store. Defenders of Wal-Mart propose the overall advantages to the community, which includes economic benefits and consumer choice. Opponents to a new Wal-Mart have concerns over traffic congestion, public safety, and competition to small business. Often there can be protests from labor unions, environmental groups, and other wary citizens (â€Å"The NEW Age of Walmart†). Ethics is the third component of Corporate Social Responsibility. The ethical responsibilities concern societal expectations that go beyond the law, such as the expectation that organizations will conduct their affairs in a fair and just way. This means that organization are expected to do more than just comply with the law, they are to do what is considered right by society’s standards. Organizations should make proactive efforts to anticipate and meet the norms of society even if the law does not formally enact those norms. Ethics are a necessary and critical ingredient in any business that wants to be successful (Barnett). Wal-Mart seems to address the fact that there should be a code of ethics. The application of corporate ethical behavior needs to be dealt with on a personal and professional level. The key for Wal-Mart is to help their associates indentify if their actions are right or wrong. They rely on a system of training and business practices started by its founder, Sam Walton (â€Å"The NEW Age of Walmart†). Lastly, one of the most overlooked areas of CSR is the fourth component of philanthropic and discretionary responsibilities. In other words, this means society expects that corporations be good citizens that they will show concern for humanity. It may involve such things as performing charitable actions, supporting programs that benefit a community or nation, and donating expertise time and/or services to worthy causes (Barnett). In this area, the future of Wal-Mart looks promising if it is willing to recognize their duty to society. With its tremendous size, the organization is faced with being an example to other corporations. It is trying to make efforts such as supporting the environment, but they have just begun to scrap the surface. It will require balance between profit and social responsibility (â€Å"The NEW Age of Walmart†). Works Cited Barnett, Tim. â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility. † 2010. Reference for Business: Encyclopedia of Business, 2nd ed. Web. 27 Dec. 2010. . Ghillyer, Andrew W. Business Ethics: A Real World Approach, 2nd ed. New York: McGraw- Hill, 2010. Print. â€Å"The NEW Age Of Walmart. † CNBC Originals. 23 Sept. 2009. Video. 27 Dec. 2010. .

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