Discuss the various perceptions of love in Shakespeares Romeo Essay Example for Free

Discuss the various perceptions of love in Shakespeares Romeo Essay Discuss the various perceptions of love in Shakespeares Romeo Juliet. Then choose two contrasting examples from scenes you have discussed and explain how you would stage them to show these contrasts. William Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet in 1595. When it was written, Shakespeare was quite young, 31, already five years into his career. Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne at the time, and many of the characteristics of Elizabethan lifestyle are included within the play. In the Elizabethan times, it was not unusual for people to get married and have children young. In the play Lady Capulet says, By my count, I was your mother much upon these years, to Juliet, who appears to be about 12 years old. She is telling Juliet that she was already a mother at Juliets age, implying she should be getting ready to marry now. Women were also not considered of much importance in those days. They were not as important as men, and just used for sex, which plays a big part in the topic of conversation between characters throughout the play. Women/girls also had to obey their fathers until they got married, and then obey their husbands when they did get married. It was a very male dominant era. Romeo and Juliet is partly a comedy, tragedy and history. It is a tragedy obviously because of all the death in it. It is a comedy because of the irony and contrast the characters raise, and also because of the humour some characters like Mercutio and the Nurse bring into the play. It is a history as well because of the fact it was written a long time ago, and has historical contents in it. There is a great deal of love and passion in this play, but not all the same. Different characters have different perceptions of love, and different passions. The play is also as much about hate as it is about love, which is a very important element. Shakespeare puts emphasis on themes such as the relationship of love and hate and old and young. This is what I will be analysing in the essay. The play tells the story of Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet; the children of two rival families living in Verona, who fall in love and get married without their families knowing. The hatred felt by their families leads to the death of five people. Two of who are Romeo and Juliet, the star-crossed lovers who die because they want to be together but cant be. It shows the young as they struggle to escape from the morass of hatred created by their elders. The ancient family feud makes Romeo and Juliets union even more significant as they both hate each others families, but manage to overcome it when they meet each other. This play represents true love because it shows pure hatred turn into pure love. Romeo and Juliet went against everything they were brought up with and gave up their lives to be together. Romeo is a very passionate person when we first meet him, and his passion stays throughout the play. We do learn however, that Romeo is very impulsive, and acts on this impulsive streak very often, and it leads him to do some stupid things, which I will show further on in the essay. The first reference to love in the play is in the opening scene where we meet Sampson and Gregory (two Capulet servants). They are both very vulgar and crude characters and show this straight away when they are talking about the Montague women. In lines 17-20, Sampson says, Tis true, and therefore women being the weaker vessels are ever thrust to the wall. Therefore I will push Montagues men from the wall, and thrust his maids to the wall. This is where the punning becomes sexual. He is implying that he will assault the Montague maids against the wall. Later on in lines 27-28, he says, Ay, the heads of the maids, or their maidenheads- take it in what sense thou wilt. Here he is saying that he will either chop off the heads of the Montague maids, or rape them, depending on what he feels like. Their behaviour shows that they do not actually think of love itself, and only think of sex. They view women as mere objects to serve their pleasure. They are not the only bawdy characters in the play to have this perception of women and love thought. In act two, scene one (lines 34-38); Mercutio is making fun of Romeos talk of love for Rosaline. He talks about a Medlar tree, and describes sex as a Medlar fruit. He is saying that Romeo really wishes Rosalie were a Medlar fruit, even though he says he loves her, all he really wants is sex. This is probably because this is all Mercutio sees love as. The Nurse is another one of these characters. She constantly talks about the physical side of marriage. To her, love is merely about sex and having babies. For Sampson, Gregory, Mercutio and the Nurse, love is something non-emotional, and they have obviously never experienced love like Romeo and Juliets. Love for Romeo and Juliet is very emotionally bonded, and they cannot live without each other. This however does not mean there is no physical element to their relationship. Romeo and Juliet eagerly look forward to the physical side. This can be seen in act three, scene two, lines 1-30, where Juliet is looking forward to her wedding night, or her love-performing night. But even this is altered by their love into something of which Mercutio, the Nurse and the servants know nothing of. In act one, scene one, Romeos parents show parental love when they are concerned about him. The first evidence to show they care about Romeo is in lines 118-119, where Lady Montague says, Right glad I am he (Romeo) was not at this fray, meaning she was glad that Romeo was not involved in the fight that had just happened. In lines 133-144, Montague talks about Romeos worrying behaviour. He says that he is always crying, distances himself from everyone else, and shuts out light, making himself an artificial night. Montague is obviously worried about his sons behaviour, and asks Benvolio if he could talk to Romeo because he does not understand him. This doesnt mean however, that he does not care how Romeo feels, but he evidently does. It just shows the contrast between young and old. The first time we meet Romeo, he seems very sad and down (in the exact state his father describes him to be in). he is sad because he is in love. For Romeo, being in love (at this stage in the play) is a very painful, negative thing, especially because here there is a situation of unrequited love. However, by studying Romeos language in this scene, I believe that he is not in love with Rosaline, but infact in love with the idea of love itself. The fact that he does not say Rosalines name once, but talks about being in love, shows that the she is irrelevant. Romeos doting over Rosaline is introduced to show the difference between love and infatuation. He talks about love as a painful situation to be in, as shown in lines 195-196, A madness most discreet, a choking gall, and a preserving sweet. This changes drastically though, when he meets Juliet. From the second he sees Juliet (in act one scene five); you can see he has changed. He suddenly speaks in a more positive tone, with more positive views on Juliet not just of love. O she doth teach the torches to burn bright. Romeo is referring to Juliet as an actual person, whereas before he was talking about being in love (supposedly with Rosaline), but never refers to her as a person. On meeting Juliet he experiences love at first sight. He goes on to say, For I neer saw true beauty till this night. This shows that he has forgotten about Rosaline already, almost like she never existed. Romeo constantly compares Juliet to a saint throughout the play, O then dear saint. He has made Juliet out to be the most important person (to him), in the matter of minutes. In their first meeting, Romeo and Juliet share a sonnet (lines 94-107). This immediately shows the connection of love and harmony that exists between them. In the sonnet, love as a religion seems to be the key subject, and Romeo talks about it so passionately. He refers to Juliet as a holy shrine, and his lips Two blushing pilgrims. By studying Romeos language here, and that of which he used when we first met him, you can see that his feelings have gone from being self-centred, self deceiving and essentially negative, to less self-centred, genuine and sincere passion, positively approached when he meets Juliet. The love between Romeo and Juliet is different from any other in the play, because both share the same view on love. It is so strong that they fought through everything to be together and when they werent they felt empty and sad. No one else in the play shows love for anything this deep. The words Romeo and Juliet use when flirting with each other emphasise their love for one another. They use words to do with the body lips, hands, palms, religion pilgrims, saints, prayer, devotion and holy then they put both ideas together, holy palmers kiss and saints lips. Romeo is trying to woo Juliet with romantic gestures.

Physician-Assisted Suicide :: Euthanasia Death Suicide Essays

Introduction The history of physician-assisted suicide began to emerge since the ancient time. Historians and ancient philosophers especially had been debating over this issue. Thus, this issue is no longer new to us. However, it seems little vague because it has not yet been fully told. The historical story consists of patterns of thought, advocacy, and interpretation on whether to legalize assisted death. "Only until June, 1999, the United States Supreme Court issued decisions in two cases that claimed constitutional protection for physician-assisted suicide, Washington v. Glucksberg and Vacoo v. Quill, by a single 9-0 vote covering the case (Bartin, Rhodes, Silver, 1). They also say that this decision mark the beginning of long period debate, which will not be fully resolved (1). Hence, the debate began by professionals from different aspects, especially the physicians themselves. "I will never give a deadly drug to anybody if asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect". A frequent quoted portion of the Hippocratic Oath, written in Greece sometimes during the fifth to forth centuries B.C.E, represented an effort by an apparently small group of physicians to build public respectability by distancing themselves from other physicians who commit assisted suicide. It has had considerable influence in the history of Western medical society and now, once again, physician-assisted suicide has become a major ethical issue in medicine, as well as an issue that involves law and public interests. Of the various issues at the medicine issue, perhaps none has drawn as much attention as assisted suicide. This topic is being discussed with great frequency in newspaper, journals and books about whether it is really necessary and ethical to physicians to participate in this life-ending act. Proponents or advocates of physician-assisted suicide argue that each per son has freedom over their own life. Persons whose quality of life is nonexistent and who are having a terminal illness should have the right to decide to seek assistance. In contrast, opponents say that physician-assisted suicide is not an acceptable practice for the physicians legally as well as morally. This issue has become a central concern to the medical profession, legislators, philosophers, social psychologists, as well as the public. Interests in this controversial matter continue to grow increasingly whether it should be legalized. Perhaps everyone would have one's own thought and opinion. Nevertheless, assisted death is never a proper expression of compassion. It shows no care for the patients.

Look into a Psychotic mind

Not for the faint hearted. As a child I'd always been curious. Starting when I was six, I would spend hours doing my â€Å"experiments† It began with frogs and worms but soon I went on to bigger animals, mammals. The family cat, a little boys puppy, the school gerbils. The police never knew who took them although they did find the bodies†¦ When I was done with them. I'm twenty six now and quite the normal city girl if you don't count my experiments. I work for Poise magazine as a photographer and part time interviewer but my passion still lies in the biology of a body.Did you know humans can continue to live after the removal of the stomach, spleen, 75% of the liver, 80% of the intestines, one kidney, one lung, and virtually every organ from the pelvic and groin area. You might not feel too great, but the missing organs wouldn't kill you. I wonder who was lucky enough to do this experiment, I'd love to be them. The surgeon or scientist†¦ Not the subject missing his o rgans. This is what inspired my latest question and led to the idea for my new â€Å"experiment† I picked up my subject outside a local club.It's quiet skinny but still a healthy looking packmen, the shaggy brown hair is really what pulled me to it. Eve always loved light brown hair for some reason. Anyway, my specimen spent the morning in my car trunk while I was at work, I made sure he was knocked out properly. I don't need my co-workers hearing noises from my car and investigating†¦ I'd probably lose my Job. Who am I kidding? My Job would be toast. I drove up to my old family house in the country, having taken the week off I had time to come out here.No one knows about the old house and it was so far away from anything you could scream your head off without anyone showing up. Perfect for hat I needed. I dragged the still unconscious specimen into the large garage, his chloroform nap would be the last peace he had so he may as well enjoy it. I'm a relatively small woma n so dragging him to the garage wasn't the easiest thing to do. Why the heck didn't I park closer? I sighed to myself. Break time is over and I need to get back to work. I walked across the dusty floor and stared at the tools lining my wall.I looked at each one and grinned at the damage they could each do. Hammers for smashing, saws for sawing, pliers for pulling, knives for slicing and blowtorches for†¦ Well you get the point. The collection was large and helped quell my curiosity. I grabbed a length of thick rope from one of the hooks and walked back to where my specimen lay. My shoes made clanking noises against the floor but there was no reason to be quiet†¦ So I wasn't. Spotting a sturdy beam above me, I tossed the rope over it and watched as thick braided cord fell far enough down so I could reach it if I Jumped.You'd think I'd done this before. After I made sure I could reach both ends of the rope I turned to my subject. He looked so peaceful, I don't think he remem bered his abduction or understood what was to come. My first human specimen was a cutie, I had to admit. It's almost a shame, almost. I pulled his unconscious body into place and wound the rope around his ankles after removing the man's boots. I made sure my knots were tight and would not slip undone as that would ruin the experiment.Grabbing the other end of dangling rope I pulled it over my shoulder and began to walk towards the pillar near the edge of my garage where I could tie off the rope, leaving my specimen hanging from the rafters like meat in a butcher shop. While waiting for my subject to awake I decided to record my progress in the book I pet with me at all times. It was filled with notes on all my experiments, granted they were all animal experiments. Subject: â€Å"Humans† Experiment: Skin Skin is a thin layer of tissue acting as a perimeter around the internal body keeping unwanted germs out.It is also the largest organ in the body and arguably the most importa nt. How important? After skinning subject â€Å"Humans† I hope to answer that question. Hypothesis: Without the outer layer the body should succumb to bacteria, viruses and disease. I am anticipating that dehydration will be my biggest obstacle. I heard a groan come from behind me and suppressed a grin. He's awake! I dropped the knives I'd brought with me behind him noisily. The man was now flailing around uselessly. The grogginess from being knocked out prevented him from succeeding, it was actually quite humorous!When he finally gave up, I walked behind him and gave his hair a playful tug, pulling his head back slightly. â€Å"What!? Wait-Who are you? Where am I!? † He yelled in fury. The anger was to be expected. He flailed some more until he faced me and tried to grasp at the edge of my Jeans. I stood Just out of his reach, these are designer Jeans! â€Å"Why? † I finally repeated back at him. Sees you crazy bitchy! Why am I here!? † He screamed. †Å"Because I have a question, no need for vulgar language. † I added sweetly. â€Å"Huh? Fine. What's the question? † He huffed. â€Å"Do you remember how you got here? Not my actual question but still needs to be answered. â€Å"l- l†¦ No. † He looked thoughtful and I smiled, Just what I wanted to hear. I slipped my hand into my pocket and withdrew the needle filled with liquid chloroform, enjoying the look of horror on his face. Before he could yell or thrash around I slipped it into his neck, further than necessary and he yelped in pain. The Heimlich soon entered his blood and the struggling stopped. Carefully I made the first incision in his back with a fillet knife, being careful not to go too deep as I ran the blade down his back.I pulled up the skin and slid my knife between the skin and his back watching as the external organ was removed from his back. I did my task in silence working my way up his shoulders and arms. I wasn't concerned with the smal l amounts of skin under the bindings as it would be rubbed raw by the friction of his movements and there was no time to work on such tediousness. Next I worked on my subject's chest and torso. By the time the crimson map of internal workings was shown on his top half, or bottom since he is upside down. A decent sized puddle of blood had collected on the stone floor.The thick red liquid ran down his still unharmed neck and landed with a trickling plop on the ground. The neck proved an easy part. The fingers and toes gave me some difficulty as the skin between the digits was at an awkward angle and hard to reach with in the small spaces, I succeeded in the end. Skinning his â€Å"manhood† was excruciatingly tedious. The skin covering the gender based organ was already so thin, it was nearly impossible to get rid of. I'm thankful the member is so small or I may have lost my patience and chopped the damned thing off completely.I gave my subject a shot of kill, a chemical compoun d used to help blood clotting and thicken the blood. I want to see how long my subject will survive without skin and blood loss cannot be a factor! His neck and head was all that was left. As I passed over his features carefully, I ruined one of the eyes by accidental cutting an eyelid off. Careless but not a huge mistake, I hope. I finished off removing the rest of the skin from his head. He isn't cute anymore, that's for sure. There, perfect. I thought as I stood back to admire the exposed muscles and tendons.The blue of his veins reminded me of a road map, twisting and turning throughout his rosy red form. Fresh blood oozed from his body but not to an extent that would cause the subject's demise, thanks to the kill . I placed a large mirror in front of him so when he awoke he'd see himself. I want him to appreciate the time I put into his death. When my subject awoke there was much swearing so I left him alone for a day to calm down and accept his fate. Its day 2 of the skinless man and time to feed him. I can't let starvation or dehydration influence my answer. His death has to be due to loss of skin.He didn't speak while I fed him, no swearing or begging. I found it unusual but I think he must be feeling some despair. I'd noticed his drying form and the way most of his body had scabbed over, leaving it looking rough and deformed. I suppose that all I can do now is wait Day 5. Five and make sure he has enough water. Day 3. The subject is growing weaker, diseases starting to take over his skinless form. Some disconsolation can be seen in his tissue as well as a mixture of sores that seep a yellowish puss. The eyelid that I accidental cut off has now dried out, it now rerouted from his face slightly.His body is also admitting a sour smell. Like a mixture of dried urine and rotting flesh. The dour attracts all sorts of flies, gnats and mosquitoes. Both feeding on his decaying tissue and laying eggs in the warm gore. I watch in fascination as his flesh seems t o crawl and wiggle with the bugs devouring him slowly. It's exciting, I did not for see this in my experiment. Day 4. The eye without its lid popped at some point last night, its insides became a comfortable bed for flies. Putrid, dark greenish purple glop dried in a strip down his face. Disgusting. â€Å"Why don't you Just kill me? The man asked weakly. L am killing you silly! It's Just taking a while longer than expected. † I smiled at how naive he is. â€Å"Why? † He wept. â€Å"l told you, I'm curious. † Then I thought of something, â€Å"What's your name? † â€Å"Connors, My name is Connors. You? † Him should I tell him my name? â€Å"I'm Reggae. † After that I left him hanging. Literally. He's still strung up from the roof, I'm surprised he hasn't complained off head-AC. Days, I thought as I stood in front of his lifeless body. His muscles and tissues were one giant, inflamed red scab with large areas of purple, blue and even yellow du e to extreme infection.

How Do Fireflies Produce Light

The twilight flickering of fireflies confirms that summer has arrived. As a child, you may have captured those so-called lightning bugs in your cupped hands and peeked through your fingers to watch them glow, wondering just how those fascinating fireflies produce light. Bioluminescence in Fireflies Fireflies create light in a similar way to how a glowstick works. The light results from a chemical reaction, or chemiluminescence. When a light-producing chemical reaction occurs within a living organism, scientists call this property bioluminescence. Most bioluminescent organisms live in marine environments, but fireflies are among the terrestrial creatures capable of producing light. If you look closely at an adult firefly, youll see that the last two or three abdominal segments appear different than the others. These segments comprise the light-producing organ, an efficient structure that produces light without losing heat energy. If you have ever touched an incandescent light bulb after its been on a few minutes, you know its hot. If the fireflys light organ emitted comparable heat, the insect would meet a crispy end. Luciferase Makes Them Glow In fireflies, the chemical reaction that causes them to glow depends on an enzyme called luciferase. Dont be misled by its name; this enzyme is no work of the devil. Lucifer comes from the Latin lucis, meaning light, and ferre, meaning to carry. Luciferase is literally, then, the enzyme that brings light. Firefly bioluminescence requires the presence of calcium, adenosine triphosphate, the chemical luciferan, and the enzyme luciferase within the light organ. When oxygen is introduced to this combination of chemical ingredients, it triggers a reaction that produces light. Scientists recently discovered that nitric oxide plays a key role in allowing oxygen to enter the fireflys light organ and initiate the reaction. In the absence of nitric oxide, oxygen molecules bind to the mitochondria on the surface of the light organ cells and cant enter the organ to trigger the reaction. So no light can be produced. When present, nitric oxide binds to the mitochondria instead, allowing the oxygen to enter the organ, combines with the other chemicals, and generates light. In addition to being species markers for mate attraction, the bioluminescence is also a signal to fireflies predators, such as bats, that theyre going to be bitter tasting. In a study published in the August 2018 issue of the journal Science Advances, researchers found that bats ate fewer fireflies when the fireflies were glowing. Variations in the Ways Fireflies Flash Light-producing fireflies flash in a pattern and color that is unique to their species, and these flash patterns can be used to identify them. Learning to recognize the firefly species in your area requires knowledge of the length, number, and rhythm of their flashes, the interval of time between their flashes, the color of light they produce, their preferred flight patterns, and the time of night when they typically flash. The rate of a fireflys flash pattern is controlled by the release of ATP during the chemical reaction. The color (or frequency) of the light produced is likely influenced by pH. A fireflys flash rate will also vary with the temperature. Lower temperatures result in slower flash rates. Even if you are well-versed in the flash patterns for fireflies in your area, you need to be mindful of possible imitators attempting to fool their fellow fireflies. Firefly females are known for their ability to mimic the flash patterns of other species, a trick they employ to lure unsuspecting males in closer so they can score an easy meal. Not to be outdone, some male fireflies can also copy the flash patterns of other species. Luciferase in Biomedical Research Luciferase is a valuable enzyme for biomedical research, particularly as a marker of gene expression. Researchers can literally see a gene at work or the presence of a bacterium when the luciferase is tagged. Luciferase has been widely used to help identify food contamination by bacteria. Because of its value as a research tool, luciferase is in high demand by laboratories, and the commercial harvest of live fireflies negatively affected firefly populations in some areas. However, scientists successfully cloned the luciferase gene of one firefly species, Photinus pyralis, in 1985, enabling the large-scale production of synthetic luciferase. Unfortunately, some chemical companies still extract luciferase from fireflies rather than produce and sell the synthetic version. This has effectively put a bounty on the heads of fireflies in some regions, where people are encouraged to collect them by the thousands during the peak of their summer mating season. In a single Tennessee county in 2008, people eager to cash in on one companys demand for fireflies captured and froze approximately 40,000 males. Computer modeling by one research team suggests this level of harvest may be unsustainable for such a firefly population. With the availability of synthetic luciferase today, such harvests of fireflies for profit are entirely unnecessary. Sources Capinera, John L.  Encyclopedia of Entomology. Springer, 2008.â€Å"Firefly Watch.†Ã‚  Museum of Science, Boston.â€Å"How and Why Do Fireflies Light Up?†Ã‚  Scientific American, 5 Sept. 2005.â€Å"Fireflies Light Up To Attract Mates, But Also To Deter Predators.†Ã‚  American Association for the Advancement of Science, 21 Aug. 2018.Lee, John. Basic Bioluminescence. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Georgia.  Modeling Effects of Harvest on Firefly Population Persistence,  Ecological Modelling, 2013.