Appearance vs. Reality, Hamlet

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the main theme of the play is appearance versus reality. The characters within the play appear to be sincere and honourable when in reality they are corrupt and immoral. Many of the characters within the play illustrate this concept. When looking at them from behind a mask they give the impression of a person who is genuine and honest, but in reality they are plagued with lies and despicable behaviour. Four of the main characters that attempt to deceive Hamlet by hiding behind this mask are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Polonius, and King Claudius. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are two of Hamlets childhood friends who are not as they appear. They are asked by the King and Gertrude to spy on Hamlet in order to find the reason behind Gertrude’s â€Å"too much changed son† (II. ii. 36). They give the appearance of being Hamlet’s friend, yet in reality, the pair only came to Elsinore because they were summoned. Surprised by his friends’ unexplained arrival, Hamlet questions what has brought them there. Rosencrantz lies when responding â€Å"To visit you my lord, no other occasion† (II. i. 266). Hamlet instantly sees through their lies and insists â€Å"you were sent for, and there / is a kind of confession in your looks†¦I know the good king and / queen have sent for you† (II. ii. 273-276). Knowing that his so-called friends are lying about the purpose of their visit, Hamlet discloses nothing to them. Having gotten no answers for the King, the two were asked to go to Hamlet once more an d continue to seek the real reason for Hamlet’s behaviour. Hamlet has little patience since being lied to and reveals to the pair that he is aware that they are spies and saying to them: [Y]ou would play upon me, you would seem to know my stops, you would pluck out the heart of my mystery, .. Call me what Instrument you will, though you can fret me, you cannot play upon me. † (III. iii. 343-350) Although appearing to be Hamlet’s friends, he quickly sees that in actuality, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are only trying to pry him for information. The King’s royal associate, Polonius, plays an important role in developing the theme. He’s constantly keeping up the facade of a concerned and caring individual. Polonius appears to be a good father, and honourable man. Upon learning that his son is going to France, he gives several pieces of advice to Laertes, in particular â€Å"This above all, to thine own self be true† (II. iii. 78). He gives advice in order to appear to be a caring father, when in fact he speaks in order to look good rather than to actually be good. Polonius then sends Reynaldo to bring Laertes money but instructs that â€Å"Before you visit him, to make inquire / Of his behaviour† (II. i. 4-5), and then advises him how to be sneaky about it. Throughout the play Polonius conspires with the King on ways to eavesdrop on Hamlet. When Hamlet is going to speak with his mother, Polonius suggests â€Å"Behind the arras I’ll convey myself / To hear the process† (III. iii. 28-29). Polonius acts as if his actions are for the king, when in fact it will benefit him greatly if the reason behind Hamlet’s strange behaviour is because of his love for Ophelia. Polonius also humiliates his daughter Ophelia by forcing her to read love letters from Hamlet aloud to the King and Gertrude. He tells Ophelia that it’s in her own best interest not to keep this secret. His words are those of a loving father, but his actions are quite different. Even though Polonius pretends to be moral and a loving parent, the reality is that he is a devious manipulator. Claudius, the current King of Denmark is the epitome of corruption and immorality although he presents himself to be the rightful king. King Claudius reveals his true maliciousness several times. Claudius only becomes King of Denmark after murdering his brother and marrying his sister-in-law Gertrude in an incestuous marriage. When speaking of his brothers’ death, he justifies the speedy marriage to Gertrude while appearing to have the kingdom’s best interest at heart when explaining â€Å"That we with wisest sorrow think on him / Together with remembrance of ourselves† (I. ii. 6-7). In actuality, Claudius acts out of greed to become king and out of lust for Gertrude. Claudius demeans Hamlet several times throughout the play. While Hamlet is grieving his father’s death, the heartless king requests â€Å"We pray you throw to earth / This unprevailing woe† (I. ii. 106-107), showing his deplorable behaviour by referring to Hamlet’s grief as useless. King Claudius shows his true maliciousness during his final act of manipulation. The king appeals to Laertes guilt and convinces him to kill Hamlet to avenge his father’s death by â€Å"A sword unbated, and in pass of practice / Requite him for your father† (IV. vii. 137-138). King Claudius’s selfish and despicable behaviour leads to the death of all those he had pretended to care for at one point or another: Gertrude, Hamlet, and Laertes. This final act of vengeance brings about the beginning of the end for the entire royal family. While proving that appearances can be deceiving, the characters help to develop the theme of appearance versus reality in the play. While Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Polonius, and King Claudius all appear to be virtuous and honest people, the reality is that they are continually scheming and plotting against Hamlet. Although appearing to be respectable, each of them is actually tainted by evil and corruption. Unfortunately, Hamlet finds out the hard way that each of them have their own hidden agendas, and corruption spreads like disease throughout the state of Denmark.

Marketing Product Assessment--Maybelline Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Marketing Product Assessment--Maybelline - Essay Example Soon the mascara was named Maybelline after the name â€Å"Maybel† given by her daughter to the lash mascara (L'Oreal). Two years later, the company produced the first of its kind mascara for everyday use which became an instant hit with the mass market. In 1996, the company’s headquarters moved to New York when it was acquired by L’Oreal (L'Oreal). Over the passage of time, the company hired celebrities as brand ambassadors, which again was an instant hit. In 1991, the company adopted the popular slogan â€Å"Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s Maybelline† which continues to be its slogan to date (L'Oreal). Maybelline enjoys a strong presence in over 129 countries today and covers four broad location segments: North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania (L'Oreal). Maybelline stands at no.1 in the makeup brands category in its home country, the US. In the UK, it has acquired the second position, along with strong growth in Russia (L'Oreal). The company is expanding fast in all BRIC economies, and has managed to bag the top position in make-up brands in China in 2010 (L'Oreal). The company is struggling to penetrate through the Japanese market which has intense competition as far as the make-up category is concerned. Overall, the company registered a 13.3% growth in 2010 (L'Oreal). The company offers a variety of product lines related to cosmetics including face, eyes, lips, nails, brushes and accessories (Maybelline LLC.). Under the â€Å"face† product line, the company offers concealer, foundation, powder, blush and bronzer (Maybelline LLC.). Under the â€Å"eyes† category, it offers eye shadow, eye liner, brow liner and mascara (Maybelline LLC.). Under â€Å"lips† category, Maybelline offers lip color, lip gloss and lip liner (Maybelline LLC.). Under â€Å"nails† it offers nail color, whereas, under â€Å"brushes and accessories† it offers brushes, tweezers, curlers, combs, removers and false lashes (Maybelline LLC.). The product brand that is part of this paper is the Maybelline â€Å"Dream Matte Mousse Foundation† that falls under the â€Å"face† product line. The highest sales of Maybelline are generated by its â€Å"face† product line, followed by lips and then eye (L'Oreal). The Dream Matte Mousse Foundation fits well into the company’s product range since it offers customers the advantage of matte effect for perfect blending of foundation into their skin. It offers full coverage and it offers the added advantage of shine control. This product is the only one that offers two of the three finishes: matte and natural (Maybelline LLC.). Furthermore, this product provides a powder effect and combines the benefits of liquid and cake foundations. Other foundations by Maybelline offer a combination of matte, natural, luminous and shimmer finishes (Maybelline LLC.). Maybelline sells to the mass market and has major competitors such as Revl on, Covergirl and Avon pitted against it in this segment. As far as Avon is concerned, it has global representation in approximately more than 100 countries and is also headquartered in New York (Avon Products Inc.). Avon’s internal strengths are that it has a strong business model that allows it to differentiate itself against competitors. It also had been doing fairly well and has had a steady increase in revenue throughout history. However, the primary weakness is that the company has been facing declining operations in the North American region, primarily as it has not been able to pace up with fast changing customer trends in this region.

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Analyze a business or industry that is likely to be disrupted by the trends of the big data, this disruption may create a new business opportunities and new business threats - Essay Example The concept of big data has been arising majorly due to the explosive growth of data flow that is caused by digitization taking place in the society. The digitization and automation of firms in the society has led to huge data storage (Feenberg, 2005).These large volumes of data that is being stored by businesses are very critical in terms of business operations. The concept of big data has provided the firms with the advantage to store large data volumes that were not possible in the early years. As the size of big data is incomparable it provides a very strong knowledge base for the firms operating in different industry. In context of businesses the big data trend allows a firm to transform huge sets of data in the form of advanced products, new services, and even improved marketing techniques so as to reach out to more number of customers. The trend of big data has caused an impact on all possible and similarly it has even effected the advisory firms both business and financial. T he advisory firms acts as a consulting group that helps a firm to manage its functions and also at times it controls various managerial functions of a company. The major opportunities that are created by big data in context of managerial and financial advisory firms are creating of best practice portals and knowledge space (Davenport, 2014). These opportunities are majorly based on knowledge accumulation and professional experiences in context of portal for knowledge space for respective economic sectors, environmental changes in the businesses in relation to legal framework, competition, emerging markets, economy, new services and products, etc. The concept of knowledge space may provide opportunities to the advisory firms or may even result into major threats for these firms in respect to long term operations of these firms. The term big data is normally defined to be larger data

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A proposed exploritory study on the physiological effects of kangaroo care (skin-to-skin) on the neonate - Essay Example Compared with conventional care, KMC was found to reduce severe illness, infection, breastfeeding problems, and maternal dissatisfaction with method of care and improve some outcomes of mother-baby bonding. There was no difference in infant mortality. However, serious concerns about the methodological quality of the included trials weaken credibility in these findings. More research is needed. The focus of the kangaroo mother care initiative was to introduce KMC in all health care facilities in South Africa, starting with hospitals that provide newborn care, followed by home-based KMC in the community. KMC, the method of choice for hospitals caring for stable immature infants is an alternative to conventional incubator and bassinet care. The infant is positioned skin-to-skin between the mothers breasts and secured firmly. KMC programmes also include the promotion of breastfeeding and the ambulatory support of mothers after discharge. The advantages and practice of KMC, even for unstable low birth-weight infants and healthy newborns, have been well documented and described in the literature. In the proposed study, mothers in a KMC group practicing 24-hour-a-day skin-to-skin contact will be compared with mothers in a traditional care group (TC). Furthermore, infants in the TC group will be kept in incubators at the minimal care unit until they met standard discharge criteria. The approach is qualitative research with the focus on the physiological factors of the infant. The research would be carried forward by doing sampling of the available population and then recording the outcome. The outcome would be assessed after obtaining the data of the research done. The hospitals would be contacted and would be explained the significance and the objective of the study. After obtaining consent from hospital to conduct this study in

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