History of Babylonia Essay

Babylon is Akkadian â€Å"babilani† which means â€Å"the Gate of God(s)† and it became the capital of the land of Babylonia. The etymology of the name Babel in the Bible means â€Å"confused† (Gen 11:9) and throughout the Bible, Babylon was a symbol of the confusion caused by godlessness. The name Babylon is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Babel. The Early Growth of Babylon There is evidence that man has lived in this area of Mesopotamia since the beginning of civilization. The first records indicate that Babylon was established as a city around the 23rd century BC. Before this it was a provincial capital ruled by the kings of the city of Ur. Then came the migration of the Amorites. Quick Overview of Babylonian History Babylonia (pronounced babilahnia) was an ancient empire that existed in the Near East in southern Mesopotamia between the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers. Throughout much of their history their main rival for supremacy were their neighbors, the Assyrians. It was the Babylonians, under King Nebuchadnezzar II, who destroyed Jerusalem, the capital of the Kingdom of Judah, and carried God’s covenant people into captivity in 587 BC. The Bible reveals much about the Babylonians all the way back from the time of Hammurapi (2000 BC) to the fall of Babylon (about 500 BC). Throughout the Old Testament there are references to the Babylonians, their people, culture, religion, military power, etc. Babylonia was a long, narrow country about 40 miles wide at its widest point and having an area of about 8,000 square miles. It was bordered on the north by Assyria, on the east by Elam, on the south and west by the Arabian desert, and on the southeast by the Persian Gulf. The earliest known inhabitants of Mesopotamia were the Sumerians, whom the Bible refers to as the people of the â€Å"land of Shinar† (Gen 10:10). Sargon, from one of the Sumerian cities, united the people of Babylonia under his rule about 2300 B.C. Many scholars believe that Sargon might have been the  same person as Nimrod (Gen 10:8). Artists Depiction of the Ziggurat at Ur Around 2000 BC Hammurapi emerged as the ruler of Babylonia. He expanded the borders of the Empire and organized its laws into a written system, also known as the Code of Hammurapi. About this time Abraham left Ur, an ancient city located in lower Babylon, and moved to Haran, a city in the north. Later, Abraham left Haran and migrated into the land of Canaan under God’s promise that he would become the father of a great nation (Gen 12). Alongside of Babylonia there must also be a mention of Assyria, which bordered Babylonia on the north. Assyria’s development was often intertwined with the course of Babylonian history. About 1270 BC, the Assyrians overpowered Babylonia. For the next 700 years, Babylonia was a lesser power as the Assyrians dominated the ancient world. Around 626 BC, Babylonian independence was finally won from Assyria by a leader named Nabopolassar. Under his leadership, Babylonia again became the dominant imperial power in the Near East and thus entered into her â€Å"golden age.† In 605 BC, Nebuchadnezzar II, the son of Nabopolassar, became ruler and reigned for 44 years. Under him the Babylonian Empire reached its greatest strength. Using the treasures which he took from other nations, Nebuchadnezzar built Babylon, the capital city of Babylonia, into one of the leading cities of the world. The famous hanging gardens of Babylon were known to the Greeks as one of the seven wonders of the world. As previously mentioned, in 587 BC, the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and carried the leading citizens of the Kingdom of Judah as prisoners to Babylon. The Hebrew prophet Jeremiah had foretold that the Jews would be free to return home to Jerusalem after 70 years. The Lord had encouraged His people through Ezekiel and Daniel who were also captives in Babylon. During this 70 year period of captivity, the Persians conquered Babylonia, and the Babylonians passed from the scene as a world power. Throughout the long period of Babylonia history, the Babylonians achieved a  high level of civilization that made an impact on the whole known world. Sumerian culture was its basis, which later Babylonians regarded as traditional. In the area of religion, the Sumerians already had a system of gods, each with a main temple in each city. The chief gods were Anu, god of heaven; Enlil, god of the air; and Enki or Ea, god of the sea. Others were Shamash, the sungod; Sin, the moon-god; Ishtar, goddess of love and war; and Adad, the storm-god. The Amorites promoted the god Marduk at the city of Babylon, so that he became the chief god of the Babylonian religion, starting around 1100 BC. Babylonian religion was temple-centered, with elaborate festivals and many different types of priests, especially the exorcist and the diviner, who mainly were trained to drive away evil spirits. Babylonian literature was mainly dominated by mythology and legends. Among these was a creation myth written to glorify their god Marduk. According to this myth, Marduk created heaven and earth from the corpse of the goddess Tiamat. Another work was the Gilgamesh Epic, a flood story written about 2000 BC. Scientific literature of the Babylonians included treatises on astronomy, mathematics, medicine, chemistry, botany, and nature. One of the main aspects of Babylonian culture was a codified system of law. Hammurapi’s famous code was the successor of earlier collections of laws going back to about 2050 BC. The Babylonians used art for the national celebration of great events and glorification of the gods. It was marked by stylized and symbolic representations, but it expressed realism and spontaneity in the depiction of animals. The Old Testament contains many references to Babylonia. Gen 10:10 mentions four Babylonian cities, Babel (Babylon), Erech (Uruk), Accad (Agade) and Calneh. These, along with Assyria, were ruled by Nimrod. Ancient Babylonia – Monarchy The Babylonian political structure was a monarchy. The king ruled through a number of officials who were directly under and responsible to him but he could intervene personally at any level of government and administration. Thus Hammurapi (1792-1750 BC) took a direct hand in dealing with property claims in Larsa after he had captured that city-state. The monarchy  was hereditary and maleprimogeniture seems to have been the guiding principle. Babylonian historians designated a continuous line of kings a â€Å"dynasty†. The king was an absolute monarch and in the very early period there were a few checks to his authority in that he had to respect custom and tradition, private property, the sensibilities of the nobles, religion and divination. The king was the ultimate authority in all areas except religion where he was subject to the dictates of the chief god as represented by his chief priest. Thus in the New Year’s festival the king’s role included being slapped in the face by the chief priest and pulled by the ears as a sign of his subservience to the god. Ancient Babylonia – Communication, Roads and Scribes Efficient administration of the country depended upon good communications through a system of roads and relay stations for messengers. Written communications passed back and forth in great number and required a large body of trained scribes. Most people, including the king and his officials, were illiterate so that they were heavily dependent upon the scribes both to write and interpret their commands and reports in an appropriate manner. Many of these letters have been discovered in modern times and they provide a fascinating glimpse of the real events and human relationships of the day, in contrast to the official versions found in royal inscriptions. Ancient Babylonia – Nebuchadnezzar II Nebuchadnezzar II marched back to Babylon and was crowned king, which inaugurated one of the most powerful periods in Babylonian history. Nebuchadnezzar continued his brilliant campaigns focusing his military maneuvers on the west, which he effectively brought under his control. It was the kingdom of Judah who had called upon Egypt to assist them against the Babylonians. King Nebuchadnezzar continued his attacks and on his second conquest the conquered Jerusalem in 586 BC taking the survivors as prisoners back to Babylon. This was known in Jewish history has â€Å"the Babylonian captivity†and â€Å"the exile†. After he destroyed Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar focused his attacks upon Egypt and he conquered it in 568 BC though there  has been no detailed account of this invasion ever discovered, it remains a tremendous success for the king of Babylon and the first time any Chaldean king had ever conquered Egypt. After Nebuchadnezzar’s death his successors remained obscure untilNabonidus (555-539 BC), the last of the dynasty, ascended the throne. According to history Nabonidus, for some reason, lived throughout 10 of the 17 years that he ruled, at an Arab desert oasis called Tema, which was a vast distance from Babylon. In Babylon he left his son Belshazzar, to rule on his behalf. Nabonidus and his mother were from Harran and claimed to have been a loyal subject to the last of the Assyrian kings. Both he and his mother were zealous worshipers of the moon-god Sin, the tutelary deity of Harran, but when Nabonidus tried to promote this cult in Babylonia, the native priests, especially those who followed Marduk, became enraged. This religious controversy split Babylonia in two. Some of this literary propaganda of the time has been recovered. Babylonian culture flourished during the pax Assyriaca of the 7th century BC and again under the Chaldean dynasty of the sixth century BC. Their god Nabu, son of Marduk and god of writing and learning became very popular throughout that period. The practice of astrology permeated the Babylonian society to the point that there were nightly watches by the astrologers throughout the kingdom. Archeologists have recently recovered massive detailed records of the movements of heavenly bodies. Literature was copied and studied and many new compositions were created. In art and architecture the most impressive remains that have been unearthed by archeologists are in Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon. The city apparently had not changed much when the Greek historianHerodotus wrote about it less than a century later and called its Hanging Gardens one of the 7 wonders of the world. In 539 BC Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered Babylon. Ancient Babylonia – Houses and Farms Around the temple were clusters of houses made of sun-dried brickand inhabited by farmers and artisans. The populations of the Babylonian cities cannot be estimated with any reasonable degree of accuracy, because the  authorities, so far as extant documents reveal, took no census. The number of inhabitants of a city probably ranged from 10,000 to 50,000. The city streets were narrow, winding, and quite irregular, with high, windowless walls of houses on both sides. The streets were unpaved and undrained. The average house was a small, one-story, mud-brick structure, consisting of several rooms grouped around a court. The house of a well-to-do Babylonian, on the other hand, was probably a two-story brick dwelling of about a dozen rooms and was plastered and whitewashed both inside and out. The ground floor consisted of a reception room, kitchen, lavatory, servants’ quarters, and, sometimes, even a private chapel. Furnitureconsisted of low tables, high-backed chairs, and beds with wooden frames. Household vessels were made of clay, stone, copper, and bronze, and baskets and chests of reed and wood. Floors and walls were adorned with reed mats, skin rugs, and woolen hangings. Below the house was often located a mausoleum in which the family dead were buried. The Babylonians believed that the souls of the dead traveled to the nether world, and that, at least to some extent, life continued there as on earth. For this reason, pots, tools, weapons, and jewels were buried with the dead. Agriculture formed the economic base of Babylonian civilization with production of barley, wheat, fruits, vegetables, with cattle and sheep predominating. The main crop in the time of the ancient Babylonians was barley. The farmer would sow his seed with a tool known as a â€Å"seeder plough† The plough would create a furrow into which a seed would be dropped using a funnel. A man would have to walk beside the seeder plough and drop the seeds in at regular intervals. This would mean that all the seeds would be at exactly the correct depth. It would have taken considerable skill to achieve tasks such as irrigationand the winnowing. If the farmer got the irrigation wrong he could flood the field or let it get too dry to allow the plants to grow. Similarly if the farmer did the winnowing in too strong a wind the grain would also blow away but if he did in too weak a wind there would be chaff and dirt still mixed in. The farmer would have probably followed his father in his trade and would have been taught by him. The farmer would almost certainly have been â€Å"apprenticed† by his father. Ancient Babylonia – Social Hierarchy There were several levels in the social hierarchy with the king at the top and the slaves at the bottom. In between, in descending order, were the nobles, the free citizens and those in military and civil service. The class structure was generally rigid although some mobility from one level to another was possible. The debt slave had the possibility of paying his debts and regaining his freedom but the only hope for the foreign captive was escape or death. Thus in Babylonian society there were mainly three classes in society, theawilu, a free person of the upper class; the wardu, or slave; and themushkenu, a free person of low estate, who ranked legally between the awilu and the wardu. Most slaves were prisoners of war, but some were recruited from the Babylonian citizenry as well. For example, free persons might be reduced to slavery as punishment for certain offenses; parents could sell their children as slaves in time of need; or a man might even turn over his entire family to creditors in payment of a debt, but for no longer than three years. Ancient Babylonia – Schools For the most part the only education that a young Babylonian might have received would have been of a scribal type. Those who were sent to school to train as a scribe had to be children of wealthy or influential parents. Boys were admitted and possibly girls as well. There is no doubt that rich women often had a lot of freedom and influence. By the time of Hammurapi (1792-60) the language of Sumerian had been replaced by Akkadian as the commonly spoken language in Babylonia but Sumerian was  still used for nearly all religious texts. It was therefore necessary to train students, not only in the script, cuneiform, but in the language as well. The students’ education would begin when he was eight or nine years old. Each day he would get up at sunrise and go to school, which was commonly known as the tablet house. At the tablet house there would be a man like a schoolmaster. His title literally meant â€Å"the Expert.† There would be a number of other teachers who would each specialize in a different aspects of Sumerian and its writing. To keep order some of the senior students would be appointed as a helper. A student’s work would consist of copying tablets using a slab of wet clay. Also he would learn various texts by heart. If he successfully passed an examination the student became a scribe. Ancient Babylonia – Astronomy and the Calendar The observations of the astrologers, which were meticulously recorded on a nightly basis over many centuries, led to accurate predictions of various astronomical phenomena and the correct calculation of the solar and lunar year. The Babylonian calendar was based upon the lunar year but, thanks to the astrologer’s knowledge, could be reconciled with the solar year by means of intercalary months. We owe much of our calendar system to the Babylonians. They were probably the first people after the Sumerians to have a calendar. This calendar was very important because without it agriculture could not be planned properly. There were twelve lunar months in the year but as the months were shorter than our months often an extra month would have to be added. This was called the second Elul. Each week was divided into seven days. The day was divided into six parts each of two hours duration and containing thirty parts. The Babylonians measured time with a water or sun clock. One can see from this that the Babylonian calendar has markedsimilarities with our own: for instance the twelve months in the year and seven days in a week. Ancient Babylonia – Medicine Medicine was practiced by two kinds of experts: the physician(asu), and the exorcist (dsipu), and the talents of either or both might be demanded at the sick bed. There was a whole set of diagnostic texts in which a multitude of possible symptoms was listed and the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment given. Surgery was known and even delicate operations on the eye were performed. The Babylonians had a superb knowledge of human and animal anatomy and physiology and were aware, for example, of the circulation of the blood and the pulse. Ancient Babylonia – Cuneiform The script of the Sumerians and all the other inhabitants of Mesopotamia employed to write their language, up to the first century BC was cuneiform. The name cuneiform comes from theLatin word â€Å"cuneus†, meaning wedge. According to Babylonian beliefs Nabu, the god of scribal arts, who was also the city god of Borsippa, gave cuneiform to them. When the Akkadians, Semite invaders from the desert, adopted the Sumerian civilization and part of the Sumerian Territory they also adopted cuneiform. They adapted the script to fit their own. The next wave of Semite invaders, the Amorites, did likewise, but they continued to speak the Akkadian tongue. Thus we find Hammurapi (1792-1760 BC) who was an Amorite, speaking Akkadian and writing cuneiform. Since the time of Hammurapi, successive Mesopotamian empires controlled huge empires in the Near East. Because of this cuneiform, Akkadian became the lingua franca of the Near East, as Latin was of Medieval Europe. This of course ended when Mesopotamian civilization declined so that cuneiform was no longer being used by about the first century BC. When the Sumerians first brought cuneiform into being it was nothing like the script that it was to become. It was an ideogramatical script (a symbol represented by a word). For example a picture of sheep would mean sheep. When the Sumerians came into contact with the Akkadians they needed to adapt their script to fit. This was necessary even to write Akkadian names. Obviously it was far more important for the Akkadians because they needed to write their language in it. Cuneiform then underwent a transformation. It became a syllogramatical script where each symbol represented a sound.  Therefore the symbol for a word such as ‘dig’, if we took an English equivalent would be correctly used in the second syllable of ‘indignant’. This transformation enabled cuneiform to be used with other languages. As cuneiform changed from an ideogramatical to a syllogramatical scriptits symbols were simplified. The original pictograms were complicated and hard to write on clay tablets. The symbols developed, losing many of their lines and the remaining lines were wedge shaped and straight. Cuneiform was originally written with a reed or stick stylus but this was quickly developed into a precision tool. We have derived virtually all our knowledge of the Babylonians from texts written in cuneiform on clay tablets. From these tablets we have been able to learn their law, business, administration, religion and all other aspects of Babylonian civilization. Without these texts we would know little about the Babylonians. http://www.bible-history.com/babylonia/BabyloniaBabylonia00000023.htm HISTORY OF THE HITTITES The first Indo-European empire: 17th century BC A group of tribes, speaking Indo-European languages and collectively known as the Hittites, establish themselves as the dominant power in Anatolia. Their capital is at Bogazkoy, a dramatically fortified city on a steep slope among ravines; its walls and towers enclose no fewer than five great temples. The priest-king who makes this place his capital in the 17th century BC is Hattusilis I. He has ambitions for his people. Moving south and east with his army, he reaches the Mediterranean and continues into northern Syria. Eager to give his empire full credentials, Hattusilis brings back from Syria a team of scribes, expert in cuneiform. They adapt the cuneiform script to a new purpose, the recording of an Indo-European language, and they lay the foundation for an important state archive at Bogazkoy. When the clay tablets of this archive are discovered, in the 20th century, they provide the basis for our knowledge of the Hittites. The magic of iron: from 1500 BC The Hittites are the first people to work iron, in Anatolia from about 1500 BC. In its simple form iron is less hard than bronze, and therefore of less use as a weapon, but it seems to have had an immediate appeal – perhaps as the latest achievement of technology (with the mysterious quality of being changeable, through heating and hammering), or from a certain intrinsic magic (it is the metal in meteorites, which fall from the sky). Quite how much value is attached to iron can be judged from a famous letter of about 1250 BC, written by a Hittite king to accompany an iron dagger-blade which he is sending to a fellow monarch The furthest extent of the empire: 16th – 12th century BC In about 1600 the Hittites reach and destroy Babylon, before retreating again to their Anatolian heartland. In the 14th century they march again to establish an empire which reaches into northern Syria, east of the Euphrates, and extends down the Mediterranean coast to confront the Egyptians. A hard-fought but inconclusive engagement at Kadesh in 1275 stablizes the frontier between the two power blocs. It is followed some years later by a treaty and the marriage of the daughter of the Hittite king (Hattusilis III) to the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II.   In the 12th century the Hittite empire suddenly collapses – overwhelmed, it is thought, by the onrush of the Sea Peoples. These terrifying intruders are described in Egyptian chronicles as raging down the coast to threaten the frontiers of Egypt in about 1218 and again in 1182 BC http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/plaintexthistories.asp?historyid=ab66#ixzz2HIAKxOZL The Hittites were an Ancient Anatolian people who spoke a language of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family and established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in on the central Anatolian plateau in the 18th century BC. The HittiteEmpire reached its height around 1285 BC,  encompassing a large part of Anatolia, north-westernSyria about as far south as the mouth of the Litani River, and eastward into upper Mesopotamia. After ca. 1180 BC, the empire d isintegrated into several independent â€Å"Neo-Hittite† city-states, some surviving until as late as the 8th century BC. The term â€Å"Hittites† was taken from the King James translation of the Hebrew Bible, translating ×â€"× ªÃ—â„¢ HTY, or ב×  Ã—â„¢-×â€"× ª BNY-HT â€Å"Children of Heth† (Heth is a son of Canaan). The archaeologists who discovered the Anatolian Hittites in the 19th century initially identified them with these Biblical Hittites. Today the identification of the Biblical peoples with either the Hattusa-based empire or the Neo-Hittite kingdoms is a matter of dispute. The Hittite kingdom was commonly called the Land of Hatti by the Hittites themselves. The fullest expression is â€Å"The Land of the City of Hattusa.† This description could be applied to either the entire empire, or more narrowly just to the core territory, depending on context. The word â€Å"Hatti† is actually an Akkadogram, rather than Hittite; it is never declined according to Hittite grammatical rules. Despite the use of â€Å"Hatti†, the Hittites should be distinguished from the Hattians, an earlier people who inhabited the same region until the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC, and spoke a non-Indo-European language called Hattic. The Hittites themselves referred to their language as Nesili (or in one case, Kanesili), an adverbial form meaning â€Å"in the manner of (Ka)nesa†, presumably reflecting a high concentration of Hittite speakers in the ancient city of Kanesh (modern Kà ¼ltepe, Turkey). Many modern city names in Turkey are first recorded under their Hittite names, such as Sinop and Adana, reflecting the contiguity of modernAnatolia with its ancient past. Although belonging to the Bronze Age, the Hittites were forerunners of the Iron Age, developing the manufacture of Iron artifacts from as early as the 14th century BC, when letters to foreign rulers reveal the demand for their iron goods. Recent excavations, however, have discovered evidence of iron tool production dating back at least as far as the 20th century BC. Hittite weapons were made from Bronzethough; iron was so rare and precious

Pak China Friendship

In early 1960s, the regional and international environment played an important role in bringing about an upswing in Pakistan-China relations. China, which was under the strong pressure of the West led by the US in those days of the Cold War as shown by the establishment of SEATO and had fought a war with India because of their territorial dispute, needed friends to end its international isolation and counter India in South Asia. Pakistan because of its strained relations with India was in search of friends in its neighbourhood to neutralise, to some extent, India’s power superiority. China met the demands of Pakistan’s strategic compulsions.Pakistan’s realisation of the strategic importance of its friendship with China increased as it became acutely aware of the unreliability of the Western support in any conflict with India. The 1965 Pakistan-India war confirmed these apprehensions. The global strategic environment underwent a dramatic change in the 1970s with t he rapprochement between the US and China, in which Pakistan had played an important role, to counter the perceived security threat posed by the Soviet Union to both Washington and Beijing. Thus, the Western impediment to the strengthening of Pakistan-China relations was removed.In fact, following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, both Pakistan and the US needed and secured China’s support to defeat the Soviet occupation through the Afghan jihad. The end of the Cold War in 1991 brought about another dramatic transformation of the global strategic scenario. For about a decade after the end of the Cold War, the US loomed large on the global scene like a colossus. No other country matched its enormous military power and economic strength. There were signs of concern in the 1990s on the part of China about the emergence of the US as the global hegemon and the unipolarity of the international political system.This period also witnessed the commencement of the process of the stre ngthening of US-India relations to contain China and the imposition of the US economic and military sanctions against Pakistan because of its nuclear programme. These developments brought Pakistan and China closer together. The result was increased Pakistan-China cooperation in various fields, including the field of nuclear technology. Pakistan’s need for China’s support and cooperation increased also because of the intensification of the freedom movement in the Indian Occupied Kashmir andthe resultant tensions in Pakistan-India relations. The US â€Å"unipolar moment† soon passed. The first decade of the 21st century witnessed the commencement of a radical reconfiguration of the global strategic scenario driven by China’s phenomenal economic progress and rise as a leading global power. The initiation of policies of economic reforms and opening to the outside world in 1979, under China’s paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, unleashed powerful forces tha t accelerated China’s economic growth to dizzying heights.Consequently, its GDP grew five times between 1979 and 1998 as against the target of fourfold increase. Since 1998, China has recorded growth rates averaging about nine percent per annum, propelling it to the position of the second biggest economy in the world. China’s GDP during the current year is expected to reach the figure of $9. 2 trillion as against the US gross domestic product of $16. 3 trillion. In purchasing power parity (PPP) terms, its GDP would reach the figure of $13. 9 trillion during the current year.According to latest projections, China will overtake the US economy in PPP terms within the next few years and in nominal terms some time in the next decade. In 2012, it overtook the US as the world’s biggest trading nation in goods with the combined total of its exports and imports reaching the amount of $3. 87 trillion as against the $3. 82 trillion for the US. The rapid growth of Chinaâ₠¬â„¢s economy has also enabled it to increase its military expenditure at a fast rate to safeguard its security interests. its annual military expenditure is currently about $106 billion as against $36 billion for India.However, its military expenditure is still a very small proportion of the US annual military expenditure. Such a massive shift in the global balance of power cannot but have far-reaching implications for international politics. The US ability to impose its will on the rest of the world in the economic field is fast eroding. Correspondingly, the effectiveness of its economic sanctions against foreign countries will also decline. It has forced the US to pivot its naval forces to the Asia-Pacific region where it will deploy 60 percent of its naval assets by 2020.It is strengthening its alliances in Asia with Australia, Japan and South Korea. It is trying to checkmate China’s territorial claims in South China Sea by extending political support particularly to Viet nam and the Philippines. Above all, from the point of view of both Pakistan and China, the US is engaged in close cooperation with India in economic, military and nuclear fields to help build it up as a major world power of the 21st century with a view to containing the expansion of China’s influence in South Asia and the Indian Ocean region.The growing rivalry between the US and China, and the US efforts to build up India as a bulwark against China, have important strategic implications for Pakistan. The growth in the depth, and the extent of US-India cooperation, is likely to push Pakistan closer to China as a counterweight to India’s possible hegemony in South Asia. US threats of sanctions against Pakistan because of its decision to proceed with the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project will further hasten this process. On the other hand, these developments will deepen China’s inclination to develop closer relations with Pakistan.Thus, from purely a strategic po int of view, the future prospects of Pakistan-China relations are quite bright. It was against this background that during the fifth round of the Pakistan-China Strategic Dialogue held in Beijing in November 2012, Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary and the Chinese Vice Foreign Minister agreed that Pakistan and China needed to close ranks to face the extraordinary global and regional challenges. However, there is no room for complacency.Pakistan’s bilateral trade with China, which was estimated to be $10.6 billion in 2011, was far behind the Indo-China trade of $80 billion. We must, therefore, pay special attention to the building up of Pakistan-China relations in economic, commercial and cultural fields, while maintaining close cooperation in political and military fields. Future possibilities of economic and commercial cooperation include a rail link between Pakistan and China, oil and gas pipelines through Pakistan to connect Xinjiang and the rest of China with the Strait of Hormuz and West Asia via the land route, and a rapid increase in bilateral trade.However, Pakistan would have to put its own house in order, reorder its domestic priorities, energise its private sector, and streamline its procedures to take full advantage of the opportunities that beckon us. On the political side, we should be sensitive to China’s concerns about the activities of the Taliban and other religious extremists in so far as the situation in Xinjiang province of China is concerned. Religious moderation is good not only for our internal political health, but also for our relations with China.

Bob Dylan Poet or Musician

When talking of some artists, it is often hard to define to which art group they belong. Was Freddy Mercury more of a singer or of a songwriter? Would you consider Adriano Celentano an actor or a musician? Were they poems or dramas Shakespeare gave preference to? Most artistic people are talented in many fields. Almost every other artist hides a splendid mix of creative skills within himself. Same story here with Bob Dylan. Some fans think that he changed music history, others believe that his poems have made a great contribution to the world literature, and there are also those, who consider him a great musician and poet at the same time. A Word on Art The songs of Bob Dylan make an overwhelming impression on those, who hear them for the first time. An odd mix of folk ballads, rock‘n’roll and blues, with all the symbolism in lyrics – it is truly an outstanding phenomenon in both fields – literature and music – at the same time. There are various periods of his art, and everybody can find something for himself, when looking through his songs. There are protest songs, and Christian gospels, and modern music, and it only depends on your taste, which ones you will like better. A Word on Himself In order to decide, what Bob Dylan is, it would be quite smart to find out what he thinks of himself. When asked at a press conference in 1965 about what he considers himself – a poet or a musician – Dylan replied with a smile: â€Å"Oh, I think of myself more as a song and dance man, y’know.† He considered himself more as an entertainer, not getting into details of how exactly he makes people think, feel and smile. A Word from Others Among Bob Dylan’s colleagues there are no such people, who would argue, whether he is more of a musician or of a poet. It does not really matter to them. As it was written earlier, it is quite common for a single artistic person to be a composer, an actor, a musician and a writer at the same time. What really does matter is the talent. â€Å"Ill never be Bob Dylan. Hes the master† – said Neil Young. And when Neil Young says such things, there could be no better praise. Perhaps, we should follow the example of artistic people and stop trying analyzing, what in the mix of texts and music makes Bob Dylan’s songs so sharp and touching. It’s much wiser to simply listen and enjoy.

Essay on Creon As The Tragic Hero In Antigone - 602 Words

Sophocles’ Antigone is, without a doubt, one of the greatest tragedies ever written. There are many questions that somebody could ask about this work, but this one intrigues me the most: Who is the tragic hero? Could it be Antigone? Or could it be Creon? Antigone might be the name of the tragedy, but I believe that Creon is the winning candidate. His role in the plot of this tragedy, his sensible tragic fault, and his dynamic character are the obvious reasons why I chose him as the tragic hero. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;First, Creon plays a significant role in the plot of Antigone. He, of course, is the center of the plot. It develops mostly around his actions. For example, Creon could have had the chance to live â€Å"happily ever†¦show more content†¦Second, Creon’s faults brought an endless life of pain upon himself. He carried an easily describable tragic flaw. Of course, this defect is a vital trait of the tragic hero of any work. Creon’s flaw was that he was stubborn. I could not reason what Antigone’s tragic flaw could be. I believe that if Sophocles wanted Antigone to be the tragic heroine, he would have stated it more clearly in the story. I am convinced that she was simply a victim of Creon’s stubbornness, therefore leading her away from the role of the tragic heroine. I would simply consider her as a type of â€Å"puppet† character that Sophocles ingenuously used to emphasize Creon’s flaw. Creon’s defect b rings misery to his life, for that his stubbornness indirectly kills Antigone, Haemon, and Eurydice. This, of course, fits the definition of a tragic hero. This can be easily reasoned by simply reading the work. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Finally, Creon is a dynamic character. He undergoes changes in emotion throughout the work. He realizes his mistakes when Tiresias forecasts the future. Thus, Creon attempts to correct himself by releasing Antigone. But he is too late. He is forced to live, knowing that three people are dead as a result of his actions. This punishment is worse than death. Although Creon’s self-righteousness and inflexibility did not change until the end of the play, his motivations traveled from patriotic ones to personal ones. This created a major portion of theShow MoreRelatedCreon Is The Tragic Hero Of Antigone734 Words   |  3 Pagesnothing I havent seen in your griefs and mine†(Antigone 1-8). The Burial at Thebes is a version of Sophocles’ Antigone translated by Seamus Heaney. Antigone is a tragedy by the ancient Greek playwright Sophocles written around 442 BCE. The civil war is over. After the tragic death of the Oedipus, everyone would take the t hrone from one year to the next. Creon orders Eteocles to be buried with full honors, while Polynices body is left to rot. Creon says that â€Å"anyone who attempts to bury PolynicesRead MoreCreon: A Tragic Hero in Antigone606 Words   |  2 Pagesqualifications of a tragic hero vary between Aristotle and Shakespeare. Aristotle thinks of a tragic hero as someone who is a noble character by choice and makes his/her own destiny, while Shakespeare sees a tragic hero as someone who is born of nobility and born to be important. Although both tragic heros end in a tragic death that effects many people, not all tragic heros fit perfectly into both categories. In Sophocles’ Antigone, Creon is considered a tragic hero. Creon follows Aristotles definitionRead More Antigone or Creon as the Tragic Hero in Antigone Essay758 Words   |  4 PagesA tragic hero is a character in a play that is known for being dignified but has a flaw that assists in his or her downfall. Antigone is a Gre ek tragic piece written by Sophocles. In the theatrical production the use of power and morality versus law is evident. The promotion to the conflict was that Creon created a law in which enabled Polynieces, Antigone’s brother, to be buried in the proper way. As it is the way of the gods Antigone found it fit to bury her brother causing her to disobey the lawRead More The Tragic Hero: Creon or Antigone? Essay1293 Words   |  6 Pagestragedy Antigone, the characters Antigone and Creon can both be thought of as the tragic hero of the play. Though Antigone does show some of these characteristics of a tragic hero, Creon demonstrates the attributes more clearly and concisely. Creon is the King of Thebes, as well as the uncle of Antigone. Creon took the throne after a tragic quarrel between his two nephews, Eteocles and Polyneices. Despite his harsh governing and his crude ideals, he is not good or bad. Creon is the tragic hero of theRead More Creon as Tragic Hero of Sophocles An tigone Essay593 Words   |  3 PagesCreon as Tragic Hero of Sophocles Antigone There has always been a bit of confusion as to the tragic hero of the Greek Drama Antigone. Many assume that simply because the play is named for Antigone, that she is the tragic hero. However, evidence supports that Creon, and not Antigone, is the tragic hero of the play. Examining the factors that create a Greek Tragedy, and a tragic character, it is clear that the tragic hero is in fact Creon. First, take into account the timeframe in whichRead MoreEssay on Creon As The Tragic Hero Of Antigone by Sophocles781 Words   |  4 PagesCreon As The Tragic Hero Of Antigone by Sophocles Greek tragedy would not be complete with out a tragic hero. Sophocles wrote Antigone with a specific character in mind for this part. Based on Aristotle’s definition, Creon is the tragic hero of Antigone. Creon fits Aristotle’s tragic hero traits as a significant person who is faced with difficult decisions. Creon is significant because he is king. This makes him both renowned and prosperous. Creon is not completely good nor completely bad;Read More Creon As Tragic Hero of Sophocles’ Antigone Essay836 Words   |  4 PagesCreon As Tragic Hero of Sophocles’ Antigone Since the play’s inception, there has always existed a contention concerning the true hero of Sophocles’ Antigone. It is a widely held belief that Antigone must be the main character simply because she and the drama share name. This is, of course, a very logical assumption. Certainly Sophocles must have at least meant her to be viewed as the protagonist, else he would not have given her the play’s title. Analytically speaking, however, Creon doesRead MoreEssay on Creon as the Tragic Hero in Sophocles Antigone1326 Words   |  6 PagesCreon as the Tragic Hero in Antigone     Ã‚   This essay will compare two of the characters in â€Å"Antigone†, Antigone and Creon, in an effort to determine the identity of the tragic hero in this tale.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To identify the tragic hero in Sophocles’ renowned play â€Å"Antigone†, we should first consider both the elements present in Greek tragedies and what characteristics define a tragic hero. Aristotle’s definition of tragedy is: â€Å"Tragedy is a story taking the hero from happiness to miseryRead More Creon is the Tragic Hero in Sophocles Antigone Essay627 Words   |  3 Pages Creon is the Tragic Hero of Antigone nbsp; When the title of a play is a characters name, it is normally assumed that the character is the protagonist of the play. In Sophocles Antigone, most people probably believe Antigone to be the tragic heroine, even after they have finished watching the play. It may be argued, however, that Creon, not Antigone, is the tragic character. When we examine the nature and concept of the Greek Tragedy and what it means to be a tragic character, it becomesRead MoreEssay on Creon as the Tragic Hero of Sophocles Antigone997 Words   |  4 PagesCreon as the Tragic Hero of Sophocles Antigone   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Who is the true tragic hero in Sophocles Antigone?   This question has been the subject of a great debate for numerous years.   Equal arguments exist that portray Antigone as the tragic heroine in the play and Creon as the tragic hero.   Aristotle, in his study of Greek drama entitled Poetics, provided the framework that determines the tragic hero of a work.   Though Antigone definitely possesses the characteristics and qualities that

The Deadly Hanta Virus Essay - 792 Words

The Deadly Hanta Virus Hanta virus is a dangerous and often deadly disease that must be guarded against. If proper precautions are not taken, hanta virus could lead to a nationwide outbreak causing many deaths. While there are a few cases of hanta virus reported each year, the consequences of coming down with the disease dictates that the U.S. set up certain safeguards to educate the population on how to protect themselves. Even though research is being done on hanta virus and its related illnesses, there persist many unanswered questions. Hanta virus like all other viri are some of the smallest organisms known to man. Their existence as living organisms is debated. Viri perform only the most basic functions of life. They seek†¦show more content†¦In addition, the incubation time of the virus is uncertain. Researchers think that it takes between one and five weeks after the initial contact with the virus before victims start showing symptoms of the illness. These early symptoms can vary s ignificantly from person to person. While most people will feel fatigue, fever and muscle aches in the large muscle groups. Other may also experience chills, dizziness, and abdominal pains. A week later, infected people will begin to experience coughing and a shortness of breath as their lungs fill with fluid. It is important to note that most hanta virus victims became ill even though they did not see rodents or their dropping, and others have had a large amount of contact with both before they became sick (CDC.gov pg. 1). Because of the wide variety of symptoms, hanta virus has gone through several different names. The common clinical features among the case-patients included a prodromial illness of fever, chills, and myalgia. The prodrome was followed by dyspnea, cough, throbocytopenia, severe hemodynamic instability, neutrophilid with immature forms, atypical lymphocytes, elevated serum levels of lactate dehydrogenase. There was a high mortality rate, approximately eighty percent in the initial group of patients, the chest x-ray examinations revealed a diffuse, interstitial infiltrate that resembled that observed in patients with adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which is a common pattern in patientsShow MoreRelatedEssay on The Hanta Virus1676 Words   |  7 Pages The Hanta Virus nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The hanta virus is not a new foe to humanity. This mysterious and sometimes fatal disease has plagued humanity for over 1000 years. This virus, most likely originating in China over 1000 years ago, is transmitted by human contact with mice. Only relatively recently has the hanta virus captured the attention of the United States. Although the hanta virus has been known for such a long time, there is little known about the virus. In the United States mostRead MoreAids/Hiv Essay 10637 Words   |  3 PagesAIDS/HIV The HIV virus poses one of the biggest viral threats to human society today. It is contracted through bodily fluids such as blood and semen, and sometimes even saliva and tears. AIDS kills 100% of its victims and puts them through agony before they die. It has been a threat for about 15 years, and it is not going to stop now. In fact, AIDS is just getting started: It consumes more people each year. There is no known treatment for it either, only antibiotics to slow the reproduction

How Compromises Failed to Prevent the Civil War free essay sample

As tensions between the North and the South rose on the issues of slavery and states’ rights, numerous compromises were proposed to ease the conflict. Such compromises included the Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850, and the Crittenden Compromise. These compromises had intentions of defining where slavery was permitted and clarifying states’ rights. They were only temporary fixes to a more pressing issue. Between the Missouri Compromise and the Crittenden Compromise, a series of events changed the political atmosphere of the United States and prevented any more compromises on the institution of slavery from being passed. In the years leading up to the Civil War, numerous laws were passed that not only prevented slavery from expanding to the North, but also limited states’ rights. The Missouri Compromise was one of the first to do so. Senator Henry Clay arranged an imaginary latitude line at 36Â °30’ North and slavery above this line was prohibited, while territories south of this line were permitted to have slaves. This limited the South from further expanding slavery to new territories. Pro-slavery Southerners felt a bias in the political system because Congress now had the power to exclude slavery from U.S. territories. Southern states believed that this power was reserved for them and by proclaiming the 36Â °30’ North latitude line, the federal government exercised unconstitutional power. The Dred Scott decision further supported the clause that the issue of slavery was reserved for the state government. Despite this, the South realized that the North and its anti-slavery views were gaining ground, while the North believed that the Dred Scott ruling limited its power. The Compromise of 1850 shifted the political landscape even more. California sought to be admitted to the Union as a free state, and the Wilmot Proviso suggested that the newly acquired land from the Mexican War was to be free as well. The South was concerned that admission of more free states would offset the balance of representation in Congress. At the same time, the Northerners feared that the revised Fugitive Slave Act was a step towards a slave power conspiracy. Prior to the revision, Northern states such as Missouri and Wisconsin passed personal liberty laws that ultimately nullified the Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793. The U. S. Supreme Court ruling of Prigg v. Pennsylvania weakened the Acts of 1793 even further by asserting that States did not have to aid in the capture of runaway slaves. Eventually the Compromise of 1850 was passed in separate parts and many assumed that it would be the longstanding answer to slavery in the States. In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act tipped the delicate balance of states’ rights in the Compromise of 1850. Senator Henry Clay proposed the notion of popular sovereignty to determine whether these States would be free or slave states. This consequently repealed the Missouri Compromise by allowing slavery to spread North of the Missouri Compromise latitude line if popular sovereignty called for it. Popular sovereignty led to a series of deadly confrontations, known as Bleeding Kansas, between anti-slavery Free-Staters and pro-slavery Border Ruffians. In an attempt to establish Kansas as a free state, anti-slavery organizations such as the New England Emigrant Aid Company convinced thousands of anti-slavery Northerners to settle in the new territory for the sole purpose of casting anti-slavery ballots. The Southerners viewed this as a threat to slavery and established their own counter movement. After the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the events that ensued, the Whig party disintegrated because the sectionalizing effects on slavery could no longer maintain a party comprised of those who were pro-slavery, anti-slavery, and indifferent to slavery. Thus, Bleeding Kansas effectively split the nation into two major political parties: the Republicans in the North and the Democrats in the South. The Republican Party was composed of former Whigs and members of other anti-slavery parties, such as the Liberty Party. Most members of this party were anti-slavery who held a moderate view that failed to classify them as abolitionists. They were opposed to the expansion of slavery and called for Congress to prevent the further expansion of slavery into new territories. They believed that by confining slavery to its current boundaries, it would gradually be eradicated. The formation of the Republican Party was one of the primary reasons of how the political landscape changed in the Union. Throughout this time, the North was growing rapidly due to its industrial economy. They had more railroad mileage, industry, income, population, and ultimately more representation in Congress. In addition, the South was subject to high tariff laws that made it very hard for southern farmers to trade internationally. The result was a strong centralized government in the North, and an agrarian culture in the South that was solely dependent on slavery. Any attack against the institution of slavery in the South could potentially disintegrate the states in the South. In 1859, this fear became a reality as John Brown, an extreme abolitionist, led a raid on at Harpers Ferry. Although this uprising was brought down and denounced by Northern Republicans, slave owners believed that all abolitionists and Northerners shared the same radical views as John Brown. With the emergence of new political parties and the growing support for the Republicans in the North, the campaign of 1860 was the major turning point in the political atmosphere. In May of that year, Abraham Lincoln was nominated at the Republican National Convention as the presidential candidate. The Republican platform had moderate anti-slavery views and endorsed means of promoting industry. The Democratic Party, on the other hand, continued to support their doctrine of popular sovereignty. However, Northern and Southern Democrats interpreted this notion independently. Northern Democrats assumed that under popular sovereignty, slavery would not expand because Free-Staters could quickly settle in the West and thereby claiming the land as free. Southern Democrats assumed the same principle, except instead of free settlers, slaveholders would be able to quickly settle in new territories with their slaves and claim the land as slave territory. This ultimately resulted in the schism of the Democratic Party. At two separate conventions, the Northern Democratic wing nominated Stephen Douglass and supported the doctrine of popular sovereignty, while the Southern wing nominated John Breckinridge and supported the notion that slaveholders were allowed to bring their slaves and claim the land as slave holding. To make the campaign of 1860 more complicated, another political party took its roots, namely the Constitutional Union Party. Composed of conservative members of the Whig and Know Nothing Parties, they nominated John Bell as their presidential candidate. This led to essentially two separate elections: Lincoln versus Douglas in the North, and Breckinridge versus Bell in the South. Perhaps the most controversial issue was the fact that although Lincoln did not appear on the ballot in most Southern states, he was declared the sixteenth President despite not carrying a single southern state. This indicated that the national political system was failing and that the South no longer had an influential role in the government. Despite Lincoln’s assurance that it was not his policy to abolish slavery, Southerners referred back to Harper’s Raid and failed to eed Lincoln’s message. This drastic shift in political atmosphere following the Compromise of 1850 and the 1860 Presidential election resulted in the inability to accept any compromises. The South believed they no longer had a voice in the government and believed that this would inevitably lead to the abolishment of slavery by the Northern majority in Congress. The South was dependent on slavery for income, so they could not afford to switch to a system of free labor. The Crittenden Compromise is a prime example of how a Northern, anti-slavery view rejected any compromises made by the South. Evidently, this led to the secession of Southern states. Northerners and Southerners were able to accept compromises made regarding slavery prior to the Presidential election of 1860. However, as the Northerner’s fear of a slave power rose so did the Southerner’s fear of a centralized government that would abolish slavery. Events like Bleeding Kansas and Harper’s Raid increased tensions between slaveholders and non-slaveholders. In the end, they realized that slavery could no longer remain issue that could be compromised on. In 1845, the Republic of Texas was annexed and admitted to the Union as the 28th state. Following the Mexican War, the issue of slavery in the newly acquired land caused fierce debates among politicians. Southern Democrats were heavily influenced by Manifest Destiny, and hoped acquire new slave-owning territory, while those in the North feared the rise of a Slave Power. The House of Representatives passed the Wilmot Proviso, which stated that slavery was prohibited in any territory acquired from Mexico. However, the Senate failed to pass the proviso due to an overwhelming pro-slavery opinion. wever, Senator Stephen A. Douglas passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 and consequently repealed the Missouri Compromise by allowing slavery north of the latitude line. The notion of popular sovereignty led to a series of deadly confrontations, known as Bleeding Kansas, between anti-slavery Free-Staters and pro-slavery Border Ruffians. In an attempt to establish Kansas as a free state, anti-slavery organizations such as the New England Emigrant Aid Company convinced thousands of anti-slavery Northerners to settle in the new territory for the sole purpose of casting anti-slavery ballots. The Southerners viewed this as a threat to slavery and established their own counter movement. Initially, the Border Ruffians won the election and drafted a pro-slavery constitution for the territory of Kansas. In response, Free-Staters drafted the Topeka constitution and formed a shadow government. In 1857, another constitutional convention met and drafted the Lecompton Constitution, which was heavily opposed by abolitionists. This eventually gave way to the Wyandotte Constitution, which was ultimately approved by the Senate and admitted Kansas as a free state. The unfailing anti-slavery voice in Kansas Election of Lincoln (republican, northerner, antislave person) = south would lose more power in congress Less population in south = less representation Shifting political landscape any territory above this line was prohibited to have slavery. Territories south of this line were permitted to have slaves. This was evident when a compromise was made in 1860.

Studying Two Alan Bennett Monologues Essay Example

Studying Two Alan Bennett Monologues Paper A monologue is a play with a single performer. The word monologue is of Greek origin and comes from mono-logos. Mono means word of one person and logos means voice hence monologue, one voice. Alan Bennetts work is impressive and his understanding of characterization is second to none. He has an ability to capture the life- styles and backgrounds of the characters he creates. The language of each character brings forward clichi s that can be humorous although in my view this might not have been always intentional. In carrying out my research I found an article in The Times Newspaper where Alan Bennett recognized that although he calls this work a series of monologues they could be plays. In fact, two of his monologues have been lengthened to enable them to be performed in the theatre. The article also stated that they could, equally well, be called short stories, for although none has a conventional short story construction, each has a plot, of sorts. It is a measure of Bennetts skill with language, that all of the scripts establish detail, plot and development of character. A Lady of Letters We will write a custom essay sample on Studying Two Alan Bennett Monologues specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Studying Two Alan Bennett Monologues specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Studying Two Alan Bennett Monologues specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Patricia Routledge was cast in the BBC production to play Irene Ruddock, a middle aged woman who writes letters. We soon discover that what she regards as her public responsibility has in the past turned into libel. As a result legal action has been taken against her and she has been bound over to keep the peace by a court for writing invasive and offensive letters to her neighbours. Irene Ruddock is a lonely and sad woman. The death of her mother had a deep effect on her life and writing letters is in a way her escape route for loneliness and a lack of friends/family. Her letters include writing replies to circulars and even a letter to the Queen about dog droppings! It starts to become really serious when she writes to her neighbours believing that they were abusing and neglecting their child. This is based on her prejudice towards the parents, for example she is disgusted by the fact that he has a tattoo and the kiddy looks filthy. Although Irene realizes that she may need help and visits the doctor she neglects to take the medication. Her local vicar also has little influence on her. Eventually Irene is cautioned by the police and informed that the child has died of leukemia. She is prosecuted and given a suspended sentence and assigned two social workers, who try to encourage her to join the community. Her response is to write another series of letters about the local community policeman and the lady at No. 56, which land her in prison. Prison life dramatically changes Irene because she has now found the friends and companionship she had longed for in the outside world. Irene making friends in prison is surprising because she is now mixing with people who were the victims of the letters she used to write. The strength of the monologue comes from a malicious trouble maker who finally becomes a liberated woman. It is ironic that for Irene prison is for her freedom. A Cream Cracker under the Sofa Thora Hird in the original BBC production plays Doris, a fiercely independent woman. While carrying out housework she severely injures herself. She tries to attract attention and when a policeman knocks on the door she decides to turn him away. Doris refuses to consider moving to an old peoples home where everyone smells of pee. Although one should feel sorry for Doris it is difficult to do so given her obsessions with hygiene. This monologue and the revelations about Doris and Wilfred the baby which wasnt fit to be called anything and which was wrapped up in newspaper as if it was dirty is much more shocking than A Lady of Letters. Doris has a very old fashioned outlook on life, she remembers the world when people were clean and the streets were clean. Doris is a very strong-willed woman. It is ironic therefore that to be saved she must admit that she is unable to look after herself, because she does not realise this she would rather die on the floor of her home than go to aold folks home. Talking Heads My research established that Alan Bennett believes forms. dictate themselves and that material demands to be written in a particular way and no other. Each of his characters, according to the author has a single point of view and none is telling the whole story. He says that his characters are artless and dont quite know what they are saying. This is in my view very much about the conventions he establishes. It seems to me that Alan Bennett writes very realistically. The actors speak directly to camera and alone. It is as if the audience is not watching as far as the speaker is concerned. In some ways this is like a catholic confession. The characters reveal themselves to be what they are. The writer assumes that you understand the characters emotions and you can relate to them in some way or another. The writer also assumes that you care about what happens to the characters. The BBCs approach to televising Alan Bennetts plays for television was in many ways to keep their theatrical presence although they were recorded in a television studio. The BBC broadcast them in the late 1980s; they received great public and critical acclaim because of their portrayal of human endeavour. Thora Hird won a BAFTA in 1988 for her performance as Doris in A Cream Cracker Under the Sofa and won three more awards for performances in Alan Bennett monologues, Two BAFTAs and one EMMY. These monologues were among Alan Bennetts first to be produced and broadcast. One of the challenges in televising a monologue is keeping the audiences attention as monologues are not always visually entertaining. In the programmes the directors use a close-up camera shot when the character is talking about something important. For example, in The Lady of Letters when she talks about the visit from the police when Irene states the line: No. Leukaemia The technique of mid-shot and close-up is used throughout. The music in the monologues is very fitting and allows the audience to appreciate the different moods of the play. The music is in the minor key throughout most of the monologues, demonstrating how depressed and miserable the characters sometimes are. The music is introduced to create atmosphere when something particularly emotionally stirring or dramatic is occurring. The music is also used to link the end of scenes and the fades to black. However, silence also is used to highlight different parts of the play. When the actors say important lines there is a silence for a few seconds before music is brought back. This allows the audience time to assess the dramatic effect of the play. There are several set changes in both monologues. The Lady of Letters starts off in Irenes house, in a dull plain room with just a desk and a window. The walls are plain and white with no form of decoration. The lack of decoration might suggest her lack of interest in the inside of her house; she is more interested in what is outside. After a short period of time she moves to an armchair to read the paper, yet she is still in view of the window. In the middle of the monologue there is an end of scene in which Irene is leaving her house and putting her coat on. The only other set change in A lady of Letters is when she is sent to prison. The prison walls have a plain industrial pattern and a reinforced window to prevent the inmates escaping. The sets in A Cream Cracker under the Sofa do not change very often. At the beginning of the monologue Doris is sitting in an armchair in her main room. In the room is a fireplace. When Doris tries to go and make a cup of tea she is unable to do so and ends up on the floor by the fireplace sitting next to the wedding photo she cracked. Doris attempts to make it to the door to get help. This is when the next scene change occurs. Doris ends up seated on the floor in front of the door. Later on as the monologue draws to a close Doris manages to drag herself back into the living room in which she started the monologue. The main setting of a Cream Cracker under the Sofa is Doriss main room. This room is full of furniture and is very out of date. I think this is linked with the fact that she is trapped in the past by her views of people and her obsession with hygiene. In a monologue, normally you do not see the plot happening directly. It happens, then the character tells you about it. The only exception of this in the two monologues is at the end of A Cream Cracker under the Sofa. When the police officer approaches the window you actually see Doris turn down the officers help. Fading to black is used to differentiate between two different time periods and to change the set, for example in A Lady of Letters after Irene says the line: He needs reporting (when referring to the police officer who is having an affair with the woman down the street) It fades to black and comes back with Irene in prison, this shows it is used as both a change of time and place. In the monologues the character is always talking to the camera and almost always looking straight into the camera. This makes it seem as if the character is talking directly to the viewer and I think this helps the viewer to understand their choices and opinions better than if they were not talking to the camera. One becomes almost like the characters diary. I think this because they tell you everything, yet you play no part in the plot or their life. The two monologues vary in the use of humour. A Lady of Letters subject matter uses humour effectively whilst A Cream Cracker under the Sofa has little humour. The situation of an old woman alone and in pain, condemning herself to death leaves little to laugh about. However a few moments for example are when Doris is lying distressed on the floor and a young boy enters her garden and she sees him spending a penny she says: The cheeky monkey. Hes spending a penny. Hey. Hey. Get out. Go on. You little Demon. Would you credit it? Inside our gate. Broad day light. The placell stink. Also Doris states: They ought to get their priorities right. They want learning that on their instruction course. Shouting about Jesus and leaving gates open. Its hypocrisy is that. It is in my book anyway. Love God and close all gates. Most of the comedy in the two monologues is ironic humour. Irony is when the character says something then something happens that completely contradicts what they said for example, when Irene says: Prison, they have it easy, television, table tennis, art. Its just a holiday camp, do you wonder theres crime? Then when she is sent to prison she enjoys it, this is ironic. The settings in both monologues are similar yet subtly different. For example they both start off in rooms that are old fashioned, but they are old fashioned in different ways because they are from different generations. Both the rooms have a focal point that is involved in the plot and the character concentrates on it. In A Lady of Letters it is the window. Irene is near a window for almost the whole of the monologue this is because she is observing the social life of her community rather than taking part in it. In A Cream Cracker under the Sofa the focal point is the fireplace. Doris injures herself while trying to dust it, she ends up next to it when she tries to go and make a cup of tea. Windows are also key in A Cream Cracker under the Sofa. Through the windows Doris sees the little boy spending a penny and the police officer coming to help her. There is a wide variety of connection between the two monologues. They both are about women who are trapped in some way. Irene is trapped by her anti-social letter writing and her lack of friends. You know that Irene has a lack of friends because she calls her pen a real friend. Doris is trapped by her obsession with hygiene and her old fashioned views. You can tell that Doris is obsessed with hygiene because she talks about how she had an argument with her deceased husband Wilfred about having a tree in the garden she says: Given the choice Wilfred Id rather have concrete. He said concrete has no character. I said, Never mind character, Wilfred, Where does hygiene come on the agenda? With concrete you can feel easy in your mind This extract shows just how obsessed with hygiene Doris is and how it rules her decisions and her life. Another extract that demonstrates how obsessed with hygiene she is, is when she and Wilfred have a discussion about getting a dog: Hairs all up and down, then having to take it outside every five minutes. Wilfred said he would be prepared to undertake that responsibility. The dog would be his department. I said, Yes, and whose province would all the little hairs be? What they both need is friends and family, to distract Irene from the goings on of her neighbours and to stop her from sending letters and to give Doris companionship. Both monologues are about two women who are living by themselves and they both have lost a loved one, Doris her husband and Irene her mother. Each monologue makes you feel sympathetic towards the characters involved because of the ordeal they have been through. At the end of A Lady of Letters you feel happy for Irene because of her new found friends. At the end of A Cream Cracker under the Sofa you are not sure if you should be happy for Doris because she avoids being sent to the old peoples home (Stafford House), or if you should feel sad for her because she dies. The monologues have quite similar structures. Both the monologues start off in mid conversation leaving the audience confused as to what is happening and what the character is talking about. They also both finish with a summing up line. For A Lady of Letters the finishing line is: and Im so happy The last line in A Cream Cracker under the Sofa is: Never mind. Its done with now, anyway. Both these lines give the audience a look at how the character views her decisions and their outcome. The language used by the characters and written by Alan Bennett is quite varied and it is like a real conversation. It is not like someone is reading from a script. It is as though they are really making it up as they go along, because Alan Bennett has written in thinking time and pauses for contemplation. The language that is used is the kind of language that women of those ages would be using. I noticed that the two characters speak quite similarly and have a similar vocabulary of words; for example, they both refer to children as Kiddies.