midsummer nights dream :: essays research papers

As the play opens, the reader is told the setting and basis of the play and this is that the Duke, Theseus, is going to marry the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta, in five days time. Also Shakespeare also tells of most the characters in the play to set up who will be in the play. In the beginning of the play Hermia is brought to the Duke by her father Egeus to be judged, but this brings upon a problem considering that Hermia is already in love with Lysander despite her fathers disapproval. Egeus wants Hermia to marry Demetrius and if she does not she will die unless she wants her whole life to be lived by one of a virgin. From this Hermia decide to run away to the woods outside of Athens where they can be happy. When Hermia and Lysander run off into the woods, where Helena follows for she hopes that she can change Demetrius’ mind upon choosing Hermia as his wife and Demetrius also follows knowing that Hermia and Lysander have run there. In these woods live a group of fairies and a group of men who are practicing for a play they are to perform. In the group of fairies there includes the fairy king Oberon, his queen Titania, and his servant Puck. Oberon and Titania are not on the best of terms over an Indian prince given to Titania by the prince’s mother. With this Oberon sends Puck to go forth and retrieve a flower that is spread over a sleeping persons eyelids, when the person awakes they will fall in love with the first person that is seen upon awakening. When Puck retrieves the flower Oberon tells him to spread the flower over Titania’s eyes, but also to spread it on Demetrius’ eyes after seeing how he treats Helena. Puck spreads the flower on Titania’s e yes, but accidentally spreads the flower on Lysander’s eyes thinking this is the Athenian man that Oberon was referring to.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Lysander awakens, the first person he sees in Helena and he falls madly in love with her despite his love for Hermia and Helena believes that Lysander is merely putting on an act to mock her for her undying love for Demetrius. Puck realizes what he has done and tries do undo his mistake that night, but instead makes both Demetrius and Lysander falling madly in love with Helena.

Liberal Equality: America Living Up to the Ideal Over Time Essays

To what extent has the US realized its liberal ideals in practice, both historically and in contemporary times? Not every essence of liberal thought got put into American practice. The founders conceived of universal male suffrage, as long as the males were not slaves, and not women. Race and sex inequality would continue a long way into the future, and are indeed still sorting out today. However, the rights laid down by the founders would later be applied to these â€Å"minority† groups, and as such are vital to understand. The roots of the country delve deeply into liberal thought, and within these liberal thoughts is the idea that all people should be equal before the law and equal in the voting booths, where they can then make their own decisions and pilot their own destiny. To ask what liberal ideas the United States has followed and espoused is to ask the question, what are the liberal ideas? Generally, then, people point to the Bill of Rights, which lays down what things are allowed, such as free speech and the right to bear arms. People turn to these guaranteed rights all the time when arguing their actions. However, more philosophically, the framework of the American liberal tradition is the Declaration of Independence. Therein lays the famous line: â€Å"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.† All of America’s classical liberalism begins there. However, this had its own roots in earlier traditions and political discourses. John Locke said that a man has â€Å"by nature a power, not only to preserve his property, that is, his life, liberty, and estate... ...wing all to vote and limiting all to the same laws. As King said, â€Å"A just law is a code that a majority compels on a minority to follow that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal.† The only way to guarantee the creation of such laws is to allow the minority to have access to the vote, not just the majority. Alone, a majority will look out only for its own good; if the minority has a public voice, it can call for moderation, compromise, and equality. Inequality still exists in the true workings of the people, although not in law. However, it is slowly ending; my generation was raised in schools that finally taught that all men and women are created equal before the law, and in more biologic ways as well. We are all the same race, we are all human, and to abridge some is to harm the whole. Someday, full equality will be realized by all in America.

The Kite Tunner

In The Kite Runner, even though Hassan remains loyal, forgiving, and good natured, he is still the character who suffers the most. Hassan is a character who is discriminated against from the start of the book, till the very end. He is a part of a poor ethnic group called Hazaras whom are considered victims in the Afghan society. Amir and Hassan are half brothers, but because Hassan was a Hazara, he grew up in a hut as a servant working for his own father. Hassan understands his inferiority and accepts it, which causes other people to take advantage of him by betraying him. For example, even though Hassan always stood up for Amir, Amir left Hassan to get raped. Hassan was too scared to stand up for his best friend and believed that Hassan is sacrificing himself for Amir. Not only was the rape an attack physically, but it is also an attack on the victim’s emotions and dignity. In the Kite Runner, Hassan suffers the most pain both physically and mentally by living his life being betrayed, discriminated and losing his family. To start off, Hassan is a poor ethnic Hazara, he is considered inferior to the Afghan society, and therefore is discriminated throughout the whole novel. For example, Hassan and Amir both have the same rich father, but because Hassan was illegitimate and was a Hazara, he grew up as a servant in his father’s hut. With this in mind, Hassan is discriminated by everyone even his own family even the ones who Hassam didn’t even know was his family. Discrimination is so significant in his life that he has accepted the fact that he was born to be hated for his appearance. Hassan’s biological father Baba lies to Hassan and doesn’t even tell him that he is his real father. Despite the fact that Hassan gets discriminated upon, he still remains loyal and forgiving. Another example would be when the Taliban wanted Baba’s house and when they found out that Hassan and his wife were kuvubg u but alone, they wouldn’t listen to him when he tried to explain that Rahim Khan was the owner and they were waiting his return. The Taliban of course shot Hassan and his wife leaving Sohrab alone. The Taliban who show Hassan and his Wife were dismissed from their trial because they said it was self defence. They were dismissed because they have no proof that the Hazaras attacked the Taliban because no one would stand up for Hazaras. With this in mind, Hassan has died In addition, despite the fact that everyone knows that Hassan is good natured, he still is betrayed many times in the story mostly by his best friend Amir. In detail, Amir treats Hassan unfairly even thought he knows that Hassan will be good about it. For example, Amir left Hassan to get raped by Assef in the alley Hassan taught him incorrect meaning of words. Even after Amir betrays Amir, Hassan continues to serve him. and abandoning him even though Hassan saved him countless amounts of time. Amir only does this because When Assef asked Amir why he’s friends with a Hazara, Amir said that he’s his servant and nothing more. Amir didn’t know that Hassan was his half brother, which leads Amir to take advantage of Hassan. Rape is one of the events in the story that happens to Hassan that makes him suffer the most. In this story, rape is not just physically violent, but it is also an attack on the victim’s emotions and dignity. The fact that Hassan didn’t resist just proves his role in society and how he accepts punishment that is given upon him. The rape proves that he doesn’t care about his own suffering Lastly, Hassan suffers by losing the people who were once family to him. Hassan suffers because his half brother Amir is the reason why Hassan and Ali left the house. In fact, Hassan has it tougher than Amir from the beginning. Not only did he lose his mother, his mother rejected him at birth. Sanaubar had taken one glance at the baby in Ali's arms, seen the cleft lip, and barked a bitter laughter. [†¦ ]. She had refused to even hold Hassan, and just five days later she was gone. (29). This event has left Hassan motherless ever since birth. He is separated from his beloved Amir and Baba whom he spent his whole life with. Another example would be when his mother left and rejected him at birth

Hnc Social Care Loss & Grief

Loss is something we all share and experience in life. There are different types of loss which affect our everyday lives, emotions and relationships. If our attachment is strong then we will feel stronger emotions. The complexity of our attachment will also dictate how we move through our grief. Grief has several components: physical, behavioural, emotional, mental, social and spiritual. Looking at an anticipated death for example when someone is terminally ill planning can be made well in advance of the loss happening. We may then experience anticipatory grief. This type of grief gives the bereaved an opportunity to gain closure. The bereaved would still feel emotions of fear, anger, guilt, sadness, blame and possibly denial. It can also have physical aspects such as upset stomach and shortness of breath. The impact of loss can also have cognitive responses like forgetfulness, lack of concentration or poor sleep patterns. However anticipatory grief gives the bereaved an opportunity to come to terms with the situation gradually, being able to attempt to start dealing with life without their loved one. Also they have the chance to say goodbye, thank you and I love you which can help with the process of healing after the death. Also with an anticipated death the person who have been diagnosed has a chance to prepare by arranging the funeral, having last requests and ensuring loose ends are tied so there is no problems with the will or assets after their death. All these things will have an effect on the bereaved loved ones and make the impacts of loss less harrowing once they have gone. In an unexpected death for example a heart attack, the impacts of the loss are intensified because there is no opportunity to prepare for the loss, say good bye. This type of loss can produce intense grief which would trigger emotions of shock, anger, guilt, sudden depression, despair and hopelessness. This could then begin erratic behaviour fearing for the worst and/or suffering from nightmares. The suddenness of the death could also mean the deceased has left unfinished business with the will which family members need to handle and this can put a further strain on already fragile relationships. Sudden deaths can cause a loved one to question their whole belief system as they try to come to terms with their loss. Two examples of a type of loss not associated with grief could be: A loss of employment could affect an individual because they then have a reduction in income and possibly not afford to keep payments on the mortgage therefore losing the family home. The financial strain could also mean less money is being spent on basic needs such as food, affecting the individuals physical well being, Emotionally the individual could suffer from a low self esteem, lack of confidence and a depreciating value of self worth. It could also lead to high levels of anxiety wondering when another job will come up. Additionally this could lead to stress and cause problems within close family relationships. These effects could be magnified if it is the main bread winner in the family who has lost their job. A second loss which is not associated with grief could be loss of an individual’s independence. I am familiar with a case where a boy who had been living freely at home was then moved into residential care. The impact of this loss on the said individual was feelings of confusion, anger and fear. He developed behavioural issues and problems sleeping due to the stress of the change. He felt trapped and unable to make basic decisions. It was only through lots of discussion and encouragement that trust was able to be developed. This individual was also going through emotions of abandonment and loneliness. I can relate John Bowlby (1986) theory in the above example of lost independence. Bowlby describes loss in three phases Protest, Disorganisation and Restructuring. The first phase Protest is made of emotions such as sadness, shock and disbelief. Appetite and sleep can also be disturbed at this stage according to Bowlby. In the incidence I spoke of the boy displayed these emotions. During the second stage disorganisation signs of despair, depression and withdrawal become apparent. In the incidence above the boy had stopped being social and was finding it difficult to sustain relationships with people in his life he was portraying social isolation. This took him onto Bowlby’s third stage restructuring where new levels of attachment are being formed and new interests, The boy developed trust and new relationships with his carers and starts to function in his new life. I am going to use Dr E Kubler Ross (1969) five stage model in relation to anticipated death. Dr Ross does state not everyone who experiences a life threatening or a life changing event goes through all five stages. Reactions to illness, death or losses are unique to such individual, The five stages in the Kubler-Ross Model is Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. Denial, when an individual maybe says things are going to be all right and pretend they are ok with the news of finding out they have a terminal illness. This then swiftly moves onto anger and could wonder why them? Why now at this time? Bargaining, searching for some type of hope. Then comes depression, wanting to stay away from loves ones and not discussing the illness realising the certainty of death. Which leads on to acceptance ready to face decisions and discuss, plan the death or ready to fight it and work towards recovery if possible? It is important to remember that these five stages may not necessarily be completed in chronological order nor may an individual go through all five stages. In relation to an unexpected death I have looked at Colin Murray Parkes (1996). Murray Parkes believes people have phases to go through in order to end the grieving process. He states the four phases are Numbness, Searching and Pinning, Depression and Recovery. During the numbness stage the bereaved carries on as normal in denial this way keeping themselves away from the pain and the grief of mourning, especially if the death is sudden and/or traumatic. Murray Parkes states these factors can affect a person’s grief response thus being the detriments of grief. This stage could last a long time as the bereaved may not be ready to adjust or move on. The last theorist I am going to use is Maslow hierarchy of needs 1943 in relation to loss of employment. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid, with the largest and most fundamental levels of needs at the bottom and the need for self actualisation at the top. Maslow theory suggests an individual’s basic needs must be met before they have the desire or ability to meet the rest. If an individual has lost their job it could lead to the loss of basic needs such as food or shelter due to no income. This also affects your security and well being, leading to relationships in the family suffering and low self esteem. References Bowlby John (1980) Attachment and Loss Volume 3 Loss Sadness and Depression, New York, Basic Books College Notes Loss and Grief Janet Miller and Susan Gibb (2009), Care in Practise for Higher, Second Edition, Paisley, Hodder Gibson Kubler Ross (1969) On Death and Dying, Routledge Margaret S Stroebe and Wolfgang Stroebe (1993) Theory Research and Intervention, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press Neil Thompson (2002), People Skills, Second Edition, Hampshire, Palgrave MacMillan. Rudi Dallos and Eugene McLaughlin, (1991) Social Problems and the Family London, Sage Publishers.

Burdens of History Essay

The British imperial history has long been a fortress of conservative scholarship, its study separated from mainstream British history, its practitioners resistant to engaging with new approaches stemming from the outside – such as feminist scholarship, postcolonial cultural studies, social history, and black history. In this light, Antoinette Burton’s Burdens of History: British Feminists, Indian Women, and Imperial Culture, 1865-1915 represents challenges to the limited vision and exclusivity of standard imperial history. Burton’s Burdens of History is part of a budding new imperial history, which is characterized by its diversity instead of a single approach. In this book, the author examines the relationship between liberal middle-class British feminists, Indian women, and imperial culture in the 1865-1915 period. Its primary objective is to relocate â€Å"British feminist ideologies in their imperial context and problematizing Western feminists’ historical relationships to imperial culture at home† (p. 2). Burton describes Burdens of History as a history of â€Å"discourse† (p. 7). By this, she means the history of British feminism, imperialism, orientalism, and colonialism. Throughout the book, the author interposes and synthesizes current reinterpretations of British imperial history, women’s history, and cultural studies that integrate analyses of race and gender in attempts at finding the ideological structures implanted in language. In this book, Burton analyzes a wide assortment of feminist periodicals for the way British feminists fashioned an image of a disenfranchised and passive colonized female â€Å"Other†. The impact of the message conveyed was to highlight not a rejection of empire – as modern-day feminists too readily have tended to assume – but a British feminist imperial obligation. According to Burton, empire lives up to what they and many of their contemporaries believed were its purposes and ethical ideals. Burton based her book on extensive empirical research. Here, she is concerned with the material as well as the ideological and aware of the complexity of historical interpretation. Backed by these, the author particularly examines the relationship between imperialism and women’s suffrage. Burton brings together a remarkable body of evidence to back her contention that women’s suffrage campaigners’ claims for recognition as imperial citizens were legitimated as â€Å"an extension of Britain’s worldwide civilizing mission† (p. 6). Centering on the Englishwoman’s Review before 1900 and suffrage journals post 1900, the author finds an imperialized discourse that made British women’s parliamentary vote and emancipation imperative if they were to â€Å"shoulder the burdens required of imperial citizens† (p. 172). The author shows in Burdens of History how Indian women were represented as â€Å"the white feminist burden† (p. 10) as â€Å"helpless victims awaiting the representation of their plight and the redress of their condition at the hands of their sisters in the metropole† (p. 7). Responding both on the charge that white feminists need to address the method of cultural analysis pioneered by Edward Said and the imperial location and racial assumptions of historical feminisms, Burton explores the images of Indian women within Victorian and Edwardian feminist writing. In her analysis, the author argues that Indian women functioned as the ideological â€Å"Other† within such texts, their presence serving to authorize feminist activities and claims. By creating an image of tainted Oriental womanhood, and by presenting enforced widowhood, seclusion, and child marriage as â€Å"the totality of Eastern women’s experiences† (p. 67), British feminists insisted on their own superior emancipation and laid claim to a wider imperial role. However, while feminists persistently reiterated their responsibility for Indian women, the major purpose of such rhetoric was to institute the value of feminism to the imperial nation. According to the author: â€Å"The chief function of the Other woman was to throw into relief those special qualities of the British feminist that not only bound her to the race and the empire but made her the highest and most civilized national female type, the very embodiment of social progress and progressive civilization† (p. 83). According to Burton, British feminists were, â€Å"complicitous with much of British imperial enterprise† (p. 25): their movement must be seen as supportive of that wider imperial effort. She sustains this argument through an examination of feminist emancipatory writings, feminist periodicals and the literature of both the campaign against the application of the Contagious Diseases Acts in India and the campaign for the vote. Indeed, the greatest strength of this book lies in the fact that Burton has made a n extensive search through contemporary feminist literature from a new perspective. In the process, she recovers some quite interesting subgenres within feminist writing. She shows, for instance, how feminist histories sought to reinterpret the Anglo-Saxon past to justify their own political claims and specifying some characteristic differences between explicitly feminist and more general women’s periodicals. Certainly, Burton’s survey establishes the centrality of imperial issues to the British feminist movement, providing a helpful genealogy of some styles of argumentation that have persisted to the present day. Burdens of History is a serious contribution to feminist history and the history of feminism. In conclusion, Burton states that British feminists were agents operating both in opposition to oppressive ideologies and in support of them-sometimes simultaneously, because they saw in empire an inspiration, a rationale, and a validation for women’s reform activities in the public sphere. Her arguments are persuasive; indeed, once stated, they become almost axiomatic. However, Burton’s work is to some extent flawed by two major problems. First, the author never compares the â€Å"imperial feminism†; rather she locates in her texts to other imperial ideologies. In addition, Burton does not subject imperialism to the same kind of careful scrutiny she turns on feminism. She does not define â€Å"imperialism† in her section on definitions, but uses the term – as she uses â€Å"feminism† – largely to denote an attitude of mind. Another problem is Burton’s failure to address the question of how feminist imperialism worked in the world more generally. It is true that feminists sought the vote using a rhetoric of cross-cultural maternal and racial uplift, however, one may ask: what were the effects of this strategy on the hearing accorded their cause, on wider attitudes toward race and empire, and, more specifically, on policies toward India? The author not only brushes aside such questions; she implies that they are unimportant. It seems that, for Burton, the ideological efforts of British feminists were significant only for British feminism. It can be argued that Burton’s difficulty in tracing the way Burdens of History works in the world is a consequence of her methodological and archival choices. The problem is not that the author has chosen to approach her subject through a â€Å"discursive tack† (p. 27), but rather that she has employed this method too narrowly and on too restrictive range of sources. While the author has read almost every piece of feminist literature, she has not gone beyond this source base to systematically examine either competing official documents, Indian feminist writings, or imperial discourses. Thus, Burton’s texts are treated either self-referentially or with reference to current feminist debates. Overall, Burton’s approach is useful in providing a critical history for feminism today, Certainly, it is as a critique of Western feminism’s pretensions to universal and transhistorical high-mindedness that Burdens of History succeeds. However, if one wishes to map out the impact of imperial feminism not only on feminism today, but also on imperial practices and relations historically, one needs a study that is willing to cross the border between political history and intellectual history and to take greater methodological risks.

The Vision Failed

The Vision FailedQuestion 1:If I were to consult with the HTE board of director soon after Harold started making changes, I would advise them, regarding the transformational perspective, to follow carefully how Harold is implementing these. In fact, to benefit from those changes and achieve Harold’s goal, the board of director should encourage him to adopt a transformational leadership.First of all, to be such a leader, Harold would have to be an example in the company. As a leader, he should inspire trust and communicate a clear vision on the changes he wants to make in the company and why. Moreover, those changes would rather emerge from the common interest and not from Harold only. The board should encourage Harold to review his vision with employees’ that inspire them.Then, I would explain to the board of director that a leader’s influence is inseparable from follower’s needs. Meaning that, all the changes, implemented by Harold, must be accepted by al l employees. I would advise them to warn Harold to take into account all employees’ needs and not favor some among others. Unfortunately, designing changes with only a few senior managers may have created a feeling of unfairness for those left aside. Consequently, they could be reluctant to the reorganization.Furthermore, the board should expect Harold to promote collaboration and rewards. As a result, employees would be able to innovate, improve their efficiency and commitment to work.To finish with, I would explain the significance of Harold’s behavior in order to achieve their goal because people are not always at ease with changes at work. They need someone to rely on to face their fear of uncertainty. That’s the role I would advise the board of director to help Harold with.Question 2:To answer the question, I think Harold had a clear vision for HTE but I assume he did not know how to implement it.As we can read in the case, Harold’s vision, was:† to prove new technologies  and advanced management techniques could make HTE one of the best manufacturing companies in the country†. We can say it is an â€Å"attractive, realistic, and believable future† (Bennis and Nanus, 1985). This clear vision is simple and understandable. In fact, it should create energy and motivation for the employees to take part in this change. Unfortunately, this vision did not come from the whole company but only from Harold. He chose to reorganize things that would more reduce employees’ efficiency than improve it. Because he did not take intoaccount all employees’ opinion he did not took the accurate decisions. As a consequence, it is challenging for the employees to support something they did not participate in. Over and above, the changes did not correspond to employees’ needs. They did not identify themselves in this vision and rather consider it as a forced change.Then, even if the vision seemed clear to Haro ld, his role in implementing it wasn’t a success. While Harold wanted to positively transform HTE the result was that the company felt apart. Harold lost his employees’ trust. They needed a sense of identity within the organization and a sense of self-efficacy (Shamir et al., 1993) that Harold did not clarify it. To finish with, the sentence â€Å"no one understood in which direction they were going† highlights doubts among employees. As a matter of fact, the vision was only correct and appropriate for Harold but he did not know how to shape the company’s future.Question 3: From my point of view, Harold wasn’t effective as a change agent or a social architect for HTE.In most cases, a change agent comes out as a strong role model for employees. They are the competent agent articulating the organization and expressing strong ideals. Harold failed this mission. He wasn’t able to fit together different parts of the organization. Whether Harold s hould have created trust and be predictable, he was a mystery and an arbitrary manager. In addition, to be a reliable change agent, they have to listen to followers and accept criticisms. Harold should have cooperated with his team for them  to trust him and believe in his ideas. On the contrary, at one point Harold appeared careless to employees’ concerns, which is the opposite behavior of an effective change agent.To continue, we should define a social architect: â€Å"This means they created a shape or form for the shared meanings people maintained within their organizations† (Peter G. Northouse chapter 9 â€Å"Transformational leadership p197). A social architect is also here to help people find their role in the new company’s identity. They need to understand how to contribute to the vision of the organization. Unfortunately employees lost this vision because of Harold actions. Employees couldn’t identify themselves to him and disconnected to HTE. They did not know which future, or new values and norms to expect for the company. Harold lost his employees whereas he was supposed to lead them into this transformation. To finish with, an active change agent, as a social architect, would appear effective by working with others by listening to them, encouraging them and celebrates their accomplishment. On the contrary, Harold often failed to listen to his employees ‘anxieties and misunderstood their needs.Question 4:If Harold had the chance to return as president of HTE, I would advise him to always take into account his employees’ needs.I would recommend Harold to build his identity as a leader using: – Idealized Influence: He should develop his charisma and act as a strong role model for employees. Harold must provide them with a sense of mission and reduce uncertainty. He would rather have evaluated impacts of changes before implementing them, by asking employees† advice.– Inspirational Motivati on: Harold’s behavior should inspire employees to commit themselves in the organization and achieve a common goal. Instead of appearing as an â€Å"enigma†, Harold may have gain to stick to his vision, to his statement as being a democratic leader and a hands-on manager instead of being arbitrary.– Intellectual Stimulation: I would advise Harold to encourage employees being creative and innovative in order to become the best manufacturing company in the country. By using employees’ ideas, Harold would implicate them in the implementation of changes. In other word, the  employees would become a part of the shared vision of the organization. Moreover, they would feel responsible for the success of this vision they contributed to create. Furthermore, they would develop their fullest potential in their work.– Individual Consideration: Harold could win followers by providing a supportive climate in the organization. Followers may need help in their pe rsonal challenges. They require someone to talk to and rely on.As a conclusion, I would remind Harold that change is a good thing but changing on your own won’t make any difference. Harold may have good ideas for the company but he necessitates to be followed by his employees. In fact, employees’ needs are inseparable from Harold success as a leader.

The Baron of the Separation of Powers

A French political thinker, Baron Montesquieu had various notable notions on society and politics but most remarkable would be his ideas on the separation of powers. Comparing the institutions of Great Britain with the more despotic institutions of the Bourbon monarchy of his age in France, as a case in point, Montesquieu in his Spirit of the Laws (De L’esprit des Lois 1748) explored what he posited to be a functional peculiarity of the British Constitution: the Separation of Powers.This analytical separation of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, and the necessary balancing of such is arguably the most notable contribution of the thinker Montesquieu to political thought and practice. Montesquieu is Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brede et le Montesquieu (January 18, 1689 in Bordeaux – February 10, 1755). This review of his life and key ideas is an important effort toward a better understanding of the development of democractic ideals and ideas.In the following essay, we shall endeavor to highlight the main points in the life of the thinker and the key notions that he explored and which earned him such distinction in political thought. Highlights of the Life of The Baron and Thinker. Montesquieu, as a product of the period of Enlightenment, articulated many seminal concepts in political philosophy and thought but he is most noted for the aforementioned notion of the separation of powers (Pangle, 75). His life was a narrative of political concern and privileged study.Before marrying one Jeanne de Latrigue, a Protestant, he was a student at the Catholic College of Juilly. This marriage is notable as it brought him a substantial dowry at the relatively young age of 26. On top of this, he reportedly inherited quite a fortune from an uncle, including the title Baron de Montesquieu. These, it appears, had afforded him the luxuries of a passion for social commentary and political thought (Shackleton, 16) By that time he was married and titled, England had been through its so-called Glorious Revolution (1688–89) and had declared itself a constitutional monarchy.Furthermore, England had by then joined with Scotland in the Union of 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. Then, in 1715, the Sun King, Louis XIV, was succeeded by a weaker monarch, Louis XV. Such developments meant a lot for the Baron as they are well noted in his writings such as in his magnum opus The Spirit of the Laws. The Spirit of the Laws was originally released in 1748 and, though published anonymously, quickly became popular among the commentators of the time.Notably, it got strong criticism from both supporters and opponents of the regime in France while the Roman Catholic Church banned it with the other writings of Montesquieu in 1751. However, in the rest of Europe, it received acclaim especially in Britain (Shackleton, 83). In the then formative Northern America, in the British colonies, Montesquieu was seen as an advocate of libe rty and is argued to have been the most often cited authority on politics (Lutz, 191). Montesquieu was able to travel throughout Europe including Austria, Hungary, Italy and England before resettling in France and eventually dying in 1755 and being buried in Paris.The Thoughts of Montesquieu. Echoed by the American calls for change at that time, Montesquieu's work was a great influence on many of the American Founders, such as James Madison. Montesquieu's proposition that â€Å"government should be set up so that no man need be afraid of another† reminded Madison and others that a free and stable foundation for their new national government required a clearly defined and balanced separation of powers — a theory merely implicit in Aristotle (Thackrah 188).It must be recalled here that the Greek Aristotle advocated a form of mixed government, or polity, in which all citizens’ rule and are ruled by turn’. Based on the belief in political obligation founded i n distributive justice — the principle uniting citizen to citizen and all to the state in which equals are treated equally — this idea of the separation of powers was given greater expression by James Harrington who, in the seventeenth-century, who, argued for a written constitution.John Locke, it must also be pointed out, suggested that liberties could be more easily protected and the social compact upheld more effectively by a separation of powers and introduced a notion that was to have radical influence through the systematic theory elaborated by Montesquieu (Thackrah 188). In his magnum opus, Baron Montesquieu expressed his belief that the English constitution epitomized the separation of powers. The English model could create an effective balance of powers within the state, avoiding the despotic tendencies inherent both in absolute monarchy and in government by the common people.Following Montesquieu, the three powers normally considered to be separable in the ex ercise of government are (Thackrah 188): 1. The legislative which formulates policy and enacts it as law; 2. The executive which carries policy into action; 3. The judiciary which applies the law according to rules of procedural justice and resolves disputes. Montesquieu argued that the sign of the despot was to subsume these powers under one and to hold that one power to himself. Despots and independent judiciaries do not go hand in hand. Montesquieu thus believed in the totality of separation of powers.The executive power should not be exercised by members of the legislature but by a monarch, subject to impeachment for actions performed ultra vires (Thackrah 188). The differentiation of powers is not clear in the Western world; for example, in Britain executive power lies with the cabinet which is formed from members of the ruling majority party in Parliament, i. e. , of the legislature, and which effectively controls the operation of Parliament. Guarantees of liberty contained in the British constitution cannot be attributed simply to a separation of powers.The American constitution does not separate the powers completely, nor indeed could it do so without destroying the necessary unity of government (Thackrah 188; Lutz 193). Government in the Western world at least would be impossible if the three powers ceased to function in unison. As Thackrah cited from Roger Scruton, a political lexicographer, â€Å"laws enacted by the legislature must applied by the executive, and upheld by the judiciary and if a judge acts ultra vires, it must be possible for he legislature to hold him to account and for the executive to remove him from office† (189).If all three braches were united under a single head, the opportunity for an act of government to go through rapidly would be very much greater than if three individuals or sets of individuals had to concur before that act went through: and so the separation of powers imparts a brake to the activity of government. When all three powers act in concert the matters go forward: let one of them refrain and nothing can go forward at all. This means delay. To be more specific, Montesquieu devoted four chapters of The Spirit of the Laws to a discussion of England where freedom or liberty was supposedly sustained by a balance of powers.His anxiety lay over his observation that in his France, the intermediate powers (that is, the nobility) which moderated the power of the prince were being eroded. It must be pointed out that Montesquieu's most influential work divided French society into three classes or trias politica (a term he coined): the monarchy, the aristocracy, and the commons. Montesquieu saw two types of governmental power existing: the sovereign and the administrative. The administrative powers included the legislative, the executive, and the judiciary.These should be separate from and dependent upon each other. This was very novel or radical in the sense that this did away with the feudali stic structure of the French model at the time. Finally, like many Enlightenment thinkers, Montesquieu posited many other intriguing ideas. He endorsed the idea that a woman could head government (but then she supposedly could not be effective as the head of a family). He accepted hereditary aristocracy but was an ardent opponent of slavery. Another one of his more notable propositions is that climate may influence the nature of man and his society.He in fact asserted that certain climates are superior to others as, for example, the temperate climate of France is supposedly ideal and such could affect political dynamics. His view in this regard has been referred to as being seminal in that it included material factors in the explanation of social dynamics and political forms (Althusser 102). The Thinker Lives On. Today, many governments, including ours, have been designed with concern for a separation of powers. It is without question one of the pillars of contemporary political pra ctice, given the primary importance that society gives to the notion of democracy.Democracy is seen as the practice of upholding the rights and interests of free peoples. Hence, so long as democracy lives, the thinker and his thoughts, Montesquieu and his thesis on the separation of governmental powers, live on. Works Cited Lutz, David. â€Å"The Relative Influence of European Writers on Late Eighteenth-Century American Political Thought,† American Political Science Review 78, 1 (March, 1984):189-197. Althusser, Louis. Politics and History: Montesquieu, Rousseau, Marx, NLB, 1972. Pangle, Thomas, Montesquieu’s Philosophy of Liberalism.Chicago: 1989. Person, James Jr. , ed. â€Å"Montesquieu† (excerpts from chap. 8) in Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800, (Gale Publishing: 1988), vol. 7, pp. 350-52. Shackleton, Robert. Montesquieu; a Critical Biography. Oxford: 1961. Schaub, Diana J. Erotic Liberalism: Women and Revolution in Montesquieu's ‘Persian Letter s'. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1995. Spurlin, Paul M. Montesquieu in America, 1760-1801. New York: Octagon Books, 1961. Thackrah, J. R. Politics. Oxford, London: Heinemann Publishing, 1990.