Thursday, October 31, 2019

African American Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

African American - Research Paper Example In response to that issue, a number of things were done such as the enactment of laws that prohibited the exclusion of African Americans from a number of important things. The constitution was amended to prohibit the state and national government from denying the United States citizens their right of voting on the account of color, race or earlier situations of servitude (Cross 6). This period is referred to as the progressive reforms. The spirit of reform got strength in the late 1800s and progressed in the early 1900s. The reformers also called progressives had confidence in their capability to enhance the quality of life and the government. In unit 2, the African Americans faced discrimination both in the South and North. Although they were officially free, the African Americans were out rightly deprived of their basic rights and they were restricted to citizenship of the order second class. The period also witnessed the rebirth of Ku Klux Klan in Georgia in 1915; Ku Klux Klan terrorized the African Americans during the Reconstruction. The new Klan wanted to reinstate the white Protestant America (Adams 630). In response to discrimination, the African Americans started fighting for equal opportunities. They were joined by other minorities who assisted the African Americans to battle for their own opportunities and justice. The African Americans had the quest to achieve equality and thus rose to the challenge of accomplishing it (Adams 631). The outcome of the fight was the development of a number of associations and organizations and success in a number of professional fields (Adams 632). In unit 3, the African Americans lived free of oppression and the period is referred to as the Great Migration. The social challenge at that time was the racial discrimination. Majority of the African Americans lived in the South and a bigger percentage of them worked in agriculture. In the

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

American Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

American Culture - Essay Example Gloria Anzaldua defines the â€Å"mestiza consciousness† as the transition from â€Å"convergent† to â€Å"divergent thinking† (16). It means that the Chicana should stop accommodating and integrating the dominating languages and sets of thinking of the white people, which is a â€Å"converging process,† and instead, they should express themselves according to their own language/s and experiences, which concerns divergent thinking and behavior. Language is a specific indicator of the â€Å"mestiza consciousness,† because Anzaldua asserts that it is unnatural for Hispanics to be always interpreting or translating themselves in English, when they would rather take pride in speaking, and hence, legitimizing, their wide range of languages, including Chicano-Texas Spanish, Spanglish, and other forms of combined or pure Hispanic languages (9). Anzaldua is concerned that the law has not properly accepted these languages as legitimate, with the constant use of English in laws and social institutions. She mentions the difference between natural and unnatural geographic borders that impact Mexicans’ cultural development. The ocean acknowledges natural borders, while the U.S. has erected unnatural borders to keep out illegal immigrants. Unnatural borders intend to keep out the â€Å"other† race, which is an effort to maintain policing racial relations. Furthermore, as American citizens, who are supposed to be equal with the whites, Anzaldua emphasizes the importance of not allowing the state to dictate the Chicana’s linguistic and individuality development. Somerville and Discussions of Sexuality and Race Siobhan B. Somerville examines sexuality and race in light of the history of sexology in the United States and the rise of eugenicist and antimiscegenation attitudes and legislation in the essay, â€Å"Scientific Racism and the Invention of the Homosexual Body.† As the nineteenth century ended, sexologists wa nted to define and examine sexuality using medical discourse, instead of legalistic terms, which was the practice during that time (18). Somerville emphasizes that from here, the discourse on scientific racism developed, where the â€Å"homosexual† body is invented based on both gender and racial lines. These studies, for instance, highlighted the biological, sexual differences between white and black women, where the latter were separated from the former through their â€Å"remarkable development of the labia minora† (26). This emphasis demonstrated how racial differences lead to â€Å"peculiar† sexual boundaries and that this peculiarity also affected attitudes toward the colored races (Somerville 26). During this time, eugenicist and antimiscegenation attitudes also abounded. Eugenics lamented about the rise of mixed races (i.e. mulattos) and immigration, because it diluted the white stock. Eugenics promoted â€Å"selective reproduction† (30) to purify the white race once more. Anti-miscegenation laws were then enforced levels of racial segregation at marriage and intimate relationship levels. Plessy v. Fergusson, for instance, is based on racial discrimination that focuses on sexuality, because it imposes racial purity through physical segregation of the races (Somerville 37). Hence, it can be seen that the state used the law to impose racial discrimination based on primitive assumptions about race’s impact on sexuality and human behavior. Alexander: Heteropatriarchy, Heteronormativity,

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Politics and government

Politics and government ‘Politics is synonymous with government and government alone. Discuss. Political analysts have long since been obsessed with the analysis of government in order to understand politics and even that government is politics. Hay admits, â€Å"political science is the rigorous and dispassionate science of government.† (Hay, 2005) I believe that although there is obviously a strong connection between politics and government they have been pushed far too close together in their understanding, to the extent that some declare them as one and the same, or synonymous. As Leftwich and Held put it, â€Å"By focusing on governmental institutions, the discipline of Politics marginalizes and provides little basis for understanding the very stuff of politics, that is, those deep-rooted problems that actually face us all daily as citizens.† (Leftwich and Held, 1984) There are an enormous number of definitions and variations on those definitions for the terms ‘politics and ‘government. Depending on which are taken there can be arguments for and against politics being synonymous with government. For example Leftwich says that politics can be seen as, â€Å"the process of governing† (Leftwich, 2004) and Heywood says, â€Å"It is possible to have governance without government.† (Heywood, 2000) In light of this I feel it is necessary to start the discussion by pinning down a relevant definition for both terms and investigating how these terms interact with each other. Following with a look at how politics can exist in the public and private spheres as well as within civil society whereas government is confined to the public sphere and banished from civil society. I shall then turn my attention to the claim that politics is synonymous with government ‘alone. I will explore the idea that a government can exist without po litics, that politics can exist outside the reach of a government and even that politics is the seed from which government grows. From here I will move on to analyse the use of the word ‘synonymous in the given statement. I will argue that to pronounce politics as synonymous with government, which is to say it is interchangeable or even one and the same as government, is to use the wrong terminology. I will use the global issue of the environment to support why the word synonymous is inappropriate and suggest more appropriate language to describe the relationship between the two concepts. In order to analyse the connection between politics and government it is first vital to have an agreed definition of both concepts. Starting with the concept of government Crick offers us a broad definition, â€Å"Government The organization of a group of men in a given community for survival.† (Crick, 2005) We find a more explicit definition from Heywood, â€Å"Government is commonly understood to refer to the formal and institutional processes which operate at the national level to maintain order and facilitate collective action. The core functions of government are thus to make law (legislation), implement law (execution) and interpret law (adjudication).† (Heywood, 2000) From this we can take that there are some central elements that a government requires such as, a governing body; some source of income (taxation); a currency, i.e. a treasury and banking system; courts and a legal system to see that the laws are applied; a method of enforcing laws (police); and a m ilitary force to defend the interests of the government. If we apply these fundamental criteria of ‘government to ‘politics we can see that none of them are crucial for the existence of politics, therefore ‘politics cannot be synonymous with, or one and the same as, ‘government. Following on from this the question arises, if politics doesnt need these criteria to exist then what does it encompass? In its broadest sense Heywood describes politics as, â€Å"The activity through which people make, preserve and amend the general rules under which they live.† (Heywood, 2005) Hay (2005) gives a list, albeit non-exhaustive by his own admission, of twelve different ‘senses of the term politics. He notes that some of these define politics as narrow and some as broad; he also draws a distinction between politics as a function, process or arena. I will look at four of these definitions and apply them to the relationship between government and politics. In the first sense politics is seen as â€Å"Any and all social interaction occurring within the sphere of government.† (Hay, 2005) This is a very narrow definition and defines politics independently of content and only as the arena in which it occurs; in this sense politics and government are indeed synonymous. This has been a popular way of defining politics as it had, â€Å"the appeal of identifying unambiguously a set of political issues and a set of non-political issues.† (Hay, 2005) It also helped in defining political science as a, â€Å"field of scientific inquiry† (Hay, 2005) However ‘arena definitions of politics have become unpopular as they fail to acknowledge political issues that have yet to register on legislative agendas, Hay gives the example of, â€Å"the feminist concern with the patriarchal character of the nuclear family.† Hay, 2005) The fourth sense is, â€Å"Politics as the noble art of preserving a community of citizens (the ‘republic) through the construction, pursuit and defence of the common or public interest.† (Hay, 2005) and is an example of politics as a function in which it specifically ensures, â€Å"The common or collective interest of the community.† (Hay, 2005) It could also be said for this definition of politics that it is also narrow but again provides a close synonymity with government. The third sense provides us with a view of politics as a process, â€Å"Politics as a public and formal set of processes and rituals through which the citizens of a state may participate, often at arms lengt h, in the process of government.† (Hay, 2005) Yet again this is a narrow explanation of politics and once more runs, more or less, parallel with the idea of government. It is towards the broader end of Hays list where we finally find sufficiently broad in context, but narrow in content, definitions of politics which allow a presentation of the disparity between politics and government. â€Å"The ‘Political as an adjective to describe the motivations of participants and non-participants in a range of both formal and informal, public and private, processes where such motivations are political to the extent to which they reflect or express a view as to the legitimacy of the process.† (Hay, 2007) This brings to light how politics can exist in both the public and private spheres whereas government can only be located in the public sphere. Mnookin differentiates between what encompasses each sphere, â€Å"Activities that are presumptively outside the legitimate bounds of government coercion and regulation (the private sphere) and those where government has a legitimate role (the public sphere).† (Mnookin, 1982) And then as Hay and Marsh note when defining politics as a process, â€Å"‘The political may occur in any institutional and social environment, however mundane, however parochial.† (Hay and Marsh, 1999) This then touches on another area in which politics exists and government does not, civil society. Civil society is made up of civic and social organizations and institutions, Grugel cites Walzer as defining civil society as referring, â€Å"to the space between the individual and the state.† (Grugel, 2002) and furthers this by adding, â€Å"Civil society is crucial for democracy because it is the space between the public and private spheres where civic action takes place.† (Grugel, 2002) The main role of civil society is to hold the state, or government, accountable and to promote individual interest which may be seen as apolitical, pre-political or just totally overlooked by the state. Here we find our first indication that although intrinsically linked politics and government are also very much separate. Perhaps it can be said that if not synonymous with government politics could be synonymous with something else. The most likely candidate may well be that of power, which can be broadly defined as, â€Å"The ability to achieve a desired outcome.† (Heywood, 2000) This, it could be said, is the end goal of politics, as Leftwich and Held say, â€Å"politics is about power; about the forces which influence and reflect its distribution and use; and about the effect of this on resource use and distribution; it is about the ‘transformative capacity of social agents, agencies and institutions: it is not about Government or government alone.† (Leftwich and Held, 1984) If we look now at how politics can exist exclusively of government we first turn to Heywoods fourth notion of politics in which â€Å"politics is about power: the ability to achieve a desired outcome, through whatever means.† (Heywood, 2005) From this we can identify that there are certain activities in the world that can lend themselves to the debate on the relationship between government and politics. On the contemporary world stage, especially since the terror attacks in 2001 and 2005 in the U.S, and U.K. respectively, there has been a great focus on terrorism and its related activities. Terrorism can be identified as a political tactic and in recent times has become a tool used by political groups all over the world. Many acts of terrorism have a political purpose, for example the attacks on the World Trade Centre in both 1993 and 2001 were political attacks on the part of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda. This has particular relevance to the relationship between politi cs and government as al-Qaeda openly have a political agenda yet crucially are not connected to any government. This would indicate that politics and political activity can, and do, exist outside of government. Consequently if politics exists separately outside of government then logically it cannot be synonymous with government. There can also be evidence for the existence of government without politics. As Crick writes, Aristotle believes that when a polis, which can be defined in modern terms as a community, becomes unified it ceases to be a political community. Crick supports this by stating, â€Å"Politics arises from accepting the fact of the simultaneous existence of different groups, hence different interests and different traditions.† (Crick, 2005) If we scan for a ‘unified community that has a ‘government we can find examples in dictatorships; a dictator makes the decisions and everyone else ‘agrees or is made to ‘agree. As U.S. General George Patton once said, â€Å"When everyone agrees, someone is not thinking.† So in a dictatorship there is no politics, as there is no need for conciliation between groups, but a government does exist. This adds more evidence to the case that politics is not synonymous with government otherwise politics would have to exist with in a dictatorship where it simply does not. So if it cannot be said that politics is totally synonymous with government yet there is clearly a high degree of interconnectedness between them, what is the best way to conceptualise their relationship? I suggest that the connection they share is that of ‘logical progression. We have seen, with the example of terrorism, how politics can exist without government, we have also seen how government can exist without politics using dictatorships as an example and we can take it as read that they can exist together given the numerous examples worldwide such as the U.K. or U.S. It is this cohabitation though that I will use to show that the term synonymous is an inaccurate way to describe the relationship between politics and government. In most, if not all, cases of politics and government existing in the same state or community, it seems that politics came first and laid the seeds for government to follow and not vice versa . I will take the issues of the environment to look close r at this claim. The heavily amplified focus on all things environmental e.g. carbon footprints and global warming, over the past few years has been clear for everyone to see. One of the interesting things this has thrown into the political arena is global communities lobbying around political issues and the resulting effects on governance around the world. Some, including Clark et al (1998), say that a global civil society is slowly emerging through the increasing size, diversity and networking of international non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) â€Å"We do find evidence that the construction of a global society is under way but is far from complete.† (Clark et al (1998). The most recent boom of environmental lobbying, it can be said, has come about due to the effects of globalization, as Eigen states, â€Å"Thinking in historic dimensions, civil society is a fairly new force on the global landscape.† (Eigen, 1998) Issues that were previously thought of as local are becoming far more easily identifiable as spanning regions, countries and even the globe. The size, cause and effect of these environmental issues is also far more transparent than ever before, this has come through the increase in technologies, not least the internet, and their power to shrink the world. More people can interact with a larger number of people and have more access to a greater amount of information than ever before. Now that small groups of people can be members of political communities or NGOs that span countries, continents and the globe, there became a requirement for some sort of increased governance above the state in reaction to the pressure of the lobbyists. O ne of the main organizations to deal with international governance is the United Nations (U.N.) and so it is them who have been at much of the forefront of interaction with, and the progression of, international NGOs. Along with governmental changes at the international level, such as, â€Å"New rules facilitating NGO access and participation [at U.N. conferences]† (Clark et al 1998) international NGOs have affected changes at a domestic level also. In October 2008 the U.K. government created a new department entitled ‘The Department of Energy and Climate Change in order to address the energy and environmental issues being raised by the global community. One of their three overall objectives is to, â€Å"achieve an international agreement on climate change at Copenhagen in December 2009.† This refers to the U.N. Copenhagen Climate Conference at which world leaders will gather to discuss and, hopefully, come to some decisions on the actions that can realistically be taken to combat global climate change. This shows that international NGOs and international communities have caused a rise in the level of governance and government activity on the domestic and world stage. Thus an increase in ‘politics has led to the growing and even emergence of ‘government activity. This supports the theory that politics comes before, or at least progresses, government when they co-exist in a community. Government is the logical progression of politics. As I have tried to show it can be claimed that politics is synonymous with government, but only if particular definitions are used, definitions that many would argue to be out of date and largely unattached to the contemporary way of thinking about real world politics. After this I very briefly touched on the concept of power and how it is possibly a more suitable candidate to be described as synonymous with politics. I have also demonstrated how politics can exist separately to government using the example of terrorism and specifically the terrorist group al-Qaeda. Along side this I explained how, in certain situations such as dictatorships, government can be present without politics by its side. This was followed closely by a look at how the term synonymous fails to wholly capture the type of relationship that exists between the concepts of government and politics. There was then a suggestion of an alternative term, ‘logical progression, which attempts to unravel the complica ted links between politics and government. I think it would be detrimental to politics to couple it so closely with government that they become all but interchangeable terms. This is not a slight on all things governmental but rather recognition that the disillusioned public can only become more disenchanted and cynical towards politics if a clear distinction is not made between it and the seemingly ever more ‘untrustworthy and ‘elite world of ‘The Government. Bibliography Clark, A.M. et al (1998) The Sovereign Limits of Global Civil Society: A Comparison of NGO Participation in UN World Conferences on the Environment, Human Rights, and Women, World Politics, Vol. 51, No. 1, 1-35. Crick, B. (2005) In Defence of Politics (Fifth Edition), Continuum. Department of Energy and Climate Change (2008) About Us [online] Available: http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/about/about.aspx [accessed 14 November 2009] Eigen, P. (1998) The Role of Civil Society, in UNDP, Corruption and Integrity Improvement Initiatives in Developing Countries, 83-89. Gamble, A. (1990) Theories of British Politics, Political Studies, Vol. 38, 404-420. Gibbs, J. (1989) Conceptualization of Terrorism, American Sociological Review, Vol. 54, No. 3, 329-340. Grugel, J. (2002) Democratization: A Critical Introduction, Palgrave Macmillan. Hay, C. (2002) Political analysis: A Critical Introduction, Palgrave. Hay, C. (2007) Politics, Participation and Politicization, Why We Hate Politics, 61-85, 165-166, Polity Press. Hay, C. and Marsh, D. (1999) Introduction: Towards a new (international) political economy? New Political Economy, Vol. 4, No. 1, 5 22. Heywood, A. (2000) Key Concepts in Politics, Palgrave Macmillan. Leftwich, A (2004) Thinking Politically: On the Politics of Politics, What is politics? : The activity and its study, 1-22, Polity Press. Leftwich, A. and Held, D. (1984) A discipline of politics? What is Politics?: the Activity and its Study, 139-159, W. Heffer Sons. Mnookin, R. (1982) The Public/Private Dichotomy: Political Disagreement and Academic Repudiation, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Vol. 130, No. 6, 1429-1440. Saurin, J. (1996) International relations, social ecology and the globalisation of environmental change, The environment and international relations, Vogler, J. Imber, M. (eds.), 77-98, Routledge Steinberger, P. (1999) Public and Private, Political Studies, Vol. 47, 292-313. von Bà ¼low, M. (2009) World leaders: Legally binding treaty out of reach in Copenhagen [online] Available: http://en.cop15.dk/news/view+news?newsid=2599 [accessed 16 November 2009] von Bà ¼low, M. (2009) The essentials in Copenhagen [online] Available: http://en.cop15.dk/news/view+news?newsid=876 [accessed 16 November 2009]

Friday, October 25, 2019

Lewis Carrolls Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Essay -- Alice Wonder

Lewis Carroll's Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Philosophy – a subject that had driven people insane for as long as humans know their history. All the time people try to find a meaning, and later controvert it. For example, critics view a novel by Lewis Carroll Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, as a quest for maturity story, Carroll’s view on Victorian Society and even existential meaning on life. All of those interpretations come from philosophical â€Å"drive† of the critics. The truth is that anyone can point a finger at the book and come up with their own â€Å"deep† meaning of the story, but if one looks at facts, well known, and obvious things – it is clear that the story is simply a children tale intended for entertainment and nothing more. Of course there is no sure way to prove that Carroll did not intend any deeper meaning into the story, after all, he was a mathematician and a man of great knowledge of children (19th Century Literature Criticism 105), but lets take a look at the most obvious fact – the time, place and audience of the original story of Alice in Wonderland. Here are the words of Lewis Carroll as he recalls that day: Full many a year has slipped away, since that â€Å"golden afternoon† that gave thee birth, but I can call it up almost as clearly as if it were yesterday – the cloudless blue above, the watery mirror below, the boat drifting idly on its way, the tinkle of the drops that fell from the oars, as they waved so sleepily to and fro, and (the one bright gleam of life in all the slumberous scene) the three eager faces, hungry for news of fairyland, and who would not he say ‘nay’ to: from whose lips ‘Tell us a story, please,’ had all the stern immuta bility of Fate! The â€Å"three eager faces† Carro... ...per and deeper for an idea. Works Cited: Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland & Through The Looking-Glass Signet Classic New York, NY 1960. Cohen, Morton. Lewis Carroll: A Biography Alfred A. Knopf New York, NY 1996. England in Literature: MacBeth Edition: Teacher’s Supplement Chapter 8, â€Å"Alice in Wonderland† 144-146. Scott Foresman & Co. 1973. Gattegno, Jean. Lewis Carroll: Fragments of a Looking-Glass â€Å"Alice† and â€Å"A Carroll Chronology† 4-27. Thomas Y. Crowell Co. 1973 New York, NY. Hudson, Derek. Lewis Carroll â€Å"Alice† 124-149. Folcroft Library Editions 1976. Kelly, Richard. Lewis Carroll â€Å"Alice† 78-97. U of Tenn. Twayne Publishers, G. K. Hall & Co. Boston, Mass 1977. Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism, Vol. 2 â€Å"Lewis Carroll (1832-1898)† 105-121. Rackin, Donald. Alice’s Journey to the End of Night 132-143 MLA 1966.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Bees Affected by Cell Phones Radiation Essay

Bees are vanishing and cell phones are everywhere†¦there definitely could be a link. The Institute of Science in Society delivered a press release in April 2007 saying â€Å"one likely culprit of [CCD] is a new class of systemic pesticides, which are not only sprayed on crops, but also used universally to dress seeds in conventional agriculture, and can confuse and disorientate bees at very low concentrations† although â€Å"another candidate is a radiation from mobile phone base stations that has become nearly ubiquitous in Europe and North America where the bees are vanishing; this possibility is considerably strengthened by preliminary findings that bees fail to return to the hives if cordless phone base stations are placed in them.† The following experiment may prove that it is all about the wireless phones: Researchers at Landau University in Germany designed a simple experiment for students on the Environmental Science course. Eight mini-hives, each with approximately 8 000 bees were set up for the experiment. Four of them were equipped with a DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunication)-station at the bottom of the hive, and the other four without the DECT-station served as controls. At the entrance of each hive, a transparent plastic tube enabled the experimenters to watch the marked bees entering and leaving the hive, so they can be counted and their time of return after release recorded for a period of 45 minutes. The experimenters also studied building behavior by measuring the area of the honeycomb and its weight. In the course of the experiment, three colonies exposed to mobile phone radiation and one non-exposed control colony broke down. The total weights of the honeycombs in all colonies, including those at the time of breakdown were compared. The controls weighed 1 326g, while those exposed to the DECT-stations weighed only 1 045g, a difference of 21 percent. The total area of the honeycomb in the controls was 2 500, compared to just 2050 in the exposed hives. But it was the number of returning bees and their returning times that were vastly different. For two control hives, 16 out of 25 bees returned in 45 minutes. For the two microwave-exposed hives, however, no bees at all returned to one hive, and only six returned to the other. The article continues, saying: Clearly the present findings need to be taken much further, but their significance should not be downplayed for a number of reasons. The findings are compatible with evidence accumulating from investigations on many other species including humans, showing that mobile phone radiation is associated with a range of health hazards including cancers. Furthermore, bees are known to be extremely sensitive to magnetic and electromagnetic fields, and there have been many suggestions that they could be used as an indicator species for electromagnetic pollution.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Circe and Nausicaa in the Odysseys Essay

These four characters all have the same role within the Odyssey and the Aeneid as they are all put in place as obstacles to the hero’s quest. Odysseus and Aeneas both have arduous journeys to undertake and these characters are simply temptresses, there to prevent the heroes from fulfilling there quests and in my opinion pose a greater threat to the completion of the journeys then the physical dangers both heroes have to endure. However although within these epics the characters have negative roles to play they themselves are victims of fate. Without each heroes underlying mission spurring them on it is reasonable to assume each of these women would have a good chance of having a long-term relationship with either Odysseus or Aeneas (indeed each character with the exception of Nausicaa engage in a brief relationship with the hero of there respective epic) and the fact these relationships have to be discontinued or unexplored seems unfair to the so called ‘temptresses’ and therefore causes the reader to evoke sympathy for the characters. These women, although play identical roles, are in very different circumstance and are very different characters and therefore the level of sympathy we feel for them varies and I believe it is fair to say that it is Dido we feel the most sympathy for: An important feature of why we feel so much sympathy for Dido is the fact we learn so much of her background. In book 1 of the Aeneid we find out Dido is an exile from her home city of Tyre after her brother Pygmalion killed Dido’s husband Sychaeus ‘In blind lust for his gold’ (Sychaeus was apparently ‘the wealthiest of the Phoenicians’). Dido, by the advice of her dead husband, rounds up the men ‘driven by savage hatred or lively fear’ of Pygmalion and sets sail for a new home. This background is important as it gives the reader a sense of attachment with the character that doesn’t seem to apply to the other characters, the fact that Dido has such a troubled past means we sympathize with her from a very early stage, which makes her ultimate down fall even more tragic i.e. this is a character we know rather then an other faceless characters that is sacrificed for the quest (such as Palinurus and Elpenor). The female characters of the Odyssey just don’t come with this tragic background; The knowledge the audience would have of Calypso’s and Circe’s background would be through legend, which regardless of how tragic some legends may be, are fantastical, which means the audience wouldn’t relate to them like they would Dido’s background and doesn’t give the goddesses the sense of vulnerability you get with Dido. Nausicaa is a young princess of Phaeacia, so although her background isn’t mention in any great detail in the odyssey, as the princess of a paradise it is unlikely to be negative. Another impotent sympathy factor is the characters motivation for falling for their respective hero. Calypso and Circe have the least sympathetic motives as they are simply looking for a companion (a modern phrase we would use is trophy husband) and as goddesses have more then likely had many companions before Odysseus. Nausicaa simply has a crush on Odysseus, and therefore her emotional attachment to him is not very high, the fact they never engage in a relationship also means their attachment isn’t as matured as the other characters. Nausicaa and Dido do have one thing in common however as they are both victims of divine intervention. Nausicaa’s intervention by Athene (improving his appearance) however is not as direct as the intervention Dido endures (being forced into love by Cupid); as a result the audience doesn’t get the same sense of the cruelty of fate with Nausicaa that we get for Dido. Probably the most important aspect of the characters for which evokes our sympathy is the aftermath of being let down by our heroes. Although Dido is the only character whose plot continues after the hero leaves we can still make an educated guess as to what would happen to the other characters. Circe and Calypso are both goddesses and are likely to find other companions after Odysseus, both as goddesses are in control of there emotions when meeting Odysseus which means they should be much more composed upon his departure (the fact Calypso takes Odysseus against his will shows she should foresee possible heartbreak in the future). Nausicaa as a young girl is much more vulnerable to heartbreak however as a young girl she has her whole life a head of her which means she is much more likely to find another man, and the fact no commitment is made means she is simply loosing a crush apposed to a lover which means her heartbreak will be less then that of the other characters. Dido as the most vulnerable (lost her husband and livelihood) has the furthest to fall, and assuming the educated guesses as to the outcome of the other characters are correct, by committing suicide Dido suffers the worst fate by far. Book 4 of the Aeneid dictates the devotion and downfall of Dido; Dido lets her civic duties slide due to the distraction of Aeneas and the City of Carthage’s construction grinds to a halt. Dido states in her speech to Aeneas that her people have lost all respect for her, and as a result she feels the only way to regain some respect is to kill herself. Book 4 could almost be a tragic play; Dido’s hubristic act of sleeping with Aeneas before marriage leads to her catastrophic downfall; a downfall which can be said to be entirely down to the cruelty of fate and the gods. Dido is the most vulnerable with the most too loose, and as far as we know comes to the worst end so for me is far more sympathetic a character then the female characters of the Odyssey.