Porters Five Forces Analysis and Strategic Group Analysis

Porters Five Forces Analysis and Strategic Group Analysis Porters Five Forces Analysis and the Strategic Group Analysis. The aim of this research is to critically evaluate the combination of two business strategy techniques; Porter’s Five Forces Analysis and the Strategic Group Analysis. The essay will often refer to these terms and it will be therefore pertinent to clarify these at this early stage. Current issues in the business world will also be identified and related to the theory. Limitations of these techniques will be outlined and conclusions drawn. Porter’s Five Forces Analysis is based on the concept that the key objective for any organisation should be to gain advantage over its competitors, it is not the industry that an organisation is in that counts, but where it wants to compete in terms of the nature of the competition. This competition is provided by the nature of the rivalry between existing firms, the threat of potential entrants and substitutes and the bargaining power of both the suppliers and buyers (Lowson, 2002). Strategic groups have been defined by Finlay (2000) as groups of business that are likely to respond similarly to environmental changes and be similarly advantaged/disadvantaged by such changes. Porter (1980, taken from John et al, 1997), suggests that an industry could have only one strategic group if all the firms followed essentially the same strategy. At the other extreme, each firm could be a different strategic group. Evaluation of analysis techniques Porter’s Five Forces model has been identified as a powerful tool for systematically diagnosing the principal competitive pressures in a market and assessing how strong and important each one is (Thompson and Strickland, 2003). Barriers to entry, identified as one of the five forces, presents five structural determinants that affect a company’s ability to enter new markets; economies of scale, product differentiation, government as with taxi licences for example, favourable access and capital requirements (Bowman, 1998). The economies of scale, which is a benefit gained from large scale production will keep costs down and ultimately low prices too. Product differentiation will allow keeping customers loyalty and switching costs and an appropriate example of this would be the new electric car introduced by Toyota. It can also be suggested that advertising campaigns may also be considered as an entry barrier. The existing markets will be able to raise product awareness while new entrants will less likely be able to meet the costs involved in doing so. Backwards vertical integration may also be identified as a possible entry barrier. The bargaining power of both suppliers and buyers and also the threat of substitutes; the extent to which there are products/services which are close substitutes for the product/services of the industry in question, are also considered as part of the five forces. The retail industry, and in particular the food sector, is currently faced with the problem of high power of buyers and the lack of suppliers power. According to Rigby (2005), â€Å"suppliers are receiving insufficient government protection from the market power wielded by supermarkets. The failure of the Code of Practice reflects the market power that consumers have delegated to them en masse†.    Bowman (1998) also suggests that the Five Forces model allows firms to rate the strength of each of the five forces so that they can focus their attention on the main competitive aspects. As noted by Fleisher and Bensoussan (2003), Porter’s fifth force, competitive rivalry, is also an element addressed by the strategic group analysis where it considers competitive rivalry and how this force both impact and it is impacted by other four forces. Porter (1980, taken from Bowman, 1998) suggests that the level of rivalry, the actual competition between existing producers, varies according to a number of factors. The market structure for example will be a major determinant in the intensity of rivalry. In a monopolistic market for example, where one firm has the total control of the market, quality, availability, price but mainly product differentiation will be a priority. In relation to this it must be noted that an article by Business World (2005) suggests that the law concerning the abuse by companies of dominant market positions will be reviewed and ultimately changed in the near future. On the other hand, firms operating under conditions of oligopoly may find cons iderable variation in the identity, number and size distribution of competitors internationally, as for example Burger King and McDonald (John et al, 1997). The slow growth of demand, or a declining demand, the high fixed costs involved that do not vary with the level of outputs, are also factors which will ultimately impact on the level of rivalry. It has been noted that the Strategic Group analysis is a technique used to provide management with information in regards to the firm’s position in the market and a tool to identify their direct competitors. The Five Forces industry analysis will form the first step in this process. After having identified the forces, the major competitors in the industry based on competitive variables will also be outlined. Competitors will then be divided into strategic groups based on similarities in strategies and competitive positions. As suggested by Thompson and Strickland (2003), one thing to look for is whether industry driving forces and competitive pressures favour some strategic groups and hurt others. Firms will most likely try to shift to a more favourable situated group, and how hard such a move proves to be, will depend on whether entry barriers for the target strategic group are high or low. It is also important to mention that although some companies operate in the same marke t they are not necessarily direct competitors as this will be determined by the size or market position for example. Strategic group analysis allows managers to identify direct competitors that are of a similar size and range and focus on remaining competitive in order to survive in the ever changing market. At the same time, BMI British Midland, according to an article by Done (2005), will be entering the long-haul market from London Heathrow for the first time, becoming the third UK long-haul carrier out of Heathrow, intensifying competition with British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. These three airlines are competing â€Å"head to head† to win more traffic rights to different destinations and those that are in the same market and not looking at options will more likely be left behind. The Five Forces analysis and Strategic Group analysis are very useful business tools however they both present some limitations that will now be considered. Lynch (2003) suggests that although Porter’s five forces model is a useful early step in analysing the environment, it has been subject to critics. The model assumes a classic perfect market and it assumes that organisation’s own interest come first. This however may not be appropriate if applied to charitable institutions or government bodies. The assumption that buyers and suppliers power is a threat to the organisation might also be incorrect as some companies have recently seen the benefits in working closely with suppliers. The analytical framework is essentially static, whereas the competitive environment in practice is constantly changing. In relation to this, it may be added that a PEST and SWOT analysis may also be useful tools to use when analysing an organisation. PEST analysis considers the external political, economic, social and technological factors that will have an impact on the organisation, encouraging thinking more broadly about environmental influences on the firm, while the SWOT analysis considers the internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats (Bowman, 1998).   Ã‚   As also noted by Recklies (2001) the model is best applicable for analysis of simple market structures. A comprehensive description and analysis of all five forces gets very difficult in complex industries however a too narrow focus on particular segments of such industries, on the other hand bears the risk of missing important elements. Another limitation of Porter’s model  is that it assumes that companies try to achieve competitive advantages over other players in the markets as well as over suppliers or customers. With this focus, it dos not really take into consideration strategies like strategic alliances that in today’s market are very common. As suggested by Thompson and Strickland (2003), not only can alliances offset competitive disadvantages or create competitive advantage but they can also allow firm’s to concentrate more on the mutual rivals than towards one another. The strategic group analysis provides a good framework for management to be aware of their direct competitors and one analytical tool that is useful for comparing the market positions of each firm separately or by grouping them into positions is the Strategic Group Mapping. This tool however does not as such, show how in reality an organisation can maintain or even gain competitive advantage over its rivals (Thompson and Strickland, 2003). It would be therefore suggested that Porter’s Three Generic Strategies, whereby organisations can gain competitive advantage over their rivals either by offering lower prices than competitors for equivalent products or providing unique benefits that more than offset a higher price, should also be adopted to complement other organisational analysis. Porter also suggests that firms should pursue a generic strategy and only concentrate on one of these, instead of trying to pursue all of them risking failure (Porter, 1985:3). An example of a successful company adopting cost leadership is Ryanair that has clearly prioritised the strengthening of its strategic position in the market over short-term profit maximisation. It is using its cost leadership position to drive prices even lower so as to increase the financial pain on higher cost competitors (Mattimoe, 2004). The combination of these two strategy techniques is fundamental for a business looking ahead in the future and trying to remain competitive in the ever changing external environment. Other analysis techniques such as PEST and SWOT, Three Generic Strategies could also be used to compliment the two discussed business tools. Conclusion It can be construed that Porter’s Five Forces analysis and the Strategic Group analysis are very useful business tools that allow management to identify their position in the market. It was noted that Porter’s Five Forces analysis assumes that the key objectives for any organisation is to gain competitive advantage over its rivals, while Strategic Groups were defined as groups of business that are likely to respond similarly to environmental changes. The Five Forces presented some structural determinants such as the economies of scale, which are the result of large scale production, government intervention as with patents and licences, and product differentiation. In a monopolistic market, price, quality, availability and product differentiation are the priority, while in an oligopoly market price tends to be the main determinant. It was also noted that these two techniques for analysis are very useful business tools however they both present some limitations. The Five Forces model could be used for simple market structure however a comprehensive description and analysis for complicated markets may not be ideal. The model also regards buyers and suppliers power as a threat for the organisation, however it was noted that companies have recently seen the benefits in working closely with suppliers. It was also suggested that an organisational analysis should include a PEST and SWOT analysis to consider with a broad view the external and internal factors that may affect the business future performance. Finally it was also suggested that a firm, as per Porter’s view, should aim to follow one of the Three Generic Strategy, and in particular either cost leadership as per Ryanair’s example or product differentiation. Bibliography Bowman, C. (1998) â€Å"Strategy in practice†, Harlow: Prentice Hall Business World (2005) â€Å"EU to curb abuses by dominant companies†, 11 Mar, p1 Done, K. (2005) â€Å"BMI enters long-haul Heathrow market†, Mar 10, p1 Finlay, P. (2000) â€Å"Strategic Management: An Introduction to Business and Corporate Strategy†, Harlow: Prentice Hall Fleisher, C. and Bensoussan, B. (2003) â€Å"Strategic and competitive analysis: methods and techniques for analysing business competition†, Prentice Hall John, R., Ietto-Gillies, G., Cox, H. and Grimwade, N. (1997) â€Å"Global Business Strategy†, Thomson Business Press Lowson, R. H. (2002) â€Å"Strategic Operations Management: The New Competitive Advantage†, London: Routledge Lynch, R. (2003) â€Å"Corporate Strategy†, 3rd ed. Harlow: Prentice Hall Mattimoe, J. (2004) â€Å"Ryanair Plc†, 27 May, Irish Equity Research Porter, M.E. (1980) â€Å"Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors†, New York: The Free Press Porter, M.E. (1985) â€Å"Competitive Advantage†, New York: The Free Press Recklies, D. (2001) â€Å"Beyond Porter-A Critique of the Critique of Porter†, Recklies Management Project GmbH, Available from: www.themanager.org   Rigby, E. (2005) â€Å"Reform of code for big stores would aid suppliers†, Financial Times, 7 Mar, p1 Thompson, A.A. and Strickland, A.J. (2003) â€Å"Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases†, 13th ed. McGraw-Hill References Egan, C. (1995) â€Å"Creating Organisational Advantage†, Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann Grant, R.M. (2002) â€Å"Contemporary Strategy Analysis: Concepts, techniques, applications†, 4th ed. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd Miller, A. (1998) â€Å"Strategic Management†, 3rd ed. McGraw-Hill Swaan Arons, H. and Waalewijn, P. (1998) â€Å"A Knowledge Base Representing Porter’s Five Forces Model†, Erasmus University Rotterdam Tilson, N. (2005) â€Å"Blueprint to boost business unveiled†, Belfast Telegraph, 9Mar, p1

Factors that influence public trust in government Essay

Trust is an intricate interpersonal as well as organizational construct, which occurs when parties who have certain favorable perceptions of each other allow this relationship to develop and reach the expected levels. Trust is an effective way through which social, economic and political relationship transaction costs can be lowered . In political arena, citizens may either be trusted or distrusted in their capacities to choose elected officials or support for a variety of public policies based on the evaluation of citizen’s competence to make decisions in this domain. Government officials, on the other hand, may be trusted or distrusted in coming up with and implementing public policy, based on the expectations of knowledge as well as the expertise of the officials involved in the policy making process. There is a large proportion of the U. S population that continues to distrust the government in spite of the presence of an assortment of programs aimed at restoring public trust in government . Lack of trust in government by the people is strongly associated to the way people feel concerning the overall state of a country. Read more:Â  Influences that affect children’s development essay Even though personal satisfaction is slowly increasing and confidence in local and national government is increasing due to presence of a thriving economy, restoration in addition to maintenance of public interest remains a major and challenging objective . Regardless of the fact that the national mood and trust in the government have increased since the mid 1990s, a considerable proportion of the United States citizens is still highly unsatisfied with the status of the nation, an aspect that lowers their trust in government . Besides persistent worry concerning the moral health of American society, a factor that lowers the satisfaction of the people to the state of the nation, lack of contentment with the honesty of the elected officials is another major factor that leads to distrust of government. A variety of ethical concerns are now lowering the positive attitudes of the American people towards the government. Dissatisfaction with political leaders is one of the most important factors that result in lack of trust in government by the people . This is due to the numerous criticisms of the way politicians, who form the functional part of the government, carries out their duties. However, there is no clear indication that discontentment and distrust with the government are near a crisis phase . The public desire to be served by government officials has remained steady for more than three decades. Distrust and discontentment with the government has not resulted in disregard for nation’s laws. It also does not erode patriotism or discourage public officials from carrying out their duties. Even in times when public trust in government has gone down, a percentage of the population still recommend a government job to their children. Lack of trust in government does not imply that the public is angry at it; rather it implies that the level of frustration emanating from poor delivery of services by government officials is very high. Increase in the level of frustration deteriorates the quality in addition to the nature of dialogue between the Americans and their leaders. Factors that influence public trust in government Lack of trust in government by the people is one disastrous factor that can negatively impact on the functioning of the government. This is due to the fact that numerous governmental activities call for cooperation between the government and the people. Without the cooperation of the people, it would be totally impossible for the government to implement some policies . Besides challenges in implementation of policies, distrust in government has got other adverse consequences. Some of these negative consequences are that voter turnout during presidential elections has become significantly low . In democratic nations, the trust of the people in government is a major factor that contributes to the growth of economy in addition to providing a base on which political leaders can make rational decisions. The magnitude of public trust in government influences the ability of the government to generate the revenue required to support public programs . However, it can also be considered as disastrous factor for people to totally trust the government without questioning its operations. Putting total trust in the government may result in the government degenerating into making ineffective and bad policies. In a number of studies conducted by the Pew Research Center for The People and The Press to determine the factors that result in distrust in government, Americans were revealed to be less critical of the government in various ways as compared to the way it was in the previous decades . Even though these studies revealed increased distrust in government by the people, evaluation of public workers and specific government departments found out that the delivery of services had improved drastically over the last few years. These studies revealed that only a few people criticize the federal government as compared to the case in the 1990s, when the government was regarded as inefficient, wasteful, unresponsive and too stringent. The numbers of those who think that business operations are negatively affected by the strict regulation strategies employed by the government were also revealed to have dropped. Nevertheless, distrust of government by the American population remains substantial, only less than 40% of the population maintains its trust in the government all the time . More than 50% of the population makes it clear that they are frustrated by the government rather than angered by it . Currently, in the United States as revealed by Pew Research Center for The People and The Press, more people have trust in local government than they have in federal government . This is a factor contrary to the way it was about two decades ago, when Americans were more contented with the federal government than with the local government. Trust in state and local government has however grown considerably along with considerable reduction in trust in federal government . Pew Research Center surveys however did not reveal presence of adverse consequences to the country as a result of distrust in government. One of the major factors that influence the public trust in government is the mode of operation of the politicians who lead the government. Failure of elected officials to serve the public in accordance with the interest of the people results in decline of public trust in government. Incompetence of elected officials also results in deterioration of public trust in government. Public trust in government comprise of expectation of fiduciary obligation and responsibility . The perception of fiduciary responsibility is grounded on the belief that some people in society have moral obligation as well as the responsibility to express special concern for interest of others above their own. In policy development, fiduciary obligation is illuminated by the expectation that politicians and other public officials will develop policies that will benefit the public in addition to making decisions based on the interest of the public rather than on personal and partisan gains . Citizens willingly go along with policies they regard as convenient and made within a legitimate process. On the contrary, citizens do not go along with policies they regard as problematic and developed within illegitimate procedures . Development of policies is therefore a major factor that determines whether the public will have trust in the government or not. Various factors that emanate from the developed policies may also lead to development of or decline in public trust in government. These policy outcomes include: peace, prosperity, in addition to other desirable aspects that are associated with public satisfaction with the services of the government . The direction of the country is the other factor that determines the level of public trust in government. Perception that everything is going in the right direction results in increase in trust of public trust in government. On the contrary, if citizens perceive that everything the government does in addition to the direction of the country is not headed in the right direction; they may lose their trust in government. In addition, public perception that the government officials are to blame for the adverse circumstances that lock the country, may result in a decline of public trust in government . The ability of the government to provide security to the public is another factor that can increase public trust in government. The public elects public officials expecting them to come up with policies and strategies aimed at generating and maintaining security of the nation. Failure to develop security policies lowers public trust in government, whereas development of security policies in addition to implementation of these policies results in augmentation of public trust in government. A government that does not guarantee security to its people should not expect the public to have trust in it . Reverence to the rights of individuals is the other factor that greatly influences the trust of the public in government. Citizens look upon the government to protect them from violation of their rights. If a government is characterized by rampant violation of the rights of citizens, it should not expect to have public trust in it. People highly detest government officials who violate their rights. Public trust is very low in a government that does not guarantee protection of the rights of individuals who make up the greater community. Nevertheless, public trust in government increases when government officials respect the rights of citizens. Economic trend is the other factor that can greatly affect the level of public trust in government. The public looks upon the government to come up with strategies aimed at providing a base for economic growth. Failure of the government to develop such policies destroys its trust by the public. Research conducted by Pew Research Center survey concerning public trust in government make it clear that the trust of Americans in their government tend to increase at times when the country is enjoying economic growth and decline when the country is going through economic recession . Presidential approval is the other factor that may influence public trust in government. Perception that the president is incompetent and does not handle national matters in an appropriate manner may result in a decline in public trust in government. The president occupies a core position in government and as such, he/she is subject to public scrutiny. If the public is contented with the way the president handles national matters, its trust in government is likely to increase. Presidential approval is based to a great extent on economic growth. The public tends to lay the blame of emergence of adverse economic conditions such as lack of employment, inflation and loss of jobs on the president. High rate of unemployment results in decline of public trust in government . The mode of service delivery by civil servants is a major factor that may destroy or build public trust in the government. This takes into account the mode of delivery of service in numerous government sectors including health, education, welfare, transport, security, and environment among many others. Higher values of public contentment with the mode of service delivery by public service officials illuminate trust in government by the people. Accountability of the government also influences public trust. Implementation of strategies that allow for easy access to government information in order to evaluate performance and results is the other factor that influences public trust in government. A large proportion of the public’s trust rests on the government’s open accountability for its decisions, policies and mistakes . A government that operates in privacy and refuses to reveal its mode of operation to the public is in essence getting rid of the public’s capacity to scrutinize as well as hold the government accountable. Access to information concerning the government’s mode of operation and outcomes of various government activities, is vital to increasing the capacity of the public to scrutinize the performance of the government in addition to holding the government responsible. Lack of information implies that the public cannot comprehend the context in which decisions on national matters are made . Government’s accountability builds public trust in it due to the fact that information concerning the performance of government officials is disclosed, and strategies through which waste, inefficiency, misconduct and corruption can be tackled are developed . Conclusion It can therefore be concluded that there are numerous factors that greatly influence the public trust in government not only in the United States, but throughout the world. Lack of trust in government by the people is one disastrous factor that can negatively impact on the functioning of the government. Putting total trust in the government may also be disastrous as it may result in the government degenerating into making ineffective and bad policies. One of the major factors that influence the public trust in government is the mode of operation of the politicians who lead the government. The direction of the country is the other factor that determines the level of public trust in government. Perception that everything is going in the right direction results in increase in trust of public trust in government. The ability of the government to provide security to the public is another factor that can increase public trust in government. Reverence to the rights of individuals is the other factor that greatly influences the trust of the public in government. Citizens look upon the government to protect them from violation of their rights. Economic trend is the other factor that can greatly affect the level of public trust in government. The public looks upon the government to come up with strategies aimed at providing a base for economic growth. Failure of the government to develop such policies destroys its trust by the public. The mode of service delivery by civil servants is a major factor that may destroy or build public trust in the government. Bibliography: Braithwaite, Valerie and Levi, Margaret. Trust and governance, ISBN 0871541351: Russell Sage Foundation, 2003. Chanley, Virginia. Rudolph, Thomas. and Rahn, Wendy. The Origins and Consequences of Public Trust in Government: A Time Series Analysis, Public Opinion Quarterly 64, (2000): 239-256 Dalton, Russell. The social transformation of trust in government, International Review Of Sociology, 15, no 1 (2005): 133-154 Halloran, Liz. 2010, Pew Poll: Trust in Government Hits Near-Historic Low, http://www. npr. org /templates/story/story. php? storyId=126047343 (viewed on August 2, 2010). Hibbing, John and Theiss-Morse, Elizabeth. What is it about government that Americans dislike? ISBN 0521796318: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Open The Government, n. d. Public Trust & Accountability, http://www. openthegovernment. org /article/articleview/32/1/15 (viewed on August 2, 2010). Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Trust in government: ethics measures in OECD countries, ISBN 9264185194 OECD: Publishing, 2000. Pew Research Center. 1998, How Americans View Government: Deconstructing Distrust, http://people-press. org/report/95/how-americans-view-government (viewed on August 2, 2010) Trattner, John. Government and public trust: views from the top: selected reading from the John C. Whitehead Forum of the Council for Excellence in Government, 1997-2001, ISBN 0761823131: University Press of America, 2002. Warren, Mark. Democracy and trust, ISBN 0521646871: Cambridge University Press, 1999

Compare and contrast the evil nature of Shakespeare’s antagonists

The following essay will compare and contrast the evil nature of Shakespeare’s antagonists King Richard and MacBeth.   Although Shakespeare intended his play Richard 3 to be a tragedy most of the play could be considered historical, but for the purpose of this paper it will be likened the insidiousness of MacBeth’s compromising morals.   In the dramatic terminology of degradation and tragedy these two works of art encompass the whole of these definitions.   While one is comparably a great portrayal of English kings, the other is a supreme example of how circumstance and identity may become the lingering plight of a man corrupted with autocratic power.   Both however exemplify human characteristics of paranoia, jealousy and victims of their action’s circumstances.   The following paper will play on the idea of comparing characters and event from the Shakespeare’s plays Richard 3 and MacBeth.King Richard is a gruesome man, with deformities, and a w icked personality.   He himself describes his traits as â€Å"rudely stamp'd† and â€Å"deformed, unfinish'd†, who cannot â€Å"strut before a wanton ambling nymph.†I that am curtail'd of this fair proportion, /Cheated of feature by dissembling nature, /Deform'd, unfinish'd, sent before my time /Into this breathing world, scarce half made up, /And that so lamely and unfashionable /That dogs bark at me, as I halt by them;/Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace, /gave no delight to pass away the time, /Unless to see my shadow in the sun   And descant on mine own deformity:/And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover, /To entertain these fair well-spoken days, /I am determined to prove a villain.This speech give insight into Richard’s character just as the speeches made by Lady MacBeth organize a reader to realize the depressed nature of MacBeth in comparison to his wife’s expectations from him, and his willingness to succeed with such actions, (Mac) If we should fail?(Lady M.) We Fail!But screw your courage to the sticking place,And we’ll not fail.   (Act 1, Scene 7).King Richard begins his Machiavellian procedures in gaining the throne in a similar manner as MacBeth; although, for the argument of this paper, Richard is the more evil of the two.The theme of the evil nature of man in King Richard the III deals with politics.   It is through marriage that the ugly King may become what he wants to be perceived as being; in marrying Lady Anne he allows himself the illusion that he is someone who is worthy of love even though King Richard had Anne’s husband murdered.   The transition qualities of marriage in this play serve to produce a faà §ade of change in the characters (Hunt 1997).It is the wooing of Lady Anne that the theme of love or the charade of love as it were in this play becomes apparent to the dynamic of transition.   Richard tells Anne that he killed her husband because he (Richard) loved h er,No! why? When he, that is my husband now /Came to me, as I followed Henry's corpse;/When scarce the blood was well wash'd from his hands,/Which issu'd from my otherangelhusband, /And that dead saint which then I weeping follow'd;/O! when I say, I look'd on Richard's face, /This was my wish, ‘Be thou,' quoth I, ‘accurs'd, /For making me so young, so old a widow! /And, when thou wedd'st, let sorrow haunt thy bed;/And be thy wife—if any be so mad— /More miserable by the life of thee /Than thou hast made me by my dear lord's death!' /Lo! ere I can repeat this curse again, Within so small a time, my woman's heart /Grossly grew captive to his honey words, /And prov'd the subject of mine own soul's curse:/Which hitherto hath held mine eyes from rest;/For never yet one hour in his bed /Did I enjoy the golden dew of sleep, /But with his timorous dreams was still awak'd. /Besides, he hates me for my father Warwick, /And will, no doubt, shortly be rid of me.In this line is found the bewitching personality of Richard.   In this personality there are striking similarities between King Richard and MacBeth.   Both men demand of their women obediance leastwise they go berserk when not obeyed (as is seen with the later episodes between Lady MacBeth and MacBeth) as is seen in Act One Scene Five of MacBeth as Lady MacBeth states,The raven himself is hoarse/ That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan /Under my battlements. Come, you spirits /That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, /And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full /Of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood, /Stop up th’access and passage to remorse, /That no compunctious visitings of nature /Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between /Th’ effect and it. Come to my woman’s breasts, /And take my milk for gall, you murd’ring ministers, /Wherever in your sightless substances /You wait on nature’s mischief. Come, thick night, /And pall thee in the dun nest smoke of hell, /That my keen knife see not the wound it makes, /Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark, /To cry ‘Hold, hold!’Thus is MacBeth’s evil nature propelled by his wife.   However, since MacBeth is the character whom carries on the theme of evil in his autocratic power over the throne, it may also be suggested that MacBeth is the stronger of the two characters, and henceforth, his evil nature becomes entirely his, and not something which is funneled into him from Lady MacBeth.   Therefore this demand of obseqious behavior warrents the premise of Shakespeare’s play being about the dominance of women and their gullability as Lady Anne commits to marry a man who killed her husband.   In this act is found that Shakespeare has created in Lady Anne a female character who is unable to gain retribution for her husband’s murder by sticking a knife into Richard’s chest.   Thus, as Lady Anne as a widow may have been of stro ng character, Lady Anne as she becomes the wife of Richards is duty-bound, sad, and realizes too late what her actions consists of, which is her culpability.MacBeth and King Richard are similar characters on other grounds as well.   When MacBeth’s wife urges him to murder for power, his protests are not long heard in the play, but MacBeth’s actions speak towards his depraved state. He is given to pity, and self-loathing as well as introverted nature with his overwhelming power once he achieves the throne.  Ã‚   King Richard uses a similar ploy when he convinces Anne Neville to marry him even after he kills her father and her husband.   Ã‚  Ã‚  In both characters then the capacity to hoodwink the general populace is exorbitant.   However, each character in turn must pay the price of their actions.;   it is the hunting of the boar’s quality of karma that kills Richard due to his plotting, and MacBeth dies the way the play began, as a warrior, without muc h power in politics.King Richard sees his ugliness as a crutch, as away to get people to feel sorry for him and thus gain power; King Richard does this covertly.   Richard has to disguise his true intentions leastwise he will be beheaded for treason.   Richard attempts a charade with Anne when he tells her he had her husband killed because he (Richard) loved her,No! why? When he, that is my husband now /Came to me, as I followed Henry's corse;/When scarce the blood was well wash'd from his hands,/Which issu'd from my other angel husband, /And that dead saint which then I weeping follow'd;/O! when I say, I look'd on Richard's face, /This was my wish, ‘Be thou,' quoth I, ‘accurs'd, /For making me so young, so old a widow! /And, when thou wedd'st, let sorrow haunt thy bed;/And be thy wife—if any be so mad— /More miserable by the life of thee /Than thou hast made me by my dear lord's death!' /Lo! ere I can repeat this curse again, Within so small a time, my woman's heart /Grossly grew captive to his honey words, /And prov'd the subject of mine own soul's curse:/Which hitherto hath held mine eyes from rest;/For never yet one hour in his bed /Did I enjoy the golden dew of sleep, /But with his timorous dreams was still awak'd. /Besides, he hates me for my father Warwick, /And will, no doubt, shortly be rid of me.Thus, in Richard’s view of himself and the man he truly has become is the juxtaposition of pity, jealousy and the actions therein.Another strikingly similar point of evil between these two Shakespearean plays is their willingness to gain power through any means necessary, and often times this involves murder.   The realism for MacBeth in knowing that his actions are stygian appears with Banquo’s ghost, while with Richard, the realization of evil comes from Queen Margaret.   Queen Margaret warns nobles about Richard and his devious nature, but her claims go unheeded by the table of noblemen.   Queen Margaret is ushered out or banished from the court, just as MacBeth’s choice of denying he really did see a ghost attests to him not accepting his own nature of evil.In the insanity that visits MacBeth’s character in Shakespeare’s play of the same name there is a definite difference between Richard and him, as insanity portends to evil.   MacBeth becomes increasingly insane throughout the duration of the play due in most part to the predictions and misleadings of the three witches.   MacBeth’s rise into power in Scotland was begotten due to his first murder (Clausen p. 43).MacBeth’s obvious insanity, and thus his evil nature can be seen most notably in the way in which he rules; his choices of using force, violence, and murder in his autocratic rule tend to be the persuasions of his debilitating sanity.   Although his actions may in part speak towards his psychosis, the fact of MacBeth’s personality remains in that he cannot cope with his active violence and it is way of ruling as a tyrant which also enables his role as an insane person.   MacBeth uses his position to thwart his will on the people and it is his way of ruling which leads to his further violence and his insanity.MacBeth’s evil nature may be submitted to be revealed through the introduction of the play with the three witches.   In the dialogue of the play, and the actions therein, which represent this initial scene, the true evil of MacBeth rests within his imagination, for this aggrandized factor of his personality is what drives MacBeth to desire power in its tyrant form, and through murder as Bloom states, â€Å"†¦the play depends on its horror of its own imaginings.   Imagination is an equivocal matter for Shakespeare and his era where it meant both poetic furor and a gap torn in reality, almost a punishment for the displacement of the sacred into the secular.  Ã‚   MacBeth†¦is a tragedy of the imagination† (p. 4).The shortc omings which lead to MacBeth’s degradation of mind is due in part to his own ambitions (and imagination) and his dealings with the three witches as well as his inferiority complex which in turn causes him to use violence in order to rule.   Another attribute of MacBeth’s evil nature is shown with his partner, Lady MacBeth.   It is her driving force to have MacBeth kill Duncan which furthers MacBeth’s self-doubt.   Lady MacBeth is inclusive of MacBeth’s insanity since she urges him to commit the necessary crimes to gain power while also disregarding the guilt burdening MacBeth; Lady MacBeth urges MacBeth’s evil nature,   his criminal acts, because she like her husband is addicted to power and knows the necessary means to gain such power, and so, urges her husband past the guilt, and self-doubt in order to achieve their goals.Richard plots to have Clarence killed by his own brother by making Edward believe that George of Clarence is trying to kill.   This is accomplished by Edward having a pretense of someone killing him whose name begins with the letter G (George in this case).   Richard succeeds in this plot and is named King.   However, Richard’s nephews are still in the Tower of London and could be successors to the throne once they come of age.   King Richard has Buckingham murder the nephews.   Not only does Richard succeed in his murdering campaign but he also beguiles the kingdom to believe he is a just king, as least for awhile.King Richard is abandoned on the battlefield by Lord Stanley and loses his horse and is murdered in a type of boar hunt.   These two characters are similar in this scene in their scope of personality and the actions that haunt them (Bradley p. 56).After Duncan’s murder however, Lady MacBeth’s character diminishes and so MacBeth is left even more alone in his act of betrayal which further leads to his suffering mind.   Plagued by guilt and contempt for h imself and his actions, the reader begins to see the disintegration of MacBeth.  Ã‚   Thus, it is proven that both characters of Shakespeare’s plays, King Richard 3, and MacBeth are evil.   Both Richard, and MacBeth’s mental powers show a decline in power and cohesion as the plays progress with murder and violence.The contrast between these two antagonists seem to depict no true relevant difference but in comparison the evil nature of either of these two men is one in which pure evil is seen.   In both of their quests for the throne, and the power which comes with the throne, the more evil of the two seems to be Richard, since his thirst for such a prize entails the con of marriage, as well as of killing his two young nephews, while MacBeth’s dirty deeds are supported by his wife (Bradley p. 101).These two characters are a great fascination because of their striking similarities.   Their evil nature warrants great sacrifice, as well as leading them down the path of fast glory, but ultimately ending in betrayal and death (as with Richard’s army, and as will Lady MacBeth’s eventual self-doubt as to MacBeth’s rise in power, and the means by which he gained it so swiftly).Shakespeare’s great accomplishment with these two characters is undoubtedly within the realm of pure evil, in that neither seems to have great remorse at the end of their power reign.   It is in the necessity of guilt which makes a character redeemable to an audience, and by denying any remorse for either character, Shakespeare has created two very strong, evil antagonists.   The fact that they remain of interest to the audience is found in just how despicable and evil their deeds, and just how far they are willing to push their power onto others in order to achieve the end of their goals.BibliographyBloom, H.   (2004).   Shakespeare’s MacBeth.   Riverhead Publishing, New York.Bradley, A.C. (2005).   Shakespearean Tragedy .   Adamant Media Corporation.   London.Clausen, C.   (2005).   MacBeth Multiplied.   Bodleian Publishing, Netherlands.Hunt, M.   (1997).   Shakespeare’s King Richard111 and the Problematics of Tudor Bastardy.Papers on Language & Literature, Vol. 33.Shakespeare, W. (1989).   King Richard the III. Manchester University Press, UK.Shakespeare, W.   (1990).  Ã‚   MacBeth.   Washington Square Press, New York.

A Rhetorical Analysis of James Ladsen and Joseph Epstein Free Essay Example, 1000 words

In much the same way that Dylan Thomas wrote a poem concerning â€Å"rage against the dying of the light†, Ladsen’s playboy character appears to take this to heart as a raison d’etre for continuing to behave as a 20 something year old male; even though this time has long since passed in his life (Thomas 1). Although clearly the view of the playboy character is faulty and indicative of many immoral or otherwise unhealthy attitudes that are pervasive within current society, his friend, the family man, questions whether or not he should revere him and whether or not the choices that he has made thus far in life are correct and reasonable (Ladsen 31). In this way, Ladsen provides the reader with their own crisis of faith; leaving them to wonder whether hubris against old age is beneficial or whether it makes a mockery of the human condition and the gradual progression of old age and death. A very different view of the aging process and hubris relating to old age/death is represented within Joseph Epstein’s essay entitled, â€Å"The Perpetual Adolescent†. We will write a custom essay sample on A Rhetorical Analysis of James Ladsen and Joseph Epstein or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page Whereas it is true that Epstein makes a valuable point, it is one that is in direct conflict with those which Ladsen presented. Essentially, Epstein believes that the entire process and desire for eternal youth, as represented within fashion, media, and the culture at large, is a travesty and reduces the value and importance of adulthood commensurately; whereas the reader is left to question whether or not it is a beneficial process and one that prior generations might have â€Å"gotten wrong† within Ladsen’s piece. Ultimately, the two distinct views which have been discussed within the analysis thus far are of course indicative of the way in which old age is either revered or the way in which it is avoided at all costs.