NIKE Stock Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

NIKE Stock Analysis - Research Paper Example The paper presents SWOT analysis that helps the company identify various parameters for strengths and weaknesses in a business scenario. Diversification procedure requires an established in the most viable way. This will make sure that the risk attribute is no longer a problem in any undertakings. The analysis of the company and its business depicts a variety of shoes products that displays at the company’s platform. Footwear and other athletic products and accessories make up a large part of the company’s priority areas. Other key products line includes the athletic apparel, sporting equipments, athletic shoes and other internationally recognized sports gear. The strategic analysis of Nike revolves around the strong point derived by the quality products offered by the company. In the footwear products and the apparel, a lot of innovation encompasses such moves and the final products of such innovation are a high quality tailor product that engages the user. The marketi ng inclination of Nike products reaches a substantial market segment. The advertising procedure employed by the company reveal many product features that correspond to the actual product components. A hugely weighty issue to put in to consideration is the quality of Nike's products. The quality achievement by Nike involved a lot of market research at the inception stage. This created a stable market grounds that has continued to ensure a high demand in the mainstream products. There is a revealed competitive strategy enjoyed on a exceptionally strong point.The concentration of the company in to a large product offering is indifference. Differentiated strategy works well with Nike. The company encounters a lot of competition. Companies like Abercrombie & Fitch offers to compete products in the same field of business. Nike engages in product variation. This aims to see to it that its products meet every day specific needs of its customers. The long-standing culture of the company requ ires a through products review so that a high and top priority is concentrated to the home products.A high corporate culture strengthens the company’s long-term existence in its business industry. Employee loyalty and product branding necessitated a need for company branding. The achievement of such a task had an overhaul in the overall marketing strategy of the firm. Coffee cups branding and engrossing â€Å"Nike† influenced the product line of products. This further increases a high sense of promotion to the corporate company image. Nike’s headquarters does not appear like a normal office. It is branded the name â€Å"campus† to create a positive sense to the employee’s welfare. The players in the industry cohabitate in an extraordinarily way Growth Strategy of the Firm Nike’s strategy of growth focuses on the sale increment by â€Å"40% by 2015†. The demands for the products produced by Nike are attributable to technological advanc ement. An example can be the Nikeplus.com that has about three million followers or members. There is still a focus to concentrate much on women’s product since there is an emerging demand in today’s world. This is because of women involvement in major sporting activities than ever before.

Home Depot Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Home Depot - Essay Example ided in the case study, both the stores have developed their own unique selling propositions and the degree of differentiation between the two largely depends upon the non-pricing factors. Lowe’s cater more to the women and those who are involved in providing finishing decorative touch to their homes. Home Depot however aims to capture the market of men and contractors and serious DIY individuals. It is also important to note that the number of stores and wider product choices are also the important factors which have resulted into the differentiation between the two stores. Lowe’s has better competitive image because of the better customer services and the product choice which it offers to its customers. Though most of the factors on which competition can be done are similar however, what distinguish Lowe from Home Depot is its ability to offer superior customer services which is making it one of the distinctive stores in the market thus holding better competitive image in the eyes of its

Italy in the Period of 1922 - 1939 Essay Example for Free

Italy in the Period of 1922 1939 Essay To What Extent Did Mussolini Achieve his Foreign Policy Aims of making Italy Great and Respected in the Period of 1922 1939? When considering this question, we must first look at what Mussolinis aims were, in 1922. These were quite clear; he wanted to overcome the humiliation of Italys mutilated victory of the First World War. The Italian people felt that they had fought the war, like the other Allies, yet not gained the fruits of victory; Italy had entered the war in 1915, on the basis that they would gain their unredeemed land and the Dalmatian Coast, they were promised this in the Treaty of London, that Italy signed with the Allies before entering the First World War. However, the reality was that Italy not only faced great debt, but that she also failed to gain all that she was promised in the Treaty of London. Mussolini, a man very obsessed with Italian protection, aimed to make the Italian army, one that was committed to the country and always on alert. This way, the countrys safety was always ensured. Mussolini wanted revenge on the African colonies that were a constant threat to Italy. In particular this idea was aimed at Abyssinia, who had defeated Italy in 1896 in the Battle of Adowa. Mussolini also believed that if Italy were able to get revenge, she would also gain the respect she lacked in international affairs. This led on to Mussolinis want for territorial expansion. By gaining Italian colonies, Mussolini would achieve the idea that Italy was great and would have respect from other countries. By invading Africa, Italy would not only gain more land, but also it would provide her with good access to raw materials for Italys increasing population. By doing all of the above, Mussolini would also have the opportunity to pursue his aim of civilising Africa, and thus giving way to the expansion of Fascist ideology. It would be spread across the continent without exposing control. Another one of Mussolinis aims was to unify the Italians. Although Italy had been unified sixty-three years prior to 1922, it was still a recent unification, so therefore Mussolini, as a Nationalist, wanted all Italians to unify as one, Fascist group. He aimed to do so through war and conquest. By doing this, he would, in addition, make Italy look great and respected with a nation of loyal, athletic warriors. Mussolini aimed to challenge the French domination of the Mediterranean, and in its place, expand the Italian dominance in places such as Greece and the unredeemed land. Above all, Mussolini had his grand dream of re-creating the great Roman Empire. He wanted a civilised nation and to civilise, in turn, the territories to be conquered. Italy worked hard to gain influence in North Africa, even before Mussolini came to power. The Battle of Adowa, 1896, was a major defeat of Italian Forces by the Abyssinians. Italy suffered many casualties, the prisoners endured horrifying torture and it was a humiliating defeat at the hands of an African country. This led to the huge inferiority anxiety that built up, and added to the feeling that Italy suffered a mutilated victory after the First World War. Italy didnt get the Dalmatian Islands that were promised. Consequently a nationalist rising took place in 1919, headed by DAnnunzio, the very popular poet. This rising proved to Mussolini that aggression and force was able to gain land. The invasion of Fiume was very inspirational to Fascist ideology. In 1922, Mussolinis aims were really no different to that of the Liberal politicians before him. They too had wanted unification and respect. However, both the Liberals and the Fascists faced constraints. Italy lacked both the economic and military resources of a great power. Italy had never been strong enough to compete no challenge the French, nor North Africa or the Austrians in the Balkans. The Italian lack of Empire led to great tensions with the French, particularly in North Africa. An example of this was 18881, when the French took control of Tunisia, Morocco and Corfu. This was when many Italians had immigrated to Tunisia, so consequently they resented the French rule. The international strategy of Italy was to build up her resources, which would enable her to use military strength, and in addition, to use diplomacy. Italy would exploit international relations to achieve the best deal for her. The Liberal politicians used this Makeweight Policy when entering the First World War; they played the two equal power blocks against one another. Italy could offer to join one side, or another in return for concessions. In the 1920s this policy didnt work. Germany was completely crushed by the First World War and Britain and France totally dominated foreign affairs. Therefore, there were no two clear power blocks for Mussolini to play off against each other. This meant that Italy was dependent on British and French goodwill. However, by the 1930s, the makeweight policy could be revived as Hitler rebuilt Germany. Mussolini gave foreign affairs a central importance, as he believed it to be the route for Italy to become great and respected. Mussolini made himself Foreign Minister between 1922 and 1929, but Fascist actual achievements in foreign policy during these years were extremely modest. Mussolinis claim was, I want to make Italy great, respected and feared. Yet his policy seemed somewhat erratic. Mussolini was constantly seeking to put pressure on the diplomatic fabric, to see where it would yield. Moreover, Mussolini aimed to be pragmatic and an opportunist, however he sometimes became irrational and was unable to resist the chance of glory. An example of this was in 1923, the Corfu incidents. These were to promote Italian power and prestige. It indicated Mussolinis petulant outburst, which seemed to go against the pragmatic trend of Italian diplomacy. Likewise, the Fiume incident of 1924 was a Fascist propaganda victory. In 1925 Italy signed the Locarno Treaties, which confirmed the permanence of Germanys western borders and entered into the Kellogg- Briand Pact of 1928 outlawing war. At first Mussolini was not interested in the pact, he rarely took the time to read the details. However, Mussolini did understand the advantages of signing the pacts, it was an opportunity to improve his prestige and power within Italy. The result of Mussolini signing the pacts, were that the British opinion of Mussolini became more favourable and Locarno seemed to indicate that he had, at last moved to a more moderate and sensible course of action. However, elsewhere in Europe, Mussolini was destabilizing the international scene. He was making up for lack of influence in the West, by pressing for advantages in the Balkans. His main target was the little entente of French-sponsored Yugoslavia, Romania and Czechoslovakia. Mussolini wanted to use the Balkan States as client states. At first he used peaceful means, he drew up a commercial agreement with Czechoslovakia and formalised a friendship treaty with Yugoslavia. However, he then over-reached himself in a sudden lunge for territory and glory. This showed Mussolinis obsession with the image of Italy being great and respected. This was when Italy became involved in the Albanian civil war, Mussolini decided to support the rebel group Noli, fighting against Yugoslavias protà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½gà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½, Zogu. This was how Mussolini came to establish Italys virtual protectorate over Albania. His plan was to make it an area for Italian living space, which, he hoped would help to boost Italys economy. This did not go as Mussolini planned, Yugoslavia felt threatened by Mussolini and he lost the chance to detach Yugoslavia from the French system. The Little Entente tightened their link to France and Mussolini felt obliged to sponsor a counter bloc, consisting of Albania, Hungary and Bulgaria. In 1930 Mussolinis aims became slightly different to that of his in 1922. Between 1930 and 1935, Mussolini aimed to make a more definite mark on European diplomacy by a more consistent and less random policy. Mussolini was frustrated by the failures of his aims of the 1920s. Therefore, Mussolini emerged as Europes senior statesman as he had always intended. This gained the respect he had always wanted. Mussolini did this by reshuffling the cabinet in 1932. He was dissatisfied with Dino Grandis conduct of foreign policy, thinking he had been too soft on disarmament. Mussolini therefore, made himself the foreign minister. He said Fascism demanded a spectacular foreign policy achievement, and this would only happen with the conquest of Ethiopia. Mussolini went back to the idea that he would promote the rival blows; Italy would act as a mediator between countries, maintaining a calculated equidistance between the powers involved in any problems. On one side, there was Britain and France, and on the other lay Germany. Mussolini was determined not to commit Italy to either side. Mussolini created the tensions and therefore always benefit. In this way, should Britain and France ever take Italy for granted, Mussolini could always extend diplomatic pressure on them by producing the German Card. This helped Mussolini to appear great and respected by the main powers. Before long, however, this policy became increasingly difficult as Germany came to pose a greater threat to Italian interests that France had. Austria was the source of this trouble. Germany had long favoured the absorption of Austria from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, particularly when Hitler was appointed Chancellor in 1933. Mussolini was desperate to avoid the Anschlufs, as Mussolini regarded Austria as Italys client state. If she lost this, Mussolini would loose respect from other countries. Mussolini tried once again to be a moderator and appear, once again, great and respected by the great powers of Europe. He tried to put together the Four-Power Pact between Britain, France, Germany and Italy, aiming to mediate the tension. However France and Germany would not compromise on anything. Mussolinis plan did not work. In 1934 the Austrian Nazi party was involved with the assassination of the Austrian Chancellor and Hitler wanted to take advantage of this. Mussolini was worried that he wanted to expand Germany territory into Italy and had to not only give up his policy of equidistance, but had to for an Accord with France in 1935 and had to drop his designs in the Balkans. The alliance with France led to the Stresa Front in April of that year, where Mussolini joined Britain and France in condemning German rearmament. In doing this, Mussolini felt Britain and France would be more sympathetic towards Italian ambitions of overseas territory. With this in mind, Mussolini decided on his invasion of Abyssinia in 1935. Ethiopia was a traditional target of Italian colonial aspirations since the 1870s. It went back to Mussolinis aim in 1922 of eradicating the humiliation of Italys defeat by the Ethiopians in 1887 and 1896. A shooting of Italians at an oasis on the Ethiopian side of the border with the Italian Somaliland triggered off the attack. An immediate apology was demanded from Ethiopia and the matter was referred to the League of Nations. Over the next 10 months, Italy prepared for a full-scale invasion of Ethiopia. At first, all seemed well for Mussolini, especially as Britain and France were unwilling to condemn his attitude. Mussolini decided to go ahead with the invasion. By May 1936 Abyssinia fell to Mussolini, and he stated, The Empire has returned the hills of Rome. Mussolini had wanted the war to stir up the nationalistic pride of the Italian people and it had. Mussolini was more popular in the summer of 136 than ever before, he was seen as great and respected by the Italian people. But the war narrowed the range of Mussolinis future diplomatic options, as Britain and France were alienated by his method of conquest and were never to trust Mussolini again. It also increased Hitlers strength in Austria. In conclusion, Mussolinis foreign policy lacked not ambitious aims, but means to go about them. It has been argued that Mussolinis inexperience deterred him from doing well. However, Mussolini did make Italy gain respect from Britain in the early 1930s. Mussolini built up a conventional diplomatic role and became respected. Mussolini did have control of Fiume, and had gained real influence in Albania. Yet he did not have any real gains in Eastern Europe and the Balkans. The French out manoeuvred Mussolini. Mussolinis hands were tied by guarantees. He had no real gains in Austria and therefore no real benefits and in Corfu he had been defeated.

Policy in Residential Care Homes

Policy in Residential Care Homes Literature Review Introduction Care homes, also known as adult family homes, residential care or personal care homes offer personalized service to small groups of adults. These residential care homes provide food, meal service and assistant with personal care activities such as bathing, feeding and cleaning.  Ã‚   St Anne’s lodge is the one of residential care home, located in Surrey. This care home offer supervised care, meals, activities and health management. While assisted living communities may offer senior aerobics and field trips. Care Assistant or care workers always guide their service users. There are specific skills may considerate in recruitment process in care home sector. Increasing numbers of people are employed as ‘support workers’ where their role is to help people with disabilities and join in with aspects of everyday life. Support worker act as a bridge between professionals and service users, enabling better communication. Support worker is a person who employed on an individual basis to stand-in independence and provide assistance for a service user in areas of usual life such as communication, social involvement and who may take on secondary tasks in esteem encouragement, personal care and learning. Effective recruitment and selection of a caring and skilled adult care workforce has a central role to play delivering high quality care and support to people who need it. The company challenge is to ensure the workforce has the right number of people with the right skills, knowledge and behaviours to deliver the quality and friendly care. Implication of the care ACT 2014 requires significant change in care workers roles and practice to meet new legal expectations. The Act high lights a specific focus on local authorities, due to their new duties and statutory responsibilities. The main difference between residential and nursing homes is that residential homes do not have to have nurses on the staff, whereas nursing homes must employ qualified nurses and must be able to provide24 hour nursing care. Some residential homes like st Anne’s lodge, which have real commitment and well trained staff, can care very well for people with learning disabilities. In general, residential homes look after people who are more mobile, active and alert. Residential homes will help them to washing, dressing and toileting and of course provide meals and activities. There will, however, be less nursing care than would be available in nursing homes. Objective 1 Legislative and policy frame work that influence the selection and employment of individuals in Care homes All care homes have to be registered with the care quality Commission. All nursing homes required to have a qualified nurse on duty at all times but apart from this there are no requirements for care homes to be owned by, or to employ, qualified staff. The home should have its own training programmes for new staff as well as all the staff. Staff might follow the Alzheimer’s society training path way. According to care quality Act staff in care homes should sensitive, tolerate and caring as well as efficient, hardworking and capable. Deprivations of liberty Safeguard (DoLS) were brought in with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 to protect people being inappropriately deprived of their liberty. Key factors that may suggest deprivation of liberty include, Staff exercising complete and effective control over the care and movement of a person for a significant period Staff exercising control over assessment, treatment, contracts and residence. The supreme Court has recently issued a ruling that anyone subject to continuous supervision in care home and lacking capacity should be referred for DOLS assessment. So when recruiting a staff in care homes care manager and Owner should consider about the legislations. According to CIPD, when a company is doing recruiting and selection process they should fulfil the legislative requirements otherwise the individuals have authority to take legal actions against the company. So in recruitment and selection process there are many laws and regulations are needed to follow as a care home or a company. The immigration, Asylum and nationality Act 2006 This provision came into on 29th February 2008 an aim to prevent illegal immigrant working in UK. Citizen of the European Union (EU) and The European Economic Area are known as European nations and they do not need work permits, they have the right to come UK and look for work. Someone who is subject to immigration control must obtain a work permit before taking up employment in the UK. The Asylum Immigration Act has been introduce discourage illegal working in the UK. This has made it a criminal offence (punishable by fine up to  £10,000) of employing a person without immigration authorisation to work. Data Protection Act 1998 The Act implies certain types of information that relevant to employees restricted to impose to other party. Especially data collections including in recruitment and selection process. The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 This provides the legislative frame work to people who are working with children and vulnerable adults. The Equality Act 2010 The equality Act came into force on 1st October 2010. It aims to provide steadier and more effective legal frame work for avoiding discrimination Objective 2 What are the approaches that may use in selection and recruitment process in care home sector? Getting the recruitment process right is also vital to employers if they are to select best people for the job available or discriminatory practice can cost employers time and money in defending legal claims. Recruitment and Selection Process https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=images+of+recruitment+and+selection+process+according+to+Acas In the care comes, employers increasingly use internet and recruitment consultations for recruitment. Many still use old fashioned newspapers advertisements. Especially in the specialist trade press as well as putting advertisements in job centres. Naturally job advertisements specie the need for certain skills qualifications as well as requirements to submit an application form by a certain date. An employment advertisement is the law identifies every form of advertisement whether available on public or internally within the company, in a newspaper or other publication on TV , radio or an employee notice board. The use of gender specification words describing job in advertisement such as â€Å"Career†, â€Å"Care Assistant† or â€Å"support worker† avoid as an intention to discriminate. Both the publisher and advertiser will be guilty of the unlawful act, although as a publisher you do have a possible defence if you can prove you relied on a from the advertiser that the advert was not unlawful and that it was reasonable for you to rely on that statement. In the case of race discrimination, it is lawful if that race is either under represented among the workers doing that work in the locality targeted for recruitment. There is no formal legal requirement to advertise job vacancies internally. But there are risks associate with the manner of advertising. Restrictive methods of recruitment such as internal advertisements or recruitment by word of mouth may have opportunity to, for example a particular sex , religion or race. It may then be discriminatory. If applicant thinks an advert is discriminatory, the applicant can contact the equal opportunities commission. The equality or the disability right commission is who have the power to take action in relation to advertisement. Generally CV should give same sort of information about the candidates. The candidates should exaggerate their qualifications or current level of responsibilities. Candidate should take care to provide accurate and truthful information because in care sector candidates have to work with people with disabilities. Communication is an essential component of care sector. Supporting workers communicate with clients, relatives and health professionals in range of setting. Verbal and non-verbal communication is the means to understanding and assessing clients. Carers Should have a sense of humour and friendly nature because the benefits of humour and laughter have long been recognise and are mentioned in the Bible; Proverbs 17:22 states ‘A cheerful heart does good like medicine : but broken spirits make sick’. So careers need to have a power to make their clients happy. So lies on CV s and application foams can result in dismissal after candidates have been hired. That may impa ct on their future credibility in the job market.

Natorp on Social Education: A Paideia for all Ages :: Teaching Education Philosophy

Natorp on Social Education: A Paideia for all Ages ABSTRACT: In Man and his Circumstances: Ortega as Educator, Robert McClintock says that American educators have forgotten about the influence of Natorp. This essay proposes to discuss Natorp's Platonic and Neo-Kantian view of the human being and of knowledge as a foundation to all education. It will examine the influence of Friedrich Schleiermacher, the distinguished German philosopher, and of the great Swiss educator, Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, on Natorp's ideas. In Natorp's view of Socialpadagogik (Social Education), it is not possible to have any positive social or political change without great alterations in educational philosophy. The work of the American educator, Robert Hutchins, will be discussed and defended as an exemplary attempt in the practice of higher education of these ideals. Although Hutchin's programs were adapted for only a short time by the University of Chicago and by a few small liberal arts colleges, his influence, as well as that of American disciples of Na torp and Pestalozzi, still has lasting value, since it is based on the idea that we are all souls in development. Paul Natorp's several important works on the philosophy of education, such as Pestalozzi: Sein Leben und seine Ideen, (1) are grounded in his Neo-Kantian epistemology. The post 1900 Natorp expanded his theory of knowledge from the purely Neo-Kantian idea that the Ding an Sich and the noumenal world were not only unknowable but also could not even be posited as existing. He expanded it to include the idea that the Ding an Sich is the "X" at the borders of the known which always moves into the unknown. As Natorp puts it in his own words, "Erkenntnis ist nicht stillstand, sondern ewiger Fortgang." (2) (Knowlege is not standing still, but is eternal movement.) Our experience builds on itself. Each individual must be treated as a living soul constantly building on experience in life (Erlebnis). Science is not the only criterion for knowledge, but the philosophical examination of the growth or degradation of the soul becomes the standard. In this sense, Natorp is a Neo-Platonist, because h e does not see limits to the possibilities of the soul. However, he never actually speaks of metempsychosis. This idea is noumenal. Finally, Natorp's view of religion is essential here. Religion is also not knowledge, but it is a repository of the rules of moral behavior which should, nevertheless, be determined by reason.

home improvement :: essays research papers

Home Improvement   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To construct a sitcom, like Home Improvement, there are certain media concepts that the show must take into consideration before building a set, and script. The medium that is chosen determines the format of the text, money limits construction, and the audience limits construction, as well as the lifestyles, and values of the audience. The writers of the show have to determine what dialogue is used in the script, for example the language and word choice that is used. The script also includes choosing a plot, setting, character’s, and narrator’s. To add to this list, the show could not be made possible without a recording environment, such as cameras, a studio to work in, lighting, sound effects, props, costumes, equipment for colouring, and fonts for messages.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The audience has a lot to do with the success of the show. The writers for Home Improvement have to look at the show as a audience member would. If it does not run smoothly and does not show an environment that the audience may not find interesting, can affect the popularity of the show.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Home Improvement is about, a five member normal family that is faced everyday problems, involving either the children or the adults. Tim Taylor, (played by Tim Allen) is a clumsy, hilarious man, who is in love with tools, hosts a television show called â€Å"Tool Time,† while â€Å"raising three hormonally - charged boys into responsible adults,† Brad, ( Zacery Ty Bryan ) and Randy, ( Jonathan Taylor Thomas ) who are always chasing the girls, and Mark ( Taran Noah Smith ) as quoted from an ABC PRIMETIME article, along with the help of his understanding wife Jill (played by Patricia Richardson .) Jill and Tim seem to have a healthy relationship between the two of them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Meanwhile, Wilson, the Taylor’s unusual neighbour, serves as a teacher or a guide for Tim, or anyone else who has a problem. Wilson is always there when Tim needs to talk.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Al Borlan, ( Richard Karn ) is Tim’s best friend, and also his co-worker on the television show â€Å"Tool Time.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Heidi, is the â€Å"Tool Time Girl† who always introduces Tim Taylor for the show â€Å"Tool Time.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Every episode the audience expects a on-going scenario, for example Tim always getting hurt or Al always to be joked upon, these are the parts of the show, that the views keep wanting to come back to watch.

Globe Theatre Essay

William Shakespeare was born on April 26, 1564. William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare, an alderman and a successful glover originally from Snitterfield, and Mary Arden, the daughter of an affluent landowning farmer. He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon. He was the third child of eight and the eldest surviving son. Scholars have surmised that he most likely attended the King’s New School, in Stratford, which taught reading, writing and the classics. THEATRICAL CAREER Some of Shakespeare’s plays were published in quarto editions from 1594. By 1598, his name had become a selling point and began to appear on the title pages. Shakespeare continued to act in his own and other plays after his success as a playwright. EARLY WORKS With the exception of Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare’s first plays were mostly histories written in the early 1590s. Richard II, Henry VI (parts 1, 2 and 3) and Henry V dramatize the destructive results of weak or corrupt rulers, and have been interpreted by drama historians as Shakespeare’s way of justifying the origins of the Tudor Dynasty. Shakespeare also wrote several comedies during his early period: the witty romance A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the romantic Merchant of Venice, the wit and wordplay of Much Ado about Nothing, the charming As You Like It and Twelfth Night. Other plays, possibly written before 1600, include Titus Andronicus, The Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew and The Two Gentlemen of Verona. LATER WORKS It was in William Shakespeare’s later period, after 1600, that he wrote the tragedies Hamlet, King Lear, Othello and Macbeth. In these, Shakespeare’s characters present vivid impressions of human temperament that are timeless and universal. Possibly the best known of these plays is Hamlet, which explores betrayal, retribution, incest and moral failure. These moral failures often drive the twists and turns of Shakespeare’s plots, destroying the hero and those he loves. In William Shakespeare’s final period, he wrote several tragicomedies. Among these are Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest. Though graver in tone than the comedies, they are not the dark tragedies of King Lear or Macbeth because they end with reconciliation and forgiveness. JULIUS CAESAR The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against the Roman dictator Julius Caesar, his assassination, and the defeat of the conspirators at the Battle of Philippi. It is one of several plays written by Shakespeare based on true events from Roman history, which also include Coriolanus and Antony and Cleopatra. THE TEMPEST The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place using illusion and skilful manipulation. He conjures up a storm, the eponymous tempest, to lure his usurping brother Antonio and the complicit King Alonso of Naples to the island. There, his machinations bring about the revelation of Antonio’s lowly nature, the redemption of the King, and the marriage of Miranda to Alonso’s son, Ferdinand. THE TAMING OF THE SHREW The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the Induction,[1] in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunkentinker named Christopher Sly into believing he is actually a nobleman himself. The nobleman then has the play performed for Sly’s diversion. The main plot depicts the courtship of Petruchio, a gentleman of Verona, and Katherina, the headstrong, obdurate shrew. Initially, Katherina is an unwilling participant in the relationship, but Petruchio tempers her with various psychological torments—the â€Å"taming†Ã¢â‚¬â€until she becomes a compliant and obedient bride. The subplot features a competition between the suitors of Katherina’s more desirable sister, Bianca. HAMLET The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. Set in the Kingdom of Denmark, the play dramatizes the revenge. Prince Hamlet exacts on his uncle Claudius for murdering King Hamlet, Claudius’s brother and Prince Hamlet’s father, and then succeeding to the throne and taking as his wife Gertrude, the old king’s widow and Prince Hamlet’s mother. The play vividly portrays both true and feigned madness—from overwhelming grief to seething rage and explores themes of treachery, revenge, incest, and moral corruption. Hamlet is Shakespeare’s longest play and among the most powerful and influential tragedies in English literature, with a story capable of â€Å"seemingly endless retelling and adaptation by others. â€Å"[1] The play was one of Shakespeare’s most popular works during his lifetime and still ranks among his most-performed, topping the Royal Shakespeare Company’s performance list since 1879. TWELFTH NIGHT Twelfth Night; or, What You Will is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–02 as aTwelfth Night’s entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play expanded on the musical interludes and riotous disorder expected of the occasion,[1] with plot elements drawn from the short story â€Å"Of Apollonius and Silla† by Barnabe Rich, based on a story by Matteo Bandello. The first recorded performance was on 2 February 1602, at Candlemas, the formal end of Christmastide in the year’s calendar. The play was not published until its inclusion in the 1623 First Folio. MACBETH Macbeth was written by William Shakespeare. It is considered one of his darkest and most powerful tragedies. Set in Scotland, the play dramatizes the corrosive psychological and political effects produced when evil is chosen as a way to fulfil the ambition for power. The play is believed to have been written between 1603 and 1607, and is most commonly dated 1606. The earliest account of a performance of what was probably Shakespeare’s play is April 1611, when Simon Forman recorded seeing such a play at the Globe Theatre. It was first published in the Folio of 1623, possibly from a prompt book. It was most likely written during the reign of James I, who had been James VI of Scotland before he succeeded to the English throne in 1603. James was a patron of Shakespeare’s acting company, and of all the plays Shakespeare wrote during James’s reign, Macbeth most clearly reflects the playwright’s relationship with the sovereign. MERCHANT OF VENICE The Merchant of Venice is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedyin the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare’s other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic scenes, and is best known for Shylock and the famous â€Å"Hath not a Jew eyes? † speech. Also notable is Portia’s speech about â€Å"the quality of mercy†. The title character is the merchant Antonio, not the Jewish moneylender Shylock, who is the play’s most prominent and most famous character. THE COMEDY OF ERRORS The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare’s early plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. The Comedy of Errors (along with The Tempest) is one of only two of Shakespeare’s plays to observe the classical unities. It has been adapted for opera, stage, screen and musical theatre. The Comedy of Errors tells the story of two sets of identical twins that were accidentally separated at birth. Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant, Dromio of Syracuse, arrive in Ephesus, which turns out to be the home of their twin brothers, Antipholus of Ephesus and his servant, Dromio of Ephesus. When the Syracusans encounter the friends and families of their twins, a series of wild mishaps based on mistaken identitieslead to wrongful beatings, a near-seduction, the arrest of Antipholus of Ephesus, and false accusations of infidelity, theft, madness, and demonic possession. POEMS In 1593 and 1594, when the theatres were closed because of plague, Shakespeare published two narrative poems on erotic themes, Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. He dedicated them to Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton. In Venus and Adonis, an innocent Adonis rejects the sexual advances of Venus; while in The Rape of Lucrece, the virtuous wife Lucrece is raped by the lustful Tarquin. Influenced by Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the poems show the guilt and moral confusion that result from uncontrolled lust. [124] Both proved popular and were often reprinted during Shakespeare’s lifetime. A third narrative poem, A Lover’s Complaint, in which a young woman laments her seduction by a persuasive suitor, was printed in the first edition of the Sonnets in 1609. Most scholars now accept that Shakespeare wrote A Lover’s Complaint. Critics consider that its fine qualities are marred by leaden effects. The Phoenix and the Turtle, printed in Robert Chester’s 1601 Love’s Martyr, mourns the deaths of the legendary phoenix and his lover, the faithful turtle dove. SONNETS Published in 1609, the Sonnets were the last of Shakespeare’s non-dramatic works to be printed. Scholars are not certain when each of the 154 sonnets was composed, but evidence suggests that Shakespeare wrote sonnets throughout his career for a private readership. Even before the two unauthorised sonnets appeared in The Passionate Pilgrim in 1599, Francis Meres had referred in 1598 to Shakespeare’s â€Å"sugred Sonnets among his private friends†. Few analysts believe that the published collection follows Shakespeare’s intended sequence. He seems to have planned two contrasting series: one about uncontrollable lust for a married woman of dark complexion (the â€Å"dark lady†), and one about conflicted love for a fair young man (the â€Å"fair youth†). It remains unclear if these figures represent real individuals, or if the authorial â€Å"I† who addresses them represents Shakespeare himself, though Wordsworth believed that with the sonnets â€Å"Shakespeare unlocked his heart†. The 1609 edition was dedicated to a â€Å"Mr. W. H. â€Å", credited as â€Å"the only begetter† of the poems. It is not known whether this was written by Shakespeare himself or by the publisher, Thomas Thorpe, whose initials appear at the foot of the dedication page; nor is it known who Mr. W. H. was, despite numerous theories, or whether Shakespeare even authorised the publication. Critics praise the Sonnets as a profound meditation on the nature of love, sexual passion, procreation, death, and time. ESTABLISHING HIMSELF By 1597, 15 of the 37 plays written by William Shakespeare were published. Civil records show that at this time he purchased the second largest house in Stratford, called New House, for his family. It was a four-day ride by horse from Stratford to London, so it is believed that Shakespeare spent most of his time in the city writing and acting and came home once a year during the 40-day Lenten period, when the theatres were closed. By 1599, William Shakespeare and his business partners built their own theater on the south bank of the Thames River, which they called the Globe. In 1605, Shakespeare purchased leases of real estate near Stratford for 440 pounds, which doubled in value and earned him 60 pounds a year. THE MERMAID TAVERN GROUP About this time Shakespeare became one of the group of now-famous writers who gathered at the Mermaid Tavern located on Bread Street in Cheapside. The Friday Street Club (also called the Mermaid Clu was formed by Sir Walter Raleigh. Ben Jonson was its leading spirit. Shakespeare was a popular member. He was admired for his talent and loved for his kindliness. Thomas Fuller, writing about 50 years later, gave an amusing account of the conversational duels between Shakespeare and Jonson: â€Å"Many were the wit-combats betwixt him and Ben Jonson; which two I behold like a Spanish great galleon and an English man-of-war; Master Jonson (like the former) was built far higher in learning; solid, but slow, in his performances. Shakespeare, with the English man-of-war, lesser in bulk, but lighter in sailing, could turn with all tides, tack about, and take advantage of all winds, by the quickness of his wit and invention. † Jonson sometimes criticized Shakespeare harshly. Nevertheless he later wrote a eulogy of Shakespeare that is remarkable for its feeling and acuteness. In it he said: Leave thee alone, for the comparison Of all that insolent Greece or haughty Rome Sent forth, or since did from their ashes come. Triumph, my Britain, thou hast one to show To whom all scenes of Europe homage owe. He was not of an age, but for all time! Sweet Swan of Avon! what a sight it were To see thee in our waters yet appear, And make those flights upon the banks of Thames, That so did take Eliza, and our James! WRITING STYLE William Shakespeare’s early plays were written in the conventional style of the day, with elaborate metaphors and rhetorical phrases that didn’t always align naturally with the story’s plot or characters. However, Shakespeare was very innovative, adapting the traditional style to his own purposes and creating a freer flow of words. With only small degrees of variation, Shakespeare primarily used a metrical pattern consisting of lines of unrhymed iambic pentameter, or blank verse, to compose his plays. At the same time, there are passages in all the plays that deviate from this and use forms of poetry or simple prose. Shakespeare combined poetic genius with a practical sense of the theatre. Like all playwrights of the time, he dramatised stories from sources such as Plutarch and Holinshed. He reshaped each plot to create several centres of interest and to show as many sides of a narrative to the audience as possible. This strength of design ensures that a Shakespeare play can survive translation, cutting and wide interpretation without loss to its core drama. As Shakespeare’s mastery grew, he gave his characters clearer and more varied motivations and distinctive patterns of speech. MARRIAGE AND LIFE IN LONDON In 1582, when he was 18, he married Anne Hathaway. She was from Shottery, a village a mile (1. 6 kilometers) from Stratford. Anne was seven or eight years older than Shakespeare. From this difference in their ages, a story arose that they were unhappy together. Their first daughter, Susanna, was born in 1583. In 1585 a twin boy and girl, Hamnet and Judith, were born. What Shakespeare did between 1583 and 1592 is not known. Various stories are told. He may have taught school, worked in a lawyer’s office, served on a rich man’s estate, or traveled with a company of actors. One famous story says that about 1584 he and some friends were caught poaching on the estate of Sir Thomas Lucy of Carlecote, near Warwick, and were forced to leave town. A less likely story is that he was in London in 1588. There he was supposed to have held horses for theater patrons and later to have worked in the theaters as a page. By 1592, however, Shakespeare was definitely in London and was already recognized as an actor and playwright. He was then 28 years old. In that year Robert Greene, a playwright, accused him of borrowing from the plays of others. Between 1592 and 1594, plague kept the London theaters closed most of the time. During these years Shakespeare wrote his earliest sonnets and two long narrative poems, ‘Venus and Adonis’ and ‘The Rape of Lucrece’. Both were printed by Richard Field, a boyhood friend from Stratford. They were well received and helped establish him as a poet. RELIGION Some scholars claim that members of Shakespeare’s family were Catholics, at a time when Catholic practice was against the law. Shakespeare’s mother, Mary Arden, certainly came from a pious Catholic family. The strongest evidence might be a Catholic statement of faith signed by John Shakespeare, found in 1757 in the rafters of his former house in Henley Street. The document is now lost, however, and scholars differ as to its authenticity. In 1591 the authorities reported that John Shakespeare had missed church â€Å"for fear of process for debt†, a common Catholic excuse. In 1606 the name of William’s daughter Susanna appears on a list of those who failed to attend Easter communion in Stratford. Scholars find evidence both for and against Shakespeare’s Catholicism in his plays, but the truth may be impossible to prove either way. SHAKESPEARE PROSPERS Until 1598 Shakespeare’s theater work was confined to a district northeast of London. This was outside the city walls, in the parish of Shoreditch. Located there were two playhouses, the Theatre and the Curtain. Both were managed by James Burbage, whose son Richard Burbage was Shakespeare’s friend and the greatest tragic actor of his day. Up to 1596 Shakespeare lived near these theaters in Bishopsgate, where the North Road entered the city. Sometime between 1596 and 1599, he moved across the Thames River to a district called Bankside. There, two theaters, the Rose and the Swan, had been built by Philip Henslowe. He was James Burbage’s chief competitor in London as a theater manager. The Burbages also moved to this district in 1598 and built the famous Globe Theatre. Its sign showed Atlas supporting the world. Shakespeare was associated with the Globe Theatre for the rest of his active life. He owned shares in it, which brought him much money. Meanwhile, in 1597, Shakespeare had bought New Place, the largest house in Stratford. During the next three years he bought other property in Stratford and in London. The year before, his father, probably at Shakespeare’s suggestion, applied for and was granted a coat of arms. It bore the motto Non sanz droict–Not without right. From this time on, Shakespeare could write â€Å"Gentleman† after his name. This meant much to him, for in his day actors were classed legally with criminals and vagrants. Shakespeare’s name first appeared on the title pages of his printed plays in 1598. In the same year Francis Meres, in ‘Palladis Tamia: Wit’s Treasury’, praised him as a poet and dramatist. Meres’s comments on 12 of Shakespeare’s plays showed that Shakespeare’s genius was recognized in his own time. HONORED AS ACTOR AND PLAYWRIGHT Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603. King James I followed her to the throne. Shakespeare’s theatrical company was taken under the king’s patronage and called the King’s Company. Shakespeare and the other actors were made officers of the royal household. The theatrical company was the most successful of its time. Before it was the King’s Company, it had been known as the Earl of Derby’s and the Lord Chamberlain’s. In 1608 the company acquired the Blackfriars Theatre. This was a smaller and more aristocratic theater than the Globe. Thereafter the company alternated between the two playhouses. Plays by Shakespeare were also performed at the royal court and in the castles of the nobles. After 1603 Shakespeare probably acted little, although he was still a good actor. His favorite roles seem to have been old Adam in ‘As You Like It’ and the Ghost in ‘Hamlet’. In 1607, when he was 43, he may have suffered a serious physical breakdown. In the same year his older daughter Susanna married John Hall, a doctor. The next year Shakespeare’s first grandchild, Elizabeth, was born. Also in 1607 his brother Edmund, also a London actor, died at the age of 27. GLOBE THEATRE The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare’s playing company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend and grandson Sir Matthew Brend, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613. A second Globe Theatre was built on the same site by June 1614 and closed in 1642. A modern reconstruction of the Globe, named â€Å"Shakespeare’s Globe†, opened in 1997 approximately 750 feet (230 m) from the site of the original theatre. The Globe was owned by actors who were also shareholders in Lord Chamberlain’s Men. Two of the six Globe shareholders, Richard Burbage and his brother Cuthbert Burbage, owned double shares of the whole, or 25% each; the other four men, Shakespeare, John Heminges, Augustine Phillips, andThomas Pope, owned a single share FAMOUS QUOTES All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages. – Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. – Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. – Listen to many, speak to a few. CRITICAL REPUTATION Shakespeare was not revered in his lifetime, but he received a large amount of praise. In 1598, the cleric and author Francis Meres singled him out from a group of English writers as â€Å"the most excellent† in both comedy and tragedy. And the authors of the Parnassus plays at St John’s College, Cambridge, numbered him with Chaucer, Gower and Spenser. In the First Folio, Ben Jonson called Shakespeare the â€Å"Soul of the age, the applause, delight, the wonder of our stage†, though he had remarked elsewhere that â€Å"Shakespeare wanted art†. FIRST FOLIO Mr. William Shakespeares’ Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies is the 1623 published collection of William Shakespeare’s plays. Modern scholars commonly refer to it as the First Folio. Printed in folio format and containing 36 plays (see list of Shakespeare’s plays), it was prepared by Shakespeare’s colleagues John Heminges and Henry Condell. It was dedicated to the â€Å"incomparable pair of brethren† William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke and his brother Philip Herbert, Earl of Montgomery (later 4th Earl of Pembroke). Although eighteen of Shakespeare’s plays had been published in quarto prior to 1623, the First Folio is the only reliable text for about twenty of the plays, and a valuable source text even for many of those previously published. The Folio includes all of the plays generally accepted to be Shakespeare’s, with the exception of Pericles, Prince of Tyre and The Two Noble Kinsmen, and the two â€Å"lost plays†, Cardenio and Love’s Labour’s Won. W. W. Greg has argued that Edward Knight, the â€Å"book-keeper† or â€Å"book-holder† (prompter) of the King’s Men, did the actual proofreading of the manuscript sources for the First Folio. Knight is known to have been responsible for maintaining and annotating the company’s scripts, and making sure that the cuts and changes ordered by the Master of the Revels were complied with. DEATH Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616 and was survived by his wife and two daughters. Susanna had married a physician, John Hall, in 1607, and Judith had married Thomas Quiney, a vintner, two months before Shakespeare’s death. In his will, Shakespeare left the bulk of his large estate to his elder daughter Susanna. The terms instructed that she pass it down intact to â€Å"the first son of her body†. Shakespeare’s will scarcely mentions his wife, Anne, who was probably entitled to one third of his estate automatically. He did make a point, however, of leaving her â€Å"my second best bed†, a bequest that has led to much speculation. Some scholars see the bequest as an insult to Anne, whereas others believe that the second-best bed would have been the matrimonial bed and therefore rich in significance. Shakespeare was buried in the chancel of the Holy Trinity Church two days after his death. The epitaph carved into the stone slab covering his grave includes a curse against moving his bones, which was carefully avoided during restoration of the church in 2008.