The Life and Death of Marie-Antoinette

Marie Antoinette (born Maria Antonia Josepha Joanna von Ãâ€"sterreich-Lothringen; November 2,  1755–October 16,  1793) was an Austrian noble and French Queen Consort whose position as a hate figure for much of France helped contribute to the events of the French Revolution, during which she was executed. Fast Facts: Marie-Antoinette Known For:  As the queen of Louis XVI, she was executed during the French Revolution. She is often quoted as saying, Let them eat cake (there is no proof of this statement).Also Known As:  Maria Antonia Josepha Joanna von Ãâ€"sterreich-LothringenBorn:  November 2, 1755,  in Vienna (now in Austria)Parents: Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, and Austrian Empress Maria TheresaDied:  October 16, 1793, in Paris, FranceEducation: Private palace tutors  Spouse: King Louis XVI of FranceChildren: Marie-Thà ©rà ¨se-Charlotte, Louis Joseph Xavier Franà §ois, Louis Charles, Sophie Hà ©là ¨ne Bà ©atrice de FranceNotable Quote: I am calm, as people are whose consciences are clear. Early Years Marie-Antoinette was born on November 2nd, 1755. She was the eleventh daughter - eighth surviving - of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband Holy Roman Emperor Francis I. All the royal sisters were called Marie as a sign of devotion to the Virgin Mary, and so the future queen became known by her second name – Antonia – which became Antoinette in France. She was bought up, like most noble women, to obey her future husband, an oddity given that her mother, Maria Theresa, was a powerful ruler in her own right. Her education was poor thanks to the choice of tutor, leading to later accusations that Marie was stupid; in fact, she was able with everything she was competently taught. Marriage to Dauphin Louis In 1756 Austria and France, long term enemies signed an alliance against the growing power of Prussia. This failed to quell the suspicions and prejudices each nation had long held for each other, and these problems were to affect Marie Antoinette deeply. However, to help cement the alliance it was decided that a marriage should be made between the two nations, and in 1770 Marie Antoinette was married to the heir to the French throne, Dauphin Louis. At this point her French was poor, and a special tutor was appointed. Marie now found herself in her mid-teens in a foreign country, largely cut off from the people and places of her childhood. She was in Versailles, a world where almost every action was governed by fiercely employed rules of etiquette which enforced and supported the monarchy, and which the young Marie thought ridiculous. However, at this early stage, she tried to adopt them. Marie Antoinette displayed what we would now call humanitarian instincts, but her marriage was far from happy to start with. Louis was often rumored to have had a medical problem which caused him pain during sex, but it’s likely he simply wasn’t doing the right thing, and so the marriage initially went unconsummated, and once it was there was still little chance of the much-desired heir being produced. The culture of the time — and her mother — blamed Marie, while close observation and attendant gossip undermined the future queen. Marie sought solace in a small circle of court friends, with whom later enemies would accuse her of hetero- and homosexual affairs. Austria had hoped that Marie Antoinette would dominate Louis and advance their own interests, and to this end first Maria Theresa and then Emperor Joseph II bombarded Marie with requests; in the end, she failed to have any effect on her husband until the French Revolution. Queen Consort of France Louis succeeded to the throne of France in 1774 as Louis XVI; at first, the new king and queen were wildly popular. Marie Antoinette had little regard or interest in court politics, of which there was a lot, and managed to offend by favoring a small group of courtiers in which foreigners seemed to dominate. It’s not surprising that Marie seemed to identify more with people away from their homelands, but public opinion often angrily interpreted this as Marie favoring others instead of the French. Marie masked over her early anxieties about children by growing ever more interested in court pursuits. In doing so she gained a reputation for outward frivolity — gambling, dancing, flirting, shopping — which has never gone away. But she was irreverent out of fear, self-doubting rather than self-absorbed. As Queen Consort Marie ran an expensive and opulent court, which was to be expected and certainly kept parts of Paris employed, but she did so at a time when French finances were collapsing, especially during and after the American Revolutionary War, so she was seen as a cause of wasteful excess. Indeed, her position as a foreigner to France, her expenditure, her perceived aloofness and her early lack of an heir led extreme slanders to be spread about her; claims of extramarital affairs were among the more benign, violent pornography was the other extreme. Opposition grew. The situation isn’t as clear cut as a gluttonous Marie spending freely as France collapsed. While Marie was keen to use her privileges — and she did spend — Marie rejected the established royal traditions and began to reshape the monarchy in a new fashion, rejecting stark formality for a more personal, almost friendly touch, possibly derived from her father. Out went the previous fashion on all but key occasions. Marie Antoinette favored privacy, intimacy, and simplicity over the previous Versailles regimes, and Louis XVI largely agreed. Unfortunately, a hostile French public reacted badly to these changes, interpreting them as signs of indolence and vice, as they undermined the way the French court had been built to survive. At some point, the phrase ‘Let them eat cake’ was falsely attributed to her. Queen, and Finally a Mother In 1778 Marie gave birth to her first child, a girl, and in 1781 the much longed for male heir arrived. Marie began to spend more and more time involved with her new family, and away from previous pursuits. Now the slanders moved away from Louis’ failings to the question of who the father was. The rumors continued to build, affecting both Marie Antoinette — who had previously managed to ignore them — and the French public, who increasingly saw the queen as a debauched, idiotic spendthrift who dominated Louis. Public opinion, on the whole, was turning. This situation worsened in 1785-6 when Maria was publicly accused in the ‘Affair of the Diamond Necklace’. Although she was innocent, she took the brunt of the negative publicity and the affair discredited the whole French monarchy. As Marie did begin to resist the pleas of her relatives to influence the King on behalf of Austria, and as Marie became more serious and engaged in the politics of France fully for the first time — she went to government meetings on issues which didn’t directly affect her — it so happened that France began to collapse into revolution. The King, with the country paralyzed by debt, tried to force reforms through an Assembly of Notables, and as this failed he became depressed. With an ill husband, a physically ill son, and the monarchy collapsing, Marie too became depressed and deeply afraid for her future, although she tried to keep the others afloat. Crowds now openly hissed at the Queen, who was nicknamed ‘Madame Deficit’ over her alleged spending. Marie Antoinette was directly responsible for the recall of Swiss banker Necker to the government, an openly popular move, but when her eldest son died in June 1789, the King and Queen fell into distraught mourning. Unfortunately, this was the exact moment when politics in France decisively changed. The Queen was now openly hated, and many of her close friends (who were also hated by association) fled France. Marie Antoinette stayed, out of feelings of duty and the sense of her position. It was to be a fatal decision, even if the mob only called for her to be sent to a convent at this point The French Revolution As the French Revolution developed, Marie had an influence over her weak and indecisive husband and was able to partly influence royal policy, although her idea of seeking sanctuary with the army away from both Versailles and Paris was rejected. As a mob of women stormed Versailles to harangue the king, a group broke into the queen’s bedroom shouting they wanted to kill Marie, who had just escaped to the king’s room. The royal family was coerced into moving to Paris, and effectively made prisoners. Marie decided to remove herself from the public eye as much as possible, and hope that she wouldn’t be blamed for the actions of aristocrats who had fled France and were agitating for foreign intervention. Marie appears to have become more patient, more pragmatic and, inevitably, more melancholic. For a while, life went on in a similar manner to before, in a strange sort of twilight. Marie Antoinette became then more pro-active again: it was Marie who negotiated with Mirabeau on how to save the crown, and Marie whose distrust of the man led to his advice being rejected. It was also Marie who initially arranged for her, Louis and the children to flee France, but they only reached Varennes before being caught. Throughout Marie Antoinette was insistent she would not flee without Louis, and certainly not without her children, who were still held in better regard than the king and queen. Marie also negotiated with Barnave on what form a constitutional monarchy might take, while also encouraging the Emperor to start armed protests, and form an alliance which would — as Marie hoped — threaten France into behaving. Marie worked frequently, diligently and in secret to help create this, but it was little more than a dream. As France declared war on Austria, Marie Antoinette was now seen as a literal enemy of the state by many. It is perhaps ironic that at the same instance as Marie began to distrust Austrian intentions under their new Emperor — she feared they would come for territory rather than in defense of the French crown — she still fed as much information as she could gather to the Austrians to aid them. The Queen had always been accused of treason and would be again at her trial, but a sympathetic biographer like Antonia Fraser argues Marie always thought her missives were in the best interest of France. The royal family was threatened by the mob before the monarchy was overthrown and the royals properly imprisoned. Louis was tried and executed, but not before Marie’s closest friend was murdered in the September Massacres and her head paraded on a pike before the royal prison. Trial and Death Marie Antoinette now became known, to those more charitably disposed to her, as Widow Capet. Louis’ death hit her hard, and she was allowed to dress in mourning. There was now debate over what to do with her: some hoped for an exchange with Austria, but the Emperor wasn’t overly worried about his aunt’s fate, while others wanted a trial and there was a tug of war between French government factions. Marie now grew very physically ill, her son was taken away, and she was moved to a new prison, where she became prisoner no. 280. There were ad hoc rescue attempts from admirers, but nothing came close. As influential parties in the French government finally got their way — they had decided the public should be given the head of the former queen — Marie Antoinette was tried. All the old slanders were trotted out, plus new ones like sexually abusing her son. While Marie responded at key times with great intelligence, the substance of the trial was irrelevant: her guilt had been pre-ordained, and this was the verdict. On October 16, 1793, she was taken to the guillotine, exhibiting the same courage and coolness with which she had greeted each episode of danger in the revolution, and executed. A Falsely Maligned Woman Marie Antoinette exhibited faults, such as spending frequently in an era when royal finances had been collapsing, but she remains one of the most incorrectly maligned figures in Europe’s history. She was at the forefront of a change in royal styles which would be widely adopted after her death, but she was in many ways too early. She was let down deeply by the actions of her husband and the French state to which she had been sent and cast aside much of her criticized frivolity once her husband had been able to contribute a family, allowing her to ably fulfill the role society wanted her to play. The days of the Revolution confirmed her as an able parent, and throughout her life as consort, she exhibited sympathy and charm. Many women in history have been the subject of slanders, but few ever reached the levels of those printed against Marie, and even fewer suffered as greatly from the way these stories affected public opinion. It is also unfortunate that Marie Antoinette was frequently accused of exactly what her relatives demanded of her — to dominate Louis and push policies favoring Austria — when Marie herself had no influence over Louis until the revolution. The question of her treason against France during the revolution is more problematic, but Marie thought she was acting loyally to the best interests of France, which was to her the French monarchy, not the revolutionary government.

America Needs the Affordable Care Act - 1320 Words

According to Newsweek, the University Medical Center on average has about $100,000 dollars a month in unpaid doctor’s visits and operations and special procedures; this burden gets passed on to the County taxpayer (Johnson). Unpaid bills occur due to people taken to the hospital and either do not have, or have very poor health insurance. The current process is not fair to anyone, whether one has no health insurance or one who has paid for it. Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, otherwise referred to as Obamacare, signed into law on March 23, 2010, this requires all Americans to purchase health insurance. The purchase of this care is purchased either individually or through the government market place. The act will lower†¦show more content†¦Romneycare requires everyone to get health insurance through the state market place. Both this law, and the Affordable Care Act require businesses to cover all full-time employees. Also, both laws make dropping an individual due of preexisting conditions illegal. Since 2006 almost 90% of Massachusites are insured, and since 2006 Massachusetts has had surpluses in its budget (Kolesnikova). With this extra money, public service projects were preformed such as restoring the I93 tunnel and the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge. On a personal level, the law helps individuals and families who are struggling with money. Mary Flynn who has asthma normally paid $60 a month for her inhaler, after her insurance dropped her because of the asthma, she went to apply for RomneyCare. â€Å"I felt like they threw me a lifeline,† she said, adding that her inhaler now costs her just $3.50 a month. â€Å"It’s the best insurance I’ve ever had† (Kolesnikova). This state law, if properly administered on a federal level, would have similar positive affects nationally. Despite all the benefits The Affordable Care Act gives to people, some people believe this law is socialism, a nd unlawfully forces people to buy health insurance. In 1935 FDR passed Social Security; his critics called this â€Å"creeping socialism†. If Social Security were true socialism, no one would pay into it, and retirees would just collect taxpayers money. The same applies forShow MoreRelatedDoes America Need the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act?1778 Words   |  8 PagesThe Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Is It What America Needs? The US healthcare system is currently undergoing what is arguably its biggest change since its enactment in 1935 with the Social Security Act. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law on March 23, 2010 by President Barack Obama in an attempt to bring cost free preventative care to all American citizens. And while this may sound like good news since it will help take care of the 54 million AmericansRead More America Needs The Patient Protection Affordable Care Act Essay1891 Words   |  8 Pages The Patient Protection Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is a federal statute that was signed into law by President Barak Obama on March 23, 2010. The PPACA which is commonly referred to as â€Å"Obamacare† was endorsed by lawmakers based on the objective of shifting healthcare cost from the employer to the government. The enactment of the PPACA has been viewed as unprecedented by many based on the constitutionality concerns related to healthcare reform. In ord er to address some of the concerns relatedRead MoreObamacare : The Affordable Care Act1507 Words   |  7 Pageshealth care coverage for all; and that is called The Affordable Care Act ( ACA)1 or also known as Obamacare. This program provides standardized medical expenses/procedures to be made and allows everyone -- who is eligible -- to have coverage. However, I think that we need to take in account how Obamacare is negatively impacting the lower class, middle class, and upper class; therefore, we should remove it. This law became effective on March 23, 2010 (Key Features of The Affordable Care Act). ObamacareRead MoreAffordable Healthcare Act And Affordable Care Act1409 Words   |  6 Pageslaw The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as The Affordable Healthcare Act, aka Obamacare. In this paper I am going to explain some of the major parts of the Affordable Healthcare Act and explain where I stand with this law. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was designed to improve the healthcare and health insurance business in the United States of America. Some of the main focuses of Obamacare is to add new gains for health care, more rights, more security,Read MoreThe Case against Obamacare667 Words   |  3 Pagesagainst Obamacare For healthcare coverage to work a healthcare system needs to be in place. The biggest thing we need to take away from this is whether healthcare is a commodity or human right and that it’s affordable. The people want the healthcare to be reform, but reformed in a better direction than what the Affordable Health Care Act is presenting. The people don’t want Washington to decide what type of care they need; the decision should be left upon the people. The new law being passedRead MoreThe Affordable Care Act ( Aca )956 Words   |  4 PagesAbsract++++++++++++++++++++++++++= The Affordable Care Act (ACA) (also known as â€Å"Obamacare†) is an historic piece of legislation that has had massive effect on healthcare in the United States. Its systemic effects on healthcare in this country are numberous, from insurance to ambulatory care, from healthcare related taxes to healthcare resources, and beyond. That said, the following research paper attempts to summarize how this massive piece of legislation has effected healthcare in the UnitedRead MorePublic Perception Of Health Care986 Words   |  4 PagesPUBLIC PERCEPTION Health Care Policy Personal VIBES and opinion about the policy: Personally, I support the Affordable Care Act (ACA) which allows all citizens to have access to health care. The Affordable Care Act allows citizens to have control over their health care and choose the health insurance that is best for them. This act forces health care providers to stop excluding citizens due to pre-existing health conditions, and offers medical care that will hopefully prevent illnesses. FurthermoreRead MoreHealthcare Crisis And Affordable Care Act1317 Words   |  6 PagesHealthcare Crisis Affordable Care Act During the 2008 presidential election, the issue of health care reform became a pressing issue, mainly among the Democrats. Supporters quoted that nearly 46 million Americans were uninsured while 25 million did not have sufficient health coverage. The costly monthly insurance premiums led countless individuals to fully rely on government entitled programs for their health care needs. Upon his election, President Obama made health care reform the focus ofRead MoreEssay On American Healthcare1345 Words   |  6 Pagesthe costs are taken out of the taxpayer money. While thirty two or more countries use universal healthcare, America is one of the only first world countries to not jump on that bandwagon (Kapitall). Instead of raising its taxes and risk making their people and economy suffer, the United States established a law known as the Affordable Care Act during Obama’s presidency in 2009. Seeing as the Act and current revisions already fall underway, I fail to see that poi nt of taking away what people recentlyRead MoreThe Landmark New Plan A Good Idea?1539 Words   |  7 PagesI. Introduction In this article, â€Å"Health Care Reform; Is the landmark new plan a good idea?†, written by Marcia Clemmitt, makes an appeal about the Health Care Reform Act, also known as the Affordable Care Act. She includes opinions from the critics, as well as supporters to help establish and give facts from both views to help citizens decide on the new act. Most of these critics and supporters decisions are politically based and not formed on personal issues (hopefully). The genre of this article

Research About Aging Workforce - 1124 Words

Contents 1. Introduction 2. Advantages of an aging workforce 2.1 Knowledge 2.2 Experience 3. Problems of an aging workforce 1. High health care costs and pension benefits 2. Lost of experience, corporate knowledge and business relations 4. Strategies which can be implemented 1. Mentoring and teaming 2. Redesigning retirement package 5. Conclusion 1. Introduction Baby boomers, people born between the years 1946 to 1964, in United States alone there was an increase in population by 78 million during this period. (United States Census Bureau). Then, they were the baby boomers and now they are known as a†¦show more content†¦Lost of experience, corporate knowledge and business relations As the aging workforce retires from the work scene, their experience, corporate knowledge and important business relationships forged over the years will be lost. Businesses are made, forged and thrive by many years of networking and excellent public relations, losing the people who made it happen all those years, will be a great blow to many industries and organizations. Re connecting with those lost business relationships, retraining the current employees to the level of competency and building up the corporate knowledge would drain the companies’ and organizations’ resources thus possibly reducing their profits or even start running into losses. When many experienced mechanics left Delta Air Lines Inc. in the mid – 1990s, the company was able to reduce compensation costs in the short term but the remaining less experienced employees took much longer to diagnose and repair airplanes. The results : flights delays and cancellations, unhappy customers and over all increase in Delta’s cost per seat.(Salvatore P, Rob C, Thomas H D, 2006) 4. Strategies which can be implemented 3. Mentoring and teaming The aging workforce is a great asset based on their experience, expertise, knowledge and skills learnt over the years. Tapping on these reserves would be a great gainShow MoreRelatedThe Alliance For Healthcare Reform1371 Words   |  6 PagesBackground The debate continues as to whether or not America is really experiencing a healthcare workforce shortage. This debate continues to rage as commercial areas experience an overflow of healthcare professionals with the option to offer per diem employment to job seekers in these areas. However, rural areas continue to suffer from a lack of professional healthcare workers; specifically, those who specialize in specialist areas. The Alliance for Healthcare Reform (2011) has highlighted the followingRead MoreThe Treasure Trove Of The Aging Workforce Essay953 Words   |  4 Pages The Treasure Trove of the Aging Workforce Tajh T. Stegall Southern New Hampshire University Human Behavior in Organization 19 February 2015 Abstract: â€Å"The Treasure Trove of the Aging Workforce† is simply stating how individuals in today’s workforce are working past the previous established retirement age of 70. Most of the older individuals are in a fast-growing segment of older workers, averaging over the age of 55. Treasure Trove of the Aging Workforce explains how these individuals areRead MoreJapan And Australia On Population Aging1384 Words   |  6 PagesPopulation Aging As time goes on, more and more countries come into population aging period. Population aging means the ratio of 65 years or above is over 7%, or the ratio of 60 years old or above is over 10%. Japan has the most serious aging problem in the world, and as predicted, after several decades there will be no Japanese populations without taking response measures. Australia also faces with the population aging problem during recent several years. Aging willRead MoreAge-Related Diversity Issues at the Workplace1683 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿Workplace Diversity Issues Age-Related Introduction Study #1 Older people are not retiring as the traditional age of 65 as they once did. According to a research paper published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) between 1977 and 2007, the number of employed workers over the age of 65 †¦increased 101 percent (BLS). For men 65 or older still at work, the increase (between 1977 and 2007) reflects a 75% rise; as for women, the number of those 65 and older rose by an impressives147 percentRead MoreElements If a Marketing Pln1064 Words   |  5 Pagestechnology a driving factor, but so is people aging and working longer. Aging is one thing that cannot be stopped. Because of this Clarity will always have a market to sell to, it is just a matter of knowing how to market to them and developing the right product. Changes in Purchasing Patterns Being in a market that is driven by technology, Clarity has to be sure to keep an eye on the purchasing patterns of the market. For the longest time there was no concern about losing the landline. However, in moreRead MoreChallenges Facing The Health Care Industry1626 Words   |  7 PagesThe purpose of this research is to explore the top challenges facing the health care industry. These challenges were examined to identify the impact that the patient, their families, and providers are faced with under the new ACA reform. This research briefly analyze the causes of health care cost increased, the shortage of healthcare workforce related to demographic changes of aging population and professional providers responsibilities to practice within the code of ethics. A solution is recommendedRead MoreThe Graying Of Our Population879 Words   |  4 Pagesfaces a huge challenge as the number of Baby Boomers reaching retirement age will double by 2030. According to the Eldercare Workfor ce Alliance [EWA] (2014), the first Baby Boomers turned 65 years old in 2011 and by 2029, all Baby Boomers will be at least 65. The group, totaling nearly 70 million people, will have an enormous impact on the U.S. health care system. The aging population will create many new obstacles for the healthcare industry because as people age they are more likely to developRead MoreRecommendations. The Skills Of An Aging Workforce Can Be1011 Words   |  5 PagesRecommendations The skills of an aging workforce can be useful if a policy is implemented so that a select group of especially skilled senior or retired workers is assigned to train employees for leadership positions. This training will provide the right skills that younger employees lack and develop positive working relations with senior staff in the organization. As a result, older workers will not feel compelled to retire early or leave their jobs because of poor working relationships or unsatisfactoryRead MoreSummary . The Public Health Workforce Consists Of A Large1312 Words   |  6 PagesSummary The public health workforce consists of a large number of professionals who provide significant contributions to the public health sector. The majority of public health workers consists of nurses, whereas the other percentage of workers are made up of various professions such as social workers, allied health professionals, physicians, and pharmacists. Structures such as the Triple Aim help to improve the quality of services and patient care. Additionally, the ACA has made health careRead MoreNursing Shortage And Its Effects On Health Care Policy877 Words   |  4 PagesStatistic, the projected increased of registered nurse employments by year 2018 is estimated to grow more than five hundred thousands of new registered nurses positions and about an increase in size in workforce by 22 percent (Carol Huston, 2014, p. 71). Nursing shortage arises when organizations want more nursing personnel in the workforce at the current market than they can get. Supply and demands aspects of incr easing numbers of populations are driving the shortage as well. The demands means the amounts

Contextualising The Play Essay Paper Example For Students

Contextualising The Play Essay Paper King Lear is a play influenced by history and predominantly affected by contemporary social, cultural and stately events of the early 17th Century. To contextualise the play I will look at cultural, social and historical background and distinguish how this had an effect on Shakespeares inspiration to write King Lear. A lot of the characters and inspiration for King Lear came from the society around Shakespeare. He observed lots of contemporary rumours and stories in the news about scandal between fathers and daughters. For example, Sir William Allen, a former Lord Mayor of London, split his estate between his three daughters and arranged to live alternately with each. But all three treated him cruelly and disrespectfully. Another popular subject of gossip in 1603-4 was Sir Brian Annesley. His youngest daughter Cordell defended him against her eldest sister who tried to have her aged father certified mad so that she could take control of his estate and wealth. This must have been the inspiration for the main story line for King Lear, he used the idea for Gonoril and Regan to betray their father from the three daughters of Sir William Allen and then altered it to include one daughter defending and truly loving the father from the story about Sir Brian Annesley, where he also got the name for the good daughter, Cordelia form Annesleys daughter Cordell. Historical affairs also had an effect on the plays characters and themes. Shakespeare must have the book by Raphael Holinsheds. Who wrote the Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland, which told of a story of a King Leir and his three daughters Gonorilla, Regan, and Cordeilla. This inevitably must have been the inspiration for the names of the three daughters in King Lear; Goneril, Regan and Cordelia. The main idea for the tale of King Lear would probably have come from Shakespeare reading the legendary story of Lear, first told in Geoffrey of Monmouths History of England, written in the 13th Century. Other inspiration for the plot and subplot in King Lear may have come from a play and two texts that affected Shakespeare. Shakespeare may have seen a play first performed in the 1590s called, The True Chronicle History of King Leir. It was then published in 1605, no characters died in the play, but it contained the stage direction of thunder and lightning which would have given Shakespeare the inspiration for the storm scene. Shakespeare may also have read a prose romance called, Arcadia. A novel by Sir Philip Sidney that was published in 1590, in the book there was a story about a man having one good son and one bad and how this effected the family. Shakespeare would have used this to create the subplot of Gloucester and his good son Edgar and his evil son Edmund. Edgars language as Poor Tom is an interesting creation, but again it was not Shakespeares invention. In 1603 Samuel Harsnett produced a pamphlet called, A Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures. It was an anti-Catholic pamphlet and it included a lot of strange language and demons names. It is said that this is where Shakespeare took a great deal of Poor Toms language. Another relevant happening of the time was the succession of James I to the throne. Elizabeth Is reign ended in 1603 and James I became King later that year. During Elizabeth Is reign England was in a time of prosperity, she reformed England massively. She had a good domestic and foreign policy and was loved by all classes in England. James I was the new monarch and he did not fulfil the expectations of the public. In comparison to Elizabeth he was weak. James I repressed the Protestants as strongly as he had the Catholics. He believed in the Divine Right of Kings and he enforced the superiority of the state over the church. .uf2300917e3c784c8cc8b6b0f82aa4af5 , .uf2300917e3c784c8cc8b6b0f82aa4af5 .postImageUrl , .uf2300917e3c784c8cc8b6b0f82aa4af5 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uf2300917e3c784c8cc8b6b0f82aa4af5 , .uf2300917e3c784c8cc8b6b0f82aa4af5:hover , .uf2300917e3c784c8cc8b6b0f82aa4af5:visited , .uf2300917e3c784c8cc8b6b0f82aa4af5:active { border:0!important; } .uf2300917e3c784c8cc8b6b0f82aa4af5 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uf2300917e3c784c8cc8b6b0f82aa4af5 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uf2300917e3c784c8cc8b6b0f82aa4af5:active , .uf2300917e3c784c8cc8b6b0f82aa4af5:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uf2300917e3c784c8cc8b6b0f82aa4af5 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uf2300917e3c784c8cc8b6b0f82aa4af5 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uf2300917e3c784c8cc8b6b0f82aa4af5 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uf2300917e3c784c8cc8b6b0f82aa4af5 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uf2300917e3c784c8cc8b6b0f82aa4af5:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uf2300917e3c784c8cc8b6b0f82aa4af5 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uf2300917e3c784c8cc8b6b0f82aa4af5 .uf2300917e3c784c8cc8b6b0f82aa4af5-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uf2300917e3c784c8cc8b6b0f82aa4af5:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Marino Faliero monologue from the play by Lord Byron Essay ThesisThe Divine Right of Kings was an ancient doctrine that stated that monarchs were representatives of God and derived their right to rule directly from God, giving them to ultimate right to the throne. It meant Kings would only answer to God and would not follow secular law, giving them the opportunity to do whatever they wanted and get away with it. Shakespeare probably was thinking about the political anxieties at the end of Queen Elizabeths reign and the beginning of King James Is reign. The public disliked James and his methods of kingship led to fears of civil war and of the kingdom being divided. Parliament were also challenging the monarchy at this time. They wanted more power to represent the people, each man representing his area and his peoples view. They felt the monarchs had too much power and Parliament should have a much larger effect on decisions in domestic policy. King Lear was written at the time of the turmoil in England, in his Jacobean play Shakespeare would have considered the incompetence of James and incorporated that into his character of Lear. This new style of kingship would have inspired some of the themes in the play such as, what rights and respect Kings had. Shakespeare was getting older and wiser and he challenged Kingship and made political criticisms in the play, the audience would have picked up on these thoughts as his plays were extremely popular, respected and enjoyed. London was a over populated city, overcrowding in houses and bad hygiene, led to disease being easily passed on throughout the city and when the plague appeared most would catch it, medicine was not an established and working system, they could only quarantine the infected and did not know cures for most diseases. Shakespeares play were a form of escapism for society, they appealed to the lower and upper classes. Shakespeare wrote his plays so that the upper educated classes could understand and enjoy his witty word puns and lengthy descriptions and he also wrote after the descriptions a short understandable line to sum up the description so that the less educated could enjoy and understand the play also. Culturally Europe was under the effects of the renaissance. The flowering of the arts, it stemmed mainly form Italy, as well as France and England lightly affecting the period. It was a rebirth of life, a period of European history that saw a renewed interest in the arts. The Renaissance began in 14th-century Italy and spread to the rest of Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. In this period, the fragmented feudal society of the Middle Ages, with its agricultural economy and church-dominated intellectual and cultural life, was transformed into a society increasingly dominated by central political institutions, with an urban, commercial economy and lay patronage of education, and predominantly the arts. Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Donato Bramante and Titian are just some of the Italian artists, sculptors and architects of the high renaissance. England was not drawn into the massive success of the visual arts and did not really contribute at all, but Englands contribution to the renaissance came form there extraordinary ability to write poetry and plays. Shakespeare was the main contributor to English poetry and plays. Humanism was an established idea it focussed on education. They wanted to educate people to be able to read and learn Latin and Greek. This meant the people of this time were very articulate and many were master orators. This is why Shakespeares plays are so full or word puns and his jokes are all based on the playing with words. His plays were very descriptive and all the action was acted through the words as Shakespeare did not have the effects we can produce now. .ua0c40101bcdabd2a9b6a9c12d46ffce6 , .ua0c40101bcdabd2a9b6a9c12d46ffce6 .postImageUrl , .ua0c40101bcdabd2a9b6a9c12d46ffce6 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ua0c40101bcdabd2a9b6a9c12d46ffce6 , .ua0c40101bcdabd2a9b6a9c12d46ffce6:hover , .ua0c40101bcdabd2a9b6a9c12d46ffce6:visited , .ua0c40101bcdabd2a9b6a9c12d46ffce6:active { border:0!important; } .ua0c40101bcdabd2a9b6a9c12d46ffce6 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ua0c40101bcdabd2a9b6a9c12d46ffce6 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ua0c40101bcdabd2a9b6a9c12d46ffce6:active , .ua0c40101bcdabd2a9b6a9c12d46ffce6:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ua0c40101bcdabd2a9b6a9c12d46ffce6 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ua0c40101bcdabd2a9b6a9c12d46ffce6 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ua0c40101bcdabd2a9b6a9c12d46ffce6 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ua0c40101bcdabd2a9b6a9c12d46ffce6 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ua0c40101bcdabd2a9b6a9c12d46ffce6:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ua0c40101bcdabd2a9b6a9c12d46ffce6 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ua0c40101bcdabd2a9b6a9c12d46ffce6 .ua0c40101bcdabd2a9b6a9c12d46ffce6-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ua0c40101bcdabd2a9b6a9c12d46ffce6:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: How does Shakespeare create an atmosphere of tension in Act 1 Scene 5? EssayEach play that is written is generally a product from its own society and in King Lear we see that Shakespeares inspiration has come from the contemporary society around him, books in history, the monarch changing and the Renaissance. Shakespeare wrote the play at the fin de siecle and great things were known to happen around this time. In King Lear I think Shakespeare created a great play that was written with challenging political thoughts, humour and an aged old story inspired by history and observations of contemporary scandal in the society around him.