Tempest By Shakespeare Essays - Operas, English-language Films

Tempest By Shakespeare The Tempest is an interesting play written by the famous, William Shakespeare. It is his official and last accomplishment. This play is thought of as one of Shakespeare's "romance" plays. Shakespeare started to write toward the end of his career about magic and fantasy set in far-off lands. These realms that he created are written about in his plays. This particular play is famous for his usage of magic, which is carried through by the Duke of Milan (a state in Italy), who is also known as Prospero the magician. Prospero rules Shakespeare's creation of an island set far away from all realities and creates ruckus for all that land on the island. Prospero who is on an island with his daughter Miranda and some servants to assist with magic is stranded but he uses his magical powers to his advantage. Prospero is on this remote island because his brother Antonio usurped his position of Dukedom. His evil brother sent Prospero and his baby daughter sailing into sea with a boat full of wholes. Antonio sent Prospero away in such an abused boat that he assumes that Prospero had to died at sea, but this is not so. A kind-hearted man named Gonzalo changes Prospero and his daughter's fate and Prospero in return uses his magic on the island to make it some what livable for them. The play starts out so happily but then Prospero is offered a chance to use his magic and take revenge upon his evil, brother Antonio who took his place in Milan, Italy as the duke to rule. Antonio happens to set sail in waters that are close to Prospero's island. His servant, Ariel who is an airy spirit, which Prospero rescued from imprisonment and now controls can fly, play magical music, misdirect people, turn invisible, and create storms and fire, among other abilities. Also Ariel's gender is uncertain and probably indeterminate; it is referred to sometimes as "he", but also takes on female forms (for instance, the nymph of I.ii.301 and the harpy of III.iii.53ff) and spends much time invisible. It is probably simplest to think of Ariel as androgynous-that is, neither male nor female) So Prospero and Ariel conjure up a huge storm (the tempest), and try and steer the ship towards the island so that his daughter and himself can return back to civilization. The ship wrecks near the island and Prospero uses his magic to make sure that all the passengers manage to make it safely ashore. Many interesting figures wash upon shore. These figures include, Antonio, Alonso, the King of Naples, who conspired long ago to help Antonio get rid of Prospero; the good old counselor, Gonzalo; Sebastian, Alonso's own power-hungry younger brother; and Ferdinand, Alonso's son, the Prince of Naples. The characters basically divide up into two groups, the protagonists and the antagonists. Antonio is an antagonist. He is the evil brother of Prospero, from whom he usurped the position of Duke of Milan twelve years ago. He also plots with Sebastian to kill Alonso and Gonazalo. Alsonso, the King of Naples is one of the figures belonging to the protagonist group. He was long ago involved in Antonio's plot to get rid of Prospero. He has a corruptible, power-hungry younger brother named Sebastian. He is the father of Ferdinand and the heir to the throne and he has a daughter named Claribel, who has just been married to a king fare across the sea. Gonzalo also belongs to the protagonists. He is a well-meaning, good-hearted elderly counselor of Alonso, who helped save Prospero and Miranda's life long ago, when Antonio and Alonso betrayed them. The next character is Sebastian who is an antagonist and he is also the wicked brother of Alonso, King of Naples. He is corrupt and power-hungry, and he plots with Antonio to murder Alonso and Gonzalo. Ferdinand is part of the protagonist group and is the Prince of Naples, and the son of Alonso. He falls in love with Miranda the first time he sees her. When Ferdinand is washed onto the island alone, Ferdinand and Miranda (the young, na?ve daughter of Prospero who has grown up on the island and has seen no other human being than her father for as long as she can remember.) meet and fall in love at first sight. This was Prospero's secret goal all along, although he pretends to dislike Ferdinand at first. Meanwhile, Prospero lets the other noblemen-Alonso and Antonio, accompanied by Sebastian, Gonzalo and others wander around the island

Daimler Chrysler Essays

Daimler Chrysler Essays Daimler Chrysler Essay Daimler Chrysler Essay Julie I. Gonzalez DaimlerChrysler AG: A Decade of Global Strategic Challenges Leads to Divorce in 2007 The DaimlerChrysler merger of 1998 was accepted with anticipation of greatness by analysts, stockholders, and the auto industry. Both companies had a global presence and combined heralded a revenue of 154 billion and 5. 6 billion in profit, combined. However, this merger ended up in divorce due to cross-cultural problems, production and manufacturing glitches, competition, lack of demand, , and incompatible brand portfolios. On the Hofstede dimension, Germans rank very high on individualism. They are conservative and value privacy, politeness and formality. Individualism is not conducive to a combined effort. This need for individualism as a culture affected the overall efforts to combine knowledge and skills. Daimler employees were competitive and resented the Chrysler division. Efforts and goals were not combined and there was a lack of synergy. One of the reasons for the merger was to combine their operations, share Ramp;D know-how and joint sales. As a result of the lack of cooperation there were production manufacturing glitches. Manufacturing was not properly streamlined. Both companies had very different methods of manufacturing and production. There was no learning from one another or implementation of each other’s best practices. Competition in the auto industry is always tense. Toyota, for instance was the most efficient manufacturer and quality and consumer satisfaction. DaimlerChrysler’s goal was to become a major global player. These goals were not realized duet other challenges Daimler branded vehicles faced in maintaining their position as a luxury and quality tradition and Chrysler facing issues of safety. Chapter 7 lists the guidelines for a successful alliance. The number one factor is choosing a partner with compatible strategic goals and objectives with whom the alliance will result in synergies through the combined markets, technologies, and management cadre. They did share the same goal having a global presence, having a broad product range and technology leadership. However, these goals did not result in synergy, a mutually successful bond. The merger plan was to combine two very different brand portfolios. Daimler-Benz targets the upscale market while the Chrysler targets the low end/sub-compact market. Lack of demand also hindered the success of the DaimlerChrysler merger. Customer demand for Chryslers gas guzzling SUV’s and Daimlers expensive luxury vehicles was down due to the state of the economy. In May of 2007 DaimlerChrysler demerged. The merger was a failure and as a result Daimler lost big. How could this failure have been avoided? One could reason that clashing of the two cultures is something that is without solution. However, as we have seen with the Renault-Nissan alliance, two cultures that clash and on paper look impossible can be very successful. Negotiations were formal. Less formal, more personal negotiations between the German and American executives with an impartial mediator could have offered better solutions to issues before the actual merger took place. It appears to me that the merger went through rather prematurely without actual solutions to problems that they may actually face once combining the two companies. Issues such as how to properly merge the two brands, how to foster compliance in learning each other’s best practices. I believe that a successful alliance begins with leadership. A more effective leadership that is non-biased or without prejudice would be more successful. The resentment of Chrysler by Daimler should have been addressed. All employees not on board for the common good of the two companies should have been let go or moved to a different position. Lastly, the auto economy was suffering, and the consumer demand for luxury or gas guzzling vehicles was low. There was a lack of innovation during the post merger period. Innovation was not even discussed during the premerger negotiations. New vehicles aimed at what the customers were actually demanding may have allowed this union to have been a successful one.