Tuesday, December 31, 2019

The Tragedy Of Macbeth By William Shakespeare - 972 Words

In the Tragedy of Macbeth, William Shakespeare utilizes a series of themes through the behaviors of many different characters. Some themes seen more clearly throughout the play are those of monarchy, tyranny, and gender. Perhaps the most prominent theme in the whole play is that of the â€Å"unsexing† of Lacy Macbeth’s character. Lady Macbeth wants to act in such a way that is not connected to her gender; we see this and how it relates to the plot and her part in both the rising action and climax in the book. Lady Macbeth tries very hard to unsex herself and yet in the end, she becomes the epitome of what women were seen as, weak and at fault. Shakespeare writes Lady Macbeth’s character so that she is to blame for many things that happen and never once does the reader feel remorse for her fate because of what she has done in the past. Lady Macbeth is the wife of Macbeth and the only woman character who plays a part in the plot of the play. In the beginning of the play the reader sees her as a cunning woman who, in her ambition, pushes Macbeth to kill King Duncan after she finds out of the prophecy. She urges Macbeth to kill King Duncan and when Macbeth shows hesitation she tells him â€Å"I have given suck and know How tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me: I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have plucked the nipple from his boneless gums , And dashed his brains out, had I so sworn as you Have done this (1.7. 55-57).† Here we see Lady Macbeth use her gender, her ability toShow MoreRelatedThe Tragedy Of Macbeth By William Shakespeare1205 Words   |  5 PagesThe first tragic story created in ancient Greece. Tragedies were written as a form of catharsis or purgation of emotions. In these types of plays, the audience finds characters in which they can relate to which is a tragic hero. The tr agic hero creates his own failures based upon their own actions and produces a detrimental fate for himself. The process of the protagonist’s fall is based upon the tragic structure. The structure of a tragedy consists of the exposition, exciting force, hamartia, theRead MoreThe Tragedy Of Macbeth By William Shakespeare892 Words   |  4 Pages‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’, written between 1599 and 1606 by William Shakespeare, has been reinterpreted in the 2010 film ‘Macbeth’. The 2010 film successfully takes its own reading of Shakespeare s play; by changing the setting, the director, Rupert Goold, effectively conveys many of the key themes and issues found in the original text. Whilst transforming some on the underlying meanings to correspond to the alternative readings contemporary audiences might take from Shakespeare s Macbeth. The objectiveRead MoreThe Tragedy Of Macbeth By William Shakespeare1724 Words   |  7 PagesAs humans we are attracted to tragedy in our everyday lives. For the horror, understanding and contemplation of human nature what else can offer a better summary than Shakespeare? In the play the Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare the story progresses through the vision of the protagonist, Macbeth. Throughout the story Macbeth aspires to obtain more power than his original position, as sergeant, provides. With many dastardly deeds he achieves the position of king, although he becomes a tyrantRead MoreThe Tragedy Of Macbeth By William Shakespeare1023 Words   |  5 PagesWilliam Shakespeare is one the greatest writer of all time. Writing hundreds of books and scripts, Shakespeare founded his most success in his plays in the 1589-1613. One of his most popular plays is the Tragedy of Macbeth. The Tragedy of Macbeth was a turn from glory to tragedy. A story of a true tragic hero. Macbeth is a brave soldier in a war for Scotland. A tale of a great soilder that was highly praise in his kingdom turn to a tr agic murderous sinful king. Macbeth kill his friends and hisRead MoreThe Tragedy Of Macbeth By William Shakespeare1497 Words   |  6 PagesPractise Essay William Shakespeare effectively explores and follows the framework of the tragedy, Macbeth; a tale of systematic suffering, which foreshadows and imminently leads to the death of a great man. Essentially, it is Macbeth’s flaw – his growing ambition – which leads to these harsh repercussions. Shakespeare demonstrates his tragedy, through Aristotle’s elements and definition of tragedy, which ultimately concerns the reversal of good fortune to bad. In â€Å"Macbeth†, ambition conspires withRead MoreThe Tragedy Of Macbeth By William Shakespeare1090 Words   |  5 PagesThe Tragedy of Macbeth Literary Analysis In the play The Tragedy of Macbeth, William Shakespeare uses satire as tone and irony as points of view to portray Macbeth’s unfortunately placed ambition and the manipulation that is used on him. His ambition to gain a higher status as king ends with consequences to himself and the others in his path. Shakespeare adds dramatic irony, verbal irony, and situational irony to keep the readers at the edge of their seats as well as engaged in each lie and mishapRead MoreThe Tragedy Of Macbeth By William Shakespeare739 Words   |  3 PagesIn William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, the Death of King Duncan of Scotland occurred at Thane Macbeth’s castle, Inverness, at around four in the morning in about the year 1300. Before the murder, Macbeth imagined seeing a bloody dagger floating before him, making it appear as if he was not totally sane. The reason the murder happened was because Macbeth had met three witches in the woods that prophesized to him that he would become king of Scotland. Afterwards, Macbeth sent a letterRead MoreThe Tragedy Of Macbeth By William Shakespeare1052 Words   |  5 PagesEnglish II 2 October, 2015 â€Å"Tragedy† of Macbeth Macbeth, a play written by one of the most influential English writers of all time William Shakespeare. It was created to be a Shakespearean tragedy. A tragedy as Aristotle defines it as: â€Å"Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude †¦. through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions† (Aristotle: Poetics). What this is saying for a tragedy is that it should have the audienceRead MoreThe Tragedy Of Macbeth By William Shakespeare1582 Words   |  7 Pagesto you and told you would be king would you trust them? Macbeth did and ultimately it led to his tragic demise. The tragedy of Macbeth was written by famous poet William Shakespeare in the earl sixteen hundredth. The play dramatizes the destructive physical and mental effects of radical ambition for people who seek authority for the benefit of an individual. Macbeth’s theme of ambition, lust for power, faith, and gullibility makes Macbeth his own antagonist, which is directly correlated to his deathRead MoreThe Tragedy Of Macbeth By William Shakespeare1290 Words   |  6 Pagesdetrimentally. This is evident in the play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare through Macbeth’s interpretation of the witches’ prophecies, perception of the security of his throne, and interpretation of what his life has become. First, Macbeth’s interpretation of the witches’ prophecies became the principle of his actions that caused for his identity to descent. To begin with, the three weird sisters presented Macbeth with three prophecies where the first two, Thane

Monday, December 23, 2019

The Slavery Of America And America - 1168 Words

In 1619, there was a Dutch ship that arrived in America to trade for food. But instead of an object, such as silk or wine, they were trading humans. These humans were Africans who were not treated as normal human beings, but as if they were just an object or animal. On their voyage over to America, all the slaves were crammed into the lower part of the ship. They were forbidden to move and had to remain lying down for the entire voyage. For those on the ship to be sure the slaves were not causing any trouble, the men on the ship had put chains on the large group of slaves or indentured servants, historians are unsure. If anyone had become ill on the journey, no one cared and they went would be sent overboard. Due to all of the†¦show more content†¦Before 1665, slavery was accepted. Slavery had previously existed in Africa as well as China, Egypt, and Greece. The enslaving of people was not as common as slavery, but it had been happening in South and Central America, as well as Mexico and the Caribbean. Because slavery had existed as well as enslaving people, those being enslaved were starting to rebel. The first recorded rebellion in America was in Gloucester, County, VA in 1663. Rebellions had already been happening in other countries. Abraham Lincoln gave a speech and he as usual used an anecdote to support his main idea. His speech was about slavery. His anecdote was about two priests, who were discussing some passages from the bible and one of the priests put a coin on the table because the coin was reiterating what the bible said. This was a warning to many people. The southern people had been living their life to make sure there was going to be slavery and some in the north did the same. Centuries later, slavery was all around, just as they hoped, but many slaves were not happy and began to protest. This lead to many rebellions. Between the years 1619 and 1865 there were over two hundred and fifty rebellions. The first recorded rebellion in British North America was in Gloucester County, Virginia, 1663. It was led by slaves and servants, who decided to flee to the woods. Because they

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Finance Free Essays

Task 1. 1: 1. There are some key trends which may have infections to Elecdyne during the next 5 years, those factor are shown as follow: †¢Globalization in all industry may become a very important trend to the company. We will write a custom essay sample on Finance or any similar topic only for you Order Now Because all of the top management team have learnt English, and several of them have studied abroad, that may lead an opening change from the top to the bottom, from minds to actions. †¢Trade with more and more Asia countries may become a popular tendency to Elecdyne because most of the countries have the cheapest labour and material so that they can produce the products in a very low price. The change of customer needs will also be an important factor which means the different demands in different period may determine the development direction of Elecdyne. †¢With the development of technology and the society, more and more hi-tech methods of marketing such as on-line shopping or e-trade will play an important role in the business between Elecdyne and other companies. 2. I will choose a STEEP table as the best tool for analysis of the Elecdyne situation because the table may contain more information than the map and it is clearer in each section. That may be easier for the Elecdyne to make an analysis to their risk and make an improvement in each part. 3. The STEEP table Social trends: ?For their Old rivals who are already know the strategy of Elecdyne may have some influence on their future plan. There are another pressure of those new-growth enterprise and also have some competition to Elecdyne. That because the increase sense in greenness of consumers may be a big challenge. ?The increasing of variety demands may lead the company adjust their principle of management. In order to ensure customers are satisfactory on their services. And retain their old customers and explore more potential consumers. ?Nowadays, mass media are playing an important role in every field. Either a positive news or negative news can have a big effect on the confidence of the customers. Technological trends: ?Whether the internal department of company can have enough new technical to improve the old products. ?The crash from high technology to the old products so that the old products will be weeded out. There are more and more copy products appear on the market, the company should try their best to maintain their patent right. Economic trends: ?There is a Steady recession of economic lead the cost of product is increasing. That may cause the staffs of the company are unemployed. The company should also make sure the Capital chain can be normally operation. ?Use the lowest cost of the product such as cheap labour from Asia countries so that can make the profit as much as possible. Be certain on the recovery time of economic in order to grasp the opportunity to lead the enterprise to the peak Ecological trends: ?Protecting the ecological can establish good company image ? Nowadays more and more people pay attention to the environmentally-friendly society and green products. ?There are stricter and stricter to the regulation of institutions. ?Renewable energies and new raw materials are becoming more and more popular among the companies which may means more ecological they are, more profit they can earn. Political trends: Whether the government will support the company and the tax of the company is increase or reduce ? The tread barrier can be influence whether the company can have a global business with the world companies. ?Whether the nationality of the company is the member of some trade organizations. That may also be a key factor to affect the trade of the company. Sources: ?Infed: globalization http://www. infed. org/biblio/globalization. htm ? MBA Boost STEEP: Analysis Tool http://www. mbaboost. com/content/177/ ?Contact-bg: STEEP Table http://contact-bg. wikispaces. com/STEEP+Table How to cite Finance, Essay examples Finance Free Essays FINANCE 2 ASSINGMENT 2011-2012 Nikesh Hindocha (10044607) Part A. Introduction As part of my assignment, I have been asked to discuss the following statement â€Å"Mergers and acquisitions can be value destroyers or value creators†. A merger can be defined as when two equal businesses in terms of profit margin and status, combine in order to become one legal entity. We will write a custom essay sample on Finance or any similar topic only for you Order Now Initially, the fundamental reason for this merge is to produce a company that is worth more than the sum of its parts. An acquisition is where one company acquires a controlling interest in another company. The combination of these unequal companies can produce the same or even more benefits as a merger would. In different cases, these mergers and acquisitions are either considered as the creator of value or the destroyer of value or even possibly both. A company that is considered as a value creator is carrying out their primary value-adding activities in the right manner. In contrast, a company that is seen as a value destroyer does the complete opposite meaning that the company is less appealing to employees, customers and potential investors. Value Creation Mergers and acquisitions are formed in the hope that they will create value and there is a vast amount of reasoning on why they have been introduced. Businesses will try and create value for the company, shareholders, customers and employees. The present value of all performance enhancements attributable to management change would result in the increase in value from just by managing the assets more efficiently (Damodaran, 2005). Horizontal and Vertical Integration of Mergers and Acquisitions Mergers that are of a large scale may have been introduced in order to occupy a large share of the market, whereas acquisitions may have been formed in order to eliminate the competition. The mobile phone group of the recent merge between t mobile UK and orange UK could be potentially the biggest value creating company of all time. There aim is to take advantage of the fact that their products are related so that they can build of each other and therefore create profit and value for the customer (synergy) i. . customers will be able to use either network of t mobile and orange. Tom Alexander, CEO of Everything Everywhere – the company that runs Orange and  T-Mobile – said: ‘This is the beginning of an ambitious plan to give our customers instant access to whatever they want, wherever they are – instant access to everything everywhere. This form of merging is regarded as horizontal integration , where growth is achieved through mergers and acquisitions offering similar products and services. However, the size of the mergers determines the effect it imposes on the market. In the case of the merge between Morrisons and Safeway, the market as a whole was affected, whereas two companies of a smaller size wouldn’t have as big of an impact. Another form of merging is called vertical integration. Vertical integration acquires businesses in the same industry but at different stages of the supply chain. The benefit of vertical integration involves the ability to secure supplies and future orders. An example of vertical integration is the acquisition of Amstrad from BSkyB, which in turn led to a reduction in costs of its supply chain. Sir Alan Sugar said- â€Å"I cannot imagine a better home for the Amstrad business and its talented people. Our companies share the entrepreneurial spirit of bringing innovation to the largest number of customers†. This implies that the merger is creating value towards the employees, because employees who have an in depth understanding of the business can interact there knowledge with their colleagues. The merge will also add value towards customers due to the business providing improved efficiency and the introduction of innovation. Value creation of Shareholders Managers need to exercise various strategic approaches in order to create shareholder value or to increase it. The prices at which goods and services can be sold, the risks inherent in the business and the level of required investments are used to measure shareholders wealth. â€Å"Building profitable businesses creates value. The board of directors and management’s primary responsibility is to increase company value and shareholder wealth. Shareholders invest in businesses seeking a significant return on their investment. They expect the reward to be appropriate for the business and financial risks of an unsure future. â€Å"Article: The Key to Creating Shareholder Value Knowledge Begins with Simple â€Å"Cigar Box† Accounting†)[2. ]. The strategies and approaches employed by the company will help determine if the business has created value for the shareholder. In the case of Cadbury Schweppes, where the significant aim was to increase shareholder value, their primary aim is to focus on growth markets, improving brands and innovation in order to gain their objectives. (Source- annual report, 2000 Cadbury Schweppes) Value Destroyers Even though the fundamental objective for mergers and acquisitions is to create value, there may be factors involved that cause the value to be destroyed. It is believed that the prime component of why acquisitions fail is due to the fact that they paid too much to control it, which in turn leaves them with huge debts. The buyer may find that the premium they paid for the acquired company’s shares (the so-called â€Å"winner’s curse†) wipes out any gains made from the acquisition (Henry 2002). The differences in corporate culture play a substantial role in the M;A destroying value because each company may heavily depend on how they individually strategically run their businesses. Employees from one company may not feel to contribute or share their ideas with the employees with the other merged company therefore causing disruption and eventual failure of the M;A (merger and acquisition) (Appelbaum et al 2000). This could be reflected in the case of Kraft taking over Cadbury’s, as the employees and customers of Cadbury’s felt that their own ownership history of their products and corporate background of brands is exceedingly important to them. When a firm is taking over another firm, there may be dispute amongst the leadership of the M;A. This could lead to destruction between both sides as they both are bemused of their roles in the business. This may prove a problem in the case of Carlton and Granada: Carlton’s chief executive Charles Allen and Granada’s chairman Michael Green, who will have joint responsibility for running the merged company, have been likened to â€Å"ferrets in a sack†. Another issue that was mentioned in the Kraft takeover of Cadbury was that â€Å" a company taking over inevitably dominates and imposes its values and decision making processes†. The stakeholders of Cadbury were not pleased with this takeover as they felt that their ideas and strategies would be unheard of. When an M;A pursue an investment of a product in their market, they are not too familiar with the information of the product itself. This lack of assurance that the product will succeed i. e. the product will bring in profit over long range of time, will cause potential shareholders or shareholders to not take part in any form of investment of the company. This creation of loss and poor strategic approaches causes eventual value destruction. Another significant issue of a value destroyer is the complexity of a product. M;A fail to manage the complexity of a new product leading to failure in capturing value. In the case of a merger or a takeover, the effectiveness of complexity management becomes more vital and problematical. Conclusion Mergers and acquisitions will do their utter most best in order to create value. The stepping-stone in which that this can be obtained is primarily down to the relationships between the managers and employees in both sets of companies. There are advantages associated with horizontal and vertical mergers, as they both consist of employees and managers who have a vast amount of knowledge about their own firms. However, it depends on the way in which they interact with their colleagues to address their understandings. If the M;A are not fully aware of the differences in corporate cultures, it will lead to a dissatisfied workforce therefore destroying value. Leaders who have experienced rapid changes in the value created and destroyed in their initial companies, will have to introduce new and clear visions for the integrated companies to progress. M;A can take full advantage of their integration due to their size and global reach. They can severely challenge their competitors due to the power they can enforce on them i. . combined company strategies could lead to a dominance in market power depending on the size and stature of the companies involved. However, value will be destroyed if the M;A effectiveness of their deals and planning is of a poor quality. If the integration plan of the companies is below par and unclear whilst maintaining the daily running of the business, M;A may fail. Ine vitably, there will be instances that arise that are uncontrollable such as dispute over strategic planning between two companies or the irrepressible corporate culture differences. In most scenarios, it is impossible to determine whether or not M;A create or destroy value, but careful planning and research pre M;A could enhance the situation of it being in more of favor of creating value in the future. Bibliography Damodaran, A. (2005) The value of control: implications for control premia, minority discounts and voting share differentials, Stern School of Business, New York. Hassan, M. , Patro, D. K. , Tuckman, H. and Wang, X. (2007) â€Å" Do mergers and acquisitions create shareholder wealth in the pharmaceutical industry? , International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 58-78. Cox. D and Fardon M (2007), Management of Finance; a guide to business finance for the non specialist, 1st Edition, Osborne Books Limited References http://newsroom. orange. co. uk/2010/03/01/merger-of-t-mobile-uk-and-orange-uk-cleared-by-eu-commission/ http://searchcrm. techtarget. com/podcast/Creating-value-for-customers-and-shareholders-with-Ma rtha-Rogers http://www. dailymail. co. uk/sciencetech/article-1309852/Orange-T-Mobile-merge-networks-users-switch-them. html. http://news. bc. co. uk/1/hi/business/6923517. stm. Corporate mergers happen when two companies combine. There are two situations in merging. An agreed merger is when both companies want to merge and when one company seeks to control another company without its agreement, it is called a hostile takeover. It is up to the shareholders of the target company to approve a merger. They usually approve if it is recommended by the board, or if they stand to make a substantial profit from the shares in the new company. Mergers happen since there are many motivations such as expansion. A larger, growing company may try to take over its smaller rivals in order to grow bigger. In some cases it is the smaller company that wants to expand, but is held back by lack of capital. Smaller companies seek a larger partner who will put in the necessary investment. When a stock market booms, it makes mergers more appealing because it is relatively cheap to attain other companies by paying for them in high valued shares. However, falling share prices can lead to a company being undervalued and thereby an attractive acquisition. Mergers can fail when the merged companies cannot agree on existing or new terms. Mergers can also run into regulatory problems. Governments may be concerned that the merger might create a monopoly and can either block it or require the merged companies to sell some of the firms which are part of their business. Mergers can sometimes not deliver the strategic objectives set, such as cost savings failing to materialise. There have been varied studies that suggest that whatever the instant benefit to shareholders, mergers rarely give much added value to the economy as a whole. Acquisitions can also happen through a hostile takeover by purchasing the majority of outstanding shares of a company in the open market in opposition to the wishes of the target’s board. An acquisition can take the form of a purchase of stock or other equity interests of the target or the acquisition of all or a considerable amount of its assets. In a share purchase the buyer buys the shares of the target company from the shareholders of the target company. The buyer takes on the company with all its assets and liabilities. To increase shareholder value, managers could adopt a wider range of strategies. It aims to work as a systematic approach to success and security. There are five competitive forces that are important in determining shareholder wealth. They largely determine the prices at which the goods and services can be sold, the level of required investments and the risks inherent in the business. 1st visit to Coursework. info? Welcome! As a welcome gift, you are viewing the the complete version of this essay,? to view other documents in full you will need to become a subscriber. Once a company has been merged or acquisitioned, the value of the firm depends on the cash flows generated from the business operations and the firm’s cost of capital. Moreover depending on the success of the firm’s strategies and decisions, the value of the firm will either increase or shrink (value creator or value destroyers). An example of value creator is that of Cadbury Schweppes. Cadbury Schweppes objective is growth in shareholder value. They refer to focusing on growth markets, developing brands, innovations and acquisitions as vital approaches to achieving objectives. Source- annual report, 2000 Cadbury Schweppes) Historically, mergers have often failed to add significantly to the value of the acquiring firm’s shares*. Corporate mergers may be aimed at reducing market competition, cutting costs (for example, laying off employees), reducing taxes, removing management, â€Å"empire building† by the acquiring managers, or other purposes which may no t be consistent with public policy or public welfare. Thus they can be heavily regulated, requiring, for example, approval in the US by both the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice. Recently there has been real boom in mergers and acquisitions activity across several different companies. For example in Telecoms, Alcatel / Lucent and Telefonica / 02 mergers. Deloitte counts 12 cross-border financial services mergers over $3 billion in the last two years. In 2005 a Bain and Company survey of 960 global executives found that ‘acquisitions will be critical to achieving [their] growth objectives over the next five years’. Usually the CFO is to deliver all the vast synergy benefits that were promised to the market. According to Deloitte, between 50-70 percent of mergers fail to deliver shareholder value. Accenture revealed that for an acquirer expecting to reap $500 million in yearly cost savings from a merger and acquisitions transaction, a simple one-month delay reduces the net present value of the deal by more than $150 million (assuming a 10 percent cost of capital). A seven-month delay costs nearly $1 billion in lost value, or approximately $3. 5 million per day. ** Before the merger, successful acquirers need to ensure that their efforts incorporate fast and accurate assessments of both short and long term success. Superior information management technology is also crucial, as companies with access to accurate and reliable data are able to specifically measure not only the potential synergies, but also the ‘dis-synergies’ that need to be parted from. The best practice is to implement a flexible information management approach that accommodates circumstances planning. Labatt Breweries was one particular company that was going through major organizational restructuring a few years ago. It moved from a regionally federated business to a national business. When Labatt was involved in the merger with AmBev not long after, by taking this approach and installing flexible data warehousing software, its executives were well-prepared to handle this major upheaval with minimum disruption. Halifax and the Bank of Scotland’s venture to form HBOS plc, where they chose a flexible data warehouse to get a reliable view of procurement data held in different systems. HBOS was realistic enough to recognize integrating operations and IT systems from different divisions. They implemented an iterative approach and using a data warehouse to sit above their underlying systems; their business users were able to gain the necessary insight to drive important cost-savings. Above all, these savings were delivered quickly. Any merger or acquisition of any size is going to present vital challenges when it comes to integrating the different systems of the two companies involved. *(King, et al. , 2004) **http://investor. accenture. com/phoenix. zhtml? c=129731p=irol-irhome The longer you leave failures the greater the probability of corporate pheaval. Compaq’s Eckhard Pfeiffer lost his job through taking too long over closing the performance gap opened by Michael Dell. He took too long over finding some way to combat Dell’s direct sales and over making sense of the mixed-up mega-merger with Digital Equipment. Many European companies are in a similar state. They are lacking on performance and tackling with outdated business models; and in many cases depending often on giant mergers for their global chances. Such huge unions as Daimler-Benz/Chrysler, or British Petroleum/Amoco, may work and be value creators. BP is a good example of radical change fired by a simple ambition: to be the best. Top management reduced the bureaucracy and set simple targets, and linked overall aims with objectives for every unit and team. While BP’s pay-off came speedily, rivals Royal Dutch-Shell delayed behind – until its directors applied much the same formula. The board ordained a higher return on capital, cut down on head office, and linked individual pay to performance. The reforms had however flopped as hugely as BP’s had succeeded. In the latest financial year, Shell’s profits slumped by 95% and return on capital was negligible. Performance is somewhat dependant upon industry. For example, a high-growth, technology-driven industry is overall more profitably promising than a mature one, such as the steel industry. Many technology markets are still at an early stage, while in matured industries, for example steel, the level and distribution of profits tend to be more or less in a state of equilibrium. Most of the value is created by leading firms in the number one or number two position. Firms that are at the bottom struggle to survive while the rest trail along, making just enough to keep the business alive. Industry can influence the performance of the mergers and acquisitions. The value creators and destroyers performance is independent of the nature of an industry. Studies have also found that environmental factors such as macroeconomic conditions and the cyclical behaviour of the industry have little influence on performance. They argue that extreme performance (both good and poor) is fundamentally driven by the quality of management not by the dynamics of an industry and that exceptional management produces exceptional performance, and poor management produces poor performance. Daimler- Benz merger between Mercedes with Fokker and Dasa amounts of money trying to buy companies at the front position of technology only to crash into a high tech depression in 2001 which resulted in them losing 98 percent of their share value. Chairman Jurgen E. Schrempp resigned from his position at the end of 2005 as head of the world’s fifth largest auto manufacturer. In an agreement with the board of directors and Schrempp, he terminated his employment with the company early (his contract ran through 2008). Schrempp has been blamed for the fall of the company’s share price since Daimler-Benz’s merger with Chrysler Corporation in 1998 of which he was the architect. DaimlerChrysler once held a large stake in the Japanese car company Mitsubishi Motors as well as the car operations of Korean manufacturer Hyundai. Its stake in Mitsubishi was as high as 37% but since it did not participate in a new capital increase in April 2004, it was reduced to 22%. The company sold the last of its Mitsubishi stock to Goldman Sachs in November 2005(see www. daimlerchrysler. com) b) Choose a listed company that has merged in recent years and assess whether or not the company has succeeded or failed to meet the strategic objectives for merging. BP AMOCO ACOR CASTROL – Helios BP has long been a major part of the world’s oil and petrochemicals industry. Our history goes back to just one man – William Knox D’Arcy – who invested time, money and labour in realising his conviction that Persia (now Iran) held extensive oil deposits. Today, BP has a major world-wide presence – it is one of the world’s three largest oil companies and one of the six or seven largest companies in the world. In New Zealand, BP is the leader in a highly competitive oil and petroleum products marketplace. The Amoco Corporation, in operation since 1889, is one of America’s leading oil companies – and is now part of one of the biggest deals in industrial history. With total assets around ? 20bn and revenues of more than ? 21bn it was one of the largest publicly traded producers of crude oil and natural gas in the world. It currently employs about 43,000 people worldwide and has over 340,000 shareholders. In 1997 Amoco recorded earnings of ? 1. 6 bn and revenues exceeded ? 21bn. The brand name â€Å"Amoco† comes from the American Oil Company which was established in 1910 by Louis and Jacob Blaustein of Baltimore, Maryland. In 1998, British Petroleum and US oil giant Amoco announced plans for a $110bn (? 67bn) merger that created Britain’s biggest company. The company BP Amoco had its headquarters in London. It was placed in the top three of international oil producers and the new group confirmed that it would cut 6,000 jobs worldwide as a result of the merger. The shares prices in BP soared after the announcement as the market welcomed news of the deal. Shares in BP surged 15% after the news broke – helping to revive an ailing FTSE 100 index. BP shares were up 101. 5p at 874. 5p by 1310 GMT while Amoco traded at $46, up from a Monday close of 40-7/8. The merged company was held 60% by BP shareholders with the remaining 40% held by Amoco shareholders. In the proposed deal, Amoco shareholders got a 25% premium above BP’s current market value. The merger deal was a share swap whereby Amoco shareholders were offered 3. 97 BP shares for each share of Amoco common stock. The new company is run by BP chief executive Sir John Browne and co-chaired by BP chairman Peter Sutherland and Amoco chairman Larry Fuller. Sir John said he hoped the merger will increase pre-tax profits of the two partners by â€Å"at least† two billion dollars by the end of 2000. He said the deal marked: â€Å"a superb alliance of equals with complementary strategic and geographical strengths which effectively can better serve our millions of customers worldwide. †* * Sharon Beder, ‘BP: Beyond Petroleum? ‘ in Battling Big Business: Countering greenwash, nfiltration and other forms of corporate bullying, edited by Eveline Lubbers, Green Books, Devon, UK, 2002, pp. 26-32. This move was widely viewed as a takeover of Amoco by BP and portrayed as a merger for legal reasons only?. The newly-renamed BP became an initials no longer openly standing for â€Å"British Petroleum†. The move away from â€Å"British Petroleum† was in a sense an indication of the fact that BP had become a global business and that the direct recognition of the company as British could be a disadvantage in some areas of operation. Both BP and Amoco had significant investments in solar energy and share strong records and reputations for sound operating practices, and environmental and social responsibility. America represents 40% of BP’s overall business. After a series of mergers with Amoco, Arco, Burmah Castrol and Vastar, by 2001 BP had become the largest oil and gas producer in the United States and one of the largest petrol retailers. In 2000, BP unveils a new global identity that brings together BP, ARCO, Amoco and Castrol under the single BP brand, and a new brand symbol – the Helios In the 2006 Fortune Global 500 list of companies, BP was ranked 4th in the world for turnover with sales at $268 billion (down from 2nd in 2005 and 1st among oil companies), in the 2006 Forbes Global 2000 it was ranked the eighth-largest company in the world. BP’s profits in 2005 amounted to $22. 341 billion with replacement cost profit after interest, tax and minority shareholders’ interest taken into account of $19. 3 billion?. BP Solar is the world-leading producer of solar panels through a series of acquisitions in the solar power industry. Recently, BP announced that its solar, wind and hydrogen power businesses would be known as BP Alternative Energy. BP is the leading partner in the controversial Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. The company currently has 37,000 employees in the US. It sells 15bn gallons of fuel every year to motorists at 14,000 petrol stations and BP’s five US refineries consume 1. 5m barrels of crude oil per day. The company ultimately holds a fifth of all proven oil and gas reserves in the country. Strategic Aims BP aims to improve the quality and capability of their manufacturing portfolio. Their marketing businesses, supported by world-class manufacturing, generate customer value by providing quality products and offers. Their retail strategy provides distinguished fuel and convenience offers to some of the most attractive global markets. BP’s many oil brands offer customers benefits through technology and relationships. Furthermore they focus on increasing brand and product loyalty in Castrol oils. This is continued to build deep customer relationships and strategic partnerships in the business-to-business sectors. after a single year of joint operations, â€Å"Amoco† was dropped from the corporate name ? http://www. bp. com/extendedgenericarticle. do? categoryId=3contentId=7005342 BP Amoco strategic objectives are to gain greater market share while investing in green design. Green design is a term used to describe growing awareness of how businesses effect the environment within the fields of architecture, construction, and interior design. It is also r eferred to as â€Å"sustainable design† or â€Å"eco-design†. Green Design supports principles and practices that minimize environmental intrusion such as: choosing energy efficiency wherever possible, working in harmony with the natural features and resources surrounding the project site, using materials that are grown or recycled rather than new materials from non-renewable resources, reducing waste, both energy and material, and designing buildings to use already existing energy. These green design initiatives can help BP Amoco reduce costs, increase efficiency, and capture the environmental market segment. BP Amoco aim to motivate environmental improvement within its organisation and make a connection between environmental design attributes and business strategy/benefits. Without a perceived business benefit, organisations will ignore environmental improvement measures.? After segmenting the market and analysing the possibilities of profits in green design, BP Amoco saw significant opportunity in re-branding themselves as the energy company of choice for the â€Å"environmentally aware motorist† (Beder 2002). This shows a conscious effort by BP to target lead, high volume and loyal green customers. It targets the lead group because it shows it’s investing in solar and wind energy resources, marking BP as the first oil company to begin investing in alternative energy sources. BP Amoco’s objective is to be leaders of oil companies in green design and they seek to produce a profitable business market and a competitive advantage. While it should be noted that BP Amoco still generates 98. 5% of its income from oil and fossil fuels, the effort to implement green design shows a potential market of environmentally aware customers and BP Amoco’s efforts to capture it. Market research and customer analysis have given them the necessary information to make profitable business decisions. BP’s tie-up with its United States rival Amoco was supposed to create an ethical champion at the top of the global oil industry and it was one of the biggest mergers in history. But eight years on, BP’s US arm is becoming America’s most accident-prone business. Issues are being raised about whether BP took a firm enough grip on its US management after mergers with Amoco in 1998 and Arco in 2000. BP’s spokesman says its commitment to renewable energy is unchanged. The company has invested heavily in solar and wind power, while a carbon impounding project is under way in California to generate electricity from petroleum coke. There have been doubts about BP that runs deep in America and the company may never bring back the optimism inspired by its environmentally aware change. Pratap Chatterjee, director of California-based CorpWatch, says: â€Å"This is a company that says it cares about the community and society, but it’s not repairing its own pipelines and refineries. ? After performing a brief market segmentation analysis, the Kano Technique can help identify and prioritize green design business strategies (Finster et. al. 2002). Reference: Websites Annual reviews http://www. bp. com/liveassets/bp_internet/annual_review/annual_review_2005/STAGING/local_assets/downloads_pdfs/b/bp_ara_2005_annual_review. pdf http://investor. accenture. com/phoenix. zhtml? c=12 9731p=irol-irhome http://www. bp. com/sectiongenericarticle. do? categoryId=9007082contentId=7014216 Strategy Business – http://www. trategy-business. com Articles and journals http://www. mbadepot. com/external_link. php? ID=1282db_table=linksurl=http%3A%2F%2Fknowledge. insead. edu%2Fabstract. cfm%3Fct%3D8858 http://www. corporateaffiliations. com/Executable/cn_mergers. asp? begins=Bsubmit=View+Archived+Mergers http://today. reuters. com/news/articleinvesting. aspx? type=mergersNewsstoryID=2006-12-04T035524Z_01_SP78341_RTRIDST_0_MERGERS-DEALS. XML https://web. lexis-nexis. com/universe http://www. tutor2u. net/business/strategy/competitor_analysis. htm Books Mergers: Leadership, Performance and Corporate Health, Maurizio ZOLLO, David G. Fubini, Colin Price, Palgrave Macmillan Sharon Beder, ‘BP: Beyond Petroleum? ‘ in Battling Big Business: Countering greenwash, infiltration and other forms of corporate bullying, edited by Eveline Lubbers, Green Books, Devon, UK, 2002, pp. 26-32. The takeover of Cadburys by a US processed food company called Kraft on the 19th January 2010 raised a few issues, as consumers felt that this acquisition was going to destroy value of Cadbury’s before even giving the takeover a chance. One of the issues raised were that a company that is taking over inevitably dominates and imposes its values and decision making processes overall. http://www. eurojournals. com/ejefas_19_05. pdf http://lawprofessors. typepad. com/mergers/2009/12/destroying-value-through-megamergers. html http://www. nber. org/digest/aug03/w9523. html http://odetocapitalism. com/2011/01/08/only-mega-mergers-destroy-value/ http://www. rationalwalk. com/? p=4729 http://mpra. ub. uni-muenchen. de/4717/1/MPRA_paper_4717. pdf http://uk. finance. yahoo. com/news/5-Value-Destroying-Mega-foolcouk-3861692876. html? =0 http://www. basini. com/cadbury-kraft-takeover-already-destroying-value/ http://www. bcg. com/documents/file15236. pdf http://www. electronicsweekly. com/blogs/david-manners-semiconductor-blog/2009/03/the-ten-takeovers-which-destro. html References References: Bertoncelj, A. (2006) â€Å"Corporate restructuring and controlling interest†, Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Oeconomica, Vol. 51, No. 1, pp. 59-73. Bertoncelj, A. (2007) â€Å"Balanced Management of Key Success Factors in Mergers and Acquisitions†, Organizacija – Journal of Management, Informatics and Human Resources, Vol. 40, No. 5, pp. A147-A152. How to cite Finance, Papers Finance Free Essays Working Capital Policies FIN/571 April 1, 2013 Jim Ciaramella | | | | Introduction Lawrence Sports is a 20 million dollar company that manufactures sports equipment. Mayo is a major customer of Lawrence Sport’s and has defaulted on 80% of the payments for goods and services for the weeks of March 17-23, and March 24-30 and Lawrence can’t expect any money from mayo until weeks April 14-20. Lawrence has borrowed money from the bank and has deferred payment to Gartner to manage the week of March 24-30 but the outstanding loan and the interest burden have gone up consequently (University of Phoenix,  2010). We will write a custom essay sample on Finance or any similar topic only for you Order Now Team C is responsible for working capital management for the company and has come up with an alternate working capital solution and a plan to manage Lawrence’s cash position in the forthcoming weeks. This paper will discuss the risk and contingencies associated with the alternate working capital solution. Performance measures will be discussed to show it will be used to evaluate and implement Team C recommendations for Lawrence Sports. Working Capital Policies Team C will look at the following policies for working capital to see which one could be considered appropriate for Lawrence Sports. These policies are characterized by a combination of risk and return, and can have from a conservative to an aggressive profile. The three types of working capital policies most recommended and used are: Aggressive Policy, Average Policy, and Conservative Policy. The aggressive policy working capital management focuses on maintaining current assets amounts at minimum levels, which is reflected in the total asset turnover higher, with a higher margin. This policy emphasizes the aspect of returns on risk-return decision. This policy is the highest risk policy but with more funds to reinvest in the company or usiness. According to Kulkarni (2011) â€Å" it is a high risk arrangement though, because, should your creditor come asking for money, and for some reason, you don’t have enough money to pay them off, you might end up having to sell a costly asset to pay off your debt to them. † (Kulkarni, A. 2011 , Working Capital Policy,  ¶9). The matching policy working capital management leaves a person with cash available to reinvest in his company or business. This policy entails a medium level risk and with this policy the business assets matched business liabilities. According to Kulkarni (2011) â€Å"this policy works in an arrangement where the current assets of the business are used perfect to match the current liabilities. It is a medium risk proposition and requires a good amount of attention. † (Kulkarni, A. 2011 , Working Capital Policy,  ¶6). A conservative policy working capital management focuses on maintaining a high liquidity, as well as other accounts assets, as inventories and accounts receivable, which is very expensive, because they remain idle resources that eventually become unproductive, with slow rotation of assets due to the large investment in current assets. This policy emphasizes the minimization of risk, as opposed to maximizing yields that is not risk to be sure liquidity. A conservative policy may be best for people who want to keep low risks. According to Kulkarni (2011) â€Å"This is the policy with the lowest risk, but it reduces the money used in increasing the production† (Kulkarni, A. 2011 , Working Capital Policy,  ¶11). Recommended Policy The working capital policy recommended for Lawrence Sports is the matching policy, more commonly referred to as the moderate approach. The working capital is funded by short and long term borrowing, equity financing or a combination of them. It is vital for the company to balance the risk and return of financing. The moderate approach falls in between the two other polices described above and is the most balanced. This enables Lawrence Sports to balance its risk and returns. Furthermore, it finances short term debt with temporary assets while permanent and fixed assets are financed by long term debt and equity sources (Zeepedia, n. d. ). A moderate approach gives Lawrence Sports the ability to maintain the relationships necessary to continue business, balance the working capital to still create a profit, and repay what is owed to the bank. Figure 1. Different Policies Regarding the Level of Investment in Working Capital demonstrates how the Moderate Approach compares with the others in terms of the level of investment in working capital (Watson ; Head, 2012, p. 72). Risk It is important for a company to choose the best working capital policy, one that features a level of risk the company can handle. Team C decisions about working capital management are being driven by the intrinsically related priority of risk management. Team C’s aim is to minimize the risk of insolvency while maximizing the return on the assists (Dixon, 1991). Teams C choose the matching working capital policy because it entails a medium level of risk and it will also leave Lawrence Sports with more cash to reinvest in the business. Lawrence Sports will keep low levels of working capital so that they can employ the funds more productively elsewhere like purchasing more goods or more machinery. It is a relatively amount of risk balanced by a relatively moderate amount of expected return. The best level of working capital would be the one in which a balance is achieved between risk and efficiency which also requires continuous monitoring to maintain proper level in various components of working capital, i. e. , cash receivables, inventory and payables, etc. Contingencies A contingency is an unexpected event or situation that affects the financial health, professional image, or market share of a company. It is usually a negative event, but can also be an unexpected windfall such as a huge order. Anything that unexpectedly disrupts a company’s expected operation can harm the company even if the disruption is because of a windfall (Duff, 2013). In the case of Lawrence Sports there should be a contingency plan in place in the event product is damaged or lost either in transit or by some unforeseen event. Another contingency plan Lawrence Sports should consider is a cash reserve to cover accounts receivable loses if Mayo defaults on invoice credits. In this case vendor defaults affect bottom line but in turn Lawrence would not have to borrow money from Gartner and avoid high interest rates. For Lawrence to recover from such an incident Lawrence Sports needs to use its working capital to cover the costs so that funds are not continuously incurred on the bank loan. In order for Lawrence Sports to raise the capital to cover a contingency plan Mayo would have to relinquish all sales to Lawrence Sports, payments to Gartner will have to be stretched out further and Murray would lose working capital and halt operations because Lawrence Sports payments would be differed even longer. These hefty decisions are all apart of risk management and can negatively affect business relations. Performance Measures Ensuring the survival of Lawrence Sports depends heavily on the ability to measure the performance of the recommended policy. Understanding what working capital entails enables one to review the data efficiently and make the appropriate decisions. Working capital is financed through accounts receivable, accounts payable, and inventory. Performance indicators as described by Luhring (2012) to determine days of working capital (DWC) are days sales outstanding in accounts receivable (DSO), day sales outstanding in inventory (DSI), and days sales outstanding in accounts payable (DPO). The equation is DWC = DSO + DSI – DPO† (para. 7). Last, determining working capital requires DWC multiplied by daily sales (Luhring, 2012, para. 33). Evaluating and calculating the indicators allows Lawrence Sports to optimize its working capital and work to balance its liabilities and assets. These indicators can help track performance on a weekly and monthly base. Benchmarking annually can further aid in improving performance as well as creating new ideas or tools to assist in growing the company (Broxton Bowbray, 2011). Implementation Plan Lawrence currently uses a combination of current assets in the form of cash from receivables along with trade credit from vendors and a line of credit from the bank to fund operations. The firm’s largest customer, Mayo Stores, provides a major portion of the receivables Lawrence uses to fund current operations. Additionally, based on the scenario whenever Lawrence must become more aggressive with Mayo to receive payment the retailer retaliates by ordering less in subsequent months. Further the unexpected challenge to replace a portion of the goods due to damage in transit did not help Lawrence’s position. In the short term now that the relationship with the distributor has been severed Lawrence will need to establish a new relationship with a different logistical partner. The finance team will need to review all trade agreements with vendors and customers with an eye on shortening the cash conversion period. Even reducing the conversion period a few days will result in a cost savings in paying down the line of credit. In addition to negotiating better terms with both vendors and customers, Lawrence could consider alternative funding sources such as issuing commercial paper or establishing a receivables funding relationship with a private source to better leverage current assets. Conclusion The purpose of a working capital management program is to ensure there are enough liquid assets to finance the day to day operations of the firm. â€Å"Net working capital consists of current assets minus current liabilities. (Emery, Finnerty, Stowe , 2007, pg 639) The three recognized capital management philosophies consider an aggressive approach, a conservative approach, and a maturity matching approach. After comparing the approaches to the challenges Lawrence Sporting Goods has experienced in the simulation, Team C, elected to recommend Lawrence manage its working capital using the maturity matching approach. This method allows the firm to use assets from current activities to finance current operation wh ile using long term funding to finance both long term assets and permanent current assets. Lawrence is a strong profitable company that will make a greater effort to hedge their relationships with both vendors and customers to maintain their current assets at a level to fund operations. By effective management of inventory levels, accounts receivable, and the cost of credit the firm will be able to improve their own net present value without sacrificing relationships or profitability. References Arjun, K. (2011). Managing a multicultural workforce. Working Capital Policy. Retrieved from http://www. buzzle. com/articles/working-capital-policy. html Broxton, A. , Bowbray, P. L. (2011). Improving working capital and cash flow intelligence. APQC. Retrieved  from  http://www. protiviti. com/en-US/Documents/White-Papers/Risk-Sol utions/APQC-Protiviti-Working-Capital-Management-Study. pdf Duff, V. (2013). What is a business contingency plan. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness. chron. com/business-contingency-plan-1081. html Emery, D. R. , Finnerty, J. D. , Stowe, J. D. (2007). 2007  (3rd ed. ). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Luhring SurvivalWare. (2012). Days of working capital. Retrieved from http://www. survivalware. com/articles/days_of_working_capital. php Satish, M. (2022). Working capital management and control: Principles and practice, New Age International Publishers Reprint 2003 Watson, D. Head, A. (2012). Corporate finance principles and practices  (5th ed. ). New York, NY: Financial Times Prentice Hall. University of Phoenix (2010) . Lawrence Sports Simulation retrieved 3/29/2013 from University of Phoenix, FIN/571: Economics website. Zeepedia. (n. d. ). Working capital management. Retrieved from http://www. zeepedia. com/read. php? working_capital_management_risk_profitability_and_liquidity_working_capital_policies_conservative_aggressive_moderate_corporate_financeb=22c=26 How to cite Finance, Papers Finance Free Essays Problem 7: Ratios and Financial Planning at East Coast Yachts Dan Ervin was recently hired by East Coast Yachts to assist the company with its short-term financial planning and also to evaluate the company’s finished performance. Dan graduated from college five years ago with a Finance degree, and he has been employed in the treasury department of Fortune 500 company since then. East Coast Yachts was founded 10 years ago by Larissa Warren. We will write a custom essay sample on Finance or any similar topic only for you Order Now The company’s operations are located hear Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, and the company is structured at an LLC. The company has manufactured custom midsize, high-performance yachts for clients over this period, and its products have also recently received the highest award for customer satisfaction. The yacht is manufactured for purchase by a company for business purposes. The custom yacht industry is fragmented, with number of manufacturers. As with any industry, there are market leaders, but the diverse nature of industry ensures that no manufacturer dominates the market. The competition is the market, as well as the product cost, ensures that attention to detail is a necessity. For instance, East Coast Yachts will spend 80 to 100 hours on hand-buffing the stainless steel stem-iron, which is the metal cap on the yacht’s bow that conceivably could collide with a dock or another boat. To get Dan started with his analyses, Larissa had provided the following financial statements. Dan had gathered the industry ratios for the yacht manufacturing industry. East Coast Yachts: 2009 Income Statement |Sales | $ 167,310,000 | |COGS | 117,910,000 | |Other expenses | 19,994,000 | |Depreciation | 5,460,000 | |EBIT | $ 23,946,000 | |Interest | 3,009,000 | |Taxable income | $ 0,937,000 | |Taxes (40%) | 8,374,800 | |Net income | $ 12,562,200 | |   |   | |Dividends | $ 7,537,320 | |Add to RE | $ 5,024,880 | |   |   | East Coast Yachts: Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2009 |Assets | |Liabilities Equity | |Current Assets | | |Current liabilities | | | Cash |3,042,000 | | Accounts payable |6,461,000 | | Accounts rec. 5,473,000 | | Notes payable |13,078,000 | | Inventory |6,136,000 | | Total CL |19,539,000 | | Total CA |14,651,000 | | | | | | | |Long-term debt |33,735,000 | |Fixed assets | | | | | | Net PPE |93,964,000 | |Shareholder equity | | | | | | Common stock |5,200,000 | | | | | Retained earnings |50,141,000 | | | | | Total equity |55,341,000 | |Total assets |108,615,000 | |Total LE |108,615,000 | | |Yacht Industry Ratios | | | |Lower Quartile |Median |Upper Quartile | |Current ratio |0. 50 |1. 43 |1. 89 | |Quick ratio |0. 21 |0. 38 |0. 62 | |Total asset turnover |0. 68 |0. 85 |1. 38 | |Inventory turnover |4. 89 |6. 15 |10. 9 | |Receivables turnover |6. 27 |9. 82 |14. 11 | |Debt ratio |0. 44 |0. 52 |0. 61 | |Debt-equity ratio |0. 79 |1. 08 |1. 56 | |Equity multiplier |1. 79 |2. 08 |2. 56 | |Interest coverage |5. 18 |8. 06 |9. 83 | |Profit margin |4. 05% |6. 98% |9. 7% | |Return on assets |6. 05% |10. 53% |13. 21% | |Return on equity |9. 93% |16. 54% |36. 15% | 1. Calculate all of the ratios listed in the industry table for East Coast yachts. 2. Compare the performance of East Coast Yachts to the industry as a whole. For each ratio comment on why it might be viewed as positive or negative relative to the industry. Suppose you create an inventory ratio calculated as inventory divided by current liabilities. How do you interpret this ratio? How does East Coast Yachts compare to the industry average? How to cite Finance, Essay examples

Friday, December 6, 2019

Oedipus Rex Analysis Essay Example For Students

Oedipus Rex Analysis Essay In Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Oedipus tried to make the world that he lived better by trying to kill people that he thought made the problems in the city. He said that he wanted to find the men who were responsible for the plague in the city. Then he would kill them and get rid of the problem. He also said that he wanted to rid the city of all the people that were causing all the pollution in the city. He planed to do this by killing them all. Then the prophet, Teiresais came to him and told him that he couldnt do this. He said the reason that he couldnt do this was that he was the problem. But Oedipus did not believe him. He then killed an innocent shepherd for no apparent reason. He also slept with his mother and killed his father in the play. The prophet had said this would happen so he did it. I think he figured it was his fate so he just did it. Then to top it all of he decided to punish him self by gouging out his eyes. I really see no point in what he did in any part of the play. I really dont think that he had the right to try and change the city by killing anyone who he thought was corrupting or polluting the city. It shows that he was very stubborn in his ways. He didnt even stop to think of what he was doing. He was killing innocent people an obvious crime against the state and religion. And with his own views on this he should have realized that he is going against all that he stands for. He is trying to get rid of people that are just like him. Now on to him killing his father and sleeping with his mother. This is wrong no matter how you look at it. This is again a crime against religion. Even if the prophet said that this was to happen he doesnt have to go out of his way to do it. He should have just been patient and let his fate happen. Now his gouging out his eyes to punish himself is a ridiculous thing to do. He should have thought about what a burden this would be on others around him. For example how this would effect his daughter. He should have asked himself how her life would be if she had to guide him around all the time. Maybe then he wouldnt have done such a stupid thing. In my personal opinion on Oedipus, I think he was a pathetic man. He sdidnt care how his actions would effect others. He also didnt take the time to see if he was doing things that were actually going against his own beliefs. Oedipus was also very stubborn in that he wouldnt listen to what the prophet had to tell him. If he wasnt so narrow minded maybe he would have lived a happier life and not brought so much sorrow to the people around him.