Role of Women in the Epic of Beowulf Essay -- Epic of Beowulf womenbeo

Role of Women in Beowulf As an epic tale of heroes and monsters, Beowulf gives its readers much excitement and adventure, but Beowulf's importance is more than just literary. It offers many insights into the beliefs and customs of seventh-century Anglo-Saxon culture. Among these insights is the Anglo-Saxon view of women and their role in society. Good Anglo-Saxon women are peaceful and unassertive, greeting guests and serving drinks to the warriors and other men in the meadhall. Wealhtheow, the queen of the Danes, represents a typical subservient Anglo-Saxon woman. As a foil to Wealhtheow, Grendel's mother is a strong and combative monster whom Beowulf must kill. By analyzing these two characters in Beowulf, we can understand the treatment and mistreatment of women in Anglo-Saxon society. The author of Beowulf generally supports the traditional Anglo-Saxon views of women by praising Wealhtheow, condemning Grendel's mother, and showing the need to suppress feminine forces like Wyrd; however, he does offer som e criticism of these views by creating sympathy for Grendel's mother, allowing Wealhtheow to assert herself in the interest of her husband and children, and revealing masculine fear of feminine power. The author creates Wealhtheow to embody the role of a traditional Anglo-Saxon woman, and he presents this role as the only appropriate one for Wealhtheow to fulfill. She serves as a peacekeeper in the ever-tumultuous Heorot meadhall. When the author first introduces Wealhtheow to his audience, she immediately falls into her role as peaceful greeter and cocktail waitress. The author writes, "Then Wealhtheow came forth / folk-queen of the Danes daughter of Helmingas / and Hrothgar's bedmate. She hailed all of them / spo... ...st darkness" (l. 73) to restore peace and order. Wyrd works to bring disorder and doom to Beowulf and the warriors of Heorot, just as Grendel's mother wages her war of destruction and death on Hrothgar and his kingdom. Beowulf subdues Grendel's mother permanently by killing her, but Wyrd can only be avoided temporarily, not destroyed once and for all. This suggests that the struggle against female authority and uprising is timeless, and the only way to deal with this problem is on an individual basis. The author's views on women may never be fully revealed, but it is clear that he believes in male superiority and that insurgent females ought to be suppressed. Like Wealhtheow, females should only exert minimal power and influence, but they should always keep the drinks coming. Work Cited Beowulf. Trans. Frederick Rebsamen. New York: HarperPerennial, 1991.

Individualism versus Collectivism Essay

The concepts of individualism and collectivism apply to the description of societies and individuals within the society. Cultures vary in their levels of individualism/ collectivism while individuals within these specific cultures vary on the same dimension. Idiocentric and allocentric are constructs that are very important in differentiating consistent variations of an individual’s attitudes, beliefs, self-definition, normative behavior and self-definition. Individualism is termed as the person’s level of idiocentric while collectivism is the person’s level of allocentric (Udehn, 2001). Idiocentric individuals emphasize more on their own goals and needs over those of the group to which they belong. They are much independent and self-reliant. On the other hand, allocentric individuals tend to be more cooperative, interdependent and they also have a stronger desire to partner with others. In addition allocentric and idiocentric individuals differ in their source of intimacy and companionship to satisfy their several needs and to strengthen their self-esteem. For instance, idiocentric obtains their social support from peers and best friends while allocentrics obtain their social support from their parents. Individuals with allocentric tendencies have fewer daily but more in-depth discussions than individuals with idiocentric tendencies. People who express more allocentric or idiocentric tendencies vary in various ways. For instance, the people who tend to be more allocentric have good reliability and inter-correlation thus showing convergent validity. They are characterized with three main aspects which include individual to group goals, in-group as extension of the self and in-group identity. Individuals who are more idiocentric mainly use equity and need in distributing rewards. Individuals who are more allocentric mainly emphasize on the values of cooperation, fairness and honesty while individuals who are more idiocentric put much emphasis on values of comfortable life, competition, pleasure and social recognition. Persons who are allocentric receive much and better quality social support while those who are more idiocentric are usually higher in achievement motivation, alienation and greater loneliness. The difference between collective and individualist cultures is mainly based on self. In collectivist cultures, the self is more linked to in-group memberships while in individualist cultures; self-concept is obtained from independently groups which are based on the varying characteristics and contributions of the individual. In collectivists’ cultures, there is high adherence to the goals of the in-group and to in-group values and also the maintaining of in-group harmony (Lee & Kelly 1996). In individualistic societies, the aims and the goals of a particular individual are more important and less significance is attached to in-group harmony. Nevertheless, individualism is mainly based on Western cultures while collectivism is related with Eastern cultures. Collectivistic cultures have lower rates of suicide, psychopathology and relatively higher marital satisfaction than individualistic cultures. I consider myself to be idiocentric. This is because I always concentrate on my own goals and achievement over those of the other people and I carry out my tasks independently. I normally display a different tendency towards the allocentric. For instance, in making purchase of luxury brands, I purchase goods for my own sake pleasures ad interests while the allocentric purchase the luxury brands only with an aim of seeking social recognition (McCarthy, 2005). As a result of these differences, conflict and misunderstanding emerges. This is because as a personally motivated consumer, I will purchase the luxury brands for self-interests while on the other hand an allocentric individual who is socially motivated will make the purchase of luxury brands with an aim of seeking social recognition.

Enron The Demise Of Enron - 1740 Words

Enron was a corporation that reached heights unknown, only to watch it fall apart from the inside out based on a foundation of falsehoods and cheating. Enron established a business culture that flourished on competition and was perceived in society as an arrogant corporation, mainly because of its corporate leadership. The fairytale of Enron actually ended as a nightmare with it destroyed by one of America’s largest bankruptcies in history. The demise of Enron impacted the livelihood and futures of numerous employees, their pensions, and in due course impacted Wall Street in a significant way. Even people today are amazed at how such a powerful company met its demise so rapidly. Enron’s end was a product of greed when certain executives of Enron were not eager to accept the failure of their company. The company utilized mark-to-market accounting that detailed the projected impending profits from a long-term deal (Lawry, 2015, p. 28) The results of the deals did not gene rate revenue as anticipated, but tremendous loss instead. This resulted in Enron accumulating enormous amounts of debt that they attempted to keep classified from the public. Ultimately the truth came to fruition. Presently, Assurant has many formal policies in place, but as with any Fortune 500 company, informally – there is much work to be done and improved upon. Assurant may not be founded on deceit per say, but the insurance business is â€Å"business† and leaves a bad taste in many people’s mouths. Documents,Show MoreRelatedEnron : The Leading Factor That Had Enron Into Its Demise Essay1608 Words   |  7 PagesThe leading factor that had Enron into its demise revolves around the notion that, â€Å"companies are often so concerned with appearance and damage control that they are unwilling to engage in the degree of examination required to root out the entrenched causes of trust violations† (Hurley, Gillespie, Ferrin Dietz, 2013). The historical performance of Enron’s rising share prices, coupled to the constant positive media attentions, only added fuel to the fire in terms of Enron’s competitive culture.Read MoreOrganizational Culture : The Dem ise Of Enron1489 Words   |  6 Pagescorporations but some, like Enron operate parallel to the all the good they portray but in a vacuum they operate with only their selfish desires and greed. Organizational culture can be difficult to define in a sense because it’s not a palpable concept. For example, culture is more like a tradition, belief, or something cultivated; surely it can be felt, but it can’t be grasped. Thus this paper will examine the definition of organizational culture, the demise of Enron, and discuss ways the leadershipRead MoreThe Ethical Dimension Of The Demise Of Enron Corporation1474 Words   |  6 PagesThis paper explores the ethical dimension of the demise of Enron Corporation an reflection of author, placed in hypothetical situations. Accounting Fraud and Management philosophy will be the main discussion topics, along with the motivations of fraud. The fall of Enron can be directly attributed to a violation of ethical standards in busines s. This makes Enron unique in corporate history for the same actions that made Enron on of the fastest growing and most profitable corporations, at the turnRead MoreEnron‚Äà ´s Demise ~ Where There Warning Signs?1408 Words   |  6 PagesStudy Analysis ~ Enron’s Demise ~ Where There Warning Signs? Janise Baldwin Management Decision Making-Summer 2013 C. Forest Guest July 14, 2013 Executive Summary Enron is a company which headquarters is located in Houston, Texas. Enron was first headed by Samuel F. Segnar. Enron was the result of InterNorth’s acquisition of Houston Natural Gas in 1985. Under the new terms of this acquisition, the company was headed by Kenneth Lay on the first day of 1997. Enron offered employment for 20Read MoreDescribe the Strategic Management Failure in Enron That Led It Into Its Demise?1155 Words   |  5 Pagessome research on the Internet about what has happened with Enron. Now apply the three questions used to test the merits of a winning strategy (text p13) to Enron. Describe the strategic management failure in Enron that led it into its demise? Enron was formed in 1986 from the merger of natural gas pipeline companies Houston Natural Gas and Internorth. At the time of filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection in December 2001, Enron had a portfolio of diversified activities ranging from the transportationRead MoreReasons for Enrons Business Failure1434 Words   |  6 PagesEnron - Reasons for Business Failure Abstract Various major companies in the past have witnessed unimaginable growth of their businesses, but some of them eventually had to succumb to downfall as their business models failed. Most of these businesses had been deemed as failures due to the management methods, leadership practices and flawed organizational structures. This research paper aims to focus on Enron, a large entity as a failed model of business. This would be achieved by discussing aboutRead MoreEssay on CaseAssignment21409 Words   |  6 PagesAssignment: Enron Case 9 Yesenia Garcia BUSI 472- B07 LUO Introduction In 1985 Ken Lay took over a couple of big name gas pipeline companies that came together and thus the infamous Enron Corporation began. They offered a variety of services that were not limited to natural gas but also included electricity, communications, and many energy related services. Together, CEO Jeffrey Skilling, Chairman Ken Lay, and CFO Andrew Fastow were able to bring transformation to Enron. They createdRead MoreTaking a Look at the Enron Scandal1270 Words   |  5 Pagesreal cash flow had not come to the company yet. Moreover, cause when Enron come to the long term contract, they would assumed that there were long term declines in spot prices (Page 6, journal of economics), there would be the risk of loss if there were the increase in the price of gas in the future and it does not recognize in the financial statement; therefore, to make the income statement made more sense in economics term, Enron had created an accounting structure that help the company to stableRead MoreThe Ethics Of The Enron Scandal1441 Words   |  6 Pagesinfluenced by others. However, in the business world, the influence of power and money has cost people their livelihoods as well as compromised their self-dignity on many levels. One highly publicized scandal that many have known and read about is the Enron Scandal. The motive behind what a person will do remains endless as it is seen in this unfortunate tale of lies and greed in one corporation. The part that many question even to this day is when the story unfolded it was announced that several peopleRead MoreThe Collapse Of Enron And Enron1736 Words   |  7 PagesAbstract Fortune used to rank Enron as the most successful business in the United States. The collapse of Enron was shocked the whole world energy trading market. It caused significant losses to investors. In this paper shows analysis reason of factors that lead to Enron demise and also lessons can be learnt from Enron case study. The approach which have used in this paper to respond, the case study question are the background of the case organization and how business structure had been use by the