Background History of Burberry Company Assignment

Background History of Burberry Company - Assignment Example The essay "Background History of Burberry Company" concerns the Company of Burberry and its Background History. Burberry Fashion Company started in 1856 by Thomas Burberry who was former learner of the country draper. The 21 year old Burberry opened various outfit shops in Hampshire, England and Basingstoke. The business grew steadily making Burberry to be known as ‘emporium’ due to the development and increased focus of outdoor clothing’s to the sportsmen and local residents who made frequent visits to the store. The invention of breathable fabric gabardine was not only waterproof but it was extremely durable. The opening of London Haymarket in 1891 by Burberry became the Burberry’s corporate headquarters. Further, in 1901, Burberry was commissioned by the British War Office to scheme new service uniforms for British officers. Moreover, in 1904, the Burberry Equestrian Knight logo was developed and registered as a trade mark that led to more opening of the stores in New York and Paris . Various scholars such as Captain Roald Amundsen and Ernest Shackleton were outfitted by the Burberry fashion for their visits towards the South Pole. In 1924, Burberry was checked and registered as a trade mark and introduction of the trench coats lining. The image of the Burberry could start to be seen almost in every fashion including the umbrellas, scarves and luggage in 1967. The mission of the Burberry was based on quality and unique production of various fashions for different outlets.

Marks and Spencers Business Strategy and Model

Marks and Spencers Business Strategy and Model Introduction Through a strategic planning an organization defines its strategy, or direction, and decisions making on allocating its resources to practice this strategy such as its capital and people. There are various business analysis techniques that are used in strategic planning such as SWOT, PEST, STEER and EPISTEL. The strategic planning, which indicates the future course of an organization, is the formal consideration involves three key questions; these questions mainly refer to what an organization does, who it deals to and how it excel. Another integral question can be phrased as how to beat competition (Bradford Duncan, 2000). The development of this business strategy is of great importance for organization as the whole structure of organization depends on it. An authentic business strategy development needs an appropriate analysis of the organization and its environment. This analysis must be executed at an internal and external level in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses o f internal environment (organization) as well as threats, opportunities of the external environment. Different factors are assessed in this regard including the economy markets, competition, supplier markets, labor markets, regulatory environment and Technology. Marketing plans and strategies are the tools that are used as helpful in understanding the goals of the business and to develop the activities to achieve them. Strategic Models and tools are employed by marketing participants to analyze marketing decisions. The 3Cs, the corporation, the customer and the competitors, can be employed when beginning a strategic analysis to get a broad understanding of the strategic environment. Different organizations often use it to convey strategic positioning of their market mix. In order to form a market plan to practice a defined strategy, 4Ps, the product, the price, the place and the promotion, can be used. Marketing theories provides the solution for achieving the marketing goals throug h procedure. The basic theory of marketing revolves around Target Audience, Proposition and Implementation. Organizations sum up their objective and goals into mission and vision statement. They are used to formulate objectives and goals. Every organization follows particular organizational ethics, which meant to show how ethically internal or external stimuli are responded by them. Organizational ethics also expresses the values of an organization to its employees and other entities irrespective of governmental and regulatory laws. Organizational Ethics is interdependent with Organizational Culture. Organizational Culture deals with the beliefs and personal and cultural values of an organization, Psychology, attitudes and experiences. This culture is defined as a collection of norms and values shared by group of the people in the organization and the way they interact with each other and with the stakeholders outside organization (Hill and Jones, 2001). A core competency is definit e factor that is seen as being central to the way it by a business, or its works and employees. It carries out three key criteria, it provides consumer benefits, it is not easy for competitors to imitate and it can be leveraged many products and markets. Competitive advantage takes place when an organization acquires and develops an attribute and combination of attributes that allows it to outperform its competitors. A timetable for the implementation of a strategy shows the timing for the each steps of the plan that is pursued to implement the strategies accordingly. The effectiveness, efficiency and economy have to be evaluated so that the success of the timetable can be estimated throughout the implementation of planning and strategy. This paper examines and assesses the different business models, development of strategic planning, its implementation and evaluation of the effectiveness and efficiency of implementation of the timetable of strategic planning of an organization. The chosen organization is Marks Spencer (MS). Marks Spencer is chosen because it is an important and major British retailer, with over 895 stores in more than 40 territories worldwide, over 600 domestic and 295 international stores (MS International Stores MS website, February 2009). It is also the biggest clothing retailer in the United Kingdom, as well as being an up market food retailer, and the 43rd largest retailer in the world as of 2008. (Wal-Mart remains largest global retailer, according to Deloitte survey). Its domestic stores also sell both food and clothing; it has started the store expansion into other ranges including furniture, home ware and technology. In 1998 it was the first and only retailer to make a pre-tax profit of over  £1 billion (BUSINESS | Marks Spencer profits top expectations. BBC News, 1998). The business assessments of such organization of such a big range and with glorious history will definitely be a remarkable addition in the study of business management and business strategic planning. In general terms provide examples (4to 6) and briefly explain them of theories and principles that underlie strategic planning? Every organization comes into being with a strategy, which is called an organizational strategy and aims to provide a guideline to guiding member of the organization. Since the future survival of an organization depends on its strategy, therefore, every organization is commenced with their own strategy. This strategy involves business strategy mainly focusing on development and progress of the organization including internal and external factors as well. An organization needs to analyze the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities that the organization could face while developing strategy, political, economic, social, and technological environment other socio-cultural, ecological, and regulatory factors and environment, informatics, and legal matter are also as important to be analyzed as above factors. For this purpose, therefore, organizations summarize these strategies into their mission, vision and values, which illustrate their business strategy. Provide in outline form, using a diagram a framework which would enable your choice organization to develop its strategy in general terms? The preparatory phase of a business strategic plan relies on planning. At the first, business plan includes Analysis of the Current Situation and Marketing Plan Strategy and Objectives. Marks Spencer requires having analysis of the current situation including past year. This analysis includes analysis of Business Trends, Market Analysis, Competitive Analysis, Market Segmentation, Marketing-mix, SWOT analysis, Positioning analyzing perceptions and Sources of information. Marketing plan Strategy and objectives for next year should also be analyzed including Marketing strategy, Desired market segmentation, Desired marketing-mix, TOWS-based objectives as a result of the SWOT, Position perceptual gaps and Yearly sales forecast. Describe and critically evaluate a small range (3 to 5) of models tools and techniques that could be used to develop marketing for your chosen organization? There are many Marketing strategic models and tools employed to analyze marketing decisions. In order to find a broad understanding of the strategic environment the 3Cs can be used by Marks Spencer. This 3Cs model points out that focus should be on three key factors for success. Three main players must be considered when planning a strategy for business: Corporation, Customer and Competitors. These 3Cs can sustain a competitive advantage in a strategic triangle. From a corporation point of view, strategies are needed to maximize the strengths of a corporation relative to the competition in the area of function that are critical to achieve the success. The corporation does not have to exceed in every function in order to win. If it can achieve decisive edge in one key function, it will ultimately be able to progress its other functions which are now average. In case of swiftly rising wage costs, it is an important decision for company to contract out a major share of its assembly ope rations. If the competitors are not able to shift production so swiftly to vendors and subcontractors, the outcomes difference in cost structure and in the companys ability to cope with demand fluctuations can have integral strategic implications. The cost-effectiveness can be improved by adopting three ways. At first, reduction in the basic cost, exercise greater selectivity such as products offered, orders accepted and functions performed and share certain important functions with other business of corporation and other organization. Since clients and customers are the base of strategy therefore the basic goal is to be of customers interest rather than of the shareholders. This segmentation appears from a trade-off study of marketing costs versus market coverage. There always appears to be a point of reducing returns in the cost versus coverage relationship. The task of the organization is to optimize its range of market coverage, geographically and channel wise. Competitors are l ikely to be scrutinizing the market in similar ways in fierce competition. The effectiveness of a given first strategic segmentation will tend to decline over an extended period of time. It is useful to pick a small group of customers in such situations and reexamine what it is that they really want. A market segment change takes place where the market forces are changing the distribution of the user-mix over time by affecting demography, distribution channels, and customer size, etc. This kind of change is meant to be the allocation of corporate resources to be shifted and the ultimate level of resources committed in the business to be changed. The strategy based on competitor can be built by looking at possible sources of diversities in functions including purchasing, engineering, design, sales and servicing. The power of image and capitalizing on profit and cost structure differences are the ways to achieve the differentiation. I mage can be the merely source of positive differen tiation when performance of product and form of the distribution are difficult to differentiate. In capitalizing on profit- and cost structure differences, firstly, the difference in source of profit may be oppressed, from new products sales etc. Secondly, difference in the ratio of unchangeable costs and changeable costs may also be oppressed strategically. A company with lower unchangeable cost ratio can lower prices in a lazy market and hence gain market share. Another strategic tool that can be useful for Mark Spencer is Porters 5 Forces Model. Porters 5 Forces Model is structural analysis of the market. It rather focuses view of analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of a Market Segment through analyzing the different threats prevail in the market. It is a framework for the business strategy development and industry analysis. It draws upon industrial organization economics to develop five forces that determine the competitive intensity and in the result attractiveness of a market. Porters 5 Forces Model Structure Threat from potential new entrants Profitable markets that submit high returns attract the new firms. Its consequence is many new entrants, which ultimately decrease profitability for all firms in the industry. The profit rate will constantly fall unless the new entrants are not blocked. This is also known as perfect competition. New entrants can be blocked by the existence of barriers in the form of copyright etc. Attractive segment is the one in which barriers for entrance is high while barriers for exit are low. Thus only few new firm ca enter and only non-performing firm can exit easily. Economies of product difference also make an opportunity for small firms to enhance their businesses thus large firms who have their product out in the market in high price, products of low price can affect them. Marks Spencer has been going through the same situation. Brand equity, which refers to the effects of marketing or consequences that accumulate to a product with its brand name compared with those that would increase if the same product did not have the brand name (Leuthesser, Kohli and Harich, 1995). The threat of substitute products or services The existence of products outside of the sphere of the common product boundaries boost the inclination of customers to switch to substitute including relative price performance of substitute, buyer switching costs, perceived level of product differentiation, number of substitute products available in the market, ease of substitution. Information-based products are more flat to substitution, as online product can easily replace material product. There are many reason cause customers to switch to substitute of the product such as substandard product, and reduction in quality of the product. Increase in the features of the product develops the competitive market. Marks Spencer by increasing the features of its products can make the customers stick with their product. The Bargaining power of customers or buyers The customers bargaining power is also defined as the market of outputs such as the efficiency of the customers to put the firm under pressure; it also affects the sensitivity of customers to price changes. Customers concentration to firm concentration ratio, degree of dependency upon existing channels of distribution, bargaining leverage, specifically in industries with high fixed costs, customers volume, customers switching costs relative to firm switching costs, information availability for customers, ability to backward integrate, availability of existing substitute products, customers price sensitivity and differential advantage and uniqueness of industry products are the actors that increases the bargaining power of customers. Large number of supermarkets will provide better opportunity for the potential customers to reach thus it will decrease the bargaining power of the customers. The Bargaining power of suppliers The suppliers bargaining power is also defined as the market of inputs. Suppliers of materials, components, labor and services such as expertise to the firm are source of power over the firm, when there are a few substitutes. Suppliers may possibly refuse to work with the firm or charge excessively high prices for unique resources. Despite the fact that supplier switching costs is relative to firm switching costs, and degree of differentiation of inputs, impact of inputs on cost or differentiation, presence of substitute inputs, supplier concentration to firm concentration ratio, employee solidarity like labor unions and supplier competition and ability to forward vertically integrate and cut out the buyer and Competition among the existing suppliers mainly reinforce the factor. Number of suppliers across Britain will rather diminish this factor for Marks Spencer. The competitive rivalry within an industry For most organizations, the major determinant of the competitiveness of the industry is the intensity of competitive rivalry. Sustainable competitive advantage by innovation, competition between online and offline companies; click-and-mortar -v- slags on a bridge, Level of advertising expense, Powerful competitive strategy and the visibility of proprietary items on the Web all these factor define the competitive rivalry within an industry (Rainer and Turban, 2009). The situation of competitive rivalry is hhigh because there are majorly three rivals of Marks Spencer that provide it a competitive advantage and change its strategic planning. State a variety 7 to 10 of general and marketing strategic options which have been used or are available to the organization of your choice and evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of four of these Product Branded product helps in capturing market as it creates an identity of the firm with that brand. Marks Spencer has been selling out branded product but there is no single of theirs, because owning the brand can exceed the sell of that product. The advantage of owning a product as a brand is that it allows the customers to identify the organization with a particular name. While mostly brand products are supposed to be accessible for everyone as a result of its price. Price Price is another factor that is integral for Marks Spencer. Determination of price that depends on the market situation very much affects the market situation for the firm. An affordable Price of the product can be more successful for the firm. Affordable price offer of the Marks Spencer will allow to everyone to access them easily thus it will generate demand of the products if it could not maintain the supply and demand of the products it will have to suffer in the market. Place The place of selling also makes a difference in the marketing strategy of a firm. Since e-commerce has been so much in practice Marks Spencer can start e-commerce through which it can sell out its products online. Besides this, variety of distribution outlets can also be an option for Marks Spencer as it is a good promotion tool of the product. Placing the products in every distributions outlet may lead the firm to the low market level due to its order of supply. Promotion Promotion of the products must be designed in the way Across the Line. Across the Line promotion of the product provide the opportunity to access the customers at any length. Promotion of the products Across the Line will cost the firm highly as promotion across the line requires in order to meet the promotion target. People Work force or staff must be well trained and professional because a well trained work force increase the productivity of an organization. Marks Spencer is the 43rd largest retailer if it hires professional and trained work force it will definitely hit its economy. Process The standard of the services offered must be of good and must be integrated with customer support. Physical Evidence Physical evidence of a firm especially like Marks Spencer does matter. The overall environment of the firm can provide a pleasant impression on others and results in good sell. Who are stakeholders in the organization of your choice and state the three major ones of these. What affect have or could the major stakeholders have on the strategy that the organization has or could introduce. What considerations should be taken into account to ensure that the three major stakeholders can contribute to the development of the organization strategy through some form of participation? There are number of group of stakeholders of Marks Spencer: employees, customers, shareholders, suppliers, local communities, pressure groups and local and national government. All these above directly or indirectly influence the Marks Spencer in its strategy making. Employees, who are direct stakeholders of the organization, want secure jobs, well and good pay and fair treatment with all employees. Customers, also a direct stakeholder of the organization, want high quality, good service, and good choice of products. Shareholders look for growth and profit. These direct stakeholders can affect the strategies of the organization. If employees are not satisfied or if feel that they are not enough benefits from the offered strategy they can strongly resist it by so many act of barriers such as resignation or boycott from service. Organization understands that in order to keep the customers stick with product it is important to provide them quality products and services in affordable r ate. The customers who want quality product in affordable price with good services would also reject the strategy if found it not in their favor by rejecting the product or switching to another substitute. Shareholders, who are back bone in the economy of the Marks Spencer, possess the shares of the company; organization will want them to have profit so that the stay with them in the business. Thus there will not be any strategy which in any way annoys the shareholders. The contribution of employees, customers and shareholders is equally important for organizations interest. This contribution by them can part in the development of the organizations strategy through expressing their expectation from the organization. These expectations are not just to be of their favor but in the favor of the organization as well because their benefits and profits are interlinked with the success of the organization. In a laymans language define the term vision, mission statement, objective and value and go to provide professional definitions of these giving the source of these. Every organization comes into existence with a definite purpose which is called objective of the organization. This objective varies from organization to organization such as profitable organization and non-profitable organization. The organization expresses its objective through vision, mission statement. Vision: Vision is the intended or desired future statement of an organization or enterprise in terms of the fundamental objective and strategic direction. Vision refers to a long term view, describing how the organization would like the world in which it operates to be. A vision statement provides the organization with an inspiration that is the basis for all the organizations planning. It explains what an organization wants to do. Mission: Mission is the fundamental purpose of an organization or an enterprise, concise describing the reason of existence and path to achieve its Vision. It also draws a future picture of the organization. Values: Values can be defined as the beliefs of an organization shared among the stakeholders of an organization. Values are the means of driving the organizations culture, ethics and priorities. The vision statement is a realistic, credible, and attractive future for an organization (http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/ndu/strat-ldr-dm/pt4ch18.html). Mission statement broadly describes the presence of an organization present capabilities, customer focus, activities, and business makeup (Glossary, Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases by Fred David). Provide the vision and mission statements and strategy of your chosen organization and explain how the effectiveness if these can be measured. Marks Spencer has defined its Vision, Mission statement and Values as follows: The Vision Statement The standard against which all others are measured. The Mission Statement Making aspirational quality accessible to all. The Values Quality, value, service, innovation and trust. Marks and Spencer has followed a value price strategy from its origin. Since Marks Spencer has focused on middle class customers, it has continued with the value pricing strategy. Although its most of suppliers have been Britain, which has higher textile manufacturing costs than other developing nations, Marks Spencer was able to maintain its value by developing strong economic bonds with its suppliers. Through its economies of scale in buying, MS has been able to require manufacturers to adhere to strict quality standards and to bargain lower prices for its customers (De Nardi-Cole, 1998). The standard against which all others are measured, as a vision statement thoroughly conveys the objective of the organization, as the organization has set up the standard as an objective of the organization to achieve. It is promoting inspirational standard of the organization in term of products, service, and quality and price. This vision has greatly affected the organization output as a consequence of achieving its objective through this vision. The mission statement of Mark Spencer revolves around its marketing strategy telling about the price of the products that are affordable enough to be accessed by everyone. Values of the organization describe the standard quality and value of products and services following innovation and trust of the customers. Define the term organizational g12 cultural and ethical values and explain the culture and ethical values of the organization of your choice. Organizational culture is an idea which illustrates personal attitudes, experiences, psychology, beliefs and values and cultural values of an organization. It is defined as the specific set of values and norms shared by people and groups in an organization. The organizational culture as well as ethical values is also known as beliefs and ideas about the kinds of goals of the organization and ideas about the appropriate kinds and standards of behavior members of the organization use to achieve these goals. From organizational ethical values develop organizational norms, guidelines, and expectations that prescribe appropriate kinds of behavior by employees in certain situations and control the behavior of organizational members towards one another (Hill, and Jones, 2001). Organizational Ethics refers the way an organization ethically responds to an internal or external stimulus. Organizational ethics and the organizational culture are interdependent. Although, it is similar to both org anizational culture and business ethics on the micro and macro levels, organizational ethics is neither Organizational culture, nor is it alone business ethics which includes corporate governance and corporate ethics. Organizational ethics express the values of the organization to its employees and to other entities irrespective of governmental and regulatory laws. The organizational culture of Marks Spencer is characterized as a reflection of taken for granted fashion the attitude that is shared by the all members of the organization. The basic assumptions and beliefs operate unconsciously among the members and also exist at the organizational level. The assumptions and taken for granted fashion have taken its roots from the basis of the success of organization. Marks Spencer strictly follow code of ethics, a detail document of the ethical codes, in order to get on with its internal matter. The document contains the responsibility of all belong to Marks Spencer and Behavior for customers, colleagues, shareholders and environment have been explained. Besides, there are policies about workplace and Business (MarksSpencer, Code of Ethics, 2010). Explain the term core competencies and critical success factor and state whether these are necessary to the success of the organization of your choice. Has the organization of your choice amended its strategy in response to changes in the current business and economic climate? A core competency is a particular factor that an organization looks as being integral to the way it, or its works, and employees. It performs three key criteria: provides consumer benefits, not easy for competitors to imitate and can be widely leveraged to many products and markets. A core competency can take many forms, such as technical or subject matter know-how, a dependable process and close associations with customers and suppliers. It also includes product development and culture, such as employee dedication. The core competencies are specific strengths relative to other organizations in the industry which supply the fundamental basis for the provision of added value. Core competencies are the organizations collective learning, and involve the way to coordinate different production skills and incorporate multiple flows of technologies. It is an involvement, a communication, and a strong commitment to working across organizational boundaries. Core Competencies of Marks Spencer The core competencies are vital for the existence of Marks Spencer; it is in its sourcing methods, gave it the power to deliver high value, reliable, consistent quality, investors and customers has trusted it, its quality of management was ranked very high, consequently feeling of what good for Marks Spencer was good for the Nation and epitomized the most honest face of commerce. Since the revolutionary change in the business world, Marks Spencer had to suffer a lot. After the crisis of 1999, Marks Spencer has remarkably amended its strategies in terms of products, customers, price and marketing strategy. As a result of e-commerce revolution Marks Spencer amended its strategy and started e-commerce which ultimately changed its marketing strategy. A large number of the same product in the market caused the Marks Spencer to adopt a differentiation way such as own brand products and Premium brand appearance. Since there are so many products out there in the market that is decreasing the sell of Marks Spencer, due to the threat of the substitute product Marks Spencer has reviewed its prices of the product in order to create competitive advantage. Explain how your organization has responded to change in its environment and consider whether this response has effective The change in the product price from Marks Spencer creates a competitive advantage fro it and it is much effective for the organization. The enhancement in the place of its firm can also be beneficial in the way that it is in the access of as many people as targeted. All these response to the environment from Marks Spencer could provide it some space to restore its position in the market. List what you would consider to be the major functional area in generally and discuss the three major functional areas of organization of choice and why this is so. Every business have work within certain functional areas, among them there are few general major functions performed in all businesses including finance and accounts, production and operations, administration and IT support, human resource, marketing and sales, customer services, and research and development. The major functional areas of Marks Spencer are sales and marketing, human resource and administration and IT support. They are the major functional areas of the organization because Marks Spencer is a retailer of goods, its business growth very much depends on the sales and marketing, human resource (the people and the staff serve the organization can make difference in the growth of the organization) and administration and IT support make the business process smooth and successful. Since the competition is so tough in the market, Marks Spencer must improve their major functional areas. How have the three major functional areas in organization been developed to provide it with a competitive advantage? Efficient and good sales and marketing strategy can play an important role to develop a competitive advantage for the organization. Decrease in the price by change in the marketing strategy increases the competitive advantage for the organization. Human resource is such a function that works as a back bone for an organization, skilled and trained human resource of the Marks Spencer can provide a competitive advantage through inputting the best to serve the organization. Administration and IT support has come out as one of the vital function of the organization since organization has initiated e-commerce, it can efficiently perform as support to e-commerce to give competitive advantage to the organization. Discuss how a timetable for the implementation of a strategy could be developed around key milestones. The implementation of a strategy roadmap needs a time table that defines milestones in weekly, one month, three month, and six month intervals. Implementation milestones should be established and communicated to all key business partners, the board of directors, stakeholders and investors, customers, and employees, from day one. The best timetable and milestones focus on at least the following dimensions: customers, competitors, finance, communications, and culture, intellectual property

Personal Narrative about Skiing Essay -- Narrative Essay Ski Trip

The coat of armor I adorned, made of down feathers and a nylon shell, yielded no protection against the daggers of that cold winter air. As I peered out toward the horizon, I saw nothing but tree tops, and some snow capped mountain tops in the distance. With my feet bound to freshly waxed skis, the only thing stronger than my ski poles was my determination to get down the mountain. I turned to my right, only to see the immediate drop off of the ski slope. As I crept up a little closer to the edge, I noticed an incline that before now was only known to me through pictures of cliff diving, or an exaggerated road runner and coyote cartoon. With a deep breath of that icy cold air that seemed endless at the time, I pushed myself off the mountain, and I was skiing. The wind blew past me as...

Historical Context Versus Human Behavior in “The Scarlet Letter”

â€Å"The Scarlet Letter† was set in Boston, Massachusetts in the mid 1600’s and follows the backlash of the sinful act between Hester Prynne and Boston’s own Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. In an ironic and masterfully executed red-herring type twist, Dimmesdale himself publically calls for Hester to name her sinner-in-crime in the beginning of the story, which she adamantly declines to do. The reader, at this point, does not know that Dimmesdale is her adulterer, but knows that the game is afoot. Hester is given a scarlet â€Å"A† to wear upon her chest for her sin and bears the â€Å"A† with a sense of purpose and dignity, even embroidering it with gold thread. Hester and her daughter of sin, Pearl, end up living in a small cottage where Hester earns a living with her skillful needlework. And, in an attempt to show her shame, yet revel in it, Hester only dresses Pearl in scarlet dresses. Hester’s long-lost and presumed dead husband, Roger Chillingworth, returns to find Hester in prison for her deed and informs her that she is to tell no one of his identity. Much later, once he establishes himself in society with a false identity as a physician, he is summoned to help the ailing Dimmesdale. Chillingworth begins to believe that Dimmesdale might be suffering from a malady beyond the physical which brings him to discover that Dimmesdale is an adulterer and Pearl’s father. Enraged and seeking revenge, Chillingworth plots to destroy Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale is so fraught with guilt at this point that he punishes himself physically, fasts, and staves off sleeping for a constant vigil. He feels a deep sorrow and horror for what he has done to Hester’s husband and tells Hester, at which point she begins to see that Chillingworth must be behind Dimmesdale’s quickly declining health. Hester and Dimmesdale have a moment in the woods where she confesses that Chillingworth is actually her husband. Dimmesdale is willing to face the truth. They plan to set sail for the Old World immediately, and in an act of freedom, Hester removes her â€Å"A† and lets down her hair. Pearl becomes so distraught that Hester has to once again don her shame, and this time it is with true sadness. They must wait until after Election Day to set sail and Dimmesdale eagerly begins his final, enlightening, sermon. At the end, he brings Hester and Pearl up on stage and confesses everything to the town. This, of course, ruins Chillingworth’s plan to destroy Dimmesdale as he watches with fury while everything is revealed. As the story ends, Dimmesdale dies on the public platform after his confession, Chillingworth dies a year later, and Pearl inherits his fortune. Years later, Hester is buried next to Dimmesdale in the town cemetery. In 1841, Hawthorne wrote a letter confessing that he was beginning to despise life in Salem and asks, â€Å"dost thou not think it really the most hateful place in all the world? My mind becomes heavy†¦nothing makes me wonder more than that I found it possible to write all my tales in this same region of sleepy-head and stupidity† (Moore, 2). He wrote this letter to Sophia, his wife, and it represents very clearly what he thought of his town of Salem and his Puritanical upbringings. It is from this resentment that â€Å"The Scarlet Letter† was born. Going further back in Hawthorne’s life, his â€Å"father died†¦when he was four, an age at which, according to Freud, the male child forms a crucial attachment to his mother†¦consequently, he was able to supplant his father in his mother’s affections. His attachment to his mother became an impediment to his psychological maturation†¦especially when [she died]† (Kennedy-Andrews, 107-108). According to this information, â€Å"The Scarlet Letter† becomes an easy and remarkable parallel to Hawthorne’s own personal life. Hester’s husband dies while at sea, leaving her to believe him dead and free to seek new male companionship. A reader could parallel this to Hawthorne’s life in which his father died and his mother was left to seek new male companionship, albeit, with her own son. This parallel can be defined even further as â€Å"throughout the story Hawthorne continually defines Hester in terms of motherhood†¦and in the very beginning of the narrative, Hawthorne establishes Hester’s relation to the Oedipal underpinnings of the story† (Kennedy-Andrews, 108). As the Oedipal complex goes, the son seeks to supplant his father for his mother’s affections. In most cases, as Kennedy-Andrews remarks, the son is forced to contend with a very real father figure for these affections and becomes fearful and backs down (107). In Hawthorne’s case, without a father figure from such a young age, he became the man in his mother’s life and the Oedipal complex became fulfilled. In fact, Hawthorne’s work â€Å"aims to produce an invisible change, an internal deepening like that which transforms the letter even as its form remains identical† (Kennedy-Andrews, 81). Hester’s attitude towards the â€Å"A† is to wear it, not with resignation, but accepting it as part of her life. Embroidering it with gold and crafting scarlet dresses for Pearl to wear signify this transformation externally. It is internally, in Hester’s character, that the letter changes much more significantly. She wears it as part of her life, accepting what she did, but the shame she feels slowly transforms Hester into a woman respected within the community. And the shame she once felt for Pearl is transformed into pure, satisfying love for a creation—despite the fact that Pearl was consummated through sin. In the 1600’s the act of sin and breaking from religion became the greatest crime and the basis for Puritanical beliefs. In this, and perhaps only this, Hawthorne follows history and makes a poignant mockery of the human condition—most precisely, the value stripped from women when they fall so far from grace as to partake in human desires. The fact that Hester’s human desire happens to be a religious leader of the community only serves to highlight this point more. Hawthorne’s use of symbolism throughout further demonstrates how the mores and ideals of the Puritanical community practically destroyed the very reason that the Puritans came to America in the first place—for freedom, as we are taught in history, without persecution or tyrannical leadership. Instead, the characters within â€Å"The Scarlet Letter† created their own sense of justice: persecuting women who are not obedient and compliant, like Eve from Biblical lore (before she forces Adam to eat the cursed apple, of course). As a historical work, â€Å"The Scarlet Letter† cannot be trusted as to the accuracy of events or people involved. Hawthorne â€Å"attempts to undermine the Puritan community’s judgment of Hester by employing a sentimental nineteenth-century narrator, uninformed about the spiritual complexities of the story he tells† (Thickstun, 133). This is where Hawthorne’s work loses all credence as a historical work of the 1600’s. His narrator is fully nineteenth-century, exposing views that simply did not exist within society until Hawthorne’s own time. While his views make for a compelling and entertaining story, they falter in historical truth. However, if this work is looked at closely, it becomes clear that Hawthorne’s life in the mid 1800’s actually serves as a greater historical reference for the morals and attitudes presented in the story. Historically, it can be said that yes, there were inhabitants in Massachusetts during the 1600’s, and they did profess Puritanical beliefs, much like the inhabitants of Boston where â€Å"The Scarlet Letter† takes place. However, the story within â€Å"The Scarlet Letter† is not that of history, it is that of human behavior and is better studied for a glimpse into humanity than for historical truths. In fact, â€Å"The Scarlet Letter† should not be read if the reader is hoping to find strong roots in historical context, but can be studied, to great reward, if a reader is in search of a tale inspired by true human emotions brought on by the politics enforced by a strong Puritanical society. Hawthorne used the politics and resulting changes in humanity from his own time period to form the characters and interactions in his work. In looking at the characters, Hawthorne â€Å"penetrates their subconscious minds and grapples with the secrets and compulsions he finds there. He too, plays master to his fictionalized slaves. And in recognizing this, he too, saw himself as a kind of spiritual villain, a marauder of the mind, and this perspective endows all of his work in both its technique and creation with an air of brooding and ineradicable guilt† (Reynolds, 50). It cannot be said that he ignored events from history or took a specific view on them; however he created his own history with the lives of Hester Prynne, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, their resulting daughter, Pearl, and the lives of those they touched. Historically, in an effort to determine whether Hawthorne’s descriptions are accurate, one can look at the values of the Puritans as a basis for study. Beyond the social, cultural, and actions of the characters, however, â€Å"The Scarlet Letter† leaves much to be desired for historical accuracy. In truth, Hawthorne based the story upon his own cultural times, placing his characters into a time period in which he knew prejudices against sin would make a marvelous tale. By his time, the Salem witch trials were well known, and his background in Puritanical beliefs would have made inserting characters into that background an easy feat. Hawthorne, it can be decided, focuses on the story within the backdrop—how the characters themselves shape history—and seems unconcerned with literal historical events within his tale. As to my opinion about historical events, no, Hawthorne did not change them. What he did was to make me see, very clearly, how easy it is for one person to become the focal point of sin within a community. To paraphrase Gary Scharnhorst’s â€Å"The Critical Response to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ‘The Scarlet Letter’, the word â€Å"adultery† is never actually used within â€Å"The Scarlet Letter,† yet a reader understands very clearly by the attitudes of the characters that Hester has committed the worst of all sins and has to be physically, outwardly punished for all time. The one thing that separates humans from the other animals of this world is the ability to choose between right and wrong. Animals are unable to make this rationalization. But, as Hawthorne has so adeptly shown, the choice is often a non-issue when swept away by the driving force of a larger crowd. On their own, humans can choose between right and wrong without consequence. In a group, a dissenter would be punished just as Hester was—marked publically for all to see. In this, Hawthorne is a master. The fact that he based his work in a well-known time period serves no greater purpose than for dramatic effect. His story would be the same if set in any other time period, with any other sin. Imagine if Hawthorne had written about a young servant girl during the reign of King Henry VIII. She could have born his child or spoken out against Catholicism and been given the same fate. Her fate probably would have been death, and in his punishment, Hawthorne was delicate—if anything he is historically inaccurate here. Witches and women of less than perfect repute were often put to death, not degraded by wearing a public symbol. In this he was kind, but from the outcome of the story we know why. He wanted Pearl to grow up through the castigation of her mother and still prosper in the end. The object of sin became the reason for Hester’s being, and a powerful symbol of a different kind of justice. A pearl, after all, within a dark sea that appears to be full of tragedy and strife, can still become a most beautiful jewel. Truly, â€Å"The Scarlet Letter† is a work of fiction. The characters are not real and their lives did not play out in known history; however, what Hawthorne presents, and which I feel is more important, is what could have happened. The moral of his work is not to retell an unfortunate act, but to show the nature of human character and how there is a moment where a choice must be made between good and evil. The fact that Hawthorne was raised with Puritanical beliefs only seems to lend more weight to this theme. And this is what I enjoyed about â€Å"The Scarlet Letter. † Hawthorne’s life fills the pages of his work with a profound message for humanity. The scenes could have played out in any society, based upon any sin. Hawthorne even leaves a bit for the reader to infer about humanity with the final line of the book, â€Å"on a field, sable, the letter A, gules [or, is stained red]† (Hawthorne, 201). From this, we can ask: â€Å"does the scarlet letter stand for sin or for cleansing? Is the epitaph a word of despair or hope? In what direction did Hawthorne intend to lead our thoughts? If asked, he would have said, ‘read out of your own heart’ † (Scharnhorst, 131). And this, I think, is what readers should remember when studying his work. Being human means making choices based not only on who we are, but who others around us are and how they choose. Following the crowd, while most do so without thinking, is not always the best choice and does not, as in the case of Hester, serve the right kind of justice. In the end, once the truth is revealed, Hester finally finds peace, and the fact that her peace was granted, not by the town that punished her, but by her adulterer, is most striking of all.

Revolution on British government and society Essay

It is not so much the events of 1688 that constitute a revolution as the subsequent changes in the constitution that show a transformation in the nature and ideology of government. There was no internal uprising, no civil war and most importantly, the succession of William of Orange and his wife Mary to the English throne was authorised by a Convention, acting in lieu of parliament in the absence of King James II. Indeed it could be argued that this was not a revolution at all, if James’ departure is to be interpreted as his abdication. Contemporaries, keen to replace the unpopular, Catholic monarch with a man who was seen as a deliverer from popery and slavery, reasoned as such. In actual fact James never did renounce his claim to the throne. Fleeing London in the dead of night, he took with him The Great Seal, traditionally held by the monarch and dropped it in the Thames and he burnt the writs that were to call anew parliament. He would later attempt to recapture his crown, rallying support in Ireland to prepare for an invasion that was to fail. But whether or not this dynastic change, made by those who, in theory, did not have the authority to do so, is enough to deserve the title revolution, what cannot be denied is that this marks the end of the era of the absolute monarch. William’s Declaration of Rights, which was to become statute within a year, echoed Lockean ideas of sovereignty, supporting a parliament that was to keep check on the authority of the monarch and protecting â€Å"Rights and Liberties† of the people. No King or Queen thereafter would be able to rule as James or Charles had done before them. In the years following the revolution a system of government working through the authority of the executive Privy Council and the houses of Lords and commons, headed by the monarch soon evolved into a working body that formed the basis of what we still have for government today. By the 1720s the way Britain is ruled had been turned around, but the changes cannot be solely accredited to the events of 1688. When William invaded England he had European motives at heart. He was keen to avoid a union of France and England that would be a threat to the Protestants of the Northern and Germanic lands. He was aware of James’ unpopularity as a Catholic ruler of an overwhelmingly Protestant nation and he sought to take advantage of this to try and win allies. He expected to meet with resistance and had prepared and army of troops, but James’ was deserted by the little support he had to begin with in the face of danger, eventually even by his closest advisors and his own sister. William toured England for four weeks, propagandising himself as a saviour from James’ â€Å"evil counsellors,† who had challenged the â€Å"laws, liberties, customs and religion† and wanted to revive Catholicism. He arrived in London and in the absence of the monarch the city was occupied and ordered by his Dutch soldiers while a decision could be reached. It is important to remember that William never independently laid any claim to the throne; he had expected to meet resistance in England. He aimed to battle against what he saw as a catholic threat, which he was careful to stress as being on the part of James’ advisors and not the King himself, and although the impact that this revolution had was profound, it was not all part of a pre-ordained plan. What followed was an immediate crisis. The capital was under the order of foreign troops and the King had deserted. It forced the political nation to examine the constitution and find a solution. A Convention was called and a vote was taken to offer the throne to William and his wife Mary, daughter of the departed king on January 22nd 1689, only a month after James’ departure. It was a hasty political decision, pressure was felt by the presence of Dutch troops, but there was also a Protestant fear of James gathering support and returning, or claims being laid for his infant son, whom he had taken with him. There was resistance, the House of Lords initially voted against the idea, feeling they had sworn an oath of loyalty to James, that he was still their king, and that such radical action was not right. A monarch is not elective. The theory was that the monarch was granted his authority form God and man was not to meddle with His choice. There was no support for a republic, with the feeling that a firm figurehead was necessary to maintain order and a deep attachment felt for hierarchy and patriarchy. Yet to instate a new monarch seemed in itself to mock the whole principal of monarchy. Under pressure from the Commons and from William and Mary themselves and with no other solution, the Lords were finally swayed, their stance weakened by internal disunity and mistrust. Interpretation of the finer details of the theory of monarchy and nuances of vocabulary played and important role in this unique revolution, which, on the whole, was met with popular support. William and Mary had been put on the throne as an alternative to James II. Parliament had granted them this privilege and they were willing to allow parliament a more active role in government. The revolution had been almost ad hoc and there was sparse new ideology to implement, the Convention drawn up by parliament was effectively a reaction to the way in which both Charles II and James II had ruled and a call to protect the people’s â€Å"ancient and indubitable rights. † It was more of a written version of what was previously expected behaviour with little fundamental change to the relationship between legislative and executive powers specified. But William had to accept this as a code of practise from his parliament, recognising that even if the monarch had popularity and capability, he needed to work through the legislative powers. The monarch was required to call parliament to session, but this would be inevitable as William was only granted a year’s revenue. Parliament had the authority to oversee all public expenditure and so the monarch would always be dependant on them. Changes to the structure of government took effect gradually during the years following the revolution, but from the start the role of parliament was augmented, which initiated subsequent developments. They met for much longer sessions than before 1688, enabling a great deal more legislation to be passed, and allowing for Bills to be more thoroughly debated. Much of the legislation passed was still local or occasional in essence, such as permission to build a workhouse, but although this could be viewed as undermining the revolutionary nature of parliament’s more prominent role, the fact that MPs were more available to take action on their electorate’s specific grievances, helped to ease the frictions between local and executive power as the nation’s political make-up was evolving. Although from a modern perspective these changes are viewed as progressing towards a more rational system of government, during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, people were often concerned about social stability which they believed was at risk with so much legal development. It was a commonly held view that life should be stable and predictable. People wanted to feel sure of their position, their income and their king and government. In an era where the poor always risked slipping into poverty after a bad harvest, increasing involvement in foreign warfare and frequent changes in the government, questions were raised about the permanence of law, and whether Common Laws of liberty and property, viewed by many as sacred, were at risk. But at court the belief that good government was upheld by frequent parliament, against the weakness of individual MPs or encroachment by the monarch led to the Triennial Act of 1694, limiting parliament to three years. Elections were held on average every two years and there were various amendments and contests in between. This Act was later replaced and the time extended to seven years, the advisors to the king often too easily influenced elections proved costly and short-lived parliaments. The Act shows parliament as uncertain of its own role, and is an example of a developing government that was evolving along its own path in the years following the revolution, more caused by what the revolution’s changes allowed rather than what they intended. The development of the two key political parties, the Whigs and the Tories is another feature of this evolution of government. With three active parts to the government all being of equally weighted importance, and more frequent changes of personnel in parliament, there was more of a need than ever for politicians to associate themselves with a certain ideology and for Lords and MPs to support each other to push through Bills. William himself wanted to remain above the level of party, which he did, and indeed, there were members of parliament, more so in the House of Lords who chose to be independent and cast their vote on issues individually. But the solidarity of party was the most effective way of getting laws passed and King George himself, not many years later, was aligned with the Whigs, who although in the days of the revolution had been in favour of political progression, now came of as the monarchical party and there were suspicions of Jacobinism in the Tories. Religion was still a very important factor in politics, despite the Act of Toleration in 1689, which allowed non-Anglican Protestants to swear allegiance to the throne. There was still a widely held belief that religious homogony was key to social stability, but it had been the clergy that had shown the most resistance to William taking the crown, and with no clear heir in line for the throne the problem of succession and the possibility of a Jacobite up-rising prompted him, a Calvinist himself, to attempt to include Protestant minorities, especially those in Scotland and Ireland. Although the law did not make any exception for Catholics or Quakers, it did encourage a sense of tolerance that was benefited by both groups. The Quakers would be later allowed the right to practise in legalised meetinghouses, but Catholics still posed a threat, especially in Ireland, where the population was largely Catholic. After the Revolution, James had attempted to reclaim his throne, starting in Ireland, arranging support from France for the Catholic cause. But James lacked the leadership and resolve that he met in William when they met at battle in Derry and Enniskillen and he again escaped to France. The so-called â€Å"bloodless revolution† may have been so in England, but in both Ireland and Scotland the transition was not so smooth. Civil war in Ireland exhausted James’ supporters into defeat and in Scotland a series of â€Å"highland wars† lasted around five months in 1691, which initially started as a Jacobite up rising. William found Scotland impossible to manage. Although not dominated by Catholics, it was not predominantly Anglican either and James had more support here because of his family’s close ties with Scotland. In the years following the Revolution, Scotland was only reluctantly part of Britain. She had her own laws and traditions, presided over by a Scottish parliament in Edinburgh, which declared even further independence with the abolition of the Lord of Articles, further undermining control from Westminster and making Scotland appear more of a threat. William would not be able to exert his Royal will through Edinburgh. But following a bad harvest in 1695, with many dying of hunger or fleeing to Ulster, Scotland realised the benefits of a closer union with England to involve herself in England’s efficient internal trade and lucrative colonial empire. The Act of union came into effect in 1707, dissolving the parliament in Edinburgh and instating peers and MPs from Scotland at Westminster. In England, the union provoked little reaction, but in Scotland it was bitterly opposed by many. Problems within Scotland were often a result of internal social divisions, most markedly between the highland clans and their more anglicised lowland neighbours, who had seen the union as a way to improve Scotland’s economy. The death of Queen Anne in 1714 proved a difficult start for the union. The question was raised of the possible succession of her Catholic half brother, but with the Act of Settlement from 1701 forbidding any non-Protestant to sit on the throne, the Crown was inherited by George I. He faced a Jacobite uprising within the year, but his reign is largely characterised as a time of peace and relative stability after the turbulent post-revolutionary years. The Glorious Revolution had seemed on the surface to be swift, decisive and painless, yet the principals of change that as Burke claimed justified it as a revolution took years to really take shape. By the time of King George the role of monarch had been dramatically reviewed, no longer seen as a ruler from God, but as a figure head for a nation governed by a system of parliament, which relied on the mutual dependency of the two houses and the executive to abide by a sense of appropriate behaviour. Queen Anne was the last to use the Royal veto, something much exploited by the monarchs before 1688, the workings of parliament and the Privy Council had become more regular and thorough and a system of party politics had developed. The characters of William, Anne and George, who all failed to immerse themselves in domestic affaires and the extraordinary calibre of ministers at work during this time, perhaps eased the transition but it still remains that, while the revolution of 1688 had a profound and lasting impact on British society and government, the relationship worked both ways. The practical workings of British society and government were what moulded the developments after the revolution, developments that justified the glorious revolution to be called as such.