Young Goodman Brown Argumentative Essay Example For Students

Young Goodman Brown Argumentative Essay Nathaniel Hawthorne comes from an interesting background. He was born in Salem and later returned to live there. He was a descendant of William Hathorne, a puritan judge who persecuted Quakers, and John Hathorne, a puritan magistrate who participated in the Salem witch trials. Hawthorne’s kinship to these two notables of puritan history makes the story â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† all the more interesting. Hawthorne alludes to John Hathorne when he writes about Goodman Brown’s â€Å"fellow traveler† commenting on Brown’s grandfather, who â€Å"lashed the Quaker woman so smartly through the streets of Salem.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Young Goodman Brown† is about one man’s journey through the woods with the devil and his encounters that make him doubt his faith in himself, his wife, and the community in which they reside. The theme of this story is that beyond any intangible evil, the evil that men do is ultimately the more damaging. Throughout the s tory Hawthorne uses setting and characters as symbols representing different aspects of good and evil and he uses the plot to develop the eventual win-over of evil over â€Å"Goodman† Brown’s â€Å"Faith.†Not surprisingly â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† takes place in Salem during the puritan era. The story begins with Goodman Brown departing from his wife in the village to meet with and take a stroll in the forest with a â€Å"fellow-traveler† the devil. We will write a custom essay on Young Goodman Brown Argumentative specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now The contrast between the forest and the town is symbolic. On the outside, it seems like a normal, religious puritan village, but when one goes in deep, one sees there is a center of darkness. The deep, dark forest in the puritan town represents the internal evil of the villagers. The forest is viewed as mysterious, unknown and inhabited by the devil, while the town is pleasant safe and where his wife, â€Å"Faith,† is. During Goodman Brown’s walk through the â€Å"dark forest,† he sees and learns that many of his mentors and relatives have chosen the path of evil. The forest is where all the respectable people of the town go to vent their evil while outside of the forest, they seem like they are pure and good. Hawthorne adds to the symbolism by personifying the trees â€Å"which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through† as Brown â€Å"walks alongside a dreary road.†Hawthorne uses the characters of the story also to represent good and evil. The names of the main character and his wife are ironic. Faith, in the literal context of the story, is Goodman Brown’s wife. In the connotative sense, Faith represents Brown’s actual faith in God and goodness of humankind. She is a symbol of Brown’s faith who then becomes tainted by evil. The pink ribbons in Faith’s cap represent purity, white, tainted by the evilness of the devil, red. He believes that his wife, Faith is good. Although the devil shows Brown that his father, the deacon, and the rest of the townspeople turned to evil, he will not go with the Devil because of his thoughts of Faith. There is a certain point in the journey when he asks where his Faith is, at this point, he is symbolically seeking his own faith in goodness, or the righteous path and is wondering why he is on this path with the devil. Toward the end, when he sees his wife among the others in the woods, a participant of the ceremony, he loses faith. He wakes up and is lef t miserable, alone and distrustful of all the villagers including his wife. The main character’s name, Goodman Brown, is ironic because for all his â€Å"goodness† and faith in his beliefs, he becomes the one person in the village who personifies evil. In the end of the story, the event changes Goodman Brown’s life and, whether it was reality or a trick played by the devil in Brown’s dream, the effect it had on him lasts the rest of his life. Brown doesn’t trust anyone, He doubts everyone, and sees evil in everyone. He becomes â€Å"stern, sad, darkly meditative, and distrustful.† Brown would not participate in singing holy psalms. Goodman Brown â€Å"would turn pale whenever the minister spoke from the bible.† He shrank from his wife, scowled when his â€Å"family knelt down for prayer† and his â€Å"dying

Child Beauty Pageants Should Be Banned Essay Example

Child Beauty Pageants Should Be Banned Essay Example Child Beauty Pageants Should Be Banned Essay Child Beauty Pageants Should Be Banned Essay Child beauty pageants should be banned Child beauty pageants should be banned because they cause children, especially little girls, to use artificial means to boost their self esteem. People were not born with makeup, spray tans, big hair, and false teeth. Beauty pageants set false rules on beauty. They make children believe they have to wear make-up, jewelry, wigs, fake nails, and other acessories to be beautiful. Every child is beautiful in their own way. Their beauty is natural and they shouldnt have to have anyones opinion on the way they look. Beauty pageants can also cause serious mental and health issues. They can lead to depression, anorexia, suicide, and many other serious issues. Children might starve themselves to lose which could lead to eating disorders. Beauty pageants can cause depression, and depression may later lead to a suicide Children shouldnt be forced to be in pageants. Mothers try to live their dream through their children. Children shouldnt get their lives taken away from them. They only get one childhood, they dont get it back after its over. Any parent placing their child in these types of pageants, based solely on looks, is giving their child the attitude that appearance can get you anywhere in life. It is wrong to teach children that looks are the most important asset to possess. I am not stating that children shouldnt be encouraged to develop a talent or skill, and compete with that talent or skill, I am stating that competing over looks is sending the wrong message to children.

Post ww2 fiction and film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Post ww2 fiction and film - Essay Example In The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie similarly damaged people are considered, particularly the title character who draws a few to her but rejects many others. A Clockwork Orange portrays a nightmarish future world, taking several features of 1950’s/1960’s life to their logical conclusions. The title is suggestive of all these works: the people appear to be alive on the outside, but are â€Å"clockwork† (dead) within. The extent to which novels and films can reflect actual problems within society versus the fact that they are reflections of an individual author’s/filmmaker’s view of the world is one that can never be entirely resolved. In reality, novelists and directors live within societies and are thus influenced by them, yet at the same time they are portraying their individual perspectives. Three very distinct novels, such as The Prime of Miss Jean Brody, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and A Clockwork Orange, reflect often nightmarish versions of society. A common theme among all three of them is the place of the individual within society. That is, how far can the individual act in a purely independent manner versus the need to conform? Each novel tackles this question in a different manner and comes to contrasting conclusions. The main characters in each novel are indeed â€Å"individualistic†, in the fact that they follow their own course (often counter to what â₠¬Ëœsociety’ wants for them), and their often difficult fates illustrate the dangers of being an individual. The issue of conformity versus eccentricity is as relevant today as it was in post-war British society, and thus can inform a discussion of problems that are being faced today. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is set in Scotland during the 1930’s. As such it represents a consideration of the interwar rather than the post-war period., but many of its themes resonate to the latter period. The teacher of the title is determined to actually teach the young women at her

British American Tobacco Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

British American Tobacco - Essay Example This is not required under generally accepted accounting standards in United Kingdom. As of December 2004, this resulted to additional deferred tax liability of 49 million pounds ( January 1, 2004 and 40 million pounds ) And for the year ended Dec 31, 2005 an additional charge of 7 million pounds. Under IFRS, it is necessary to provide deferred tax on the difference between the carrying values and tax base of assets in operations which use inflation accounting, and also all differences between the carrying values and tax base for land and buildings. As of December 2004, these resulted to an additional deferred tax liability of 16 million pounds. Under United Kingdom GAAP, the final dividend for the year is provided but on page 84 in accounting policy 15, under International financial accounting standards, it is should be provided in the year it is declared. Under United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting principles, certain of the group’s share based compensation plans did not result in a charge as they had no value or were finance thru issue of new shares of stocks. However the schemes financed by the purchase of shares did have value and were charged to operating profit over the vesting period based on the share price at the date of grant. Under International financial accounting standards, all share schemes will result in a charge based on fair market value of the grant as described on page 82 in accounting policy no. 7. e) Under the United Kingdom generally accepted accounting principles and international financial reporting standards, basic earnings per share are based on the profit attributable to ordinary earnings per share as based on the profit attributable to ordinary shareholders during this period. (This excludes shares held by the group's two employee share ownership trusts.) The difference between United kingdom Generally accepted accounting principles and international financial reporting standards figures is the due to the result of different treatment of the profit and amortisation of goodwill. For the United Kingdom generally accepted accounting principles, the adjusted diluted earnings per share uses same shares, investment costs written off, profit on disposal of subsidiaries and fixed asset investments, goodwill amortisation/impairment of brands and the exceptional credits arising from tax recoveries in Reynolds America in 2004. e) Under the International Financial Reporting Standards, the group will report regional business segments regional business as for United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. But Group costs, which are corporate costs that are not directly attributable to a particular segment of reporting will now be shown as a separate line in the segmental analysis. f) On page 83 in accounting policy 15, International Accounting Standards no 32 and International Accounting standards no 39 on the financial instruments will be used prospectively effectively starting January 1, 2005." REFERENCE: Director's report and account 2004.British American Tobacco. COMMENT: We have to follow the international fin

Domino’s Sizzle with Pizza Tracker Essay Example for Free

Domino’s Sizzle with Pizza Tracker Essay Abstract The purpose of this case study is to exam how Domino’s pizza uses Information Systems to regain their share of the Home Delivery pizza market. I’ll discuss how Domino’s overcome a bad reputation and improved their product and services. I will also discuss the changes and process systems implemented along with where they currently stand in the market and with their customers. I will finish with the technology Domino’s plans to use in the future. Domino’s Pizza Sizzles with Pizza Tracker This case study discusses the impact that information systems and global e-business has had on Domino’s Pizzas’ reemergence as an industry leader in the home-delivery pizza market. It looks into what kind of systems are used, how the systems improve business performance, how their online pizza ordering system has improved the ordering process and how the systems are giving Domino’s a competitive edge. Domino’s opened in 1960 and grew to 200 stores in 1978 and currently operates almost 9000 stores worldwide and has the largest share of the approximate $15 Billion/year pizza market. They compete with Pizza Hut, Papa John’s and Little Caesar’s along with local pizza shops. Despite being one of the most well-known brands in the United States, between 2006 and 2008 Domino’s Pizza was in crisis. After leaving Pepsi, Chief Marketing Office Russell Weiner joined Domino’s and inherited a brand with plummeting sales and a bad image due to their lackluster product. A month after he joined the company, sales hit a record low of $2.83 a share in November 2008 and today, it’s up around $72 a share. (Jeff Beer, 2014). Trying to overcome the reputation of having the worst pizza, in 2009, Domino’s CEO  acknowledged in a commercial that Domino’s pizza doesn’t taste good. He apologized for its poor ingredients and promised to improve t he recipe. After that statement was made, store sales grew 14.3% the following quarter. (Forbes Magazine, 2013). Domino’s had $1.5 Billion in sales and earned $80 million in profit that year. Domino’s made their customers a promise to provide better ingredients which they did, but the most important ingredient has been the technology and investment in digital and mobile where they’ve made it faster and easier for customers to place and track orders. In 2003, Domino’s implemented a Transaction Processing System (TPS) called â€Å"Pulse† as a point-of-sale system. Pulse helps Domino’s maintain consistent and efficient management functions in each of their stores. The Data from purchases and payments from orders are captured by this computerized system and recorded. Pulse captures the information from the customer’s order such as type of crust, toppings, side dishes and delivery locations. Once the data is collected, pulse will calculate the number of pizzas and side orders sold, cost of ingredients along with delivery and customer information. The stores in which Pulse was installed reported improved customer services, reduced mistakes and shorter training times. Domino’s most recently updated to â€Å"Pulse Evolution† which is faster, less expensive and easier to maintain. From an operational standpoint, you can use Information Systems to gain a cost advantage over competitors or to differentiate yourself by offering better customer service. (Bert Markgraf, 2015). Since January 2010, shares of Domino’s have significantly surpassed the competition rising 750% while Papa John’s grew 193% and Pizza Hut grew 93%. The Story was the same in 2013 with Domino’s shares increasing 51% while Papa John’s shares increased 30% and Pizza Hut shares were flat for the year. (Forbes, 2013). The latest innovation from  Domino’s (Pizza Tracker) allows a customer to watch a simulated version of their pizza being made all the way through to the finished product. This is another way that Domino’s has used Information Systems and E-Business to reach their customers. The Journal of General Management several success factors for e-commerce. Support self-service in which a web user should be enabled to complete transactions with ease. Nurture customer relationships where up front efforts should focus on increasing customer loyalty, not necessarily maximizing sales. Target a market of one where each customer should be treated as an individual market. Build communities of interest. A company should make its web site a destination that customers look forward to visiting, not simply a resource people use because they have to conduct a transaction. Online ordering has become the cornerstone of Domino’s business with IPad apps such as pizza tracker, pizza hero, customer pizza profiles and the newest featuring a 3-D pizza builder. Domino’s research shows customers by pizza 21 times each year; it gets six or seven of those orders and a similar amount might go to Pizza Hut which showed them that loyalty was not strong. (Forbes, 2013). Along with Pizza Tracker, Domino’s Pizza Profiles have helped retain customers and generate more loyalty from customers. Pizza Profiles allow customers who order online to save their information and reorder their favorite order in as little as five clicks, or about 30 seconds. The company now has mobile apps to cover about 95% of smartphones  and says it generates $2 billion in global digital sales per year of which 35% is driven by mobile. (Forbes, 2013). Domino’s locations are opening faster than Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, Pizza Hut and McDonalds since 2008 and have used Business Systems to its fullest to rise to the top. The biggest single department at Domino’s headquarters is now IT and they’re starting to also be known as a Tech company. (Jeff Beer, 2014) Coming soon is the â€Å"DomiCopter† which is a remote controlled  drone that delivers their product. Domino’s has run several tests and may soon introduce the delivery service to the market. REFERENCES 1. Touryalai, H. â€Å"Technology, not pizza, helps Domino’s crush competitors and grow faster than McDonald’s overseas.† Forbes 15 Oct 2013; web 2. Beer, J (2014, May 22). â€Å"How Domino’s became a tech company.† Retrieved from http://www.fastcocreate.com/3030869/behind-the-brand/how-dominos-became-a-tech-company. 3. Markgraf, B (2015, January 14). â€Å"Importance of information systems in an organization.† Retrieved from http://www.smallbusiness.chron.com 4. Barnatt, C. â€Å"Embracing E-Business.† Journal of General Management, 2004; 89 – 97.

My Teaching Philosophy Essay -- Education Educational Essays

My Teaching Philosophy Education. What is Education? What does it mean to be an educator? Education is a field of study dealing with methods of teaching and learning. I feel that education goes far beyond the teaching aspect. It is my job as a teacher to make sure that every student has a better understanding and knowledge towards helping others. In doing this I plan on teaching them strict morals such as how to be respectful, considerate, and appreciative of themselves and others throughout their life. In this paper, I plan to describe to you my personal beliefs on being a successful teacher, my goals and aspirations, and my philosophies on how I plan to teach each of my students and help them feel more confident about learning and themselves. Approximately two years ago I really started thinking about my life and where I was going with it. During that summer, I decided that my life wasn't up to me, but it was about what God wants for me. I went to a church camp that summer and decided that it was my turn to be the educator. Joshua 1:9 says, "Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest." I know that God is with me throughout all of my decisions. I also know that if I am doing his will for my life, he will grant me the wisdom and knowledge that I need to become the best educator possible. I believe that showing my students my Christian beliefs and morals, will help reflect upon their lives. Knowing that I have been a lasting impact on someone will bring, to me, the largest amount of joy possible. Teaching good morals and ethics will be important in my classroom. Some parents believe that... ...I plan on seeking a job in West Virginia, and gradually working on my master's. Having an impact on all the students I have is my goal. It may be outrageous, but I have the desire to achieve that goal. I want every student that I have to jump out of bed every morning and rush to school ready and willing to learn. Being an educator is not about myself, it is about each and every one of the students I will come across in my lifetime as a teacher. I am not entering this profession for the money or the holidays off, but for each of those young children that want to learn. Will I have a lasting impact on each of the students? Will they remember me when they are twenty years old sitting behind the computer typing their philosophy paper? Will I influence their life? That is my goal. As I said earlier, being an educator is not about me, it is about the children.

Analysis of Bao-yu’s dream in Cao Xueqin’s ‘Story of the Stone’ Essay

The Story of the Stone by Cao Xueqin is an animated, lively account of life in a large Chinese household in the mid-18th century Qing dynasty. It remains a fascinating novel for modern readers with its vivid and detailed descriptions of the minutiae of daily life – from clothing, food and interior design to education, marriage and death. For all its realism however, The Story of the Stone is not set entirely in reality. The very premise of the whole tale, that of a single rock left out of the goddess Nu-wa’s repairing of the sky, is one based on a magico-religious dream world. The rock is found by a Buddhist and a Taoist who take it down to the mortal world where it lives out a human life, that of Jia Bao-yu, before attaining Nirvana. Once a rock again, a Taoist copies the inscription on its surface †from beginning to end and took it back with him to look for a publisher†. Cao Xueqin’s emphasis on dreams can be seen in the alternative titles for his m asterpiece. A Dream of Red Mansions is the title by which the book is perhaps most commonly known. Twelve Young Ladies of Jinling is also a title suggested in chapter one. Both of these titles refer to the same dream. As David Hawkes explains, ‘hong lou’, red mansion, has the more specialised meaning of the residences of the daughters of rich men and thus, the young ladies themselves. The dream alluded to in these appellations occurs in the fifth chapter of volume one, The Golden Days. Cousin Zhen’s wife, You-shi, has invited the women of the Rong-guo house, accompanied by Bao-yu, round for a flower viewing party. Needless to say, Bao-yu soon tires and asks to take a nap. Rather than going back to the Rong mansion, the wife of his nephew, Jia Rong, leads him to her chamber to sleep. Bao-yu immediately drops off into a vivid dream world. He meets the fairy of Disenchantment who shows him to the Land of Illusion and into the Department of the Ill-Fated Fair. Within this department is housed the ‘Jinling, Twelve Beauties of, Main Register’, a record of the twelve most notable females in Bau-yu’s own province of Jinling. The fairy of Disenchantment allows Bao-yu to read the fates of the twelve girls as recorded in the form of four-line verses. Bao-yu can make little sense of what he reads. Later, the quatrains are expanded into a series of twelve songs entitled A Dream of Golden Days. While the words are sung by a troupe of entertainers, Bao- yu reads along with the manuscript. He still does not understand. Indeed, both the verses in the register and in the song-cycle contain allusions and metaphors not immediately obvious and not easily deciphered. Yet at a most basic level, they provide an outline of the fate of twelve principle female characters in The Story of the Stone. Their fate unfolds throughout the course of the five volume novel. The Golden Days therefore, is only the beginning. But, by the end of the first volume, to what extent have the women already prepared the way for their future course? The first verse in the Main Register is a joint record of Lin Dai-yu and Xue Bao-chai. These two young girls share the affection of Bao-yu and Grandmother Jia. In their own individual ways, they are both paragons. It seems odd therefore that they share only one verse between them. Hawkes puts forward the argument that Dai-yu and Bao-chai †represent two complementary aspects of a single ideal woman†. Evidence for this interpretation lies in the first two lines of their quatrain: One was a pattern of female virtue, One a wit who made other wits seem slow. The combination of wit, or intelligence, and virtue were ideal traits in a Qing woman of the upper class. Arguably it was Dai-yu who held the upper hand in wit while Bao-chai, with her †generous and accommodating disposition†, was the more virtuous. Although in the song-cycle there are two songs for Dai-yu and Bao-chai, it is not the case that one is dedicated to Dai-yu and one to Bao-chai. Albeit the second so ng is solely about Dai-yu, but there are references to both characters in the first song. The character ‘lin’ in Lin Dai-yu is made up of two tree radicals and has the meaning ‘forest’. ‘Xue’ in Xue Bao-chai sounds the same as the Chinese word for ‘snow’ while ‘bao chai’ can be translated as ‘precious’ or ‘gold hairpin’. Thus, the references come in the form of gold, flowers, snow and trees. Bao-yu is alluded to using jade or stone as he was born with a jade stone in his mouth. The first song, The Mistaken Marriage, refers to †the marriage rites of gold and jade†. This foreshadows the marriage of Bao-chai (gold) and Bao-yu (jade). The speaker however, still remembers the relationship between ‘stone and flower’. There is indeed, a special bond between Bao-yu and Dai-yu. Although Bao-yu, †a child†¦whom nature had endowed with the eccentric obtuseness of a simpleton†, fails to recognise it, Dai-yu is an intensely jealous character and resents any time he spends with Bao-chai and not her. Bao-yu struggles to understand the cause of Dai-yu’s mainly irrational sulks, yet always attempts to comfort her: Take kinship first: you are my cousin on Father’s side; cousin Bao is only a mother-cousin. That makes you much the closer kin. And as for length of acquaintance: it was you who came here first. You and I have practicaly grown up together†¦Why should I ever be any less close to you because of her? There is a profound love between Bao-yu and Dai-yu that seems to grow with the progression of the first volume. They share an understanding †so intense that it was almost as if they had grown into a single person.† The speaker suggests however, that later on Dai-yu (†that fairy wood†) dies. Thus, even a wife †so courteous and so kind† as Bao-chai is no substitute for the wife that Dai-yu could have been. Their marriage, even though †others all commend it†, is a mistake. This is succeeded by Hope Betrayed which deals specifically with the close relationship between Dai-yu (†a flower from paradise†) and Bao-yu (†a pure jade without spot or stain†). They are clearly meant for each other but the poem augurs future disaster. The pain heartache that stems from such an ardent love will all be in vain. In one sense these two poems pose an insurrmountable contradiction. Fate, the belief in which provides the premise for this entire dream scene, will have them be together but they are not. They are meant to be but cannot and this inability is portrayed as some kind of mistake, a going against the natural order. Is there then, even such a thing as fate? This question aside, it can be seen that, in the case of Dai-yu and Bao-chai, their journey has barely begun by the end of The Golden Days. Their relationship with Bao-yu is entirely platonic (physically at least) and, although it is perhaps assumed that one of them, most likely Dai-yu, will be be Bao-yu’s future bride, this is only hinted at in jest among the maids and is a source of great embarassement to Dai-yu. The second quatrain and the third poem can be interpretted as Yuan-chun’s fate. Yuan-chun, daughter of Lady Wang and Jia Zheng, is Bao-yu’s elder sister. The first two lines describe her, age twenty, leaving her family to live in the emperor’s palace as a royal concubine. As can be seen by the subsequent effort put into a lavish garden compund in honour fo her visit, this was a posi tion held in great esteem. Although out of modesty, Yuan-chun later changes the name, the setting for her reunion with her family within Prospect Garden initially bears the inscription ‘Precinct of the Celsetial Visitant’. Hence perhaps, the use of the phrase †pomegranate-time†. Hawkes stresses the †redness’ of the original Chinese text, the colour red being a symbol of good-fortune and prosperity. Although much of this sense has inevitably been lost in translation, the red skin of the pomegranate could perhaps be taken as emphasising the great advantages such a position could bestow on both concubine and family. The second half of the quatrain however, does not bode so well for the future. Although Yuan-chun is superior if not in beauty and intelligence then in success to her half-sister Tan-chun and her cousins, Ying-chun and Xi-chun (the †three springs†), her charmed life will come to an end †when hare meets tiger†. Hare and tiger refer to Chinese years. Thus, this prophecy specifies that the date of Yuan-chun’s death will fall at the end of a tiger year and at the beginning of a rabbit year. The third song, Mutability, again prophesises Yuan-chun’s departure from the Rong-guo household to the emperor’s palace. It goes on to describe her appearing before her parents in a dream to pay her †final duty†, forewarning again of her death. By the end of The Golden Days Yuan-chun has indeed left home to become a royal concubine. Although the location of the Jia clan in The Story of the Stone is questionable, it is clear that Yuan-chun and he r family feel cut off from each other in spirit if not by physical distance. Their reunion in chapter eighteen is an emotional one and although the emperor allows visits in the palace once a month, special permission must be granted for a once-yearly return to the family home. It is for this reason, †so far the road back home did seem†, that Yuan-chun will be forced to pay her final filial duties in a dream. (Hawkes points out that this dream sequence never in fact took place. He suggests that Xueqin used the material for this episode in chapter thirteen instead, when Qin-shi appears before Xi-feng in a dream.) Tan-chun, half-sister to Yuan-chun, one of the †three springs† referred to above and daughter of Jia Zheng and a concubine, is the subject of the fourth quatraine in the Main Register. She is †by far the most gifted of the three springs† as well as possessing a kind, generous nature. The first line, †Blessed with a shrewd mind and a noble heart†, is countered however, by the second, †Yet born in time of twilight and decay†. Although The golden Days is essentially a story set in the happy, carefree years of childhood, the bigger picture reveals a time of political and social upheaval, a sense of which permeates many aspects of the novel. Tan-chun’s prophesised marriage in the final two lines will thus perhaps be related to economic considerations. The marriage will clearly not be a happy one. The very title of the fourth song, From Dear Ones Parted, suggests the insuperable distance between Tan-chun and her home and her intense homsickness. The song has Tan-chun referring to †our rising, falling†, meaning the rise and fall of the Jia family. As a result of this, †each in another land must be, each for himself must fend as best he may†, again suggesting that the marriage will be one of economic convenience. Apa rt from allusions to her wit and good character, we learn little about Tan-chun in the first volume of The Story of the Stone. There are however, hints to be found as to her fate. In chapter 22, she attends Grandmother Jia’s riddle party. Asked to compose a riddle, the answer to Tan-chun’s is ‘a kite’. This image of a kite as associated with Tan-chun symbolizes her departure †a thousand miles† away, her flight from the nest. Her riddle also foreshadows her unhappiness once in the marriage: My strength all goes when once the bond is parted, And on the wind I drift off broken hearted. This description of drifting off in the wind ties in with the suggestion in the song that she will be taken to her new husband by boat †through rain and wind†. Like Tan-chun, relatively little reference is made to Shi Xiang-yun, the subject of the fourth quatrain and fifth song. She is the daughter of Grandmother Jia’s brother’s son. Orphaned as a young girl, she first lived with Grandmother Jia before moving in with her uncle, Shi Ding, and his wife. It seems from both the register and the song, that Xiang-yun is destined to find the man of her dreams, †a perfect, gentle husband†. But happiness will be fleeting: Soon you must mourn your bright sunâ€⠄¢s early setting. The Xiang flows and the Chu clouds sail away. The Xiang was a river flowing through the ancient kingdom of Chu. This was believed to be home to a goddess of lovers. But soon †the clouds of Gao-tang faded, the waters of the Xiang ran dry.† This suggests another calamity, perhaps the sudden death of her husband. There is no intimation of Xiang-yun’s fate in The Golden Days. The main scene involving her is one of comic relief as Dai-yu teases her about her lisp and Xiang-yun responds good-humouredly. The impression created is of a happy-go-lucky, lively young girl, quite a contrast from the rather intense and moody Dai-yu. This is best illustrated in Xueqin’s description of them asleep: Dai-yu was tightly cocooned in a quilt of apricot-coloured damask, the picture of tranquil repose. Xiang-yun, by contrast, lay with her hank of jet black hair tumbled untidily beside the pillow, a white arm with its two gold bracelets thown carelessly outside the bedding and two white shoulders exposed above the peach-pink coverlet, which barely reached her armpits. ‘A tomboy, even in her sleep!’ Bao-yu muttered†¦ The sixth woman included in the register is the only one of the twelve who is not a member of the Jia family. Adamantina nevertheless lives among them in Prospect Garden after Yuan-chun issues an edict stating that the garden is not to be closed up. She is a nun and this is reflected in the descriptions of her †otherworldliness† and her †grace and wit to match the gods† that set her †with the rest at odds. Nauseous to [her] the world’s rank diet.â⠂¬  Her final destination however, is clearly one of disrepute. In both the quatrain and the song, she ends up in the mud, impure and shameful. The fact that down here, †only wealthy rakes might bless their luck† suggests that Adamantina will end her days as perhaps a prostitute. By the end of The Golden Days however, she is still a nun who †looks down on common flesh and blood† The seventh of the Twelve Beauties of Jinling is Ying-chun, the eldest of the three springs. She is Jia She’s daughter by a concubine. With the arrival of Dai-yu and Bao-chai, the three springs are relugated to a secondary position in Grandmother Jia’s affections. Ying-chun is thus a rather underdeveloped character in The Golden Days. The sixth entry in the register and the seventh poem both suggest that she will be married off to a violent, unfaithful and cruel bully. There is no hint of this fate in the first volume of the novel. The Golden Days gives away equally little about the subject of the next quatrain and song, Xi-chun. Sister of Cousin Zhen and the youngest of the three springs, seems destined to seek release †from youth’s extravagance† and †to win chaste quietness and heavenly peace† by becoming a Buddhist nun. Wang Xi-feng on the other hand, wife of Jia Lian and cousin to Bao-yu, plays a far more prominent role in The Golden Days. She is a very strong character, a feminist role-model. She has all the qualities of the ideal wife with her managerial prowess and defere nce to her elders, and yet she always manages to be on top. This combination of cunning and virtue can best be seen in the chapters dealing with Qin-shi’s funeral. Having been relegated posthumously to the status of a Noble Dame, the funeral is a grand affair. The sheer cost and man-power involved is staggering and Xi-feng is put in charge of it all. Nevertheless, she manages it with †the decisiveness of a little general†. On the night of the wake, her maturity and superior social skills are further demonstrated when it is left entirely to her to do the honours. Xi-feng’s vivacious charm and social assurance stood out in striking contrast†¦She was in her element, and if she took any notice of her humbler sisters it was only to throw out an occassional order or to bend them in some other way to her imperious will. This can be juxtaposed with the episode in the next chapter when, after the funeral, Xi-feng, Bao-yu and Qin-zhong spend the night in the Water-moon Priory. The prioress Euergesia, catching Xi-feng alone, tells her the story of a benefactor of the priory called Zhang. He is desperate to call off his daughter’s engagement to the son of a captain in the Chang-an garrison. The captain however, is being thoroughly unreasonable and refusing to take back the betrothal-gifts. Euergesia beseeches Xi-feng to use her unfluence to get Jia Zheng to write a letter to General Yun asking h im to †have a word with† the captain because †It is hardly likely that he would refuse to obey his commading officer.† Xi-feng coyly turns her down until Euergesia questions Xi-feng’s ability. Xi-feng ‘relents’ and agrees to take part for the the not so small sum of three thousand taels of silver. Xi-feng is clearly fiscally-minded and savvy, never one to let an opportunity for profit slip by. The hush-hush manner in which this matter of the captain is broached also suggests that it is rather shady business. Yet, any qualms Xi-feng feigns to have about getting involved seem to be easily forgotten. Xi-feng is indeed, as the ninth song states, †too shrewd by half†. She is too focused on self-advancement but with the fall of the Jia family later in The Story of the Stone, Xi-feng’s plotting and manouevering will all come to nothing: Like a great building’s tottering crash, Like flickering lampwick burned to ash†¦ Although the exact nature of Xi-feng’s future is not specified, it is clear that it is not a bright one. She will, as the title of the ninth song says, be †caught by her own cunning†. Although we see none of her decline in The Golden Days, there are hints of a fall to come. When Qin-shi appears to her in a dream, she warn s Xi-feng of the future fall of the Jai family as a whole. She quotes a proverb: †The higher the climb, the harder the fall.† Could this be referring equally to Xi-feng as to the family? Is there a reason why Qin-shi appears before Xi-feng specifically? The tenth Beautiy of Jinling, interestingly enough, does not even appear in the first volume. Qiao-jie, daughter of Xi-feng, nevertheless has some sort of trouble ahead of her. It seems that no one will be spared pain and grief as the Jia family declines. The penultimate Beauty included on the Main Register is Li Wan, mother of Jia Lan. Li Wan was married to Jia Zhu, brother of Bao-yu. Jia Zhu died before the start of the novel as implied by the third line in the eleventh song, †Ã¢â‚¬ ¦the pleasures of the bridal bed† soon fled. The quatrain suggests that their son, Jia Lan, †her Orchid†, will be successful. The song goes further to describe the †awesome sight† of †the head with cap and bands of office on, and gleaming bright upon his breast the gold insignia†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Jia Lan will later pass the civil service exam and become a high official. It is perhaps slightly far-fetched but one of the few mentions of Jia Lan comes in chapter nine, set in the Jia clan school house. As for Li Wan, there is no hint that †the black night of death’s dark frontier lay close at hand.† It would seem that she tragically dies after her son’s appointment. Finally, there is Qin-shi, the twelfth Beauty of Jinling. She is the young wife of Jia Rong but dies of a mysterious unidentified disease half way through The Gol den Days. Of all the women, Qin-shi is the only one whose whole fate is played out in the course of the first volume. It does not, however, run according to plan. Both the quatrain and the song, The Good Things Have an End, explicitly express that she will hang herself. The most likely reason for her suicide is the family’s discovery of her incestuous affair with her father-in-law, cousin Zhen: Say not our troubles all from Rong’s side came; For their beginning Ning must take the blame. Indeed, there are indications of such intrigue. A drunken servant lets slip, in a fit of rage, †Father-in-law pokes in the ashes†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The reader is clearly meant to take note of this comment, as Bao-yu subsequently questions Xi-feng as to it’s meaning. Xi-feng is quick in quashing any ideas Bao-yu may have on the subject and †terrified by her vehemence, Bao-yu implored her forgiveness.† There is obviously something to hide. Cousin Zhen’s hysterical reaction after her death is also a sign that their relationship was not as it seemed. He is inconsolable, proclaiming: †Now that she has been taken from us it’s plain to see that this senior branch of the family is doomed to extinction!† The poem accordingly, states that her death, †the ruin of a mighty house protended.† Qin-shi’s suicide does not however, take place and she instead dies of natural causes. A reason for this discrepancy is put foward by Hawkes. While Xueqin did originally have Qin-shi hanging herself †from painted beams†, a notation by one of the commentators on the original manuscript states that her †ordered† Xueqin to remove the scene. Xueqin reluctantly did so but, unenthusiastic about the change, failed to make the necessary alterations to the rest of the text. Having examined the fates of the Twelve Beauties of Jinling as expressed in the Main Register of the Department of the Ill Fated Fair and in the fairy of Disenchantment’s song cycle, it becomes immediately obvious that tradgedy lies ahead. With the decline of the Jia family will come a decline in the fortunes of each of the women. It is also clear that by the end of the first volume of The Story of the Stone the story has, in fact, barely begun. The Jia household is still powerful and rich, the child heros are still young and and insouciant, these are still the golden days.