Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince, he describes the characteristics a Prince should have.   One of the characteristics a prince should live by is keeping his word, Machiavelli says “[h]ow praiseworthy it is for a prince to keep his word and live by honesty…”(C, 237).    Machiavelli acknowledges that a prince who honors his word is generally praised by others. A prince should present the appearance of being a compassionate, trustworthy, kind, honest, and moral ruler.  Prince gains esteem and glory through his courage. He must undertake great enterprises that allow him to display his abilities. The prince must have the wisdom to choose the least risky venture and act on it courageously.  New York Times article “Obama Defends Tax Deal, but His Party Stays Hostile,” Obama defending his tax cut deal with the Republican to his own party.  Obama made this decision because “it was ’a good deal for the American people’” (Herszenhorn).  Many Democrats in the Senate and House are outraged by the idea of continuing former president George W. Bush’s tax policies for two more years.  President Obama made a decision to keep his word from keeping the American people from out of harm.  Even though many Democrats are opposing this idea, like Machiavelli says “it is not necessary, the, for a prince to have all of the qualities mentioned above, but certainly necessary that he appear to have them”(C, 237).    President Obama made a statement about not hurting the American people and he has to uphold this if he wants to be respected. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/us/politics/08cong.html?ref=todayspaper

Roman Catholic Church Sex Abuse Cases/Confucius

“For more than two decades, the Catholic Church has grappled with a series of clergy sexual abuse scandals and lawsuits. The cases have cost an estimated $2 billion in settlements and have shaken the faith of many of the church’s members.”

There were number of cases: Gilbert Gauthe in Louisiana was sentenced to 20 years in prison for molesting at least 35 children, Father John J. Geoghan was accused of abusing more than 130 boys over three decades, the priest, Brendan Smith, who was exposed 15 years later as the most notorious child-abuser in the history of the Irish church. There were number of cases in different countries of the EU.

As the reaction on that “the Vatican issued revisions to its internal laws on July 15 making it easier to discipline sex-abuser priests.” The overall document codified existing procedures that allow the Vatican to try priests accused of child sexual abuse using faster juridical procedures rather than full ecclesiastical trials.

Church is nor necessarily governed by good people. Confucius said in the Analects, “2-1. The Master said, ‘He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it.’”  Probably he thought too well about people as we see from the article even in the holy institution there are awful problems and Confucius ideology can not be applied to the contemporary world.

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/r/roman_catholic_church_sex_abuse_cases/index.html?scp=1&sq=catholic%20children%20abuse&st=cse

Confucius/Afghan Wives

“Even the poorest families in Afghanistan have matches and cooking fuel. The combination usually sustains life. But it also can be the makings of a horrifying escape: from poverty, from forced marriages, from the abuse and despondency that can be the fate of Afghan women.”

“There is little chance for education, little choice about whom a woman marries, no choice at all about her role in her own house. Her primary job is to serve her husband’s family. Outside that world, she is an outcast.”

According to the Human Development Index, Afghanistan is the second least developed country in the world. Every half hour, an average of one woman dies from pregnancy-related complications, another dies of tuberculosis and 14 children die, largely from preventable causes.

Historically women were not treated fairly out there, also while in power in Afghanistan, the Taliban became notorious internationally for their treatment of women.

“Women were forced to wear the burqa in public, because, according to a Taliban spokesman, “the face of a woman is a source of corruption” for men not related to them. They were not allowed to work, they were not allowed to be educated after the age of eight, and until then were permitted only to study the Qur’an. Women seeking an education were forced to attend underground schools such as the Golden Needle Sewing School, where they and their teachers risked execution if caught. They were not allowed to be treated by male doctors unless accompanied by a male chaperon, which led to illnesses remaining untreated. They faced public  flogging execution for violations of the Taliban’s laws. The Taliban allowed and in some cases encouraged marriage for girls under the age of 16. Amnesty International reported that 80 percent of Afghan marriages were considered to be by force.”

Confucius said , “Analects 7:23: The Master said, Women and little people are hard to handle. If you let them get close, they presume, and if you keep them at a distance, they resent it.” That obviously shows his attitude toward women, although some scholars might doubt it. Pretty much women were created to serve men, and a man could divorce a wife on a ground of being to talkative. Although Confucius’s attitude toward women was not that impressive still it wasn’t that oppressive as he propagated very humanistic ideals.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/world/asia/08burn.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&sq=For

“Even the poorest families in Afghanistan have matches and cooking fuel. The combination usually sustains life. But it also can be the makings of a horrifying escape: from poverty, from forced marriages, from the abuse and despondency that can be the fate of Afghan women”, a hard realization of the life of Afghan women, written by Alissa J. Rubin of the New York Times. Rubin writes about the extremely stressful life of women in Afghanistan who Rubin says live as a form of “outcast” and “Women and girls are still stoned to death”.

Rubin visits a Hospital for burnt victims which is full of women who attempted to commit suicide and other who were being punish by their own family, one of the surgeons mentions ‘“We have two women here right now who were burned by their mothers-in-law and husbands”’. The stress and anguish the women suffer leads them to such desperation from feeling alone and captive in their society, something that can be seen as acceptable not only in life present day Afghan Women but in the women of “The Pillow Book”. In the book by Ban Zhao it gives the framework of what is expect from women of her family, stating that the women should put their family overall. In addition the husband is the one in control of her, Zhao says “[W]ives must be controlled and that the husband’s roles of conduct manifesting his authority must be established” (B,28) an oppressive role of the husband is allowed and expected. The Pillow Book also mentions the rules for proper behavior expect by a woman, which are, speech should be kept to minimum and her appearance is everything, two rules that belittle the women to less than a human.

The women of the article and the women of “The Pillow Book” are over 1000 years apart but there situations are very much alike, women who are expect to be less and treated even worse. This inequality leaves women feeling captive and alone also, has led women to commit suicide because of how there society treats them.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/world/asia/08burn.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&sq=For

 Lessons for Women by Ban Zhao outlines the four virtues a woman must abide by, proper virtue, proper speech, proper countenance, and proper conduct. The book itself describes the status and position of women in society.  Lessons for Women is a book on how women of the period should behave.  Ban’s book served to codify easily learned rules of behavior, which centered on her advice to women to subjugate themselves to the men in the family.

With her husband at the top of the pyramid of authority or her father if she was unmarried, a woman was supposed to accord the appropriate amount of respect to her brothers, brothers-in-law, father, father-in-law and other male relatives. Ban also declared that widows should never remarry, that women must “…put others first, [and] herself last” (B, 27) and that in general, “the [w]ay of respect and acquiescence is woman’s most important principle of conduct” (B,29).   It is important to recognize that in Ban’s time this is the paramount importance to establish and support the Confucian way of life.  The Confucian classics say little about women, which shows how little they mattered in the scheme of Confucian values.  This was only part of the traditional Chinese view of women.  Lessons for Women, which purports to be an instructional manual on feminine behavior and virtue for her daughters.

In the first chapter in Lessons for women, it states “[s]hould she do something good, let her not mention it; should she do something bad, let her not deny it” (B, 29).   This means that they want women to be as humble as they can be, she has to be honest and respectful at all times.  For all the hard work she do by cooking, cleaning, and taking care of her family, she shouldn’t mention it.  She is always the last to go to bed and the first to rise in the morning. This is her duty and shouldn’t complain or look to say the good she has done.

Women must have these four qualities: womanly virtue, womanly words, womanly bearing, and womanly work.  A woman must “…choose her words with care to avoid vulgar languages, to speak with appropriate times, and not to weary others with much conversation…” (B, 29).  It is looked down for women to gossip and to part take in “silly laughter” (B, 29).  To have these qualities is a great virtue for a woman. 

In comparison to this ancient Chinese way of life for women, this is very similar to the way women are treated and are expected to act in Afghanistan.  In the New York Times article “For Afghan Wives, a Desperate, Fiery Way Out,” it shows how women are hurting themselves because they are unhappy and depressed.  It is sad to see that they still treated women inferior to men.  This takes a toll on someone who are abuse by the men in there lives, and are forced into marriages.  Ms. Zada, the mother of six children, ended up with 60 percent of her body burn.  It was said that Ms. Zada “suffered from depression.” For Afghan women, there is a little chance of getting an education, has no choice about her role in her home, and a little choice of whom to marry.   In that society, “[h]er primary job is to serve her husband’s family.”  This is the same thing that women in Asian culture propriety were.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/world/asia/08burn.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=afghan%20women&st=cse

The New York Times article, “Sprawling Cinema, Tamed to a Stage,” by Charles Isherwood is a theater review of the play “Throne of Blood” which took place at Brooklyn Academy of Music on November 10, 2010.  “Throne of Blood” is a stage adaptation of Akira Kurosawa movie “Throne of Blood,” which is a version of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.” I agree with Charles Isherwood, I found this play boring and difficult to keep up with the dialogue. I can’t give my full opinion about whether the play was similar to the description of the movie because I didn’t it.   As Isherwood said “[i]t essentially boils down to a lot of men charging back and forth across a mostly dark and bare stage in fancy samurai getups.  That’s what I felt well watching the play. As the play continues, I was just lost from time to time trying to figure out what was going on. The critic is right, the play set up on a plain stage with a screen with a stone wall stretching across the back of the stage.  It didn’t take my imagination there, it didn’t move me they way I expected.  But I agree the costumes were very nice from what I could see. As Mr. Isherwood states “Those getups, as I said, are beautifully designed by Stefani Mar and offer an eyeful of visual poetry to distract from the generally prosaic proceedings.” 

I mostly agree with the critic about the play, I couldn’t create the mood and atmosphere of what I envision the play “Macbeth” to be.

http://theater.nytimes.com/2010/11/12/theater/reviews/12throne.html?scp=1&sq=spawling%20cinema&st=cse

Education and Determination

According to many, Confucius’ wisdom declared him as “the fundamental shaper and transmitter of the cultural heritage.” (B1090) One of his main concentrations in his book, The Analects, is on education. His very first statement says “To learn something and then put it into practice at the right time: is this not a joy?…” (B1091) There are many statements in The Analects that demonstrate how crucial education and determination are to Confucius.

Similarly, the article “Losing Leg, But Keeping His Drive To Succeed” a brave character named Jovins Dorestan resembles Confucius’ mentality on education and determination. In January 2010, Haiti was struck by a horrific earthquake. This earthquake is the cause of Dorestan’s amputated leg but is the result of him coming to New York, the city of opportunity. Dorestan was very fortunate not only to receive a prosthetic leg, but also to learn English. Once the operation was completed Dorestan began taking English classes. He knew almost no English and after only ten months now speaks and writes in English fluently. “I have determination… Education is the best way to succeed.” (NY Times)

Jovins Dorestan’s determination is similar to a statement of Confucius’, “At fifteen, I set my mind upon learning. At thirty, I took my stand. At forty, I had no doubts. At fifty, I knew the will of Heaven. At sixty, my ear was attuned. At seventy, I follow all the desires of my heart without breaking any rule.” (B1092 2.4) Having the motivation and desire to learn is extremely crucial and can benefit anyone.

                                                        Works Cited

Mascia, Jennifer. “Losing Leg, But Keeping His Drive To Succeed”. New York Times.  23 September 2010, New York ed.: The New York Times International A28 Print.

 The play, “Throne of Blood” was very confusing to me, I mainly understood the parts that seemed to have a comparison to Shakespeare’s “Macbeth“. However, the theater review in the New York Times I do not completely agree with. I agree that the costumes were very nice and that the scenery was not extravagant. What I do not agree with is that the critic is comparing the play to the movie, and although I did not see the movie, I do not believe that is a fair comparison. Also the critic did not like the spirit in the play and did not think it was creepy. I really enjoyed that part and I enjoyed the costume and the voice they gave the spirit. The article also says, “I spent a fair amount of time asking myself how Mr. Chong would manage to recreate the movie’s celebrated last scene, in which Washizu staggers around like a death-defying human pincushion after his own soldiers have sprayed him with arrows. The answer was uninspired, an appropriate anticlimax for an ill-conceived theatrical enterprise.” I believe that is a little harsh, even though the story line was confusing for me and I had a hard time following what was going on, overall I thought that the actors and the way the story was portrayed was not that bad. The scene the critic is talking about is actually one scene I understood and thought was made very clear. He is making too many comparisons to a movie, where effects and camera angles make telling a story much easier. Overall I thought the play was interesting and put together nicely.

There are times in life when one feels as if there is no way out of a situation.  They feel helpless, and have lost hope in their life entirely.  Situations like these are what lead to suicide as a way of escape from their problems.  In Afghanistan women are very oppressed and treated in a very cruel way by their government and their family. In order to escape this oppression the women set themselves on fire using lighter fluid and a match.  For women in Afghanistan they have no release from their family.  They cannot runaway in order to escape the cruelty so they must endure this hardship.  The NY Times article states, “Returned runaways are often shot or stabbed in honor killings because the families fear they have spent time unchaperoned with a man.”

The situation is similar the environment during the time of The Pillowbook written by Sei Shonagon.  During this time women were not given the freedom to express themselves and were oppressed just as present day Afghanistan.  By writing The Pillowbook, Shonagon found her outlet to express herself in a oppressive society.  Although less harmful than burning yourself, society still condemned the act which is why her diary was not meant to be public nor did she wish for it to be. She says, “when I have a good deal of time to myself and thought no one would notice what I was doing.” (p 258)

Women during both of these times are oppressed and restricted from expression.  However, it is impossible to keep feeling bottled up inside forever and so when the feelings must come out, they can either be done in a very harmful way such as suicide or in a constructive way such as writing a diary.

Fiery way out

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/world/asia/08burn.html