TWA Flight Center, Main Lobby Research Assignment - 1375 Words

TWA Flight Center, Main Lobby Research Assignment (Essay Sample) Content: TWA FLIGHT CENTER: MAIN LOBBYStudents NameUnits nameDateThe TWA flight center is an architectural structure that was designed by Eero Saarinen for the JKF international airport that is located in Jamaica. It is a construction that is massive covering an area of eighteen acres. The building was completed and opened for the airport services in 1962 as a property of the Jamaican airport authority. The development of the structure took several years with the primary focus being in the interior finishing. The author of the design had one goals of making the most outstanding airport lobby that would create a distinction in his architectural career. The plan was not easy to implement and hence the fact that it was developed, implemented and actualized for duration of time. It is a structure that reflected the professionalism in the life of Eero Saarinen as an architect.The TWA flight center is one of the most complex architectural designs that were designed many years ago. The development of the structure was designed in a way that its complexity is still a major aspect of its dilemma to many architects. The main lobby is very relevant to the current structures as it surpasses the works of many other individuals in the society. It is an aspect that makes the building to gain its pride and aesthetic role despite its role as an airplane lobby in the first place. The designer of the structure was able to maintain the highest level of professionalism in the process of its development. In one way or the other one is able to claim that the TWA flight center make the best of its time in the architectural designs. The designing of the TWA flight center was in a way that it is possible to know the way its construction was aimed to be developed at the end of the day. The architectural designs are always in a way that makes it possible to make several deductions from the finished structure at the end of the day. The architect had one inspiration that made it p ossible to create the outstanding internal lobby that has remained of great importance not only to the Jamaican airport but also to the architectural industry. The design is in a way that it is a description of the most complex structure that defines the airport from the outside. It is a plan that came out of a strategy that defines the JKF international airport in the Jamaican country. The most important aspect is that makes the plan to be outstanding is the fact that the lobby has a unique style of design from the outside to the interior. Most of the designs that architects develop are from the heart of competition and hence the success that may be evident at the end of the processes. It is necessary good to design a construction plan that is unique and hard to copy in the development of a different structure but with the same platform. Realization of the functions of a structure is what defines its design to the greatest degree in a way that it will only have a specific shape and segmentations.[JESSICA DAILEY, "JFK's Iconic Terminal To Become The TWA Flight Center Hotel" (2015).] The Internal Design of the LobbyThe most important part of the Eero Saarinen designed structure is the interior as it is the one that defines the systems of the airport in the most cases. The exterior of the lobby is simply the enclosure that is only made to be for the aesthetic functions. The design of the TWA flight center is specifically for the various roles that serve as part of the entire building. The entire TWA flight center is segmented in a way that it is able to create the right role that could suit the functions that make up the construction design. There are different compartments that make the lobby to be more distinguishable from one point to the other. It is possible that the only strategy that comes in is that TWA flight center had to have the various platforms that would help in the realization of the construction design and its processes. As at the time when t he designer was developing the structure it was evident that each segment of the lobby had to serve a specific role that would only complement its shape and dimension specification.[JESSICA DAILEY, "JFK's Iconic Terminal To Become The TWA Flight Center Hotel" (2015).] How the Interior of the Lobby FunctionsThe Current Function of the Interior Main LobbyThe interior has various sections that were developed to serve specific functions in reference to the way the initial structure was developed from the entrance arch to the innermost portion of the building. The current state of the main lobby is different from how it used to be in the past. The present day TWA flight center main lobby is acting as a luxurious restaurant. It is now the most important hotel that serves the airport and not playing the role it was playing in the past. It was a development of a plan that made a great transformation of the old TWA flight center to a new hotel that serves all kinds of foods to the traveler s and even all sorts of customers. It is a wonderful hotel that has been in place now interchanging the designers goal by placing a new function of the main lobby. The structure has been developed in a different way as far as its role is concerned. It is a strategy that was aimed at making the landmark to regain its initial glory by opening it to the public. The hotel has several rooms and check decks an element that makes it to be more realistic to the tourism sector. The current state of the lobby seems to be more appealing than the previous roles. It is possible that greater changes might come in the near future.[OrnelaPasmaqi, "The Characteristics Of Urban And Architectural Development In Elbasan In The Beginning Of The 20Th Century",Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences(2014).] The Previous Function of the Interior Main LobbyThe lobby was previously designed to s...

The Movement Of Labor Off Shore From The United States Essay

The effects of globalization can easily be defined and shown by the death of small town culture in and around the southern states. The term, globalization, is essentially a term used to make an ugly truth seem appealing and thought-provoking. When in actuality, it can be more easily defined and understood as cheap labor not burdened by employee safety and fare wages. The movement of labor off-shore from the United States was done for one reason , labor cost. This move was especially favorable for large corporations because mostly in Asia there is no OSHA, no EPA, and certainly no Union influence. My Great Grandfather, Frank B. Smith was born and raised in central North Carolina in the late 1800s. He enjoyed an upper middle class lifestyle and made his living as a furniture salesman, and then as a textiles salesman. During his carrier, throughout the 40’s, 50’s and into the early 60’s, he managed to put together a lifestyle that included building a home for his wife and son (my granddad Frank), and even had enough left over to take vacations to Holden’s Beach NC during the summer months. However, when the Unions came to North Carolina and started fighting for higher employee wages the company owners started looking east for lower labor cost to keep profit margins growing. It truly only took several years for corporations in the Piedmont area of NC to figure out that they would save money and increase profits by shipping raw cotton and textile machinery to China, payShow MoreRelatedThe Impact of Offshoring on the U.S. Economy1154 Words   |  5 Pages Off-shoring is the establishment of business operations outside national boundaries. The process of moving business outside these boundaries is to garner an advantage either through tax breaks, lower wages, lower transportation cost and/or relaxed regulations (Offshore definition, 2014). Many firms either branch out as a horizontal multinational or vertical multinational. Horizontal multinational’s produce the same good or services as abroad. This foreign direct investment (FDI) is doneRead MoreEssay about Lasting African Conributions to American Society890 Words   |  4 Pages This country, especially the southern United States, was built using African slave labor. Africa slaves were not allowed to be educated. All most every African slave could not read or write because it was against the law to educate slaves for over 200 years. The master/slave relationship caused assimilation to be very difficult. Values and convictions were formed during those years and are still evident to this day (Parrillo, 2009). Thomas Jefferson was a slave owner at his Monticello propertyRead MoreThe Great Depression Of The 1920s1346 Words   |  6 Pagesgoods such as washing machines and kitchenware’s, there was the option of buying stocks and shares on credit, which meant that purchasing shares on the stock market was available to almost everyone. Thousands of Americans rushed in to gain benefit from the share market with many using their life savings or borrowed money to take advantage of this boom. These dramatic increases in the sales of shares and stock led to over production; which in the long run, simply could not be sustained. The Wall StreetRead MoreThird World Sweatshops1397 Words   |  6 PagesThird World Sweatshops Large corporations such as Nike, Gap, and Reebok and many others from the United States have moved their factories to undeveloped nations; barely pay their employees enough to live on. Countries such as China, Indonesia, and Haiti have readily abundant cheap labor. There should be labor laws or an obligation of respecting workers to provide decent working conditions, fair wages, and safety standards. To begin with, improve their working conditions. Promulgated mental andRead MoreThe Life and Achievements of Charles Wright Mills Essay1675 Words   |  7 Pageshome. Rebelling against Christianity early into his adolescence, Mills later became known to be one of the greatest social scientists and a merciless critic of ideology. Mills later graduating from Dallas Technical High School in 1934, discovered a great passion for engineering and architecture. From 1934 to 1935, Mills attended Texas AM where he found himself extremely dissatisfied and decided to transfer to the University of Texas in 1935. Here, he evolved into an extraordinary student. ByRead More Charles Wright Mills Essay examples1549 Words   |  7 Pagesengineering when he graduated from Dallas Technical High School in 1934. From 1934 to 1935, Mills attended Texas AM. Here he found himself extremely dissatisfied. Mills decided to transfer to the University of Texas in 1935. This is where he evolved into an ex traordinary student. By 1939, Mills was graduating with a bachelors and masters degree in philosophy. He then attended the University of Wisconsin where he began studying Max Weber. In 1941, he received his doctorate from the University of WisconsinRead MoreA Common Understanding Of Weather Menace1182 Words   |  5 Pagescommon understanding of this weather menace must be established before delving into its dangers. Layman’s terms suggest that fog is a low hovering cloud which limits the visibility at ground level in a wide variety of intensity. From personal experience, fog may prevent you from locating your own home, or may simply cause the air to feel moist. Fog forms when the difference between air temperature and dew point is generally less than 4  °F. Fog begins to form when water vapor condenses into tiny liquidRead MoreThe History Of The Dominican Republic:. The Dominican Republic1281 Words   |  6 Pagesisland through forced labor. The Spanish Monarchs gran ted permission to the colonist of the Caribbean to import African slaves. This is where the Taino decimation African enslavement took place. Where the cultural diffusion and influence on the Dominican Republic began to happen. The Island of Hispaniola was well known for its sugar canes which were introduced from the Canary Islands. A tremendous high-rate demand began for sugar canes in the 1500’s, which required an increased labor force which meantRead MoreThe Reasons Why Cuban Government Permits Non Cuban Workers From The United States And Other Nations1619 Words   |  7 Pagespopulation of 11 million people, pint sized Cuba has made their mark in global politics. They’ve managed to showcase a genuine socialist revolution and have incessantly fought, defended and extended it in spite of ruthless embargos and sanctions from the United States and other nations. Introduction This is a brief examination into Cuba’s historical progression and their constant political struggles with the government, the people of Cuba, and other countries. This research will explore Cuba and theRead MoreThe Age of Exploration Brought Many Changes to the World Essay example1675 Words   |  7 Pages Many people would be surprised that the things they associate with certain countries are not native to those lands. Sugar was not originally grown in the Caribbean and cows are not indigenous to the United States. Before the Age of Exploration, a period lasting for centuries with long-extending effects, Europeans had not truly begun to explore Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Even with the fearless adventures of the Vikings, Polynesians, and Ming Chinese, no extreme, lasting difference was created

Differences Between Hylas And Philonous - 1191 Words

Abstract ideas pertaining to epistemology in philosophy are almost as old as the concept of philosophy itself. Dating back to thinkers such as Aristotle, carrying on throughout the medieval period and into modern philosophy, abstracts have always been grappled with. George Berkeley’s epistemology about abstract ideas has historically been one that has drawn the attention of many other scholars and philosophical thinkers. His thoughts on ideas, specifically his expansion of Locke’s general abstract ideas, are still argued to this very day. His critique of Locke’s view of abstract ideas and ideas in general, is successful in refuting his claims, and is validated in the Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous, and can be expanded upon in another one of Berkeley’s works, A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge. Berkeley’s work, Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous, can be described as a series of dialogues between Hylas and Philonous regarding philosophical issues such as God and materialistic substances as well as ideas. The overall goal of the work was â€Å"to demonstrate the reality and perfection of human knowledge† along with â€Å" the incorporeal nature of the soul, and the immediate providence of a deity, in opposition to sceptics† as well as â€Å"atheists†.(Berkeley, pg xi)Throughout the work, it can be deduced that Philonous represents Berkeley’s own point of view regarding the argument at hand, while Hylas represents various opinions that opposeShow MoreRelatedPhilosophy1687 Words   |  7 PagesAssignment Xenophanes, Socrates, Plato on the possibility of knowledge Skepticism – A skeptical attitude; doubt as to the truth of something. In ordinary skepticism this would mean someone who would doubt the existence of something. A difference between the two is normal skepticism is you try to get it clear in your head. Ordinary doubt - or local skepticism - can usually be tested - and even when it cant, there may well come a time when it can.  Many philosophers have had their own versionRead MoreGeorge Berkeley and the External World1859 Words   |  8 Pagesdifficult to renounce and ultimately logical in the sense of true knowledge. Four years following the publishing of, An Essay towards a New Theory of Vision, Berkeley revealed his most important philosophical work of his career, Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous. In it, Berkeley defends two metaphysical theses: idealism (the claim that everything that exists either is a mind or depends on a mind for its being) and immaterialism (the claim that matter does not exist). His famous motto, â€Å"esse estRead More Borges Use of Berkeleys Idealism Essay1850 Words   |  8 Pageswork, Berkeley’s fundamental goal is to logically disprove any thinking that presumes the non-existence of God (Muehlmann 231). In a nutshell, Berkeley argues that matter does not exist outside of human perception. In his Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous, he asserts the following: If it be allowed that no idea nor anything like an idea can exist in an unperceiving substance, then surely it follows, that no figure or mode of extension which we can either perceive or imagine, or have anyRead MoreBerkeleys and Humes Philosophy About God Essay1565 Words   |  7 Pagesscientific observation should be used in empirical philosophy because he thinks that we can discover a system that will be able to test a theory and determine whether it is correct or incorrect. Hume begins his enquiry by distinguishing the differences between impressions and ideas. Impressions are clear and vivid, and ideas are created from our memory or imagination. Ideas are not lively or vivid and they derive from our impressions. Our imagination is constructed from complex ideas that break down

Cliff-Climbers free essay sample

An opening in the branches gave way to a breath-taking view: strong rocks littered with trees rising out of the side of turquoise water and†¦my eyes widened in surprise, people! People scaling the cliffs! Directly in my view was a man, testing the rocks carefully before he stepped upwards. He never once looked down to see how far he was above the treetops. My family and I watched with fascination. The man was in his twenties, an age associated with the search for adrenaline rushes. I see contemplation and temptation in my father’s face, but I believe fear is keeping him grounded. After all, he is twice past the adrenaline zone. This was during our annual camping trip in 2008 at Bruce Peninsula. The cliff-climbers were a local attraction and we were curious, so we started on a trail. Surprisingly, as we mounted higher, we met more people. At one point, we saw two women sitting at the edge of a cliff, chatting as if they were sitting in a cafe instead of inches away from hundreds of meters of emptiness. We will write a custom essay sample on Cliff-Climbers or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page My legs tremored at the sight. How could they sit so calmly? After hours of hiking, we finally ended up at the Lion’s Head Lookout Point where we could see the surrounding cliffs. I sat down on a humongous boulder- because my legs would certainly shake if I stood, and admired the ocean with its many shades of blue that differentiated the depth of the water. What I admired more though, were the cliff-climbers. How they work up the courage to let themselves be suspended along a cliff, let alone climb up one, I can’t imagine. I become nauseous just by looking over the edge, especially as I’m afraid of heights. To have that self-confidence, the determination, and perhaps even some recklessness to participate in such an activity is both frightening and awe-inspiring to me. If the cliff-climbers could surpass personal fears and inhibitions to let themselves do this, then nothing in life would present an obstacle: how can resolving an issue at work be compared to putting yourself in a situation where one wrong move could cost you your life? I desire to have their drive. Though my personal thrill does not come from mounting up the side of a cliff, it does require me to push outside my comfort zone. After this camping trip, I have travelled alone outside my province to Quebec, and outside my country to France to learn a language and to submerge in a new culture. There is so much excitement in visiting a foreign place and discovering more of who I can be, what I can do when bereft of what is familiar. I understand a little more of how the cliff-climbers must have felt. Doing what makes me nervous can bring more pride than doing what I already know. My future, I know, will have more cliffs for me to climb, and I look forward to them.

Progressive Education Essay Example

Progressive Education Paper According to Gribble (1985) in progressive schools, there is this sense of social equality between adults and children which is one of the progressive ideals. Where the staffs are violent, pupils could also use the same method as a defence mechanism. Gribble further opined that just as machines are used by people so teachers should be used by children too and not children being directed by teachers. In line with progressive education, childrens learning should be purposeful, not tied to a particular curriculum usually entrusted on them with series of examinations and tests/assessments. The teachers moral responsibility is to help the children, guiding them to explore their talents and interests. It is however, important to avoid instilling irrational beliefs that children might not understand. The child must learn how to develop independency. Anything that has the tone of moral compulsion is against the principles of progressive education, which uniqueness rests firmly on the refusal to impose a particular set of values not only the ones contained in the curriculum (Gribble 1985). The philosophy of progressive schools has no room for any dictated creed. Children in progressive schools are allowed to make a choice and to express their opinions freely. The extent to which this is practiced depends on each school because children are helped to see learning as something they should enjoy. Progressive schools discourage competitiveness (Gribble 1985). Since children make their own choices and work at their own pace and not according to the dictate of anyone, it means that the individual pupil does not need to compete with anyone. This helps to relax the learning environment making it conducive for learning. We will write a custom essay sample on Progressive Education specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Progressive Education specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Progressive Education specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer A child neither measures his/her own achievement with any other childs nor does the OFSTED that would normally pressurise a state or public school present. There is usually no necessity for progressive school authorities to put pressure on the teachers who in turn pass the pressure on to the children through series of tests/assessments in order to be on top of the performance league table. There is usually no punishment in progressive schools and no inclination to any religious dogma or denomination. However, no matter how ideally progressive education is portrayed as panacea for traditional or conventional form of education as obtains in public, independent and state schools, it is obvious that some of them are not truly and completely progressive. There have been changes in the application of the original philosophy as propounded by pioneers of progressive educational methods some of whose contributions are mentioned and discussed next. Progressive thinkers There are some famous thinkers on childhood whose work are so vital in the history of child-centred education. Some of these writers in the early years did not categorically call their work progressive education, but what they did was catalytic to the formulation of body of knowledge that is called progressive education today to which a lot of acknowledgement is owed. This essay will briefly talk about their ideas, principles and ethos. One of these early writers was Jean Jacques Rousseau whose writings and progressive tilt brought about a fundamental change in the education of children. According to Darling J. ( ) in Rousseaus book Emile (1762), it is stressed that man should not disturb child growth but leave it the way nature has provided for it. Child-centred education came as an alternative due to dissatisfaction about the traditional education of that time. This rejection helped to fashion out current progressive education thought. In Emile, Rousseau asserts that the progressive idea took its root against the background of obligation and child depravity attached to children in those days where strict discipline and moral training for children was the norm. Rousseau rejected this idea and believed that children are good; that the evil seen in children is from a corrupt society. His ideas were that children should not be trained in such a way as to repress their natural tendency. When juxtaposed to modern progressive education concepts it translates to not imposing any particular learning style on children but rather allowing them to discover things by themselves Young childrens educational programmes should in Rousseaus view be confined to those things in which they have natural interest (Darling1994: 8 ). Rousseau promoted the fact that children learned from direct experience and opined that feeling is always learning, which can be understood to mean- learning from environment and not from a book. Rosseau is of the opinion that children should not be taught how to read until they are ready. He imagined that they would understand by learning from the environment and from feeling things around them. In addition to that he was of the belief that there has to be little information from a book. This is echoed by Calydon [ed] (1969:50) when it is said that Experience goes before instruction. However Rousseau did not clarify when learning from a book should set in but children should also seek information from books. This opinion is true because looking at teachers for instance, they had to learn from books and not only depend on experience. In modern progressive education students learn largely from experience as well as from books. Rousseau also advocated cordial relationship between a child and the teacher and that the child should learn from their actions. As discussed earlier progressive education does not see the teacher in authority like the teacher is seen in public schools; progressive education is therefore more of a child- centred approach to teaching. According to Darling ( ) Rosseau divided childhood into stages of human growth and development. He contended that different stages of growth require specific techniques. Therefore in progressive education pupils are given individual attention because each child has their own needs and peculiarities depending on their stages. Friedrich Froebel who established the first kindergarten at Keilhau, Germany in 1837 contributed immensely to the progressive idea of education. He believed that everyone has a spiritual value. Like Rosseau, he believed that every child had within themselves what they were to be at birth. He also believed that the appropriate educational environment would encourage the child to achieve optimum development.

Quality Management Five Components of Service Management

Quality Management Five Components of Service Management Service management is usually defined as the point in a supply chain that connects sales and customers, but in recent years the concept has morphed from a fairly narrow aspect of overall management and strategy to a broad management orientation that addresses all facets of an enterprise, particularly in service industries. Beginning in the early 1980’s, Christian Grà ¶nroos of the Hanken School of Economics in Finland started developing a â€Å"framework of values† for service management, a set of principles which, if integrating correctly into the company’s strategy and operations, leads to good service delivery. There are five parts to the framework of values for service management: An overall management perspective This requires a shift in the broad priorities of the firm from an internal focus on process efficiencies, economies of scale, and cost management to an external focus on customers’ perspectives on core product quality and total firm performance. Grà ¶nroos’ entire thesis is that the classical scientific management handed down to us by the likes of Adam Smith emphasizes division of labor, which can and often does result in separate parts of the enterprise working at cross-purposes. The service management perspective, by comparison, establishes customer service as the overall goal throughout the organization so that even if the efficiencies of the division  of labor are employed, they are necessarily done so in the context of their impact on the broader objective. At first blush, this particular part of the framework might sound like a vague motherhood statement, but it is actually important because it establishes the basis for the other parts of the framework of value s. Customer- or market-driven performance measures The big difference between a ‘service management’ orientation and the best practices suggested by classical scientific management is that performance measurement must have an external perspective, rather than being based on goals related to internal efficiencies. Well-known performance management and planning tools such as CSFs and KPIs still work very well from a service management perspective, but only if the success factors and performance indicators down to the level of the individual employee are expressed in terms of what each segment or position in the organization contributes to customer service. In essence, every role within the organization in some way becomes a customer service position. You can also be interested in: Management or Leadership? Stock Markets and Seasonal Effects in Them Management and Exchange Rates Management Essay Quality management is not segregated from ‘normal’ management functions This part of the framework is perhaps more applicable to manufacturing or other production firms where a distinct quality control process is required, but otherwise, the concept of integrating quality control functions into normal workflow simply reinforces the perspective of the first two parts of the framework. This aspect of the service management perspective is also perhaps more familiar than most; we see it in practice quite often through ideas such as Total Quality Management.   The biggest change it requires from the organization lies in operational planning, because quality control functions – where distinct procedures are required – must be broken down and smoothly fit into a unified, overall process. Internal development of personnel This concept has become almost canonical in human resources management  and relates to service management in two critical ways. First, it is the primary means by which customer service perspectives and goals can be properly spread throughout the entire organization, and is a key link in the service-profit value chain (discussed in greater detail in another article). Higher levels of employee experience, skill, and satisfaction lead to greater efficiency and employee loyalty, which positively affect service quality in a number of ways. Second, it is virtually impossible to effectively implement quality management functions as described above into an enterprise-wide process without using internal human resources; the best people for the job in any organization are the ones the organization already has. Just as with quality management, personnel development requires the integration of HRM functions that are usually treated separately into mainstream processes, at least at the planning level. Flat organizational design The service management framework emphasizes cross-functional abilities, internal collaboration, and lateral communication, and as a result,  tends to discredit the effectiveness of hierarchical organizations for achieving customer service quality. This presents a significant management challenge in organizations where the scientific management perspective of specialization and division of labor is an unavoidable necessity, such as in businesses where core functions require highly skilled workers who have intensive specialized training. Cross-functional training at an airline, for example, can only go so far;   it would be ridiculous to consider putting ticket counter  personnel behind the controls of a jet airliner just â€Å"to get a feel for what others’ job roles are like†. But on the other hand, there is little to prevent a highly-skilled airline pilot from spending a few days behind the counter to experience a different side of customer service. Some criticisms of the service management framework of values One implication of the service management perspective is that it greatly increases the complexity of planning and strategy in an organization; many of the boundaries between different departments or functions disappear entirely, and everything initiative from the level of individual employees upward must be complementary. This is the underlying reason why the framework has never been modeled in any great deal; an effective model would require consideration of a very large number of variables, and might be too unwieldy to be useful. And without a model, the framework is just another qualitative concept that does not give much direction for practical application. Another reason the framework has not received as much academic or practical attention as it deserves is somewhat unfair; Professor Grà ¶nroos’ discipline is marketing, not management, and in his various writings, he tends to stay in his comfort zone when seeks examples to illustrate the points he is making. Management scholars seem to have a bias that relegates marketing to a niche within the broad realm of business studies, and so have possibly overlooked the greater application of the ideas developed by â€Å"a marketing teacher.† Which, if nothing else, is a good reminder for business students not to impose limits on their explorations of knowledge – just as the framework of values suggests, one’s own effectiveness can be greatly increased by cross-training. Read more about service management: Grà ¶nroos, C. (1994). From Scientific Management to Service Management. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 1(5).

Character of Touchstone in Shakespeares As You Like It Shakespeare As You Like It Essays

The Character of   Touchstone in As You Like It    As You Like It features, like so many of Shakespeare's plays, a professional clown, Touchstone, and it's worth paying some attention to his role for what it contributes towards establishing and maintaining the upbeat comic spirit of the play. For the jester is the constant commentator on what is going on. His humour, pointed or otherwise, thus inevitably contributes to the audience's awareness of what is happening, and the way in which other characters treat him is often a key indicator of their sensibilities. Touchstone is one of the gentlest and happiest clowns in all of Shakespeare. He comments on the action, makes jokes at other people's expense, and offers ironic insights about their situation. But throughout As You Like It, such traditional roles of the fool are offered and taken with a generosity of spirit so that his remarks never shake the firm comic energies of the play. When he ridicules Orlando's verses, Rosalind laughs along with him. When he points out to Corin (in 3.2) that the shepherd must be damned for never having lived at court, Corin takes it as good natured jesting (which it is). When Touchstone takes Audrey away from her rural swain, William, there are apparently no hard feelings (although much here depends on the staging). In this play, the professional jester participates in and contributes to a style of social interaction which is unqualified by any more sober and serious reflections. This makes Touchstone very different from the bitter fool of King Le ar or from the most complex fool of all, the sad Feste of Twelfth Night , both of whom offer comments that cast either a shrewd, melancholy, or bitter irony on the proceedings.    Touchstone himself becomes the target of much humour by his immediate attraction to Audrey, the "foul" country lass. There is something richly comic here, seeing the staunch apologist for the sophisticated life of the court fall so quickly to his animal lust. But the satire here is very good humoured. Touchstone himself acknowledges the frailty of his vows and does not attempt to deceive anyone about his intentions.