The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet Essay Example

The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet Essay Example The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet Paper The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet Paper The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet In Shakespeares play  The Tragedy of  Romeo and Juliet,  two main characters from very different familys meet and fall in love at first sight; their names were Romeo and Juliet. After Romeo is banned from Verona by prince Escalus, Juliet tries to fake her death so she can be snuck out of Verona to be with Romeo. When Romeo finds Juliet asleep without knowledge of her plan he assumes she is dead and ends up killing himself by consuming a deadly potion. When Juliet wakes up to find Romeo dead, she stabs herself with Romeos dagger. Friar Laurence is most responsible for this tragedy of Romeo and Juliets death because he said â€Å"In one respect I’ll thy assistant be; For this alliance may so happy prove, to turn your house holds rancor to pure love. † (Shakespeare Act 2, Scene 3, Line 90-92). The Friar mentioned that the reason he would marry them is because it might put an end to the hostilities between the two families. With this decision he did not think about the best for Romeo or the bad things that could come from decision. To avoid marrying Paris, a young nobleman related to the prince that the Capulets arranged for Juliet to marry, Friar Lawrence asks Juliet drink a potion so that she might fake her own death. â€Å"Take thou this vial, being then in bed and this distilled liquor drink though off;† (Shakespeare Act 4, Scene 1, Lines 92-93). The Friar made a very poor decision by going behind the Capulets back to let Juliet be with a boy she hardly knew. The right way would have been to ask Lord Capulet about Romeo and hope he understood. When Juliet awakens to find Paris and her Romeo dead beside her with a cup of poison in his hand, she goes to the comforting Friar. Instead of thinking about her or Romeo the Friar gets frightened and runs out. â€Å"Stay not to question, for the watch is coming. Come, go, good juliet. I dare no longer stay. † (Shakespeare Act 4, Scene 1, line 92-93). If The Friar would have stayed with Juliet he could have helped her get through this loss, and possibly make a different outcome of the situation. When he leaves her all alone, she stabs herself with Romeos dagger. If the Friar would have thought about Romeo and Juliets marriage before he married them he could have told them to think about their relationship. The Friar could have also told the Capulets about their kids plans like a responsible parent, so that they wouldnt have to go through with this risky plan to get Juliet to Romeo so they could secretly be together. Friar Lawrence demonstrates the he is a person of good intentions, yet it was the shortsightedness of his actions that in part led to the deaths of the two lead characters.

How Harrison Won the Election of 1840

How Harrison Won the Election of 1840 The election of 1840 was fueled by slogans, songs, and alcohol, and in some ways that distant election can be considered  the precursor of the modern presidential campaign. The incumbent was a man of sophisticated political skills. He had served in a variety of offices and put together the coalition that brought Andrew Jackson to the White House. And his challenger was elderly and infirm, with qualifications that were questionable. But that didnt matter. Talk of log cabins and hard cider and an obscure battle from decades earlier culminated in a landslide that turned out the incumbent, Martin Van Buren, and brought an aging and sickly politician, William Henry Harrison, into the White House. Background of the 1840 Presidential Election What really set the stage for the 1840 election was a colossal financial crisis devastating  the nation. After the eight years of Andrew Jackson’s presidency, Jackson’s vice president, the lifelong politician Martin Van Buren of New York, was elected in 1836. And the following year the country was rocked by the Panic of 1837, one of a series of financial panics of the 19th century. Van Buren was hopelessly ineffective in handling the crisis. As banks and businesses failed, and an economic depression dragged on, Van Buren took the blame. Sensing an opportunity, the Whig Party sought a candidate to challenge Van Burens reelection and selected a man whose career had peaked decades earlier. William Henry Harrison, the Whig Candidate Though he would be portrayed as a rustic frontiersman, William Henry Harrison, who was born in Virginia in 1773, actually came from what might be called Virginia nobility. His father, Benjamin Harrison, had been a signer of the Declaration of Independence and later served as governor of Virginia. In his youth, William Henry Harrison had received a classical education in Virginia. After deciding against a career in medicine he joined the military, receiving an officer’s commission signed by President George Washington. Harrison was posted to what was then called the Northwest Territory and served as the territorial governor of Indiana from 1800 to 1812. When Indians led by the Shawnee chief Tecumseh rose up against the American settlers and allied with the British in the War of 1812, Harrison fought them. Harrison’s forces killed Tecumseh at the Battle of the Thames, in Canada. However, a previous battle, Tippecanoe, though not considered a great triumph at the time, would become part of American political lore years later. His Indian fighting days behind him, Harrison settled in Ohio and served terms in the House of Representatives and the Senate. And in 1836, he ran against Martin Van Buren for the presidency and lost. The Whigs nominated Harrison as the partys presidential candidate in 1840. One obvious point in his favor was that he wasn’t closely associated with any of the controversies gripping the nation, and his candidacy, therefore, didnt offend any particular groups of voters. Image Making Entered American Politics in 1840 The supporters of Harrison began creating an image of him as a war hero, and touted his experience at the Battle of Tippecanoe, 28 years earlier. While it’s true that Harrison had been the commander at that battle against the Indians, he had actually been criticized for his actions at the time. The Shawnee warriors had surprised his troops, and casualties had been high for the soldiers under Harrison’s command. Tippecanoe and Tyler Too! In 1840 the details of that long-ago battle were forgotten. And when John Tyler of Virginia was nominated as Harrison’s running mate, the classic American political slogan was born: â€Å"Tippecanoe and Tyler Too! The Log Cabin Candidate The Whigs also promoted Harrison as the log cabin candidate. He was portrayed in woodcut illustrations as residing in a humble log cabin on the western frontier, a fact that was contradicted by his birth as something of a Virginia aristocrat. The log cabin became a commonplace symbol of Harrisons candidacy. In its collection of materials related to the 1840 Harrison campaign, the Smithsonian Institution has a wooden model of a log cabin that was carried in torchlight parades. Campaign Songs Entered American Politics in 1840 Harrison’s campaign in 1840 was noteworthy not just for slogans, but for songs. A number of campaign ditties were quickly composed and sold by sheet music publishers. Some examples can be viewed at the Library of Congress (on these pages, click the view this item link): Tippecanoe and Tyler TooThe Tippecanoe Club Quick StepOld Tippecanoe’s Raisin’The Invincible Old Tippecanoe Alcohol Fueled the 1840 Presidential Campaign The Democrats supporting Martin Van Buren scoffed at the image created of William Henry Harrison and derided him by saying Harrison was an old man who would be content to sit in his log cabin and drink hard cider. The Whigs neutralized that attack by embracing it, and took to saying that Harrison was the hard cider candidate. A popular legend is that a Philadelphia distiller named E.C. Booz provided hard cider to distribute at rallies of Harrison supporters. That may be true, but a story that Boozs name gave the English language the word booze is a tall tale. The word actually existed for centuries before Harrison and his hard cider campaign. The Hard Cider and Log Cabin Candidate Won the Election Harrison avoided discussion of the issues, and let his campaign based on hard cider and log cabins proceed. And it worked, as Harrison won in an electoral landslide. The 1840 campaign was notable for being the first campaign with slogans and songs, but the victor holds another distinction: the shortest term in office of any American president. William Henry Harrison took the oath of office on March 4, 1841, and delivered the longest inaugural address in history. On a very cold day, the 68-year-old Harrison spoke for two hours on the steps of the Capitol. He developed pneumonia and never recovered. One month later he was dead, becoming the first American president to die in office. Tyler Too Became President After Harrisons Death Harrisons running mate, John Tyler, became the first vice president to ascend to the presidency upon the death of a president. Tylers administration was lackluster, and he was derided as the accidental president. As for William Henry Harrison, his place in history was secured not by his fleeting presidential tenure, but for being the first presidential candidate whose campaign featured slogans, songs, and a carefully manufactured image.