Themes, Symbols, and Feelings in The Yellow Wallpaper by...

In The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the protagonist symbolizes the effect of the oppression of women in society in the Nineteenth Century. In The Yellow Wallpaper, the author reveals the narrator is torn between hate and love, but emotion is difficult to determine. The effects are produced by the use of complex themes used in the story, which assisted her oppression and reflected on her self-expression. The yellow wallpaper is a symbol of oppression in a woman who felt her duties were limited as a wife and mother. The wallpaper shows a sign of female imprisonment. Since the wallpaper is always near her, the narrator begins to analyze the reasoning behind it. Over time, she begins to realize someone is behind the†¦show more content†¦Neurasthenia is the nervous disease the narrator is suffering from. Gilman expresses if the narrator is ill or if the â€Å"rest cure† treatment she is on is making her crazy(Wilson). Weir Mitchell was the authors/narrators doctor who prescribed her the â€Å"rest cure† treatment, which did not succeed(Gilman). The narrator tells her husband to help her and change the treatment, but he refuses her desires. As a result, the narrator became insane because her husband forced his wife to be in an oppressed situation with her health(MacPike). Within the story, Gilman represents the domestic sphere as a prison(Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism). The narrator is considered to be in prison but in a nursery because she cannot handle her duties as a mother to watch her children or a wife to clean(Delashmit). The windows in the room symbolize the windows in a prison cell. She feels as though, since someone is behind the wallpaper, she is being watched(MacPike). The role of women in the 19th century was reflected in The Yellow Wallpaper. In the 19th century, husbands and fathers did not allow females to interact with certain activities. Women duties were based upon their children and their household(Stansell). In The Yellow Wallpaper, John wants the narrator to cater to himself and their child. Although John tries to govern the narrator, his society is the based on the same nature. The narrator and the woman in theShow MoreRelatedSymbolism of the Setting of The Yellow Wallpaper1198 Words   |  5 PagesVolpe 1 Marissa Volpe Prof. Baker ENC 1102 4/10/14 Symbolism In The Gothic Setting of â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† Gothic literature is incredibly distinct. There is a sort of formula involved with writing in the Gothic style, and one of the most important aspects of this is the setting, which can include anything from the architecture of the buildings to the color of the leaves on the trees. The setting of a story is a vital element, as it would seem to be that the most effective way of drawing Read MoreTaylor Tuscai. Mr. Schoen. English Ii Pre-Ap. April 28,1233 Words   |  5 PagesMovement† Charlotte Perkins Gilman is widely recognized for her support of feminism and calls for awareness to her mental condition by voicing her ideas through her original writing. One of her works, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, describes a woman who suffers from severe anxiety and is isolated in a room in order to â€Å"heal† according to her husband. While in the room, she becomes obsessed with the ugly wallpaper, which leads to her fall. In the short story, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, by Charlotte Perkins GilmanRead MoreYellow Wallpaper Essay999 Words   |  4 PagesThe Yellow Wallpaper† Charlotte Perkins Gilman (Full name Charlotte Anna Perkins Stetson Gilman) American short story writer, essayist, novelist, and autobiographer. The following entry presents criticism of Gilman s short story â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† (1892). The short story â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper,† by nineteenth-century feminist Charlotte Perkins Gilman, was first published in 1892 in New England Magazine. Gilman s story, based upon her own experience with a â€Å"rest cure† for mental illness, wasRead MoreCritical Analysis Of The Yellow Wallpaper1511 Words   |  7 Pagestime period. One of these writers was Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Her work, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, addresses the reality of gender status and roles and the treatment of psychological disorders during the nineteenth century. When explicating her work through a psychological perspective, it is clear to see how Gilman uses setting, symbolism, and personification to portray a realistic view of a woman with a psychological disorder and her treatment. Charlotte Gilman applies her own experiences with herRead More Essay on Janes Search for Self-identity in The Yellow Wallpaper609 Words   |  3 PagesJanes Search for Self-identity in The Yellow Wallpaper  Ã‚      The Yellow Wallpaper, written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in the late nineteenth century, explores the dark forbidding world of one womans plunge into a severe post-partum depressive state. The story presents a theme of the search for self-identity. Through interacting with human beings and the environment, the protagonist creates for herself a life of her own. Charlotte Gilman, through the first person narrator, speaks toRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper, By Charlotte Perkins Gilman1523 Words   |  7 PagesIn â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses the literary approach in which the reader sees the text as if it were some kind of dream. Like psychoanalysis itself, this critical attempt seeks evidence of unresolved emotions, psychological conflicts, guilt, and ambivalences within â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†. In this particular story, the reader must analyze the language and symbolism of the text to reverse the process of the dream in order to reveal the hidden thoughts/meaning of the storyRead MoreThe Portrayal Of Postpartum Depression1581 Words   |  7 PagesThe Portrayal of Postpartum-Depression in â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† â€Å"The Yellow wallpaper† is a story about a woman going through a mental breakdown. She has recently had a baby and is suffering from postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis. Charlotte portrays postpartum depression very accurately in the story â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†. She writes about how others do not understand her needs and how they will not listen to what she wants to say. Postpartum depression is a serious form of depressionRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper2088 Words   |  9 PagesCritical Analysis of Formal Elements in the Short Story â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, published in 1899, is a semi-autobiographical short story depicting a young woman’s struggle with depression that is virtually untreated and her subsequent descent into madness. Although the story is centered on the protagonist’s obsessive description of the yellow wallpaper and her neurosis, the story serves a higher purpose as a testamentRead More What Others Say about The Yellow Wallpaper1572 Words   |  7 PagesWhat Others Say about The Yellow Wallpaper      Ã‚  Ã‚   The Yellow Wallpaper is a short story written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1890 and eventually published in 1892 in the New England Magazine and in William Dean Howells collection, Great Modern American Stories (Shumaker 94). The story was original not only because of its subject matter, but also because it is written in the form of a loosely connected journal. It follows the narrators private thoughts which become increasingly more confusingRead MoreComparison between The Yellow Wallpaper and A Rose for Emily969 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"Women need real moments of solitude and self-reflection to balance out how much of ourselves we give away† (Angelis, BrainyQuote). This statement reflects the theme of isolation and how one can truly understand themselves through self-reflection and time spent in loneliness. In the short stories, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and â€Å"A Rose for Emily† by William Faulkner, both female protagonists, experience a time of seclusion leading to self- realization. Hence, both of

Is Christopher Nolan A Modern Hollywood Auteur - 1497 Words

Following the release of his movie, Inception, The Guardian ran an article comparing Christopher Nolan to famed Hollywood auteur, Stanley Kubrick. Most readers subsequently reacted negatively to the article’s central premise. However, The Guardian’s readers concurrently began pondering another question: is Christopher Nolan a modern Hollywood auteur? According to many scholastic sources, Nolan should not even be considered for auteur status. Most of these naysayers point out that six of his eight feature films have been remakes, adaptations, or film franchises. However, upon closer examination, Christopher Nolan expresses a level of artistic continuity and control throughout his body of work that qualifies him for auteur status. This consistency and control is apparent in the composition of his workshop and in his plot themes and mise-en-scene. In auteur theory, a director must express control over the industrial process of film production in order to be considere d a true auteur. Christopher Nolan controls his workshop in two ways: by taking on several roles in the filmmaking process and by maintaining personnel consistency over time. Nolan notoriously not just directs his films but also frequently writes or co-writes his scripts. In fact, Nolan has had at least a part in writing each of his films with the exception of Insomnia. Nolan also frequently produces his own films – often in collaboration with his wife and/or brother. In addition, Nolan maintains theShow MoreRelatedEssay on The Romantic Notion of a Film Director 2217 Words   |  9 Pagescritical material, primarily Andrà © Bazin and Roland Barthes and applying them to several case study films directed by Christopher Nolan including The Following (1998), The Prestige (2006) and Inception (2010), to examine whether Nolan possesses the qualities of an auteur and if so, does that imply an ideological view of what the auteur resembles or an artistic one. The term auteur theory arose in France during the 1940’s, a foundation to the French cinematic movement known as the nouvelle vagueRead MoreThe French New Wave Cinema1905 Words   |  8 Pagesconsidered one of the most influential periods in cinematic history. The filmmaking techniques and ideas utilized during the French New Wave period can still be seen in modern cinema, with some films uses them more than others. Two films that more obviously been influenced by the era are Quentin Tarantino s 1992 film Reservoir Dogs and Christopher Nolan’s 2000 film Memento. These films exude many traits and styles synonymous with French New Wave cinema such as jump cuts and non-continuity editing, a lowRead MoreChristopher Nol An Auteur And Postmodern Filmmaker2218 Words   |  9 PagesChristopher Nolan is an auteur and postmodern filmmaker. He started off making low budget ‘indie’ films, his first being Doodlebug. He has now risen to being one of the biggest names in Hollywood and creating blockbusters that not only are visual masterpieces but thought provoking journeys. He respects film as an art form, thus allowing him to create some of the top ranked films this century and The Dark Night and Momento are even classed among the greatest films of all time. He has 122 major wins

Gas War Essay Research Paper Gasoline is free essay sample

Gas War Essay, Research Paper Gasoline is produced by a distillment procedure where petroleum oil is heated and exhausts are captured and converted into many merchandises such as kerosine, jet fuel, and gasolene to call a few. Therefore the monetary value of rough oil, which is extracted from oil Wellss beneath the earths surface, is a major factor in gas monetary values. The five prima oil-producing states and their approximative portions of the universe supply of oil are: Soviet Union 21 % , Saudi Arabia 17 % , The United States 15 % , Venezuela 4 % , and Mexico 4 % . These five states made up 61 % of the universes oil production back in 1980. Even though The United States is a major manufacturer of oil, it does non do them self-sufficing. The United States uses more oil than they can bring forth and must look towards foreign states. An organisation called O.P.E.C. controls about four fifths of the universes oil militias in the non-communist universe. The United States is forced to cover with O.P.E.C. , non merely in its ain involvements, but besides in the involvement of its Alliess and in the involvement of keeping peace. The former Soviet Union may now hold an involvement in selling some of their oil that they have a enormous sum of. O.P.E.C. which stands for Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, is made up of 13 states: Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Qatar, Indonesia, Libya, United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Nigeria, Ecuador, and Gabon. O.P.E.C. was founded in Baghdad, Iraq in September of 1960. It was organized in response to oil bring forthing states that did non confer with with the Middle Eastern oil provinces before take downing their rough oil monetary values. The manufacturers feared that other states would set up monopolies. The purpose of O.P.E.C. was to make a cosmopolitan monetary value between the states, in order to guarantee peace between oil manufacturers throughout the universe. O.P.E.C. be sides wanted to supply its members with proficient and economic support in times of demand, since non all the states were wholly stable. The central offices were ab initio set in Geneva, but were subsequently moved to Vienna in 1965. O.P.E.C. # 8217 ; s end was to set up steadfastly incorporate monetary values amongst their members, but the organisation was non ever successful. In their quest for control over the universe market of oil production, they have ran into several obstructions and reverses. O.P.E.C. has hardly survived being eliminated due to internal struggles amongst its members. Since O.P.E.C. about has a strangle clasp on the universes oil supply, The United States is highly concerned with the countries instability. The Middle East and the Persian Gulf country, where most of the members are located, are highly prone to wars, both civil and transverse boundary lines, plagued by spiritual conflicts, and places of power are often overthrown, doing it difficult for any stableness to come out of the country. Any clip there is pandemonium in the Middle East, The United States thinks back on # 8220 ; # 8230 ; memories of other problems in the Persian Gulf country: the Arab oil trade stoppage in 1973-74, the Persian revolution in 1979-80 and Saddam Hussein # 8217 ; s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. # 8221 ; ( 1 ) The country is besides critical to our Alliess, who would be crippled without Gulf oil, whose support we are dependent on. In 1973 O.P.E.C. raised oil monetary val ues 70 % . # 8220 ; The dominant Middle Eastern members of O.P.E.C. used succeeding monetary value additions as a political arm aimed at Western states in revenge for their support of Israel against its Arab neighbours in the alleged Yom Kippur War of October 1973. Monetary values were consequently raised another 130 % at the Tehran conference of December 1973, and a impermanent trade stoppage was placed on the United States and the Netherlands at the same clip. Other monetary values increases followed in 1975, 1977, 1979, and 1980, which finally raised the monetary value of a barrel of rough oil from United States $ 3.00 in 1973 to $ 30.00 in 1980. # 8221 ; ( 2 ) Almost every college pupil has heard narratives from friends or relations about the gas crunch in the 1970 # 8217 ; s. Peoples waited in lines that stretched for stat mis, and could merely acquire gas on certain yearss depending on the first missive of your last name. O.P.E.C. used the money they raised to put in other states, placed in foreign Bankss, currency markets, and to assist their ain economic systems through inner development. O.P.E.C. is besides highly interested in maximising net incomes, but in such a trust, it is impossible to happen a monetary value that will maximise net incomes. O.P.E.C. has attempted to raise monetary values several times by cutting production. Harmonizing to economic theory, a lessening in supply will give higher monetary values. These are some of the grounds The United States must offer stableness and continue to hold military personnels in the country, step ining when the universes oil and its monetary values are in hazard. Presently rough oil monetary values are lifting due to the bombardments in Saudi Arabia. # 8220 ; # 8230 ; It has continued to surge, to more than $ 24 a barrel, up 34 % from one twelvemonth ago, the highest degree since the 1991 Persian Gulf War. # 8221 ; ( 3 ) This addition has been contributed to several factors: 1 ) the lifting demand of rough oil throughout the universe 2 ) the tight stock lists because of the belief that supplies are traveling to run low 3 ) the current convulsion that exists in the country and 4 ) heating demands of the abnormally cold winter. These factors have already raised the monetary values of Diesel fuel, jet fuel, and place warming oil. This is of major concern to teamsters, air hoses, and place warming oil companies. As a consequence of these monetary value additions, air hose ticket monetary values will besides increase. These are merely a few of the elements that consequence monetary values, but none of them have the power to greatly alter the mo netary value that exist at the pumps. The demand of rough oil is ever cyclical. The United States demands more gasolene in spring and summer months than in the autumn or winter, due to people driving more. The current tendency in vehicles has moved to larger athletics public-service corporation V ehicles from little economic system autos of the past and devour more gas and acquire less stat mis per gallon. The state is invariably seeking for new and more efficient signifiers of energy. More significantly the state is seeking for agencies of energy that will non do Americans poorer. The undermentioned chart shows the monetary value of oil per barrel over the last twelvemonth. These monetary values match the additions that take topographic point at the pumps. States around the universe are hanging on the determination of Iraq, sing reclamation of oil gross revenues. However, the fact remains that if Iraq so decides to regenerate oil gross revenues, will monetary values truly drop? Even if Iraq gets back into the concern of selling oil, it would be improbable to do a drastic displacement in the monetary value of a gallon of gasolene. Saddam Hussein # 8217 ; s actions have non been stable in the last few months. Iraq was supposed to get down exporting on Memorial Day, but due to fickle behaviour, negotiations have been put on the back burner. Since there are so many factors involved, even if Iraq exports a enormous sum of oil, consumers will likely non cognize the difference. Other factors, other than the demand and monetary value of rough oil in the universe consequence monetary values. Several breaks in The United States production of oil has staggered the states production. The United States is the lone major oil-producing state where oil bring forthing evidences are owned by the land proprietor and non belongings of the authorities. This makes for inefficient boring since one party is non wholly responsible for garnering all the oil. Average production per well is merely 15 barrels per twenty-four hours, far less than any other oil bring forthing states. Alaska has the best oil bring forthing land, but due to the land and rough clime, it makes it difficult to garner. It is besides really expensive to develop methods of transit which slows assemblage of the oil. # 8220 ; Several refineries # 8212 ; on the West Coast, in the East and on the Gulf Coast # 8211 ; have experienced operational troubles which affected merchandise supplies in the marketplace. # 8221 ; ( 4 ) It is rumored that their are supply armored combat vehicles buried someplace near the Gulf of M exico that could back up the state for 66 yearss if anything were to go on. The United States and other states have been looking into alternate signifiers of energy in order to take down their dependence towards foreign oil. Money is being spent into researching solar, hydro, atomic, and jump signifiers of energy. Government ordinances besides create alterations in gas monetary values. California has late gone threw monetary value additions at the pumps due to new statute law. The province is to a great extent overpopulated and has the worst smog of all the provinces. California gas Stationss are altering to a cleansing agent gas that will do less air pollution, but will be more expensive. The addition is about 10-12 cents. That is the monetary value Californians are traveling to hold to pay for cleaner air. Another authorities ordinance is aimed towards the refiners of the oil. The authorities is seting force per unit area to alter from their winter classs which are oxygenated, to summer classs that have lower evaporability, assisting the environment. These costs to exchange fuel show up at the pumps, the populace has to pay for governmental research and environmental safeguards. The United States doesn # 8217 ; Ts have it every bit bad as some other states. The U.S. pays an norm of $ 1.21 p er gallon of gasolene. Japan pays $ 5.35/gallon, Germany pays $ 4.04/gallon, The United Kingdom pays $ 3.38/gallon and Mexico pays $ 1.55/gallon. All four are significantly more than the United States wages. Taxs are the largest constituent of the monetary values we pay at the pumps. # 8220 ; Taxes were the individual largest constituent cost of gasolene, amounting to 42.4 cents per gallon, including 18.4 cents per gallon in federal revenue enhancements, 22 cents per gallon in leaden mean province revenue enhancements and an estimated 2 cents per gallon in local taxes. # 8221 ; ( 5 ) The President of The United States of America, Bill Clinton, has on several occasions proposed to increase the revenue enhancements put on gas. In 1993 Clinton proposed a gas revenue enhancement that raised the monetary values at the pumps by 7.5 cents per gallon, a 6 % addition of the monetary value. Then in 1996, Bill Clinton made a proposal to raise gas revenue enhancements by an extra 2.5 % . Clinton wanted to raise monetary values 10 cents per gallon overall in his four old ages in office, all portion of his # 8220 ; shortage decrease program # 8221 ; . ( 6 ) Clinton # 8217 ; s full run was based a round non aching the American people with revenue enhancements, but one time in the white house, has made the record books with the highest sum of gasolene revenue enhancements of all time. Taxs are so much a portion of the monetary values we pay that # 8220 ; # 8230 ; in 1981 when pump monetary values where at an all clip high of $ 2.27 per gallon, the revenue enhancements were merely 27.7 cents per gallon. The existent cost of motor gasolene to consumers fell by about a dollar per gallon between 1981 and 1995, but over the same period federal, province and local motor gasolene revenue enhancements increased by about 15 cents per gallon. # 8221 ; ( 7 ) Taxes in the United provinces have increased an norm of 15.6 % in the last three old ages. mThis chart shows some United States metropoliss and the monetary value additions. Many factors influence the monetary values of gasolene. Gasoline monetary values are affected by the monetary value of rough oil in the universe market, supply and demand for gasolene, local market competition, impermanent supply breaks, authorities ordinances, or revenue enhancements. Everyday new things can go on to alter the monetary values that American consumers pay at the pumps. The United States is dependent on foreign oil and must go on to guarantee stableness in the Middle East, or until we have found alternate beginnings of energy. Taxes will go on to mount due to the rise of authorities control. Regulations will go on to go stricter until gasoline use is more environmentally friendly. It looks as if gas monetary values will go on to fluctuate, but over clip will be given to lift. Bibliography no remark

What is the Relationship between Taste and Ideology

It nowadays became a commonplace assumption that, since the notion of taste/aesthetics implies subjectivity, than the incorporation of subjectivist aesthetics into the conceptual framework of a particular ideology, undermines the extent of this ideology’s discursive appropriateness.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on What is the Relationship between Taste and Ideology? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In this paper, however, I will aim to show that, contrary to the earlier mentioned assumption, it is entirely appropriate to discuss the ideological extrapolations of one’s aesthetic preferences as such that are being reflective of his or her taste as biologically predetermined ‘thing in itself’, which in turn implies such taste’s objectivist nature. There can be little doubt as to the fact that the subtleties of people’s sense of aesthetics often appear highly circumstantial. T hroughout sixties and seventies, the realization of this fact was prompting neo-Marxian philosophers to speculate that the essence of one’s aesthetic taste reflects the particulars of his or her social upbringing. In its turn, this was providing them with a discursively legitimate reason to refer to the convention that there is a ‘low/primitive’ taste, on the one hand, and ‘high/refined’ taste, on the other, as an indication of this convention’s embedment in Kantian metaphysical philosophy, which presupposes the objectivist/essentialist nature of ‘higher realities’. Hence, the nature of neo-Marxian criticism of a discursively division between people’s ‘low’ and ‘high’ tastes: â€Å"Aristocracies are essentialist. Regarding existence as an emanation of essence, they set no intrinsic value on the deeds and misdeeds enrolled in the records and registries of aesthetic conventions† (Bourdieu 24). Nevertheless, the neo-Marxian assumption that the subtleties of currently dominant aesthetics-related discourse are being suggestive of this discourse’s functionalist essence (concerned with preserving status quo in social sphere), cannot be referred to as such that represents an undeniable truth-value. This is because there are, in fact, a number of good reasons to think of the nature of one’s aesthetic inclinations as being correlative with the measure of his or her intellectual advancement. And, as it was proven during the course of recent decade, people’s varying ability to operate with the abstract categories, which reflect the rate of their Intellectual Quotidian (IQ), is being rather biologically than environmentally predetermined (Lynn Vanhanen 64).Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In other words, it is absolutely appropriate to discuss the extent o f one taste’s aesthetic refinement in terms of intrinsic objectivity, because the manner in which people go about assessing the significance of surrounding reality’s manifestations and consequentially forming their aesthetic judgments, in regards to these manifestations, reflect the working of people’s psyche. In their turn, the workings of people’s psyche provide us with the insight onto the extent of these people’s cognitive adequateness/inadequateness. The validity of this statement can be illustrated in regards to the empirical data, obtained by Levy Bruhl while he was conducting his anthropological studies, concerned with defining the nature of primitive people’s cognition. According to Bruhl, while being presented with cognitive tasks, the members of primitive/tribal societies (specifically, African tribesmen) indulge in ‘pre-logical’ reasoning. For example, these people used to experience a particularly hard time, after h aving been asked to exclude semantically unrelated word out of the wordily sequence axe – hammer – handsaw – log. The fact that the words axe, hammer and handsaw could be categorized as ‘instruments’, on the one hand, and that the word log could be categorized as ‘material’, on the another, never even occurred to them. In their eyes, there could be no difference between the notion of ‘material’ and the notion of ‘instrument’, as both of these notions imply ‘usefulness’: â€Å"Identity appears in (native) collective representations†¦ as a moving assemblage or totality of mystic actions and reactions, within which individual does not subjectualize but objectualize itself† (Bruhl 120). The empirical observations of how people go about forming their aesthetic views leave very few doubts as to the fact that the nature of these views exposes the specifics of people’s positioning toward s the surrounding reality. The more a particular person tends to position itself as a ‘subject’, while interacting with the environment, the more there are objective reasons to consider his or her aesthetic tastes refined, and vice versa. We can also say that there is a positive correlation between the extent of a particular aesthetic convention’s refinement and the extent of its complexity. This is exactly the reason why classical music is being generally deemed more ‘tasteful’; as compared to what it is being the case with pop-music, for example. This simply could not be otherwise, because – whereas, pop-compositions feature 5-10 chord-sequences at best, classical compositions usually feature hundreds of different chord-sequences – not to mention the extensive variations to tonality and timbre.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on What is the Relationship between Taste and Ideology? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Now that we have established the dialectical links between the extent of people’s intellectual advancement and the nature of their aesthetic preferences, it makes it easier to discuss the specifics of how taste affects ideology. According to Althusser: â€Å"Ideologies function first and foremost to create subjects who experience their relationship to the world in certain, politically salient ways† (161). Such Althusser’s suggestion correlates with that of Cheal: â€Å"Ideologies mediate between so ­cial experiences and behavior, or the inhibition of behavior. Through an ideology, particular experiences acquire a general significance by being related to each other or to important values† (112). We can only subscribe to both suggestions, in this respect. After all, ideologies do in fact serve the purpose of helping its affiliates to assess the significance of surrounding reality’s emanations, which c ontributes to the effectiveness of the process of ideologically minded people tackling life’s challenges. Nevertheless, it is essential to understand that the concept of ideology, in contemporary sense of this word, is relatively new. In this respect, we can only agree with neo-Marxian thesis that the concept of ideology cannot be discussed outside of what represented the particulars of how the newly emerged social class of bourgeoisie was striving to attain socio-political legitimacy. After all, before the French Revolution of 1792, the representatives of bourgeoisie were considered nothing but ‘lowly merchants’. Before this Revolution, there were no nations, in the traditional sense of this word – the political authority used to be exerted solely by the representatives of Church’s clergy and by the representatives of Europe’s old aristocracy. Therefore, it does not come as a particular surprise why the initially emerged ideologies were esse ntially the ideologies of ‘national liberation’ – bourgeoisie needed to legitimize ‘nation’ as a sovereign political unit. By being prompted to consider themselves a ‘part of the nation’, the representatives of lower social classes, such as proletariat and peasantry, were expected pay little attention to the fact that their low social status was a direct consequence of them having been subjected to the different forms of socio-economic exploitation. According to Gramsci, the initial purpose of ideological indoctrination was ensuring the cohesiveness of how the affiliates of underprivileged social classes reflected upon the social environment and their place in it (33). The best way to achieve it was prompting socially disadvantaged people to think of bourgeois values as their own. Nevertheless, what neo-Marxian sociologists do not seem to understand, is that the process of designing a particular mass-ideology is not being quite as reflec tive of designers’ values, as much as it is being reflective of the innermost psychological anxieties of those to whom this ideology is expected to appeal.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The validity of this suggestion can be easily illustrated in regards to what represented the aesthetics of Nazi ideology, on the one hand, and the aesthetics of Communist ideology, on the other. Despite the fact that these ideologies were based upon mutually contradictory theoretical premises, the closer inquiry into the essence of both ideologies’ aesthetic appeal, reveals the apparent similarity between how Nazis and Communists strived to popularize their socio-political agendas with masses. For example, just as it used to be the case with Nazi visual art, Communist visual art featured the images of blond/healthy/muscular men and women indulging in a variety of different physical activities. Just as it used to be the case Nazi marching music, Communist marching music emanated a clearly defined spirit of optimistic purposefulness (Heskett 143). In fact, after having altered the semantic content of many Nazi marches, such as the Horst Vessel march, Russian Communists adopted them as their own (Soviet Aviator’s March). The reason for this is simple – due to the specifics of their genetic makeup, both: Germans and Russians are being equally predisposed towards professing the essentially ‘Faustian’ existential values. These values are based upon the assumption that: â€Å"Individual’s will-power must never cease combating obstacles, that the catastrophes of existence come as an inevitable culmination of past choices and experiences, and that the conflict is the essence of existence† (Greenwood 53). Therefore, there is nothing particularly odd about the fact that even though Nazism and Communism praised the spirit of collectivism, the aesthetic emanations of both ideologies praised the spirit of individualistic industriousness – these ideologies were nothing but qualitatively different manifestations of workings of the same ‘Faustian’ psycho-type. As it was noted by Serebriany: â€Å"Soviet Marxi st epistemological pride was for the most drawn from the West, together with the entire ‘package’ of Marxism or even the ‘modern European episteme’ as a whole† (97). Apparently, there was nothing accidental about the fact that in 1940, Stalin seriously considered joining the Anti-Comintern Pact (Axis), headed by Nazi Germany. In its turn, this also explains why in early sixties, the Communist countries of Soviet Union and People’s Republic of China became nothing short of sworn enemies. Whereas, the majority of Russians were never able to truly affiliate themselves with Communist ideological conventions; this proved to be no challenge, whatsoever, for the majority of Chinese. This was the reason why, up until the collapse of Soviet Union in 1991, Chinese Communists never ceased accusing Soviet Communists of ‘revisionism’. Apparently, the ‘pure’ Communist ideology did, in fact, correlate with the particulars of how Chin ese people, endowed with ‘Apollonian’ (Asian/collectivist) mentality, reflect upon the surrounding reality (Greenwood 54). Given the fact that the existential mode of the majority of Asians is being concerned with these people’s unconscious strive to ‘blend’ with the nature (to ‘objectualize’ themselves within natural environment), there is nothing utterly surprising about the fact that, after having been planted into the Asian soil, Communism did take rather long roots. After all, even today, China officially remains a Communist country. The same can be said about North Korea, which along with China and Pol Pot’s Cambodia, can be best defined as the only ‘true’ Communist states that ever existed on the face of the Earth. Therefore, even though neo-Marxian philosophers do make a good point, while suggesting that just about every political ideology is meant to serve the interests of the representatives of social elites , it is quite impossible to agree with their view on ideology as simply one among many mechanisms of people’s socio-economic oppression. After all, the representatives of a particular society’s elite never cease remaining strongly interconnected with this society’s ordinary members. This is why, even though that in many cases, the aesthetic conventions that socially prominent individuals strive to incorporate into the very matrix of spatially predominant socio-political ideology, do appear intellectually oppressive (too sophisticate/refined), they nevertheless correlate with the overall biological quality of the general population. I believe that the provided earlier line of argumentation, in defense of a suggestion that one’s aesthetic taste can indeed be discussed as being rather biologically than environmentally predetermined (which points out to the objectiveness of a particular ideology’s aesthetic manifestations), is being entirely consistent with paper’s initial thesis. What it means is that it is fully appropriate to assess the measure of a particular ideology’s discursive value in regards to whether this ideology corresponds to the notion of a ‘good taste’ or not. After all, as it shown earlier, the notion of ‘good taste’ is a fully objective category. Bibliography Althusser, Louis. Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays. New York: NYU Press, 1971. Print. Bourdieu, Pierre. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste. Harvard:  Harvard University Press, 1984. Print. Bruhl, Levy. The Soul of the Primitive (translated by Lilian Clare). London: George Allen Unwin Ltd.,1928. Print. Cheal, David. â€Å"Hegemony, Ideology and Contradictory Consciousness.† The  Sociological Quarterly 20.1 (1979): pp. 109-117. Print. Gramsci, Antonio. Selections from the Prison Notebooks of Antonio Gramsci  (translated by Quintin Hoarc and Geoffrey Smith). London: Lawrence and W ishart, 1971. Print. Greenwood, Susan. Anthropology of Magic. Oxford: Berg Publishers, 2009. Print. Heskett, John. â€Å"Art and Design in Nazi Germany.† History Workshop 6 (1978): pp. 139-153. Print. Lynn, Richard Vanhanen, Tatu. IQ and the Wealth of Nations. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002. Print. Serebriany, Sergei. â€Å"On the ‘Soviet Paradigm’ (Remarks of an Indologist).†Ã‚  Studies in East European Thought 57.2 (2005): pp. 93-13. Print. This essay on What is the Relationship between Taste and Ideology? was written and submitted by user Kayden Roth to help you with your own studies. 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