Female Characters through the Prism of the Male Heroes Emilia Pardo Bazán and Henry James

Introduction: Where Two Stories Cross. Henry James and Emilia Pardo Bazà ¡n Creating a compelling female character is not an easy task even if making a woman the lead character. Henry James and Emilia Pardo Bazà ¡n, however, managed to create strong female characters by pushing the male ones into the foreground. Despite the fact that in On the Streetcar and in Washington Square, the male characters attempt at – and, in fact, succeed in – seizing bower and taking the entire space of the novel, the female leads are still represented in a very graphic manner.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Female Characters through the Prism of the Male Heroes: Emilia Pardo Bazà ¡n and Henry James specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Space, Power and Dr. Sloper’s Need for Controlling Others At the first glance, it seems that in Henry James’s story, Dr. Sloper takes the entire novel, leaving little to no r oom for another nonetheless important character to develop (Ludwig para.1). Despite the fact that the novel opens and closes with the focus kept on Catherine, Dr. Sloper persistently remains in the focus of the reader’s attention, preferring to make decisions for Catherine, claiming to know what is best for her, and evidently enjoying his control over her: â€Å"They are both afraid of me–harmless as I am† (James 4). On a second thought, though, Sloper’s being constantly in the foreground allows for creating a complex and very compelling character arch for his daughter Catherine. Space, Power and the Compassionate Narrator in Bazà ¡n’s On the Streetcar Unlike Sloper, Bazan’s male character is much more subtle. Though he is the narrator, the readers never get to know his name. Moreover, the narrator does not even focus on his persona, putting the woman in the limelight: â€Å"I suspected that the woman in the ash-colored shawl [†¦] suf fered from a grief† (Bazan 47). However, judging by his attempt to become the saving grace for the woman, which leads to him misunderstanding the situation, the narrator also wishes to seize power over the poor and the desolate, therefore, raising his sense of self-importance. Weirdly enough, the given plot line works for the development of the woman’s character arch, her being portrayed as not only the ostracized one, but also as the one that was misunderstood. Male Characters in On the Streetcar and Washington Square: Analysis It would be wrong, however, to assume that both characters are deliberately evil or thoughtless about the consequences of their actions – on the contrary, both the narrator from On the Streetcar and Dr. Sloper seem rather confident about their actions and, more to the point, are positively certain that their point of view is the only one that is actually viable. Even though Bazà ¡n’s narrator finally faces his moment of revelation when realizing his misjudgment about the source of the woman’s grief, he is still pretty self-assured, at least in terms of his judgment of other people (Walter 88).Advertising Looking for essay on comparative literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It would be wrong to claim that none of the characters is compelling or three-dimensional; on the contrary, although Bazà ¡n’s narrator is admittedly bland, they both still are very memorable, mainly because they take actions and address the reader, either in an inner dialogue, as in Bazà ¡n’s story, or in engaging into conversations with other characters, as Henry James’s Dr. Sloper does. That being said, the fact that the characters take much space in both novels does push the female leads into the background. However, it is worth mentioning that the male characters also serve as the foil for the female leads to evolve on. Therefore, it can be a ssumed that the space taken by the male characters in On the Streetcar and in Henry James’ Chapter 24 is relatively small; they wrap around the story, while the female characters fill it. Conclusion: The Evolution of the Male Characters. In Search for the Peace of Mind Both novels represent female characters through describing the male ones. Even though the later admittedly take space and power in both novels, the female leads still shine through. Both stories serve as a perfect example of how less being said about the characters serves perfect for creating a compelling character arch. Works Cited Bazà ¡n, Emilia Pardo. On the Streetcar. n. d. PDF file. 45–51. 10 Nov. 2013. James. Henry. Washington Square. n. d. PDF file. 3-66. 10 Nov. 2013. Ludwig, Meredith. Henry James and His Women. An Excerpt. n. d. Web. https://www.nku.edu/~emily/ludwig.html. Walter, Susan. â€Å"After the Apple: Female Sexuality in the Writings of Emilia Pardo Bazà ¡n.† Decimonomica 9.2 (2012), 88–105. http://www.decimononica.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Walter_9.2.pdf.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Female Characters through the Prism of the Male Heroes: Emilia Pardo Bazà ¡n and Henry James specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This essay on Female Characters through the Prism of the Male Heroes: Emilia Pardo Bazà ¡n and Henry James was written and submitted by user Kallie Wilkinson to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Change Management Definition and Its Principles

Change Management Definition and Its Principles Introduction In one way or another all organizations whether big or small will eventually undergo some form of change, whether it comes in the form of changes to organizational leadership, changes to processes due to market influences or simply changes in the way the company addresses interoffice communication, the fact remains that in one way or another change is inevitable and as such it is important to establish methods of managing change so as to ensure a smooth transition from one method of doing things to another (Schraeder Jordan, 2011).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Change Management Definition and Its Principles specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More 3 Principles to Remember when Managing Change For this particular exercise I chose the following principles of change due to the way in which they reflect my own personal thoughts on what is necessary to manage change effectively: To change the individual, change the system People fear change it happens to them. A clearly defined vision of the end result enables all the people to define the most efficient path for accomplishing the results For me these particular principles speak volumes of what is needed in managing change and as such I will attempt give you the reader a short overview of why I believe this are so and will try to convince you of the accuracy of my choice. First and foremost the principle of changing the system in order change the individual is derived from my own belief that in one way or another people tend to conform their mannerisms to the way a particular organizational structure works. Though it may not be immediately apparent facets such as work culture and internal company rules and regulations work in a manner in which an individual perceives what he should so and how he should do it. While such a factor is important in creating consistency and getting exactly what the company requires out of an employee often such systems enforce a certain mindset on individuals resulting in them being maladaptive to sudden changes in the way they used to do things. It is based on this that in order to change the way in which a employee acts, thinks and expresses ideas it is important to first change the system in which he/she operates in order to bring about the desired change needed (Schraeder Jordan, 2011). Secondly, the concept of people fearing change is well known psychological concept that is deeply embedded in the fact that humans are essentially creatures of habit. People prefer doing things a certain way, they like having routines and they enjoy a life where they follow the simple logic of if they do this they get that (Van der Merwe, 2009). When a certain inexplicable change is introduced into a persons routine three possible things may occur, either: They adapt to this new change They resist to the change that is being induced They attempt to adapt yet fail at doing so. For organizations in th e midst of change the latter two responses are the most troubling since this may result in several groups of individuals either resisting the change or being unable to adapt properly, both of which would adversely affect the company.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Going back to the first principle mentioned, it is important to take note of the fact that in order to prevent the fear of change what is needed is to gradually change the system in which a person works up to the point that they are able to accept the change as it happens. The second principle compliments the first in that it addresses the unsaid point that since people fear change it is often hard to change the individual. Thus in order to change a person it is necessary to gradually change the mindset they operate with in order to facilitate effective change with little adverse effects (Van der Merwe, 2009). The last principle chosen is related to the action of having people know what is needed change and thus having them choose the direction in which the change would be best implemented. While this paper has so far shown that people fear change, are often resistant to it and that in order to change a person it is necessary to change the system they work in what wasnt mentioned was the fact that people are often resistant to outside change yet when the change comes from within, in that they see the necessity of change, employees often respond positively towards change and actually work towards it. In the case of the third principle by a supplying a clearly defined vision of what is needed to change instead of forcing the change, employees actually become more amenable to the necessity of change and become less resistant, more encouraging and actually contribute their own thoughts and views as to what other changes could be accomplished. Techniques to Manage Change There are 3 tec hniques that I would like to elaborate on that I believe are important in managing change and are consistent with the principles I chose Changing Employee Mindsets One of the first techniques necessary in managing change is to change the way in which employees think about the way in which they work. As mentioned in the discussion regarding the 1st principle it is often the case that employees develop a certain mindset regarding work which makes them far less apt to change when the need arises.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Change Management Definition and Its Principles specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It is based on this that what is needed is slowly change internal company policies and workplace culture so as to make it more amenable to the desired change rather than implement it all at once. This conforms with the first principle of change chosen in which a person is changed via a change in the system that they work. Implementing a workplace culture of open communication In the second principle chosen it was elaborated that people tend to fear change, while this is true the fact remains that there are actually method of mitigating this. One of them is implementing a workplace culture of open communication, by doing so not only can employee fears be addressed and taking into account when implementing change within the organization but it can be used as way in which to dampen the unforeseen and adverse effects the might happen should change be implemented. Establish Goals/Purpose driven work In their study examining employee performance it was discovered by Bishop (2011) that it is often the case that employees work better and adapt to change faster if there is a given goal or rather their work is driven by a specific purpose. Taking the third principle chosen into consideration it can be assumed that by creating a defined vision by which employees can work towards not only would this resul t in a smooth transition during change but can actually result in improved employee performance as well. Reference List Bishop, M. (2011). Raising the Bar on Performance-Driven Leadership. T+D, 65(7), 38. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Schraeder, M., Jordan, M. (2011). Managing Performance. Journal for Quality   Participation, 34(2), 4-10. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Van der Merwe, S. P. (2009). Determinants of family employee work performance and compensation in family businesses. South African Journal of Business  Management, 40(1), 51. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.