Alcoholics Anonymous Community Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

AA Community - Research Paper Example Likewise, I understood that it was basic to confide in others to support me, since I myself am being prepared for a calling, which expects me to support others. Along these lines, I moved toward the AA gathering, with trepidation and expectation engaging it out in my heart. The primary thing one learns at these gatherings, are the 12 stages they follow during the time spent achieving balance (Alcoholics Anonymous Australia, 2001). Initial, one needs to acknowledge that they tend to drink too much over which they are weak. Second, they acknowledge that there is a more prominent force, which can help with the issue. At that point, as a third step, the individuals are to depend this more powerful, God, with the obligation of helping them defeat the issue. At that point the consideration of the individual is moved to themselves, as they are advised to search inside themselves to play out a careful and valiant good stock of themselves. The fifth step is to concede the wrongs they have fou nd in themselves to God just as to another individual. After this, the relieving starts as they intellectually set themselves up for God to scrub them of these deficiencies. The seventh step follows, where the individual requests that God free the person in question of these defects. The eighth step comprises of spreading the positive change to outside simply oneself.

Effects of Technology on Enviroment Essay

Impacts of innovation on condition. Determination of subject Presently a day the world depends absolutely on advancements. In this way, it is essential to talk about on the impact caused on condition because of these advances. Points and goals To learn about impacts of innovation on earth. To consider its negative and positive effect on condition. To examine how to diminishes its evil impact. To investigation the vitality expended every year on advances. Significance The Negative Ecological Impacts of Technology Probably the most concerning issue the world faces today is the measure of vitality that is expended universally. With practically the entirety of the world’s organizations utilizing PC innovation to work, the vitality utilization of the mechanical world is continually on the expansion. Nations, for example, the United States where the normal worker works over 40 hours per week, therefore, the vitality utilization of a run of the mill office in the United States is probably going to be higher than that of an office in a nation where the normal work week doesn't surpass 40 hours. Numerous workplaces run their PC frameworks on a centralized computer server. This server is normally running 24 hours per day and is once in a while closed down. To shield these servers from overheating, fans are introduced inside the hard drives. With the consolidated vitality of the fans and the activity of the servers, the measure of vitality being devoured is tremendous and brings about a high warm tally. As per the International Energy Agency or, IEA, around 4% of the world’s vitality utilization in 2008 was because of the mass utilization of data correspondences advancements. This figure is anticipated to ascend to a fantastic 40% when the year 2030 shows up. At this point, the requests on the world’s power sources will have likewise multiplied universally and organizations should have a feasible answer for keep PC innovations from being a significant channel on the world’s vitality assets. The Positive Ecological Impacts of Technology Regardless of the cases that innovation is at fault for a considerable lot of the world’s environmental issues, innovation has additionally served to improve the state of our planet. Since the ascent of innovation in the work environment, various ICT organizations have been planning â€Å"greener technology† to battle the inconvenient impact that PCs and their going with innovation have on the earth. A standout amongst other realized associations is the Green Grid. The Green Grid is an association that comprises of IT organizations and experts from around the globe. The Green Grid is concocting approaches to improve the manner in which vitality is devoured by IT arranged organizations and their workplaces. Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of the Green Grid is the Power Usage Effectiveness or, PUE, decimal standard for measuring. This framework records server farm vitality utilization. How it functions is by recording the vitality utilization of a server farm or centralized computer server like clockwork. By recording in these brief augmentations it helps those checking the information to see if there are any vitality variances and if the server farm frameworks are utilizing a satisfactory measure of vitality. The drawn out objective of the Green Grid is to present a standard framework that permits business chiefs and IT agents to look at the measure of the vitality they are expending and if important purpose approaches to diminish it. Another innovation that is impactsly affecting nature is low carbon innovation. Low carbon innovation is a type of innovation that has been created in China. To a great extent created due to China’s low carbon impression in contrast with other creating nations, the low carbon innovation intends to balance the measure of outflows dirtying the air by utilizing sustainable non-renewable energy sources. Perception Upgrades in the innovation effectsly affect the human life alongside the constructive outcomes. The development of the innovation prompts serious issues like contamination, joblessness, impacts public activity of the people and so forth.. As a matter of first importance, the most difficult issue is contamination, which is made by the innovative creations like vehicles, enterprises, and so on.. Presently a-days the vehicles like vehicles, bicycles are expanding which is prompting increment in contamination. The other issue is radiation brought about by the expansion in the cell phones. Also, in the majority of the creating nations like India the serious issue is joblessness. This issue is generally brought about by the expansion in the instruments, which are the consequences of progress in the innovation. At long last, in today’s world all the individuals are getting dependent on the web like social destinations, games and they additionally turning out to be casualties of the google. For instance, all the people are engaging in the facebook and they are not in the least worrying about the encompassing scene, this may driving them away from the public activity and now and again it additionally makes issues in the families. The other model, everybody in this world is relying upon google for each and everything and they are not in any way alluding to the books. Nonetheless, a large portion of the individuals state that upgrades in innovation like programming arrangements makes business, yet that isn't correct on the grounds that the work made by the product field is not exactly the livelihoods which is diminished by the instruments in ventures. Taking everything into account, the negative impacts of the innovation is higher than the points of interest from the upgrades in innovati on. End Because of the expansion in the different types of innovation, there are numerous positive and negative biological effects on the planet. Through the ascent in present day innovation and increment in globalization, there is a high increment in vitality utilization. This thusly effectsly affects the planet’s atmosphere and air quality. In any case, without current innovation there would not be the capacity to improve vitality the executives frameworks or to grow ecologically well disposed items, for example, bio-powers. To make a dynamic advance towards decreasing the measure of harm innovation does to the earth, it is important to discover approaches to oversee new innovation mindfully with the goal that it can keep on having positive environmental effects. Investigation

Vietnam War Short Stories Essay -- Literary Analysis

The Vietnam War was the primary war in history to be communicated on national TV. Because of the expanding ubiquity of TV proprietorship and the presentation of the evening news projects, for example, CBS and NBC, the detestations of war found a spot in lounges the nation over. Somewhere in the range of 1965 and 1975, 9,000,000 individuals served in the Vietnam War, and of those 9,000,000, 58,156 were murdered or proclaimed long gone (Vietnam War Statistics.). Of the 58,156 fighters executed, 11,465 of them were younger than twenty (Statistics about the Vietnam War). In the wake of enduring the war, Tim O’Brien and Susan O’Neill composed short stories and books including Tim O’Brien’s â€Å"The Things They Carried†, and Susan O’Neill’s â€Å"The Boy from Montana†. By placing crowds in the shoes of the snorts drove by Lieutenant Jimmy Cross and the careful gloves of Agnes Reedy, Tim O’Brien and Susan O’Neill deified the battles experienced by their comrades and themselves. â€Å"The things they carried† is a short tale about Lieutenant Jimmy Cross driving his men through Vietnam. O’Brien depicts everything conveyed by the men as an approach to represent the entirety of the weights they had. One thing that Lieutenant Jimmy Cross conveys is a pack of letters from Martha, a young lady he was enamored with (O’Brien). One night Ted Lavender, one of the men in Lieutenant Cross’s crew, left to utilize the restroom and on his arrival, is shot and murdered (O'Brien).This makes Cross understand that his principle need is to lead his men, not swoon over a lady (O'Brien). â€Å"The Boy from Montana† is a short anecdote about Agnes Reedy’s record of viewing a kid bite the dust in the field medical clinic she worked at in Vietnam. She says that she believed that all demise was the equivalent, however one day s... ...Short Stories of Vietnam. New York: Ballantine, 2001. 3-11. Print. Roush, Gary. Measurements about the Vietnam War. Vietnam Helicopter Flight Crew Network (VHFCN). 2 June 2008. Web. 18 Mar. 2012. . Taormina, Agatha. Creator Profile: Tim O'Brien. Northern Virginia Community College. Www.nvcc.edu, 10 Mar. 2011. Web. 16 Mar. 2012. . Tim O’Brien Interview: The Things He Carried. Interview by David L. Edelman. Wordpress, 19 Oct. 1994. Web. 17 Mar. 2012. . Vietnam Veteran's Terminology and Slang. VIETNAM VETERANS HOME PAGE. 22 Mar. 2000. Web. 15 Mar. 2012. . Vietnam War Statistics. The Mobile Riverine Force Association. Web. 18 Mar. 2012. .

Family theories free essay sample

The Ethics of Violence in Computer Games Savagery in computer games was never a hotly debated issue until April twentieth, 1999. After the Columbine High School shooting shook the country with its mind boggling arbitrary ruthlessness, a stunned country looked for answers. There more likely than not been some explanation behind Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold’s ridiculous frenzy. The country required a substitute for this ghastly occasion, something to assume the fault. A great deal of the accuse arrived for the media, the music business, and rough computer games. The discussion over how computer games impact kids despite everything proceeds. There are numerous suppositions on how unsafe or innocuous computer games truly are. As of late, numerous lawmakers appear to have concluded that computer games are, truth be told, hurtful to kids. Enactment is presently being made to confine and blue pencil savage computer games. Customarily, guardians have been the ones capable and in charge of what their youngsters were presente d to on the PC. Presently lawmakers need to administer what children are presented to as opposed to confide in this activity to the guardians. This is a takeoff from how different types of media are administered. Children are lawfully permitted to purchase any sort of music paying little heed to parental warnings and to see any sort of brutality on TV. It is the parents’ employment to decide whether their children are permitted to tune in to that music or watch that TV. It ought to continue as before path with computer games. It is exploitative to remove these decisions from the parents’ hands. It is the parents’ duty and option to bring up their kids how they see fit. In any case, the industry additionally has a significant task to carry out. The music business puts parental warnings on music content guardians may discover wrong and guardians are educated regarding station content when they pursue link. In like manner, the game business needs to enhance their s trategies for advising guardians regarding the substance in their games. Guardians ought to be answerable for directing the sorts of games their children are presented to, in any case, the computer game industry has a duty to precisely and genuinely convey the degree of brutality delineated in their games. The impacts of computer games on kids is a moderately new subject of research. Introductory considers have brought about uncertain and clashing outcomes. Most specialists have just concluded that computer games ought to have indistinguishable negative impact on kids from TV does, since the two mediums have all the earmarks of being so comparative.

An Online MBA Can Help Entrepreneurs Essay Example

An Online MBA Can Help Entrepreneurs Essay Example An Online MBA Can Help Entrepreneurs Essay An Online MBA Can Help Entrepreneurs Essay Beginning one’s own business is still especially the American dream; and there are a great many Americans every year who assume the test of opening their very own entryways of business and cutting out their own place in this nation of chance. At times, these business visionaries have significant involvement with a specific industry and parlay that experience into their own business. In different cases, such entrepreneurs are drawing upon instruction just in their journey to manufacture something effective. To this end, there may emerge a need to procure a Master of Business Administration †or MBA †to help amplify an entrepreneur’s open door for progress. The test may turn out to be, in any case, how to seek after such an extent while as yet working the hours important to get a business off the ground. Today, be that as it may, there are numerous manners by which to win a degree, for example, a MBA †one of which is the chance to win an online MBA. Through the assets gave through the Internet, an assortment of schools and colleges are offering the accessibility of online degree programs †either as independent projects or notwithstanding a nearby program. Possibility for an online MBA complete their coursework online at their own relaxation with the goal that they can fit the program into their previously existing work and family plan. For the individuals who are simply going into business this adaptability can have a significant effect in choosing to seek after a degree. By working at their own pace they can encourage their instruction and upgrade their odds for accomplishment in the realm of business.

Enhancing firm value under concentrated ownership - Free Essay Example

Corporate boards of the company are primary drivers for growth and value maximization. Boards of directors as fiduciaries of the shareholders are delegated with the task of monitoring the management to protect the rights shareholders and enhance the value of their capital (Jensen and Meckling, 1976). The structure of board therefore plays an important role in determining the performance of board and maximizing shareholder wealth (Ghosh, 2006). The board is a vital internal corporate governance mechanism and effective in controlling the management and reducing the agency problem (in dispersed shareholding conditions) (Fama and Jensen, 1983). The introduction of non-executive directors on the board was aimed at solving the agency problem and enhancing board performance. The existing literature suggests that outside directors (particularly independent directors) are able to protect the shareholder interests and can perform value enhancement in case of agency problem (Fama and Jensen, 1983; Fraser and Zhang, 1995; Linck et al. 2008). However, under concentrated ownership conditions, generally, the owner is also manager and the issue of agency problem is minimal. The board composition with majority of outside directors under concentrated ownership therefore becomes a critical question. The issue arises whether the outside directors: independent and grey (non-executive non-independent); can play critical role and perform value enhancement through their knowledge and expertise. The majority owners under concentrated ownership as regard to their voting rights have control on selection process of directors and therefore directly influence appointments to the board. This matter assumes importance in determining the quality of independent and grey directors and their ability to protect, particularly the minority, shareholder interests. Predominant literature on corporate governance related to effect of board size on firm performance predicts a negative relationship (Yermack, 1996; Gosh, 2006; Guest, 2009). The negative influence of larger group dynamics in bigger board prevail over the anticipated potential advantages of greater number of people on such board (Jensen, 1993). The current study aims to extend research done by Ghosh (2006) on board structure on firm performance in Indian context. In particular, study aims at investigating the effect of board size and composition of board, that is, percentage of inside, independent and grey directors on the board performance. The research is new the perspective, as it aims to understand how presence of these directors on the board affects firm value in period of financial distress under concentrated ownership. II. Research Design The sample used in this study consists of 164 non- financial firms of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 200 index of India for the financial year 2008-2009. The data on board size and composition was taken from corporate governance report of the companies. The other financial and market data was obtained from Prowess database of Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). Tobin Q = ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²0 + ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²1 LBsize + ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²2 Fage + ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²3 Fsize + ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²4 Lev + ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²5 Roa + ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²6 Ownblock3 + ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²7 Indusdum + e ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦eq1 Tobin Q = ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²0 + ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²1 LBsize + ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²2 (Direc: EXE or GR or IND) + ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²3 Fage + ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²4 Fsize + ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²5 Lev + ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²6 Roa + ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²7 Ownblock3 + ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²8 Indusdum + e ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦eq2 The effect of board size on firm performance is estimated through equation 1, while equation 2 is used for analyzing effect of different categories of directors on the firm performance. The market based performance measure Tobins Q has been used a dependent variable to analyse the effects. Several control variables have been included in model to remove the problem of endogenity and to account for the potential advantages of economies of scale, growth, scope of market power and risk characteristics of firms (Hermalin and Weisbach, 1991; Vafeas and Theodorou, 1998; Shanmugam and Bhaduri, 2002) Table 1 Description of the Variables Type Variable Description and measure Dependent TobinQ Tobins Q , market value of equity plus book value of short-term and long-term debt divided by total assets Independent LBsize Board Size, natural logarithm of the number of director on the board PerEX Executive Directors, percentage of executive directors on the board PerGR Grey Directors, percentage of grey directors on the board PerIND Independent Directors, percentage of Independent directors on the board Control Fage Firm Age, the logarithm of the number of years since the establishment of a firm Fsize Firm Size, natural logarithm of total assets Lev Firm leverage, ratio of long term debt to the total assets Roa Return on assets, measured net profit to the total asset Ownblock3 Ownership block holding, measured percentage ownership of top three block holders of the company indusdum Industry dummy, Industries shown in table III given dummy values from 1 to 15 Table 2 Descriptive Statistics of Variables Variables TobinQ LBsize PerEXE PerGR PerIND Fage Fsize Lev Roa Ownblock3 N 164 164 164 164 164 164 164 164 164 164 Mean 1.504 2.345 29.269 20.291 50.440 7.587 8.815 23.567 0.774 79.056 Median 1.095 2.303 30.000 18.182 50.000 7.591 8.611 23.975 0.550 80.277 Std. Dev 1.359 0.292 12.948 14.421 10.574 0.012 1.131 19.164 0.663 11.865 Minm 0.000 1.609 0.000 0.000 20.000 7.539 6.672 0.000 0.010 46.732 Maxm 8.650 2.996 55.556 62.500 85.710 7.604 12.413 67.960 3.530 100.000 III. Results and Discussion The Indian corporate governance code i.e. Clause 49 of the Listing Agreement which necessitates half of board to be comprised of independent director in case executive or non executive promoter or relative being the Chairman. The results point that on an average, the boards of companies have 70 percent non-executive directors (outside directors) and 50 percent of independent directors. Further analysis ( table III) suggest that companies having larger board size ( more than 11) find it difficult to have 50 percent independent directors on the board. Ghosh (2006) has analyzed the effect of the board composition on firm performance and, finds weak positive association of outside directors with firm performance. Extending his work and also controlling for board size , we have analyzed the effect of three categories of directors namely; inside, independent and grey directors on the firm performance. The regressions results (table IV) reveal that under concentrated ownership regime in per iod of financial distress (08-09), greater proportion of inside directors on the board significantly affects firm performance, whereas greater percentage of grey directors significantly deteriorates the firm performance. Higher percentage of independent directors on board has no significant affect on the firm performance. Consistent with study of Ghosh (2006) and other international studies and, we find that board size is negatively associated with Tobins Q, though not at any significant level. We see that average board size of sample companies is approx 11 (table III). The result suggests that larger boards are ineffective in monitoring the management due to higher agency cost associated with it, and ideal board size for Indian companies should smaller and below 11. Table 3 Board Composition Industry Companies Board Size Exe Direc Grey Direc Ind. Direc NE Direc ( Grey+ Ind)    ( Number) (Avg Size ) ( Avg Percen) ( Avg Percen) ( Avg Percen) (Avg Percen) Agriculture 7 10.71 34.27 16.67 49.06 65.73 Capital Goods 14 11 30.25 18.95 50.79 69.75 Chemical 3 13 33.9 14.58 51.52 66.1 FMCG 9 10.11 26.6 23.05 50.35 73.4 Healthcare 15 9.73 34.62 12.02 53.35 65.37 Housing Related 18 11.38 29.97 19.74 50.29 70.03 Information Technology 12 9.83 25.23 18.64 56.13 74.77 Metals and Mining 18 11.11 30.44 21.58 47.97 69.56 Oil Gas 16 11.56 33.78 22.73 43.48 66.22 Power 13 12.15 26.31 22.88 50.8 73.69 Telecom 6 9.33 13.89 33.89 52.22 86.11 Automobiles 12 11.58 29.13 22.14 48.72 70.87 Transport Services 6 10.83 32.38 16.94 50.67 67.61 Textile 4 9.75 22.32 24.46 53.21 77.68 Others 11 10.27 24.68 21.45 53.86 75.31 Total 164 10.89 29.26 20.29 50.44 70.73 Table 4 TobinQ- Model Board performance Dep Variable Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4 Ind variables coeff t coeff t coeff t coeff t (Constant) 0.217 3.331** 0.182 2.674** 0.247 3.757* 0.183 2.449*** LBsize -0.171 -1.542 -0.186 -1.686+ -0.147 -1.333 -0.146 -1.284 PerEX       0.077 1.682+             PerGR             -0.101 -2.195***       PerIND                   0.08 0.917 Control Variables                         Fage -9.276 -1.396 -8.546 -1.291 -9.3 -1.417 -0.9781 -1.467 Fsize -0.408 -3.259** -0.429 -3.428** 0.451 -3.6* -0.419 -3.329** Lev -0.089 -2.309*** -0.098 -2.536*** -0.104 -2.685** -0.092 -2.365*** Roa 0.297 5.276* 0.287 5.102* 0.287 5.155* 0.298 5.293* Ownblock3 0.331 3.558* 0.315 3.387** 0.338 3.67* 0.346 3.66* indusdum -0.002 -0.576 -0.001 -0.214 0 -0.142 -0.002 -0.566 No. of Firms 164 164 164 164 indusdum Included Included Included Included R 0.578 0.588 0.595 0.581 R square 0.334 0.346 0.354 0.338 Adj R square 0.304 0.312 0.321 0.303 F change 11.173* 10.245* 10.618* 9.872* * denotes significance at 0.01 % level ,** denotes significance at 1 % level, *** denotes significance at 5% level , + denotes significance at 10 % level IV. Conclusion The current study investigates which directors are able to enhance performance of corporate boards of companies in Indian context. The results suggest it is particularly the inside directors who are committed to shareholders for their wealth maximization. The inside directors know the company well, have full time commitment and own significant proportion in the company. There interests are much aligned with company, to they can perform value maximization role. Outside directors play a limited role under concentrated ownership regime as evident by regression results. Their quality and ability to protect minority shareholders has also become questionable after Satyam fiasco (Singh and Kumar; 2010). Outside directors and particularly Grey directors are not able to play their role of value maximization in absence of agency problem. Thee study has few implication and lends support for Indian policy makers who aiming to propose the new corporate governance framework for companies through the Companies Bill, 2009. The new legislation proposes to limit to number of independent directors on the board to one third. Our study lends support to this proposed rule and suggests for improving the quality of outside directors. It also necessary to rationalize board size as larger board is ineffective enhancing the firm performance. Our study also lends support to requirement of this legislation that limits board size from three to 12. Based on our findings, we propose further reduce this to 10 or 11 (average board of sample companies) that certainly help in enhancing board performance.

Merit in The Duchess of Malfi - Literature Essay Samples

â€Å"Her days are practis’d in such noble virtue,That, sure her nights, nay more, her very sleeps,Are more in heaven, than other ladies’ shrifts.Let all sweet ladies break their flatt’ring glasses,And dress themselves in her† – (1.2.123-127)These eulogizing words are spoken by Antonio in what is contextually the first mention of the duchess in the play. Even though these lines happen to come from one who is obviously enamoured by the Duchess’s charm, it is clear that she is seen to be an exemplum for other women. Furthermore, this entire speech contrasts the Duchess against her brothers, as an individual who deserves her high position and not merely by virtue of birth. This juxtaposition of the attitudes towards merit and degree remains a constant theme in the play, right from the beginning when Antonio lauds the French court for its meritocratic approach. Therefore, the Duchess at one level symbolically stands as a beacon for noble spirit a gainst orthodox societal notions such as those of hierarchy and gender, embodied in the negative characters of her brothers. As Anand Prakash puts forth in his introduction, the duchess is seen as â€Å"an all-inspiring entity on the strength of her bold assertion of individual entity†. Even her death seems to â€Å"reaffirm her nature of uncompromising persistence with the ideals she has cherished all along.†Throughout the play, the Duchess comes across to be a spirited and resolute woman as seen in her resolve in going against her brothers’ wishes: â€Å"If all my royal kindred lay in my way unto this marriage: I’ll’d make them my low foot-steps†. Through her second marriage she defies her brothers’ orthodox and irrational views, which could be recognized as a reflection of popular notions of the time, and thus, through the Duchess, Webster could be seen to be making a point regarding the circumstances of his time. While this could clearly be interpreted as embracing the feminist cause, Lisa Jardine asserts that instead of a ‘true heroine’, the Duchess is merely a â€Å"transposition of a complex of attitudes towards women into a travesty of seventeenth-century womanhood† She further goes on to brutally dissect the Duchess’s character and Webster’s intent in typical twentieth century feminist fashion. However, what must be kept in mind is that Webster wrote the play in the seventeenth century inspired from a true story about a woman with all the odds stacked against her, such that in the end, she had no recourse but to willingly accept her fate. Jardine herself admits that the Duchess does come across as a convincing portrayal even if given from a distinctively male viewpoint.In her forthright proposal to Antonio, it is evident that the Duchess is fully aware of the situation and the consequences of her decision. While Antonio, is deemed inferior by birth, the Duchess too is m arginalized by virtue of being born a woman in a patriarchal society, even if her position is somewhat elevated thanks to her degree. Yet, in her defiance, she takes a clear stance echoing a faith in justice and a confidence in her own self, even if they both turn to be somewhat vain: â€Å"All discord, without this circumference, is only to be pitied, and not fear’d†. Thus, in the proposal one finds a conscious subtle reversal of gender notions where Antonio comes across as timid and fearful while the Duchess plays the ‘masculine’ part, as suggested by critics. This view is further strengthened by Antonio’s retort: â€Å"These words should be mine, and all the parts you have spoke†. The Duchess then goes on to glorify the stature of love by questioning mere rituals and ceremony: â€Å"How can the Church build faster? We now are man and wife, and ‘tis the Church that must but echo this.†James Calderwood further claims, â€Å"the Duchess’s intent in the wooing scene is to divest herself of her role as social better, to discard degree, to establish herself and Antonio as equals†, which is concurrent to John Selzer’s view, â€Å"the Duchess decides to violate degree not out of weakness or passion or naivetà ©, but because she wishes – like Webster – to promote in Malfi a new ethic, one rooted in the primacy of worth over degree†. These opinions can be corroborated through numerous instances in the text such as when the Duchess seeks to symbolically emulate the French court by asking Antonio to wear his hat in her presence. Therefore, as discussed before, the Duchess is seen to try and herald a new order of merit and fairness in the Italian court, which is given to nepotism and sycophancy. Moreover, the Duchess holds on to her views even while being at the mercy of Bosola and Ferdinand, as corroborated by her ‘Salmon and Dog-fish’ tale and her declaration: â€Å"Man is most happy, when’s own actions be arguments and examples of his virtue†Even in the face of imminent danger, the Duchess demonstrates remarkable courage, as when confronted by Ferdinand, she claims, â€Å"Whether I am doom’d to live, or die, I can do both like a prince,† and in her eventual execution, she proves the veracity of her statement. Furthermore, she goes on to try and calmly appeal to Ferdinand’s logic but of course her efforts prove ineffectual against Ferdinand’s dogmatic rage. Also, it is more than evident that the Duchess possesses a sharp and prudent mind complementing her courage and determination, as witnessed through her instantaneous concoction and artifice while sending Antonio off to Ancona or later to Milan:â€Å"A behaviour so noble, as gives a majesty to adversity†, these words mark Bosola’s imminent change of heart, for the Duchess’s noble charm affects even the cold, calculative and objective character in the play. As vouched by Bosola, even in her confinement, the Duchess maintains her level-headed grace, as she gradually realizes the inevitability of fate and thus comes to accept the same: â€Å"Necessity makes me suffer constantly, and custom makes it easyI am chain’d to endure all your tyranny.† As the moment of her death finally approaches, the Duchess is seen to have reconciled herself to the play of events and in fact, stresses a certain optimism for the life that lay ahead â€Å"Who would be afraid on’t (death)? Knowing to meet such excellent company in th’other world†; and in her plaintive speech to Cariola and her noble last words, Webster’s sensitivity to the tragic heroine is there for all to see. As Robert Ornstein explains, â€Å"the Duchess’s self-possession in the face of death is a spiritual victory rather than a glorious defeat; a vindication of the value of action and virtue.†After her death, the play is seen to somewhat disintegrate into parallels and perversions of tragedy to further highlight her noble character. As Jacqueline Pearson states, â€Å"The society she leaves behind her is negative and sterile†, and in the Duchess’s figurative and spectral presence in Act V, Pearson finds â€Å"a constant poignant reminder of a better way of living.† While John Selzer concludes that the Duchess is finally vindicated through the triumph of the order of merit espoused by her, it is somewhat a biased interpretation keeping in mind the ambiguous nature of the conclusion, for Selzer seems to have forgotten that the Duchess’s real heir was her son from her first marriage. As a result, though the play seems to have reached a somewhat bittersweet climax, there is a hint of further darkness raising the question whether justice and merit do indeed prevail. Whether Webster intentionally included this ambivalence or was it a mere oversight on his par t is of course debatable. However, it is undeniable that in the Duchess, he creates a magnificent heroine who shines forth both as a icon and as an individual in the face of a dogmatic society, such that despite all the atrocities, she retains her glorious stature in the readers’ imagination. As a result, her passionate avowal rings true in all its intensity:â€Å"I am Duchess of Malfi still.†