Thursday, October 31, 2019

Management in Robin Hood band Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Management in Robin Hood band - Essay Example He selected four lieutenants, where one was placed in charge of intelligence and scouting, the other one responsible for maintain discipline among the members of the band, the third one entrusted with the role of managing the finances of the band and the last lieutenant authorized to undertake the provisioning of the ever increasing band. The purpose/value statement of the band was â€Å"Rob the rich and give to the poor† (Lampel, 1). However, the band did not live up to its mission and eventually wanted to change from confiscating of goods to start taxing the people. This was a point of failure, since the band lost its purpose and mission, a fact that served to weaken its fight against the Sherriff. The key stakeholders were the members of the band, the enemy who was the Sherriff, the political allies and friends of the Sherriff, the rich merchants and traders and the not so well-up village people. Each of the stakeholders had their expectations. The band members expected to defeat the Sherriff, the village people expected their interests to be fought for by the band, the Sherriff expected to defeat the band and the allies of the Sherriff expected to remain in power. ... le, when the leader suggested the taxation of the people in order to make enough finances to fund the bands operation, the band members opposed to the taxation of the people, whom they considered their allies. The threats to the band were the decline in the sources of supplies for their food and finances, as well as the increased growth in strength of their enemy, the Sherriff. The opportunities open to the band was its collaboration with the barons who were against Prince John, a conspiracy that would earn the band future amnesty. The key issues arising from the analysis is the inappropriateness of the leadership style applied by the bandleader. A one-man leadership style did not seem to work, especially as the number of the band grew to enormous. Lack of commitment to the mission and purpose of the band is yet another issue. Another issue is that the band lacked a plan and a projection of the future growth crisis of the band, as well as the decline in their financial and food resou rces. The underlying question for the bands organization then becomes, can the band overcome all the challenges facing it and stay committed to its course of fighting the Sherriff? Applying the five-factor model on the management of the band, there is a perceived fulfillment of the requirements of some elements of the model. For example, there is a high degree of sociability in the bands management, a high level of thoughtfulness as indicated by the deep thinking portrayed by the bands leader, emotional instability and anxiety is also present, as demonstrated by the anxiety that the leader has. Openness is yet another trait portrayed by the leader of the band, in terms of his imagination and insights (Lampel, 2). However, one element, as required by the five-factor model is missing in the

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Evaluating a Health Promotion Website Essay Example for Free

Evaluating a Health Promotion Website Essay Health Information Technology (HIT) has been introduced into the National Health Service (NHS) in order to improve the quality, efficiency, safety and cost effectiveness of the delivery of health care. The application of computerized information technology in health care settings has so far played a vital role in improving the accessibility of information and has replaced more labour intensive and unproductive methods (Shekelle and Goldzweig, 2009). The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC, 2009) maintain that that nurses’ skills, knowledge and practice must be guided by the best available evidence. Often this evidence is found on the internet however many sources of information can be inaccurate so a good standard of critical evaluation is required (Kim, Eng, Deering et al 1998). To evaluate the quality and reliability of a chosen website the use of a framework can be helpful such as Roberts (2012) 5 C’s website tool. This framework evaluates five areas: credibility, currency, content, construction and clarity. The website The Royal College of Psychiatrists (RC Psych, 2012 a) was chosen to be evaluated because as a mental health nursing student this will develop an awareness of how information technology is implemented and applied to practice in health care. Additionally, by using Roberts (2012) 5 C’s framework to critically evaluate this website, knowledge and skills of the quality and reliability of HIT will be acquired. Main Body RC Psych is the professional and educational organisation for psychiatrist in the UK as well as being a registered charity (RC Psych, 2012 b). Their website is aimed at improving the lives of individuals affected by mental illness through educating the public. They claim to be at the head of developing and promoting best practice in mental health services through their education, training and research projects. Additionally they are involved in the publishing of the following world-class journals; British Journal of Psychiatry, The Psychiatrist, Advances in Psychiatric Treatment and International Psychiatry (RC Psych, 2012 c). Credibility Having gained a royal charter this shows us that the organisation has been recognised by the Queen and seconded by the government to call itself a registered organisation of the highest regard. As stated by the Privy Council Office (2012) organisations granted a Royal Charter must have a solid record of achievement. 75% of its members should be qualified to at least first degree level and the work completed by the organisation must be in the interest of the public. Professor Peter Tyrer is named as the Editor, of the website, and is said to be responsible for the editorial and production aspects of its publications in addition to the production of their online continuing professional development (CPD) e-learning resources and its sales and marketing (RC Psych, 2012 d). After researching Peter Tyrer it is evident that he is highly qualified within the field of mental health and is a professor of community psychiatry for the Department of Medicine, within the Imperial College London (Imperial College London, 2012). The website offers a vast amount of information around mental health including conditions, diagnoses, treatments and types of therapies. The advice provided is produced in the form of online leaflets for the use of the public as well as professionals. Within the website there is no evidence to show that the same specific authors are used regularly for their published articles however, at the end of each article the producer, editor and sometimes an author are named in addition to any expert that has been involved in the making of it. All these leaflets are produced by the RC Psych Public Education Editorial Board that is responsible for producing 300 educational leaflets. These leaflets have been accredited by the NHS Information Standard and subsequently gained numerous awards (Byrne, 2011). They have achieved Plain English and BMA patient information awards and have received consistently positive feedback for the web versions. The editor of these leaflets is Dr Phillip Timms who is currently employed as a consultant Psychiatrist for the South London Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust as well as a senior lecturer in psychiatry at King’s College, London (BMJ Masterclasses, 2012). This site’s web address shows that it is delivered by a UK based academic body as it has an ac.uk URL. This confirms their credibility and reassures the reader that they are qualified experts able to give advice in this field (Roberts, 2010). Combining all this it is apparent that the producers of the website have appropriate qualifications and expertise to offer advice in regards to mental health and supports the credibility of the organisation and the website. Some of these points also link into the other five C’s for example, the awards that the leaflets have received show that the content and clarity of their work has been assessed and found to be of an acceptable standard. Currency When using a website for personal development reasons or to recommend to a patient the information being accessed should be the most current evidence available that has been proven in practice. In regards to the advice provided on the website RC Psych (2012 e) states that they endeavour to update it every two to three years. This is reflected in the articles by showing the date the information was last updated and the date it will be reviewed in the future. Additionally RC Psych (2012 d) state that their information derives from the best evidence available at the time of writing and is updated regularly to reflect any changes in knowledge. Another way to determine the currency of information is to consider the references used to back it up (Roberts, 2010). If the sources are dated then what you are reading may not come from the most current research so there may be more up to date evidence elsewhere. The dates of the references used throughout the website are quite varied however, they do contain many recently published articles and up to date clinical guidelines so this suggests that they are committed to producing up to date information and evidence. This is seen in a leaflet on depression where RC Psyche (2012 f) cites a recently updated guideline by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE, 2009) which looks at the treatment and management of depression in adults. The currency and credibility of the website can also be reflected in its content and therefore this should also be assessed during the evaluation process. Content As well as being credible and current the content must be assessed for its objectivity, accuracy and completeness (Roberts, 2010). The content of a website can be judged by assessing what the website aims to achieve. This could be selling a product, persuading the audience to believe in something or to provide the reader with unbiased and up to date information on a specific topic (Roberts, 2010). RC Psych (2012 a) profess that they aim to improve the lives of individuals with a mental health illness. They aim to do this by educating people through making information and advice available on their website. This would indicate that it falls under the category of providing unbiased and up to date information to the public. The articles on the website are written in the third person so prevents the author from expressing personal opinion. Furthermore the leaflets produced provide links to various other sources of information on the topic being discussed. This encourages further reading which provides a complete and balanced view preventing bias and, where treatment is recommended, allows the reader to make an informed choice (Roberts, 2010). The references used within the website are taken from well known and respected sources that provide current and acknowledged recommendations such as NICE, the Department of Health (DOH) and various field related journals. This indicates that the website seeks to provide and maintain up to date, accurate and unbiased information that concurs with information available in books and journals on the same subjects. Construction The construction of a website, for example, the layout, colours, fonts, sizes and ease of access can determine whether or not a reader believes the website is of good quality or not (Roberts, 2010). A study by Lindgaard, Fernandes and Dudek et al. (2006) found that the first 50 milliseconds that the reader is exposed to a website can cause the reader to form an opinion as to whether a website is worth using or not. On first impression, the website in question looks colourful and professional. The eye is drawn to the bolder writing that states the websites purpose and there are minimal graphics to distract the reader from this. There is a lot of information on the home page of the website and could be considered cluttered, however it is divided into clear sections and appears well organised, giving clear subheadings which guide the reader to their areas of interest easily. The main colour used for the website is grey and presents a professional look. It is subtle but effective in breaking up different sections of the website without being obtrusive. The font size is varied throughout but mainly of a larger size making the website easy to read. There is no option for the reader to change the font sizing or colour which could cause some difficulty as it is not possible to suit everyone with one font size, style and colour (Roberts, 2010). As this is a registered charitable organisation it would be unfair to expect them not to promote money making offers. There are two links to buy books that are published by the royal college of psychiatrists and an option to support them in future development projects. They have presented these links as the last things you would come across on the website. Because of where they are situated it comes across to the reader that they are more interested in providing free and accessible information to educate the pubic over making money. Clarity Clarity is another important area to consider when evaluating a website. Due to our continually growing multi-cultural society it is important that websites cater for all groups in society and not just the English readers. One part of the website caters for professionals working in psychiatry and another to the public wanting to learn more about mental illness. Both sections are presented and written in a way that is understandable to the general public. In the public section they offer their advice in 21 different languages in addition to visual aids using BSL sign language as well as audio pod casts and printable versions. This shows that they have made an effort to cater for diverse cultures and needs. Unfortunately it appears that they have not taken into account the needs of people with dyslexia. Approximately two million people in the UK population are affected by dyslexia of which around 35 to 40 percent experience visual disturbances when reading (Dyslexia Action, 2012). The British Dyslexia Association, (2012) states that the reading ability of an individual with dyslexia can be negatively affected by bright white backgrounds and the use of too much text. By changing the background to an off white colour and spreading out the information over larger areas this would cater for yet another group in society. Conclusion Having the ability to access health information via the internet has given nurses the capacity to constantly improve their knowledge base and skills knowing that they are delivering the best possible care derived from the best available evidence. The RC Psych website not only offers nurses a place to go and build on their knowledge and skills but it also provides them with a safe, reliable and easily accessible knowledge base that they can confidently refer their patients to. The evaluation of this website has shown that the website contains quality, reliable evidence and could be recommended to anyone interested in the field of mental illness. In addition to this the use of the five C’s evaluation tool has provided a great foundation to the development of evaluating skills. It has given an opportunity to discover that the evidence being accessed is suitable for developing personal practice and to help educate patients and is accepted within the NMC code of conduct (Roberts, 2 010).

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Motivation of Self-determination Theory

Motivation of Self-determination Theory Summary of Findings This study explore the different type of motivations of Self Determination Theory, and its three key needs (competence, relatedness, autonomy) towards the social networking game. Therefore, the research question â€Å"What motivates college students to play social networking game?† is explained according to the results of the study. It was found that although more people play the game to spend their leisure time, but the major needs for them is the competence as we can see from the data collected, competence has the highest overall mean value. According to Ryan and Deci (2002) humans thrive to experience mastery and to get a sense of confidence. It is also the search for optimal challenge that motivates people to maintain their performance and to improve their skills so that they could reach another higher level. The need for competence is satisfied if an individual feels masterful, efficient, and confident towards the thing that they are doing for example in playing the game. So from this study, we found that competence needs is the major reason that they engaged in the social networking game. In this study, we found that both needs competence and autonomy are partially related with each other as need of competence is satisfied if an individual feel masterful, efficient, and confident towards the thing that they are doing and when he/she successfully reached the goal after overcoming many obstacles, the sense of competence will formed (Takatalo, 2010). This is similar to the characteristic of the needs of autonomy as it is also mean that having a feeling of control over a particular performance and the way they are performed. In Section A which is aimed to test the competence level of the players, we found that most respondent think that they are only have least motivation if their rank in the game has been dropped. Which mean the rank in the game will not affect much of the engagement of the players in game. Not only that, we can see that rank is not a very important element that why players engage in the game as they not necessary will continue to play the game even if they successfully maintain in the high ranking in the leader board. However, most of the players are still feeling quite happy when they successfully achieve their favourite position on the leader board in social networking game. As according to Sweetser and Wyeth (2005), positive feeling towards the game and sense of competence could be form when the players are feeling in control in the game, and thus, players are feeling happy when they completed the task and reach their favourable rank. We can also see that most of the players are ver y enjoy in playing those social networking game. Social networking successfully provides the happiness for the players to engage in them. Although many college students will not be motivated to play the game when their ranking is dropped, but if once they reach their rank and successfully in high rank, they will feel more motivated to play. In Autonomy, from the study we can also see that most of the players seldom search for information before they play social networking game. They are also seldom spend the time to search for all the information or guideline such as blog, cheats and many others in order to win the games. This shows that they are barely play the game for their own sake without searching for the information. Peers play an important in influencing the people to play a particular social networking game. This can be proved by the results as more respondent are influenced by the friends to engage in the game. However, people do not spend much of their time to play social networking game in a day as they do not like to engage in the game for very long hour. Not only that, they also seldom send the help request to friends to overcome the difficult task. They might think that they are able to challenge the tasks by themselves in order to get the feeling of control over a particular game and this, they will feel autonomous. As mentioned by Ryan and Deci (2002), Autonomy is also means that having a feeling of control over a particular performance and the way they are performed. In order for an individual to feel autonomous, an individual need to feel satisfied or accepted with the actions that they select to engage in. We can also see that from the statistic they are prefer the game that are more challenging in order to get the sense of autonomous. They do not like to play the game which is easy as it may lead to boredom. The need for relatedness is the need to feel meaningfully connected to important others (Ryan Deci, 2002). In our results, we can see that people are seldom interacting with their friends or gaming partner in social networking game. According to Rigby and Ryan (2011), an individual’s sense of relatedness will be diminished if he or she is feeling isolated or having the indifference by the others. In this case, the need of relatedness will be reduced as they do not often engaging with the other players. Besides, they also seldom play the game that related to their daily life as they think that it is not important element to decide whether they should play a particular game or not. Most of the respondents also do not learn certain life skill by playing those social networking game as they are only play the game for their own sake. By the way, they do feel that by playing the games, their friendship among each other will become closer. It means the social networking game provide a good platform for the people to stay closely to their relationship. Lastly, they will feel sense of accomplishment when their friend ask them do help in the game which able to make them happy. Implications of Findings Implications of findings on this Self-Determination Theory and practice are discussed in this section. Implication of theory This study aimed to test the validity of the construct in the Self-Determination Theory especially with the three key needs on social networking gaming. This theory might be functional for researcher to develop the motivational theory based on the results that have done in this study. The three elements in Self-Determination Theory (autonomy, competence, relatedness) provide different results to study different needs of college student on social networking gaming and thus, this theory provided a guideline for the researcher to further investigate. The three constructs in this theory might give the inspiration for the scholars to develop their new theory based on the constructs. Implication of practice Our results can provide a guideline for the social networking gaming developer to create the game that can really motivate or engage those college students to play in. Based on the statistics with the result of three different needs (competence, autonomy, relatedness) of Self Determination Theory, social networking developers are able to evaluate it and develop the game according to these so that they will produce an interesting game to the people. From this study, major need is competence as most of the people are motivated to play the game which is challenging so that they can challenge themselves to overcome the difficult tasks. So, future game developers are able to refer this direction to create the games which are good enough to motivate the people to engage in it. Limitations of Study In of progress of this research, a few limitations were found. The research method that we used is non-probability sampling method. Samples selected to participate in the research but the result of the research could not represent what other population’s thought. Snowball sample is one type of non-probability sampling method, we used snowball sample in this research as we distributed our questionnaire to our peers who are engaging with the social networking game and ask them to send the survey to their peers who are gamers too. In this case, the first person we distribute is important as he or she might influence others answer and influence the final result. This is because the first person has the strong impact on the sample. In the other words, snowball sampling might lead to bias in result and thus, it affects the overall statistics. Thus, this result could not be generalized. Suggestion for future research Our study is based on the sample of college student collected in our country. In order to generalize the results, a future research should be carry out and adjust the model with different samples such as segmented by age or geography. This is to see whether the different age groups like children or adult have the similar motivations in social networking game or not. Motivation of college students on social networking game is an interesting topic to study as it is very broad for researchers to discuss. But this aspect of research was seldom done by the researchers because more of the researches are focusing on the impact that social networking game bring to the teenagers or college students. So, more future studies are needed to examine the relationship between the motivation and teenager’s behaviour in order to figure out more significant and specific results. Local researchers needed to put more effort in studying this aspect, this is because there are a few number of researches have done the study about this kind of topic in other countries, but as the cultural background are different among the cultures, it is important to do a cross-culture student of social networking games so that we can determine the difference among cultures. Besides that, there are a lot more theories that are suitable to use to study the motivation of people in engaging the game. Researchers are able to use different theories to study about the topic so that we will see different result which might be fresh in this industry. Self-Determination Theory is a broad theory which contains a lot of sub theories. These sub theories are also very useful in determining the motivations of the people towards the game. Perhaps a future research study can be done by using all these theories to get a new result and see whether the relationship of the theories that used in the study are functional or interesting or not. The examples of the mini theories under Self Determination Theory are Cognitive Evaluation Theory, Organismic Integration Theory, Causality Orientations Theory, Basic Psychological Needs Theory and many others.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Bioethics and Artificial Insemination :: Pregnancy Technology Science Essays

Bioethics and Artificial Insemination With every new technology that is born, there must be many questions as to whether this technology is beneficial or harmful as well as analyze who is affects. This especially holds true in dealing with the technology of artificial insemination. With the cultural mainstreaming of artificial insemination, there have been many articles written discussing the ethics of such decisions. Most of these articles are written by feminist authors with the purpose of discussing the impact of this new technology on women and how it affects their roles as mothers in society. Daniel Callahan, however, chooses to convey his argument about the bioethics of artificial insemination through a male perspective in his 1992 article â€Å"Bioethics and Fatherhood.† He argues that since the beginning of artificial insemination, there has been a trend to overlook the male and his anonymous donation of sperm. His writing style is fairly easy to read and very straightforward in an attempt to convey his point to the general population. His opinion is obvious through his very one-sided argument as well as occasional sarcastic remarks. For this, he does not base many of his points on factual evidence but more abstract, logically deduced theory. His argument is that this man, the sperm donor, is biologically responsible for the newly born child and its life thereafter. He bases his argument around the responsibility of the individual, the technology that allows men to be overlooked, and the rights movement that has lessened the responsibility of the man in fatherho od. Callahan begins his argument with the discussion of what it means to be a father biologically and morally. He relates these two terms by saying, â€Å"Human beings bear a moral responsibility for those voluntary acts that have an impact on the lives of others; they are morally accountable for those acts† (Callahan, 99). Callahan feels that voluntary sexual activity, and by extension voluntary sperm donation, falls under this category. This logic holds true to the entire argument and strengthens his case against the minimization of the father’s role in parenthood. It is based on the very concrete fact that if the man did not give his sperm, the child would not exist. This is a very simple, but very strong argument. Callahan then furthers his case on the morality of sperm donation by saying that even if the child grows up in foster care, if that foster father were to be unfit, the biological father would have a moral obligation for the child. Bioethics and Artificial Insemination :: Pregnancy Technology Science Essays Bioethics and Artificial Insemination With every new technology that is born, there must be many questions as to whether this technology is beneficial or harmful as well as analyze who is affects. This especially holds true in dealing with the technology of artificial insemination. With the cultural mainstreaming of artificial insemination, there have been many articles written discussing the ethics of such decisions. Most of these articles are written by feminist authors with the purpose of discussing the impact of this new technology on women and how it affects their roles as mothers in society. Daniel Callahan, however, chooses to convey his argument about the bioethics of artificial insemination through a male perspective in his 1992 article â€Å"Bioethics and Fatherhood.† He argues that since the beginning of artificial insemination, there has been a trend to overlook the male and his anonymous donation of sperm. His writing style is fairly easy to read and very straightforward in an attempt to convey his point to the general population. His opinion is obvious through his very one-sided argument as well as occasional sarcastic remarks. For this, he does not base many of his points on factual evidence but more abstract, logically deduced theory. His argument is that this man, the sperm donor, is biologically responsible for the newly born child and its life thereafter. He bases his argument around the responsibility of the individual, the technology that allows men to be overlooked, and the rights movement that has lessened the responsibility of the man in fatherho od. Callahan begins his argument with the discussion of what it means to be a father biologically and morally. He relates these two terms by saying, â€Å"Human beings bear a moral responsibility for those voluntary acts that have an impact on the lives of others; they are morally accountable for those acts† (Callahan, 99). Callahan feels that voluntary sexual activity, and by extension voluntary sperm donation, falls under this category. This logic holds true to the entire argument and strengthens his case against the minimization of the father’s role in parenthood. It is based on the very concrete fact that if the man did not give his sperm, the child would not exist. This is a very simple, but very strong argument. Callahan then furthers his case on the morality of sperm donation by saying that even if the child grows up in foster care, if that foster father were to be unfit, the biological father would have a moral obligation for the child.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Competitive Strategies for Wal-Mart

The emergence of Wal-Mart as a big box retailer has changed retail in the United States, according to a 2008 article on Wal-Mart and competition in AllBusiness. com. Big box retailers typically have stores exceeding 50,000 square feet. This type of store is standard, with large windowless single-story buildings. Several other big box retailers like Toys â€Å"R† Us, Best Buy, Target, Lowe's and Home Depot have created competition for Wal-Mart. However, Wal-Mart has stood out as the perennial merchandise big box retailer, according to the AllBusiness. om article. Because of its big box status, Wal-Mart has exceeded small retailers in profits. Annual revenues for 2004 were slightly over $288 billion. Revenues in 2006 exceeded $350 billion. Wal-Mart maintains its status as a big box retailer by seeking profits through a high volume of low-price items. Low-Cost Leadership Wal-Mart's slogan is â€Å"Spend Less. Live Better. † The giant retailer prides itself on providing customers with low-cost items that beat competitors. Wal-Mart reported a 3.6   percent increase in net income from cost cutting, according to an August 2010 Associated Press article. Also read MGMT-QUIZ about types of competitive strategies Customers are cautious about spending because of a slow economy, and Wal-Mart continues to be their low-cost option. Customers choose to shop at Super Wal-Mart centers for groceries, rather than the local grocery store because of discounted items. For example, Wal-Mart offers $1 ketchup bottles and $4 for a case of soda. The Associated Press article stated that Wal-Mart benefited during the recession as affluent shoppers were forced to downgrade to cheaper options.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

The eNotes Blog Macbeth Unlocked

Macbeth Unlocked William Shakespeare remains, hands down, one of the most well-known and influential writers  in recent history. Throughout his career, he published a truly impressive library of sonnets, poems, verses, plays, and tales. Among  these works, Shakespeare is credited with the writing of four major tragedies:  Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, and, of course,  Macbeth.   Macbeth is, in addition to being a fabulous drama, an incredibly dark, dramatic story.  To very briefly summarize, the story goes  (spoilers!):  one day a man gets very cocky. A magic lady tells this cocky man that  hell be king. He gets cockier still and commits some murders. People get very angry, and this leads these angry people to kill the cocky man. Now, tell me that isnt a heavy storyline. (Heres a full summary of the play  and,  if you havent read the story, heres a free digital etext- because you really should read this story in full). No  matter how wonderful the story may be, we understand it can sometimes be difficult to get through Shakespearian literature. Slogging through the storm of verily and doth often gets confusing, and it can be invaluable to have someone explain the story in plain English and, better yet, tell you what the most important take-aways are. Well, youve come to the right place! Weve gathered together some of the most important bits and pieces of Macbeth and put them together right here in this post. Read on and follow links to anything that interests and/or confuses you! Macbeth As a character, this guy is actually pretty difficult to get a read on. At the beginning of the story, he seems like a decent guy, fighting for his country and whatnot,  but before you know it hes turned around and killed half of Scotland* (and that is what we call a hyperbole). So what happened? How many people does Macbeth kill in his play? Answers  Ã¢â€ â€™ Macbeths downward spiral as a character isnt as fast of a decline as I may have said before, but the man  certainly undergoes a  devolution as a moral being. Clearly spurred by his own ambition and the urging of his wife, Macbeth steps into the shoes of a murderous tyrant-to-be and descends into psychopathy. With  the modifications to Macbeths  personality, we see corresponding changes in the role and personality of Lady Macbeth. At the plays outset, Lady Macbeth is the aggressor, encouraging her unwilling husband to follow his ambitious inclinations and kill the king for the advancement of their status. As the story continues, however, we see Lady Macbeth beginning to take more of a backseat role, watching her husband commit these horrible murders and taking no part in them herself. Instead, Lady Macbeth appears to go mad with guilt- constantly washing her hands to wash away blood that isnt there. So what happened between Macbeth and his wife?  Heres a comprehensive look at their intertwined character development. Lady Macbeth Weve already talked a little bit about how Lady Macbeth evolves as a character, but it remains valuable to look at  her character in isolation from Macbeth as much as it is important to look at the two together. First, from a historical perspective, we have to acknowledge the fact that Lady Macbeth is a woman- and women in this time period really had nothing going for them but what their husbands were able to boast.  Lady Macbeths station in life is  entirely dependent on that of her husband. That isnt to say she isnt a terrible person- murder is murder, but she only encourages him so that she can move up in the world. Okay, that sounds even worse. Regardless, Macbeths willingness to listen to his wifes advice says something about the relationship between the two. As the story  progresses, we begin to see more guilt wracking the Ladys conscience. It seems she reaches a moral breakthrough so powerful that it leads to her suicide. How does Lady Macbeth change  throughout  the play? Answers  Ã¢â€ â€™ Quotes Lets face it: Shakespeare is a quotable guy. So many little idioms that we have floating around, even today, have origins in Shakespeares work (thats one reason its worth it to get  through his writing- its likely youll find a little hidden gem, which  is  quite exciting!). Macbeth undoubtedly includes  some of those sayings we use in everyday conversation, but there are also a whole bunch of deeper, beautiful, and somewhat mystifying quotes in the play that are actually pretty important to the overall story. Here are some quotes and links to thorough explanations: Fair is foul and foul is fair. Act 1, Scene 1 Lifes but a walking shadow. Act 5, Scene 5 Out, brief candle Act 5, Scene 5 False face must hide what the false heart doth know. Act 1, Scene 7 Theres daggers in mens smiles.  Act 2, Scene 2 Tragedy First, we should discuss what makes a play a tragedy, because its too easy to say that a tragic play is a play in which something sad happens. Sad things do happen in tragedies, but theres more to the definition than that. Tragedy  is defined as a branch of drama that treats sorrowful or terrible events in a serious and dignified manner. Further, these unfortunate events are encountered or caused by  the tragic hero. Now, the tragic hero is another figure that seems fairly self-explanatory, but well highlight it anyway: a tragic hero is a character who makes an error in judgment which ultimately leads to his or her destruction. (*link to HH question about what is a tragic hero). We can easily surmise that Macbeth is a tragedy due to its dramatic depictions  of murder and an eventual suicide. Again, that is a greatly summarized and simplified explanation of a complicated description, so  heres  further reading about what makes  Macbeth a tragic play. Now that we have come to the conclusion that  Macbeth  is a tragedy, it follows that the main character, Macbeth, is a tragic hero. It is true that Macbeth really does cause his own problems from the get-go. If he hadnt been inspired to murder his kindly King, he wouldnt have ended up dead by the hand of a former ally. I hope that doesnt give away the whole play, but just in case, I will leave the rest of the analysis of Macbeth as a tragic hero to . Summation Identifying a concrete theme of  any work is a difficult task;  identifying the theme of a work more than four hundred years old is even more difficult. That being said, there are many assertions to be made as to the overarching theme of Macbeth. In determining a theme, you have to look for recurring aspects with analyzable elements. When talking about Macbeth, a few  words may jump out at you, such as  greed or  ambition or, I dont know,  murder. All of these concepts work together to form  a cohesive and grizzly theme in the play, along with smaller pieces of the puzzle like insanity, fear, and matters of the supernatural. What are the specific names of the 3 witches? Answers  Ã¢â€ â€™ *Bonus Fun Fact:  Macbeth  was written in an attempt to please the new King of England, King James I. This new king originally hailed from Scotland before ascending the English throne and had a distinct interest in supernatural happenings- thus the plays setting and inclusion of witches. Further, it is a  fact that the throne of England was one that saw a lot of bloody turnover, so it was likely an interest of both James and Shakespeare to comment on Jamess rise to power, like Malcolm in  Macbeth, as a wise and just monarch. Why did Shakespeare write Macbeth? Answers  Ã¢â€ â€™