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Introduction / Background

Can we imagine life without water? Water is a very precious and limited vital natural resource. The demand of water for development of agricultural, industrial, urban use and power generation is increasing at very fast rate. Wise use of these resources should really be the concern of all people, whether they are involved in agricultural production activities or not. By accepting it, we can manage to conserve soil and water effectively, then there will be measurable effect on the development of country.

Watershed resources play a significant role in the development of a country depending on the location of a watershed; we can get water for domestic, agriculture and industrial uses. It is for this purpose, proper evolution and management of water resources acquires significant importance. Detailed survey work is carried out to find points of equal elevation, ridges and valleys. The reduced levels obtained from this survey were plotted to obtain contour plan. Three main valleys, which yield the water, were obtained from contour map.

The water from these valleys in rainy season is not conserved and gets wasted, and adverse effects are seen such as soil erosion and gully formation. Conversely, if we save and utilize this water there will be proper soil conservation and recharging ground water table will be possible. According to the slopes found on contour plan, various soil and water are constructed in our watershed area. Due to several conservations schemes the water, which have been wanted will get conserved and will give benefit to residents of the area.

Water is a limited natural vital resource, which is indispensable for the existence of all-living matter, plant, animal and man. Potable water, which was once thought to be an infinite natural resource, it would not last longer and become as dearer as are fossil fuels today. Today water covers 7/10th part of the globe surface, fills its atmosphere and lies unfathomed, beneath the crust of the world. Only less than 1% of it is fit and available for use and consumption by mankind. There are serious apprehensions that greater part of earth may go without water in the coming decades. Water tables in several Asian countries like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have already gone significantly low.

The further projections are that by 2025 grater part of India may go without water unless suitable new resources are tapped and available water is conserved. Total water in the world estimated to be 1.5 billion cu.Km. about 95% of this is in the salty seas, of the remaining 5% fresh water, 60M.cu.Km are immobilized as continuously frozen polar ice and snow, leaving only 1.5M.cu.Km.

As fresh liquid water for plants, animals and man. of the 15 M.cu.Km.of fresh water, of which about 1% is surface water and 99% is stored at varying depths. About half of the ground water is stored at depths greater than 1000m. Therefore for all practical purposes 7M.cu.Km.of fresh water is at reasonable depths plus the 150000cu.Km.of surfaces water is the worlds, usable water where, at any, only 15000 cu.Km.of fresh liquid water exists in lakes and streams of the world. Each year 380000 cu.Km. Of fresh water falls on land oceans, and the same amount is evaporated from the oceans and lands.

On an average country like India receives about 120cm of precipitation per year, mostly as rainfall. On the volume basis is 400 M.Ha.m. The fate of precipitation is estimated as, evaporation 18%; surface runoff 29% and soil infiltration 53%. Nothing can be done to reduce this 18% loss by evaporation. However, wise management can reduce 29% of surface runoff. This can be various water conservation techniques. The wisest management of water is to encourage every drop of rainfall to move into the soil at the point where it strikes the earth.

When this happens, evaporation will be at a minimum, there will no erosion and crop production will be at a maximum. Watershed management or protection implies the proper use of all land water resources of a watershed for optimum production with minimum hazard to natural resources. Proper planning is therefore absolutely so as to obtain as many benefits as possible with minimum expenditure. Planning for water resources development in its wider sense may broadly be defined as through study of pros and cons of various possible ways of harnessing this wonderful natural resource and finally bring down the means and ways of achieving the best and optimum benefits.

The concept of watershed is basic to all hydrologic designs. Since big watersheds are made of many smaller watersheds, it is necessary to define the watershed in terms of a point. This point is usually the location at which the design is being made and is referred to as the watershed outlet. With respect to the outlet, the watershed consists of all land area that sheds water to the outlet during a rainfall. Using the concept that water runs downhill watershed is defined by all points enclosed within an area from which rain falling at these points will contribute water to the outlet.

Watershed development has been proved as an attractive approach to rural development over recent decades. All the Projects and programmes have been put into practice across America, Africa and South Asia, but it is perhaps in India where the approach has been most popular and permanent. Here, central government investment has been running at over US$ 500 million a year. This paper considers watershed development in rural areas where water supplies for domestic use. Several new studies and papers have mentioned the current use of watershed development efforts.

When we see some country like India, which are implemented by government, have been widely criticised for a lack of impact. (Rhoades, 1998; Malla Reddy, 2000). Weaknesses in participation, and inflexibility in choice of technology have been blamed in many cases and guidelines for watershed development have been improved. Where watershed development projects have achieved significant impacts, it is often the landed (and not the poor) who have benefited. Positive impacts of projects in dry land India include improved agricultural production, and development of local-level institutions (Batchelor et al. 2000).

In India large irrigation canals are were built in the nineteenth as well as twentieth centuries and large number of multipurpose water resources projects were built in the last century. These projects were either entirely funded or heavily subsidized by national government in recognition of the crucial role of that water plays in national development. Approximately 170 million hectares in India are classified as degraded land, the majority falling in undulating semiarid Areas where rain fed framings is practised (Farrington and Lobo, 1997).

These areas are characterised by deforestation, loss of biomass, high rates of erosion and lack of fertile soils which results in low productivity of land and poverty. Seasonal or permanent migration tends to be high in these areas. Migration increases the seriousness of problems related to urbanisation, such as unemployment, poor health and housing problems.

Therefore, arresting environmental degradation and increases in land productivity are both necessary aims of rural development programmes in south Asia. The Government of India is giving particular attention to environmental regeneration of catchment areas. Approximately US$ 300 million per year are disbursed by the Government of India on interventions that are aimed at improving all categories of land in watersheds (Farrington and Lobo, 1997).

Apart from the Government of India, various state governments, national and international organisations are funding watershed development projects. World population has increased nearly threefold in the last 50 years. The standard of living has gone up. In India nearly 70% of the population still depends up on the agriculture which is the biggest user of water. There is considerable uncertainty as to the climate change and its manifestation.

In developing countries both non-government organisations and government development agencies have implemented watershed management projects for last 25 years with the aim of increasing agricultural productivity and reducing poverty on hillsides in rural areas. Many of the watershed management projects throughout the world have not taken into account land use capacity and its restoration and prevention potential. They have centred on activities that although important at the plot level do not add up to transformations at the landscape level.

A major question is, therefore, how to select watershed management sites and activities in such a way that organisations can simultaneously address the social and economic goals for local inhabitants as well as the aims of watershed conservation and restoration. This paper summarises observations derived from earlier assessments of watershed management projects, including short-term reviews of watershed management projects in Bangladesh, Bolivia, Thailand and Uganda carried out by Perez between 1989 and 1999. In all these case, they visited field sites, interviewed project personnel and participant farmers and reviewed project documents and other technical literature. They have also taken into account evidence from the international literature on watershed management.

Aim

The main aim of this research study is:

To investigate the demand of water for development of domestic use and agriculture use and

To examine how to manage existing water resources.

Objectives

The objectives of this study are:

To control damaging excess.

To manage and utilize excess for useful purposes.

To control erosion and effect reduction in the sediment production.

To have moderate floods in the downstream areas.

To enhance ground water storage.

Appropriate use of the land resources on the watershed and thus developing Forest and Food

Resources

The research will look at the current development of various natural resources, particularly land and water, the watersheds or hydraulics units are considered more efficient for carrying out necessary surveys and investigations for assessment of these resources as well as for subsequent planning and implementation of development programs. The watershed approach is more rational because the inherent potential of soil and water resources in a particular area is governed by various factors, most important of which are physiographic, geological base, soil characteristic’s, climate, present land use, socio economical and legal aspects and other relevant factors.

It has been observed that there is optimum interaction between the natural factors of physiographic, soil and climate on watershed bases for their optimum utilization and output. The watershed approach is, therefore, increasingly being employed in various development programmes like soil conservation, command area development, deficiency level area programmes, shifting cultivation, recovery or very hungry areas, erosion control in catchments of river valley projects etc. the watershed also important with respect to the development of water resources in the shape of major, medium and minor irrigation projects.

The programmes for water harvesting on form level have been developed on watershed bases. After all the feasible sites for exploitation of the surface water are explored, the only alternative left to cope with the droughts is to make the use of ground water resources. As ground water also depends on the rainfall received, there is need to harvest and use this resources sufficiently with the help of watershed management.

For planning a particular watershed, the planner must have a basic objective or multiple objectives and keeping this in mind should then proceed with the formulation and evolution of the various alternatives. The objectives of watershed management programme are to control damaging runoff, to manage and utilize runoff for useful purposes, to control erosion and effect reduction in the sediment production, to have moderate floods in the downstream areas, to enhance ground water storage. Appropriate use of the land resources on the watershed and thus developing forest and fodder resources.

These objectives can be achieved by bringing about improvement in physical condition of soil through proper managing and cropping with a view to increase water infiltration and holding capacity. Ensuring good crop growth by adopting the recommended agronomic practices for each crop.

Practicing other conservation measures like contour Bunding, terracing, contour trenching, contour cultivation, strip cropping, mulching, reclamation of gullies etc. adoption of conservation farming practices to improve agriculture, controlled grazing to keep the pastures productive , water management for irrigation and drainage and all other types of erosion control measures could be considered as the parts of watershed management.

Methodology

A wide variety of methods were used for data collection. These include Best Interviews, Participant observation, Semi-structured focus group interviews, Questionnaire and Case study method. A flexible approach was used for deciding methodologies. In the initial stages of data collection best interviews and group interviews were conducted with experienced watershed committee members, farmers, government officers and non-government organisation representatives.

It takes considerable courage to openly accept and discuss the argument one is facing. Therefore in focus groups and best interviews importance was given to active listening, creating a comfortable and friendly atmosphere, building trust and acknowledging the experiences of the narrator without criticism or judgement.

To make it easier for participants to discuss their argument and to build relationship, previous argument and their management were discussed to help feel safe through the distance that time gives. After understanding was built people felt more comfortable discussing their present arguments. The other technique of creating distance was through asking similar questions in the context of other watersheds. For this reason, the author of this report explains what a research study is and how it is carried out in this chapter.

Definition of research

The word research has been defined and explained in so many different ways, but more importantly; all the various definitions seek to point out in one particular direction. The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary defines Research as A search or investigation undertaken to discover facts and reach new conclusions by the critical study of a subject or by a course of scientific enquiry.

Research was defined by Hitchock and Hughes (1993), as the systematic enquiry that is characterized by a certain amount of rigor and governed by set principles and guidelines for procedures. For instance, social research, therefore, refers to both the collection and analysis of information on the social world in order thereby to understand and explain it better.

According to Naoum (1998), there are two types of research strategies, namely ‘Quantitative research’ and ‘Qualitative research’. The choice of the type to use depends on the purpose of the study and the type and availability of the information which is required.

Qualitative Research

This type of research emphasizes meanings, experiences, description and so on. The information obtained after carrying out a qualitative research can be categorized into two classes of research. These classes are ‘exploratory’ and ‘attitudinal’.

Quantitative Research

It is defined as an enquiry into a social or human problem, based on testing a hypothesis or a theory composed of variables, measured with numbers, and analyzed with statistical procedures, in order to determine whether the hypothesis or the theory hold true. Quantitative data is, therefore, not abstract, they are hard and reliable; they are measured of tangible, countable sensate features of the world. Quantitative research, therefore, is said to be ‘objective’ in nature.

Exploratory research

This type of research is used when there is limited amount of knowledge about the topic under consideration. The purpose of exploratory research is intertwined with the need for a clear and precise statement of the recognised problem. The raw data provided in exploratory research will be exactly what people have said (in interview or recorded conversation) or a description of what has been observed.

Attitudinal research

This type of Qualitative research is used to ‘subjectively’ evaluate the ‘opinion’, ‘view’ or ‘perception’ of a person, towards a particular object. Qualitative research, therefore, is said to be ‘subjective’ in nature.

Postal Questionnaire

This technique of data collection is maybe the most commonly used. It is very suitable for surveys with clearly defined objectives and normally asks questions that need specific response, like ‘write’ or ‘wrong’. The main advantages of postal questionnaires are Economy, Speed and Consultation.

Personal interview

This is yet another technique of collecting data or information from respondents by a face-to-face interactions. With this technique, answers to questions are received instantly.

For the purpose of this work, the author in a bid to collect data for the research analyses, the personal interview technique will be adopted. Personal interviews will be conducted and with a number of selected watershed companies. The feedback received from respondents of the companies selected will then be analysed and conclusions drawn from them. From the conclusion drawn, suitable recommendations will then be made.

This research method will be used due to the fact that unlike the research questionnaire, the respondent is known and there is a close interaction between interviewer and respondent. Even though it takes a longer time to go through the interview and the cost is high, the sample size is smaller and the quality of information received is deep and detailed.

This is because the interviewer has the chance to probe and the flexibility to reword question and clarify terms that are not clear. Moreover, with this technique, answers to questions are received instantly, they are more accurate, the rate of response is relatively high and it is easy to analyse why the particular answers are given to the questions. The data received from the interview will be represented and analysed by using graphs and charts.

For the purpose of this research, both published and unpublished literature available in the subject area as well as similar areas will be reviewed critically and in details in order to establish facts about the topic and draw conclusions. Also journals, such as magazines and watershed journals will be reviewed since they tend to discuss very current issues in the industry. Other literature to be reviewed will include other research reports as well as reports from seminars.

Watershed management websites will be reviewed and information will be gathered from them. Due to the method selected to be used to collect data, which is the personal interview technique, equipment such as voice recorders and hand held PDAs will be used in order to enhance the data collection process and facilitate easy analysis afterwards. During the data collection process, the writer imagine a lot of travelling hence various transportation means available, such as trains, public buses, taxis and private means, will be used.

After the collection of data, computer software such as SPSS will be used to present and analyse the data. Other computer programmes, like Microsoft Office Project and Microsoft Office Excel among other software will be used in order to enhance the final presentation, analysis and conclusion of all the data collected.

This proposed research program, even though will yield very physical and useful results, will involve a lot of financial investment due to the resources needed to carry it out successfully. Hence it will cost the researcher a lot of money to be able to achieve good and useful results.

Another major control picture will be the willingness and availability of respondents to the survey. It will be very difficult to get respondents who are willing to spare some time to give an interview and even if they do, they might not be sincere in giving accurate responses especially if the questions are a bit searching into their company’s activities or personal opinions.

Research Beneficiaries / Dissemination

This proposed research, when completed successfully, will be a useful report which will go a long way to blow on the watershed industry because it will bring out and highlight some, of the points, of the existing water management in the country and continue to improve the general performance of the watershed industry in the world.

Even though quite a lot of research has been carried out in this area and a lot of reports written, most of them are focused on Watershed management and more especially relating it mainly to water resources issues, which is what makes this research a bit different and unique for that matter.

This report will be forwarded for publication in different print magazines in the industry and also posted on the internet so that anybody can have access to it. It will not only benefit the watershed industry but other industries can also access it and apply the theories propounded as well.

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Introduction

If one considers the most profound changes in the social and physical conditions attached to human existence, one would have to suggest that the land use dimensions, including the shift to sedentary agriculture, the Industrial Revolution and large-scale urbanisation, are the most significant. However, it is important to understand that land is more than a mere material base. Indeed, Gladwin et al (1995) described land as a diverse, contradictory property with both social and cultural meanings that are mixed with human labour, the biotic community and a land ethic. From this it is easy to understand why land use has been the subject of persistent political struggle over the years and why it is challenging in both theory and practice to ensure sustainable development, whilst also taking into account the needs of a growing population. The eco-modernist interpretation of sustainable development encourages the use eco-efficient building materials and heat and power sources, and encourages doing more with less (Banerjee, 2003). Whilst this has shown that there is a theoretical possibility that energy and material intensity can be reduced, therefore reducing the environmental impact of population and industrial growth, this somewhat simplified approach does not take into consideration the relationships between land, the environment and economic activity (Baker, 2007).

The focus on pollution and resource consumption by many ecological modernist theorists has failed to address the intrinsic qualities of the non-human world that are generally the cause of many conflicts over the use of greenbelt land (Hajer and Versteeg, 2005). Part of the problem lies in the way in which the development of land and environmental change causes uncertain effects. These effects are generally caused through the multiplicity of direct, indirect and cumulative processes that are difficult to predict (Hudson, 2005). These processes operate within economic, political and legal dimensions, with many crossing over between a number of jurisdictions. Whilst interactions between proximal land uses have historically concentrated on the effects of pollution, odour and noise on the human population, it is only recently that consideration has been taken over the effects of these environmental problems on the local flora and fauna and the wider scale sustainability of vulnerable species (Scully-Russ, 2012). From this it can be seen that land use and sustainability go hand in hand. As such, it is deemed necessary to focus attention on the planning processes and regulations currently utilised within the UK. The remainder of this essay will consider the way in which UK planning processes have been designed to protect the environment before critically discussing the reasons that they fail.

Sustainable development: the need for planning

The concept of sustainable development emerged in the late 1980s with Brundtland et al (1987), followed closely by the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), forming the view that it is necessary to consider planning applications as interrelated processes that need to take into account the needs of both human and nonhuman residents (Barkemeyer et al, 2014). This encouraged the development of national sustainability plans, whilst Agenda 21 of the UNCED encouraged the environmentally sound physical planning of sustainable development within urban areas (Jabareen, 2006). These planning and sustainability ideas were rapidly incorporated into local government policy. In the UK, these ideas encouraged a new environmental movement that saw local councils considering the environmental impact on both urban and rural developments (Jabareen, 2006). Indeed, by the start of the 1990s, nearly 75% of all councils within the UK had developed a green charter that recognised the need for environmental planning to mitigate against issues such as global warming, the destruction of the rainforest and depletion of the ozone layer as well as considering the impacts such a development would have on the local environment (Barkemeyer et al, 2014).

The emerging concepts of sustainability and the connections with the planning process were often outside of the statutory domain; however, incentives from central government, which supported sustainable development and controlled land use planning often encouraged the development of local policies (Cowell and Lennon, 2014). These local policies, along with international commitments, were rapidly incorporated into legislation, with the UK’s first official sustainable development White Paper urging planning authorities to consider the environmental effects of all planning policies (Cowell and Lennon, 2014). In the same year, the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 ensured that all planning applications considered the conservation, natural beauty and amenity of the land. This act also encouraged improved traffic management and changes to the physical environment within both urbanised and rural areas in order to deliver sustainable land use change.

Despite the UK Government generally falling short of making sustainable development a legal requirement of all planning laws, they have developed a number of Acts that can be called upon in certain situations. These include the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, Natural Heritage (Scotland) Act 1991, the Sustainable Communities Act 2007 and the Government of Wales Act 1998 (Wilkinson et al, 2013). Section 121(1) of this latter act places responsibility on the National Assembly for Wales to set out proposals for the promotion of sustainable development within the Welsh region. However, more recently there has been an international emergence of the ecosystem assessment approach to land planning. This approach is promoted to ensure that the true value of the environment is taken into account during all decision-making processes (Adelle et al, 2012). The key concept of the ecosystem assessment approach is that natural ecosystems provide significant benefit, in both health and economy, to human society. Numerous proponents of the ecosystem services approach describe how the method would benefit the spatial planning of habitats to help deliver ecosystem services (Medcalf et al, 2012), in environmental assessment (Wilkinson et al, 2013) and in order to plan for a more environmentally friendly urban development (Baker et al, 2013). The following section of this paper will consider the problems encountered by UK planners in balancing the needs of an expanding population and the potential impacts on the environment.

Planning Difficulties

In order to highlight the issues associated with planning and environmental protection, it is deemed necessary to utilise a number of case studies in which planning departments have clashed with developers. The first of these cases occurred in the early 1990s in the county of Berkshire and was described by Cowell and Owens (1998). Berkshire County Council received a planning application to expand the capacity of a construction minerals extraction quarry to 2.5 million tonnes per year. The application was supported by central government, who at that time had apportioned a share of projected national demand for construction aggregate to each county. However, Berkshire County Council was concerned about the environmental consequences of this increased carrying capacity and decided that to meet the share of aggregate demand would be unsustainable for their region as it would breach the county’s environmental capacity. In order to reach this decision, the county planning department used a methodology that involved an assessment of environmental suitability at the quarry. This methodology included a traditional sieve analysis, a process of strategic choice and public engagement. In their report, Berkshire Planning Authority stated that the protection of environmental features within the county was vital and the conservation value of the broader environment outweighed the economic benefits of such a development. The planning authorities stated that the environmental capacity of the area would be breached and that this environment capacity was based on the county council’s judgements about the compensatable and critical environmental capital within the county. As such they framed sustainable development by identifying the environmental limits of the area. Indeed, Berkshire Planning Authority asserted that the level of aggregate supply should fall by 3% per year from 1996 to 2011.

As was expected, the quarry company appealed the decision and the planning enquiry inspector sided with industry. The appeal report criticised Berkshire Planning Authority for ignoring the economic, local and national need for aggregates. The enquiry inspector did find the planning authority’s explanation of environmental capacity and the need for sustainable development persuasive; however, the report suggests that there is lack of demonstration on why the county could not maintain production of construction aggregates at 2.5 million tonnes per year. As such, the enquiry inspector agreed with the objections made by the quarry company that the concept of critical environmental capital and environmental capacity carried no weight within current realms of planning policy. The planning decision was therefore overturned.

The second case study also occurred in Berkshire where a major international company applied for planning permission to build its new headquarters in a green field location (Parker and Street, 2015). The plans immediately raised objections from local residents and environmental pressure groups who claimed that congestion and pollution would increase if the company’s headquarters was located in this area as well as damaging sensitive wildlife habitats. These opponents claimed that the government planning guidelines, which sought to reduce dependency on cars, would be flouted if the planning application was granted. However, the Planning Authority was significantly influenced by the company’s ‘green transport’ plan and the potential employment and economic benefits that such a development would bring. Therefore, following acrimonious debate, planning permission was granted without any formal environmental assessment being carried out in the area.

In the Cairngorms, a planning application to develop a tourist funicular railway, to carry passengers to the peak of the mountains, was met with much resistance (Warren, 2002). Initially, the Planning Authority sought to reject the application, claiming that such a development would encourage more visitors to the remote area and damage an ecologically vulnerable area. However, pressure from other council departments, who saw opportunity for economic growth, additional employment and future potential development, forced the Planning Authority to grant permission, regardless of the extensive Environmental Impact Assessment that had been carried out by the Planning Authority proving that the development would cause considerable harm to the sensitive habitats of this area.

Despite these case studies showing significant failures in the UK’s planning regulations, there is one instance where the environmental value of a particular area was successfully defended. This final case study occurred within the cathedral city of Salisbury (Parker and Street, 2015). The Planning Authority received an application from the Highways Agency to construct a bypass that would reduce congestion within the city centre. This was in line with the County Council’s green plans to reduce pollution within the area. However, the route of the proposed bypass would bisect the environmentally important water meadows surrounding the city. These water meadows provided the habitat for a large number of migratory wading birds and were considered environmentally important areas. However, the subsequent public enquiry supported the application, claiming significant benefits for the city if the bypass was built. As such, a number of government advisory bodies on nature conservation and landscape protection were consulted in order to find ways in which to mitigate the impacts of the bypass on the wetland areas. These advisory bodies found that there were no measures that could be adopted that would effectively protect the sensitive habitats and mitigation, for the damage could not be advised. This led the Planning Authority to refuse the application and forced the Highways Agency to consider alternative routes.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it can be seen that, despite sustainable development being at the forefront of the planning regulations, pressure from industry and the need for economic growth has a tendency to sway Planning Authority decisions. Despite all local and county councils now having green plans and sustainable development plans which encourage protection of the local landscape and environment, many are not being fully utilised. It is considered that until sustainable development is incorporated into national policy and regulations, then the needs for economic growth will always outweigh the needs of the environment. In addition, it is considered that whilst there are ways in which human impacts on the environment can be mitigated against, in many instances these opportunities are not fully taken due to the cost implications associated with adopting many of these mitigation measures. Therefore it is concluded that current UK planning regulations do not hold enough weight to successfully protect the environment.

References

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Introduction

There is a growing body of evidence available in the published literature that suggests that anthropogenic activities are the primary cause of global warming and the subsequent climate change that has occurred and will occur due to global warming (Solomon et al., 2009). The increasing international agreement has resulted in a general consensus that there is a global need to coordinate the responses to the global threat that anthropogenic activities pose regarding negative environmental impacts (Ostrom, 2010). In order to adequately address the negative environmental impacts of anthropogenic activities it is necessary to understand how the aforesaid activities interact with the environment to enable the development of appropriate solutions. However, the acknowledgement of the current global environmental issues and the need for comprehensive action does not necessarily translate to strategic responses worldwide. There are many different aspects to the global response to environmental issues, one of which is the subject of this essay. The particular aspect of the global response that is considered in this essay is the adoption of environmental technologies: in particular, what determines the successful adoption of environmental technologies?

The adoption of environmental technologies is a pivotal aspect of mitigating the impact of anthropogenic activities on the environment. This is due to the fact that it is unlikely that societies will regress to the point where the continuation of day-to-day existence will cease to impact negatively upon the environment. Features of modern living such as electricity consumption and the use of automobiles are unlikely to cease in the near future. Therefore in order to reduce the negative impact of the global society on the environment it is necessary to reduce the impact of everyday activities by substituting technologies that are harmful to the environment with technologies that at the very least reduce the environmental degradation if not cease it completely (Bergman and Eyre, 2011).

It is a given that there is a global comprehension regarding how anthropogenic activities are degrading the environment, yet there has not been a cessation of the use of environmentally damaging technologies. Therefore the question that is asked within this essay is what determines the successful adoption of environmental technologies? If an answer to this question can be determined then it may be possible to use the findings to promote the adoption of environmental technologies on an increasingly widespread basis and thereby reduce the potential environmental degradation that is associated with the current level of technology use.

The following paragraphs will discuss aspects of the successful adoption of environmental technology.

The factor of scale

The level at which technologies are adopted is likely to have a substantial influence on the successful adoption of environmental technology. The scale of the levels at which technology is adopted run from the household level, the community level and the national level up to the international level. At each level there will be different dominant influencing factors that determine whether the adoption of environmental technology will be successful. However, it is also important to differentiate between which of these levels is likely to have the most influence over the other levels. For example, it is unlikely that the household level will have a significant influence over whether an environmental technology will be successfully adopted or not. This is because of the influence that will be had by those in control at the levels above the household level (i.e. all other levels). There will be a limited influence at the household level, for example in government responses to the desire of populations; however this influence is unlikely to be substantial overall.

The National Scale

It is much more likely that the national government will have a greater controlling influence over the successful adoption of environmental technologies than those individuals at the household level. This is due to the fact that the national governments set the policies and regulations for the country as a whole: an ideal method for expressing support or a lack of support for particular technologies (Jacobsson and Lauber, 2006). For example, the use of solar thermal technology as a means of producing hot water at the household level only became popular in the United Kingdom when the United Kingdom government introduced policy that was supportive of the use of solar thermal energy at the household level with the introduction of grants and supportive policies. A specific example is when the United Kingdom introduced the low carbon buildings programme which resulted in 3,000 solar thermal installations in the first two years; however the government subsequently reduced the grant funding that was available for this programme and there was a corresponding drop in the number of solar thermal installations that were implemented (Bergman and Jardine, 2009). Overall, the adoption of renewable energy systems at the household level in the United Kingdom is low (Caird et al., 2008). The previous example demonstrates the extent of control that the national government possess in regards to the uptake and the successful adoption of environmental technology, although it should be noted that to some extent the policies of the government are likely to reflect the desires of the population, particularly in democratic nations. The increasing popularity and support among the general population for environmentally friendly technologies will go some way towards encouraging the governments to be supportive of environmental technologies. For example, there are numerous environmental groups, such as Greenpeace, that campaign for governments to introduce more extensive legislation to protect the environment from degradation, one aspect of which is the use of environmental technologies (Gough and Shackley, 2001).

Thus it can be seen that the national government policies and legislation can be a key factor that can be highly influential in terms of the successful adoption of environmental technologies. It is not just the current government policies that can potentially be highly influential for the successful adoption of environmental technologies. The historical policies and technology use patterns can also have a substantial influence over the success of environmental technologies. For example, in Denmark the use of environmental technology to harness the wind for electricity generation has been occurring since the early 1900s, and in 1918 3% of the electricity needs of Denmark were generated by windmills (Beise and Rennings, 2005). This early adoption of harnessing wind for energy generation is most likely the primary reason for the extensive use of wind turbines in Denmark in comparison to other countries (see figure 1). It should also be noted that Denmark had a more prolific use of wind turbines significantly earlier than many other countries (see figure 1).

In comparison to Denmark, the United Kingdom utilises relatively little of the potential energy that they could generate from their wind resources (see figure 1). This is not because the environmental technology is not developed – it can be seen from the successful implementation of wind turbines in other countries that the technology is fit for purpose, and the United Kingdom government is known to be supportive to the use of renewable energy technologies. Therefore there must be some other reason why there is relatively low exploitation of wind resources in the United Kingdom. One potential reason is the dislike of the wind turbine infrastructure that has been expressed by many organisations and individuals that inhabit areas near to proposed turbine sites (Jones and Eiser, 2010). Another reason may also be the difference in policies to encourage the use of wind technologies between the United Kingdom and Denmark. Denmark has operated a policy based on the principle of renewable energy feed tariffs, whereas the United Kingdom has operated a policy termed bidding systems (Beise and Rennings, 2005). When examined in closer detail, studies have found that the renewable energy feed tariffs, such as that used by Denmark, are far superior to that of the bidding system in terms of promoting the proliferation and thus successful adoption of environmental technologies that are used for energy generation (Beise and Rennings, 2005).

Figure 1. The extent of exploitation of wind for energy generation as a percentage of the total potential energy generation from wind (Beise and Rennings, 2005 p. 10).

Thus it can be concluded that whilst the policy of the governing body is a key factor in the uptake of environmental technology at the national level, not all government policies are created equal. As is the case with wind energy in Denmark and the United Kingdom, both governments have policies in place that are meant to support the adoption of technology that allows the generation of energy from wind; however it is apparent that the Danish policy has enabled a greater adoption of the technology than the United Kingdom policy.

The International Scale

International policy is also likely to have an influence on the potential success of environmental technology adoption. There is a growing body of international treaties that are signed by numerous nations that detail the need for global action to reduce the impacts of anthropogenic activities on the environment. An example of these treaties is the Kyoto protocol. The Kyoto protocol is an international agreement regarding the issues of global warming and climate change, within which the signatory nations agree to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases, particularly those that are carbon-based, with the aim of achieving eventually atmospheric levels that are equal to a 1990 base level (Manne and Richels, 2000).

Several methods have been introduced by the signatory countries to achieve this, including the introduction of regulations that require the limiting of emissions. In order to limit emissions from processes that previously would have emitted greenhouse gases, new environmental technologies have to be introduced that either do not emit these gases or capture the gases before emission. However, it is not just the signatory countries which have agreed to limit their emissions that have introduced new environmental technology adoption (again through the medium of government policy and regulation), but also some countries which are not required to actively reduce their emissions (due to their development status) that have introduced environmental technologies to achieve this aim – for example China (Fang et al., 2001).

China has made significant gains in reducing their emissions of greenhouse gases by introducing the successful adoption of environmental technologies through policies and regulations. Indeed, the emissions reductions of China could potentially exceed those of the countries required under the Kyoto protocol to reduce their emissions (Zhang, 2010). It is possible that the driving factors for the adoption of the new environmental technologies in China are due to a combination of the relatively extreme impact on the environment that anthropogenic activities have precipitated in China, a desire to increase their economic growth, and an additional desire to operate in the global market (Liu and Feng, 2011). The adoption of environmental technology in China is a relatively new occurrence. Previously the focus in China was on economic growth, with little concern for the environmental impact: therefore there was little to no environmental regulations in place with few incentives for the adoption of environmental technologies (Zhang, 2010). This is an issue that was noted in a study that was conducted by Popp (2010), who suggested that the proliferation of environmental technology is intrinsically linked to the proliferation of environmental regulations. Therefore a country that has poor environmental regulations is highly likely to not have seen the successful adoption of environmental technology.

In a similar vein, a study conducted by Costantini and Crespi (2008) concluded that when environmental regulations are more extensive and stringent, there is an increase in the investments that are made in environmental technologies, thereby likely increasing the successful adoption of environmental technologies as the technologies mature and become more generally regarded as reliable.

Conclusions

In conclusion, it was found that there is an intrinsic link between policy and regulations, be it on an international or a national level, and the successful adoption of environmental technologies. Whilst it was found that there were also other factors that could potentially influence the successful adoption of environmental technologies, these factors were considered to be incidental when compared to the influence of policy and regulations. The influence of policy and regulations on the successful adoption of environmental technology is suggested to occur because the regulations and legislation of governing bodies are not something that can easily be ignored without repercussions; thus it could be said that this method of introduction to the option of environmental technology is not a choice, but rather forces individuals, communities and businesses to implement environmental technologies in their homes and workplaces.

The link between policy and the successful adoption of environmental technologies was further highlighted when considering developing countries such as China. Prior to the introduction of environmental policies there was little to no proliferation of environmental technology within China – it was only subsequent to policy changes that environmental technologies began to be adopted. Therefore in order to support the adoption of environmental technologies it is of extreme importance that the national policies of the governing bodies are supportive of environmental technologies in order to reduce the environmental degradation caused by anthropogenic activities.

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Abstract

Different environmental conditions contribute to the limitations of plant growth. Salts are common and a natural constituent of all soils. Normally, salts are present in low amounts in top soil and plant growth is not affected. However, accumulation of salts, through natural means or man’s activities, can cause plant growth problems and result in poor growth or death of plants.

Considering that Bermuda is such a small island, farmers’ crops are constantly being exposed to salt spray. Therefore, there must be a saline threshold for the various crops. Bermuda is famous for The Bermuda Yellow Onion, therefore I felt it was appropriate to investigate The Salinity Tolerance of the Bermuda Yellow Onion.

The objective of this study is to find out if the Bermuda Yellow Onion has a saline threshold, and if so what is this saline limit. To examine this question, I have constructed several small experiments, including the Saline Affect on Biomass, Germination Rate, Onion Growth, and the Water Content in Soil after Plant Growth.

Throughout this investigation, I found that salinity effects both germination and overall growth of the Bermuda Yellow Onion, decreasing the yield percentage produced. The appearance of all plants grown in saline solutions are recognized as an effect of salt stress; poor germination and establishment, reduced plant vigour and stunted growth, smaller than normal leaves, slightly yellowing leaves, and a burnt appearance on tips of leaves.

All experiments carried out show that salinity has an affect on the osmotic ability of both seed and plant, which has an effect on other plant functions such as photosynthesis and transpiration. Without the plant able to function effectively nor efficiently, the plant will produce fewer yields or eventually die, depending on the salinity strength.

This discovery suggests that there is a definite saline threshold for the Bermuda Yellow Onion.

Introduction

Originally, Bermuda grew and exported tobacco, but during the 1870s and 1880s Bermudians approached the production of crops with a more serious attitude, and agriculture became a thriving export business.

Every onion was hand picked, wrapped and packed for the market in New York. Every member of the family was involved in preparing the garden produce for export for the steamers that sailed twice a month from Hamilton. Bermuda did not only export onions to the New York market but also other garden produce such as arrowroot, celery, tomatoes, and potatoes.

Because Bermuda’s onions were so delicious they were widely sought and enjoyed not only in the U.S. but all over, so production increased to meet the growing demand. Bermuda was often referred to as The Onion Patch and Bermudians were obviously nicknamed Onions because of this. The export of Bermuda onions came to an abrupt end when U.S. tariff walls were raised against such imports.

Bermuda is quite a small island, only 21 square miles, and the crops are often exposed to salt spray from the surrounding ocean, which affects the soil that will in the long run affect plant growth.

Soil is a multicomponent system, which means that soil is made up of solid, liquid and gaseous components. This system consists of inorganic and organic solid components, soil solutions and as well as a gaseous phase. These three states are in a constant flux, maintaining a state of equilibrium. This is maintained by a chain reaction, one phase will manipulate the following phases until the equilibrium state is achieved. One way of achieving equilibrium is cation exchange; this involves cations interchanging between the solid phase and the liquid phase. This exchange reaction occurs from the negative charge of soil colloids.

Soil contains a mixture of different types of clays; soil salinity causes particles to bind together into aggregates, this process is called flocculation. Flocculation is good for soil aeration, root penetration, and root growth. Increasing soil salinity may have a positive effect on soil aggregation and stabilization, but high salinity also has a negative effect on plants.

High sodium concentration in soil, gives an opposite affect than soil salinity. Sodium causes soil dispersion and the clay platelets and aggregate swelling. When too many sodium ions come between the clay particles, the bonded clay particles are disrupted. This separation of clay particles causes them to swell and soil dispersion occurs. Soil dispersion causes clay particles to clog soil pores; this reduces the permeability of the soil. When soil is wetted and dispersion occurs repeatedly, it then becomes solidified to a cement-like soil with little or no structure.

The reason why other salts such as calcium and magnesium do not have the same affect as sodium is because they are smaller so they can collect closer to the clay particles. As shown in figure 1. Soil dispersion also has an affect on infiltration and hydraulic conductivity of the soil.

A Lack of Water

Salinity also affects the Evapotranspiration (ET), as salinity in the soil increases the ET decreases. Because of the saline soil having an osmotic pressure greater that the plant cell sap, there is a link between the effect of salinity on ET and the yield of plants.

The tolerance of plants to salinity is linked to the salinity of the soil, which is known as the total amount of soluble salt in soil. The relative growth of plants in saline soils will determine their salt tolerance.

You measure salinity by the range of electrical conductivity levels throughout the soil. Electrical Conductivity (EC) is the ability of a solution to transmit an electrical current. In order to determine soil salinity EC, an electrical current is imposed in a glass cell using two electrodes in a soil extract solution taken from the soil being measured. The units are usually given in deciSiemens per meter (dS/m).

The salinity of seawater is usually 35 parts per thousand (also written as ppt) in most marine areas. This salinity measurement is a total of all the salts that are dissolved in the water. Although 35 parts per thousand is not very concentrated (the same as 3.5 parts per hundred, pph, or percent) the water in the oceans tastes very salty. The interesting thing about this dissolved salt is that it is always made up of the same types of salts and they are always in the same proportion to each other (even if the salinity is different than average). The majority of the salt is the same as table salt (sodium chloride) but there are other salts as well. The table below shows these proportions:

Salinity has many consequences to the growth of plants. Considering the small size of Bermuda, salinity can contribute to hindering plant growth of farmer’s crops. Since Bermuda has been recognized for growing onions, I felt that it is rational to investigate the salinity tolerance of the Bermuda Yellow Onion. From the knowledge I have attained, I expect throughout my investigation that the yield produced by the onion will decrease with increasing salinity.

Method and Materials

I will concentrate on germination and the growth of onion seedlings to investigate the salinity tolerance of the Bermuda Yellow Onion. I will investigate the affect of various salinities on the germination rate and the affect of various salinities of the growth of the onions by measuring height and the biomass and dry biomass of the onion samples. Salinity concentration used will be constant in both investigations, consisting of a constant of 0ppt concentration, as well as concentrations of 0.5ppt, 1.0ppt, 1.5ppt, 2.5ppt and 3.5ppt.

All experiments will be carried out in my biology classroom under controlled conditions. Experiments will be set up along side the windows so exposure to light is the same. Temperature may fluctuate because of air conditioning in the classroom, but since each sample is exposed to the same conditions, there will be no contamination to the final results. Hence, if the temperature should affect the growth in any way, each sample will be affected in the same way.

Watering of samples will be daily and in precisely equal amounts, no matter what saline level the water is the samples will be supplied with the same amount of water.

However there is one variable I can not have control over, human contamination. Since I will not be in the room supervising at all times I am not able to account for other students interfering with the samples, but I trust no one will cause disorder.

Biomass

Initially I will investigate the average dry biomass of random onion seedlings so I will be able to compare water content at a later stage. Dry bio mass will be found by firstly recording 10 random onion seedling samples masses then leaving them in a drying oven until a constant mass is obtained. Drying oven will be set at a temperature of 100oC; because of course 100oC is the temperature at which water boils. Therefore I will be able to evaluate the average percentage water mass loss of the seedlings grown in the

Investigation of saline affect on Germination

Using Petri dishes I will investigate the affect of various salinities on the germination rate. It takes 7-14 days for an onion seed to germinate, so I will carry out the experiment over a 2 week period. Each Petri dish will be lined with three layers of paper towel and watered daily with 5 ml of water to ensure accuracy (show in the figure below). For each saline concentration there will be five Petri dishes containing 20 seeds each.

Investigation of saline affect on Onion Growth

Pot trials will be carried out in 4 gallon pots over a 7 week period; in each pot I will grow 5 onion seedlings 10-15 cm apart in -3/4 inch of soil deep. Each seedling will have an initial height of 6.75 cm above soil, and I will be weekly their progress or even retreat.

Seedlings require 1 inch of water per week, so each sample set will be watered 1 inch relevant to the 4 gallon pots, which is approximately 1.5L of water. Therefore Plants will be watered daily with 200ml of water. Deionized water will be used to eliminate other ions as a variable. To make the saline solutions I will add 1 kg of water approximately for every ppt amount in grams of dissolved salts, for each specified saline percentage Consider 5ppt: when 5g/1kg=5g/1000g and 1g=1ml, then 1000g=1liter, therefore 5g of NaCl per liter of water(5g/1l)=5ppt

To avoid phototropism pots will be rotated daily because sunlight thorough the window is the only source of light plant samples will receive. Following the seven week period seedlings will be extracted from the soil measured and weighed and then placed into the drying oven until a constant dry bio mass is found.

Investigation of water content in soil after plant growth

Along with the experiments I will also take samples of soil from each individual saline percentage pot at the end of the experiment to investigate the water content of the different salinity concentrated soils. (Soil samples will be taken from a dept if 10cm) I will take 3 samples of each concentrated soil and place them in small crucibles, in order to obtain the soils mass, I will have to weigh the crucible before and after placing the soil sample in the crucible.

To find the water content of the soil samples I will place the crucibles containing the soil samples into a drying oven at a temperature of 100oC, and then measure the mass of each sample after (samples will be left in drying oven for 3 days and measured each day to obtain a constant mass result).

Salinity effect on germination rate is very evident. At the highest salinity levels 2.5% and 3.5%, seeds are not able to germinate at all. While at the lower salinities, germination rate increase as salinity levels decrease. This is because the NaCl in the saline solution attracts the water molecules restricting the uptake of water. As a result the more saline the solution is, the greater the attraction between NaCl molecule and water molecules will be. This results in an impact on the osmotic ability of the seeds.

The germination of seeds is dependent on both internal and external conditions, with one of those conditions including the availability of water. Mature seeds are often extremely dry and need to absorb a significant amount of water, relative to the seeds dry biomass, before cellular metabolism and growth can resume. Most seeds respond best when there is enough water to moisten the seeds but not soak them.

The uptake of water by seeds is called imbibitions, which leads to the swelling and the breaking of the seed coat. When seeds are formed, most plants store a food source, such as starch, proteins, or oils, to provide nourishment to the growing embryo inside the seed. When the seed imbibes enzymes are activated that break down the stored food into metabolically useful chemicals, allowing the cells of the embryo to divide and grow, so the seedling can emerge from the seed. For that reason, without the right supply of water, the cellular metabolic pathways will not take place.

There is an immediate effect on the growth of onions once salt is introduced to the environment. Plants grown in 0% salinity progressively grows over the seven week period, while salinities 0.5% and 1.0% decrease within the fifth week and begin to slowly progress again. Plants grown in salinities of 0.5% began to grow with high progression and had a very large decrease. Plants grown in salinities of 1.5% progress slightly and in the fourth week, growth declines and in the last week plants begins to progress again. Plants grown in salinities 2.5% and 3.5% had scarcely any progression, plants seem to stay at almost a constant height until plants die.

Although in the beginning, plants seem to make some sort of progression, in the end plants grown in saline solutions show an extreme case of drought stress. As plants are continually watered with saline solutions, the salt begins to accumulate in the soil. With increasing salt accumulating in to soil, the greater the inhabitation of uptake of water to the plant is. Explaining why plants grown at lower salinities appear in the beginning to progress then suddenly have a great decrease in growth.

As the experiment progressed unpredictably, seedlings began to disappear. I concluded a possible answer causing this problem could be that as water was being retained in the soil and roots begin to rot. There is an excess of water in plants grown in saline waters, because of the fact that salt inhibits water uptake, the excess of water makes it difficult for the roots to receive any oxygen, thus leading to roots rotting. As well, of course without roots there is no way in which a plant is able to transport material in and out leading to overall death of the plant. Explaining why plant began to disappear throughout the experiment.

It is apparent that salinity has an affect on plant yield. All plants grown in saline soils parentage yield has decreased in fresh biomass. That fact that only plants grown in saline soils of 1.5%-3.5% has a decrease shows that there may be a saline threshold for Bermuda Yellow Onion. Since water moves into the cells because they are full of salts and sugars shows that Bermuda Yellow Onions cell sap concentration of salt is lower than 1.5%.

Root cells receive sugars from the leaves and actively absorb salts from the soil. This concentration of salts and sugars causes water from the soil to move into the cell. But if the solution out side the root cells are more concentrated with salt than the solution inside the root cells than water will not diffuse into the cells.

Water is truly vital for growth. Plants grow in two ways, cell division and cell expansion. Cell division creates more cells and cell expansion is the increase in cell size. Cells grow by taking up water. If water is reduced during growth, final cell size and overall plant growth is reduced. Increasing salinity values causes drought stress for the plants resulting in smaller, weaker plants.

With the lack of water, there is a of soluble salts and sugars therefore photosynthesis cannot occur efficiently, explaining the less biomass produced in the higher salinity levels. Plants need water for photosynthesis. Photosynthesis produces biomass in which energy from sunlight converts carbon dioxide and water to carbohydrates and oxygen. If they lack it, they wilt. When they have a deficiency of water, the stomata close and CO2 cannot diffuse into the leaves. Without CO2, photosynthesis would not occur, as it should.

(Refer to Appendix 1, Table 6)

The water content if saline soils are very similar on either end of the saline scale. Low salinities of 0-1 are similar and higher salinities of 1.5-3.5 are similar. Although there is a generous jump between the two set groups. This jump further enhances the possibility of a salinity threshold of the Bermuda yellow Onion.

As salinity inhibits the osmotic affect less water is taken up by plants roots, so daily watering will not help the plant to absorb any more water. Therefore, more water is left in the soil. Plants grown in salinities 2.5% and 3.5%, demonstrate this because towards the end of the experiment water began to retain in the bottom on the trays.

A saline soil is defined as having a high concentration of soluble salts, high enough to affect plant growth. In saline soils water is held tighter to the soil, the presence of salt in the water causes plants to exert more energy extracting water from the soil. The main point is that excess salinity in soil water can decrease plant available water and cause plant stress.

There are several factors that hinder water flow from the soil to the roots. One is the soil-root contact, and as the root dries out it shrinks away for the soil particles. Therefore, soils of higher salinities retain a greater amount of water, thus providing more evidence that salinity inhibits plants osmotic ability.

High sodium concentration in soil causes soil dispersion and the clay platelets and aggregate swell. When too many sodium ions come between the clay particles, the bonds between the clay particles are disrupted. This separation of clay particles causes them to swell and soil dispersion occurs. Soil dispersion causes clay particles to clog soil pores; reducing the permeability of the soil.

The ideal soil is one that holds moisture and at the same time allows a constant flow of air through the soil. Soil cannot be over-saturated with water or air would be excluded. The reason why soil is so important to a plant’s survival is this need to maintain a balance between moisture and air.

The quality of the soil, as determined by physical characteristics, can help or hinder a plant. In this case the quality of saline soils hinder a plants growth, with soils retaining water, it prevents airflow getting to the roots. Airflow brings oxygen to the roots and to micro-organisms, and removes carbon dioxide from the soil. With a lack of oxygen to the roots respiration and ATP production via oxidative phosphorylation, a process that essentially requires the presence of oxygen will not occur.

Evaluation

During the investigation of Salinity effect on Onion growth experiment, I ran into some problems with collecting the data. Since Onion seedlings grow with multiple leaves I was not completely sure how to measure the height, hence do I measure only the tallest leaf. Then again, do I measure each individual leaf? I decided to measure each individual leaf, but then I ran into a problem with my decision, as the investigation progressed, leaves began to die and new shoots appeared. With this I could not keep track of what leaves had died and which leaves are the new ones, with that I decided to jus keep the measurements of the tallest leaf, and continue taking only the measurement of the tallest leaf.

I also could have grown the plants in a more controlled area, because I am not able to account for anyone tampering with the experiment.

Conclusion

The Bermuda Yellow Onion can tolerate salinity levels up to 1.0% – 1.5%, but only for a short period. If plants are continually watered with the same saline solution, the salt will eventually accumulate in the soil and show severe signs of drought stress.

This tolerance level is present because the cell sap has a certain concentration level and once the saline soils exceeds the cell sap concentration, the plants can no longer grow, (tolerate) the saline soils. This is because once the solution outside the soil is higher than the solution inside the cells, naturally osmosis occurs and the cells become flaccid.

Water is essential in the plant environment for a number of reasons. Water transports minerals through the soil to the roots where they are absorbed by the plant. Water is also the principal medium for the chemical and biochemical processes that support plant metabolism. It also acts as a solvent for dissolved sugars and minerals transported throughout the plant.

In addition, evaporation within intercellular spaces provides the cooling mechanism that allows plants to maintain the favorable temperatures necessary for metabolic processes. Without the essential amount of water, the essential minerals would not be transported throughout the plant leading to growth deficiency.

As this is a problem in Bermuda because the island is so small farmers land is constantly exposed to salt spray. There is no way to reverse the effect of salinity, but there are ways in which farmers could successfully grow plants in high saline soils. By providing adequate drainage, maintain adequate soil moisture, and simply grow salt tolerant plants.

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What is the environmental impact of market-based approaches to environmental policy and are they effective in controlling greenhouse gas emissions?

Introduction

Greenhouse gas emissions, and other forms of environmental pollution, are economic externalities as they impose costs on individuals and communities who did not create the pollution (Jaffe et al, 2005). These economic externalities are side effects that are experienced by individuals not connected with the polluting process (Owen, 2006). As such, the individual or entity from which the pollution originates does not need to reflect the pollution costs within their prices. The problem therefore lies in the associated costs to society that environmental pollution causes. These damages and costs, which include climate change, in the form of biodiversity loss, rising sea levels and extreme weather events, are not paid for by the companies or industries that emit the pollution and so they do not need to factor these costs into the market price of the goods or services that they provide (Muller et al, 2011). The result of this is that society produces and consumes high volumes of pollution-creating products, whilst industries continue to produce these goods and services without having to account for the costs associated with environmental pollution (Frankel and Rose, 2005).

This form of market failure is addressed by market-based environmental policies that construct systems which incorporate the costs associated with environmental pollution into the industry’s decision making and financial process (Metcalf, 2009). The theoretical basis for these market-based policies is that when an industry or other pollution making entity see, and must pay for, the societal cost of pollution, then they will design innovative ways in which to reduce their environmental impact. In addition, the full environmental cost of the products will be reflected in the price, therefore enabling consumers to make informed purchasing decisions (Owen, 2006). The remainder of this document will consider the effectiveness of market-based policies compared with traditional command and control regulations.

Command and Control versus Market-Based Policies

Traditional command and control policies required polluters to reduce emissions by installing specific technology in order to meet specific performance emission standards (Hepburn, 2006). However, opponents to the command and control mindset state that this form of regulation is inflexible and does not take into consideration that some industries are able to meet these targets at a much lower cost than others (Liu et al, 2014). Additionally, the command and control regulatory approach does not incentivise industries to innovate and reduce their environmental impacts by more than what is required by the standard (Haselip et al, 2015).

Conversely, market-based approaches have been reported to provide greater flexibility for industry (Pirard, 2012). However, it is necessary to address the type of pollutant being emitted, as there are some that need to be maintained at a very low level for health-related reasons (Centre for Climate and Energy Solutions, 2012). As such, it may be necessary to control these types of pollutants with command and control regulations in order to ensure that health-related thresholds are not breached. Greenhouse gases are not harmful on a localised basis. Their effects are only seen when they are globally mixed within the atmosphere and cause damage on a global scale (Meinshausen et al, 2011). As such, many proponents claim that market-based regulatory approaches are particularly appropriate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (Pirard, 2012; Hrabanski et al, 2013; Boisvert et al, 2013). Indeed, there is evidence to suggest that these policies provide greater compliance flexibility and can reach and improve environmental objectives at much lower overall costs (Boisvert et al, 2013).

One key aspect of these market-based policies is that they provide a financial incentive for industry to develop and deploy lower environmental pollution emitting technologies, whilst leaving the private market to decide which technologies can be expanded and utilised (Pirard, 2012). Within this structure, each regulated industry is able to independently choose the most cost-effective method to achieve the required pollution abatement. As previously mentioned, some industries are able to reduce their pollution more easily and cheaply than others, due to the technology or equipment that they are using. This enables them to reduce their pollution more, therefore compensating for those industries who are unable to meet traditional command and control targets due to the costs involved. As such, the overall environmental target can still be achieved but at a much lower societal and industry cost (Pirard, 2012). A good example of the success of market-based policies has been seen within the US. At the federal level, sulphur dioxide emissions have been reduced at a fraction of the original estimated cost (CCES, 2012). In addition, at state level, market-based approaches have been successfully incorporated into cap-and-trade and renewable energy programs to reduce nitrogen oxides and other greenhouse gases (CCES, 2012). The following sections will consider two distinct examples of market-based policies that can control greenhouse gas emissions.

Taxes

Taxes, that set a price on each unit of pollution, are the most basic form of market-based policies. This pollution tax ensures that the industry producing the pollution pays an additional cost dependent on the amount of pollution that is emitted (Vossler et al, 2013). This cost incentivises the industry to reduce the amount of pollution produced and encourage them to change their processes or incorporate better technology within their production line (Suter et al, 2005). As such, the more emissions that are reduced, the less pollution tax the industry needs to pay. However, it is necessary to calculate the societal cost of the pollution in order to set the price of the tax (Chiroleu-Assouline et al, 2014). This can be a complex process with the societal costs of pollution being difficult to quantify. For example, if the pollution emitted from a certain industry caused a population decline in a commercial shellfishery, then the damages could be based on the lost value of the shellfish at current market price. However, if the emitted pollution causes the extinction of a species or the destruction of a habitat, it is less clear on how society should assign a financial cost which equates to that loss. In addition, it is necessary to address how the environmental pollution emitted from today’s industries can cause damage to future generations and how to quantify these consequences when there are a range of possible outcomes (CCES, 2012).

Cap-and-Trade

The cap-and-trade approach sees the regulatory authority determining a total quantity of pollution that is acceptable (Betsill and Hoffmann, 2011). This is the cap. Industries are able to trade emission allowances based on their needs. However, there is a limited number of these allowances, so trading comes at a cost (Betsill and Hoffmann, 2011). Each regulated industry holds enough allowances to ensure that the cap is not breached whilst also creating demand for the allowances (Stephan and Paterson, 2012). For some businesses, it may be less costly for them to reduce their emissions than to buy allowances, therefore encouraging them to analyse their polluting activities and reduce their environmental impact. Some businesses are able to reduce their emissions to such an extent that they have excess allowances, which can be either banked for future use or sold to businesses that are struggling to reduce emissions. However, due to the scarcity of the allowances and their tradable nature, a price is placed on greenhouse gas emissions (Stephan and Paterson, 2012). This price results in an incentive for businesses to develop innovative technology to reduce emissions, with an added incentive to reduce their emissions to such a level that they can avoid buying allowances or can trade allowances they have been given (Betsill and Hoffmann, 2011). With the latter, businesses are able to raise revenue by selling these excess allowances (Piraud, 2012). This reduced environmental cost can then be passed on to their consumers, with cheaper goods and services, therefore giving them an advantage within the consumer market.

Problems with Quantity-based and Price-Based Market Policies

Evidence suggests that there is a tradeoff between quantity-based (cap-and-trade) and price-based (pollution tax) approaches (CCES, 2012). This tradeoff is either greater environmental certainty or greater compliance cost certainty. By setting an explicit price on each unit of environmental pollution, the regulated businesses have a high degree of price of certainty (Pizer, 2006). However, what is less certain is the amount of environmental pollution reduction that can be achieved, as each business will respond differently to the tax costs. For example, by placing a tax on each litre of fuel, one company may reduce its fuel consumption by 20%, whilst another company may only reduce its consumption by 2%. As such, it is difficult to estimate what price to place on the tax in order to achieve a specific emission reduction goal.

Conversely, with quantity-based market approaches, such as the cap-and-trade program, there is more certainty surrounding the environmental outcomes due to the scarcity of pollution allowances that make up the cap (Pizer, 2006). However, with this environmental certainty comes a cost uncertainty for the businesses emitting the pollution, as the cost of this pollution will be determined by the market price for the allowances (Pizer, 2006). Yet some market-based policies can be designed to allow more certainty for both price and quantity. For example, The Centre for Climate and Energy Solutions (2011) included price floors and allowance reserves, which act as prices ceilings, within the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in California, in order to give more compliance cost certainty.

Revenue Uses from Taxes or Allowance Sales

Both price-based and quantity-based regulatory approaches have the potential to raise revenue for the government (Nordhaus, 2007). With environmental taxes, potential revenue raised will equate to the total quantity of greenhouse gas emissions released to the environment within a set timescale multiplied by the price of the tax. With cap-and-trade programs, the amount of revenue generated depends on the price allowances make on the open market and the number of allowances that are offered up for sale (Nordhaus, 2007). Regardless of how these revenues are raised, the benefits to society of this revenue stream are clear. Revenue use examples include the reduction of existing distortionary taxes on capital and labour investments in order to reduce the economy wide cost of the program, and the offset of taxes on the labour markets, individuals and businesses, as seen in both Sweden and British Columbia (Aldy et al, 2008).

Nevertheless, some experts suggest that this carbon revenue should be used for other purposes. These experts argue that there is a need to address the question of equity in addition to economic efficiency (MacKenzie, 2009). This equity would avoid burdening some households and businesses, particularly if they adopted clean energy approaches, technological adaptation, or positioned themselves within the research and development arena. An example of this can be seen within the member states of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. In this initiative, 100% of allowances are auctioned and 25% of the revenues generated are targeted towards consumer benefit, energy efficiency programs and renewable energy schemes. In total, over the last 7 years, these allowance auctions have generated more than $2 billion (Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, 2015).

Conclusion

It can be seen from the above narrative that both price-based and quantity-based market approaches to reducing greenhouse gas emissions can be highly successful and popular methods of achieving environmental targets. Environmental taxes ensure that the cost of environmental pollution is covered by the polluter in a “polluter pays” approach. Each unit of pollution is given a specific price which the polluter has to pay. These costs incentivise the industry to adopt more environmentally friendly approaches in order to reduce their financial outgoings. Cap-and-trade programs have a given number of allowances distributed between businesses within an industry sector. Companies that can produce their goods in a more environmentally friendly manner, which sees them having an excess of allowance, are able to trade these allowances on the open market to companies who are less able to meet environmental targets. However, due to the costs of these allowances, there is an added incentive for businesses to adopt, or develop, new technologies that reduce their environmental impact. However, both approaches have their limitations as it is difficult to quantify the financial costs of pollution in order to set a price on environmental taxes, and there are many uncertainties for the environment and for businesses with the cap-and-trade approach. Nevertheless, despite these uncertainties and challenges associated with price setting, it is considered that the flexibility for businesses and potential improvements for the environment by adopting these approaches over the traditional command and control regulation outweigh any negatives. Whilst it is accepted that market-based approaches will not work for all environmental pollutants, for greenhouse gases, which cause effects on a global scale, the evidence suggests that these approaches will encourage innovation and incentivise businesses to adopt best available technology.

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Assignment 1:
Comparative Study

How does Ionesco and Beckett’s dramaturgy in ‘Waiting for Godot’ and ‘The Bald Soprano’ express the absurdist and existentialist view that life is essentially meaningless.

‘Waiting for Godot’ and ‘The Bald Soprano’ are two of the most classic examples of why life is called the theatre of the absurd. The Theatre of the Absurd came about as a reaction to World War II. It took the basis of existential philosophy and combined it with dramatic elements to create a style of theatre which presented a universe which cannot be logically explained or defined; life is therefore meaningless and lacks purpose.

The conventional qualities of traditional theatre: realistic characters and situations, comprehensible dialogues and a clear plot, were abandoned to convey this vision of absurdity. Instead, the characteristics which coincide with many of the plays in this modern absurdist theatre: broad comedy, tragic images, characters in hopeless situations, nonsensical dialogues full of cliches and wordplay; plots that are cyclical or absurdly expansive were adopted and replaced the concept of the “well-made play”.

Of these characteristics, this essay focuses on the dramaturgy, more specifically the ‘cyclical’ dramaturgy that Beckett and Ionesco adopted in their plays, and how this is effective in expressing the absurdist and existentialist vision that life is inherently without meaning or purpose.

As many Absurdist playwrights, Beckett and Ionesco did away with most of the logical structures of traditional theatre. Thus, ‘Waiting for Godot’ and ‘The Bald Soprano’ are often described as ‘anti plays’; they reject a coherent story-line, deviate from the traditional episodic structure, and seem to move in a circle, ending the same way they began. The plays have a beginning, but the beginning seems in a way arbitrary because what happened before the beginning does not seem important.

The plays have an end, but the end somewhat recalls the beginning and thus a sense of circularity is created replacing the sense of closure that conventional stories generally provide. John W. Fiero makes an interesting observation that the ‘Ouroboros’, a snake devouring its own tail, can serve as the new structural paradigm. It suggests an endless, tedious, and futile cycle.

Beckett’s and Ionesco’s plays both rely on repetition and ‘looping’: in ‘Waiting for Godot’ the protagonists decide to move and then do not move, over and over again; the two sets of families in ‘The Bald Soprano’ become interchangeable at the end of the play. This reinforces the absurdist and existentialist idea of life as having no clear purpose and of life being an interminable waiting for a sense of purpose or closure that is unlikely ever to arrive.

The seemingly endless waiting that Estragon and Vladimir undertake for the mysterious Godot reflects this idea and to effectively express it, Beckett abandons traditional plot development and creates a circular symmetrical movement throughout ‘Waiting for Godot.’ The second act parallels the first. Nothing new happens: Godot fails to appear in both acts, Vladimir and Estragon find themselves caught in these pointless routines and repetitive pantomimes, further emphasizing the ridiculous purposelessness of their lives.

In Act 2 the characters engage in ways that closely parallel the first act; the key difference seems to be an increased struggle in the second act to pass the time, which passed quickly in the first act because of Pozzo and Lucky, whose appearance is briefer in the second act. This pointless waiting and boredom makes Estragon more desperate to leave and Vladimir continually reminds him why they mustn’t leave because they’re waiting for Godot:

VLADIMIR: We can’t.
ESTRAGON: Why not?
VLADIMIR: We’re waiting for Godot.
ESTRAGON: (despairingly) Ah! (Pause.)
You’re sure it was here?

Here we are given information that these two men are waiting for someone called Godot and Estragon’s tone suggests the possibility that it is not the first time and that they have done it before and been disappointed. This adds to the effect that there is no real beginning and their present situation is somewhat static. The characters want to go but feel stuck waiting for Godot.
ESTRAGON: What about hanging ourselves?
ESTRAGON: Don’t let’s do anything.
VLADIMIR: Let’s wait and see what he says.
ESTRAGON: Who?

VLADIMIR: Godot.
They want to commit suicide, but have grown either too lethargic or too helpless to act on their desires, they are too caught up in their routines and habits. In their presence, even Pozzo catches on to this feeling, at the moment of his departure, they have an absurdly repetitive dialogue and Pozzo finds himself unable to leave:
VLADIMIR: Adieu.
POZZO: Adieu.
ESTRAGON: Adieu
[silence]
POZZO: And thank you.
VLADIMIR: Thank you
POZZO: Not at all
ESTRAGON: Yes yes
POZZO: No no.
[silence]
POZZO: I seem to be unable…[Long hesitation]…to depart.
ESTRAGON: Such is life.

Paralysed, immobilised, forced to remain stationary, they must remain passive as well. Unable to act, they are capable only of waiting, waiting for the end they know will never come. But they remain still, in constant hope of being acted upon and remain in the same situation throughout the play, just as nothing really begun, nothing ever finishes.

This structure of the play serves to reinforce the timelessness of their situation, thus emphasising on the pointlessness of their lives, that time passes by and nothing changes, but they remain in this static situation helplessly waiting for something, a reason or purpose to live, that they subconsciously know will never come to them.

This similar cyclical, repetitive and absurd structure, ending where it first began, is adopted in Ionesco’s ‘Bald Soprano’. In fact the “Bald Soprano” itself was inspired by the inane sentences Ionesco read again and again in the textbook he used to learn English. Already, Ionesco had acquired this sense of repetition and practical cyclical movement through his learning of a language.

‘The Bald Soprano’s’ cyclical structure suggests that an infinite and tedious replay is possible but is aborted, not because there has to be an ending, but simply for practical necessity. Ionesco had to find a way to bring his play to closure; His first working solution was to end the action abruptly, using a sort of ‘deus ex machina’ device in which the performance was closed down by the Superintendent of Police and his men, who open fire at the rebellious audience and simply order the theatre vacated.

Other possibilities were considered but they were rejected as too problematic. Eventually, it was decided that the play should simply begin again, giving the work its cyclical structure. The final structural refinement was to substitute the Martins for the Smiths in the repeated opening. So the story begins again at the ‘end’, but the characters now play new roles. The actor that first played Mrs. Smith now plays Mrs. Martin; the former maid becomes the fire chief; and so on.

[The play begins again with the Martins, who say exactly the same lines as the Smiths in the first scene, while the curtain softly falls]

In ‘The Bald Soprano’, the repetitive structure also parallels the language, one of the main themes in the play. Repetition is the perfect example of the freezing of language; the discussion between Mr. and Mrs. Smith for example. Following a long series of coincidences, told in exhaustive detail and in an irritating repetitive pattern (the same sentence structure, even the same sentences are repeated: “How curious! How bizarre! What a coincidence!”) The two come to the conclusion that they are married.

Similarly to the characters in ‘Waiting for Godot’, the characters in ‘The Bald Soprano’ find themselves caught up in a ridiculous, vicious cycle of repetition, nonsensical yet logically thought through. This also expresses an absurdist and existentialist view on society and its meaningless conversation between people, words are used to express the most banal facts, but essentially they mean nothing, they express nothing but emptiness. This therefore reflects the meaninglessness of life in general.

Also, there is a parallel symbolism between the circular structure of the play and the eminent presence of the clock. Both are a representation of time; Time is not linear, on the contrary it is circular, much like a clock, whose hands constantly turn in a circular motion. In ‘Waiting for Godot’, the moon plays a similar role as a symbol which intensifies the passing of time and as an image of circularity.

This repetitive cyclical structure also serves as a representation of memory (or lack thereof), a theme expressed in both ‘The Bald Soprano’ and ‘Waiting for Godot’; life is happening to Vladimir and Estragon but they recall little of what is past and Mr and Mrs Smith only find out through a long conversational process that they are in fact married.

In ‘Waiting for Godot’ and ‘The Bald Soprano’ we see that the [absurdist and existentialist] ideas that inform the plays also dictate their dramaturgy. In both plays there is little dramatic action (in the conventional sense); however the repetitive actions and dialogues serve to highlight that no matter how they try to fill time, nothing happens to change their existence.

In Beckett’s ‘Waiting for Godot’, plot is eliminated, and a timeless, circular quality emerges as Estragon and Vladimir spend their days waiting (but without any certainty of whom they are waiting for and whether he, or it, will ever come) In ‘The Bald Soprano’ this quality parallels language; The characters in ‘The Bald Soprano’ sit and talk, repeating the obvious until it sounds like nonsense, thus revealing the inadequacies and futility of verbal communication and conversation. The ridiculous, repetitive and purposeless behaviour and talk give the plays a sometimes comic surface, but there is an underlying philosophical message, the absurdist and existentialist view that life is essentially without meaning or purpose.

Bibliography:

Beckett, Samuel, 2006, Waiting for Godot, London, Faber and Faber Limited

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http://www.answers.com/topic/the-bald-soprano-play-4: accessed on 31/08/08

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Theatre academic and cultural commentator Christopher Bigsby makes the point that theatre, as opposed to, say, the novel, is essentially a public experience (2000, p. 9). Where a novel may make comment on political issues, it does do in private, in a one-to-one relationship between author and reader. A play, on the other hand, is written for the public: it is experienced live and with a live audience of others who are experiencing the same production as you are in the same moment. This, for Bigsby, is what makes theatre uniquely poised to draw parallels between the specifics of the drama on stage, and the generalities of the social and political contexts of the play’s writing, its original and its revival productions. This essay will examine this in relationship to twentieth century American politics and society. It will do this by drawing on two preeminent examples of US theatre from different generations of writing: The Crucible by Arthur Miller, and Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet. The political contexts of both plays will be considered, and thematic and textual aspects will be considered, alongside critical and wider reactions and responses to the plays, both at the time of their first presentations, and over time. Two different approaches to using drama as commentary will be introduced and explored: allegory and specific example.

The Crucible was Arthur Miller’s third major play, coming after 1947’s All My Sons and 1952’s Death of a Salesman. Miller was by then established as a major playwright, having won the Pulitzer Prize for Salesman (Pfister 2005). Miller later commented that:

the prime business of a play is to arouse the passions of its audience so that by the route of passion may be opened up a new relationship between a man and men, and between men and Man. Drama is akin to the other inventions of man in that it ought to help us know more, and not merely to spend our feelings (Miller, in Pfister 2005).

It was in The Crucible that Miller would explore these connections, by writing a play that would make allegorical comment on contemporary American politics and society.

The use of the Massachusetts witch trials as a device for theatrical comment on contemporary America was not one unique to Miller. Welland (1979, pp. 74-5) notes that three other plays had done so in the previous decade. Marion Starkey, author of 1949’s The Devil in Massachusetts, comments thusly in her introduction to her play: “[o]ne would like to hope that leaders of the modern world can in the end deal with delusion as sanely and courageously as the men of old Massachusetts dealt with theirs” (in Welland, 1979, pp. 74-5). The issue by 1952, the year prior to The Crucible’s first performance, was that of the congressional investigation into un-American activities headed by Senator Joseph McCarthy (Bigsby, 2000, p. 87-8).

The McCarthy hearings, seeking to unmask Communist sympathisers in the contexts of a United States that was wary of the world order post-1945, the fresh superpower dynamic between the States and the USSR, and the emerging superpower antipathy between those two nations, were seen by Miller – and many other liberals – as a threat to the nation (Bigsby 2000, 88). Miller said (quoted in Bigsby, 2000, p. 88) that “there was a new religiosity in the air … conscience was no longer a private matter but one of state administration. I saw men handing conscience to other men and thanking other men for the opportunity of doing so”.

The Crucible tells the story of the witch trials, focusing on the character of John Proctor.Proctor first seeks to query the burgeoning fear gripping the Salem community when the witchcraft allegations are first made, and then is drawn in as the charges widen to include his household; he is forced to defend himself and his conscience. The inquisitorial manner of the legalistic Puritans who pursue the truth behind the allegations soon becomes overtaken by a zeal to find all who are accused guilty by whatever means possible. Welland (1979, p. 84-5) states the experience of watching the play “is to be overwhelmed by the simple impotence of honest common sense against fanaticism that is getting out of control”, and provides a reminder that “sheer goodness … is just not enough to counter such deviousness”. The language of the powerful overwhelms: it “establish[es] the grammar of human relationships, who determine the vocabulary in which the social debate is conducted” (Bigsby, 2000, p. 90). Proctor in the play – and by extension those in the 1950s theatre audience who are subject to McCarthyite inquisition, or who have sympathies with them – finds himself caught in their rhetoric and in their discourse, and is entrapped in their language.

Though to some extent The Crucible is indelibly linked to the contexts of its writing and first performance, it has proved to “not be limited to its time” (Bigsby, 2000, p. 93). The play is frequently revived and is given fresh vitality and currency by its allegoric nature: a play of the 1950s set in that time and which approached the McCarthy-led hearings head-on might well have less of the universality of Miller’s piece, which has since been staged and restaged widely, from the 2014 London Old Vic revival to “a successful production in the 1980s in the Peoples Republic of China” (Bigsby, 2000, p. 93).

Whereas Arthur Miller tackled a specific political reality in the context of the Cold War, in his 1983 play Glengarry Glen Ross, David Mamet examined something more nebulous, though still a political reality of its time: that of capitalism and of corporate greed in the Reagan era. Ronald Reagan was US president from 1980 to 1988 and in many ways the American counterpart of the UK’s Margaret Thatcher (prime minister from 1979 to 1991) in pursuing a free market-oriented and commercial-focused agenda within a wider brief of opposing what turned out to be the latter day of the Cold War (Kopkind, 2004). Both administrations promised to “to implement parallel monetarist, free market, and incentive-based economic policies” (Cooper, 2013).

For Bigsby (2000, p. 213) Glengarry Glen Ross is, like earlier Mamet stage productions, is “a play ‘set deeply in the milieu of capitalism’, an idea which [Mamet] suggests has exhausted itself”. The play concerns a group of real-estate salesmen led by Richard “Ricky” Roma, and their office manager Williamson; they are locked together in conflict for sales and for the security of their jobs. The play takes place over an evening and the following morning, in a Chinese restaurant near their offices, and the following day in the office. Central to the plot of the play are sales leads: the current leads are weak and sales are suffering, but the new leads will only be given out to proven sellers. The rest of the sales force will be dismissed.

Bigsby (2000, p. 219) sees this set-up as “a neat paradigm of a competitive capitalist society”. As only the successful are prioritised by the keeping of their jobs and the access to the new leads, then success is seen to lead to success: the rest must fall by the wayside. So pressure is applied to succeed; this leads to sharp practice and to criminality in order to secure that competitive edge. In the play this is illustrated by the theft of the leads, and the conversations the salesmen have where the leads’ potential is discussed. Failing salesman Shelley Levene pleads, with mounting hysteria, about his need to sell; he is desperate for access to the new leads, which Williamson is unwilling to give. Salesmen Aaronow and Moss discuss the potential theft of the leads; Moss works to sell the concept of stealing them to Aaronow. Third is a conversation between two men who, we come to learn, are Roma and a client, James Lingk. Roma works to seduce Lingk into making a buy by appealing to both their manufactured friendship and to Lingk’ss masculinity. Each of these conversations is marked by power relationships; these are all unequal exchanges.

The second act focuses on the aftermath of the theft. Levene is ecstatic because of a much-needed commission sale overnight; Roma likewise has sold to Lingk, but becomes distressed when Williamson undoes his work; Aaronow and Moss react with confusion and frustration respectively when accused of the crime and when called in for police questioning. It is revealed that we have been misdirected: Levene is the one who’s been manipulated by Moss into taking and selling the leads to a competitor. Furthermore, Levene has been outwitted and outmanoeuvred again, this time by the people he made the sale to overnight, as they are revealed to be cranks with no money.

The second act relationships mirror those of the first act; the same characters are involved in the exchanges, but their positions are altered by shifts in power. Levene glories at fist in his power over Williamson, Moss has his crime unpicked, Roma finds the limits of his seductive sales technique.

Mamet’s salesmen are desperate men, forever living on their wits – on their ability to use and to manipulate language to own ends. Bigsby (2000, p. 221) notes that each relationship they have or enter in is a negotiation: human interaction becomes capitalist in this context. A competitive edge is always sought. Furthermore, the possibility of duplicity or betrayal is always possible, not least because these characters are all trying to do that to others. Their whole society is predicated on social engineering and on corruption of language towards venal ends; to that extent, they and their society are corrupt also. Bigsby (2000, p. 222) sees that if Mamet’s characters “pervert language, distort values and divert profound psychological needs into temporary social objectives, this is no more than do those who direct national policy or construct the fantasies of commercial and political life”. The link between the specifics of the drama on stage and its correlation to the national and cultural dynamic of Reagan’s America are clearly drawn here.

Nightingale (in Bigsby, 2004, p. 102) sees Glengarry Glen Ross as “a play virtually unequalled in the quantitative and qualitative evidence it provides for moral dismay and grim social re¬‚ection”. For Nightingale (in Bigsby, 2004, p. 96), the play is not solely an expose and a rebuttal of business ethics but also of “an America that, as Mamet has said, is ‘a very violent society full of a lot of hate: you can’t put a band-aid on a suppurating wound’”. This is drama as a political critique: an examination of the ethics of a worldview (that of Reaganism) through the filter of a contemporary case study intended to be seen as emblematic of a greater, and similarly problematic, whole.

This essay has sought to outline and examine the ways in which American theatre in the twentieth century has been applied to wider political conversations. Miller’s The Crucible takes a seventeenth century cause celebre and a foundational story of pre-Constitution America and draws parallels between Puritan religious hysteria and anti-Communist searches as spearheaded by the Senate Committee on Un-American Activities under Joseph McCarthy. This is drama as allegory, and as such, not only were contemporary audiences able to make that link for themselves – the play has demonstrated over time that its messages have resonance for other times and geographies, even though that link to the 1950s remains dominant. David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross takes another approach: that of didactic example. Reagan’s 1980s are held to account through a case study of capitalism in action. Mamet’s salesmen are in turns aggressive, hectoring, pleading, desperate, seductive, criminal , manipulative, and self-serving. The society in which they operate, and the political system that not merely sustains but which actively supports this; is thus critiqued. Murphy (2006, pp 411-29) sketches the ways in which American theatre developed through the twentieth century. From being almost wholly mass entertainment and spectacle-based with little original writing to a theatre that was able to, as Murphy (2006, p. 429) puts it, “confront audiences with the issues of the day”, the century has seen the American stage become a mechanism by which US playwrights might hold the country’s politics to account.

Bibliography

Bigsby, C. W. E. (2000)Modern American Drama, 1945-2000. 2nd edn. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Cooper, J. (2013)History & Policy. Available at: http://www.historyandpolicy.org/opinion-articles/articles/reagan-vs.-thatcher-unpicking-the-special-relationship (Accessed: 7 October 2015).

Kopkind, A. (2004)The Age of Reaganism. Available at: http://www.thenation.com/article/age-reaganism/ (Accessed: 7 October 2015).

Mamet, D. (2004)Glengarry Glen Ross. London: Methuen Drama.

Miller, A. (2000)The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts (Penguin Modern Classics). London: Penguin Classics.

Murphy, B. (2006)The Cambridge Companion to Modern American Culture (Cambridge Companions to Culture). Edited by Christopher Bigsby. 1st edn. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Nightingale, J. (2004)Cambridge Companion to David Mamet (Cambridge Companions to Literature Series). Edited by Christopher Bigsby. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Pfister, J. (2005)The Crucible. Available at: http://www.ibiblio.org/miller/crucibleteachnotes.html (Accessed: 6 October 2015).

Saddik, A. J. (2007)Contemporary American Drama (Edinburgh Critical Guides to Literature). Edited by Martin Halliwell and Andy Mousley. 1st edn. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

The Crucible – The Old Vic(no date) Available at: http://www.oldvictheatre.com/whats-on/2014/the-crucible/ (Accessed: 7 October 2015).

Welland, D. S. R. and Well, D. (1979)Miller: A Study Of His Plays. London: Eyre Methuen.

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From the novel Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) edition Chris Baldick argues that “the ‘monster’s’ most convincingly human characteristic is of course his power of speech.”

Explore the significance of the ‘monster’s’ voice in Mary Shelley’s novel.

Few texts have pervaded the cultural consciousness to take on the afterlife of a haunting myth, as with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818). To a twenty-first century reader, the image of ‘Frankenstein,’ often wrongly identified as the creature rather than creator, has become conflated with that of Boris Karloff, an actor in a 1931 filmic representation, which, in a true expression of creative license, was a non-speaking role. However, readers of the text will remember the creature as both intellectual and articulate in voicing his account of life through to the projection of his death. This paper seeks to explore the significance of the creature’s voice, arguing that it adds a philosophical and moral dimension to the novel that would have otherwise been absent.

The narrative structure of Frankenstein involves imbedded stories, where tales appear nested within other tales. Even the very epistolary nature of the text itself is fraught with tension, as the final pages reveal the letter-writing to align itself more closely with journal entries, with the poetic ending to the text neglecting either a form of signing off to the reader or a self-reflexive ending common to diary entries. This makes us question whether Walton’s sister, Margaret, was indeed the intended reader of the entire narrative, which notably and often conceals the letter-writing format to allow the action of the narrative to take precedence.

The narrative structure thus problematises any interpretation of language as straightforward and individually assigned and distinct. A study of Frankenstein as a gothic novel would introduce readings of cultural binaries, where the juxtaposition of normal and human with monstrous and inhuman would suggest that the creature’s voice was intended to sharpen these distinctions. However, as Joyce Carol Oates argues, ‘everyone in Frankenstein sounds alike’ (1983: 549). All events are relayed retrospectively; conversations have often been mediated by knowledge of more recent events, and have been filtered, in the creature’s case, through an expanding consciousness. Voices echo one another, in a blurred and indistinct fashion. This is largely because the epistolary format means that the only voice we hear is actually Walton’s own, and even this has been mediated for a selected female readership. The monster’s voice is largely heard through his petition to the one who seeks his ruin, and even the reliability of Walton’s tale is mediated and arguably jeopardised by his earnest desire for friendship and his wish that Victor would fulfil that role.

Noticeably, the voice of the creature appears identical in both Walton’s account of Victor’s story and of Walton’s narration of his own encounter with the creature. This is largely attributable to the fact that all events are filtered through multiple layers, including Walton’s own memory. Interestingly, Oates further argues that it is naive to read Frankenstein as one would a novel, for ‘it contains no characters, only points of views; its concerns are pointedly moral and didactic…’ (1983: 549). Baldick interprets this as ‘dialogical openness,’ (1997: 44) whereby the moral framework of the novel is an open debate between the perspectives of Victor, the creature and Walton. The employment of multiple narrations is an effective tool for undermining verisimilitude, as it compromises the certainty of identity and narration, proving these to be unknowable and always mediated. These ‘contrasting’ points of view do not hold fast; the monster is both sympathetic and vengeful, and his reflections are unreliably mediated by his transformation into a heightened state of consciousness.

In terms of the creature’s identity as a gendered being, many feminist critics have argued that the creature is constructed as a woman through his acquisition of language. The creature’s passive surveillance of domestic life mirrors the female sphere, and his education is largely informed by Felix’s tuition to his intended bride, Safie. As one criticism that is oft levied against Mary Shelley is that her female characters do not take an active stance but conform to traditional ideas of femininity, we have no reason to believe that Safie’s education is atypical or controversially aligned with the masculine sphere. Although it is outside of the remit of this essay to speculate on a gendered construction through language, it is important to note that the creature’s voice is a product of an education largely intended and deemed suitable for the domestic sphere.

As a foreigner, Safie is allowed access to the shared collective that is language; however, her right of access is granted on the grounds that she has a musical voice and a ‘countenance of angelic beauty and expression.’ (Shelley, 1993: 93) She does not posit a challenge to conventional definitions of normality. Indeed, the blind De Lacey permits a conversation with the creature before his impressions become mediated through the eyes of the dominant group. Participating in a shared system of language is thus only effective in generating empathy or connection up until the moment that sight is introduced. Shelley reveals here that language may be knowledge, but it is not wisdom. Indeed, De Lacey mimics the reader, for the oral nature of storytelling restricts visibility and privileges the command of language.

The creature becomes highly articulate, and is also considered persuasive by both Walton and Frankenstein. Walton responds to the monster’s declaration by stating,

His voice seemed suffocated; and my first impulses, which had suggested to me the duty of obeying the dying request of my friend, in destroying his enemy were now suspended by a mixture of curiosity and compassion. (Shelley, 1993: 187)

However, Walton can only register the persuasiveness of the monster’s words whilst he is neglecting the sensation of sight. To sustain communication with the creature, he must avert his eyes, for as soon as his eyes encounter the deformed being, his indignation returns and his sympathy dissolves. Likewise, Frankenstein destroys the female being that he is creating, after gazing upon the monster’s distorted features and being consumed by a fit of passion. The monster’s articulate powers of persuasion are thus rendered subservient to sight, which takes precedence over a convincingly human-sounding tongue. Echoing the villagers, who pass condemnation before allowing the monster to speak, Victor states upon first encountering the monster in his bedchamber; ‘he might have spoken, but I did not hear’ (Shelley, 1993: 40). The creature correctly articulates that ‘the human senses are insurmountable barriers to our union’ (Shelley, 1993: 119).

Indeed, the word monster, which Shelley frequently repeats, is derived from the Latin word mon-strare, which means ‘to show… bodily anomaly signified’ (Ingebretsen, 2001: 211). It thus implies an element of display, of visual difference. Interestingly, the way that the monster interacts with humans throughout the course of the novel alters from being visually sighted to, as in the last few encounters, his presence being heard or detected through sound. This calls into question the very notion of his monstrosity, as he has been transformed from an object on display to a being, endowed with the powers of communication. Baldick argues that the ‘monster’s’ most convincing human characteristic is of course his power of speech’ (1997: 45). Harold Bloom echoes this premise: the creature is both more ‘intellectual and more emotional’ and ‘more human than his creator’ (1965: 613). The ability to experience and convey pain is transmitted entirely through the creature’s use of language: voice enlightens where the narratives of others fail.

The creature is portrayed as thoroughly a product of the grand narratives that were central to the Romantic period, born a blank slate with works of cultural standing subsequently informing his mind. His moral and intellectual compass is largely shaped by the reading of three texts, which form what Peter Brooks refers to as a ‘Romantic cyclopedia universalis’ (1993: 205). Mastering the Romantic worldview enables him to speculate and self-identify as a sympathetic figure. One such influential text that forms his education is Milton’s Paradise Lost, which seeks to recast the tragedy of creation on a scale of mythological and biblical magnitude. The creature views his struggle through the lens of Milton’s epic, as a victim of the violation of the natural order. Indeed the epigraph of the novel, also from Paradise Lost, laments his very existence:

Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay

To mould Me man? Did I solicit thee

From darkness to promote me? (Milton, 1873: 743-745)

Borrowing a line from such an epic work underpins the central argument of a disgruntled creation wrestling with his creator. By allowing the monster’s viewpoint to dominate the epigraph and frame the novel, Shelley provides an authorial and sympathetic sanctioning to the monster’s plight of unsolicited existence.

The techniques that Shelley uses to construct the monster’s voice are both informed by and a comment on the philosophical views held by leading figures at the time of writing. The creature is not merely presented as a sympathetic character, but as a portrayal of emerging consciousness. In the act of relating his narrative, the creature does not repeat the incident that had originally formed such an unfavourable impression upon Frankenstein. That is to say, the creature does not begin his tale from the scene where he invades his creator’s bedchambers and is rejected in his quest to seek community. Shelley thus sacrifices an opportunity of soliciting sympathy from the reader through allowing the monster to offer an explanation of innocence that would have added colour and dimension to Victor’s account. The creature’s story leaves Frankenstein’s account unmodified, neglecting the tale of rejection for a higher purpose.

Shelley instead commences the monster’s narrative from his dawning of consciousness, and compares it to that of a newborn. Arguably, Shelley plays with philosopher John Locke’s idea that we are born as a blank canvas, with the mind a ‘white paper void of all character’ (1952: 11, 1, 2). The monster actively sets out to acquire language out of his need for human intimacy, mirroring the acquisition of language of a child. Infancy has its stem in the Latin word infans, which translates to one ‘who cannot speak’ (Brookes, 2004: 606). He thenceforth learns language through imitation, as a child would; learning is thus how one forms human consciousness. The creature learns through causation and effect, often experiencing pain and learning how to address the sensation by taking action.

Upon mastering language, the creature retrospectively constructs a narrative out of a flood of competing sensory signals that characterised his early days of education. By relaying his past impressions through an enlightened state of consciousness, the monster shows that he has the emotional sensitivity of a baby who weeps upon first entering the world. This evocation is not just using heavily emotive language to elicit sympathy from Victor, but through the narration of his initial sensations, the reader is positioned to view him as one would a vulnerable, abandoned child.

As Jones argues, Shelley ‘emphasise[s] the importance of learning to the emergence of human consciousness and understanding’ (2003: 158). The monster hypothesises that a mastery of language will bring him into communion with humans, and compensate for deficiencies of countenance. In this aim, he acquires articulacy and understanding of the cultural codes that construct human civilisation. The acquisition of education results in producing a voice that ultimately proves ineffectual, as it only heightens his disconnection to the social group that he desires communion with. Importantly, the relationship between Felix and Safie demonstrates that romantic attachments can transcend language barriers. However, as Jones argues, the cultural discourses that the creature seeks to emulate ‘are borrowed from the very ideology that excludes him’ (2003: 211). Shelley shows that language is artificial, a cultural construction that benefits only the ruling class.

In Frankenstein, the creature’s voice has been intricately crafted by Mary Shelley to aid her portrayal of a sympathetic character, who refuses to conform to our expectations of the ‘other’. Shelley problematises conventional ideas of what is monstrous, revealing a character whose speech at the very least simulates human consciousness, but also is inseparably connected with and filtered through another’s way of seeing. The creature’s narrative is a profound philosophical and moral comment on the Romantic consciousness, ultimately revealing that no perspective reigns supreme, and labels and perceptions of difference collapse at their very borders.

Bibliography:

Baldick, C., (1997) In Frankenstein’s Shadow: Myth, Monstrosity, and Nineteenth-Century Writing. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Bloom, H., (1965) Frankenstein, or the New Prometheus, Partisan Review, xxxii, 618.

Brookes, I., (ed) (2004) Chambers Concise Dictionary. New Delhi: Allied Chambers.

Brooks, P., (1993) What is a Monster?aˆ?(According to Frankenstein) In Body Work. Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press, pp. 199-220; reprinted in Frankenstein/Mary Shelley (1995) ed. Fred Botting. New York: St. Martin’s Press, pp. 81-106

Ingebretsen, Edward J., (2001) At stake: monsters and the rhetoric of fear in public culture. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.

Jones, Jonathan D., (2003) Orphans: childhood alienation and the idea of the self in Rousseau, Wordsworth and Mary Shelley. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

Locke, J., (1952) “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding” in Great Books of the Western World 35 ed. Robert Maynard Hutchins. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica.

Milton, J., (1873) Paradise Lost. London: Basil Montagu.

Oates, Joyce C., (1983) Frankenstein’s Fallen Angel. Critical Inquiry, Vol. 10, No. 3 Mar., pp. 543-554.

Shelley, M., (1993) Frankenstein: or the Modern Prometheus: The 1818 Text, ed. Marilyn Butler, London: William Pickering.

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Compare and contrast the ways in which the writers present the theme of isolation to construct the characters of Rochester, Jane and Antoinette in “Jane Eyre” and “Wide Sargasso Sea”.

The theme of isolation is utilised in English literature to shape the principal characters and provide a particular vision on some crucial aspects of their identities. The aim of this essay is to compare and contrast the ways, in which Charlotte Bronte and Jean Rhys interpret the theme of isolation to construct such characters as Rochester and Jane from the novel Jane Eyre and Antoinette from Wide Sargasso Sea. In these literary works the ideas of isolation are presented as a direct result of characters’ loneliness that they have experienced since early childhood, thus the writers apply both to social and inner isolation. The reality, in which these people live, is so harsh that they isolate themselves from the rest of the world. Such alienation is a complex psychological disorder that influences the formation of characters’ identities. Isolation results in the expulsion of a person from all social affairs and interactions, preventing him/her to become a full member of society. Although Jean Rhys utilises the similar idea of isolation as Bronte’s narration, she provides her own interpretation of this issue. Contrary to Bronte, the writer considers that madness of a woman is not innate, but rather is a consequence of the injured self that is formed in a person because of isolation and oppression. In this regard, isolation is perceived by characters as a certain rescue that seems to save them for a time being, but, in fact, it gradually destroys these protagonists. The fact is that the identity of a person is created through certain social and cultural interactions with people, but isolation deprives him/her of acquiring the completeness of identity.

Jane Eyre and Antoinette Cosway, the principal female characters of Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea, are portrayed as entirely isolated personalities who, despite the different background and different living conditions, experience similar loneliness and despair. Jane is a little orphan who is treated cruelly by her aunt and who is isolated from the rest of the household. When Jane is sent into Lowood Institution, her isolation is aggravated; she is transformed into a reserved and serious woman with low self-esteem and lack of hopes. Similar to Jane, Antoinette’s isolation starts at home and continues in the nunnery, influencing her identity. She spends almost all time in the room and close people regard her as mad, although she acts in a rather normal way. But, contrary to Jane, such prolonged isolation results in more complex psychological destruction and further madness of Antoinette . As she claims at the beginning of the narration, no one came near us. I got used to a solitary life (Rhys 18). No one notices her and her family; instead people betray her trust and hopes. Antoinette’s isolation in childhood shapes her personality, negatively influencing her adult life and relations with people. This vulnerable and emotionally destroyed woman lives in her own created world, and when Rochester, a person whom she loves, alienates from her, she can no longer endure this isolation. Antoinette seeks love and attention, but her own husband fails to understand her.

Rhys reveals that Rochester’s isolation can’t be explained by his severity; instead he is portrayed as a destroyed personality who is forced to marry a person chosen by his family and who has to live in a place alien to him. Antoinette regards Rochester’s alienation as his inability to accept something that is different from his well-ordered life and habits. As a result of Rochester’s alienation, his attitude to Antoinette is sometimes negative, and gradually, she is transformed into a mad female, like her own mother, but Rhys opposes to the view that Antoinette inherits this madness from her mother. Instead, throughout the narration she stresses on the fact that isolation inevitably brings a woman to this psychological disorder. Antoinette’s mind is split and she flees into the past, isolating herself not only from the outside world, but also from her present life. Such isolation appears to be really dangerous for such a sensitive woman, and, as Coral Howells puts it, Antoinette’s moment of authenticity is also the moment of her destruction (121). In pursuit of escaping this isolation, Antoinette commits a suicide.

Thus, Antoinette fails to eliminate the negative emotions and feelings that are evoked by her loneliness and isolation. Although Jane Eyre also experiences anger and scorn towards her relatives, she manages to destroy these emotions. Unlike Antoinette, this young woman who feels isolation since childhood meets a person who experiences the same loneliness, and falls in love with him. This powerful feeling saves her from despair and finally destroys her isolation, she no longer wants to alienate from people, and especially from Rochester. The relations between Jane and Rochester differ from the relations between Rochester and Antoinette; in the case of Bronte’s narration both characters destroy their isolation and find necessary strength in each other, they are identical in many ways and are unable to live apart. As Jane claims, I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities or even of mortal flesh; – it is my spirit that addresses your spirit equal, – as we are! (Bronte 238). Rochester’s wives have really traumatic past that is aggravated by their isolation, but they respond differently to it. Although Jane loses her parents and is constantly ignored by society, her isolation helps her to develop some skills that provide her with necessary strength and allow her to overcome negative feelings. She becomes a mature young woman who possesses own viewpoints and who is able to evoke powerful feelings in another person. Jane expresses her dreams and loneliness in her beautiful drawings that allow her to successfully cope with her isolation. When Jane learns about Rochester’s wife, she decides to isolate herself from him, but finally she feels that he needs her and returns to him. Being an orphan, Jane understands that she has nobody to rely on, and she learns to rely only on herself. Contrary to Jane, Antoinette lives with her mother at the beginning, but she is alienated from her, because her mother is attached only to her brother, and when she loses him, she is destroyed.

As a naive and lonely girl, Antoinette finds comfort in her isolation, but deep inside she strives for attention and love. When she marries Rochester, she believes and trusts him, considering that he is her closest person. But when his attitude towards her changes, she isolates herself from him, destroying their relations. According to Schapiro, Both characters are furious at being unrealised by the other (99). Unlike Jane who becomes mature in Lowood School, Antoinette remains a little child who is greatly depended on other people and who is unable to act independently. In this regard, Antoinette’s madness aggravates alienation of Rochester who isolates himself even more after his unsuccessful marriage. Rochester finds it impossible to love a woman who is imposed on him, and when he starts to name her Bertha, he reveals his isolation from her. When Rochester meets Jane, he is attracted to her from the very start, but he finds it difficult to trust a woman again. He makes constant attempts to alienate from her, but he is unable to escape his feelings. Therefore, Antoinette’s isolation from reality and from close people slightly differs from isolation of Jane and Rochester. Their isolation is of different nature, they are socially isolated human beings. This especially concerns Jane who is distinctly alienated from society throughout the narration. When she marries Rochester, a member of the upper class, she still distances herself from others. Contrary to Antoinette who sometimes applies to provoking behaviour to attract attention of people towards her, Jane limits her relations to some close people. But unlike Antoinette, she doesn’t isolate herself from reality, trying to overcome the difficulties with her powerful spirit and moral principles.

Perhaps, Jane’s social isolation is explained by the fact that this young woman is unable to accept society that has constantly pushed her away. In childhood, instead of playing with children, Jane sits in the room in Gateshead listening to the sound of the piano or harp played below the jingling of glass the broken hum of conversation (Bronte 21).She is prohibited to enter the drawing room; only these sounds unite Jane with the world. Such isolation deprives Jane of any social interactions with other children or adults, resulting in her loneliness. As Jane claims, long did the hours seem while I awaited the departure of the company, and listened for the sound of Bessie’s step on the stairs (Bronte 22). Bessie is the only person in this house who helps Jane to endure her complex position. Further in the school Jane meets Helen Burns and Miss Temple, the persons who have greatly influenced the character’s identity. Due to their close relations, Jane starts to feel warmth, love and sympathy, gradually destroying her negative feelings. Unlike Jane, Antoinette doesn’t have such people in her life, thus her isolation and loneliness result in the tragic end. While Jane finally finds her identity, Antoinette’s alienation complicates her relations with people. As Schapiro puts it, Rhys’s novel explores a psychological condition of profound isolation and self-division (84).

Antoinette’s lack of identity makes her rather helpless. Jane is simply isolated from society, but Antoinette is destroyed by society, because she is depended on people that reject her. As a result of her isolation, Antoinette is unable to understand her true self or form definite principles. Such inner tension deprives the female character of normal life and reveals a complex position of a woman in a patriarchal world. Although Jane is portrayed in the similar social context, she manages to overcome these biases and make other people respect her. She possesses more strength and restraint than Antoinette, that’s why Jane’s isolation doesn’t destroy her, as she finds her identity. But Antoinette’s inability to acquire identity deprives her of normal life and happiness. She is constantly utilised as an object, but is never accepted as a woman with willpower and strength. Thus, Antoinette’s madness is a tragic sequel of her isolation. When she marries Rochester, she makes an attempt to overcome this isolation, but as Rhys claims, You can pretend for a long time, but one day it all falls away and you are alone (130).

Analysing the ways in which the writers present the theme of isolation to construct the characters of Rochester, Jane and Antoinette from Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea, the essay suggests that Bronte and Rhys provide both similar and different interpretations of this issue. Jane and Antoinette are brought up in the similar environment and are constantly isolated from society. It is in this isolation that these young women find necessary solace from the cruel reality, but, though this isolation seems rescued for a while, it finally negatively influences the characters’ identity. Due to the fact that isolation of these characters is of different nature, their destinies are also different. Jane is socially isolated throughout the narration, but she manages to find her identity and overcome negative feelings, and, although she is still alienated from the rest of society, she is very close with some people who love her. Antoinette is not only socially isolated, but she is also mentally isolated from reality. Contrary to Jane, she fails to acquire her identity; as a result, isolation and loneliness finally destroy her mind and make her commit a suicide. The lack of social relations and solitude of Antoinette deprive her of the possibility to recognise her true self. Her sensitive nature wants attention and love, but when she fails to receive them, she creates an unreal world, isolating herself even from her husband. Rochester is also isolated from society and from Antoinette, but his isolation is connected with his inability to accept an imposed marriage and everything that is different from his well-ordered existence. Rochester’s attempts to isolate himself from Jane reveal that he is afraid of powerful feelings; as his marriage with one woman fails, he alienates from other females as well. Besides, Rochester is fully ignored by his own family, thus all three principal characters are isolated in one way or another, either from society or from reality.

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To Explore the Ways in Which Toni Morrison Portrays Negative Representations of her Female Characters and How She Goes Further to Challenge These Representations in Relation to Black Feminist Thought

Introduction

Toni Morrison is considered to be one of the most popular and most important authors of the 20th Century, especially considering that much of her literary work has actively challenged the stereotypes that have been imposed on African American women throughout history. The characters in her novels are beautifully crafted in order to allow the reader to explore their journeys and the way in which they are presented, thus questioning the perspective of history that has been created. However, many of the stereotypes have undoubtedly stuck in the African American conscious and so it is necessary to initially perpetuate women in those images prior to examining exactly how to expel those stereotypes for good. According to Ghaly, “Rethinking the traditional perspectives on identity and its relation to culture, [Morrison] eschew binary logic to explore multiple forms and root causes of social marginality.” As such, with this in mind, this essay will examine the African American female self in its stereotypical form within Morrison’s work and how it is constructed in relation to black feminist thought. This will be done with a view to concluding that Morrison undoubtedly goes some way to dispelling such negative representations and furthers the achievements of black feminism thought in the process. The book used for examination will be Sula (1973).

Black Feminist Thought and Negative Stereotypes

Patricia Hill Collins is one of the foremost scholars concerning the way in which African American women have been portrayed since the 19th Century, offering analysis as to how and why many black authors, intellectuals and prominent figures have been able to challenge stereotypes over the years. She stated that: “Black women intellectuals have laid a vital analytical foundation for a distinctive standpoint on self, community, and society and, in doing so, created a multifaceted, African-American women’s intellectual tradition.” Collins’s argument is indeed correct in that numerous authors have provided a firm analysis of the race’s female self through the eyes of the individual rather than the dominant white perspective. In highlighting this, Collins has also identified numerous themes, or “…six distinguishing features that characterize Black feminist thought may provide the common ground that it so sorely needed both among African-American women, and between African American women and all others whose collective knowledge or thought has a single purpose.” Those six areas that provide common ground and thus a common feminine experience are work and family, controlling matriarchs, self-definition, sexual politics, love relationships, motherhood and activism. Although these six areas provide common ground and thus can also form a collective identity of African American womanhood, they also provide the foundation of negative representations.

Dubey states that “…the black writer must replace negative stereotypes with positive images.” However, the use of the term “replace” gives the impression that negative stereotypes should be ignored rather than examined and developed in order to expel them, ensuring that female characters are allowed to evolve into positive images. Conversely, Collins advocates empowerment via experience and consciousness and that implies exorcising negative representations by exploring them thoroughly in order to humanise the black female experience. Morrison subscribes to this particular perspective, as her characters prove. However, it is necessary to explore the characters in Sula in order to assess whether or not she goes further to challenging representations in relation to black feminist thought or not.

The Whore and the Good Wife

Morrison offers two specific characterisations of the negative stereotypes that had traditionally been foisted on African American women – the whore and the good wife. The former is of course a means of describing Sula and the latter her “good” counterpart, Nel. The relationship between the two serves as one of the “black women’s friendships” that Collins states are vital to expelling negative representations. However, before examining the relationship between the two, it is important to examine the stereotypes they present individually. Sula is the promiscuous black woman that steps neatly into the role of whore at first glance as a result of her attitude towards sex and thus womanhood: “To Sula, sex is disconnected from emotion, a disembodied act of the body that allows her to feel a sorrow unattainable through any other means.” Although this highlights the aspect of the negative stereotype that suggests that black women are promiscuous by nature, it also hints at a far deeper significance that the act itself adopts for Sula, thus challenging the traditional representation. This is reinforced in the description of her upbringing that is offered by Morrison. Her mother “…taught Sula that sex was pleasant and frequent, but otherwise unremarkable.” As such, the stereotype presented by the character is effectively created by a maternal liberal attitude towards sex rather than it being an innate destructive quality that she was born with, as the traditional stereotype suggests. This directly challenges the stereotype by humanising the figure of the whore and thus also dispels the negativity associated with it, regardless of how taboo the subject of promiscuity may be.

However, the stereotype of the whore, which Sula is designed to both embody and challenge within the book, is not only challenged via the use of the her back story but also via her attitude towards sex: “For Sula, sex becomes a means to assert herself and to defy social convention. She seduces her best friend’s husband and is accused of the worst degradation of all: sleeping with white men.” As Collins highlights, African American women were traditionally used by white men and objectified as a result. However, in the case of Sula the roles are reversed. She actively uses men to feel alive, to explore who she is and to form her own self-identity that does not depend on conforming to the social expectations that were imposed on African American women at that point in time. Sula is therefore not a whore but instead a woman simply searching for her place in the world, thus rendering her race incidental. Finding that sex put her “…in a position of surrender, feeling her own abiding strength and limitless power”, Sula explores her true self by rejecting the accepted boundaries of sex and forming her own expectations of life: “Single-handedly, she rejects the values of the margin to which she belongs, a margin that mirrors the centre in that it represses any stirrings of discontent.”Sula’s discontent is tangible and thus renders the stereotype of the whore a societal construction that is designed to oppress rather than a viable label with which it is possible to brand her. Morrison therefore uses the themes established by Collins in order to examine the negative representation of the whore and pushes back the boundaries that had previously been imposed with little understanding of what drove the women perceived as promiscuous. Even though the entire community condemned Sula, including her best friend Nel, the judgement is subtly passed by Morrison on them for not embracing the collective conscious rather than Sula herself.

The whore is not the only negative representation of the African American woman that black feminist thought has acknowledged and tried to dispel. The timid good wife who absolves her husband of all fault is another. The role is filled by Nel in Sula: “Nel, Sula’s complementary “other,” is presented as the prim and proper child who grows up to be a selfless wife and mother who unquestioningly conforms to the stereotypes of womanhood. She is everything that Sula was supposed to become but did not and would not.” She is subordinate to Jude, her husband, keeps house, remains faithful and never goes against her man in any way. In essence, she releases her own identity in order to assume that of her husband, thus meaning that she has no identity and so cannot be said to be living her life on her own terms as Sula is. The two girls contrast greatly but Morrison ensures that they share one element of their lives – that their characters and thus representations are not inevitable but instilled. Just as Sula’s promiscuity is encouraged, so is Nel’s role of the good wife: “Under Helene’s hand the girl became obedient and polite. Any enthusiasms that little Nel showed were calmed by the mother until she drove her daughter’s imagination underground.” She was forced to relinquish her identity and only ever retained it when around Sula, with whom she shares a sisterhood that Collins advocates as being essential in dispelling stereotypes. However, that sisterhood is negated by the conscience of the good wife: “And Nel creates a scapegoat in Sula to absolve Jude of deliberate acts of moral evil, marital infidelity and familial desertion, which destroy their marriage. Nel abnegates Jude’s potential for evil.”. The wife overtakes the sisterhood, thus subverting the notion of community once again. However, although the good wife stereotype is adhered to initially, Morrison later challenges it via a process of self realisation, self determination and the discovery of an autonomous identity. The realisation comes as Nel rejects the stereotype.

Marriage is consistently perceived as damaging by Morrison. She states the following in relation to the institution and its effect on women like Nel, the good wife: “Those with husbands had folded themselves into starched coffins, their sides bursting with other people’s skinned dreams and bony regrets” In doing so, she highlights the importance of other elements of life through the eyes of Nel and Sula with particular emphasis on friendship. However, it is Sula who initially realises the value of friendship in black womanhood: “She had been looking all along for a friend, and it took her a while to discover that a lover was not a comrade and could never be – for a woman.” This is somewhat ironic given the fact that she threw that friendship away by sleeping with Nel’s husband. However, Sula dies without having been given Nel’s forgiveness. It is not until after her death that Nel realises the true nature of friendship between African American women, as per Collins’s examination of black feminist thought and Morrison’s will to push the women further in order to dispel stereotypes: “It is only after Sula’s death and burial that Nel realizes that it has been Sula – not Jude – whom Nel has missed through the years.” In short, according to Morrison, it is the love of the sisterhood that is necessary to survive and nurture an identity instead of the institution of marriage. This undoubtedly rejects the stereotypes of the whore and the good wife because it negates the role of men in general, thus empowering women to forge their own destinies. This is undoubtedly an evolution of black feminist thought rather than in keeping with it.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Morrison uses her characterisations of Sula and Nel in order to thoroughly examine the viability of African American female stereotypes and effectively offers enough proof as to why they must be challenged and dispelled. They not only mask the true nature of what it means to be a woman but also set her alone when in fact the collective conscious defies the imposition of any such stereotype. Collins’s theory as to the nature of African American womanhood via black feminist thought provides an excellent foundation for understanding Morrison’s work, but she goes above and beyond the values and factors offered by Collins in order to ensure that the novel undoubtedly goes some way to dispelling such negative representations and furthers the achievements of black feminism thought in the process. In Sula and Nel, the whore and the good wife are undoubtedly negated in favour of friendship, identity and true black womanhood.

Bibliography

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