Noel Cowards Supernatural Comedy Blithe Spirit

Imagine London during World War II. Germany’s Blitzkrieg assaults the city with an arsenal of bombs. Buildings collapse. Lives are lost. People flee to the English countryside. Now imagine a 40-year-old playwright living in England during this time. He spends five days writing a play (in between his covert operations as a member of Britain’s Secret Service). What might that play be about? War? Survival? Politics? Pride? Despair? No. The playwright is Noel Coward. And the play he created during England’s battle-scarred year of 1941 is Blithe Spirit, a delightfully satirical comedy about ghosts. The Basic Plot Charles Condomine is a successful novelist. Ruth is his charming, strong-willed wife. In order to conduct research for Charles’ latest book, they invite a medium to their home to perform a sà ©ance, expecting that the eccentric psychic, Madame Arcati, will be a humorous shyster. Well, she is humorous – in fact, her boisterous character practically steals the show! However, her ability to connect with the dead is genuine. After prancing about the room reciting nursery rhymes, Madame Arcati summons a ghost from Charles’ past: Elvira – his first wife. Charles can see her, but no one else can. Elvira is flirtatious and catty. She enjoys insulting Charles’ second wife. At first, Ruth thinks her husband has gone insane. Then, after watching a vase float across the room (thanks to Elvira), Ruth accepts the strange truth. What follows is a darkly funny competition between two women, one dead, one living. They battle for the possession of their husband. But as the haunting and the hollering continue, Charles begins to wonder if he wants to be with either woman at all. Ghosts on Stage - â€Å"You Mean You Can’t See Her?!† Spirit characters have been part of theater since its Greek beginnings. In Shakespeare’s time, ghosts were prominent in his tragedies. Hamlet can see his father’s doomed specter, but Queen Gertrude sees nothing. She thinks her son has gone coo-coo. It’s a fun theatrical concept, perhaps now over-used in plays, television, and movies. After all, how many sappy sitcoms feature a protagonist that talks to a ghost which no one else can see? Despite this, Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit still feels fresh. Coward’s play goes beyond the comic mix-ups inherent in most supernatural comedies. The play explains love and marriage more than it explores the afterlife. Torn Between Two Lovers? Charles is caught in a farcical trap. He had been married to Elvira for five years. Although they both had extra-marital affairs, he claims to have loved her. And of course, he explains to his living wife, Ruth is currently the love of his life. However, when Elvira’s ghost returns to the earthly world, things get complicated. At first, Charles is shocked by Elvira’s appearance. But then the experience becomes pleasant and soothing, much like their old life together. Charles’ suggests that it would be â€Å"fun† to have Elvira’s ghost stay with them. But that â€Å"fun† turns into a deadly duel, made all the more cunning by Coward’s surgically incisive wit. Ultimately, Coward suggests that a husband can be in love with two people at the same time. However, once the women find out about each other, disastrous results are sure to follow! Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit playfully mocks the traditions of love and marriage. It also thumbs its nose at the Grim Reaper. What a perfect defense mechanism against the harsh realities England faced during World War II. West End audiences embraced this darkly amusing comedy. Blithe Spirit became a resounding success that continues to haunt the British and American stage.

Meningitis Is An Infectious Disease - 1574 Words

Every year, approximately 600 to 1,000 people are diagnosed from meningococcal disease in the U.S, and only 15 percent die of people who get meningitis (Statistics). However, after surviving from meningococcal disease, patients have high risks that they will have to live with permanent disabilities. Nowadays, meningitis becomes a rare condition in the U.S. because of the improvement of the vaccine. Comparing to the United States, many other countries in the world are still struggling with meningococcal disease. For instance, WHO reported a meningitis outbreak, which killed 545 people out of 8,234 meningitis patients in Nigeria (Reuters). Meningitis is an infectious disease that can spread through airborne droplets, so an outbreak from meningitis can turn out quickly to be an epidemic if the governments don’t get action. Also, many people have been mistaken the symptoms of meningitis with flu and haven’t got vaccinate for meningitis. Therefore, the most important concern is how to raise awareness among people to get vaccinate because meningococcal disease can easily spread out, especially in young ages from 11 to 24. In general, meningitis is an inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Vieusseux, a Swiss physician, first discovered meningitis in 1805 during an outbreak in Switzerland. This disease is mostly caused by a viral infection, but the cause may also be a bacterial infection or fungal infection. The bacterial meningitis is the mostShow MoreRelatedInfectious Disease: Meningitis Essay917 Words   |  4 PagesMeningitis, also known as spinal meningitis, is a viral or bacterial infection causing inflammation of the membranes, called meninges. Meninges act as a natural protective barrier that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. When the barrier is permeable, infections are able to transmit a disease in or through and cause serious or even fatal effects. 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Hassan2 1Medical Research Institute, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt, 2Ministry of Health, Alexandria, Egypt Abstract: Background: The clinical distinction between acute bacterial meningitis (ABM) viral meningitis is difficult in the acute phase of illness. 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Moss and Mcadams Accounting Firm Free Essays

RUNNING HEAD: MOSS AND MCADAMS Assignment #1: Moss and McAdams Accounting Firm Strayer University Bus 517 Bruce Palmer was a good guy looking to make a difference. He was lead to believe that Zeke Olds was going to be available to him throughout the project and that was not the case. He was led astray and betrayed by Ken Crosby, a new guy to MM. We will write a custom essay sample on Moss and Mcadams Accounting Firm or any similar topic only for you Order Now Crosby knew if he made the case to Sands early, that he would get his way. The client was one that MM was competing to get with two other big 5 accounting firms and since Crosby came from a Big 5 accounting firm, MM was going to give him whatever he needed to complete the project. Crosby was recruited specifically to manage special projects and this qualified as such. Even though Olds was already slated to work on the Johnsonville audit, Sands was persuaded by Crosby to let Olds work on his team due to the expertise that was essential to the Springfield project. If I was Palmer I would have talked to management about how the process is being handled and offer up a suggestion so that no other project manager would be misled by another. Palmer should have stood firm with Crosby from the beginning and maybe there would not have been a major issue along the way. He waited too long to talk with Sands and it proved that Palmers passive way was his demise in dealing with Crosby and ultimately lost him Olds on his project. Once Olds started to do consulting work he realized that auditing was not as fun as consulting work. I do not believe Palmer could have anything to prevent losing Olds. Olds might have had good intentions but he showed a lack of focus when he started showing up 30-60 minutes late. Palmer should have scheduled a meeting with Olds and try to figure out what Olds wanted to do. A mistake on Palmer’s part was never sitting down with Sands and telling her what was going on. There may have been no change but at least he would have stated his frustration and put the responsibility to resolve the issue with Sands. The lack of focus on the project by Olds being stretched in by two teams and conflicting priorities caused Olds to feel stressed. Palmer should have prioritized Olds objectives and set clear deliverables for him to measure up against. Had he told Olds what was expected he could have got ahead of the problem but instead he let Crosby interfere and drive Olds away from his project. Crosby never had any intention of letting Olds work on both projects. He made it clear to Sands when he first started that Olds was critical to the project and he wanted him on his team. Sands went along because Olds is a valuable player in the office and felt that it would be a good match. The problem with this situation is that Olds was being pulled in too many directions and not allowed to focus on projects that suited his talents. This is often the case in matrix type organizations. The disadvantage of a the matrix organization is instead of delegating segments of a project to different unit or creating an team, project members report to simultaneously to both functional and project managers. Having resources shared across multiple projects and divisions sounds like an efficient way to divide the energy of individuals across multiple projects on an as needed basis is a disadvantage as seen at MM. Olds was divided across multiple projects and ended up not being very efficient. Have a strong project focus is a clear advantage of a matrix organization because it provides having a formally designated project manager who is responsible for coordinating and integrating contributions of several units. This helps sustain a holistic approach to problem solving that is most often missing in functional organizations. Although this is an advantage, it was not the case at MM. The lack of project focus resulted in one project lacking the resource to complete the project. There was no coordination or integration between the two teams and resulted in two project managers fighting over one employee. The dysfunctional conflict between Crosby and Palmer opened up the tension between the two managers. There was a legitimate conflict that arose from conflicting agendas and responsibilities. The Springfield project was clearly a higher priority than the Johnsonville audit and Sands should have told Palmer, that although he is valuable to the audit, he would be more successful for the Springfield project. Palmer could have pulled another resource to take Olds place or hire a contractor to fill in the time when Olds would not be available. Olds was caught in a stressful situation where he was working in an environment in which he was being told to do two different tasks and had two different agendas by two different managers. This all led to infighting over Olds being shared across both projects and the two managers competing over for one resource. Palmer and Crosby were only concerned about their respective projects and Crosby knew what his end game was all along. Palmer was not clever enough to outwit Crosby and therefor he lost out on Olds. MM management clearly needs to set priorities and objectives for projects. The matter in which Sands handled Olds splitting time between two managers shows the type of organizational culture at MM. The matrix is one part of the equation but the culture is how that matrix is driven. The type of culture in MM lends the opportunity for Crosby to manipulate another manager for his personal gain. Sands knew that the Springfield project was high profile and Crosby was hired from a Big 5 firm for projects like these. Sands should have taken the time to hear Palmer’s concerns and make an informed decision. She only heard from Crosby and was told by Olds and with no regard for Palmer, made a decision to move Olds to Crosby’s project to satisfy the organization at the cost of another project. The norm, customs, shared values, and the â€Å"rules of the game† for getting along and getting ahead in the MM organization are clear to see from this project. They need to change how they select and assign project staff to multiple projects. They need to develop a system that appropriately balances the needs of the project with those of the organization. They could send out a survey to poll the employees to see how they would like to be selected for a project in order to get employees that wanted to do certain types of projects. Culture encourages the implementation of projects. How to cite Moss and Mcadams Accounting Firm, Essay examples