The Young Victoria (Movie, 2008) as an example of Symbolic Activity Essay

The Young Victoria (Movie, 2008) as an example of Symbolic Activity and Performance Theories - Essay Example He then realizes that the Queen exerts little influence over her daughter, something that makes him have Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, his nephew seduce Victoria. King Leopold 1 then ordered Baron Stockmar to help Prince Albert learn Victoria’s interest such as her favorite music, opera and novels (Vallà ©e 08:58). The King’s family is then invited into the Duchess household where Albert and Victoria eventually develop an interest for one another. The rest of the movie then revolves around Queen Victoria’s reign and her marriage to Prince Albert. Therefore, this paper primarily focuses on illustrating how this film is as an example of symbolic activity and performance theories. According to Burke, life is a drama that involves conflict and division, which threatens some existing order (Wood 104). This idea applies to a number of scenes in the film. For instance, little Victoria is deeply unhappy with her lifestyle and strict rules imposed on her. She claims that the palace itself seems to be a prison (Vallà ©e 01:44). This is because of the chill that fills the rooms and coldness that largely emanate from her close adviser and the duchess. She is also isolated from other children with her company mainly comprising of servants. She is trying to amuse herself as much as she can through watching TV and playing with the dog, but this only seems to be limited entertainment. It seems that Victoria is not satisfied with the things happening in her life at that stage. This led to a series of conflict between her mother, close adviser and herself. From the film, there is a scene when Victoria tells Sir John Conroy that she is currently too smart to be controlled. However, Sir Conroy uses force to make Victoria obey her pieces of advice. In this scene, Victoria is trying to pursue perfection, which makes her guilty.

Al-Ghazali Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Al-Ghazali - Essay Example He wrote many books on a wide range of topics which included jurisprudence, theology, mysticism and philosophy. One of his biggest achievements was to change the course of Islamic philosophy by successfully refuting the early Islamic Neo-Platonism. Al-Ghazil studied philosophy intensely and was aware of its theoretical attraction and its structural forte. It is considered that he was indirectly influenced by philosophy even though he fought sharply against philosophy and tried to highlight its contradiction. (Campanini, 2007) Al-Ghazil`s father treasured the companionship of jurists and Sufi and wished to have children who would pursue this way of life. His birth took place in the village of Tabaran nearby Tus in northeast Iran and came from an unassertive family. When he was still in his childhood his father expired and left pint-sized cash in the custody of his Sufi friend. When the money given by his father ran out, he joined a Madrasah which allowed him to get a remuneration plus room and board. Later on in his life, Al-Ghazali travelled Nisahapur and studied with the famous scholar of that time Al-Juwayni at the college of Nizamyah. Al-Ghazali was one of his most well-known pupils and Al-Juwayni used to call him an ocean of knowledge. After the demise of his mentor he then journeyed to the camp of Seljuk wazir Nizam al-Mulk which was the meeting place of intellectuals. His distinction was noted swiftly in such a well-known gathering and that is why Nizam al-Mulk selected him as an instructor in the famous Nizamyah college of Baghdad. (Hozien 2001) In 1095 A.D. Al-Ghazali wrote a book called Tahafah al-Falasifah â€Å"Incoherence of the Philosophers† in which he attacked the Greek-inspired philosophers. In this book Al-Ghazali judged the beliefs of these philosophers to be opposing to the teachings contained in the Quran and said that they were spreading falsehood. He stated that the philosopher`s teaching were having a bad influence on Islamic thoug hts and faith. No one at that time could give a convincing argument against Al-Ghazali (Bergh, 1954) After around eighty years ibn Rushud responded to Al-Ghazali`s attack by publishing a book called Tahafah al-Tahafah (â€Å"The Incoherence of the Incoherence†), where he alternately cited Ghazali’s views and his own. One of the topic in which these two intellects debated was cause and effect. Al-Ghazali explained that the necessary existence between cause and effect does not validate that the same effect would take place of a specific cause. He specifically focused on the relationship between fire and burning, mentioning that the former only happens because Allah as an agent led it to be. He dismissed the belief that the cause and its effect takes place naturally but happens because of the willingness of Allah. Al-Ghazali referred to the account of Abraham in Quran who was preternaturally protected from the harm of fire. Al-Ghazali accused the theorists of keeping a vi ew against Islam because he explained that the philosophers rejected the possibility that Abraham could be unharmed by fire as long as it kept its characteristic of burning. Ibn Rushud refuted this allegation by clarifying that if an object does not have a precise characteristic, then the object would lose its distinct term and meaning. He further explained that the disowning of cause and effect would result in the rejection of a person`s own assertion. Ibn Rushud wrote in his book that if  motive is impermissible to realize, then there is an obvious association between two  succeeding actions. Hence it would not be able to function according to its function and will lose the influence of making obvious thoughts and would not have the chance of