Entrepreneur Project Part II Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Entrepreneur Project Part II - Research Paper Example (Longley, 2004). This shows that a large percentage of US population will comprise of people above the age of 65. The idea of starting this project was to enter into a business that has not been fully ventured into by different organizations. Our research into the idea showed that not many organizations are providing all the services and home-like environment in adults care centres. That is why it is a great opportunity to enter into the business and take advantage of the financial benefits that it provides. The vision statement therefore refers to being the most sought-after organization in adult care, among the families of the old age people and the old age people themselves. By providing different services like physical and mental health care, personalized care, providing equipment for people with disabilities, teaching home-based care, and providing home like environment and networking with other elder people can make our organization reach high demand among the targeted population. The vision aims to be the best at what we are going to provide. The organization will not be any small sized adult day care centre. It aims to provide a variety of services to the old people so that they are comfortable, are taken care of, and feel like they are at home. President: The president of the organization is the top head of the organization. S/he belongs to the upper most tier of the organization. The president will deal with all the highly strategic decision making process. The president does not go into the details of the minute things happening in the business. S/he will just guide the department heads and CEO with the overall running of the business. Only extremely important and major decisions will be finalized under his/her leadership. For example a decision to open the business in a new country will need the consent of President. Therefore President will be the leader of the entire organization and its

Approaches to Treatment and Therapy: Case Study

Approaches to Treatment and Therapy: Case Study Case Study 1 (Phillip) Background Phillip is displaying multiple adverse psychological symptoms that would best fit the diagnosis of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Specifically Phillip is a compulsive washer as he maintains a high level of cleanliness, having showers up to three times a day. He also only eats frozen food in order to avoid contamination and organises his furniture, making sure that they are all perpendicular to the wall. These compulsions are repetitive, purposeful behaviours designed to prevent or reduce anxiety (De Silva, 2003). Some, if not most, of Phillip’s anxiety arises from the intrusive thought of stabbing his mother which has become a clinical obsession because he believes that the thought has personal significance and meaning. This may be because Phillip has an inflated sense of responsibility and so believes that he is responsible for preventing the intrusive thought from actually happening (Rheaume et al., 1994). This has led to Phillip avoiding people, his Mother especially, but this has only increased the frequency and severity of his compulsions. It appears that Phillip is stuck in a vicious cycle of his obsessions and his compulsions feeding off one another and so intervention will be needed in order to help him. Theoretical Framework There are two central aspects of OCD, the cognitive aspects which include intrusive thoughts, obsessions and cognitive distortions, and the behavioural aspect of compulsions. In cognitive theory, intrusive thoughts (e.g. I want to stab my mother) occur automatically and usually have no emotional significance but can take on significance, depending on the context in which intrusions happen (England Dickerson, 1988). Such thoughts are very common and have been reported to occur in almost 90% of the population (Rachman de Silva, 1978) but once an individual deems these thoughts as significant it can cause distress and the belief that they are personally responsible for preventing the thought from actually happening. The distress caused by high levels of perceived responsibility has been found in multiple studies (Shafran, 1997; Roper Rachman 1975) as obsessional patients felt a lot more uncomfortable performing checking rituals when they were on their own and calmer when the therapis t was there as the patient felt less responsibility. This sense of responsibility is associated with both worry (Wells Papageorgiou, 1998) and OC symptoms (Salkovskis et al., 2000a). Specifically, the lowering of responsibility is associated with a significant drop in discomfort and need to check (Lopatka Rachman, 1995). One explanation for inflated responsibility is the ‘thought-action fusion’ (TAF) theory which suggests that obsessions occur in people who believe that thinking about a disturbing event is the same as doing it and that having an intrusive thought is morally equivalent to acting on said thought (Rachman, 1993; Shafran, Thordarson Rachman, 1996). TAF is an example of ‘thinking errors’ outlined by Beck (1976) which are used by most people all the time but can be detrimental when thinking errors become central to thought processes (Nisbett Ross, 1980). The most prevalent thinking error in those with OCD is that having any influence over the outcome means that you are responsible for the outcome. Due to the distress caused by the appraisal of intrusive thoughts, individuals aim to neutralise the anxiety caused through mental reassurance and overt compulsions (such as washing and checking) (Salkovskis, 1985). However attempts to neutralise the thought can sustain and potentially increase responsibility beliefs and the occurrence of intrusive thoughts. A common type of neutralising behaviour which is present in Phillip’s case is compulsive washing. Almost 50% of patients with OCD are compulsive washers (APA, 1994) and it is even more common in childhood cases of OCD like Phillip’s with 85% of young patients displaying washing rituals (Swedo et al., 1989b). It has been suggested that one of the main attributes of compulsive washers is perfectionism (Tallis, 1996). Tallis claims that most compulsive washers do not exhibit such behaviour because they are concerned about contamination or illness, instead they are more concerned with maintaining their environment perfe ctly and thus feeling fully in control. Research has found that there is a significant link between perfectionism and OCD in general, not just in compulsive washing (Bouchard et al., 1999). As Phillip appears to be displaying the perfectionist personality trait, it is important to consider this in therapy. As perfectionism has been found to correlate with depressive symptoms (Enns Cox, 1999; Flett et al., 1991) it is possible that a negative mood may be a factor in Phillip’s thinking errors. The mood-as-input theory (Martin et al., 1993) suggests that people use their mood as a factor to decide whether or not they have completed a task. When people are in a positive mood they are more likely to take their affect as a sign that they are progressing in a task and achieving more (Hirt et al., 1996). Whereas those in a negative mood experience the opposite and interpret their mood to mean that they haven’t progressed enough and so must continue with the task (Schwarz Bless, 1991; Frijda, 1988). This may occur because people in negative moods have been found to process tasks more extensively than those in positive moods (Mackie Worth, 1989). This is a significant theory for Phillip’s case as individuals with OCD tend to use internal states that are difficult to achie ve such as ‘having a gut feeling’ to help them decide when to stop compulsive behaviour (Salkovskis, 1998). They therefore have stricter personal requirements for making decisions and so what should be an automatic decision becomes a strategic one and the strict criteria have to be met before anxiety is reduced and the compulsive behaviour can stop (Salkovskis et al., 2000a). Problem Formulation Phillip presents all of the issues outlined in the theoretical framework which will act as the foundations for intervention. Figure 1 shows the main aspects of Phillip’s case and highlights his rules for living and the cycle in which he is trapped. From the information given in Phillip’s case, it appears as though the bottom line of his psychology is â€Å"I have to have full control over every aspect of my life† which may have been caused by authoritarian parenting (Timpano et al., 2010) or childhood trauma (Lochner et al., 2002) which have both been found to significantly correlate with OCD symptoms. Whilst there isn’t enough information about Phillip’s childhood to speculate if such things have happened to him, these are factors to bear in mind during treatment. This strict bottom line in Phillip’s life has led to certain maladaptive rules of living including his perfectionism (control over actions) and inflated responsibility (control over thoughts and feelings). He also has a generally negative mood as an input to his thought processes because he can never fully satisfy the strict standards that he sets himself. Then, when Phillip was a teenager he began experiencing intrusive thoughts about stabbing his mother. Such intrusive thoughts are not usually enough to trigger anxiety but due to Phillip’s rules of living, he finds personal meaning in the thought and feels responsible for preventing the thought from happening. This triggers anxiety and so he seeks to neutralise the thought through compulsive washing, arranging furniture and socially isolating himself. When these neutralising behaviours reduce his anxiety it reinforces Phillip’s thinking errors, his rules of living and his bottom line. Thus, when his anxiety is triggered again he repeats the behaviour and so Phillip is trapped in a cycle of his compulsions and obsessions reinforcing one another. Figure 1. Problem Formation flow chart for Phillip Treatment Intervention Phillip’s treatment can start with cognitive therapy aiming to focus and modify his thinking errors and inflated sense of responsibility. At the same time as this Phillip can take part in group therapy designed specifically to treat perfectionists. After these treatments and once Phillip feels ready to, he can move on to exposure and response prevention (ERP) using virtual reality to simulate dirty and contaminated environments. This will help him to control his compulsions and get him out of the obsessive-compulsive cycle. For Phillip, cognitive therapy will start by focussing on the distinction between intrusive thoughts and his negative appraisal of those thoughts. As outlined by Menzies and de Silva (2003), this begins by asking patients to reflect upon the last time they had an intrusive thought and what their behavioural reaction was to this thought. Phillip will then be encouraged to recognise that it was not the thought itself that cause his subsequent behaviour but how he interpreted the thought. It is important that the client understands the distinction between his intrusions and their appraisal before moving on to further intervention as it may otherwise confuse them. Next, Phillip taught about how common intrusive thoughts can be, to help him dismiss any feelings of shame or guilt that he may be feeling. It is suggested by Salkovskis (1999) that patients should be encouraged to view intrusive thoughts as a potentially positive and useful occurrence that can help with problem solving and for esight. The goal of this is not to eliminate their intrusions but to help them feel more positive by normalising them. Phillip is also encouraged to modify his responsibility appraisals in order to reduce his inflated sense of responsibility. Van Oppen Arntz (1994) found that even when people with OCD understand how unlikely it is that their intrusive thoughts will become reality, they continue to show compulsive behaviours because they feel a sense of responsibility to stop it from happening. Van Oppen Arntz (1994) suggest creating a pie chart with patients that they can divide up to represent the importance of factors that may contribute to a feared outcome. Once Phillip assigns percentage values to each factor he will be able to visualise that his role of responsibility is much smaller than he originally thought. This technique will help Phillip to reassess the overestimation of his responsibility and realise the importance of other uncontrollable factors. Whilst undergoing cognitive therapy Phillip will join group therapy to help him with his perfectionism. Ferguson and Rodway (1994) outlined a group therapy programme for perfectionism based on cognitive-behavioural theory. This programme will aim to help Phillip understand the problems that can arise from perfectionism and what strategies can be used in order to change his perfectionist way of thinking. The therapy will also be based on the outline provided by Kutlesa and Arthur (2007) which applies a psycho-educational approach to perfectionism, using interpersonal theory (Yalom,1995) as the psychological component which will ask Phillip and others in the group to focus on the present rather than worrying about the future. The educational component will use elements of cognitive-behavioural theory (Ellis, 1991; Beck, 1993) to teach the group about the thinking errors involved in perfectionism and skills to cope with and change these thinking errors. Once Phillip has made progress in both treatments and feels ready for the next step he will move on to ERP as a treatment for his compulsive behaviour. Firstly, Phillip will be steadily and gradually exposed to environmental triggers. He will write a list of situations in which he could be contaminated, started with the one that makes him the least anxious and working his way up to the worst. Most ERP treatments ask participants to experience these situations either through images or in vivo but a new method of virtual reality (VR) is being used in the treatment of OCD and it has been found to be effective (Kim et al., 2009; Belloch et al., 2014). Using VR, Phillip will then be exposed to the items on his list one by one, experiencing each one repeatedly until anxiety is completely reduced and Phillip is ready for the next item. Another aspect of this treatment is response prevention which aims to help patients control their compulsions in advance of triggering events (Meyer et al., 1974). This involves strategies such as using alternative behaviours and modifying compulsive rituals which can be integrated into the VR exposure. This treatment aims to expose Phillip to his triggers in a safe way reducing his anxiety for those situations and learning to control his compulsions in the process. Evaluation Using cognitive and behavioural treatments together is crucial for Phillip’s intervention as they both deal with either the obsessions and the thinking errors or the compulsions but not both. If only one of these elements is dealt with then it is likely that the other will return. Whilst cognitive therapy has been found to be potentially effective on its own (Cottraux et al., 2001) studies have found that when ERP is combined with cognitive therapy it produces lower dropout rates, greater general coping and decreased obsessive-compulsive symptoms (Kyrios et al., 2001; Freeston et al., 1997). A major aspect of Phillip’s case that wasn’t dealt with in cognitive-behavioural therapy that was not covered was his perfectionism. Research has found that CBT doesn’t significantly reduce perfectionist symptoms (Egan Hine, 2008) whereas Richards etal. (1993) found lower scores on perfectionism and depression scales and increased levels of self-reported wellbeing and self-esteem in response to group therapy. The incorporation of VR is a modern approach to ERP but it is one that is becoming very popular in the treatment of many anxiety disorders (Kim et al., 2009) and has been found to be as effective as in vivo exposure (Belloch et al., 2014). One aspect that wasn’t addressed in Phillip’s treatment is that of his family. As mentioned earlier it is possible that authoritarian parenting (Timpano et al., 2010) or childhood trauma (Lochner et al., 2002) could be involved in Phillip’s case as these are common causes of childhood OCD. There are family-based therapies that are shown to be effective in these cases (Lebowitz, 2013) but there wasn’t enough information about Phillip’s family to make such assumptions. If, in therapy, similar issues are revealed then family-based therapy may be very useful for Phillip. Also, little attention was given to biological factors even though pharmacological treatments are very effective in the treatment of OCD (Abramowitz, 1997; de Haan et al., 1997). This is because it would only tackle Phillip’s symptoms whereas cognitive therapy with ERP and group therapy will help Phillip to understand his rules of living, his bottom line, and how to potentially c hange or cope with this. References

Society, Gender Roles and Gender-Conflict Essay -- Research Papers

Society, Gender Roles and Gender-Conflict Time and time again gender-conflict is brought to the attention of the public in various forms. In our time someone who wants to make a point about gender-conflict and the inequality that is present will be more likely to use television or song to reach their audience. This however is a fairly new technology. Books or some form of writing on the other hand have been around for thousands of years. Gender-conflict is nothing new. It is not as though one day it just came out of no where. It has been around since the dawn of time. What is a man’s place and what is a woman’s place in society or is there really a specific place at all; further more are we even really that different to begin with? Two classic novels To the Lighthouse and Lady Oracle are perfect examples of how gender-conflict is viewed and present in our society, but what is it that they are trying to teach us? One of the central motif’s in To the Lighthouse is the conflict between the feminine and masc uline principles at work in pretty much the entire universe. Mrs. Ramsay, with her emotional, poetical frame of mind, represents the female principle, while Mr. Ramsay, a self-centered philosopher, expresses the male principle in his rational point of view. Both of which are flawed by their restricted and somewhat ignorant perspectives. A painter and friend of the family, Lily Briscoe, is Woolf's vision of the ideal blending of male and female qualities. When looked at more deeply Lily does not only personifies the ideal male/female role in society but she is also representation of Woolf herself (Fokkema, 14). Growing up as a female little alone trying to fit into the stereotypical role a women is expected to fill in a mal... ...and ignorant. We all know what must be done to overcome the stereotypes placed in the society. It is just a matter of time. The two novels give us a better look into humanity and what it means to be human, not make or female, but human. Basically what these novels teach us is that it is fatal to be a man or a woman pure and simple; one must be woman-manly or man-womanly. Works Cited Atwood, Margaret. Lady Oracle.Toronto: Seal Books, 1999. Cooke, Nathalie. Margaret Atwood: A biography. ECW Press, 1988. Dworkin, Andrea. Woman Hating. New York: Dutton, 1974. Fokkema, Douwe W. An Interpretation of To the Lighthouse: With Reference to the Code of Modernism. Tel Aviv, Israel, 1979. Ruddick, Lisa. The Seen and the Unseen: Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse. Cambridge: Harvard, 1977. Woolf, Virginia. To the Lighthouse. New York: Oxford, 1999.

Doctor in the House

Text Analysis â€Å"Doctor in the House† (Richard Gordon) 1. The author of the story is Richard Gordon. It is the pen name used by Gordon Ostlere (born Gordon Stanley Ostlere on 15 September 1921), an English surgeon and anesthetist. As Richard Gordon, Ostlere has written numerous novels, screenplays for film and television and accounts of popular history, mostly dealing with the practice of medicine. He is most famous for a long series of comic novels on a medical theme starting with Doctor in the House, and the subsequent film, television, radio and stage adaptations.His The Alarming History of Medicine was published in 1993, and he followed this with The Alarming History of Sex. 2. The literary piece under consideration is fiction, prose fiction, short story. 3. Setting of the story. Geographical location – England, London ( the events take place in St, Swithin’s hospital which is historically located in England, London); Time – the late 1940s Social en vironment – middle class, students. Atmosphere – tense, psychologically difficult. 4. Theme of the story – examination period as a driving force for a psychological and emotional students’ tension. 5.Point of view – the 1st person point of view (â€Å"I walked down the stairs feeling as if I had just finished an eight-round fight†¦Ã¢â‚¬  or â€Å"I stood before table four. I didn’t recognize the examiners. †) 6. The composition: Character sketch 7. 1. Richard Gordon is the main character of the story. He plays the central role in the story so we may call him a protagonist. I consider him to be a flat (simple) character, because Richard has only several personal traits. The author characterizes Richard both directly and indirectly. He is a static, because Gordon remains the same throughout the story. Direct presentation:Richard Gordon was born in 1921. He has been an anesthetist at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, a shipâ€⠄¢s surgeon and an assistant editor of the British Medical Journal. He left medical practice in 1952 and started writing. Indirect presentation: * Hard-working student. Example: Benskin discovered that Malcolm Maxworth was the St. Swithin’s representative on the examining Committee and thenceforward we attended all his ward rounds, standing at the front and gazing at him like impressionable music enthusiasts at the solo violinist. * Intelligent. Example: â€Å"How would you treat a case of tetanus? † My heart leaped hopefully.This was smth I knew, as there had recently been a case at St. Swithin’s. I started off confidentially, reeling out the lines of treatment and feeling much better. â€Å"Pass† he murmured. * Careful, attentive, observant. Example: There were six other candidates waiting to go in with me, who illustrated the types fairly commonly seen in viva waiting-rooms. There was the Nonchalant†¦Next to him a man of Frankly Worried class†¦There was the Crammer, the Old Stager. The other occupant of the room was a woman†¦But the girl had given care to her preparations for the examination†¦I felt sure she would get through.About half-way through the anonymous examinees began to differentiate themselves. Some of them strode up for an extra answer book, with an awkward expression of self-consciousness and superiority on their faces. Others rose to their feet, handed in there papers and left†¦ * Impressionable. Example: The days after the viva were black ones. It was like having a severe accident. For the first few hours I was numbed, unable to realize what had hit me. Then I began to wonder if I would ever make a recovery and win through. My palms were as wet as sponges.My pulse shot in my ears. My face was burning hot and I felt my stomach had been suddenly plucked from mu body. The world stood still. The traffic stopped, the plants ceased growing, men were paralyzed, the clouds hung in the air, the win ds dropped, the tides disappeared, the sun halted in the sky. 7. 2. The plot of the story. The composition of this text consists of the following components: The exposition contains the general information about students’ attitude to the final examinations and the way of preparation for this important event..Narration, when the author describes passing the examinations, written paper and viva, candidates’ excitement and suspense of the results. The    tension reaches its highest degree when poor Gordon almost believes in his fail. And the climax, when the Author describes how the Secretary of the Committee calls out Gordon’s name, because in that moment we become interested in his results, does he pass or fail. The author deliberately postpones the denouement keeping the reader in pressing anticipation. It    comes in the last paragraph, when he hears the magic word â€Å"Pass†. 7. 3.The type of speech. It is the narration ( â€Å"I walked down the s tairs feeling as if I had just finished an eight-round fight†¦Ã¢â‚¬  or â€Å"I stood before table four. I didn’t recognize the examiners. †) with elements of dialogue ( â€Å"â€Å"How did you get on? † I asked. â€Å"So-so† he replied. â€Å"However, I’m not worried. They never read†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) and a great number of descriptive passages (â€Å"The examination began with the writing papers. A single invigilator sat in his gown and hood on a raised platform to keep an eye open for flagrant cheating. He was helped by two or three uniformed porters†¦Ã¢â‚¬  or â€Å"One minute to twelve.The room had suddenly come to a frightening, unexpected silence and stillness, like unexploded bomb. A clock tingled†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). 7. Stylistic devices. * Similes – â€Å"To a medical student the final examinations are something like death†; â€Å"I was shown to a tiny waiting-room furnished with hard chairs, a wooden table, and wind ows that wouldn't open, like the condemned cell. †;â€Å"The days after the viva were black ones. It was like having a severe accident. †;â€Å"The room had suddenly come to a frightening, unexpected silence and stillness, like an unexploded bomb. ; â€Å"they are a straight contest between himself and the examiners, conducted on well-established rules for both, and he goes at them like a prize-fighter†; â€Å"Benskin discovered that Malcolm Maxworth was the St. Swithin's representative on the examining Committee and thenceforward we attended all his ward rounds, standing at the front and gazing at him like impressionable music enthusiasts at the solo violinist†; * Allusion – Bible’s judgment day * Hyperboles – † But the viva is judgment day. A false answer and the od's brow threatens like imminent thunderstorm. † * Repetition of sound [s] -† The room had suddenly come to a frightening, unexpected silence and stillne ss, like an unexploded bomb. A clock tingled twelve in the distance. My palms were as wet as sponges. Someone coughed, and I expected the windows to rattle. With slow scraping feet that could be heard before they appeared the Secretary and the porters came solemnly down the stairs. The elder porter raised his voice. † * Parallels constructions – â€Å"The world stood still.The traffic stopped, the plants ceased growing, men were paralyzed, the clouds hung in the air, the winds dropped, the tides disappeared, the sun halted in the sky. † * Metaphor – â€Å"judgment day†; â€Å"slink miserably out of the exit to seek the opiate oblivion†; * Exaggeration – â€Å"My palms were as wet as sponges†¦ The windows were rattling†¦ My pulse shot in my ears†¦ The world stood still†. 8. The main idea of the text is that the examination is nothing more than an investigation of man’s knowledge. The idea: the final examinat ions are reason for a great psychological pressure and a real challenge for the students.

Hamlet- Shakespeare dramatises the tension between Passion and Reason Essay

Acts of passion and acts of reason can be differentiated by a sense of underlying tension, Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ published in 1601 explores these universal ideologies by dramatizing this underlying tension. ‘Hamlet’ presents challenging representations of the traditional values of passion and reason through their varying forms. The representation of these concepts coupled with dramatic tension conflicts with traditional plots of the Elizabethan era thus creating a sense of enduring value. The various depictions of dramatized tension that underpin the play, allows issues of passion and reason to flourish throughout as is the intention of Shakespeare. Tension emphasises how acts of passion must incorporate elements of reason in order to confirm that the act is in fact righteous. This is true to the philosophical outlook of Humanism, during Shakespearian times, a practice that emphasized reason and human fulfilment in the natural world often rejecting r eligious beliefs. Hamlet struggles with acting in accordance with his Humanist elements or reverting back to his traditional religious ways, Act One, Scene V, effectively introduces this link between passion and reason exacerbated through underlying tension. The device of the Ghost initially symbolises the disruption of the Great Chain of Being on which the Elizabethan society of the epoch was founded due to the tension created by the passionate crime of Claudius for the throne. The Ghost explicitly introduces these concepts through its initial contact with Hamlet and its repetitious, blunt language ‘So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear.’ Hamlet’s love for his father allows him to inherit this want to commit the passionate act, evident through his metaphorical language which depicts his submission to his father’s will ‘Haste me to know’t, that I with wings as swift as meditation or the thoughts of love may sweet to my revenge.’ Hamlet’s response is ironic and juxtaposes itself as notions of tension heighten his self-division to act with desire or intent. Though Hamlet wishes to act passionately, his religious beliefs which condemn ghosts along with his Humanist beliefs to not act without purpose lead to his state of inaction. The scene elucidates how reason has aided his prolonged struggle between his identity as a Renaissance Man of Thought and Chivalric Man of action. This representation of passion and reason dramatized by tension  allows the play to develop demonstrating how acts of these emotions are riddled with ardent desire that is plagued with logic of Shakespearian autonomy. According to conventions of Elizabethan Theatre braggart soldiers usually played the role of the protagonist, Shakespeare challenges this by employing an intellectual scholar as the lead. Through the character of Hamlet, Shakespeare crafts passion as a catalyst to act by the requests of the ghost, however portrays the intellectualisation of reason as an inhibitor of this will to act. Hamlet’s soliloquy in Act Two, Scene II, exhibits the dilemma of the human condition through his psychological tension between public and private duty caused by the love for King Hamlet. Hamlet ironically exclaims ‘O what a rogue and peasant slave I am!’, chiding and degrading his principals and stamina. Hamlet’s conflict is depicted through rhetorical questions which connote doubt and the direct address of images representative of hell, illuminating the confusion of definite morals as a product of reason ‘What’s Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba, that he should weep for her?’. Hamlet’s repetition of Hecuba alludes to his questioning of Christianity and religious faith which reflects the Elizabethan society of the epoch. Hamlet evidently creates an argument against himself creating a distinguishable divide in thought process, indicated through the conjunction, ‘Yet I’. This product of contemplation is portrayed as the driving force of the conflicted soul of Hamlet. Recurring motifs of emptiness ‘And all for nothing?’, ‘And can say nothing’, and the repetition of nothing creates a cyclical tone in argument that reinforces contemplation as a form of procrastination from concluding the rivalry with Claudius, thus highlighting the dichotomy between action and inaction and subsequently passion and reason. Hamlet’s confliction is further exacerbated as he metaphorically states that he is ‘prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, must like a whore unpack my heart with words.’ Consequently blurring the divide between moral and immoral actions as his revenge has been instigated by heaven in its war against the working of hell, visible in Claudiusâ⠂¬â„¢s achievements. This presents a challenging view of desire and motivation can be halted by reason. Hamlet’s characterisation as continually self-berating and his inaction are counter-acted by the concluding rhyming couplet ‘The play’s the thing where in I’ll catch the conscience of the King.’ The rhythm of the metaphor alters and gains momentum and speed as  Hamlet is presumably spurred into action emphasising the developing tension, presenting another challenging dimension to the concept of influence on moral and corrupt supremacy in the 17th century. The play captivates audiences as it presents the light and shade surrounding the complexities of passion and reason, as presented through the dramatized tension allowing the responder to question the values of the time. Order and Hierarchy were prevalent aspects in Elizabethan society, Shakespeare usurps this concept making it a key source of tension throughout the play. In ‘Hamlet’, Claudius’s passion for power causes him to commit regicide, an act regarded as sinful at the time and thus causes his emotions of remorse which challenge the nature of his Machiavellian character and defined distinctions of morals. In Act Three, Scene III, Claudius, uncharacteristically overcome by a deep sense of guilt soliloquises metaphorically confessing ‘Oh my offence is rank, it smells to heaven; and hath the primal eldest curse upon’t, a brother’s murder.’ The biblical allusion to Cain and Abel reinforces the religious undertones which contribute to C laudius’s realisation of his fatally flawed morality caused by his notions of reason and identity as a Machiavellian character. The combination of Christian and Pagan imagery further connotes the notion of tension, challengingly strengthening the passion for self and power as the cause of rivalry and self-division through reason. Through the alliterative comparative adjective ‘My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent, and like a man to double business bound’, Claudius’s internal struggle is revealed through the simile as he is trapped between the dichotomy of two alternatives which are driven by Hamlet’s intent to obtain revenge. The notion of defeat also suggests battle which connotes his enthrallment of his inner conflict produced by passion. These literary devices are thus used to emphasise the universality and value of the diverse perceptions of passion and reason presented. Furthermore, through the soliloquy of Claudius the valued ideologies which plague thought are depicted as a product of the passion of power. Claudius’s crime exemplifies the fundamentally corrupt nature of the Divine Right of King. The hyperbolic interplay of juxtaposing light and dark imagery in the metaphoric rhetorical question ‘What if this cursed hand were thicker than itself with brother’s blood, is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens to wash it white as snow?’ illustrates the irrevocable evil that Claudius  has committed in the murder of King Hamlet, an act of passion later questioned by notions of reason. It is additionally a mortal sin, biblically in all cultures and eras to commit murder, bestowing the play with its universality. Claudius concludes the soliloquy through the exploration of binary opposites and religious allusions ‘My words fly up, my thoughts remain below. Words without thought never to heaven go’, which reinf orce Claudius’s deliberate humanisation, contributing to the complexity which underpins the characterisation of all Shakespearean characters and reflective of the notions of reason present during the Elizabethan era. This complexity illuminates the challenging presentation of the traditional values of passion and rivalry. Hamlet is hence a universally valued text because of its diverse representation of traditional values which challenge the audience. Through the initial introduction to the Ghost the intertwining nature of passion and reason exposed through tension, challenges the notion of these concepts as separate values. The soliloquising of Hamlet in Act Two, depicts the over intellectualisation of passion as a product of reason, and its devastating consequences conveying a less idealised view of passion which challenges audiences. Moreover, the soliloquising of Claudius in Act Three further reveals an act of passion as a product of reason, presenting a diverse challenging perspective. These notions which oppose tradition bestow Hamlet with its value derived from its universality.