Critically assess the scope, meaning and relevance of Essay

Critically assess the scope, meaning and relevance of non-discrimination in WTO law - Essay Example This paper tackles the most-favoured-nation (MFN) treatment obligations of member countries and its twin principle which is a national treatment obligation; the WTO is supposed to equally grant MFN-like status to all countries. The WTO replaced the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) as the world global trading body tasked to implement and adjudicate the rules for international commerce. The recent global Great Recession has highlighted anew the importance of the role of WTO in settling trade disputes as countries scramble for ways out of the recession. Trade frictions are again on the rise as countries find ways to revive their economies. This paper discusses the non-discrimination principle and its increased relevance in international trade.2 B. Discussion The WTO is a big improvement over the GATT and its still-born cousin ITO. In the WTO rule of consensus decision making (termed derisively as its mass management), there is no board of directors like in modern corporatio ns.3 The consensus makes the WTO a success it is today although in rare instances, majority votes may also rule. If trade disputes arise, the WTO works to resolve it through negotiations. Once a WTO resolution is deemed final, the concerned country must conform to the ruling such as amending its laws or pay compensation to the adjudged winner; failure to do so results in non-negotiable sanctions as no appeals are allowed. This is how non-discrimination is enforced in the WTO; its stated aims are to expand free trade equally without barriers to all members, make trade predictable through rules and a truly competitive undertaking by removal of subsidies.4 The lack of a governing body similar to a corporation's board of directors is intentional to address previous complaints of smaller countries. There is no body within WTO that has a delegated power from its members despite proposals for creation of a smaller executive body.5 Members make their decisions known through its committees a nd councils. Decisions reached by the members are more acceptable to all implemented quickly like the Japanese way of doing things.6 This loose set up has advantages but sometimes, people end up confused.7 Its culture is designed to promote sharing of common values and reassure smaller nations their weaknesses are being addressed.8 Fusion of interests of all countries helps build harmony through transparency and inclusion. The WTO success is its rules-based disputes resolution.†9 Non-discrimination in WTO Law – experts call WTO a modern miracle for sheer fact it managed to exist.10 The guiding idea behind WTO is its Dispute Settlement Understanding or DSU. For the first time, the DSU codified all procedural rules as they pertain to the core principles in any dispute across all types of trade agreements.11 It is the basic document that sets out the jurisdictional scope of the WTO dispute settlement and all members must submit to its authority. There is less reason to sus pect any subjectivity in any of the WTO decisions.12 Relative to transparency and

The Pricing of Health Costs and its Effect on the Poor in the United Dissertation - 2

The Pricing of Health Costs and its Effect on the Poor in the United States - Dissertation Example It researches the relationship between socio-economic cause, conditions, and health. Financial Stress and Living Expenses Health costs have been on the rise for many years. In 2008 it crossed $2.3 trillion, three times higher than $714 billion in 1990, and eight times higher than what was spent in 1980, which was up to $253 billion. Controlling the health costs has been a primary policy preference of the US government. The speed of rising health costs added with the economic recession and increased federal deficit has stressed the government systems. A number of causes have been identified of rising health costs, which include: Technology and Prescription drugs Chronic disease Aging of the population The US has been o the top of all industrialized countries in the matter of individual spending on health care approximately $7,681, which reaches to 16.2% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Controlling the health care costs is very urgent in the country’s larger interests for economic stability and growth (Kimbuende et al., 2010). The ever-increasing health costs have become an alarming social, economic and political issue in the US. The government policy on health reforms so far has not helped in effectively chasing the cost because of wrong strategies. The US should learn from other countries; how they have been successful in reducing heath costs. Obama government has taken the initiative of approaching the issue by improving health outcomes among other strategies, as promised to control rising health costs in the 2008 presidential election (Marmor et al., 2009). In tax-favored â€Å"health reimbursement accounts (HRA),† funds of employees with added contributions by employers have affected the poor people with the cost-sharing arrangement by shifting costly insurance types to them. Tensions have risen on health care costs as employees wages are not increasing in proportion as health costs have been increasing. It becomes evident from the fact that since 1999 family premiums for employer supported health insurance has increased by 131 percent putting additional burden on low-salaried employees. It has affected the poor in the US shelling more from their pockets on high premiums. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Office of the Actuary, National Health Statistics Group, only hospital care and physician services form more than half of the nation’s total health care spending. Any federal level health reform should give top priority to reducing health costs (Kimbuende et al., 2010). Some of the related questions include: 1. Do money and quality of life affect the cost of health? 2. What effect does income level on medical treatment have on the poor? 3. Do financial stress, out of pocket payment, and loss of income reduce hospital visits for the poor? What impact the increasing cost of healthcare is having on the poor people? Healthcare pricing is shrouded in mystery because provi ders don’t show transparency of payments received. Insurance companies also do not share the payments with the customers. â€Å"Sticker prices† pasted on care provider websites are generally more than paid by insurance companies. Some of the US states like New Hampshire, Maine, Oregon and Massachusetts provide

Foods Market Essay Example for Free

Foods Market Essay For months, Whole Foods Market and its legal team have waged a very public battle against the Federal Trade Commission’s charges that the high-end grocer’s 2007 merger with Wild Oats Markets violated antitrust laws. The court fight started in June 2007 when FTC lawyers first tried to prevent the merger by filing suit in the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Then, last October, Whole Foods raised the stakes by unleashing lobbying and media campaigns against the FTC. After all of that, this morning’s announcement that Whole Foods has agreed to settle with the FTC raises an obvious question: Why? Decherd partner Paul Denis, who has represented Whole Foods since 2007 in defending the merger, says it came down to money, and Whole Foods also just wanted to move on. â€Å"This is a very expensive process,† he says, adding that Whole Foods â€Å"thought if made sense to try to eliminate that cash burden. † In December, Whole Foods said it had spent $16 million on attorney and expert fees since 2007. Asked whether allocating additional resources to the public fight against the FTC was worth it for his client, Denis says, â€Å"You do what you have to defend yourself. †¦You can never ask yourself is it worth it. †

Referendums: Arguments For and Against

Referendums: Arguments For and Against What are the arguments for and against the holding of popular referendums? Under what circumstances, if any, should they be held? The referendum has its origins in direct democracy, and can therefore be dated back to the 5th Century BC in the Greek city state of Athens. The concept of a referendum has changed and developed in line with democracy and can now be found in a number of differing forms throughout the developed world. A referendum is broadly defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as â€Å"a general vote by the electorate on a single political question†; however this definition fails to make distinctions between the many types of referendum which exist, or the modern day importance of referendums. In an initial classification there are three types of referendum as defined by the Britannica Concise Encyclopaedia. Obligatory referendums; which are required by law, optional referendums; which are put on the ballot when a sufficient number of voters sign a petition demanding that a law passed by the legislature be ratified by the people, and voluntary referendums; when legislatures submit to voter s to decide an issue or to test public opinion. There are a number of widely credited arguments both for and against the holding of popular referendums, however, there are only a few key ideas encapsulated in these arguments. Those in favour of referendums generally tend to point out that they; promote political participation and increase voter knowledge on issues as well as helping to strengthen democracy and further legitimate the government. Whilst arguments against referendums concentrate on ideas; that the public are ill equipped to make important political decisions, and that the information they do have is distorted through media influence, that referendums only provide an idea of public opinion at that one point in time, and that referendums weaken and remove power from the representative institutions elected by the public. The holding of popular referendums is key in a democratic system where the people are becoming, not only disengaged but disinterested in the political process as a whole. The use of referendums can help to counter this affect, provided that clear guidelines are set for when a referendum should take place. The word democracy comes from the Latin demos meaning the people and kratos meaning power or rule (OED); rule by the people. The practicalities of this literal definition, often referred to as direct democracy, are almost impossible in our world today, where in the UK in 2005 there were 44,245,939 people registered to vote (www.idea.int)[1]. However, representative democracy is a â€Å"limited and indirect form of democracy† (Heywood 2007:74) which relies on, in most cases, an electoral mandate for legitimacy. This electoral mandate has been called into question on a number of occasions in modern political history, most notably in the US presidential election of 2005 between George W Bush and Al Gore, and again in the UK General Election of 2005. Referendums could be seen in a modern political context as a stepping stone between direct and representative democracy. It is fair to say that in the majority of developed political societies people have the opportunity to vote into office representatives whom they believe to share policy views with. However, it would be impossible for any political party to represent all the views of its members and supporters, as a result parties may include certain policy promises in their manifestos that their voters do not want to see implemented (Caramani 2008:254). This, along with the fact that people vote for parties for such a wide range of reasons, mean that it is not possible to conclude that peoples policy preferences are the same as the party they vote for (Setala 1999: 14-16). Therefore, a referendum allows the public to show a direct opinion on a specific policy matter they would otherwise be impossible. Linked to the idea that referendums strengthen democracy with regards to policy decisions, there is also the theory that they legitimate government between elections. The period between major governmental elections is, in many countries, several years. In this time period governments can, for the most part, make decisions without any public consultation. There is therefore a danger that although these officials are elected as representatives, it is only the opposition parties and the checks and balances outlined in constitutions that prevent them from deviating from their original promises. Referendums allow the government to not only gauge public opinion on policy but also to make clear that the decisions they are making are in line with public attitude on issues concerning them, therefore providing another check against the power of government. Opponents to referendums argue that instead of strengthening democracy and legitimising government they in fact weaken the political system by removing power from elected bodies. Representative democracy is founded on the principle that elected officials represent the views of the people and make decisions on their behalf; therefore a referendum undermines this principle. Sir Patrick Nairne observed that â€Å"if Members of Parliament are elected to settle national issues of major policy brought before them by the Government, is it right to throw such issues back to the voters to settle† (Qvotrup 2005:23). This argument concerning the weakening of bodies is, although worth acknowledging, very limited in its view on referendums. It concentrates for the most part on the idea that referendums remove decision making power from elected bodies and would therefore render them both less effective and less powerful. However, this is an extreme view that fails to recognise that referend ums can be used to aid governments as well as the people, and provide a vital link between the two, as has already been argued. In the majority of political systems across the world we are witnessing a worrying downward trend in voter turnout. This can be attributed to a number of causes including; partisan dealignment, disenchantment with the political system and indifference to politics. Referendums can be used to help promote political participation by enabling the electorate to become better educated and informed and therefore reduce the feeling of alienation (Heywood 2007:250). By providing people with the opportunity to participate in referendums they are presented with the opportunity to educate and inform themselves on political issues. There is clearly a link between an informed electorate and higher levels of political participation, as Verba, Schlozman and Brady (1995) argue. This correlation arises from the fact that a more politically educated electorate is able understand the workings of government, and the issues affecting them; therefore seek to bring about change. Switzerland was one of the f irst countries to introduce referendums to make decisions on proposed legislation. Although turnout figures in Switzerland are not very high, around 45% (www.idea.int)[2], it can be argued that the Swiss people are more politically active than turnout figures show due to the fact that there is such a large number of referendums not everyone votes in all of them, and also that they are more involved with political parties and in other ways than most other countries. Aside from elections there are very few ways in which citizens can directly influence political decisions. There are provisions in most democratic countries for the electorate to have some personal contact with their representative, however for the most part people do not make use of this tool because they believe it to be ineffectual; issues raised in these arenas rarely have an effect on the outcome of policy. People are also able to join political parties yet; again, they are faced with the same problems of ineffectuality. A referendum therefore provides an answer to increasing ways for the electorate to positively participate in politics. A binding referendum permits the public to make the final decision on a specific policy, although these types of referendums are not widely used, it is rare for a government to go against the public even in a non-binding referendum. In 1975 the UK, both electorate and government, was divided over whether or not it should continue its membership in the European Economic Community. The overwhelming â€Å"Yes† vote to stay in Europe was upheld by the Labour government of the time, although it was not a binding referendum, and was hailed as a â€Å"historic decision† by Prime Minister Harold Wilson (www.bbc.co.uk/news)[3]. The counter arguments to increased political participation and voter knowledge through referendums are that; in fact, referendums can cause voter fatigue and decrease participation, and that the public are ill equipped to make important political decisions. The first of these arguments relies on the premise that the public would be able to vote on all or a large number of policies. However, this move back to direct democracy is not desirable for the public or the government; presenting the public with such a large number of opportunities to vote could indeed cause voting fatigue. There is a compromise to be found between allowing the public to vote on all policy and not allowing them to vote on it at all. The latter of these criticisms on referendums concern voter knowledge. It is ignorant to assume that the electorate are either not informed, or are unable, to educate themselves on political issues put to them in referendums. If people are able to vote and presumably make an informed decision on which political party they wish to represent them they are equally able to do so in a referendum. Critics argue that information is distorted through the media prior to referendums, and this is a problem worth considering. During the first referendum on the Lisbon Treaty in Ireland two of Rupert Murdochs biggest selling newspapers The Irish Sun and The Sunday Times were seen as going â€Å"hell for leather on a No vote† (www.guardian.co.uk)[4]; similarly the media coverage on the 1975 Common Market Referendum was heavily biased to the â€Å"Yes† campaign, it has been estimated that twenty times the amount of money was available to this campaign than to the â€Å"No† campa ign (www.europeansinglecurrency.com/referendum)[5]. Although in these instances the media seemed to have an influence on the final outcome there are other, more fundamental, factors which influence peoples decisions, the American political scientist John Zaller encapsulates this idea; â€Å"Every opinion is a marriage of information and predisposition† (Zaller 1992:6). For referendums to be used effectively it is important that the circumstances in which they should be held are clearly defined and upheld by law. When considering this point one must take into account that referendums should not used in a way that, as many opponents argue, undermines the authority of the elected bodies in a representative democracy. An answer to this is that referendums should only be used in matters of constitutional importance and not for other policy decisions. It is, after all, constitutions which safeguard the fundamental rights of the electorate as well as preventing the misuse of power by elected bodies (Dahl 2000: 124-127). However, only allowing people to vote on constitutional changes is very limiting, especially if the issue directly influences the way in which they live, and there may also be instances in which the government wishes to hold a referendum on another issue, therefore a wider definition for circumstances must be found. It would be almost impo ssible to define exactly which policy areas the electorate should be able to vote on in referendums. There are obviously issues on which it would be inappropriate to have a referendum, taxes are an obvious example; there are complex issues on which the public would probably not have the time or adequate resources to inform themselves on and which have no real affect on them, for example defence policies. Therefore the best course of action would probably be to allow the elected body to decide in these instances which policies it is sensible to put to a referendum. Australia, in fact follows these basic guidelines for holding referendums to great success. Compulsory national referendums are â€Å"held to approve government-proposed changes to the Australian Constitution†, the constitution specifies this; furthermore the government can also conduct optional referendums or ‘plebiscites to decide on matters outside of the constitution (www.wikipedia.org)[6]. This system of conducting referendums is ideal because the electorate are guaranteed a vote on constitutional issues as well as being given the opportunity, when appropriate, to vote on other policy matters. Referendums provide a vital direct link between government and the electorate which is otherwise unseen in representative democracies. They can help to promote political participation as well as creating a better informed electorate; they also strengthen democracy in modern society. Yet referendums, despite all of this are often criticised for the way in which they weaken elected bodies and do not provide a true gauge on public opinion, largely due to media influence. However, as has been argued none of these arguments hold much weight, especially in the face of a system where the use of referendums have clear guidelines, as in Australia, to be used for constitutional amendments and wherever else is seen as fit by the elected bodies in power. Referendums are a tool which should be used more widely in todays political systems of democracy as they are a manageable and positive step towards a hybrid political system which effectively combines representative and direct democracy. Bibliography Britannica Concise Encyclopaedia (2007) (London: Britannica Concise Encyclopaedia, Inc.) Caramani, Daniele (2008) Comparative Politics (Oxford: Oxford University Press) Dahl, Robert. A. (2000) On Democracy (Yale: Yale University Press) Heywood, Andrew (2007) Politics third edition (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan) Oxford Dictionary of English (2005) 2nd edition revised (Oxford: Oxford University Press) Setala, Maija (1999) Referendums and Democratic Government: Normative Theory and the Analysis of Institutions (Basingstoke: Macmillan) Verba, Sidney, Kay Lehman, Schlozman and Henry Brady (1995) Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics (Cambridge: Harvard University Press) Zaller, John (1992) The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) [1] â€Å"United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Voter Turnout International† Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance 2005 < http://www.idea.int/vt/country_view.cfm?country=GB> (13 Nov. 2009) [2] â€Å"Swiss Confederation Voter Turnout† International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance 2007 < http://www.idea.int/vt/country_view.cfm?id=42> (13 Nov. 2009) [3] â€Å"1975: UK embraces Europe on Referendum† 1975 < http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/6/newsid_2499000/2499297.stm> (13 Nov. 2009) [4] â€Å"NI votes NO in Irish referendum† 2009 < http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/oct/01/ireland-referendum-rupert-murdoch> (13 Nov 2009) [5] â€Å"Was the 1975 Referendum Conducted Fairley† A British Referendum 2003 < http://www.europeansinglecurrency.com/referendum.htm> (13 Nov 2009) [6] â€Å"Federal Referendums† Referendums in Australia 2009 < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Referendums_in_Australia> (13 Nov 2009)

Modernist Opera :: Modernism Music Art Opera Essays

Modernist Opera Modernism, a major artistic movement of the first half of the twentieth century, is traditionally a classification of the visual arts, including such schools as Abstraction, Impressionism, and Expressionism. In architecture, too, was Modernism recognized, in the work of people like Frank Lloyd Wright. Even in literature, with the increasing use of symbolism, Modernism was an influence. Modernists in all of these art forms are consciously engaged in the expansion of the boundaries of their art, and in asking their audiences to reject the status quo, both of the art and of some aspect of society or culture the art form addresses. When faced with a discussion about the possibility of the existence of Modernist opera, classificationists around the world can be heard coughing quietly into their drink and muttering something vague about having somewhere else to be. Until recently, opera and Modernism were two terms rarely, if ever, heard together. The large amount of scholarshi p that has been devoted to the study of Modernism and its principles has not been extended with the same vigour to include its application to opera. Questions have been raised about whether it is even possible to define â€Å"Modernist opera,† and few have attempted such a feat. I confess some confusion as to why the issue raises such difficulties. An examination of just three of the operas written in the time period, Richard Strauss’s Salome, Alban Berg’s Wozzeck, and Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera, shows us that a categorization of Modernism is not inappropriate to the genre. Like the visual and literary arts of the time, these operas are attempting to redefine their genre and to bring public awareness both to the possibilities of the genre and to societal issues. Perhaps I will begin my argument about the suitability of a category of Modernist opera with a small disclaimer. It is important to note that, as far as opera is concerned, there is no definite boundary between pre-Modernist works and Modernism itself. One can argue that Wagner’s attempts in the nineteenth century to make opera into something new are examples of an early Modernist inclination. Wagner had new ideas so immense that he had to build his own theatre to house them. His interest in revolutionary politics and in the philosophical ideas of great thinkers like Nietzsche is certainly unique for opera composers prior to the twentieth century.

Slavery In Latin America Essay -- Slavery Essays

Slavery In Latin America   Ã‚  Ã‚  Slavery in the Americas was quite diverse. Mining operations in the tropics experienced different needs and suffered different challenges than did plantations in more temperate areas of Norther Brazil or costal city’s serving as ports for the exporting of commodities produced on the backs of the enslaved peoples from the African continent. This essay will look at these different situations and explore the factors that determined the treatment of slaves, the consequences of that treatment, and the conditions that lead to resistance by the slaves working in their various capacities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After the initial conquest of Mexico and South America it was time to develop the economy and export the resources that would benefit the monarchy back home in Spain and Portugal. Silver and Gold were two such commodities. Silver mines in Northern Mexico were supervised by blacks who directed the Indians in the arduous task of extracting the precious metal. Gold in Central Mexico was also mined by blacks. The Gold mining regions were hot, tropical, isolated areas of the jungle. The regions were sparsely populated and it was difficult to keep the locals as a work force. The introduction of disease in the tropics made these areas death zones to the indigenous people as they had no resistance to the virulent plagues. There was a need to get cheap or free labor that would be capable of resisting the disease and who would be easier to dominate than the locals who could run off and establish themselves elsewhere relatively easily. The natural answer was to obtain slaves from the African continent. The slave trade was already in operation on the African continent. Coastal cities there often enslaved inland peoples so it was not difficult to obtain the stock and export them to the Americas.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Slaves in the mining regions were subject to harsh, isolated conditions. There were few females and little or no community amongst the slaves. Some of the workers did have access to money and as a result could negotiate there freedom for a price. In 1732 1/3 of the African population of Choco was free as a result. Less fortunate slaves who found the conditions unbearable fled to even more isolated areas of the back country to survive on their own or in small colonies.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Sugar plantations of Northern Brazil were a major c... ...so manumission possibilities increased. Slaves isolated from family life and culture working in miserable conditions were often flight risks as they had no real options and the terrain lent to good hiding. There were also no whites around to hire as cheap labor to search them out and return them. Mulatto and Criollo slaves were higher on the socioeconomic ladder than the Bozal and were therefore less likely to resist as they were a step away from freedom which meant they would not consider fleeing as good an option as remaining in the social circle and family they had established.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Slavery under any conditions is not the optimum existence for human beings. It is a fact that human nature seeks to dominate. Greed and money are often at the root of such efforts. The Israelites, the Irish, the Africans, and enumerable other groups have heritage that includes a period of slavery or of enslaving or both. African Cimarron communities even enslaved other African fleeing the plantations. It is not rooted in race as much as it is rooted in human nature. The preceding essay is just a synopsis of how it functioned for African’s in certain regions during a space in history.

Lucy Honeychurch: Motifs, Themes, Biography, Plot

â€Å"A Room with a View†, by Edward Morgan Forster, presents the story of Lucy Honeychurch, a young woman belonging to English high society. Forster places this young maiden in a state of conflict between the snobbery of her class: the â€Å"suitable and traditional† views and advice offered by various family members and friends, and her true heart’s desire. This conflict â€Å"forces† Lucy Honeychurch to choose between convention and passion and throws her into a state of internal struggle, as she must sift through the elements of her social conditioning and discern them from her true emotions and desires [Ford]. Forster develops and utilizes Lucy’s internal struggle as a means of transforming her from a pretty young woman, to a subtle heroine. Lucy Honeychurch is introduced to the reader as a somewhat pretty young woman, obviously ignorant to the ways of the world, who is being chaperoned by her cousin, Charlotte Bartlett, while vacationing in Italy. Numerous conversations over matters of dress, the acceptability of various pieces of furniture, and other vacations, suggest the snobbish nature of both Lucy and Charlotte. Relevant materials: Maru Themes In fact, matters of convention encompass Lucy’s life until George Emerson’s â€Å"caddish,’ yet passionate, display of affection takes over. Lucy and Charlotte are both very alike because they hold true the values of upper class English society. Lucy constantly struggles with how she is supposed to act, think, or even associate herself with: most conflictingly George Emerson, a railroad worker of the lower class (Ford). Their union is forbidden by Miss Bartlett by telling Lucy that he is a socialist, that she shouldn’t associate herself with him and just overall patronizing George excessively. Charlotte and Lucy also share the same renouncement of words when they are talking to people to seem more polite. At the beginning of the novel, Lucy is feebly trying to fit in with the members of the upper class by living by certain class values and rules of propriety but they all don’t form her with any opinion or route of action. By the end of the novel, she has formed her own thoughts, opinions, and actions and takes full control of her fate and breaks it off with Cecil to marry George, her true love. Lucy also encounters muddles, as pointed out by Mr. Emerson, which she realizes and fixes by the end of the novel. She wasn’t following her own heart and thoughts, but making decisions based on the wants of her social class, not her own. Lucy Honeychurch makes a dramatic transformation throughout the novel form a sweet, naive heroine to a strong, independent woman (Schwarz). In the novel the best representation of class snobbery is Miss Charlotte Bartlett, Lucy’s chaperon in her travels to Italy and Greece. Not only is Miss Bartlett unimaginative and patronizing to the Emerson’s but she is the hindrance to Lucy’s true happiness; being with George Emerson. Lucy is at first naive and dependent on others views for her own at the beginning of the novel. In the opening scene, Lucy and Miss Bartlett meet the Emerson’s who offer them a room with a view. In the text; Forster gives us insight into Miss Bartlett: â€Å"Miss Bartlett, though skilled in the delicacies of conversation, was powerless in the presence of brutality. It was impossible to snub any one so gross. Her face reddened with displeasure. She looked around as not to say, â€Å"Are you all like this? â€Å"(Forster 11). And two little old ladies, who were sitting further up the table, with shawls hanging over the backs of the chairs, looked back, clearly indicating â€Å"We are not; we are genteel†(11). â€Å"Eat your dinner, dear, she said to Lucy, and began to† toy again with the meat that she had once censured. †(6). Lucy replies in this manner to the apparent indifference between Miss Charlotte and the Emersons: â€Å"Lucy mumbled that those seemed very odd people opposite† (6). Furthermore, during the dinner conversation at the pension Miss Bartlett Commands Lucy To: â€Å"Lucy, dearest, let Mr. Beebe eats his dinner. â€Å"(7). This is the first instance of Miss Bartlett’s overbearing dominance of Lucy’s actions, Thoughts, and decisions. Finally, Mrs. Bartlett realizes her obtrusive manner toward Lucy at the end of their trip to Italy and confesses to Lucy, â€Å"I shall never forgive myself. †(89). Lucy then starts to truly find herself when Miss Bartlett starts letting Lucy become independent and pursue her own interests; letting her do what she wants; and think what she wants to think. But class snobbery is apparent all the way throughout the novel particularly by the provincial patronizing of the lower class repeatedly in a multitude of situations. Forster was born into an Anglo-Irish and Welsh middle-class family at 6 Melcombe Place, Dorset Square, London NW1, in a building that no longer exists. He was the only child of Edward Morgan Llewellyn Forster and Alice Clara â€Å"Lily†. His father, an architect, died of tuberculosis on 30 October, 1880. Among Forster's ancestors were members of the Clapham Sect. He inherited a lot of money from his paternal great-aunt Marianne Thornton (daughter of the abolitionist Henry Thornton), who died on 5 November, 1887†(Mcdowell). The money was enough to live on and enabled him to become a writer. Young Edward was raised by his mother, aunts, and governesses. He started writing stories at the young age of six at the Turnbridge high school in Kent County. Then later he started to study philosophy, and literature at Kings College in Cambridge. Then he joined a group called the Cambridge Apostles, devoted to protecting homosexuality and theology of the age. Forster began to become enthralled by the surrounding WWI and the beautiful, aspiring landscape of Europe (McDowell). He drew inspiration for his novel A Room with a View. When he traveled to Italy, Greece, And Rome. Forester would develop a deep love of Mediterranean culture he would grow to love and write about. Forster then traveled to Alexandria, Egypt where he met his first true love, Mohammed el Adia. He became well acquainted with the conflict between the British Taj and the Indian Independence Movement; from which stemmed an award winning book, A Passage to India (Britannica). The author’s tone throughout the novel, A Room with a View is: satirical, humanistic, and very particular in the conflict between the upper class and the lower class. Forster based his book around the passion of Lucy Honeychurch, the main character, and the internal conflict between Lucy and her decisions; in relation to the morals and values of her social class. It reflects snobbish British upper class during this time period and their effrontery to delegate mainstream tourists and Italians below themselves. Forester’s satirical views is portrayed in the title of his chapters where 16-19 are entitled â€Å"Lucy Lies† to† blank† and his chapter titles actually tell the big events of each chapter, in sharp contrast to novels of other eras which used titles to just foreshadow the possible. The title, A Room with a View is portrayed throughout the novel by the relationship between Cecil and Lucy Honeychurch. Lucy views Cecil as a room with no view and in retrospect; Cecil views Lucy as a view without a room (Mcdowell). Devote Love and compassion along with the belief of Georges belief in fate is what drives the plot of the story. Lucy can’t help feel compassion in love with George who sweeps her off her feet time and time again. While, George believes strongly in fate proving arduously stubborn throughout the whole novel, ultimately uniting Lucy and George in the end. An example of both the two main Components of the novel, A Room With A View: class snobbery and the independent transformation of Lucy Honeychurch is when Lucy experiences thinking for her own self and keeping her own secrets making her feel lonely (Literature Notebook). â€Å"After Mr. Eager leaves, Lucy expresses exasperation at the thought of the drive. They discuss the problems of the drive; for one, Miss Lavish has been invited by Mr. Beebe, and Mr. Eager does not like Miss Lavish. So Charlotte resolves that the two men will go with Lucy in the first carriage while Miss Lavish and Charlotte follow in the second carriage (Forster 120). They pick up their mail at the bureau; Lucy has letters from home. Mrs. Vyse, a friend of the family, is in Rome with her son. Lucy suggests going to Rome the next day, but Charlotte reminds Lucy of the country drive, and the two women laugh at Lucy's suggestions. At this point in the novel is the apex where Lucy thus changed by the secret of the murder of the Italian man, feels a new perspective on life, that of her own opinions and thoughts. The concealment of the murder thus drives Lucy toward the transformation of a more independent character. When Mr. Eager rolls onto more class anxiety or class snobbery of passing a rumor about Mr. Emerson murdering his wife, then Lucy takes a stand and defends the Emersons saying that they are nice people who would never do anything of that sort. This is a monumental change in the novel of Lucy forming her own opinions and developing into a strong woman. Forester outlines and enhances the concussive idea of fate, and the background elements that enhance the drama. Before the carriage ride it’s sunny and hot outside; but after when the story reaches the pinnacle and Lucy begins to display her independence and becomes stronger as the thunder storm develops. Forester is using the mood and background of the book to perpetuate the transformation of Lucy Honeychurch. The main characters transformation form delightful to strong and bold matches the presentiment of the mood while riding toward Windy Corner. George Emerson strikes up an argument with Mr. Beebe about what life is based on: fate or coincidence? George takes a standpoint that fate is the controlling influence in life which is portrayed by Forester in the way that George and Lucy seem to magically run into each other after Lucy is told by Miss Bartlett to not associate with the Emerson’s because they are â€Å"Evil. † This first instance is when Lucy comes across two Italians fighting when she is returning from touring the gift shops and is horrified to see an Italian man stabbed in the back over a debt of five schillings (Literature Notebook). She faints and when she wakes up she sees George who caught her when she fainted. Lucy immediately is startled at George being so close to her and makes a frantic escape for home. The second instance of fate bringing Lucy and George together is when Lucy encounters the Emerson’s at the Church. The Emerson’s give Lucy a nice lesson on medieval art and give her some interesting views on life to think about. â€Å"The thing about the universe is that it doesn’t fit,† remarks George which portrays his deep thought, sensitivity, and intelligence (Forster 25). A third instance is when the Italian clergyman leads Lucy to George when they are on the carriage ride to see the beautiful homes and landscape of the countryside. Instead of leading Lucy to Miss Bartlett, like she requested in Italian, He leads her to George Emerson in the field of violet terraces. George turns and sees her and immediately kisses her, caught up in the beauty of the moment. The final instance is when Cecil, Lucy’s supposed suitor, invites the Emerson’s over to the garden party to absolve Lucy’s snobbishness by introducing perspectives of the lower class. Really, Cecil ends up ruining his own planned marriage with Lucy and foils his own happiness (Schwartz). What Forster wants to portray in this novel, is the personalities and opinions of his characters and how your social background can both influence you positively and negatively. He incorporates so many different elements and personas into the story that it leaves the reader to be saturated the feelings and emotions of the characters very strongly. You get a strong feeling of the class snobbery, transformation of Lucy Honeychurch, influence of fate, and a real insight into the opinions of Lucy Honeychurch. Forester brings all of these elements and ties it together with the ongoing transformation of Lucy Honey church form a weak, naive woman to a sophisticated, strong woman. The intense influence of Miss Bartlett finally is broken when Lucy begins to go and explore Italy for herself and starts to have her own thoughts and secrets. Lucy Honeychurch, at first, finds herself constrained by the claustrophic influence of her Guardians, especially Miss Bartlett. However, Lucy takes control of her own fate and finds love with George Emerson, who views her as a â€Å"Room with A View. In Contrast, Cecil views Lucy as a View without a room, or just something to have and look at; like a piece of art (Ford). He tried to manipulate herself and work into a masterpiece, trying to contort her imperfections while George respected her thoughts and opinions and loved her for who she was. Not to mention Cecil’s struggle with any intimacy whatsoever toward Lucy, even a kiss. So, in conclusion Forster incorporates the oblivion of class control over Lucy Honeychurch and the prevalence of Lucy transforming into an independent woman to control her own fate and end up with George Emerson, despite her class opinion of him.