Chance in the tragedies of Racine

In the Renaissance and early modern periods, there were lively controversies over why things happen. Central to these debates was the troubling idea that things could simply happen by chance. In France, a major terrain of this intellectual debate, the chance hypothesis engaged writers coming from many different horizons: the ancient philosophies of Epicurus, the Stoa, and Aristotle, the renewed reading of the Bible in the wake of the Reformation, a fresh emphasis on direct, empirical observation of nature and society, the revival of dramatic tragedy with its paradoxical theme of the misfortunes that befall relatively good people, and growing introspective awareness of the somewhat arbitrary quality of consciousness itself. This volume is the first in English to offer a broad cultural and literary view of the field of chance in this period. The essays, by a distinguished team of scholars from the U.S., Britain, and France, cluster around four problems: Providence in Question, Aesthetics and Poetics of Chance, Law and Ethics, and Chance and its Remedies. Convincing and authoritative, this collection articulates a new and rich perspective on the culture of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century France

A marriage made in Heaven? 'Racine' and 'love'

Commentators have traditionally stressed the importance accorded to love in Racine's tragedies, often viewing it in general as some blind, irrational force that deprives characters of the will to act. This article seeks to question this easy association, which originated in the particular set of circumstances that forged the idea of 'Racine' in opposition to that of 'Corneille'. It also suggests that the common view of love in Racine's tragedies provides an unsatisfactory critical perspective for interpreting a series of complex and quite distinctive plays, in each of which 'love' can be shown to play different roles

The metamorphoses of innocence in Racine's Esther

The purpose of this article is to question this uncontroversial viewpoint. While accepting that there are reasons why notions of ‘poetry’ and ‘innocence’ have predominated, it will nonetheless suggest that each of these elements needs to be treated with caution. It will attempt to show that Esther is truly dramatic in nature, and that the ‘innocence’ it projects contains a degree of moral ambiguity, enough to call into question what has been called‘Racine’s utopic attempt to make God and truth manifest on stage.

The politics of Esther

Racine's tragedy Esther is often presented as a religious poem extolling piety and innocence. This article argues that this reading is complicated by the political dimension of the work. This dimension is reflected in the context in which Esther was first performed, as well as in allusions to the prevailing socio-political situation and to the drama that is played out within the work. Despite the author's stated intention to compose a work of piety, his indebtedness to the two biblical versions of the Esther story and to other books of the Old Testament, the plot is based on a story of hatred, persecution, plotting, revenge, and extermination that exists in uncomfortable counterpoint to the hymns to God's goodness and providence chanted by a Chorus of innocent young maidens. The article concludes by suggesting that Esther does not offer any easy reading as a victory of right over might, and good over evil

Voltaire's "Racine": the paradoxes of a transformation

This article highlights some paradoxical aspects of Voltaire's admiration for Racine. He paid little attention to Racine's plays as dramatic entities, followed received opinions, and made many unfavourable judgements, especially concerning Racine's mix of tragedy and galanterie. What he idolized was Racine's use of language and his poetic skill. He thus removed Racine's tragedies from the contingencies of the theatre, and transformed them into an eighteenth-century linguistic and cultural ideal that he used for polemical purposes in a war against Shakespeare and encroaching barbarism, leading the Romantics subsequently to reject the `Racine' he had been so influential in creating

China and the United States—A Comparison of Green Energy Programs and Policies

[Excerpt] China is the world’s most populous country with over 1.3 billion people. It has experienced tremendous economic growth over the last three decades with an annual average increase in gross domestic product of 9.8% during that period. This has led to an increasing demand for energy, spurring China to add an average of 53 gigawatts (gw) of electric capacity each year over the lastten years to its power generation capabilities. China has set ambitious targets for developing its renewable energy resources with a major push of laws, policies, and incentives in the last few years. The wind power sector is illustrative of China’s accomplishments, as installed wind power capacity has gone from 0.567 gw in 2003 to 12.2 gw in 2008, and China surpassed the United States in 2010 with over 41 gw of installed wind power capacity. Notably, however, approximately one-third of that capacity is not yet connected to the power grid. Plans already exist to grow China’s wind power capacity to 100 gw by 2020. A similar goal exists for the solar photovoltaic power sector which China intends to increase generating capacity from 0.14 gw as of 2009 to over 1.8 gw by 2020. A hold on large and medium-scale hydropower project development has been lifted, with a virtual doubling of hydropower capacity planned. Most recently, China pledged ahead of the Copenhagen talks in 2009 that 15% of total energy consumption will come from non-fossil fuel sources by the year 2020. The 12th Five Year Plan will encompass 2011 to 2015, and will further formalize the link to green energy with specific deployment goals and investment. China recognizes that developing its domestic renewable energy industry and building its manufacturing capacity will help it meet energy demands at home and win advantages in future export markets. The key piece of legislation in recent years for advancing renewable electricity in China is the Renewable Energy Law of 2005. The law was designed to “promote the development and utilization of renewable energy, improve the energy structure, diversify energy supplies, safeguard energy security, protect the environment, and realize the sustainable development of the economy and society.” Renewable energy is subsidized by a fee charged to all electricity users in China of about 0.029 cents per kilowatt-hour, and was originally based on the incremental cost difference between coal and renewable energy power generation. However, energy efficiency and conservation are officially China’s top energy priority. These are considered the “low-hanging fruit” in the quest to reduce energy use and cut demand. Energy conservation investment projects have priority over energy development projects under the Energy Conservation Law of 1997, with government-financed projects being selected on “technological, economic and environmental comparisons and validations of the projects.” China is the world’s largest market for new construction, and new building standards have been in development since 2005 with national energy design criteria for residential buildings. In the power generation sector, many smaller, less efficient coal-fired power plants have been closed. In contrast to China, some argue that the United States does not have a comprehensive national policy in place for promotion of renewable energy technologies, with some observers saying that the higher costs of renewable electricity are not conducive to market adoption. However, for both countries, the reasons for increasing the use of renewable energy are diverse, and include energy security, energy independence, cleaner air, and more recently anthropogenic climate change, sustainability concepts, and economic development. Creating new, higher quality jobs could reasonably be said to be primary drivers of policy goals in both the United States and China

W/Z + b,bbar/jets at NLO using the Monte Carlo MCFM

We summarize recent progress in next-to-leading order QCD calculations made using the Monte Carlo MCFM. In particular, we focus on the calculations of p anti-p -> W b-bbar, Z b-bbar and highlight the significant corrections to background estimates for Higgs searches in the channels WH and ZH at the Tevatron. We also report on the current progress of, and strategies for, the calculation of the process p anti-p -> W/Z + 2 jets.Comment: 4 pages, talk presented at the XXXVI Rencontres de Moriond, QCD and High Energy Hadronic Interactions, 17-24 March 2001, Les Arcs, Savoie, Franc

Newbs Lose, Experts Win: Video Games in the Supreme Court

This Article focuses on the role of the lawyers using the framework described by Professor Richard J. Lazarus in his 2008 article, Advocacy Matters Before and Within the Supreme Court: Transforming the Court by Transforming the Bar. Lazarus argues the modern Supreme Court bar has come to be dominated by a small number of Supreme Court specialists. Because of their experience and superior knowledge of the Justices and Supreme Court practice, Supreme Court specialists are more likely to obtain outcomes desired by their clients, which are typically large corporations or industry trade associations. Consistent with Lazarus’s finding, this Article shows the video game industry’s representation by a Supreme Court specialist in Brown gave it advantages over California that likely affected the outcome of the case. Part II analyzes whether the counsel in Brown fit within Lazarus’s definition of a Supreme Court specialist. Part III provides background on the Brown case and the cases that came before it. Part IV compares the expert and non-expert representation in Brown by examining the parties’ briefs, the amicus briefs, and the oral argument. Finally, Part V explores whether the case might have come out differently if both sides had been represented by Supreme Court specialists. It concludes that with expert representation, California could have captured the five votes necessary to win, or at least obtained a narrower decision that would have allowed the legislature to try again to craft a law that could survive a constitutional challenge