Evaluation of Braveheart and The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace In this paper I will give a personal evaluation of the book, The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, and the movie, Braveheart. In the movie Braveheart, I was able to see better what William Wallace’s feeling and emotions were than in the book. I believe in all movies that are based off of books, the audiences are always given a better sense of who the character is. I will also tell you what is false in the movie Braveheart. I have some conflicting issues with movies because they do provide false information also. This is a little background information on William Wallace. (2012, September 20. lordsandladies.org Alchin, L.K.) William was born at Ellerslie (now Elderslie), in Paisley, Parish in 1272, and he was exicuted in Smithfield in 1305. The name Braveheart was given to him as a nickname, for he was nicknamed this because of his character he showed to others; brave, charismatic, stubborn, and tenacious. He was born into a lower social class, as his dad was a small land owner with a small farm. William was knighted Guardian of Scotland after he led the victorious battle in Stirling. Wallace was heroic outlaw, for he was a hero and legend all over Scotland, but the English despised his rebellious actions against the king, Edward I. (The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, pg. 431) “May foul things befall you, since one has put all of you to confusion”. In this quote, the English lord was talking to his soldiers. His soldiers had ran into William Wallace and a couple of his men. They explain how large Wallace was and how terrified they were of him, but not any of his other men. Wallace was a “giant” for his time period, standing about six feet and seven inches tall. The lord tells them that if they stay frighten by Wallace, then bad things will fall to them, so the soldiers did what they had to do because of their loyalty to the king. Since Wallace was so big, the Scottish people idolized him as their protector. (The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, pg. 441) “A man in war cannot have all pleasures”. In this quote Wallace is talking to a maiden, named Kerle, that was under the protection of King Edward I. He first met her in a church and was stricken by her beauty. In this quote, William is showing an example of how strict the Scot’s freedom was. He was telling Kerle if he made it out of the war with England a free man, then he would marry her, but there was no telling what the future held. This quote is telling all people to have hope, but always know there will be a chance of deception in what you set your goals to be. You must keep in mind that there is that factor of your dreams not becoming a reality and that you should be prepared to be disappointed.
The only thing that would cause me to prefer books over movies, is that most all movies provide false information. The movie Braveheart did provide a lot of false information. (1996, August 16. Mygen.com). In the movie Braveheart, they did not provide the correct amount of detail for the reasoning of William Wallace’s wife’s death. “In real life, Wallace did more than just protect his wife from the assault by the English guards.” At the battle of Stirling, there was not an open field that the English could run openly on. “Between the English and Scottish soldiers there was a rather large bridge. Because of poor commanding by the English, they were trapped at the bridge and slaughtered by the Scots.” It was highly unlikely that William and princess Isabella ever met, for her and Edward II were married three years after Wallace’s death. Isabella and William never had a real love connection, for Isabella’s son was not born until seven years after William died. (1996, August 16. Mygen.com). “Some would say this this is their favorite verse spoken by William Wallace; Freedom is best, I tell thee true, of all things to be won.” Throughout history this has been very true for all. When the American fought for freedom, I feel this was exactly what they believe as well. (Mel Gibson, 1995) As displayed in the movie Braveheart, William was very passionate about freedom. At the end of the movie, he shouted out “Freedom!”, as well in many other scenes. This by far is my favorite quote. This is a short, but very complex quote. It is all of what William strived for. This one word had touched all the lives of those who fought right along, beside William. This one word is what William used to remind all of the Scottish soldiers exactly what they were fighting for. Yes, there may be downs to watching a movie, but I would much rather watch a movie about a person. It really helps me visualize a character so much better. Doing this essay, I have learned more about the life of William Wallace than in in the movie and the book. William Wallace is a very fascinating character, and I am very glad I choose to do my paper over him. I am from Scottish decent, and it was very nice to get to know a part of my history that has shaped what I am today.

References http://www.lordsandladies.org/william-wallace-braveheart.htm http://www.mygen.com/users/bruce/brv_hist.htm
My Gen retrieved from http://www.mygen.com/users/bruce/brv_hist.htm. Information on this website retrieved from The National William Wallace Monument at Stirling, Scotland.
Scheps, W. (2005). The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace. In Medieval Outlaws: Twelve Tales in Modern English Translation (p. 431). West Lafayette, IN: Parlor Press.
http://wallace.scran.ac.uk/man_and_myth/