...still debate over whether King Arthur was a historical person or not. This is because there is no real evidence of what Arthur did or how he went about his lifestyle. Writers have different opinions on how Arthur came to be the king, how he was as the king, and what time period King Arthur lived during. Most historians and writers agree on the most popular story of King Arthur; King Uther, Arthur’s father, made a deal with Merlin the Wizard to help Uther have a child with Ygraine, the Queen of another village. The deal is that Uther has to give his child up to Merlin. Uther’s plan is a success, and he conceives a child with Queen Ygraine. The son was named Arthur, and Uther held up his end of the deal. Arthur...
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...------------------------------------------------- AP Literature and Composition Tanrak Ploykao Table of Content Title | Page | Introduction | 3 | The Role of Women (Informative Essay) | 4 | Guenever (Character Analysis Essay) | 8 | Destiny of a King (Reader-Response Criticism) | 13 | Conclusion | 15 | Works Cited | 16 | Introduction The Arthurian Portfolio consisted of three different essays.. The first essay informs the reader about the role of women in 11th Century based on the book. I think the role of women clearly constructs throughout the Book II throughout Book VI. It is important to acknowledge the role of women based on the perspective of male author. The second essay analyzes Guenever who is one of the protagonists in the book. I chose her character because the male author wrote her through his perspective. I found it was interesting to observe her development from Book III through Book VI. The last essay is the reader-response criticism on Book I: The Sword in the Stone. I like this criticism because I can express my understanding about the book. The criticism allows me to explain how I interpret the text. Overall, these three essays are relevant to the Arthurian legend and what I have learned about it. Tanrak Ploykao 5th Period The Role of Women The presence of women in the Once and Future King has often been behind the shadow of the men: the noble knights, the knights and the mage Merlyn. Many women, in this book, have influence in the men’s life...
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...Imagine your life as it is now and then suddenly you are the King of Britain and you are only fifteen years old. The instant that Arthur Pendragon removed that sword his life was changed forever for the inscription read “The one who pulls this sword out of the stone is the rightful ruler of all of Britain”. As the new ruler of Britain, King Arthur will gather the bravest and most worthy knights in all of the land to join his round table and together they will bring justice and order to Britain. From fighting the most dangerous foes to searching for the Holy Grail King Arthur and the Knights take on each of their challenges with courage. In this essay I will talk about how the author uses mood, author’s purpose and imagery to tell the story...
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...Stone of the Arthurian Legend King Arthur and the knights of the round table belong to a long line of books and stories of the Arthurian legend. Merlin, Lancelot, The lady of the lake, King Arthur, and Excaliber are all very important in the Arthurian legend. In this essay we will talk about King Arthur, the knights of the round table, and Merlin in the famous story, The sword in the stone. The Sword in the stone is a book about an adopted child named wart. He is of royal blood and does not know this. One day when Wart is in the forest, he finds a magician named Merlin. Merlin comes home with Wart and agrees with Sir Ector, Wart’s guardian, to become Wart’s tutor. Merlin goes about educating Wart by Transforming him into different animals. Through each transformation Wart experiences different forms of power, each being a part of how he should rule as king. The first transformation takes Wart and Merlin into the castle’s moat as a fish. They then meet the largest fish in the moat, which is an alligator who is the ruler. The alligator takes what he wants because of his size. In a speech about power, he tells Wart that “Might is right,” and might of the body is greater than might of the mind. Because of the way the alligator rules, his subjects obey him out of fear for their lives. Wart experiences this firsthand when the gator tells him to leave. He has grown bored of Wart, and if Wart does not leave he will eat him. The king uses his siz... ... middle...
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...“King Arthur: Sword and the Stone” Informational Essay ‘“I hereby proclaim that on Christmas morning, one month from today all those who consider themselves worthy of attempting to pull this sword from the stone will be given the opportunity. He who wins the sword, thereby wins the kingdom”’ (Talbot 418). King Arthur: Sword in the Stone written by Hudson Talbott tells the beginning of the Arthurian Legend and it explains how arthur's pulls out the sword, he is the only one who can pull out the sword, and become the king and owner of the sword. “Sword in the Stone” relates to a hero's journey in the ultimate battle and the road back. The first reason “King Arthur: Sword in the Stone” relates back to the hero's journey is the ultimate battle....
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...Lauren Garner ENG 210 Mark Taylor October 20, 2013 Essay 1 Forbidden Love In reading classic British literature a theme has come across of forbidden love and the perils it holds. Forbidden love harms those who wield it and sometimes it even harms those the love is aimed at. Forbidden love, also known as “fals amor,” is shown in pieces like “Morte Darthur” or “The Franklin’s Tale,” from “The Canterbury Tales.” The forbidden love shown in these tales is always were one person is married and the other is not. “The Franklin’s Tale,” “Morte Darthur,” and “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” all reveal how forbidden love will end tragically. Each of these works has a married woman who is either loved by another or is in love with another. However, no matter the case the one with the forbidden love is aggrieved in the end because they love cannot become mutual or accepted by others. “The Franklin’s Tale” tells of a woman, Dorigen, and a knight, Arveragus, who marry for love. Arveragus must go to battle for a few years and a nobleman, Arelius, comes to light that loves Dorigen. Arelius and Dorigen make a bet where if Arelius wins Dorigen must become his bride. She agrees confidant in his ability to fail in this task. Arelius succeeds, though, with the help of a sorcerer after two years of despondency. When Arveragus arrives home he finds Dorigen distraught, upon hearing the bet he decides that she must keep her side of the bet, though it pains them both greatly. Upon hearing of Arveragus...
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...Chloe Monahan Arthurian Legend Reflective Essay After reading about how the Arthurian Legend has evolved through the centuries and is still being studied and talked about today, it is interesting how a legend can be so widely known when people are still debating on whether it is a myth of has some historical truth. Some historians say it is a pure myth with magic and made-up fairytale characters and themes, but some believe that King Arthur might have been a real person. How can it be called a myth if something such as the Arthurian Legend became such a huge part of literature that people were dedicating their lives and jobs to study this myth and find its background? On the other hand, how can something that involves magic and religion, one reality, and one fairytale, in which King Arthur is a believer of both be considered true? In the Legend of King Arthur, the character Lancelot who plays a big part in the poem Lady of Shallot, is one of the most popular characters from the legend was not even introduced into the story until centuries after King Arthur was first written about. Knowing this, it means that people were working on and evolving this myth that allegedly started as just a paragraph for many years. The reason that this myth is said to be carried out this far is because the legend is thought to have been based on a real person. If it was based on a real story, then why would there be a Magician named Merlin who performed tasks that are not reality? Why...
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...Comparison and Contrast: Medieval Characteristics Heroes of the Ages ENG 106: Survey of Literary Masterpieces Kelly Victor Phoenix University Online Heroes of the Ages Literature is full of adventurous heroes from the classical to medieval periods. Heroes are symbolic to the beliefs, culture, and nation in which they live. The classical hero and medieval hero will be the focus of this essay. Three great heroes from the early classic to medieval periods are Beowulf, Achilles, and Sir Gawain. The paper will look at the similarities and differences of literary heroes in order to discover how heroes changed over time. Beowulf and Sir Gawain are romantic heroes full of bravery, loyalty, humility, courage, and virtue. Beowulf and Sir Gawain were both involved in battles of great magnitude and admired for their super human strength. Both of them battle with the intent to bring honor to the King: Sir Gawain to honor King Arthur and Beowulf to honor Hrothgar. The battles they fight are against good and evil, “Grendel is a shepherd of evil” and the Green Knight represents pre- Christian tribal paganism. The custom of the time period was to keep their word and honor the one who helped them rise to knighthood. Beowulf kept his word as seen in the poem as he returns from the adventures and presents all his gifts to Hygelac as a sign of loyalty (line 2145). Sir Gawain keeps his word with Lord Bertilak, by agreeing to exchange their winnings at the end of each...
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...Alfred Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King in the Discourse of Postcolonial Criticism Introduction: Ever since his name was first mentioned by the Welsh monk Nennius in the 9th century, writers modified and applied the great King Arthur's popular legend to convey their various political, religious and social beliefs. The Victorian author Alfred Lord Tennyson followed this tradition exemplarily and enwraped his imperialistic views in the famous Arthurian poem Idylls of the King. The aim of this paper is to accentuate his political and social ideologies from the context and introduce to some of the reactions of postcolonial critics. Idylls of the King, a Piece of Victorian Literature: Especially if Tennyson's Idylls are the first and only piece of Arthurian literature one has read, one can irritatedly ignore its dedication and letter to the royals Albert and Victoria, and simply summarize it as the story of a medieval King, the adventures of his accompanying knights, the fortune of the ladies at his court, and the creation and downfall of his kingdom in twelve books. Those readers, however, who are familiar with the previous versions of Arthurian stories written by Chrétien de Troyes and Thomas Malory, for instance, cannot be satisfied with that. They wonder about Tennyson's framing poems “Dedication” and “To the Queen”, stumble over the changes the author made in his adoption of the Arthurian legends, and start thinking about what Idylls of the King really is about. So did Cecil Y...
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...King Arthur, Sir Lancelot, Green Knight, and Sir Gawain are all admirble knights, but thats not what is importtant; the actions that made them admirble are. In the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain is more admirble. Reason one is that the Green Knight is already a known knight sir Gawain is a non-known knght. The following quote shows that " I am the weakest, the most wanting of wisdom, i know, / And my life, if lost, would be least missed." (154-155). This quote relates on the fact that he is taking the place of his king when he is not a Beowulf of knights, or known, nor a strong knight. Another reason on why Sir Gawain is more admirble is that he would not accept the ladies seducing or gifts. These next quotes state this " For two days, while the lord is/ hunting, the lady of the castle attempts to seduce Gawain,/ but Gawain nobly rejects her advances."(prolog). "She proffered him a rich ring wrought in red gold... But the courteous man declined it." (243-247). This relates because it says he was nobel, and by him not accepting the gifts makes him loyal. Admirble knights are both nobel and loyal. The final reason on why sir Gawain is more admirble is that even though he is not the best knight he still accepts the game, and goes to look for the Green Knight. This Quote relates to that "as the end of the next year apporaches, Sir Gawain sets out/ on his horse Gringolet to seek the Green Knight." (prolog). This relates on the level that he had enough loyalty to the...
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...the work was shaped have on the theme itself? After reading so many stories in this class there were two pieces of literature that themes were quite similar but written in different forms. These two stories are King Arthur Witten by Sir Thomas Malory and Othello by William Shakespeare. I personally had some difficult reading these two stories however; I was able to understand them after going back and reviewing key points that explained the main idea. The story of King Arthur is based on romance and chivalry and it was difficult to read because it was written in old English as supposed to early Anglo-Saxon literature. This storie had a lot to do with the story of Othello because the plots are similar in some way. In King’s Arthur, The King discovers that his best Knight Lancelot is in love with his Queen Guenevere. That fact was clearly seen in the story when the Queen favors Lancelot above the other Kinights. “Queen Guenever had him in great favour above all other knights, and in return he was loyal to her above all other ladies and damsels all his life, and for love of her he did many deeds of arms, and saved her from the fire through his noble chivalry” (Malroy, 668). Once the King discovered that Lancelot betrayed his trust the King was deeply hurt. King Arthur lost focus of his Kingdom due to this betrayal leading to the fall of Camelot. In the other hand we have the story of Othello written in a totally different form. This type of literature is written in verse and...
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...King Arthur: A Film Review The myth of King Arthur is full of action, adventure, chivalry, treachery, romance, betrayal and tragedy. Donna Rosenberg writes, “The story of King Arthur has appealed to writers and readers for hundreds of years because it is so complex and varied.”(419) This is what led me to choose Antoine Fuqua’s 2004 cinematic version for my film review. I have always enjoyed mythology. Monsters, magic, tragic love, heroes and villains. All genres of mythology we have read over the last 7 weeks are interesting, but the tales coming from the British Isles, especially King Arthur, are more translatable to me and my daily life. Although King Arthur’s existence is not known for sure, the ideals he strove to bring about are important in today’s society. Arthur dreamed of a better world where every man, woman and child are equals and have free will. His legendary Round Table possibly symbolizes an early form of democracy. “It will bring peace among all of his knights, since the table has nether a head nor a foot. Whenever the knights meet, their thrones, their services, and their relationship to one another will be equal.” (Rosenberg 433). The myth of King Arthur as written in World Mythology: An Anthology of the Great Myths and Epics and the 2004 cinematic version has a few similarities and many dissimilarities. Both portray Arthur and his knights as courageous and strong. In Rosenberg’s World Mythology, Arthur is asked to fight a monster that has been ravaging the...
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...William Waterhouse was a Romantic painter whose style harked back to the Pre- Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB) of the mid-nineteenth century. He encompassed elements from the Impressionist art movement of the late nineteenth century to create hauntingly beautiful images in oils on canvas. Three such creations manifested from Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s The Lady of Shalott. This poem, written in four parts, is based on Arthurian legend of an innocent young woman confined in a tower by a curse. She lived on an island overlooking Camelot. Her curse is such that she could not look directly upon Camelot. She viewed the outside world through a mirror in her quarters. Waterhouse painted the three oils in reverse chronology to the poem. In this essay, his composition, balance, use of light, color, movement and symbolism will be discussed. The Lady of Shalott (1888) references Part IV of the poem where she escapes the island by boat only to pay for the brevity of her freedom with her life. She and the boat are the main focus of this painting. Her porcelain skin, flowing red hair, virginal white gown draw eyes to her before slowly drifting over the boat. This scene is balanced by the view of hills through a break in the wooded background. The folds in the fabric of her gown, swallows in flight, and the play of light on the water create a sense of movement. Something was happening. A decision was being made as evidenced by the sorrowful, yet resigned expression accepting...
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...Jenna DeSimone Ms. Smith English Honors Pd.6/7 8/31/16 The Camelot Critique Have you ever read about an engineer who travels back 1300 years in time and becomes King Arthur’s minister? Well, if not, prepare to embark on a journey you will not want to miss in the book, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, written by Mark Twain. This nineteenth-century novel is a humorous classic that you will not put down until you have finished it completely. Although this book was one of my favorite books, there were a few things that I wish were different. This includes the over-the-top description, confusion on certain scenes, and the sudden change in tone. Description is an essential part of making writing unique, except when it is...
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...some may find it tedious or uninteresting. Once you continue to read, you will find the excitement and all the challenges that Sir Gawain faced. Sir Gawain expressed integrity by being the only knight to come forward and take on the challenge the Green Knight requested at the Round Table. Gawain was willing to put his life on the line for King Arthur, although there were many obstacles along the way; However, Gawain did demonstrate traits of a knight. Trying to live up to others expectations, Gawain challenges started when the Green Knight arrived at the Round Table, when he came across the castle while heading to the Green Chapel, and when he finally arrived at the chapel. The Green Knight arrived at the Round Table where King Arthur and his knights were celebrating Christmas and New Year. Unfortunately, the Green Knight came unarmed because he was not there to fight anyone. King Arthur invited him to stay and feast with them, but the Green Knight declined his invitation and told him that he was there because he heard that Arthur’s castle was the best around with the most virtuous men of all men. Furthermore, the Green Knight challenged Arthur and his knights to strike him then, a year later receive a strike in return. Not one stepped forward to accept the challenge so the...
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