A Game of Thrones

“Don't shut yourself up in a bandbox because you are a woman, but understand what is going on, and educate yourself to take your part in the world's work, for it all affects you and yours.” Louisa Alcott, a known and outspoken female rights activist, write what all women are desperate to hear. You see, in society today, there is no mistaking that women’s rights have come a long way from what they were in the times of, oh, let’s say Shakespeare. However, that does not mean that women are treated…

During the era of William Shakespeare, the Great Chain of Being permeated society. This philosophy of how every part of creation is set on a specific level of this chain is seen all throughout Shakespeare’s plays. It has been around since Aristotle and was the basis of most, if not all, monarchies of the time. It gave one king the power to rule above all else, the idea of the divine right of kings. Macbeth was originally written to entertain a king who was obsessed with all that was metaphysical…

On the night of July 16th, 1918, the Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias, Tsar Nicholas II; his wife Tsarina Alexandra, their five children, a physician and waitstaff, and the Grand Duchess Tatiana’s dog, Jemmy, were awoken from their beds and led to the basement of the House of Special Purpose, a Bolshevik military hold, and shot to death. One of the direct causes that led to the end of the Romanov dynasty during the Russian Revolution was the royal family’s association with the peasant and…

congruing to that effect, The present death of Hamlet. Do it, England,” Shakespeare III.3.70-4. After winning a war against England, King Claudius uses his owed homage to call for Hamlet’s demise. He can do this without dissent because he has won the throne of Denmark and does not need anyone else's approval. A similar circumstance is described in The Color of Water, “Then in 1969 he got a letter from the city of New York telling him to move out of his house in Brooklyn. They gave him $13,000…

relationships are vital as the family teaches us how to behave and integrate into society. During the past few decades, family relationships were reinforced by spending quality time together and engaging in leisure activities, such as playing board games and going on long walks together. Nowadays, due to the emergence of smartphones, laptops, tablets and television sets, many family members are choosing to while away hours entertaining themselves in separate corners of the home. As a result,…

Queen Elizabeth I may have professed to have had “the heart and stomach of a king,” but her true greatness lay in her mind. Elizabeth’s character was a true symbolic amalgamation of male and female: the earth mother of her people, the true daughter of Henry VIII. Elizabeth’s brilliant leadership and iconoclastic stature secured her place as one of the most legendary rulers in history. In a few short decades, Elizabeth was able to unite her country, move it out of economic downturn, and secure…

mirrored by Booth and Lincoln. In Topdog/Underdog, Lincoln tries to teach Booth how to effectively throw cards, and demonstrates his moves by having Booth play the victim. Booth puts all the money from his original inheritance on the line to make the game feel real. Lincoln wins, losing Booth all of his inheritance. Then, he chuckles, basically mocking Booth’s inferior card throwing ability just as Remus mocked Romulus’s walls. Booth, analogous to Romulus, gets fed up with Lincoln treating him…

caused by military collisions, Bismarck managed to preserve balance of power in Europe and simultaneously strengthen German position due to the efficient negotiations and system of alliances. The Chancellor "remained undisputed world champion at the game of multilateral diplomatic chess… [and] devoted himself exclusively, and successfully, to maintaining peace between the powers" (Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Empire: 1875–1914 (1987)) Nevertheless, diplomatic methods of “realpolitik” favored by…

Beowulf and Grendel tell similar stories from different perspectives. Grendel views the world with existential angst, while Beowulf views the world as his oyster. Both displayed high egos but Grendel’s was built from hatred while Beowulf’s was built from value. While both novels centered the plot on the battle of good and evil, Grendel went into detail on the nature of “the beast,” to show that his violence is stemming from loneliness and being misunderstood. Although different, both works show…

“…Thamus believed proper instruction and real knowledge must be communicated. Print stresses individualized learning, competition, and personal autonomy. Over four centuries, teachers, while emphasizing print, have allowed orality its place in the classroom, and have therefore achieved a kind of pedagogical peace between these two forms of learning, so that what is valuable in each can be maximized. Now comes the computer, carrying anew the banner of private learning and individual…