Alain de Botton

Miguel De Cervantes and Christine de Pizan through their writings condemn the way writers and society viewed women, opposing such writing by pointing out that women possess attributes that stem further than their beauty or connection with men. If women are depicted one way in written text, those ideas will then transfer into society. Specifically, chivalric tales had this effect because at this point in time, the idea of chivalry was well respected and so were the tales that told of chivalric…

surrounding forests.3 Around the same time that the Benedictine monks had founded the abbey, the relics of Saint James had been discovered in Spain. This discovery sparked a movement and many pilgrims began to make their way to the shrine at Santiago de Compostela in hopes of seeking forgiveness for their sins or cures for their illnesses. Conques was located along one of the pilgrimage roads leading from France to Spain and saw countless people pass through as this movement grew. This prime…

of Warsaw and later by the Allied forces in Berlin, was not realized and French troops loyal to the resistance fought off German forces and reclaimed the city without the use of urban warfare. On the same day that Paris was liberated General Charles de Gaulle, leader of the Free French resistance movement and the future President of the Fourth French Republic, addressed the newly freed nation for the first time: Why do you wish us to hide the emotion which seizes us all, men and women, who are…

Romantic love is one of the most powerful emotions a person can have, so maybe that is why it drives people to use artificial methods to gain it. Many of the characters in Cyrano de Bergerac use synthetic ways to try and achieve lasting love. Cyrano de Bergerac, a play of love and sacrifice, was beautifully written by Edmond Rostand to tell the journey of a man named Cyrano in France during the 1600s. This place showcases Cyrano and his struggle to tell Roxane, his cousin, that he is madly in…

Comparing Poetry by William Shakespeare and Phillip Sidney William Shakespeare and Phillip Sidney’s sonnets (specifically, 130 for Shakespeare and 7 for Sidney) do similar things like comparing women to things in nature, but they come up with different conclusions in the end. For example, one could say that Shakespeare compares the woman in his poem to nature in order to prove that it isn’t necessary to be similar nature to make her beautiful and rare. Then, Sidney compares his lady, Stella, to…

Christmas, and Independence Day are celebrated. However, they are celebrated differently cultural wise as well as the day the holiday is celebrated. Catholic celebrations, such as Three Kings Day and Day of our Lady of Guadalupe are also celebrated. Dia de los Muertos, also known as Day of the Dead is celebrated all across Mexico. It’s the day where all Mexicans pay their respect to the dead. They pray and remember family members and friends who have died. It is believed that on the nights of…

1- What are the various interpretations that can applied to the word “meaningful” in the question “Is life meaningful?” How does each interpretation impact the resultant answer? There are two interpretations that can be applied to the word “meaningful” in the question “Is life meaningful?” The first is that of objective meaning. This means that in order for life to have meaning, it must have objective meaning. Objective in this context refers to the independence of other’s thoughts or what…

The Necklace by Guy De Maupassant Guy De Maupassant’s The Necklace is a story about a woman whose life is not what she feels she deserves. Mathilde live is an illusory world where objects, appearance, associations have life-changing powers. And due to Mathilde having these materialistic beliefs she changes her life drastically in one night. She does this by borrowing an expensive diamond necklace from her friend and wearing it to a ball. Mathilde enjoys the rapture and joy of the night…

incredibly unique gift with which we are all given the benefit of having. Through the use of our individual mind-set, we are all conditioned to think and react in certain ways which affect our daily impact in life. In the short stories, The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant, A & P by John Updike, and Araby by James Joyce each author illustrate their characters in such a way which allows the reader to envision the character’s meaning of life as they face different challenges. Jealousy, envy, power…

relationship, or maybe some women are born with the desire to be showered in lavish clothing and jewelry. In “The Diamond Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, this is true for the main character Mathilde. She finds herself in a life that she feels wasn’t meant for her, with a man who isn’t enough. Her raging desire for more out of life will lead to her own social demise. Guy de Maupassant uses character development, setting, and secondary characters to convey the importance of appreciation and to not…