Cunning folk

The role of reputation in the ‘Othello’ and ‘The Crucible’ The word reputation refers to the beliefs or opinions that are generally held about someone or something. The beliefs or opinions that are held by characters in “Othello” and “the Crucible” is a significant theme that is constant both plays. In the insular community of Salem, reputation holds a place of utmost importance; it is what is used to label you and is the main factor that people use to judge you and determine your treatment in…

The court of King Louis XIV is often romanticized, but in reality there were many dark secrets within the walls of the palace, most of which were somehow connected to magical spells and potions designed to destroy rivals. In Strange Revelations, Lynn Wood Mollenauer looks into the events surrounding the “Affair of the Poisons” (L 'affaire des Poisons) as it relates to the members of high society. Mollenauer argues, throughout her intense study of scandal within Louis XIV’s court, that the events…

Postcolonial theory is built in large part around the concept of otherness. There are however problems with or complexities to the concept of otherness, for instance: otherness includes doubleness, both identity and difference, so that every other , every different than and excluded by is dialectically created and includes the values and meaning of the colonizing culture even as it rejects its power to define; the western concept of the oriental is based, as Abdul Jan Mohamed argues, on the…

Achilles was given twin destinies one which destined him for eternal greatness, the one he ultimately chose. Yet even Achilles had to make a choice about being a hero or living a long happy life. We met Odysseus, who achieved greatness through his cunning and willingness to be whatever the situation called for. In our most unlikely hero, Antigone, we saw her become a hero because of the situation thrust upon her, when she stood for what she believed to be just even though it cost her life. …

Rhetorical themes such as the concept of the femme fatale is evident throughout the gothic novels Christabel, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Lamia, and Carmilla. Even though the femme fatale was being portrayed in literature, it was representative of unrest about the rise of the “new woman” as females were becoming more powerful in society. In this time period was a realistic fear for the community and portraying women that are loose, seductive, and deadly if not kept under control. These…

A rigged system can only survive when most of its targets are not aware that it is rigged. Suzan-Lori Parks uses her play, Topdog/Underdog, to make commentaries on the unjust racist system that oppress African Americas in America. The play revolves around two brother, Lincoln and Booth. Lincoln plays a big role because Parks uses him to represent the “Topdog” when he speaks about his experiences and feelings as a dealer of a card game. But, he also brings the story back to very real aspects of…

India Trading Company (EITC) and the Spanish Empire, as pirates raid the sea defining any laws that come their way. There is a total of four movies out with a new one to be released this year. Each movie portrays Jack Sparrow as a witty, selfish, cunning and adventurous captain. All the characteristics of a pirate, of course, which leads him into never ending troubles with the British Empire to the East India Trading Company. His only desire is to raid the seven seas in his boat the Black Pearl,…

Stoke-d’Urberville, the antagonist and villain of Tess of the d’Urbervilles, authored by Thomas Hardy. Within this Victorian Age novel, a blossoming young woman by the name of Tess Durbeyfield finds herself in a sinister relationship with a malicious and cunning young man by the name of Alec d’Urberville. Although he is mistaken to be her cousin, to which he has the surname of the Durbeyfield’s ancient relatives, the d’Urbervilles, Alec is, in fact, unrelated to Tess. From the inception of their…

British Dance: Influential Black Dancers Made an Impact on Britain “Like Britain itself, British dance has been informed by different waves of immigration”, says dance history professor Ramsay Burt (Roy). Ballet “took root” through a determined Polish woman, Marie Rambert, and Irishwoman, Ninette de Valois (Roy). Modern dance was arranged by exiles form Germany in the 1930s and visitors from America in the 1950s and 1960s (Roy). The stories and history of black British dancers however, tends to…

Misleading preconceptions blind humanity from experiencing the true identity of those marginalized and labeled as ‘different’ or ‘evil’ by society. Never given the opportunity to express their genuine self, these people, misconceived and grouped according to the reputation that others have dubbed them with begin to conform. They no longer fight the inescapable classification but accept the lies perpetrated and continue on in that negative shadow. In Pink Floyd’s song Green is the Colour and J…