Above and Below the Law The Tyrannicide Brief, by Geoffrey Robertson is nothing short of compelling. The audience is guided through the legal process, which lead to Charles I’s execution. Robertson’s assiduity in research is highly visible in The Tyrannicide Brief. Readers are not only presented with facts, but taken on a journey that is more than exceptional. Robertson manages to combine law, politics, and social history in one story. Robertson thoroughly brings to life the story of John Cooke. John Cooke, a man who dared to embrace the prosecution of Charles I. Ironically John Cooke himself would be tried for treason when Charles II rises to power. Robertson paints a very vivid mural of facts that implicitly reveals the extent of research that was dedicated into The Tyrannicide Brief. Despite the phenomenal storytelling by Robertson, it is worth questioning whether Robertson wrote The Tyrannicide Brief with bias. Gruesome details are brought to surface in the book. These gruesome details assist with…
Religion is a controversial issue that dictates and defines the society as well as the societal norms of which it consists. The OED defines social norms as the common standards within a social group regarding socially acceptable or appropriate behaviour in particular social situations, the breach of which has social consequences. Robertson Davies explores the idea of religion and its effects on personality within the novel Fifth Business. He depicts the changes caused by religion within the…
Cocoon The movie “Cocoon” is focused around elderly residents that transpass into a neighboring pool of their nursing home. They come to find out that the pool has rejuvenating powers that energized them as if they were in their younger years. Later in the movie, they find out this is due to aliens that have come back to save their lost friends in cocoons. There are many examples of when the main characters that are in the late adult life stage, show qualities and behaviors as an adolescent word…
The Rev. Pat Robertson made a very unfortunate pronouncement about the Haiti tragedy on this last Tuesday night. Here is what I think about: I am thankful God does not:1- Judge us as a human would do.2- Save us as a bulk processing3- Change his love towards us4- Delay His promise Despite what “Times magazine” web page says about his self-promotion on the prediction of events, I would like to say that many people, including himself, forgets about the moment we live in history. The measure of…
"Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do” (Voltaire). Dunstan Ramsay from Robertson Davies’s Fifth Business life revolves around his inner guilt by impacting his decisions, actions and his relations to others. Dunstan lives his whole with the guilt of the destruction of an innocent family. Ever since he decided to be smart and dodge the snowball that was meant for the back of his head but instead hitting an innocent pregnant lady Mrs.Dempster, he was linked to that family for life…
Emma Fifth Business Essay 1. Setting and character portrayal, not plot, are the essential elements of fiction. Referencing the two works, how far can you agree with this statement? Two classic pieces of literature, Jane Austen’s Emma and Robertson Davies’ Fifth Business challenge one of writing’s most conventional ideas, that plot is the essential element to writing. However that is not the case in these two fictitious novels, where the essential elements are setting and character…
In Douglas Quenqua’s article for The New York Times, “Muscular Body Image Lures Boys Into Gym, and Obsession”, Quenqua focuses on young boys and the risks they are willing to face in order to achieve a chiseled body. This isn’t the first time that Quenqua has written about body image. Douglas Quenqua also wrote the article “Tell Me, Even if it Hurts Me” for The New York Times. Quenqua writes about culture, science, media, lifestyle, and dogs. To begin with, Douglas Quenqua’s audience in…
Throughout the novel Fifth Business, one can clearly see the main character, Dunstan constantly searching for himself in various forms of self identity. Whether it be consuming himself in the world of saints, feeling tremendous guilt for a childhood accident, or falling in and out of love with various woman, Dunstan is constantly searching for a way to create identity for himself. In the novel, the character that truly helps Dunstan find himself is Liesl. By bringing out Dunstan’s suppressed…
The different type of Religion in Fifth Business Expressed in many ways, religion is a substantial motif in Robertson Davies Fifth Business. Even when hidden in deep meaning, It is represented through many distinct characters, events and themes. It is a crucial part all through out Dunny 's life and every thing he experiences circulates back to his spirituality. However, Dunny is not the only character intrigued by the divine. Amasa and Boy Staunton are characters used to signify two other…
Examine the relationship of Dunny and Boy. What roles do they serve for each other? Dunstan Ramsay is the main protagonist of the novel, The Fifth Business. Previously being known with the names Dunstable and Dunny, he is a spiritual man, who is very much controlled by his superego. This means that he makes decisions primarily using his conscious. He constantly chooses the ideal method to accomplish tasks. Dunstan is a religious man, in a manner that he is drawn to the metaphorical view of…