Stone Table

Chivalry, a fancy word for picking up babes (A discussion of chivalry using texts discussed in class) Since the first group of humans gathered, there has been a single problem that has plagued men and women. This plague has been imbedded in the very core being of each human; this plague is something that occurs when a man first sees a beautiful confident woman, the feeling of butterflies flying around inside his stomach. The plague reaches women the instant the man introduces himself while…

What is a hero? If someone is called a hero, what does that say about them? The Webster Standard Dictionary says that a hero is “one noted for courage and greatness; the central figure in a story.” However, there is more to being a hero than those few things alone. A hero is one who you can always count on; who is willing to make sacrifices for the good of others; who is full of compassion for nobles and servants alike, and desires justice in all areas. A hero is someone with virtue of…

In Chaucer’s satirical comedy The Canterbury Tales, and Shakespeare’s play King Lear, women are portrayed in a negative light. In both time periods, female characters are supposed to be submissive and obedient to their husbands; furthermore, as seen in the text, women are frowned upon for being knowledgeable and independent. Each author uses his work to promote their opinion on gender roles in society. In the fourteenth century, society was based on hierarchal status and women were at the…

Great writers create great stories. In The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer writes about the different classes of pilgrims. He has a narrator, Harry Bailey, who speaks highly of the knight but does not care about the Summoner. Bailey tells all the pilgrims that each will have the opportunity to tell a story of which they desire and whoever has the best story will get a dinner paid by the pilgrims. Throughout the stories, women are described as men’s pleasure. Chaucer uses characterization and…

What makes a hero a hero? A good definition of an epic hero is from John M. Steadman’s “The Idea of Satan as the Hero of "Paradise Lost"” “The epic hero must demonstrate his heroism through his military strength and skill. Physical fortitude was thus a sine qua non, though it might be combined with other and more amiable qualities: strength of mind as well as body prudence, magnanimity temperance and piety.”(p. 256). One of the first epic heroes written about in British literature is Beowulf.…

Heroism is defined as “the quality of heroic actions, showing great bravery”, (Oxford English Dictionary, 2014). This is compared to a modern definition of bravery as “a person who is greatly admired for brave deeds or an illustrious warrior and one who shows great courage”, (Merriam-Webster, 2014). This shows the definition has remained the same for many years. The word hero comes from the Latin word heros, which was derived from the Greek word hērōs. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary…

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a Middle English Arthurian romance. It is a a story of a knight’s attributes that display chivalry – courage, honor, purity, courtesy – and the test of those. The introduction of the poem forms a historical background which makes it easier for many of the poem’s themes to be introduced. The action of the poem opens at Camelot on New Year’s Day. Arthur maintains the tradition of refusing to eat until he sees or hears of a great adventure. This is when the…

Robin Hood represents his heroic personality through his friend and all the people that surround him. Without his friend, he would not achieve anything and his story would be lost. In here, Robin Hood is attached to the second point in the narrative framework that is mentioned in The Robin Hood Principle “The outlaw hero has sympathy and support from one or more social groups who form a resistant community” (Seal, 74). People that live around Robin Hood make a difference in his heroic paper, and…

Some heroes today are readily apparent, while others are more subtly. In the book, Mrs. Dubose and Atticus Finch are obvious heroes, while it takes readers time to discover the heroism of Boo Radley. Generally heros have multiple characteristics, but the ones that are most prominent are courage, bravery, and persistence these are seen in Atticus, Mrs. Dubose, and Boo Radley throughout the novel. Through Atticus Finch the author shows the reader about courage, bravery, and persistent. All…

According to Alexander Pope the well known English Poet, “A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying... that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.” Many people make mistakes throughout their lives and many people have the choice to confess their mistakes but many choose not to thinking that they will save themselves from the consequences. Sir Gawain, a chivalrous knight takes the anonymous dare given by the Green Knight that appears in Camelot on the…