Life's Lessons in The Once and Future King
"The best thing for being sad," replied Merlyn, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honor trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then -- to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing, which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn."
Throughout The Once and Future King, Wart learns many lessons in some unlikely places. Young Wart is the adopted son of a nobleman when he meets Merlyn, a magician, who takes him on many adventures, turning him into several different animals and teaching him skills, both mental and physical. Wart learns to treat people with respect and kindness. Soon after, Wart pulls a magical sword from a stone, which proves him the rightful king of England. Merlyn, who knew this from the start, advises Wart-now called Arthur- on how to be a good king. What Arthur really wants to do is end the chaos that passes for law in his country. He wants his men-the knights of the round table- to help defenseless people and prevent the rich and strong from simply dominating everyone. Many young knights love the chivalrous idea and admire Arthur.
Arthur's wife Guenever has an affair with one of Arthur's best knights, Lancelot. Since he is a just king, Arthur feels obligated to persecute them for adultery and treason. This went along with Mordred's plan to upset the court and, since he was the only son of Arthur (not with Guenever however), to become King of England. Lancelot kills Gareth, Gaheris, and Agravaine, all knights of the Roundtable. Mordred convinces a surviving knight, Gawaine that Lancelot killed them out of his own hatred of England.
In The Once and Future King T.H. White conveys his personal thoughts on leadership through the help of Merlin, and Wart's transformations. Through each transformation Wart experiences different forms of power, each being a part of a whole idea on how a leader should act. He must piece together these ideas for the definitive way he should rule as king. In order to teach Wart, Merlin transforms him into several different forms, a fish, hawk, ant, goose and a badger.
King Arthur is a great mystery debated throughout the centuries. There have been several films and texts that attempt to reveal the truth about King Arthur. Arthur Pendragon, son of Uther Pendragon, was once the king of Britain and the founder of the Knights of the Round Table. Coghlan outlines that Arthur is present in many different traditions throughout centuries (Coghlan, 1995). In the 12th century, Geoffrey of Monmouth told of Arthur as a great king who defeated barbarians by the dozens. Coghlan also mentions Malory as “the standard ‘history’ of Arthur” (Coghlan, 1995). As there are various texts that tell Arthur’s origin and his legend, this essay will focus on one of the more prominent texts, The Death of King Arthur by Peter Ackroyd.
Assessing the capital structure of any firm is important for investors attempting to determine if...
Movies today are extremely expensive to make and are typically financed through either film studio contracts or from investors willing to take a risk. In order to be successful, movies need to be marketed and distributed either under contract by the film studios or by companies that specialize in such services. The aspects of financing, marketing and distribution of films have changed between the studio and independent systems over the years as the evolution of the film industry took place.
Moul, C. C. (2005). A concise handbook of movie industry economics. New York: Cambridge University Press.
T.H. White's novel The Once and Future King presents a code of chivalry that outlines the expected knightly behavior of the time. This particular code stresses loyalty to one's liege, love and respect toward women, and absolute devotion to justice. At the height of Arthur's kingdom, this code was widely accepted by all. However, as Arthur's kingdom begins to decline, the code of chivalry begins to hold less importance among the people. The fall of Arthur's kingdom is directly related to the absence of the code of chivalry in the behavior of the Knights of the Round Table. Sir Lancelot betrays Arthur when he has an adulteress affair with Guenever. Sir Lancelot also disrespects women when he leaves Elaine to be with Guenever in Camelot. King Arthur himself is disloyal to justice when he allows Guenever to be rescued by Lancelot.
The results obtained from the cooperation of Modigliani and Miller in 1958, was an attempt to prove that the financial decisions should not be significant in the perfect conditions of the market, after being published the Modigliani and Miller theory became the main theory of the capital structure.
How would you describe Sir Lancelot? Most people would say he is the strongest, bravest, and kindest knight of the round table. Some might say he is the biggest Benedict Arnold of all time because of the adultery he committed with Queen Guinevere. However, his chivalry and code of honor make him the epitome of a true gentleman. These contrasting qualities set Sir Lancelot apart from all the other knights and characters in the “Morte D’Arthur.” Lancelot’s gallant, courageous, and conflicting personality make him a complex character in this dramatic tale of love and betrayal.
US auto sales slide in May as buyers spurn trucks. CNBC. Retrieved June 4, 2008 from http://www.cnbc.com/id/24949794/site/14081545?__source=aol%7Cheadline%7Cquote%7Ctext%7C&par=aol
Oddly enough, Focus Features and Focus Features World Wide, which for the purposes of this analysis will be lumped together, remains one of the few art house/independent movie studios that is owned by one of the major six studios. Ironically, this distinction also lends Focus Features a distinct advantage. Typically, the independent film industry requires a studio to distribute/produce a certain number of projects in order to fund initial overhead or licensing costs. This puts a significant financial strain on the smaller market firms and increases risks. While, the project quota remains true for Focus, it is by choice and not by financial necessity. Focus is able to utilize its parent company, Universal’s wide reaching distributive and marketing scope, making Focus’ project performance less variable while fixed costs remain low. However, this corporate structure poses obstacles as well. Independent film studios put a considerable amount of resources into finding or developing content of acceptable quality. This never ending hunt must be balanced against stringent financial targets imposed by Universal. Seemingly, these do not mesh, but due to Focus’ business model, which takes a calculated approach to releases and relies heavily on festivals to generate buzz. By releasing movies in only a moderate number of theaters first, it allows Focus to use their budget for marketing more effectively. Surprisingly, Focus is able to operate almost completely separately from Universal relying on its growing library sales, and international distribution rights to cover its annual operating expenses, including overhead, development, production, acquisition, marketing and distribution costs. More specifically, Focus’ international sales “arm” gi...
... Capital, Corporation Finance and the Theory of Investment", The American Economic Review, vol. 48, no. 3, pp. 261-297.
Firstly, this essay attempts to analyse the causes of the financial crisis which originated from the U.S. Secondly, the impacts of the financial crisis on Vietnamese economy particularly on the general economy outlook as well as the labour market will be examined. Finally, this essay will present the responses of Vietnamese government so as to reduce influences of the recession.
only make up 16.7% of the capital structure. Thus, the credit risk for any credit commitment was not too high
Petty Ross D. Editor's Introduction: The What and Why of Marketing; American Business Journal, Vol. 36, 1999
Warwick J. McKibbin, and Andrew Stoeckel. “The Global Financial Crisis: Causes and Consequences.” Lowy Institute for International Policy 2.09 (2009): 1. PDF file.