“Few traces remain of Scottish hero William Wallace, the medieval knight who fought against English oppression.” (Cohen) The most known facts come from legends surrounding the infamous William Wallace and his short, tragic career saving Scotland. Now a martyr, Sir William Wallace is inspiration to many Scottish families that anything can be done. A compilation of many widely accepted legends is told in Mel Gibson’s BraveHeart.
One key characteristic found in tragic heroes is that they all have a character trait that is the root cause of their downfall in the end. Wallace had more than one of these traits, but the one that is most prevalent is his stubbornness. One example of this would be when he was being tortured, he had multiple opportunities to show mercy and stop the torture, yet he chose to stick by his beliefs even though it caused him pain. he repeatedly put some self in situations where he knows he will be hurt, but he continues on, knowing that he is fighting for a just cause.
Within the very beginning of the film, the wonderful portrayal of William by Billy Crudup gives the audience a lasting impression by Burton of the blatant resentment and distain William has towards his father and his mythological stories. Wallace, while more subtle in his method to reveal the underlying anger of William towards Edward, does not make it any less apparent than Burton of the obvious indifference William feels towards his father. In Burton’s ...
Braveheart is an American middle age drama from 1995, produced and featured by Mel Gibson in the role of William Wallace. The movie is about the saga of Scotland’s struggle for freedom in the 13th century. When an English soldier executes Wallace’s wife, his own quest for revenge turns quickly into a passionate fight for his country’s independence. In this essay, I will write about some of the scenes in the movie and compare whether it was historically correct or not. In conclusion, I will reflect on why the director chose these changes.
Rebel, Hero, Freedom-Fighter, Martyr. These are just a few of the words that race through our minds when we hear the name of William Wallace. Over the past few hundred years popular culture has raised Sir William Wallace from the bloody battlefields of Scotland to a place on a pedestal among the greatest heroes of history. In this ascent, the line between the man and the myth has become blurred. So who was William Wallace? In my research I have found many conflicting theories, each historian or author to delve back into the past returns with a slightly different interpretation then those before him. However, one thing remains certain and that is that William Wallace was a game changer.
“Courage - a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger, and a mental willingness to endure it.” Courageous people understand the danger that they face when they act how they do. That is what courage is all about. Many historical events occur due to people having the courage to do what they think is right, or because of those who use their courage to do what they want. Having the courage to stand alone in one’s beliefs may be one of the hardest thing a person can do.
What Stone points out that is very interesting and relevant to western culture is that the Indo-Europeans were always in continual conflict with not only the people of the lands that they invaded but between themselves as well. In Braveheart, the Irish and English were in conflict with each other and the English took over Ireland, both the Irish and English live in filth, in cottages where they raise their family, the men provide for their family and the woman are married off so they can find a man to provide for them, they are barbaric the way they live and the way they are perceived, this film also shows the patriarchal society and the misogyny ways of the Europeans and how they treat their women the king even made a law allowing their men to take and rape the Irish women even if they were married, the women had no say the kings son who was next in line to be on throne was gay and had to marry a woman to reproduce but the woman had no say and was not respected or shown in a powerful light. The main character William Wallace made his childhood love at night because he feared would tried to take her if they found out about the marriage and even still one of the English
John, the gambler, is an extremely courageous person. He has proven this by a number of actions in this story. First of all he shows tons of courage by not getting scared when the travelers and him get snowed in. If it where me I probably would have run off like Uncle Billy did. Another example of when Mr. Oakhurst showed courage was when he kicked Uncle Billy to stop him from laughing. Most people would have just told him to stop laughing. But not Mr. Oakhurst, he just gave him a swift kick in the stomach. That to me shows the utmost courage in the world.
The “balding, probably in his fifties” man with “an extravagant mustache” in The Man in the Water, is a perfect example of what it means to be courageous. After the plane collision, he “was seen clinging with five other survivors to the tail section of airplane.” He put his own life at risk in frigid water to save other passengers time and time again. “Every time they lowered a lifeline and flotation to him, he passed it on to another of the passengers.” When the helicopter came back for him he had already gone under. For as long as he could stay above water, “they went at each other, nature and man: the one making no distinctions of good and evil, acting on no principles,
Everyone has heard the speech from Braveheart, where Mel Gibson pours his heart out in front of his army to get them ready to overcome the tremendous odds of taking down the English army. Gibson’s most famous line is “tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!”(Source). This quote is similar to John Proctor’s soliloquy at the end of Act IV in The Crucible by Arthur Miller, where he talks about his fatal flaw of Hubris, or pride, because he does not want his name to be marked on the church as being a witch.. This flaw of pride was also his saving grace with his wife.