The Sword in the Stone of the Arthurian Legend
King Arthur and the knights of the round table belong to a long line of books and stories of the Arthurian legend. Merlin, Lancelot, The lady of the lake, King Arthur, and Excaliber are all very important in the Arthurian legend. In this essay we will talk about King Arthur, the knights of the round table, and Merlin in the famous story, The sword in the stone.
The Sword in the stone is a book about an adopted child named wart. He is of royal blood and does not know this. One day when Wart is in the forest, he finds a magician named Merlin. Merlin comes home with Wart and agrees with Sir Ector, Wart’s guardian, to become Wart’s tutor. Merlin goes about educating Wart by Transforming him into different animals. Through each transformation Wart experiences different forms of power, each being a part of how he should rule as king.
The first transformation takes Wart and Merlin into the castle’s moat as a fish. They then meet the largest fish in the moat, which is an alligator who is the ruler. The alligator takes what he wants because of his size. In a speech about power, he tells Wart that “Might is right,” and might of the body is greater than might of the mind. Because of the way the alligator rules, his subjects obey him out of fear for their lives. Wart experiences this firsthand when the gator tells him to leave. He has grown bored of Wart, and if Wart does not leave he will eat him. The king uses his size as his claim to power, therefore his subjects follow him out of fear.
In Wart’s next transformation into a hawk, he soars into the castle’s mews. All the birds into the mews have a military rank. Their leader is an old falcon, who Sir Ector keeps just for show. The birds who rank below the falcon, hold her in the highest regard because of her old age. She applies her power over the other birds with no concern for their lives. In one instance, Wart is ordered to stand next to the cage of a crazy hawk who almost kills him. On the other hand, her seasoned age brings respect, since she had not been released once she outlived her usefulness as a hunter. This allows her to maintain a powerful grip over all the birds she rules through fear and respect.
In Wart’s next make over Wart is transformed into an ant and posted within an ant colony. There is a single leader of the ant...
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...ncelot killed the man responsible for this thievery he said, for shame that a knight not withhold or respect his high calling. Lancelot also showed his dedication to his knighthood and his King when he was tempted to sleep with Gwynevere but didn’t sleep with her by riding out and looking for adventure to prevent anything bad happening disrespecting King Arthur and his knightly standards by sleeping with her.
Sir Lancelot is the best example of the loyalty of the Knights of the round Table in all of his actions. Lancelot did not let love get into any of his affairs and yet showed compassion and proved that he was not out to win personal gain. The Knights of the Round Table were noble in their actions.
That’s the story of how we know the story (or stories) today. King Arthur was raised and taught by the wise Magician named Merlin who has helped many kings before Arthur be great. Who created the Round Table and the Knights that sit around it and among those the famous Lancelot. Without Merlin there is no Arthur, without Arthur there is no Lancelot. So we now know that even though it’s called the Arthurian legend, all of them are big contributors to the legend.
In Wart's next transformation into a hawk he soared into the castle's mews. All the birds in the mews had a military rank. Their leader was an old falcon, who was kept for show. The birds who ranked below the falcon, held her in highest regard because of her age. She applied her power over the other birds with no concern for their lives. In one instance, Wart is ordered to stand next to the cage of a crazy hawk who almost killed him. On the other hand, her age brought respect. The falcon was much older than the others because she had not been released once she outlived her usefulness as a huntress. Her age and attitude allowed her to maintain a powerful grip over all the birds she ruled through fear and respect.
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.
In The Once and Future King, Experience is Everything. T.H. White shows that education depends on ones owns personal experiences. Wart’s tutor, Merlyn, uses this exact learning method on Wart. Merlyn uses magic to transform Wart into various animals to show him important life lessons. The Wart is transformed into a fish, goose, and a badger in order to experience different forms of power each being a part of how he should rule as king. Wart learns from Mr. P that mind power is nothing, from the wild goose he learns freedom, and the badger teaches him to accept what you have.
Who was King Arthur? Most people would tell of a great King; a devoted circle of heroic knights; mighty castles and mightier deeds; a time of chivalry and courtly love; of Lancelot and Guinevere; of triumph and death. Historians and archaeologists, especially Leslie Alcock, point to shadowy evidence of a man who is not a king, but a commander of an army, who lived during the late fifth to early sixth century who may perhaps be the basis for Arthur. By looking at the context in which the stories of King Arthur survived, and the evidence pertaining to his castle Camelot and the Battle of Badon Hill, we can begin to see that Arthur is probably not a king as the legend holds.
...This essay discusses enough of The Picture of Dorian Gray to explain how floral imagery impacted the novel’s meaning. The use of floral imagery and symbolism has earned Wilde a place as one of the greatest and most influential writers of all time.
One of the most enduring myths in the Western world is that of Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Regardless of the origins of the tales, the fact is that by the time they had been filtered through a French sensibility and re-exported to England, they were representations of not one but several ideals. Courtly love and chivalry and the various components thereof, such as martial prowess, chastity, bravery, courtesy, and so on, were presented as the chief virtues to aspire to, and the knights as role models. Arthur's eventual fall is precisely because of having failed at some level to fulfill these ideals in his life.
Within The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde depicts two characters that follow the philosophy of Walter Pater. These two characters are Dorian Gray and Henry Wotton. They both embody Pater’s ideal of placing as much enjoyment in one’s short life as possible. While Dorian learns of Pater’s philosophy from Henry he soon exceeds his teacher and becomes invested within the philosophy of living life to the fullest. Dorian exceeds Henry in Pater’s philosophy through his active experimentation and desire for beauty, but Dorian fails to live up to all of Pater’s expectations due to his inability to separate morality for art.
In the sixth century there was a man named King Arthur who was born. Many people around the world believe that King Arthur was only a myth. While many other people believe he was a real man telling people about his time through recorded history. The novel “The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights” by Sir James Knowles is a very notable source explaining the life of King Arthur.
The classic novel by Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray inspires beauty, and romance. The main focus of the novel is aesthetics, a philosophical view detailing the nature of creation and appreciation of art and beauty. The tragedy of the young Dorian Gray after becoming misled by his companion, Lord Henry Wotton, is one that causes many to reform ideas on life and purpose. Lord Henry believes in hedonism, a thought stating that pleasure is the only true good; he declares, “The only things worth pursuing in life are beauty and fulfilment of the senses” (Wilde). This outlook is tempting for many persons, including that of the title character, Dorian Gray. In contrast to Lord Henry is an artist named Basil Hallward, whom perceives Dorian to be his muse; serving as inspiration, and purpose. Basil has many moral traits including trust, compassion, and kindness. His infatuation with Dorian causes him to change his art and style, composing an exquisite painting of the young boy. Basil states, “the work I have done, since I met Dorian Gray, is good work, is the best work of my life…his personality has suggested to me an entirely new manner in art, an entirely new mode of style. I see things differently.” (Wilde). Dorian becomes so mesmerized by the beauty of the picture and the words of Lord Henry that he wishes for the picture to depict his sins and age, rather than his physical being. To the surprise of the young Dorian, his wish becomes fulfilled. This theme shares similarity to the Faust story, as the title character exchanges his soul for pleasures
Lancelot is portrayed mostly as a love-struck man and not a very logical knight. From the first moment he is introduced, he is seen as someone sick from love. He will do anything to save his love, Gweneviere; even if that meant dishonor. When Lancelot rode on the cart, he was immediately labeled as someone bad. He pushed aside reason for love. “Because love ordered it, and wished it, he jumped in; since Love ruled his action, the disgrace did not matter.” (212) There seemed to have been nothing that could stand in the path of Lancelot.
He tells of the fear his parents instilled in him all throughout his book Between the World and Me. With moments like “My father was so very afraid. I felt it in the sting of his black leather belt, which he applied with more anxiety than anger”, it 's hard to not feel sorry for what Coates had to endure. While many black people would see nothing wrong with this, finding it a normal form of psychical discipline, this happens to be a prime example of the fine line that is often crossed in many black households. The use of objects in order to reinforce good behavior, is in no way psychical discipline and furthermore happens to fall under the category of abuse. Crossing the line just like in the Brittney Cooper article that recounted the instance of Adrian Peterson and his 4 year old child. The parallel between the moments accounted in Coates’ and Coopers’ pieces is uncanny because the same method of discipline was used in both and Adrian Peterson was found guilty of reckless assault. While Ta-Nehisi Coates’ parents were not found guilty by a court of law, one can conclude that their methods of discipline do not fit the qualifications of physical discipline either. The mixture of love and discipline to produce tough love is very difficult to argue against because the unconditional desire for the child
...osed in the preface of the novel and through Lord Henry’s intellectual talks with Dorian, “Wilde’s odd preface, which reads like an aesthetics’ version of Blake’s ‘Proverbs of Hell,’ warns that ‘there is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book’” (BRC). Wilde understood and showed in the life of Dorian Gray, a necessity for a more controlled and careful attitude toward aestheticism, without which morality will inevitable be indefinable. The aestheticism expressed by Dorian results in self-absorption and intellectual deterioration. “If in the hunt of one’s desires and of the beautiful parts of life, the condition of others’ or of one’s own mind is put at risk, the pleasure gathered must sometimes be surrendered for the greater good” (Pearce). As Wilde makes known, it is only through a more controlled attitude that aestheticism and morality may finally line up.
Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. Michael Patrick Gillespie, Editor. Norton Critical Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2007.
Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. Ed. Isobel Murray. London: Oxford University Press, 1974.
This year, the UK parliament is going to decide on the whether to grant devolved powers to Dalmatia. This devolution settlement would create a Dalmatian Assembly, with limited powers to vary the rate of income tax and also to make some local decisions in the areas of education, healthcare, and infrastructure. Some states that devolution might introduce corruption, financial costs and threats to national identity. However, those problems are far from incurable. Undertaken with great care, devolution in Dalmatia will produce superior outcomes in supporting local economic development, improving democratic system and preserving national unity.