Two lives, so different, yet intertwined within each other. Past and present come together and mix. Something thought to have been holy and within Christian beliefs, turns out to have a completely different origin in this piece of literature. The novel, Labyrinth, written by Kate Moss, brings two stories, both past and present together, and makes it seem easy. Love and loyalty are tested, and the characters fates are carried on through the ages.
Taking place in both the 1200’s and the 2000’s, the novel carries out two different stories that eventually cross paths with each other. A young girl, fifteen years of age, Alaïs learns the secret of the Holy Grail from her father. A little over 800 years later, a young woman, Alice Tanner, unknowingly breaks open the path to her destiny. A cave is discovered to be housing two skeletons, some strange writing, and a ring with the imprint of a labyrinth on it. What she has discovered is the product of her past self’s sacrifice.
The consequences of opening the cave, lead Alice on a series of journeys to satisfy both her curiosity and her past self’s unfinished business. The past intertwines with the present, bringing both past allies and enemies to Alice. She finds an old friend in Audric, who she later discovers is really Sajhë. She is reunited with her past self’s husband, Guilhem, now in the form of Will. Alice has an unspeakable connection with the young man, and doesn’t understand why until later on in the novel.
Alaïs takes the book from her father, and attempts to hide it as he has asked, needing to keep it safe from her sister, Oriane. She flees from the city of Carcasonne with her young friend Sajhë to keep the book and the ring safe. Many years pass before Oriane finall...
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...ve and loyalty is proven to beat the greedy hands of betrayal, and it lives on, completing the destiny that was started 800 years ago. How is it possible that the lives of the people from the 1200’s were carried on through into the future? How is it that the legend lasted so long. Power? No, it lasted because of love and destiny, and the courage to do what is needed.
Works Cited
"Holy Grail - Crystalinks." Crystalinks Home Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2011. .
"King Arthur in Legend: The Holy Grail." Britannia: British History and Travel. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2011. .
Mosse, Kate. Labyrinth . New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2006. Print.
"Wise Geek." What is the Holy Grail?. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2011. < http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-holy-grail.htm>.
The movie the Labyrinth tells a story about a group of unlikely heroes trying to make their way though a maze in order to defeat the Goblin King. The story starts out with the main character Sarah whom, without even realizing it, wishes her baby brother to be taken way by Jareth the Goblin King. He tells her that if she wants her brother back she will have to make her way through the labyrinth and to the castle beyond the Goblin City. She only has 13 hours to complete the seemingly impossible task or her little brother Toby will be turned into a goblin. While making her way through the twisted and endless maze Sarah runs into many weird characters. The first person she encounters is Hoggle a very untrustworthy dwarf whom is under the influence of Jareth. He is selfish and does things only if there is something for him to gain. He betrays Sarah many times throughout the movie, but in the end he proves himself to be more than a traitorous coward. Ludo is a yeti and despite looking vicious is a gentle and caring monster. Ludo also has the power to control rocks. Sir Didymis is a loudmouthed, but noble knight who displays his valor throughout the movie. The four heroes manage to fight their way through the perilous labyrinth. The Goblin King Jareth is defeated and Sarah’s brother Toby is saved. Though the characters in this movie seemed to be nothing more than ordinary, and if not odd, they fought their way through labyrinth and conquered an entire army of evil goblins and their king. (Labyrinth 1986)
King Arthur, a courageous man, who was able to pull out a sword from a rock as simple as possible. As for everyone else who tired, it was almost impossible. This was just the beginning stage of Arthur becoming a king. The thing that Merlin didn’...
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) written and directed by Guillermo del Toro is a dark fantasy film that uses fantasy and inspired true events of the after effects of the Spanish Civil War to create a symbolic parable that was influenced by fairy tales and myths. Even though this film is explicitly about the times during Franco it is also a film that can speak for any time period, past, present, and future. Through the use of phantasmagorical elements in the fantasy sequences del Toro uses doubling to reinforce the horrific events that have and can happen again in reality. The film takes place five years after the Spanish Civil War during Francisco Franco’s reign of terror. The story focuses on Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) as well as Ofelia’s evil stepfather, Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez). Both characters represent something bigger than they actually are; Ofelia is seen to represent Spain and the antifascists whereas Captain Vidal represents Franco and fascism. Ofelia has to complete three daunting tasks given to her by the Faun (Doug Jones) that is said to reunite her with her family, the King and Queen of the Underworld. Del Toro uses doubling of the mythical realm with the ‘real world’ throughout the film that emphasizes the underlying meaning of the film. The film also follows the story of the anti-fascists rebels that are hidden amongst the trees and mountains. The character Mercedes (Maribel Verdu) is able to fool Captain Vidal for most of the film and help the rebels. It is not until the near end of the film where Captain Vidal realizes that Mercedes has been helping the rebels the entire time and it is due partly because of his misogyny that he is unable to see her as a threat to his cause.
Miesel, Sandra. "Library : The Real History of the Holy Grail." Library : The Real History of the Holy Grail | Catholic Culture. Morley Publishing Group, Sept. 2004. Web. 26 July 2017. .
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.
The “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” is a satirical comedy about the quest of King Arthur. The movie starts out with Arthur, King of the Britons, looking for knights to sit with him at Camelot. He finds many knights including Sir Galahad the pure, Sir Lancelot the brave, the quiet Sir Bedevere, and Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir Lancelot. Through satire and parody of certain events in history (witch trials, the black plague) they find Camelot, but after literally a quick song and dance they decide that they do not want to go there. While walking away, God (who seems to be grumpy) comes to them from a cloud and tells them to find the Holy Grail.
The world of Arthurian literature is filled with magic and adventure that enchants readers of all ages. T.H. White has done a fantastic job of turning the childhood adventures of Arthur by turning his narrative into spellbinding, cartoon like interpretation of the sword in the stone legend. Moral values are apparent from the beginning of White’s novel. White has cleverly connected all the educational adventures of Arthur, along with the people and animals encountered to the pulling the sword out of the stone. This marvelous amalgamation of key elements not only ties the loose ends of Arthur’s adventures together, they also solidify the reasoning behind Arthurs’ predetermined path to becoming the king of England.
The opening sequence of Pan's Labyritnh promotes a vaariety of interpretations within a short period of time. Del Toro combines many film techniques to tell a story both visually and in a narrative sense. This sequence highlights the kind of story that Pan's Labyrinth is, as well as introducing both the reality and the fantasy of the film therefore contrastng the world of a child and that of an adults and juxtaposing a kind of heaven and hell. Del Toro has created a world in which the harsh qualities of reality are reinforced in fantasy and the only escape is death.
Like all the fairy tale will have a happy ending. "Pan 's Labyrinth" is no exception, but this layer of happiness is immersed in the bitter and depressed in the deep. Too much blood and tears, too many memories, too much darkness. Ofelia finally found her parents, returned to the eternal sweet home, but not one can really happy together. A fairy tale is hope, is the dream, is the comfort, is the ideal country. "Pan 's Labyrinth" is such a fairy tale, Ofelia through the murky darkness of the labyrinth find her happiness, just as experienced the cruel history 's Spanish people. Guillermo applied a metaphor in the end. The end of the tragedy is the film 's surface cover, in essence, is the protagonist Ophelia 's comedy
Malory, Thomas. King Arthur and His Knights: Selected Tales by Sir Thomas Malory, ed. Eugene Vinaver (London: Oxford UP, 1975) 124-25.
The Arthurian cycle shows a sporadic awareness of the impossibility of mere humans fulfilling all the ideals that Arthur and his court represent. The story of Lancelot and Guenevere, Merlin's imprisonment by Nimu‘, and numerous other instances testify to the recognition of this tension between the real and the unrealistic.
Alice and Alyss are innocent girls before they begin their journeys. They are ready to have fun and they want to explore the world. During their journeys, they both adapt to different lifestyles which help them to better understand themselves. As they come closer to the end of their journeys they get the same result which is an increase in maturity.
In Jim Henson’s Labyrinth the plot closely follows the narrative structure that is documented by Propp and described by Berger. Propp establishes a series of functions which all Russian fairy tales followed and which Berger finds easily applies to modern day narratives. When these functions are applied to Labyrinth, they fit easily into the movies story line. The protagonist, Sarah, is an adequate example of Propp’s hero with some gender norms reversed and Jareth fits into the archetype of the villain. Labyrinth presents an excellent example to Berger’s updated interpretation of Propp’s fairy tale theory of structure, while presenting important modernizations to the structure.
Pan 's Labyrinth is a film with the thrilling mythical story-line in the development of a civil war. A young girl by the name of, Ofelia, is sent out with her pregnant mother to live with her captain/army based stepfather. As she arrives, she is a greeted with a fairy that peaks her interest because of her fascination with fairy-tales. She is directed to a labyrinth and welcomed by a faun explaining her relation to a mystical king. In order to be reunited with her true father, she needs to complete three difficult tasks. With her failing to complete her last task, she earns her spot in her world with her mother and father.
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.