“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.
During the time, the English king tyrant Edward Longshanks (Edward the First) has taken over medieval Scotland, placing English nobles in charge of every city and town. Wallace as a child watched his father as a rebel against the English nobles. His father fought many battles against the English. As grew William to be a man his only desire as an adult was to live in peace with a family and a small farm. Soon he found a bride to live out that dream. He married her in secret with hoping to conceal the marriage from the English nobles. It was English tradition that the night of a Scottish wedding the nobles were allowed to take the virginity of the young bride. They lived in peace for days after until their secret was out. Wallace was faced with saving her from being raped by an elder English noble. The newlyweds tried to run away, separating onto different paths into a nearby grove. Wallace made it to the safe zone while his bride was caught and had her throat slit by the English sheriff. Out of grief, he returned to their hometown and with the help of the rest of the Scottish men slaughtered all English nobles in the vicinity. With a new vendetta, Wallace led a small militia of Scottish men to defeat the English and free his country. Soon Wallace temporary relieved Scotland from English oppression. With the ...
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William Wallace became a hero and a representative of Scotland’s declaration for independence. What’s ironic is that Scotland’s independence did not occur till about 50 years later, but because of his battles, and more recently the movie, he will always be remembered a Braveheart.
Walens, Susann. A. United States History Since 1877. Western Connecticut State University, Danbury, CT. September 2007.
Wallace was fighting for his concrete beliefs and ideals. Although it was sparked by the murder of his wife and father. He was prepared to be a martyr, although all he really wanted was to have a family and a farm. He was willing to give his life for the future of his country, which says something about his character. He was finally betrayed again and handed over to the throne to be tortured and killed.
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 ...
Canny, Nicholas: The Oxford History of the British Empire,vol I, TheOrigins of the Empire (New York 1998)
The film covers the life of William Wallace from the time he is a small boy, when
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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
At the beginning of the movie we see William Wallace the main character as a young boy. The setting is a small cottage in Scotland. His father and brother are about to embark on a trip to battle. As the townspeople cart the two dead bodies back to the cottage, the entire tone of the movie is set. As the bodies are buried young William remembers just exactly what the last thing his father had to say " It's our wits that make us men " which is a major point throughout the movie. Although it was unclear where the two men went and why they were killed, it was a immediate eye catcher and an excellent start to this movie.
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