Knighthood and Courtly Love in the Time of King Arthur Essay -- essays

Chivalry was considered to be the code of behavior expected of a knight. It was the conduct, ideas, and ideals of the knightly class of the Middle Ages. It became standardized and referred to as chivalry, a term derived from the French word chevalier, meaning knight. The code urged the knight to be brave, courageous, honorable, true to his word, and loyal to his feudal overlord, and to defend his Church. A knight was truthful, honest, capable, educated, physically fit, noble, sincere, and subservient to the king. A serious violation of these vows could result in a knight being classed as an undignified knight, which was the ultimate insult because of all the hard work that was put into becoming a knight. It made it seem as if all of work was done for nothing. The knights of the middle ages were known for their dedication and devotion in carrying out their duties. Once a knight was given a task of some sort, they were known for unwillingness to quit until the job was done. Most knights were willing to devote their entire lives to the job at hand. Most all knights had a quest in life, and they showed an obsession to accomplish their quest. The quest may be self thought of, or obtained from someone else, but either way the knight took honor and pride in being able to accomplish the quest. In â€Å"Arthurian Romances,† by Chrà ©tien de Troyes, all knights had a duty to protect their country. When a knight approached a situation, he did not attack the other party until he had warned them. His place in the feudalist system involved other workers, known as vassals, to do his bidding. They suited him up in his armor and readied his horse and weapons. Knighthood was only developed for the man because women are only seen as maidservants. Authority felt that a woman could not possess all the qualities of a knight, so they were put to work as maids. The only women who had high ranks in the feudalist system were those who were married to the noble ranks In â€Å"The Story of the Grail,† de Troyes looks at knighthood from the naive perspective of a young boy, Perceval, who had a dream of becoming a knight. In his own way, he became one. He learned the techniques and attitudes of a knight that greatly influenced his performance. Perceval wanted to obtain all the qualities of a good knight, also ... ...ry because of how he allowed a love for this unfeasible woman to blind him. The queen was so nasty to Lancelot, yet he took it and dealt with it assuming that his love for her was reciprocal. Chrà ©tien de Troyes and Marie de France both had unique ways of showing what knighthood and courtly love were about. De Troyes was a little harder on courtly love than de France had been, but both had specific ideals that they wanted to be brought to the pages in order to teach others about chivalry. All in all, the love that was portrayed between Guigemar and the queen was one that seemed to be full of hope and joy. The love de Troyes portrayed between Lancelot and Guinevere was a love that seemed to not even exist except in Lancelot’s mind. Courtly love was an important aspect in the time of knighthood and chivalry. Courtly love made all the battles and heartaches seem worth it in the end, as long as it worked out for the two lovers it included. Works Cited de Troyes, Chretien. "The Story of the Grail." Arthurian Romances. Ed. William W. Kibler. London: Penguin Books, 1991. 381-494. de France, Marie. â€Å"Guigemar.† The Lais of Marie de France. 30-59.

Essay on ‘The Crucible’ Essay

The Crucible was written by the great play writing legend Sir Arthur Miller. He created many ingenious plays. In particular I would like to focus on the play (The Crucible) is based on a true story. The Crucible is set in America in the state of Massachusetts within the small village of Salem in the late seventeenth century. In this period of time, witch hunting was at it’s peak. In addition, religion was regarded as the law it was powerful over everyone and no one could question its authority. No one would dare speak against it or the consequences could be lethal. For many hundreds of years throughout Europe there was a belief in witchcraft. At times the principle turned into historical fear, leading into campaigns or persecution against suspected witches. It was thought that witches were agents of the devil. In 1692 there was an outbreak of accusations of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts (USA). The colonists there were Puritans who followed a particular form of Protestant Christianity and would tolerate no other. They felt surrounded by ungodly people and they associated the forest with savages and with evil. Salem was a puritan community their lives were ruled by religion. The role pf religion is very powerful and id used to control the community within the courts of Salem, religion is referred to throughout the play. ‘The Crucible’ criticises the effects of the Cold War America experienced in the 1950’s. McCarthy felt his power threatened by his people’s interest in communism. It was feared that Russia take over the world. This links to ‘The Crucible’ because the people in the play are craving for freedom, they don’t want to be tied to religion and the Bible. ‘The Crucible’ begins with the village girls cleaning and making something in a pot, which is against the laws of Salem. This action leads to a whole plot of jealousy, betrayal and ends up in hangings. Miller tries to display the act of the girls dancing in the forest as a form of plea, a cry for help. Throughout the play there are many characters with a variety of strong agendas that display their notions by insinuating them in ways, which cause arguments and ‘stir the pot’. After both reading and watching ‘The Crucible’ I noticed that there were four main categories in which the characters fell into. The powerful, the righteous, the weak and the jealous. Most of the characters or the main characters rather entered the powerful and jealous categories. Judge Danforth for example, a powerful man with extreme authority, he turns a ‘blind eye’ to the truth to keep his position and stay in power. He is bought and biased, looks more for his own benefit rather than helping others which should be the case. He abuses his position magnificently to stay in power. Reverend Paris, also has a considerable amount of power in the village of Salem. His main concern seems to be keeping his reputation and he’s bent on doing anything and everything to keep his authority and be feared. He has controlling power yet refuses to shift position for the right cause. John Proctor is an honest man who isn’t easily led. He is a hardworking farmer in his mid-thirties with logical thought. He is married, even tempered but is powerful of mind and body. Proctor is feared and respected in Salem, however he is no saint he has committed adultery with Abigail Williams who worked for Proctor as a servant but was subsequently fired when Proctor realized his mistake. He’s a good-hearted man who wants to make his wrongs right. An honourable man, who stands up for what is right and uses his wisdom against that which is wrong. Abigail, a very cunning young woman, she has committed adultery with John Proctor and uses this to her advantage by blackmailing and threatening him. She blames lies on other to save herself, she plays innocent and acts nai ve when in reality she is the cause of the disputes. She is evil and spiteful, cares for nobody but herself – she is simply selfish. Mary Warren, one of the weak and afraid characters, who can be moulded through threatening, as she is easily intimidated. She sides with Proctor when he threatens her and then sides with Abigail when she blackmails her. She is very controlled as though she doesn’t have a mind of her own nor any opinions. Because her worth is less than a slave she grew up with no honour, respect, honesty or independence, this is why she is unable to see the wrong as well as Proctor and in the end sides with the wrong people out of pure fear. Unfortunately, Mary Warren is a timid and gullible character who plays an unwitting role in the outcome of the trial. The audience will see the tension build up when they see such a combination of characters who all have very different agendas and are extremely volatile arguing in this type of situation. In this essay, I will focus mainly on act 3. It begins in the courtroom the witch trial has commenced. There are of course two parties, those accused of being witches (John Proctor, his wife etc) and the accusers (Rev. Parris etc). Proctor has a tough job defending himself because he has to prove that the court is wrong, Danforth questions Proctor and finds out what kind of a man he is before he hears the case. Giles Corey testifies for his wife (she was accused of being a witch). Giles feels guilty since it was he who told the court that his wife, Martha, had been reading some books. The court believes that she was reading them books to learn how to curse people. Francis Nurse testifies and defends his wife, Judge Hathorne supposes they are the bad ones and is angered by their blatant denial so consequently orders Corey and Nurse to be arrested. Proctor forces Mary Warren to testify for the defence and she complies by saying she lied in the court before. John says the girls are lying about the witchcraft. This makes the judges very nervous because if Proctor is correct then they have killed many innocent people. Proctor presents his case, he has three depositions to offer for evidence, the first being a signed petition proving the innocence of the three men’s wives. The second statement comes from Giles Corey, he tells the judges that Thomas Putnam is a ravenous and greedy man who is obsessed with attaining land through any means. However, Putnam denies this and Corey refuses to tell the court who gave him this information on Putnam in fear of being arrested. Unfortunately, he is still arrested for contempt of court. From here we are taken back to Rev. Hale who has realised his mistake and has changed sides, now supporting Proctor. Mary is the third final element of John’s defence. John tells her what to say and that he is supporting her. But Mary Warren is afraid no one will believe her (that the witchery was all untrue and the girls had been lying all along) because she lied earlier. Danforth brings in the accusers led by Abigail. Williams says that Mary is lying, the judges begin to wonder how Mary could be ‘pretending’ to be a witch earlier. She is asked to demonstrate this ‘pretending’ for the court. She can’t. Abigail and Danforth argue when Williams is questioned and then pretends to be seeing Mary as a bird in the air from the devil. The rest of the girls on Abigail’s side mimic her for their act to look believable. Proctor having no options left reveals his affair with Abigail. The men are horrified, John and Abigail are instructed to turn their backs while Elizabeth Proctor is bought in. She is asked if her husband has committed lechery. Not knowing he has confessed and thinking of his protection, her loyalty to John gets the better of her and she denies it. As she is led out John tells her he has confessed and they both realize that have lost completely. Abigail and the girls continue to act as though afflicted Mary Warren until she finally cracks. She accuses Proctor for having used her for the devil’s work and runs into the now welcoming arms of Abigail. Proctor and Giles Corey are led to the prison.

Case 1 Fordlandia - 2871 Words

FORDLANDIA CASE Titre du document - page 1 OVERVIEW OF FIRST 2 CASE STUDY SESSIONS †¢ Fordlandia – CSR in an international context – Integration-Responsiveness framework – Integrated Social Contract theory †¢ Sialkot – Child labour as a CSR challenge – Stakeholder theory – CSR in the context of global governance †¢ Learning objectives – To reflect on the context-specific nature of sustainability – To discuss CSR in the context of international development – To appreciate international CSR as a complex management challenge Titre du document - page 2 FORDLANDIA CASE – SESSION STRUCTURE – Group work (1) – Group presentations (1) – Short(ish) lecture – Group work (2) – Group presentations (2) – Wrap-up Titre du document - page 3 4 1.†¦show more content†¦Business Machines Pakistan Chile Siemens Carrefour Philippines Algeria Hitachi Assicurazioni Generali Matsushita Electric Industrial McKesson Honda Motor 97,384 96,293 96,115 94,105 91,493 90,382 86,429 84,649 83,994 83,268 81,078 80,515 80,487 Hewlett-Packard Nissan Motor Fortis Egypt, Arab Rep. Sinopec Berkshire Hathaway ENI Romania Home Depot Aviva HSBC Holdings Nigeria Deutsche Telekom Verizon Communications Samsung Electronics State Grid United Arab Emirates Peugeot Metro Nestlà © U.S. Postal Service BNP Paribas Peru China National Petroleum Sony Ukraine 79,905 79,800 75,518 75,148 75,077 74,382 74,228 73,167 73,094 73,025 72,550 72,106 71,989 71,563 71,556 71,290 70,960 70,642 70,159 69,826 68,996 68,654 68,395 67,724 66,618 65,149 Rank 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 Country/Corporation Cardinal Health Royal Ahold Altria Group Pemex GDP/Revenue $ millions 65,131 64,676 64,440 63,691 Bank of America Corp. Vodafone Tesco 63,324 62,971 62,459 Munich Re Group Nippon Life Insurance Fiat Royal Bank of Scotland 60,706 60,521 59,973 59,750 Zurich Financial Services Crà ©dit Agricole Credit Suisse State Farm Insurance Cos France Tà ©là ©com Électricità © De France J.P. Morgan Chase Co. UBS Bangladesh Kroger Deutsche Bank E.ON Deutsche Post 59,678 59,054 58,825 58,819 58,652 58,367Show MoreRelatedWe Must Understand The Past And Comprehend What Shapes The Decisions That Have Been Made1233 Words   |  5 Pagesenergy. We can look at the case of Chernobyl incident for instance, the government tried to cover up the disaster that occurred in 1986 and caused the death of more than thousands of workers who worked at the site6. They tried to cover this up because they did not want the rest of the world to know, since it could lead to the awareness that nuclear power was unsafe and people would try to bring an end to it. The case of Fordlandia is another indication of greed, but in this case, it is the greed of aRead MoreFord V8 Based On Its Design And Papanek s Theory Of Design1966 Words   |  8 Pagesthere will only be one digital camera on the market whereas in reality there are hundreds, all with the same function. â€Å"There are too many different versions of the same item available in many cases.† (Papanek, 1995, p.30) Read MoreCitation and Reference List9582 Words   |  39 Pagesof Sydney Business School Referencing Guide This referencing guide has been prepared by The Business Programs Unit for use in Units of Study within The University of Sydney Business School. It is based on the Harvard referencing style. Contents 1. How to use this guide...........................................................................................................................2 2. Some useful terms ................................................................................Read MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagestwentieth century history / edited by Michael Peter Adas for the American Historical Association. p. cm.—(Critical perspectives on the past) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-4399-0269-1 (cloth : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-1-4399-0270-7 (paper : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-1-4399-0271-4 (electronic) 1. History, Modern—20th century. 2. Twentieth century. 3. Social history—20th century. 4. World politics—20th century. I. Adas, Michael, 1943– II. American Historical Association. D421.E77 2010