World Literature Essay Example

World Literature Essay Many obvious connections exist between the objectification of women in Sir Thomas Malorys Le Morte Darthur and the deepening importance of Christian, as opposed to pagan, mythologies on the cultural and social mores of Europe in the Middle Ages.   Among these obvious connections is the equation of femininity and more specifically feminine sexuality with a corruptive sense of worldliness, which can be understood to represent the connection in Christian consciousness between the earth and the Christian concept of sin.   In pre-Christian traditions, nature was associated with sacred space: If there was an Indo-European homeland, there were no temples there, only landscape. Sacral area must therefore in origin be identified by geography, not buildings[] nature’ inevitably underlies the choice of place in which to perform ritual (Dowden 27).   By contrast,   in the Christian world-view, sacredness was grounded in objects and in persons, rather than in the elemental forces o f nature.While it may be obvious to even the casual reader of Malory that Christian mythology   plays a central role in his articulation of the myth of Arthur and the knights of the Round Table, what may be less obvious is the complete manner in which Christian ideals and images are intended to replace older, pre-Christian mythologies and ideas which were rooted in a feminine sense of nature and in the ancient Goddess religions.   In fact, it is not at all too strenuous an assertion to suggest that Le Morte Darthur represents, in its entirety, an attempt by Malory to   erect a throughly Christian facade on the scaffolding of ancient pagan myths.   One of the most important aspects of this facade is the way in which feminity and feminine sexuality are used as a bridge by which ancient suppositions of myth and nature are made into modern Christian myths which reflect a patriarchal rather than matriarchal vision of both nature and human society.Book thirteen of Le Morte Darthur , which covers the quest for the Holy Grail, comprises a microcosm of Malorys   blending of Christian and pagan mythologies.   Within the context of   the work as a   whole, perhaps no individual book within the famous Winchester manuscript demonstrates more clearly Malorys intention, whether conscious or not, to usurp pre-Christian mythologies with Christian myth.   Not only does this chapter provide a clear case of pagan mythologies: those associated with the Fisher King myth, being subsumed by a distinctly Christian myth: that of the Holy Grail, but the figure of Galahad functions with the same transformative power, replacing ultimately all perceived feminine virtues once associated with pagan myth with the masculine-centered qualities of chivalric knighthood.   As the sole perfect representative of the Christian knight, Galahad is an extremely important   facet of Malorys overall transformation of associated myth into a coherently Christian vision.Such an intenti on may or may not have been a conscious idea on Malorys behalf but rather, emerged as an instinctual outgrowth of the combining of mythological material with Christian sensibilities. Another example of this potentially unconscious tendency emerges, clearly, in the introductory verses of Chretiens Lancelot, which invokes feminine imagery as its source of moral inspiration, under the guise of a devotion to royalty:Since my lady of Champagne wishes me to undertake to write a romance, I shall very   Ã‚  Ã‚   gladly do so, being so devoted to her service as to do anything in the world for her,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   without any intention of flattery.(Chretien 1-30)Similarly, when Book thirteen of Le Morte Darthur opens, it is clear that Malory intends the following tale to demonstrate not only aspects of adventure but aspects of morality, as well.   The opening scene of the book describes the arrival of a ful fayre gentylwoman (Malory, 612)   who gallops into Camelot, rising so fast that her hors was al besuette   (Malory, 612).   Here there can be no doubt that the image of a fair woman of gentle breeding astride a hot, excited horse is meant to convey anything other than sexual energy. In point of fact, the ladys errand is one of a summoning which is connection to an earlier erotic interlude wherein Lancelot was hoodwinked into sleeping with   Elaine, King Pelles daughter.   Underlying this past-incident is an extremely   important detail: that Lancelot had believed Elaine to be Guinevere.This is an important fact because it reveals that Lancelot, unwilling to commit the common sin of fornication with Elaine, maintains his knightly virtue.   However, Lancelot is fully willing to commit adultery with his Queen, despite the fact that this adulterous behavior will destroy his knightly virtues and, in fact, endanger Camelot itself.   This reveals that Lancelot is essentially a pagan at heart, unwilling to accept the Christian morals of temperance an d allegiance to a King, and not a Queen. Lancelot is a goddess worshiper and this single fault in his otherwise virtuous character, brings about the downfall of Camelot which, ironically, is only reversed by Lancelots bastard son with Elaine, Galahad.   What is notable about the rather intricate relationships between the characters of Arthurs court and those who associate with it is that relationships are immediately brought into a singular and ever-present contrast: the contrast between masculine virtue and feminine virtue. This contrast is very often expressed as outright conflict and in every case where there is a conflict between two characters, that conflict can be understood as a function of the gender-based division of virtues which is the underlying theme of not only Book thirteen, but of Le Morte Darthur as a whole.Again, this predilection toward the convergence of matriarchal imagery with directly Christian myth is conveyed directly through the relationships between the characters in   Le Morte Darthur.   For example, the character of Lancelot as envisioned by Malory, departs from Chretiens earlier envisioning, specifically in regard to the sexual relationship between Lancelot and Guinevere.   For Chretien, the focus of the relationship is on Lancelot as an object of the Queens desire.   This desire, masked as it must be, plays a key role in Lancelots climactic fight against Meleagant which is foreshadowed in   Chretiens Lancelot by Guineveres internal monologue.   As the Queen assesses Lancelot as the most desirable of knights, so, too, the reader of Chretiens Lancelot will see him as flawless. Along with the Queen, the reader will feel never so glad in her life as she was for his return (Chretien, 6730) and Lancelot will appear to be the completion of joy.   In Queen Guineveres fascinating inner-monologue, Chretien paints a portrait of Lancelot as the most sublime of figures:Why is not her joy complete? Is it mingled with anger or hate? No, certainly, not at all; but it may be that the King or some of the others who are there, and who are watching     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   what takes place, would have taken the whole situation in, if, while all were looking on, she had followed the dictates of her heart.(Chretien 6729-7004)Chretien goes so far as to suggest that the Queen desires infidelity with Lancelot, postponing the greeting until it shall see and espy a suitable and more private place where they would fare better than here and now (Chretien, 7004), but he refrains from injecting reciprocaldesire in Lancelots character outside of that which manifests as knightly deeds in the Queens honor. The division of virtues has signaled a moral lapse on the part of the Queen in Chretiens story; Malory, however, pushes the relationship a step further in implicating Lancelot directly in the erotic sin of adultery.   Of note is the historical fact that when Malory wrote about Lancelot and Guinevere, he did not use Chretien as his source (Goodrich, 62)   and this fact is evident in the portrayal of the   couple in Le Morte Darthur.Although Malory regards the focal point of the breakdown of virtue on the patriarchal side of the equation, that is, on Lancelots, rather than Guineveres desire, his impulse to do so is based on the fundamental Christian understanding that the seductive power of feminine sexuality is corruptive to even the most noble of knights.   In other words, it was natural in the Christian philosophy of the Middle Ages to equate sin with sexuality and women, as agents of sexuality, are then posited as agents of temptation and sin.   Similarly, because women are viewed as being closer to nature and closer to natures corrupting forces, the Christian dogmas which reject the earthly world in favor of the neo-Platonic conception of heaven are the same impulses which, in the Middle Ages, contributed to the view that womens sexuality, even a Queens, was naturall y corruptive. However, such a transition from myths which originally exalted nature and feminine energy to myth which   essentially inverted these ideas was neither directly accomplished by medieval writers, nor fully expressed as such by them.Instead, strange combinations of nature-imagery and Christian imagery collide in the Arthurian romances of Malory and Chretien and these strange collisions produce unique and beautiful images which reflect, not a total conversion from animism to Christianity or from femininity to masculinity in spiritual myth, but the intention to accomplish such a total transformation. A great example of this collision of myths can be found in Chretiens description of the Kings sycamore field: In the field there stood a sycamore as fair as any tree could be; it was wide-spread and covered a large area, and around it grew a fine border of thick fresh grass which was green at all seasons of the year (Chretien Vv. 7005-7008).   Obviously, this description is animistic, and deeply rooted in nature and one might convincingly take it as an expression of animistic (or pagan) spirituality.   The image recalls the pre-Christian idea of sacred spaces in nature which emphasizes natural objects rather than created temples: the sacrality of a grove may rest in the identifiable wood or forest, rather than on the altar placed, doubtless conveniently, within it (Dowden 26).The next passage, directly following, reveals the simultaneous impulse toward Christianity: Under this fair and stately sycamore, which was planted back in Abels time, there rises a clear spring of water which flows away hurriedly (Chretien Vv. 7008-7009).   Note that nature has been anchored in a patriarchal energy, Abels energy, in this passage, which concludes There it pleases the King to take his seat where nothing unpleasant is in sight (Chretien Vv. 7119.).   The passages reveal a dual impulse: one toward nature and one toward Christian morality which is an important duality and in fact a possible duality only to a mind which projects a state of sin onto both femininity and the natural world.If one understands the division of virtues based on gender   to indicate merely the admittedly idealized social mores associated by Mallory with a mythical, European past, then necessarily, the urgency of the protection of virtues along gender lines as it is expressed throughout   Le Morte Darthur becomes dogmatic, and almost absurdly so.   However, if the schism of virtues based on gender is viewed as indicative of a more fundamental, in fact religious function of myth, then the objectification of women as expressed   in Le Morte Darthur stands for something much more than a set of social mores.   The objectification of women in   Le Morte Darthur is, in fact, the main way in which Mallory is able to subvert matriarchal myths to patriarchal myths; pagan myths to Christian myths. Nowhere is this intention (or unconscious subversion) more obvio us than in Malorys characterization of Galahad.   In addition to being the off-spring of Lancelots sinful tryst with Elaine (whom he mistook for Guinevere),   Galahad marks the   pivotal transition point in Book thirteen of Le Morte Darthur simply by   appearing.   The appearance of Galahad implies two profoundly important things: first, that sin has consequence no matter how seemingly unintentional and secondly, that goodness (or redemption) can be born from sin, which is a specifically Christian idea, reflected most obviously by the crucifixion of Christ itself.The idea of redemption through Christ is Malorys thematic target in Book thirteen of Le Morte Darthur.   However, because the animistic myths and pagan legends that infused his work ran contrary to this impulse, due to the Christian positing of nature as being both feminine and intrinsically sinful, Malory had recourse to devise some symbol which would essentially unite the pagan myth of the Fisher King with t he Christian myth of redemption. This symbol, obviously, is the Holy Grail, but the Holy Grail is defined, in Le Morte Darthur not so much by any intrinsic capacities or powers which are overtly attributed to it; rather its qualities are defined by those who seek it: primarily Arthur and Galahad.  Ã‚   The grail essentially stands for all of the aggregate qualities which reside in the hypothetical knight (or King) who receives the grail, qualities which, in turn, are embodied by the seekers.   This means, to understand what the grail represents in Malory, it is foremost necessary to understand the character of Galahad, who, alone, eventually succeeds in finding the Holy Grail.Galahad is introduced to the reader as having come from femininity and from nature.   Lancelot discovers him living amid nuns in a beautiful woodland and the nuns regard Galahad as the essence of purity: Sire sayd they alle we brynge yow here thys child / the whiche we haue nourisshed / and we praye yow t o make hym a knyght / for of a more worthyer mans hande may he not receyue the ordre of knyghthode (Malory, 613)   Galahads connection with the Holy Grail is thereby foreshadowed and   explained.   He will emerge as the truest of knights because he is the purest.   When Lancelot regards young Galahad, he views him as semely and demure as a douue / with alle maner of good fetures / that he wende of his age neuer to haue sene soo fayre a man of forme (Malory, 613) and this implies that Lancelot instinctively knows his son is a more complete knight than he is himself.The key to understanding that both Galahad and the grail represent the redemptive power of Christ is to remember that Galahad was born from feminine trickery and was raised in the sinful influence of wild nature, among women, separated from his knightly father due to his fathers carnal sin.   Therefore Galahad is, himself, born of sin and as Guinevere notes that, he resembled moche vnto sire Launcelot I may wel s uppose said the quene / that syr Launcelot begatte hym on kynge Pelles doughter / by the whiche he was made to lye by / by enchauntement (Malory, 617).   She remembers that Galahad no matter what his virtues seem to be, was born of feminine enchantment and she is able to use this mindfulness to deceive herself into believing that Lancelot, despite his sin, remains noble and virtuous.The complete transformation of the cyclical re-birthing qualities which are inherent to nature and which had been a previous part of the feminine-centered pagan religions which were based in an animistic appraisal of nature, is accomplished by Malory merely by the inclusion of the character of Galahad himself: sir Galahad is a mayd and synned neuer (Malory, 641).   By describing Galahad as a maid and yet not intending to diminish his stature, Malory is conferring upon Galahad the virtuousness and spiritual exaltation which had been previously bestowed upon femininity in the pagan and animistic religi ons which preceded Christianity.   The basic thrust of the sobriquet is to suggest that Galahad is chaste.   This is the reason that the word maid deserves special consideration.By contrast, Sir Gawaine, who also seeks the Holy Grail, like Lancelot, has experienced an immersion into feminine trickery disavowed him of this same capacity: to unite the virtues of feminity with the virtues of masculinity and in doing so become Christ-like.   Instead, he is told that he, Gawaine, has failed a crucial test: Soo thow syr launcelot whan the hooly Grayle was broughte afore the / he fonde in the noo fruyte / nor good thoughte nor good wille and defowled with lechery (Malory, 641).   Therefore Galahads status as a maid surely refers most significantly to his chastity and his ability to resist the decadent charms of feminine sexuality.While Malorys objectification of feminity may be too subtle for the modern reader to fully comprehend, this same impulse is given excellent expression by director John Boorman in his film Excalibur, which expresses the same fusion of feminine/pagan and masculine/Christian motifs in its portrayal of the quest for the Holy Grail.However, the movie distorts Malorys original conception of the grail quest by substituting the character of Percival for that of Galahad.   This substitution is also resonant with the work of Richard Wager who, in 1882, created an opera called Parsifal which was, itself, inspired by   the enormous popularity of Parzival (Goodrich, 77) a poem written by Wolfram Van Escenbach between about 1200 and 1210   (Goodrich, 77).   This poem reveals a similar transformation pagan-to-Christian ideals and images, indicating the heros are those who fight on behalf of the Christian church: See how Christian men baptized to Rome wend their pilgrim way, So there was the heathen custom. At Bagdad was their papal right, And the Baruch as seemed his office purged their sins with his word of   might. (Wolfram, 206-209).à ‚   Both Van Escenbachs and Boormans depiction of Parsifal is meant to evoke, like Malorys Galahad, a character which   is equal to the Holy Grail itself and which defines the Holy Grail.The transformation from   Galahad to Percival in the movie Excalibur is backed up by the use of a Wagnerian score. This let-motif helps the viewer to understand that Parsifal is a character who embodies spiritual qualities, rather than merely those qualities which are commonly associated with knighthood.   In Excalibur, the Wagnerian score signals the Death of the Gods because it signals the death of paganism and the birth of Christianity.   With this transformation comes the transformation of femininity and the disempowerment of women.   Women become aspects of the pre-Christian world, the world before redemption which is vividly described in the draft-script for the movie Excalibur, during a scene in which Percival approaches Morganas tree of death: Dangling from the branches of a dead t ree are a dozen dead knights of the Round Table, crows pecking at the rotting flesh in the chinks of armor. Perceval rides up, cries out in horror, and spurs his horse away (Excalibur).   This is the land when Morgana rules, this is the same feminine power of destruction that gave birth to Mordred through trickery.   This is the inverse power of the Holy Grail; rather than masculine redemption in Christ, wanton destruction, thirst for power and revenge, and dangerous feminine sexuality have overtaken the world.   It is a world of disorder and implies by negative what the world would look like under the rule of a feminine power.Just as Morgana pledges herself to this world of disorder and revenge when she tricks Arthur: The moon flows in my blood to meet your seed. And already I bear him who will be King (Excalibur) she subverts nature, commits incest in order to further her desire for power and revenge.   Excalibur portrays the threatening aspect of femininity just as it is portrayed by Malory as being 1) rooted in nature and 2) rooted in sexuality.   Of course, the two ideas may be considered united in the sense that it is ultimately feminine reproductive power which stands as the central focus of both male and female virtue in regard to Malorys idealized vision of the chivalric code. Purity is equated with redemption, but it is not the purity or redemption of birth into the natural world, but the purity and redemption of the rebirth of the individual in Christ which is true purity.   As such, the Christian concept of universal sin supplants the pre-Christian ideal of nature and birth as sacred processes adn replaces these ideas with the concepts of sin and redemption.   Because one is born sinful, birth is, itself, an evil.   Birth being deeply associated with women and with feminine reproductive sexuality is also evil.   Percival, being born out of sinful lust, must be redeemed through Christ.   The let-motif of Wagners Death of the Gods insists that where the pagan gods vanish, a new God arises, and this musical cue, in Excalibur, centers the viewers attention on the redemptive aspects of the Holy Grail.As the draft-script of the movie indicates, the music is intended to function as the voice of the Holy Grail: Enchanting music from unseen singers grows and weaves. Perceval looks back to see the drawbridge slowly closing, trapping him inside (Excalibur).   This voice ultimately transforms into human words and a riddle is posed What is the secret of the chalice? Who does it serve? (Excalibur).   This riddle is the crux of Malorys transformative mythology, as represented by Boorman.   Obviously, in iconography of pagan or per-Christian mythology, the answer to the riddle would be the Queen or the the Goddess as Lancelot or even Gawaine might have answered.Instead, because the story of the grail marks an attempt at a   complete transformation of pre-Christian nature-myths to Christian symbology, the correct a nswer to the riddle is the ultimate disempowerment of femininity, because the correct answer for Malory and Boorman is that the Grail represents Arthur who is the King and who is now with the land.   When Percival answers: You and the land are one. Drink from the chalice. You will be reborn and the land with you (Excalibur) this answer transforms the land to rebirth.   the profound overthrow of pagan ideas is nearly complete: where once the earth was a place of sin and dangerous feminine sexuality, the land is now reborn in Arthur, in Christ, through the Grail which redeems the world. Where once nature stood for sacredness and holiness, now an artifact: the Grail and a man: Arthur stand as sacred entities.   Percivals final answer to the Grail is to divulge the secret that the Grail is, itself, a man: You are my lord and King. You are Arthur (Excalibur). That redemption in Christ is the sole way in which one may attain a state of purity and innocence is a distinctly Christian idea.   The use of pre-Christian myths and imagery, largely drawn from nature, by Malory in Book thirteen of Le Morte Darthur serves the dual function of supplanting pagan ideals with Christian ideals and providing a deep, mythological basis for his modern legend of the Knights of the Round Table. World Literature Essay Example World Literature Essay 1. â€Å" But you, the journey that stirs you now is not far off, Not with the likes of me, the friend of your father and yours, To rig you a swift ship and be your shipmate too (The Odyssey 223).† This was the goddess Athena in the guise of the Mentor who was addressing Telemachus on his planned trip for Pylos and Sparta to inquire on the whereabouts of his father, Odysseus.   At this point, Telemachus is already a young man who yearned for his father’s return after the famous Trojan War.   His home is occupied by suitors, whose ill-repute and rudeness have no equal in existing literature. The belief that Odysseus was already dead has given these suitors the courage to slaughter his livestock, camp at his home, bother his wife at every opportunity, and drink his wine.   It was Athena herself who first suggested that Telemachus visit King Menelaus and Nestor who were with his father during the Trojan War. We will write a custom essay sample on World Literature specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on World Literature specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on World Literature specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer If was after talking before the Public Council that Pallas Athena promised a rigged ship and her company on his trip to Pylos and Sparta.   She added that Telemachus better prepare for provisions since the departure had to be made in secret.   The next day, Telemachus and Mentor embarked for Pylos. 2. â€Å"Die, die— whoever he was that day in the wilds who cut my ankles free of the ruthless pins, he pulled me clear of death, he saved my life for this, this kindness— Curse him, kill him! (Oedipus the King 648). These were uttered by Oedipus the King when he had blinded himself for the realization and shame of having killed his father and married his mother.   At that point, his mother and wife, Queen Jocasta had already committed suicide.   Oedipus was at that juncture between lamentation and meeting his replacement as the ruler of Thebes, Creon. Specifically, Oedipus was not only bemoaning his fate but was blaming the person whom he thought was responsible for saving his life while still as an infant. An oracle had warned his parents, King Laius and Queen Jocasta about the deed or misdeeds the child would do when he grow up.   It was then both decided to have him killed.   Fortunately or unfortunately, the murder did not happen.   It was to this savior of his infanthood that Oedipus was reserving his strongest curse.   He was blaming the person instead of   himself for contributing to the fulfillment of the oracle.   He said that it was not kindness to save him then considering the situation he has found himself into in his mature years.   Oedipus lamentations, together with the chorus of this play by Sophocles, were a condemnation of his fate.   Oedipus had gorged his eyes out for so that he could not see himself as the embodiment of shame.   What is being emphasized through the excerpt is the paradox of h aving an opportunity or chance to alter one’s fate or one’s helplessness in the face of destiny. The savior of Oedipus in his infancy could have terminated his life and in the process spare him from the fulfillment of a certain prediction.   Still the pain and suffering that Oedipus voluntarily undergoes indicated a sense of blame on his part and not purely on destiny. 3.   The captain of evil discovered himself In a handgrip harder than anything He had ever encountered in any man On the face of the earth. Every bone in his body Quailed and recoiled, but he could not escape (Beowulf 1195). This quotation described that portion of the Beowulf Epic where Grendel had grasped the arm of the supposedly sleeping Beowulf and realized that he had meet somebody who was more than a match for him. Grendel was the dreaded monster which had laid waste the Kingdom of Hrothgar.   Beowulf was the kinsman of Hygelac, ruler of the Geats who had offered his services to King Hrothgar to get rid of Grendel.   The struggle between the hero and the monster was so intense that the writer commented that it was surprising that Heorot, the great hall, was not greatly damaged. Beowulf is described as having the strength of thirty men.   No wonder that Grendel feared so much the outcome that he wrestled himself free from Beowulf although at the expense of wrenching his arm from its socket.   Beowulf then declared that the arm served as hall decoration. This part of the epic is a reversal of fortune for Hrothgar and his people.   Although Grendel’s mother exacts some revenge later on, this was the first time that somebody had withstood against the onslaught of the local monster.   It also described for the first time Beowulf in action and which reinforced the truthfulness of his previous narrations about other great deeds in the past. 4.   He ruled it well For fifty winters, grew old and wise As warden of the land Until one began To dominate the dark, a dragon on the prowl From the steep vaults of a stone-roofed barrow Where he guarded a hoard; there was a hidden passage, Unknown to men, but someone managed To enter by it and interfere With the heathen trove (Beowulf 1227). This is a reference to Beowulf as he reigned for fifty years as king in after the death of Hrothgar’s son.   That reign was noted for the peace when from out of the blue a mighty dragon laid havoc in the countryside.   The dragon has for its residence the neighboring mountains where it keeps its hoard of gold.   Unfortunately, a fugitive slave was able to steal some of the treasure the dragon was hoarding.   This put the dragon on the path of revenge which ultimately resulted to a showdown between itself and an aging Beowulf.   Beowulf with the help of a kinsman was able to kill the dragon but was also mortally wounded. The excerpt is a development after a fifty-year hiatus of serenity in the life of Beowulf.   It was the start of another dangerous quest which ultimately cost our hero his life. 5.   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Roland, Companion, sound your Oliphant now, Charles will hear it, marching through those passes. I promise you, the Franks will come at once (Song of Roland 1276).† The quote is uttered by Oliver, Roland’s best friend, as the Saracen ambush party of a hundred thousand men was approaching them. Roland and a small party were appointed by Charlemagne to serve as his rear guard while the main army with the emperor proceeded towards France.   Charlemagne’s group was only twenty-miles away from Roland’s.   The treachery of Ganelon, Roland’s stepfather, has put Roland and his men in grave danger.   The passes of Roncevaux were the ambush point.   Seeing the approach of the great host, Oliver asked Roland to blow his famous horn Oliphant so that Charlemagne could aid them.   Roland refused; he believed that they could still best the Moors approaching them. He also added that the used of the great horn is something that should not be lightly taken.   A great battle ensued with Roland and his men vastly outnumbered.   During a respite in the battle, Roland blew Oliphant to summon Charlemagne.   It was too late; reinforcements did not arrive until everyone of the rear guard were already dead, including Roland.   Oliver’s appeal to Roland to ask for aid was a crucial point of the epic.   This was the point where the hero had to choose between an opportunity to prove or distinguish him until death or seek help and live to old age. Roland chose glory and death and rewarded himself with immortality. 6.   Nevertheless, the experience of our times shows that the princes who have done great things are the ones who have taken little account of their promises and who have known how to addle the brains of men with craft (The Prince 1955-  Ã‚   1956). This is considered by most to be the most offensive among many advices preached by Machiavelli.   This is what befits the adjective, â€Å"Machiavellian†.   The author preceded this statement with sentence that commends rulers who keep faith through integrity and not through any sly or cunning. Yet he added in the cited selection that the great rulers seldom keep their promises and are adept in the art of deception.   Machiavelli is describing a ruler who is not restrained by conscience but would rather use his baser nature in the interest of achieving his goal.   The end justifies the means would have been addendum to this.  Ã‚   He buttressed this statement with by relating about how Achilles and the other notables of old availed of the half-man and half-beast Chiron as their tutor.   The quotation is very important since it basically sums up the gist of what Machiavelli is preaching. 7.   An oath will bind Lanval and the king will put the matter in our hands. If he can provide proof and his beloved comes forward, and if what he said to incur the displeasure of the queen is true, then he will be pardoned, since he did not say it to spite her. And if he cannot furnish proof, then we must inform him that he will lose the service of the king and that the king must banish him (Lanval 1322). The person speaking is the Count of Cornwall regarding the case put forth by King Arthur against one of his loyal knights, Lanval.   Lanval was guilty of spurning the advances of Queen Guinevere and of uttering some words to the effect that he loved somebody whose servants were fairer than the queen. To avenge the insult to her person of which she was to be blamed-never mind that Lanval had broken some of the unspoken demands of the code of chivalry-she twisted some facts and made it appear that she was insulted without cause by Lanval. This angered the King so much that he himself brought the charges against Lanval.   The barons, who constituted the court, could easily come with a verdict of guilty.   The only way for Lanval to escape punishment was as the Count of Cornwall suggested provides proof of the truthfulness of his claim about his Beloved’s servants as fairer than the queen.   Lanval is at a predicament since his ladylove has not appeared before him for a lo ng time after that tiff with the queen.   The statement of the Count of Cornwall is relevant since it summarizes what happened and what is about to happen. It sets the story for a resolution which could go either good or bad for Lanval. 8.   After that, then, I kept approaching one person after another. I realized, with distress and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  alarm, that I was arousing hostility. Nevertheless, I thought I must attach the greatest importance to what pertained to the god. So, in seeking what the oracle meant, I had to go to all those with any reputation for knowledge (Apology of Socrates 762). This is Socrates explaining how he was trying to disprove or understand the oracle that he was the wisest man ever.   As he related to the Athenians, this came about when Chaerephon, a friend of his, approach the god of Delphi with the query if there ever was a wiser man than Socrates. The response was none.   Socrates explained that he approached persons of intellectual refute and talk to them and gauge the knowledge they were supposed to be good at.   Although he believed that a god could not lie, he wanted to find out if this was a mistake and was looking for somebody to bring back to Delphi and present as evidence to the contrary of what he has been described. He discovered that these persons were wise by reputation and not by actual reality.   He related that he finds himself wiser because of the premise that he does not know anything at all but is in the process of knowing while the person or persons he compare himself with are not really that wise as touted by themselv es and others.   We must remember that while Plato had Socrates explaining in Apology, a sentence against him has already been passed for supposedly corrupting the youth.   Apology clarifies this misconception and articulated his philosophy that a life that is always inquiring and trying to discover what is good is the best kind of life. 9.  Ã‚   All things, says Plato, are produced by nature, by fortune, or by art; the greatest and most  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   beautiful by one or the other of the first two, the least and most imperfectly to the last (Essays, Montaigne 2193). This is one of the Essays of Montaigne entitled, â€Å"Cannibals† which reiterated Plato about the standards of beauty and goodness in things as they came into being either by nature, fortune, or art.   Montaigne agreed with the emphasis that the thing produced by nature is the greatest and most beautiful.   Montaigne was referring to the non-western worlds that have been described by his contemporaries in unpleasant terms.   This is perhaps done out of spite or fear that such a better world exists.   Montaigne is criticizing the tendency of the west to mislabel or misjudge a particular nation or country that has not belong or undergone western civilization. 10.   There is a play to-night before the King, One scene of it comes near the circumstance which I have told thee of my father’s death. I prithee, when thou seest that act afoot, even with the very comment of thy soul. Observe my uncle. If his occulted guilt do not itself unkennel in one speech, It is a damned ghost that we have seen, And my imaginations are as foul As Vulcan’s smithy. Give him heedful note, For I mine eyes will rivet to his face, and after we will both our judgments join In censure of his seeming. (Hamlet 2453) Hamlet is telling Horatio, his friend, that he has set up a play before the usurper king and his queen which would relate about the death of the former king. King Claudius has replaced Hamlet’s father and is suspected of having murdered him.   Subsequently, he married Queen Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother. Hamlet related to Horatio that he will be observing the king and looking for reactions when that particular scene is played out.   Until this point, Hamlet still needed to be convinced that the suspicion has basis.   This part of the play or what is quoted from Hamlet, prepares the audience for that point where guilt or innocence would be established as predicted by Hamlet.   This juncture will determine what Hamlet would project and what plans would he have if the guilt or innocence is determined. This holds the entire structure together where the days of brooding could be replaced by anger, disappointment, and plans for revenge and the ultimate climax where somebo dy or more than one will pay the ultimate price.