The Lais Of Marie De France English Literature Essay

The Lais Of Marie De France English Literature Essay Adultery has always been seen as morally wrong. However, marriage has been seen as a sacred institution that is shared by most of the people and religions of the world. In Marie de Frances Lais, we are given insight to five adulterous affairs, six pre-marital sexual encounters, and one instance of impure thoughts. Marie de Frances writing allows readers to feel sympathy with the adulterers. Her lays are separated into two different categories. In the one category, readers feel empathy and compassion for the couple, as seen in Yonec and Lanval. In the second category, there is a combined idea of sympathy and disdain, as seen in Bisclaveret and Equitan. Marie de Frances lais focus on sex outside of marriage. However, the affairs that take place are often rewarded with children, wealth, healing, and loving marriages. In Marie de Frances first lai, Yonec tells the tale of a young woman who is kept locked away in a tower by her rich and old husband. We are told that he kept her there more than seven years (37), and that she was never allowed to come down not even for a relative, not for a friend (40). The young woman, who had no contact with anyone other than her husbands sister, began to let herself go. She lost her beauty, as a lady would (48). We begin to feel sympathetic for the young woman. Although her marriage to the man is sacred, we see the situation as cruel and unjust. When we are told that her beauty is fading, we feel a desire to see her made whole again. God, who have power over all, Please hear, please answer now my call (62-63). The young woman, although already married, prays that God will send her someone. A hawk soon appears and transforms into a knight. The affair seems acceptable to us because it is as though God has answered her prayer. The adulterous affair becomes even more acceptable in our eyes when we realize that their affair is not about only sex, but that they share a deep and tender love. The love that these lovers share brings the woman back to life. When the husband learns of the affair, he kills the knight. The woman is heartbroken until she learns that she is pregnant and will give birth to a son who Someday he will kill his and her enemy, be there avenger (102). When the son grows up and learns of his real father, he kills his stepfather. The poem concludes by saying All they once suffered for their love (158). Although the poem perhaps does not turn out the way we would like it to, we are left with a sense of happiness in the end. The next lai, Lanval, tells much of the same type of story. A distraught knight, who is frequently overlooked for his service, meets two women while wandering around. These two women bring the knight to their maiden who is waiting for him. The lady had a tender love for Lanval and has traveled very far in order to be with him. When Lanval hears this, he tells her All others for you I abandon (55). This begins their love affair. Being that they are not married and therefore should not be together so intimately, we dont see what theyre doing as wrong until much later. The lady tells Lanval that she much never tell anyone about her or she will leave him, so when he refuses Queen Guineveres advances, he is accused of being a homosexual. In order to disprove her accusations, Lanvel quickly brags about his lady and insults the queens beauty. King Author, hearing of this altercation, says that Lanval much face a trial and prove his claims. Lanval is distraught and cries out for her to come to him but she does not. As the trial nears its end, two of the womans servants appear. Lanval claims that Her serving maidsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Is better than you are, Lady Queen (106-108), is proven and shortly after this, his lover appears. The crowd feels that she is just the most beautiful girl, of all girls living in the world (137-138). In the end, Lanval and the woman end up together and we feel as if justice has been served. Even though the lovers are not married and marriage is not even suggested, we are still satisfied that the two lovers are able to be together. Unlike the first two lais, the next two belong to a different category. Bisclaveret is a lai in which an adulterous affair takes place which can only be viewed as negative. In this poem, a seemingly happy couple He loved her, she him (24), end up apart and as enemies. Every week for three days, the man disappears and the unnamed lady has no idea when he goes. The man finally reveals his dark secret of being a werewolf with his wife. Instead of remaining true to her husband and loving him, she began to look elsewhere. She refused to share his bed anymore, and in turn made herself the lover of a man who had loved her for a long time. Knowing her husbands secret, the woman now knew that all she had to do was hide his clothes for him to become forever trapped as a werewolf. This lais is unlike the other lais because we do not feel sympathy for the woman having the affair, but for the husband. The man did not have to share his secret with his wife, but he wanted to be faithful and honest. In return, the wife betrays him and begins an an adulterous affair with another man. Although the other affairs in the lais were morally wrong, the extenuating circumstances that surrounded the women and men made them more acceptable. In this story, the wronged man gains revenge. The Bisclaveret is taken in by the King and is kept there until he comes in contact with his estranged wife and her husband. Though he had not ever hurt a human, he attacks both of them and bites the nose off of his wife. The king demands that she bring him his clothes and he is transformed into a man again. As a result, the womens children are born without noses and the former husband has the greatest revenge. The adultery that takes place in this story, although the wife and lover do get married, is never looked upon approvingly. The circumstances that surrounded this story never allowed for us to feel any kind of sympathy for the woman at all. As tragic as it might have been that her husband was a werew olf, it was when she plotted maliciously against her husband that we felt nothing but disdain for her. In the final lai, Equitan is much like Bisclaveret. The King of Nauns desires his seneschals wife. She is described as beautiful in face and figure (49), and the king says that he loves her. He tells the lady For her, he is near his doom (75). He tells the woman that he wants her to be his lover, but allows her to think about it. The King offers to marry her if ever he husband were to die and there is so much love that accept the affair. However, we begin to feel contempt for the couple when the woman begins to plot the death of her husband. Her plan to kill her husband backfires when he finds out about their affair. As a result, the king dies by his own hand and his lover by her husband. Any sympathy that we might have felt for this couple disappears once ill will is plotted towards the husband Marie de France creates poems that tell stories of true love, betrayal, and adultery. She presents us with situations in which we decide for ourselves whether or not they are right or wrong. We feel sympathy and understanding for the couples in some lais, while we feel disdain and contempt in others. Sympathy arises in the situations where there are cruel and unusual circumstances, while contempt develops when mischief and evil are plotted. One moment as we read, we as readers are hoping the couples end up together, while the next moment we are hoping for revenge. In the end, Marie de Frances lais take us on a wonderful journey that is filled with many exciting highs and disastrous lows.

Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment: Character Analysis Essay

Despite how easy it may be to misconstrue Dr. Heidegger’s intentions for evil, he truly is a kind hearted man with a passion that drives his dedication for the work he does. Dr. Heidegger wants nothing more than to analyze his friends for the sake of experiment. There is no hostility or alterior motive. Before they begin, he states, â€Å"With your permission, therefore, I will merely watch the progress of the experiment.† There is not a clearer way to articulate the intentions he has to observe the effects of the elixir. Dr. Heidegger even gives a fair warning to his friends that they would benefit from this experiment if they went into it with a set of guidelines in order to prevent the repetition of tragedy. Colenal Killigrew, Mr. Gascoin, and Widow Wycherly all see this as an experience while Dr. Heidegger’s excitement lies in the fact that he created a completely original experiment and has the honor to execute it using people he is close to. It is true that from this process Dr. Heidegger learned a very valuable lesson, however, his friends were more than just guinea pigs to him. In his eyes, a lesson cannot be learned without proper steps. This logic should not be confused with the idea that he wants any harm or misery plaved on his subjects. In the mind of a great man of science like Dr. Heidegger there is no hidden purpose to his actions, there is simply a plan, an observation, an analysis, and a conclusion. His morals are unsoiled, there is not much more a scientist needs than a successful experiment.

Benjamin Franklin’s Satire

Benjamin Franklin, a prominent actor of the 18th century political scene and one of Founding Fathers of the United States. Owing to his diplomatic talents, Franklin represented the interests of the colony in the British Royal Court. His interests, however, were diverse and included literature as well as writing tracts and political articles.Being aware of the necessity of nurturing tolerance to and acceptance of individuals of different cultural backgrounds in the new independent state, Franklin created a number of satirical works, dedicated to multiculturalism. In order to support his general argument in favor of the diversity policy, the author uses numerous literary techniques, including comparison/contrast, characterization and tone, which the present paper is designed to analyze.â€Å"Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America† (1784) contain a number of instances of comparison and contrast, intended as the tools o f demonstrating that the culture of Native Americans is valuable equally to the colonists’ mode of life, in spite of the distinctions: â€Å"Savages we call them, because their Manners differ from ours, which we think the Perfection of Civility, they think the same of theirs† (Franklin, at http://www. mith2. umd. edu, 2005, par. 1). As one can interpret, the author observes that the so-called savages also have their own national and cultural dignity, despite the dissimilarity of their lifestyle.In addition, the scholar implies that the cultural patterns, learned early in the childhood, are actually used as most appropriate and suitable, regardless of the existing cultural context the person enters (Wright, 1990). It needs to be noted that the author wisely approaches to the comparison of cultures and mentions such dimensions (or criteria) as the views on governance, social life, ethics and morality as well as gender roles. Thus, discussing the two perspectives on governance, the author first and foremost claims that the political power in the Native society doesn’t have the apparatus of compulsion and law enforcement.Neither has it any units of punishment. Due to the fact that the author also observes that all members of these communities are perfectly knowledgeable about their roles, freedoms and responsibilities, such units appear needless, so the author implies his positive surprise with such a microcosm, as the 19th century American society was greatly dependent upon countless regulations and thus complicated in nature, whereas the Native Americans, as one can interpret the argument, construct no weighty superstructures and simplify their political life, which is, however, described as â€Å"democratic† (Lemay, 1986, p.91). For instance, everyone, with no exceptions, is allowed to participate in councils: â€Å"Having frequent occasions to hold public Councils, they have acquired great Order and Decency in conducting them. The old Men sit in the foremost Ranks, the warriors in t he next, and the Women and children in the hindmost† (Franklin, at http://www. mith2. umd. edu, 2005, par. 3). This strict order is never violated, as opposed to the atmosphere in the British House of Commons, in which â€Å"havoc and confusion† (Wright, 1990, p.264) often act as the major components. Furthermore, the savages, as the author observes, always manage to allocate time for both job and leisure and their spiritual development is therefore never-ending, whereas it is recognized that the American institutions are â€Å"slavish and base† (Franklin, at http://www. mith2. umd. edu, 2005, par. 3) in terms of the frames of the personal freedom and spare time. Thus, the society, depicted in the tract, has the advantage of the constant self-improvement, in contrast to New England.In his sense, the writer allows his contemporaries to look at the Native community from a different angle: they are not lazy or poorly civilized, but rather treasure the value of freed om and thus avoid any institutionalizations and bureaucracies (Lemay, 1986). The final key point of comparison is ethos and social norms of politeness in the groups of the â€Å"savages†. In fact, all of them are strictly organized and extremely polite in interpersonal, social and international relations: for instance, it is unacceptable to interrupt the speaker during meetings, so everyone keeps silence.On the contrary, in the House of Commons, â€Å"scarce a Day passes without some Confusion, that makes the speaker hoarse in calling to order† (Franklin, at http://www. mith2. umd. edu, 2005, par. 4). Furthermore, the â€Å"savages† are very patient to the other religions, conversely to New English missionaries, who persistently impose Christian beliefs upon the aboriginal communities. Thus, the author implies that instead of judging the ethics of the other culture, it is necessary to correct the imperfections in the existing norms in the â€Å"civilized† society.Characterization is used in order to increase the attractiveness of the Native culture or promote it to the reasonable degree. Notably, the most important terms of characterization are capitalized, so that it is clear which qualities are emphasized (Wright, 1990): â€Å"By this means they indeed avoid Disputes, but then it becomes difficult to know their Minds, or what Impression you make upon them† (Franklin, 2005, par. 4). Therefore, one can underline the following qualities of the indigenous individuals: patience, self-control and interest in common peace.The most prominent point of characterization, used by the author, it the enthusiastic and inspiring description of their hospitality and generosity. It is clear from the writing that they provide their guests with the best facilities available, moreover, their principles ban them from attacking guests unless they behave violently. In this sense, the author implies that the visitors, in turn, not always appreciate warm welcomes, referring probably to the first encounter between colonists and the Natives, celebrated nowadays as the Thanksgiving Day.Finally, the humorous tone of particular episodes determines the absurdity of the English educational and religious programs, â€Å"kindly offered† (Wright, 1990, p. 266) to the indigenous society. One of the stories, for instance, describe the uselessness of the enlightenment (in the Western understanding) of the Natives: â€Å"Several of our Young People were formerly brought up at the college of the Northern Provinces; they were instructed in all your sciences; but when they came back to us, they were bad runners, ignorant of every means of living in the Woods†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ( Franklin, 2005, par. 3).As one can understand, the efforts towards educating the Natives without teaching them the natural life skills appears ridiculous. Another interesting narrative depicts a Swedish Minister, who tries to address the Biblical legend about the Cre ation in his lecture, but the practical and level-headed Natives respond that Eve acted unreasonably when eating apples as she could have done cider of them. Thus, the Christian mission is also fallible, as the tribes have much older and more usable religious and spiritual doctrines, which have conditioned their survival in the wilderness and supported them in their daily routines.To sum up, the use of contrast and comparison, as one can conclude from the analysis, is determined by the author’s willingness to show that the conceptual paradigm of the Native society equally deserves its existence and recognition, instead of the â€Å"Savages† label. Characterization as a technique is employed in order to create a positive emotional impression of the indigenous community as a group of hospitable, tolerant and broad-minded people.Finally, episodes of particularly humorous tone are included so that the ineptitude of the government efforts towards â€Å"civilizing† th e tribes is emphasized. Works cited Franklin, B. â€Å"Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America†. 28 June 2005, Lemay, J. The Canon of Benjamin Franklin, 1722-1776: New Attributions and Reconsiderations. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1986. Wright, E. Benjamin Franklin: His Life as He Wrote It. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1990.

Real Gross Domestic Product Of The United States And...

Real Gross Domestic Product Real Gross Domestic Product is the measure of the economy’s output of goods and services over a specific period of time. It is usually measured in comparison to the GDP’s of previous years. For instance, if a year-to-year Gross Domestic Product goes up by 2 percent, it is said that the economy has grown by 2 percent. On a more basic level, Gross Domestic Product can be measured by adding everyone’s earnings in a year or what everyone spent. This is known as the income approach and the expenditure approach. In 1942, Americas first Gross Domestic Product was published mainly for economic accountability. At the time, the United States was in the midst of the Great Depression. It was called Gross National Product,†¦show more content†¦The unemployment rate was high in 2009 after the US Housing Bubble burst. Unemployment is measured by sampling reports of staff on an employer’s payroll. Another form of measure for unemployment is through phone survey in which households are asked whether they are looking for a job or working. This information helps the Bureau of Labor Statistics to complete the percentage of unemployment. In order to be labeled unemployed, one must be looking for a job, laid-off waiting to be recalled or out of work completely. The US government began documenting unemployment in the 1950s. The highest rate of unemployment was after the great depression and World War II. The reason why I place unemployment second on the list of five economic factors is because it’s an indicator of the overall satisfaction or dissatisfaction of the American people. Unemployment drives Gross Domestic Product and the economy because without employment there would be low consumer spending, which is a key growth drive in the economy. Unemployment forces the government to infuse money into the economy for unemployment benefits which could potential lead to a recession. 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