The Arthurian Legend

Medieval Romances, as we all know, consist of chivalry, spontaneous fighting, love, and magic. They are set in a remote time or place and emphasize rank and social distinctions. The hero always has a pure advantage over the villain, and the story has loose structure, lacking in unity. Medieval Romances posses every element out there that will capture an audience's attention. The Arthurian Legend has endured the test of time because it does, in fact, consist of every element needed to capture an audience's attention. The Arthurian Legend is very much like the modern-day soap opera, this could easily be another major reason why it is still popular. There have been many different versions of the legend written.

'Le Morte D'Arthur' written by Sir T. Malory is just one of the many versions. Malory's story is taking place in a later time in King Arthur's life. "When King Arthur returned from Rome he settled his court at Camelot, and there gathered about him his knights of The Round Table, who diverted themselves with jousting and tournaments." (Malory, 118) Meanwhile T. H. White's version of the story entitled 'The Once Future King' is based on an earlier time in King Arthur's life, focusing on Lancelot. "You remember that Arthur wanted to catch his knights young, to train them for The Round Table, and that he had noticed Lancelot at the feast, because he was winning most of the games."

Not only have many stories been written about the Arthurian Legend, many movies have been made also. Parodies, even. 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' is a parody consisting of a plot line based on the time of King Arthur. "It's just a flesh wound" (Monty Python) is probably one of the most popular quotes from this movie. The quote comes from a scene where a knight gets his arm cut off and that is his response, this illustrates the humor in the movie. Even though 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' is a parody, it is still effective in telling the story of the

Legend of King Arthur.

Reaction To Medieval Works

To be honest, at first I did not think that i would enjoy these King Arthur-ish writings. I was correct about my assumption after the first story that we read. I did not enjoy the first 'Sword and the Stone' piece, I felt as if it was too long and dragged out. But my opinion soon changed after reading the second version of the 'Sword and the Stone' piece. I enjoyed how it was easier to read and the author almost seemed to have a sense of humor. 'Sir Gawain and the Lady Ragnell' is by far my favourite at the moment. I loved the twist that the Lady Ragnell ended up being beautiful, I had a feeling that she would. I was amazed at how loyal Sir Gawain is to Arthur. I have also been enjoying 'Sir Gawain and the Green Night' so far. I am always wanting to read past what we are assigned. So all in all I am enjoying the medieval works and am looking forward to reading more. :)

Is Beowulf Selfish???

Beowulf is indeed, selfish. I mean he is very good at what he does but he takes too much credit for it. He is everything but modest. He has accomplished many next-to-impossible tasks but he is just too cocky about them for my taste. After Beowulf slays Grendel and his mother Beowulf's soldiers celebrate his as if he is a god. I believe that these acts are what has turned Beowulf so cocky. He has just become so accustomed to being celebrated every time that he accomplishes something, he doesn't even think twice about it anymore.

'I ended his reign, avenged his crimes so completely in the crashing darkness that not even the oldest of his evil kind will ever boast, lying in sin and deceit...' (Lines 2005-2009) Beowulf is very aware of the accomplishments he has made, as is illustrated in the quote above. He does have, in some way, a few bragging rights, but he shouldn't be bragging as much as he is. He needs to learn to be more modest.

The Fifth Child correct cover

I believe that the fourth cover is the correct choice to be used on the book The Fifth Child. On this cover a little boy is shown through a window with his his pressed up against the glass. This cover illustrates the loneliness that Ben went through in his childhood. His mother locked him in his room all of the time, in fear of Ben hurting someone. "Now he was locked into his room each night, and there were heavy bars on the door as well." (Lessing 64) Ben got little to no attention and I believe that is one of the reasons that he turned out to be so violent and antisocial. I believe that Ben acted out as a cry for attention, not because he had a wanting to kill. Every child deserves attention and love, Ben did not get that. Ben was not used to being talked to, that he why his speech was so heavy and clumsy. This cover shows how Ben felt inside and therefore, is the best choice.

Reaction to article.

I agree 100% with Christopher Schildt. He says that "Mary Shelley was not writing about the evils of science and progress, but suffering and loss and pain, the feeling of being ostracized- that I think she knew very well. And I think people have always felt that, and so the can feel for the monster too... there's a bit of the creature in all of us."Mary Shelley lived a very unfortunate life. Death was something that she was very familiar with. It surrounded her. She expressed this through her tale of Frankenstein.

Throughout the novel Mary Shelley shows the reader how to feel sympathy towards Victor as well as the creature. Everyone has their own opinions on which character they feel the most sympathy towards, I personally feel the most sympathetic towards Victor. The creature killed everyone that Victor loved only because Victor would not risk his own life again to make the creature a mate. And on top of that the creature goes out and kills Victor anyways. Victor did not deserve that. As you can see, Mary Shelley made it very easy for the readers of her novel to feel sympathetic towards her characters.

Frankenstein Reaction

The novel Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley, is a book that I have truly enjoyed. Honestly, I did not expect to like it this much. I never really seem to enjoy novels that are read in school. Now that we are on chapter 23 I am very surprised at the content of this novel. Hollywood has made Frankenstein out to be this extraordinary story (it is don't get me wrong) but the book doesn't make it out to be as Hollywood made it seem.

Before reading this novel i honestly thought that Frankenstein was the monster, I soon learned to find out that Victor Frankenstein is the creator of the monster and the monster has no name. I was very surprised at this. Before reading the book I had never seen any of the Frankenstein movies just images of the creature with his signature green skin and metal bolts on either side of his neck. I have truly enjoyed this novel thus far and I'm excited to see what the ending is like.