Romantic Period Webquest

I work as coal miner. I have to drag sleds of coal up and down the shafts. I have to crawl through the shafts because since the tunnels are only about three or even two feet high, carrying a candle as it is pitch black in the mine; I generally become black with coal by the end of the work day. This is job as dangerous as frequently the shafts collapse, trapping the miners, or candle is lit in a gas pocket causing an explosion; by the time the shaft is clear again the miner may have suffocated. I do this for 12 hours every day except sunday, when I sleep, and during strike riots when I don't have to worry about food since I can easily steal food in the chaos of the riot. I live in an small apartment in the slum, where I generally go home and sleep and keep eat gruel for dinner.

Lord Byron - She Walks in Beauty

I like how Byron describes the night as a kind and gentle woman. The night makes up the better part of my day, it is when I can rest and sleep. The darkness of the night isn't dirty like the coal mines, it's warm and clean and restful.

"She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that's best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes: Thus mellowed to that tender light Which heaven to gaudy day denies."

I like the way the poet writes of the night sky, I never see it now as it is covered in smog, it reminds me of my home before I came to the city.

William Wordsworth - By the Sea

The poet talks of walking by the sea in the evening, with a child. The sea makes the poet sad and silent, but the child is stilly happy and natural, as if they walked by the sea all the time.

"Thou liest in Abraham's bosom all the year, And worshipp'st at the Temple's inner shrine."

This makes me think of when I went to the sea as a child, I was very young. The sea is clean and cool and everlasting, it will still will be after the slum and coalmine and factories are abandoned and gone. I would like to go back there.

Percy Bysshe Shelley - A New World

This poem talks about the buildings and the cities empires of the earth falling away like a bad dream and the world being reborn. If the empires of the earth includes London, I am all for this.

"Heaven smiles, and faiths and empires gleam,
Like wrecks of a dissolving dream."

After the world is reborn, the old and great beings and heroes of the ancient world will return and be in their youth. I am not a great being or hero, but perhaps I will have a place in this new world also, and I will leave this black hole beneath the ground and live in work in the fields and forest of the world.

"A loftier Argo cleaves the main,
Fraught with a later prize;
Another Orpheus sings again,
And loves, and weeps, and dies.
A new Ulysses leaves once more
Calypso for his native shore."

John Keats - Robin Hood

This poem is about Robin Hood and Sherwood Forest. The poet talks about his regret at the loss of the wildness and freedom of the forest.

"No! those days are gone away,
And their hours are old and gray,
And their minutes buried all
Under the down-trodden pall
Of the leaves of many years:
Many times have winter's shears,
Frozen North, and chilling East,
Sounded tempests to the feast
Of the forest's whispering fleeces,
Since men knew nor rent nor leases.

I have known rent and leases, and can honestly say I regret both. But theres nothing that can be done, theres nowhere in the world one can go without having someone demanding rent, even the most shriveled of apples is already owned and on its way to market.

"She would weep, and he would craze:
He would swear, for all his oaks,
Fall'n beneath the dockyard strokes,
Have rotted on the briny seas;
She would weep that her wild bees
Sang not to her--strange! that honey
Can't be got without hard money!"

Lord Alfred Tennyson - Flower in the crannied wall

This poem is written about a flower which the poet has plucked from an old wall and examined. He writes:

"Flower in the crannied wall,
I pluck you out of the crannies
I hold you here, root and all, in my hand,
Little flower -but if I could understand
What you are, root and all, and all in all,
I should know what God and man is."

Though he has the flower materially in hand, he implies that the flower has a being and depth of meaning which is beyond the full grasp of his understanding. This shows the Victorian poets idea of the transcendent aspect of reality, beyond the material.

The Victorian Era

The Victorian era was more prosperous than the preceeding eras; largely because of the profit from the colonies of the British Empire, allowing a large middle class to develop. Britian was not involved in any major wars from 1815, at the Battle of Waterloo, until 1914 and the beginning of World War II, however there were multiple rebellions and conflicts in their colonies. In 1832 a reform act was passed, making major changes to the electoral system and allowing a larger portion of the population to vote in parliament. There were several movements attempting to limit labor abuses, particularly a law passed in 1842 which prohibited women and children from working in coal, iron, tin, and lead mines; however child labor continued into the 20th century.

While the Victorians were concerned with social reform, without entirely discrediting them it seems that much of this was an arbitrary and superficial effort to establish a "civilized" society. The Victorian middle class generally attempted to edit out topics such as death, birth, sex, or any other subject which they considered "uncivilized" or unpleasant. The Victorians valued material progress, cleanliness and order, and generally swept anything which they felt might be otherwise under the rug. The streets of the rich and middle class were kept clean and well lit, and a large police force was established to keep the poor on the correct side of the railroad tracks. Many of the lower class accepted this and placed primary importance on maintaining the appearance of civility and the maintaning of the "Victorian ideal", as though it were something which actually benifited them.

The Victorian Era appears to be mainly a violent reaction against the chaos which occured in the time of the Romanticist movement. this they set themselves up on stilts and placed bans and taboos and on anything they considered be anything other than pleasant and dandy, creating a superficial social veneer; they seemed to feel that as long as they stayed inside these parameters, their material comfort and safety was ensured.

Most Victorian writers were against this view of the world, considering the current society to be superficial and materialistic. Some gave descriptions the sufferings and passions of the world outside of their social constructs, intentionally breaking the taboos and decorums of the Victorians against horrors the uncontrolled and unpleasantness. They considered their writing an attempt to change others perception of the world, raising questions towards society and social priorities and revealing a world beyond the material, focusing on the eternal and transcendental.

Common People in the Restoration

The most important thing to the common people at this time was probably staying alive for as long as possible, which meant primarily meant avoiding disease and finding something to eat. The poor were reduced to a basic view of life, the main question being whether they were hungry or not hungry, or during the plague whether they were diseased or not, and most of their actions revolved around ensuring the latter; other concerns would have naturally become very secondary.

"These mothers, instead of being able to work for their honest livelihood, are forced to employ all their time in strolling to beg sustenance for their helpless infants: who as they grow up either turn thieves for want of work, or leave their dear native country to fight for the Pretender in Spain, or sell themselves to the Barbadoes."

A Journal of the plague Year

Defoe's descriptions are very grotesquely realistic, he engrosses the the reader in the plague London. I was disappointed on reading that the account was fictional and Defoe did not actually witness these events first hand. He communicates the immense and suffocating fear of the plague, which was literally everywhere, and also the despair, as halting its spread was like trying net a patch of air in a disintegrating butterfly net. It seems it would have been nearly impossible not to have contracted the plague, as the city was drowning in it. "There was a strict order to prevent people coming to those (burial) pits, and that was only to prevent infection. But after some time that order was more necessary, for people that were infected and near their end, and delirious also, would run to those pits , wrapped in blankets or rugs, and throw themselves in, and, as they said, bury themselves." The stories of resistance to the death and madness, against the sheer breadth, were encouraging if melancholy. Particularly the story of the man who kept himself alive by swimming across the Thames and ceaselessly running through the city until the exertion of his body forced the plague spots to break down and ingest, and the joy of the diary keeper on finding himself alive after the passing of the plague.

"A dreadful plague in lond was
In the year sixty-five,
Which swept a hundred thousand souls
Away; yet I alive!"

Romantic Poetry

William Blake - The sunflower

This is a short poem written about a sunflower who aspires after the sun. The sun flowers ambition is reflected by the poets own desire, showing a the romanticist theme of of escape from industrial society into nature and natural things. "Ah, Sunflower! weary of time,Who countest the steps of the sun, Seeking after that sweet golden clime Where the traveller's journey is done."

William Wordsworth - By the sea

Wordsworth describes a walk by the sea in the evening, in which he is made silent and "solemn" with awe. However a young child who is with him seems unchanged by the scene, as if it were their natural environment. He comments that they are "untouched by solemn thought" and writes "Thou liest in Abraham's bosom all the year, And worshipp'st at the Temple's inner shrine." In other words this state seems natural to children who are less accustomed and influenced by the corruption of the industrialist society. This admiration and belief in this natural state, and the desire to return and stay in it, are romanticist ideas.

Lord Byron - She Walks in Beauty

In the poemt Byron compares the beauty of a woman to the beauty of the night.

"She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies."

The poem expresses a love of natural beauty in general. "And on that cheek, and o'er that brow, So soft, so calm, yet eloquent" The poet describes the feeling of beauty, using anologies to nature and natural things, prefering intuition over rational description, displaying romanticism.

Percy Bysshe Shelley - A New World

In the poem the empires and structures of the old world fall and a new world arises, beggining again. "Heaven smiles, and faiths and empires gleam, Like wrecks of a dissolving dream." The poet writes of the young Greek gods being reborn on the earth, this time fuller and brighter.

"A loftier Argo cleaves the main,
Fraught with a later prize;
Another Orpheus sings again,
And loves, and weeps, and dies.
A new Ulysses leaves once more
Calypso for his native shore."

This displays the romanticist desire for a return to an earlier time and place, here time and place is reborn, a return to the youth of the world.

John Keats - Robin Hood

In his poem Keats writes about the shrinking and degradation of the world. He laments the taming of Sherwood forest and absence of adventure.

  "No! those days are gone away,
And their hours are old and gray,
And their minutes buried all
Under the down-trodden pall
Of the leaves of many years:
Many times have winter's shears,
Frozen North, and chilling East,
Sounded tempests to the feast
Of the forest's whispering fleeces,
Since men knew nor rent nor leases."

He is clearly against the rise of industrialization and privatization
of the world, which he has in common with Romanticist and also
the Luddites ( a group which destroyed factories and revolted against
 industrialist) writing:

  "She would weep, and he would craze:
He would swear, for all his oaks,
Fall'n beneath the dockyard strokes,
Have rotted on the briny seas;
She would weep that her wild bees
Sang not to her--strange! that honey
Can't be got without hard money!"

The Romantic Period

The enlightenment occurred shortly before the romantic era. During this time many new scientific principals and technologies were being discovered at a rapid rate, as well as the discovery or rediscovery of many philosophical and political ideas. This led to a sense of revolution on many different levels, political, social, technological and economic. The most well known of these were the political revolutions which occurred during or shortly after this time, the American and French revolutions.

The second significant event occurred as a result of this and was more negative. The industrial revolution was enabled by the scientific progress of the enlightenment. This movement largely operated on the basis of somewhat narrow rationalist principals, namely efficiency, centralization and "progress", which primarily seems to mean economic progress and profit. The sense of humanity and aesthetics were largely sacrificed here.

The life of the common people was degraded during this era. Most skilled workers were unable to compete with the low cost and high production rates of the factories, and were forced to give up their trades and go to the cities to find work. They worked long hours to receive low wages to pay for basic sustenance to allow them to continue to work, life was stale.

The romanticist were against this for obvious reasons. Their poetry is based on intuition and rather than rationalism, an attempt to capture feeling and sensation. According to Williams Wordsworth the poetry came from “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”, while the poetry itself, as described by Samuel Coleridge, was the “the mediatress between, and reconciler of nature and man”.

Nature and pastoral life was another theme of romanticist work. They attempted to express nature not only in the sense of the forest and fields, but in the sense of a return to the natural state of things, which had been imposed on by society. Their Poetic form also reflects this, they tried to use natural expression over classical or formal. Their subject matter reflects this also, much of it is removed from their immediate geography and era.

A Modest Proposal

This is satire because it exposes the actuality of a political issue in its bare bones. The wealthy, particularly the English aristocracy, at this time were living their comfortable and extravagantly dignified lives at the extreme expense of the poor, who the wealthy regard as a social impediment or political problem. To express this Swift suggest that since the poor have no real way to support themselves without inconveniencing the rich economically, to eradicate the problem their babies could be sold and cooked as a delicacy for the aristocrats.

Satire

Satire uses irony and sarcasm to create a caricature of a subject, focusing on and enlarging its inconsistancies and ridiculus aspects to expose, denounce, or make a point about it, such as political cartoons.

The Glorious Revolution

The Glorious Revolution was the relatively peaceful overthrow of James the II by William of Orange. James the II was a catholic and also an absolutist, or for absolute monarchy. By 1686 he had this position had isolated him from both of the powerful English political parties, the Whigs were against him for ignoring parliament and limiting its power, while both the Whigs, Tories, and most of the country was against his catholicism. Still his position remained stable, because his daughter, the current heir to the throne, was a Protestant. The situation became unbalanced when he had a catholic son, as the parliament wanted to prevent a line of catholic monarchs. William, who was married to Jame's daughter Mary, informed the English people and Parliament that if he should ascend to the throne by any means, he would restrain royal power and restore Protestantism in England. He raised a large expidionary force of mercenaries, and announcing that he was coming to "negotiate" with the English King and parliament, crossed the English channel and slowly advance on London. James's position was very weak, many of the ruling class and common people joined with William, while the majority waited passively for the outcome of events. With little or no support, James eventually left the country. After a long debate parliament agreed that since the kingship had been abdicated, the crown would be given jointly to William and Mary.

This was signifigant because the will of the people was used to influence the government and remove the monarch. While William of Orange and his Dutch armada were also a large factor, the revolution was relatively little conflict because it was promoted and accepted and promoted by the majority, not only the nobles but also the common people, many of whom joined Williams army. In most revolutions the King was executed and the existing goverment scattered, however in this case James was allowed to leave the country and the goverment and the houses of parliament remained intact, the only change was the monarch. Parliament's power was also increased, since William had negotiated with them before the revolution to gain their support, or at least neutrality.

Peter Pan Critical Essay

There is a sense of wonder which comes naturally to children. The child’s world is full of secrets, in the corners of the attic, behind the locked doors and high fences, in the late night after they are in bed; there is mystery and adventure in the unknown. The world is constantly expanding, the geographies further unfolding before their infinite and voracious wonder lust, the child is a Christopher Columbus, or rather Christopher Columbus as he should have been, joyfully discovering and bounding across new continents, new worlds, dripping with experience. This sense of wonder usually becomes lost or forgotten in adulthood. James Barrie regretted this loss deeply. Peter Pan was his effort to remember and record this lost sense, giving new life to a spirit. He pulls these characters from his mind and the minds of others, embodying them in his writing, an attempt to reawaken wonder.

On attending elementary school, children are introduced to the idea that there is a known way the world works, one way, it has been tested and proven by multiple generations before them, and the people before those generations were simply ignorant. Your first grade teacher knows a great deal about it and you know very little, so you would do best to be quiet and listen. Children are given the “answers”. When nearly everything is known, and there is very little unknown, there can be no mystery, no wonder. If you cannot see it, it is not real, there is nothing real in the world that cannot be seen and documented in a rational manner. By creating these “answers”, the world is given a ceiling and a roof, which we may not climb on. We lose or forget the wonder lust which revealed the geographies of the world to us as children.

Barrie had the ability to move thoughts and ideas from his mind into the real world. Neverland and the Kensington gardens are the geographies of his mind. William Phelps writes of Barrie “he is one of those extremely rare artists who can actually embody their con­ceptions. His dreams come true. At his desk, he is visited by visions so fantastic that he must often laugh aloud in solitude; but the amazing thing is that he can make the whole world see them as he sees them.” He describes how after “lockout time” in the Kensington Gardens the park becomes the realm of the birds and the fairies, which hold banquets and dances in the fields of the park. “Long ago children were forbidden the Gardens, and at that time there was not a fairy in the place; then the children were admitted, and the fairies came trooping in that very evening. They can’t resist following the children, but you seldom see them, partly because they live in the daytime behind the railings, where you are not allowed to go, and also partly because they are so cunning”. His characters are drawn from childhood archetypes, his descriptions pull on the psyche to for the awe of a child who sees the world towering over him. The world expands again; there are secrets in intricacy and detail.

So Barrie has pulled these things from his mind, and shown them to the world. However these are “just” Barrie’s thought, however perhaps they are not only Barrie’s. Perhaps the reason his stories, along with all great stories, have such a strong pull on people is that we already know them, we have only forgotten. Even then, they are still things which are only present in the mind, in most cases the subconscious. The question of whether or not Peter Pan is of any literary significance boils down to the question of which is more important; the consciousness, or the physically present. If the physical (as in what is currently real) is what mainly matters, then Barrie was just a bit of a pedophile who wrote trite and ridiculous children’s stories, which became a permanent but equally ridiculous fad, and was probably mad. Though maybe he was mad anyway, if to be insane is to see the world “differently”. If what is in the consciousness is mainly what matters, then Barrie was probably a genius, and has had some hand in shaping the world for the better. Does the real form the consciousness or the consciousness form the real? In a letter to Barrie, Robert Louis Stevenson wrote that “the actual is not the true”. Most of Barrie’s writing is not directly social satire and or philosophy, but when I read his pages, the realities of modern society seem to stammer and dim. A man may count his gold, but he is not wealthy, he may put the crown tottering on his head, but he is not king.

J.M. Barrie Biography

James Barrie was was born in May of 1860, his father, David, was a middle class weaver, little else is generally mentioned of him. He seems to have been closest to his mother, she was mother to ten children of whom James was the ninth, two had died before he was born. Before this she had been caretaker of her own childhood household after her mother when she was eight. From all accounts she was hard working and affectionate, she told James stories of her childhood as well as Robinson Crusoe and Pilgrims Progress. She was probably the main basis of the character Wendy.

When he was six, his older brother David died in an ice skating accident two days before his fourteenth birthday. His mother was devestated, but supposedly was comforted by the thought that he would "remain a boy forevever". This had a signifigant influence on James, who continued to look upto him, idolizing to his older brother after his death; he began wearing his dead brothers brothers oversized clothes, frightening his mother. In his later writings he suggest that children who die before their fourteenth birthday remain pure and innocent forever.

Starting at age eight he was sent to attend several academies, here he became a constant reader, his favorite authors at the time were James fenimore Cooper and Robert Michael Ballantyne. He wanted to begin a career as a write after leaving these academies, but gave way to his families ambition that he attend Edinburgh University, in hopes that he would become a minister. He felt supressed or at least disinterested by adult life, he once described a nightmare he had of waking up in a bed, married. Fortunately his early writings were enough of a success to allow him to make a living and continue writing, until he became firmly established as a playwrite. His early novels were tales of childhood and Scotland, along with the tale of Tom, a young man who clings to his childhood fantasie and becomes materially and socially ruined.

Through some series of events he became married to Mary Ansell in 1891, she was an actress and met Barrie when she was cast as the lead in one of his early plays. He seems to have been fond of her, but the marriage detiorated. Barrie spent more time in the park where he befriended several of the younger patrons, participating in and recording childrens games. The closest of these friendships was with the Llewellyn Davie boys; Peter, George, Michael, John, and Nicholas, and their parents, Arthur and Sylvia. The boys were the final spark which ignited the character of Peter Pan in his mind. After the death of the boys father he became even closer to the family, taking them to his country house for the summers and giving their mother financial aid. His marriage with Mary was at this point destroyed, she had become involved with an acquantance of Barrie's and he granted her a divorce. Soon after Mrs. Llewelyn became very ill and died; Barrie claimed they had been engaged to be married, this was never confirmed.

Barrie became the godfather of the boys; , and he was able to support the boys through college. The boys grew up, though they were not allowed happy lives. George was shot and killed in World War I, Michael was drowned while swimming his first year at Oxford, Peter commited suicide in 1959. Barrie died of pneumonia in 1937, he left the rights and royalties of Peter Pan to Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital. Though the tabloids of the victorian society of he tried to escape continued to suggest that that he was a pedophile, Peter Pan had caste him as a permanent figure in english literature; he was made a baronet in 1913, and admitted into the British Order of Merit in 1922.

Peter Pan 111-197

Wendy and her brothers eventually return home because they are afraid that if they stay gone too long their parents will replace them. This is what happened to Peter, one night long before when he had attempted to fly back to his mother, he found the window had been shut; he had become completely severed from his home and mother. Though he is now carefree and thoughtless, it is suggested that this upset him considerably at the time, however he does not tell this to the children.

After leaving the children Peter promises to return to take Wendy to neverland every spring; after a few years he forgets and Wendy believes he has forgotten. Many years later when Wendy is grown up and has become a mother, Peter appears again at the window. While Peter seems unconscious that more than one spring has past, Wendy is taken by surprise. Neverland is now only a story she tells to her daughter, before Peter returned she wonders if she had only imagined the entire adventure. She ask about tinker bell and the lost boys, but finds that Peter has completely forgotten them; he merely shrugs off the question, explaining that there are lots of being born and dying constantly. This is very sad and melancholy, though also hopeful since the cycle is constantly being continued. Fairies and magic are being reformed and given new life like the passing formations of lights and clouds.

In the last third of the book is made up of the stories of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. These were Barrie's first conceptions of Peter Pan, however these were not merely rough drafts, the stories stand independently. According to the text he was helped in his writing by a boy he had befriended named David. He would tell David a story, who would then tell it back to him, changing it slightly and adding his own interpretations. This was probably my favorite part of the book. The concepts and characters seem to be drawn from Barrie's childhood archetypes, they pull strongly towards the child's conceptions of secrets and magic hidden just out of sight in the unknown, a sense that weakens and is lost when children grow older, the world stops expanding. Barrie regrets this loss, most of his writing here seems to be an attempt to remember these sensations and record them, and perhaps to awake them in others.

Peter Pan 45-111

Wendy becomes Peter and the lost boys' mother. Tinkerbell hates Wendy out of Wendy, when she first arrives on the island she tells the lost boys that Wendy is a bird and Peter wants them to shoot her. Toodles, who is the most gullible of the lost boys, strikes Wendy with an arrow, however she survives Tinkerbells plot and lives. The lost boys build a house around here until she is well, after which they all move into the lost boys' underground home. Wendy and the lost boys "make believe" to live in an ordinary house, and they go around pretending to do things such as eat dinner, do chores, and have school.

Peters character is a bit questionable at times; while he is often brave and heroic, he is also at times selfish and seems to border on sociopathy. He is constantly forgetting things that he is not immediately concerned with, he may forget events or people once he loses interest. He is entirely unbound by obligations of any sort, he seems to simply do whatever strikes his interest at the moment, nearly everything is a game to him. Sometimes when he and his lost boys are fighting the indians, he becomes bored and switches sides to add interest. At the same time many actions are very courageous and noble; however you always have to question whether or not he merely did it for the fun of it, and if it was only for the fun of it, does that make it wrong?

Hook is obsessed with the idea of "good form". To him this means that to do a thing well, it must not only be done, achieving the end, but it must be done in a certian and correct way. He is constantly agonized by whether or not he has done something in the correct form. He feels that all his sucess, though is the most feared of pirates, is undermined, falsified, if what he has done has not been in good form. If what he did was not in good form, then though he may have achieved a thing through some cheat or mistake, he feels he will soon be found out as a hollow fraud, without good form to back him. Most excruciating to him is that if one has to wonder whether or not one was in good form, this is inherently bad form. Even at his death, when he is knocked from his ship to the crocodile by Peter, he is gratified by the fact that Peter shows bad form by kicking instead of stabbing on his final blow.

Mentor Log, April 3, 3:15 - 5:15

This mentor meeting was also in the classroom. We discussed project ideas. I want to do something related to archetypes amd myth ideas and how they are formed, possibly a map. This may involve some sort of survey, gathering and analyzing other peoples myth conceptions and psychic images. This probably wouldn't be practical. I may try to to find and map out what my archetype ideas are, or come up with and explain some sort of method for doing this. My mentor suggested a map of hero and villian archetypes and how the connect, I may do this but it would be more interesting if the map was broader. Also I am more interested in looking at the original images and how they are formed than looking at the pre-formed categories protaganist and antagonist, which would be more of a study of literary mechanics than mythology.

Mentor Log, March 20, 3:15 - 5:15

My first meeting with my mentor was in the classroom. We spent the time editing my research paper for my final draft. This was helpful in figuring out which parts of the paper made absolutely no sense in which parts made some slight sense. We also edited for basic mistakes and reforming some sentence structures, but this was less relevant since I can do this alone.

Peter Pan 1-45

Peter Pan comes to take Wendy and the other Darling children to Neverland. This is a fairy island that exist in children's head's, somewhat outside of space and time. An assortment of magical creatures and romantic figures live on the island, such as pirates and fairies. Peter Pan is the ruler, or at least central figure, of the realm. Adventures, conflicts and extraordinary events are constantly occuring here, most of these have the feel of childs play, but can still be fatal. Things which would usually be neccesities, such as working and eating, are only lightly adhered to. They may eat an actual dinner, or they may only pretend to, as the idea is mostly what counts here.

Captain Hook is the main antagonist on the island. He commands the pirates, most of whom are not specificially from neverland, but have come to harrass and raid the island. Hook doesn't associate with his crew and considers himself to be on a different class from them. He views most of his henchment as unintelligent and classless, this seems to isolate and frustrate him. Occasionally he impales them on his hook when they are exceptionally stupid.

The only thing Hook fears is the Crocodile, who is always slowly following on his tail; when it comes to near he is reduced to an almost pitiable and pathetic state by his fear of it. He is usually able to escape however because of the watch which the crocodile has in its stomach, the ticking and tocking warns him off. Peter Pan was the one who originally gave the crocodile a taste for him, he cut off Hooks arm and threw it to the beast. Hook hates Peter for this, as well as for his "cockyness".

Even before they go there, Neverland exist in some form in all of the childrens heads, a landscape of their dreams and daydreams. The geographies and inhabitants of the neverlands are different according to the child, for example in Wendies neverland home is a house sown of leaves, whereas John's is an overturned boat on the shore, and Michael's a wig wam; also because Michael is very young, in his neverland the ground is up and the sky is down. However all the neverlands are essentially the same place, and they are all connected. However when the children actually go to neverland with Peter, finding it as a place in the "real" world, it is somewhat different. When the children had visited their own individual neverlands it had always been daytime; and while they had adventures, they were never in any real danger. In the neverland Peter has taken them too, there is both night and day, not only benevolent animals and magical creatures, but also malicious wolves and pirates.

The Once and future king pg. 201-311

King Arthur wins the battle of Bedegraine, establishing his kingship over the dissenting nobles. He forms the round table to control the ruling class who have been abusing power and taking advantage of the serfs. He discusses his ideas about might and right with Merlin, eventually deciding that just because someone has the power to potentially do something, doesn't necessarily mean they should. This idea is central to the round table, and most of this part of the book is spent discussing it.

Beowulf assignment 4

Beowulf is accepting of his death rather than bitter or spiteful. Because he believes he lived well, being just and upright, and died for in the cause of defending his people from the dragon, he is at peace in death. "I awaited my destiny well: never did I plot a quarrel, never did I swear an unjust oath. I take joy in this, despite a mortal wound. The Ruler of Mankind will not charge that I murdered a kinsman when my life departs this body." Here he even says that he "takes joy" in this; I wonder how Beowulf's people viewed the afterlife.

It's appropriate that both Beowulf and his great adversary, the dragon, die in battle. There is a sense of general dimishment in this; where Beowulfs fight's were against ancient demons and great monsters, the battles will now be fought amonst men over their land disputes and petty feuds. The messanger bring the news of Beowulf's death predicts war and hardship, saying "Now shall the spear be raised, clasped in hands, many a cold morning; now no sound of harp shall wake the warrior, but the voice of the dark raven, eager over the doomed, speaking to the eagle of how the meals are, how he rifles corpses beside the wolf." Even before his battle with the dragon, Beowulf has begun feel tired in life, saying: "Sorrow is in the home, the wine-hall abandoned, bereft of joy. The riders sleep, warriors in the grave; there is no harp song, no joy in the court. Not as there once was. Comes then from the bed stead a song of sorrow. The house and fields seem too large."

Beowulf assignment 3

Beowulf is portrayed as almost God-like. He was brought up from childhood to be a warrior, he is always fearless, self-assured, and nearly undefeatable. "But a warrior of Hygelac's heard of Grendel's doings; he was the strongest of men alive in that day, mighty and noble." This sets him apart considerably from the ordinary people. In contrast, the heroes in our culture are very human; at times nearly to the point of incompetence. In most of today's stories, hero's ordinary people before they became superheroes, generally by unwittingly stumbling into some drastic and life changing chain of events. Spiderman is probably the archeotype of this kind of modern hero. Before being bitten by a genetically altered super-spider, he was Peter Parker, an unpopular and somewhat nerdy high school student living with his aunt and uncle. People identify with these heroes because of their weaknesses, their imperfections give them humanity.

As he grows old, Beowulf becomes tired and disillusioned with his kingship, saying "Sorrow is in the home, the wine-hall abandoned, bereft of joy. The riders sleep, warriors in the grave; there is no harp song, no joy in the court. Not as there once was. Comes then from the bedstead a song of sorrow.The house and fields seem too large" The same thing happens to many modern superhero's, such as Batman, who eventually considers giving up his role as a hero.

Beowulf assignment 2

The most obvious anglo-saxon belief illustrated in Beowulf is the strong warrior culture. Most of the story revolves around this, Beowulf being their archeotypical warrior. Because of this Hrothgar shows revrence for Beowulf, saying

"Now, Beowulf, best of warriors, I love you as a son:have from this moment a new kinship. Nor will there be any lack of earthly things I have power over.Often I have given gifts to a lesser warrior, weaker in fighting. You have, by your deeds, achieved fame forever."

Beowulf doesn't seem to reflect the religious views held by the Celts at this time; most of the references to religion have a Christain tone. For example, God is only refered to in the singular; though the celts were pluralistic in their religion. "It was well known among men that, if God willed it not, no one could drag that demon to the shadows." It may just seem this way because of the abridged translation. Also the mention of Grendel being a descendent of Cain, though this isn't explicitly Christian; I think he appears in several religions. Christianity was spreading, but not widely accepted.

The bard in the story, who sings after Beowulf slays Grendel, tells about the Danes feud with the Jutes. This was an ongoing conflict for the Anglo-saxons.

"He sang of Finn's offspring and how Hnaef of the Danes fell in a Jute battlefield.Indeed Hildeburh did not have much cause to praisethe good faith of her in-laws,the Jutes: though blameless, she was deprived of dear ones by the shield play, both her son and Hnaef, her brother, in fate fell to spear wounds."

Beowulf assignment 1

While I liked the concept of the story, Beowulf seemed one dimensional as a protaganist. The monster Grendel attacks, he kills it, another monster, Grendel's mother attacks, he kills her as well. I find him dull for the same reasons I never really liked superman. He's like the little kid on the playground who comes up with new super powers for himself every five minutes; except in this case he had already claimed them all at the start. No one really expects him to fail, his victory is inevitable until he arrives at his fatal last battle in his old age; at which point his death is likewise inevitable. Becuase of the this it sometimes becomes a bit dull waiting for his inevitable success. Even so, the original can't really be considered clich'e, as it created the clich'e.

Some of Beowulf's reasoning is odd, particularly when he decides to fight Grendel without a sword or shield. I guess the idea behind this is that it would be less honorable, or at least less noteworthy, to kill an unarmed monster while armed. Even though this turns out to be beneficial, it seems that the question of honor is less important against a monster which was eating innocent people. He could have potentially failed against Grendel by refusing to use a sword, allowing the monster to continue feeding on the townspeople; which in my opinion would have been more dishonorable than using a sword. I also find it kind of funny that he allows Grendel to eat several of his sleeping men before challenging him.

The text gives the impression that the people in these regions were almost constantly involved in bloody fuedal wars over issues of honor or property. This being the case, it's ironic that Grendel was considered a major threat. Even though he was obviously unpleasant and malicious, his rampages seemed to be limited to eating a few unfortunate individuals sleeping in the mead hall. It may be more the intrusion of on the mead hall that caused the indignant reaction, as this was considered a major cultural icon, symbolizing the wealth and power of their kingdom.

The multiple religious references were interesting to find here; most of these have an orthodox Christian tone, especially since God is always refered to in the singular. This seems inconsistent with the beliefs of the region in the time the story takes place, Christian doctrine was probably still being introduced to the region and was not widely accepted, or at least not promoted as it is here. On the other hand some elements such as the ambigious view of Beowulf's afterlife are contrary to the church at the time; this makes you wonder who was writing down the story.