Everlasting Love for Arthur?

How has the Arthurian Legend survived to this day and age? The elements of love, gruesome fighting and the never-ending search for peace, strikes everyone's fancy; even in our modern time. Who doesn't appreciate a good love story with temptation, lust and murder? Or a battle that usually ends with decapitation? King Arthur's legend has something for everyone to be interested in, which is why it has passed the test of time with flying colors.

"I dare not kiss so lovely a lady. I have but one heart to lose." (1995 First Knight, Jerry Zucker) says Lancelot. This one sentence can make almost any woman melt. Novels involving love, grab and hold the attention of many readers. A good love story can sometimes bring the reader into a whole new realm and take them out of reality. Although love plays a big part in the plot of the Arthurian legend, chivalry is also incorporated in many ways. Today, the statement "chivalry is dead", is used very often and any woman would certainly agree. Men are not as courteous as they were back in the Medieval era. Women are not asking men to kill others, risk their own lives in battle or serve them like slaves; they simply wish men would hold doors, call them by a proper name or help them across a large puddle once in a while. The Arthurian legends let women believe men were, at some point, respectful.

Speaking of respect, a knight would not be appreciated if he could not hold up his end in a fight. Winning one-on-one battles, or any battle for that matter, would win a knight the respect of people across the land. "In answer the other knight drew his sword. Sir Lancelot did likewise and they rushed together. With his first stroke Sir Lancelot split open the knight's head, down to the throat." (Le Morte D'Arthur, Malory). It was near impossible, and unacceptable, to walk away from a battle; they would most certainly be shunned by all. Reading about the blood and gore that shows up frequently in the Arthurian legend, has kept people interested for many years. Sometimes the battles and descriptions seem so vivid, it could pass for non-fiction. People want to believe the legends are somewhat true.

Unfortunately, throughout the legends, the promises of peace were not true. Some kings fought for peace while others thrived off of their many battles. The chance of whether or not there would be peace amongst kingdoms keeps people reading too. "The cannons of his adversary were thundering in the tattered morning when the Majesty of England drew himself up to meet the future with a peaceful heart." (The Once and Future King, White). What a way to end a book. It makes one wonder; was there peace? Did Arthur remain king? The questions and topics of love, chivalry, battles and peace will remain to endure the test of time. Will you spread the legend?

Beowolf's overBearing Boastfulness

Is Beowolf acting selfish by saving the lives of many and finally killing the monster who has wreaked havoc on the city? Absolutely not! If you consider what he has done as selfish then you might as well take the name "hero" from Superman. Like Superman, Beowolf came to Herot only to defeat the terrorizing monster, such as the villains Superman triumphs over. "What we did was what our hearts help Our hands to perform.." (Beowolf 958-959) Sure, Beowolf rose to the occasion and will receive great fame for it. Yes he is proud of himself, but I would be too. No other man or army has been able to kill Grendel; it was a defeat worth acknowledging, but Beowolf did not fight for this reason. 

The First Photo of the Fifth Child

In my opinion, the fourth cover is the best fit for this story. It may not physically show what a horror Ben is, but this cover lets you read the book with an open mind. The other covers portray him as a monster and nothing more; I am not belittling the idea that Ben truly is a demon, but you need to look at him with a less biased view. His mother, Harriet, gives the reader the impression that he is evil and not human; you need to have another perspective, Ben's. He is merely a child who lacked tender love and care from his mother. She has treated him like a monster since he was in the womb, it's no wonder he acts like one. The family isolates him from the rest of the world, including themselves, as this cover shows. They treat him like an outsider and that is not love. At one point, Harriet refers to him as a "Neanderthal baby." (Lessing 53). Ben never had a fighting chance to be normal. 

191 Years Later and the Monster Lives on...

"There's a bit of the creature in all of us." writes Stephen Whitty, a journalist for the Star Ledger; and he is absolutely right. His article describes how metaphorical monsters are and how they can be more symbolic than anything. Our fears are direct results from horror films, novels, or plain old society, no matter how unrealistic they may be. However, in Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein", she did not want how dangerous, or frightening, the monster was to distract you from what she was really writing about. Loneliness, suffering and grief are only few of her main points to get across through out the novel. Shelly knows first hand about loss, grief and loneliness, for she experienced several deaths in her life; all of them being people close to her heart and in her life. Everywhere she turned was death, it's no wonder she was able to create such a dark story. 

Many people can relate to the monster in her story because they know how it feels to be left alone, or abandoned; if not by your parents then possibly by your friends. The readers are able to sympathize with him and justify his behavior because they were there at one point in their life. I'm sure many have wanted to force pain onto others, but were able to refrain because they know of the consequences; unlike the monster. We all have a monster inside of us, just dying to come out.

Frankenstein Reaction (bum bum bumm!)

Frankenstein is not the least bit what i expected. Amongst all of the stories I've heard about Frankenstein, this is not one of them. This story is not just about a monster that wreaked havoc city to city, but an explanation on why he is even considered a monster, and the life he lead up to that point. I had assumed that Victor would be ecstatic to become the first human known to have created another life, but I was misled. "I had gazed on him while unfinished; he was ugly then, but when those muscles and joints were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing such as even Dante could not have conceived." (Shelley 44) Victor abandoned and left him with no other choice but to fend for his life on his own; but the creation was like a newborn child just learning to walk, he didn't even know how to speak before Victor up and left him. 

The horror that this monster had brought into Victor's life caused a great deal of stress and guilt. These characteristics, when combined with grief, cause such an illness that it is hard to recover from. Victor knows it is his fault that a few people have lost their lives, but in a way Victor was selfish. The monster made it clear what he was going to do if Victor did not make him a bride, and for Victor to just throw his work away was a mistake and disrespectful. The monster is Victor's responsibility and he needs to start acting on it. I did not expect the creature to have developed feelings and emotions towards others, but this only makes me sympathize with him even more. I'm enjoying the story line a lot more then i expected and i cannot wait to see how it ends.