Why Is Robin Hood Bad

Robin Hood the Man, the Myth, the Legend

Intro: Robin Hood, the famous outlaw, hero, and idol whose influence spanned centuries into the modern age. There are many speculations on who exactly Robin Hood is or what he did, but one thing that is certain is that his legend of being a hero who helped the poor by stealing from the government and the rich has evolved in different manners throughout time, whether it be through small or large changes. Robin Hood is most known for stealing from the government and the rich to give to the poor which stems from his original incarnation during the 14th century which marks his beginning, then in the 16th century the image of Robin hood began to become tainted, later in the 1940’s he was depicted as a hero

However his image as a hero who stole from the government and the rich began to become tainted due to his actions. During this time period this iteration of Robin hood influenced puritan forces, who were also named “Little Robins and Little Johns” to fight against the government, and “ … In 1641, the Puritan forces in the Parliament got fed up with King Charles I and kicked off a little fracas known as the English Civil War .... This ended with Charles I being beheaded in January 1649.” Afterwards, the government essentially banned anything which involved Robin hood or fun, however this did not stop the circulation of Robin Hood related things (Allen w. Wright, “Wolfshead Through the Ages”) . This signifies how Robin Hood was viewed as a bad influence in the eyes of the government, but still remained the hero of the people. Moreover Robin hood’s Image began to become tarnished because of conflictions with the protestant church. His conflictions arose when Robin Hood began to do acts “ … (which included) such charitable activities of building almshouses. It also includes such violent activities as castrating monks...Now, his former devotion to the Virgin Mary and the mass did not balance his anti-clerical robberies.”(Allen w. Wright, “Wolfshead Through the Ages”) This displays how Robin Hood was portrayed as a hero because he still helped the poor by “doing charitable acts”, but he was also shown as an outlaw who murdered religious figures and stole to give to the poor in order to oppose the church, which caused conflicting opinions on whether Robin hood was actually the man who stole from the rich and gave to the poor or if he was simply another ruthless