The history of Christianity has always involved turbulence. Not only were there divisions among the members of the religion into different sects according to their own beliefs and ideas, but also, there were struggles between Christianity and the pagan, in which the two opposing sides tried to weaken the other and yield greater influence. These divisions and fierce competitions can be observed in Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose, in which several clashes between systems are shown: a conflict between Christianity and paganism and one between the two different orders – the Benedictine and Franciscan. Moreover, the significance of the society’s mood is also evident: through the application of the concept of discourse, the impact of the societal norms and standards, particularly in the limited setting of a monastery, is depicted.
Summary
The Name of the Rose, written by Umberto Eco, deals with a series of mysterious murders that take place in 1327, in a Benedictine monastery in Northern Italy. The protagonist, William of Baskerville, along with his novice Adso of Melk, tries to solve this mystery. The former possesses an exceptional ability in logical reasoning and with his talent, he is able to collect defining and critical evidences that ultimately enables him to resolve the horrifying enigma.
The story unfolds as William of Baskerville, who is a Franciscan monk, arrives at a Benedictine monastery after he had been requested to visit the monastery for a disputation. William’s keenness and shrewdness are demonstrated when he succeeds in correctly guessing the name and the different characteristics of the abbot’s horse. The people in the monastery are surprised and appalled at his ability, and the abbot, deeply impressed with Wil...
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...e in judging whether a thought or a behavior is proper or not, conveys the general mood of the society of the 13th century. By blending these two aspects in the novel, Eco successfully managed to present their significance to the readers.
Works Cited
Eco, Umberto. The Name of the Rose. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1983.
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17 Nov. 2013. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 21 Nov. 2013.
Perpetua and Augustine were both Christian saints who lived in different time periods of Christianity. Perpetua lived during a time when Christianity was largely an underground religion, while Augustine lived later once the Christian faith had been declared the official religion of Rome. Due to these differences in the way in which the religion was viewed, people of the Christian faith held differing views, lived different lives, and were regarded in different ways by their family members. Perpetua and Augustine’s writings help demonstrate these distinctions.
Rodriguez makes a point of stating that there are tensions between the “brother religions”, religions that should be unified but instead are “united and divided by the masculine sense of faith”, still this same pattern is shown within the church (146). Rodriguez acknowledges the fact that the church is being divided each day due
Dilworth, Thomas. "A Romance To Kill For: Homicidal Complicity In Faulkner's 'A Rose For Emily'." Studies In Short Fiction 36.3 (1999): 251. MAS Complete. Web. 12 Apr. 2014.
Jane Yolsen produces a powerful and moving novel that deftly blends the legend of Sleeping Beauty with the historical tragedy of the Holocaust. To Rebecca, Sylvia and Shana, "Briar Rose" was simply a bed time story but in all reality the story they grew up with was an actual event in Gemma's life. Although Gemma always identified strongly with Briar Rose, the sleeping princess, no one had thought it anything but a bedtime story. But when a mysterious box of clippings and photos turns up after Gemma's death, hinting that the accepted version of Gemma's origins is untrue, Becca begins tracing the real story, which bears striking resemblance's to Gemma's fairy tale.
“The Hound of the Baskervilles” demonstrated the differences between the upper class and the lower class and even between those people who were in the same class as each others at the end of the 19th century in England. Beside those differences, there were also some similarities between the two classes. In this essay, I will analyse how they are alike and different in some main aspects such as the belief in the curse, the relationship to the law, their mysterious actions, and especially the subjugation between people in the same class.
Alice Walker’s “Roselily”, when first read considered why she decided to use third person. Especially when the story is in such a private line of thought, but then after my second time reading the story I decided that Roselily would not be a strong enough woman to speak about the social injustices that have happened to her. One key part of the story is her new life she will be facing after she is married in Chicago, while comparing it with her old life she is leaving in Mississippi. In Chicago she will no longer have a job, but instead be a homemaker where she will be responsible for the children and home. Also, in Chicago she will become a Muslim because it is what her new husband will want her to be, but back in Mississippi she was of the Christian faith. One of the more positive outcomes of her marriage is that she will go from extreme poverty, to not having to worry about money on a day to day basis.
...xternal factors that influence society. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Aeschylus’ The Oresteia, such factors and their drastic influences on Hamlet and Orestes were examined, as they struggled to develop their own sense of morality in situations with tragic consequences. Although the higher morality triumphed over the lower morality in the end, such conclusions cannot be completely objectified. Mankind is perpetually seeking moral approbation from themselves and from others, and therefore the morality of today is constantly changing as time progresses. Therefore, what may have been morally apropos in the past, cannot be generalized to fit society’s morals of today, and society’s morals of the future. Thus, as society advances towards the future, the moral questions and struggles Orestes and Hamlet faced might very well be a conflict society must inevitably contend to.
The novel is nurtured with a very soft but sophisticated diction. The essay itself portrays the author’s style of sarcasm and explains his points in a very clear manner. In addition, the author has used vocabulary that is very easy to understand and manages to relate the readers with his simplistic words. The author is able to convey a strong and provoc...
Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron is a series of tales written during the Late Middle Ages that is meant to entertain the reader. While the entertainment value of Boccaccio’s work in undeniable, the Decameron also provides the reader with information about society at the time, and Boccaccio’s own worldview. One of the most prevalent themes throughout the Decameron is the portrayal of clergymen and members of religious communities as negative influences on those around them, constantly behaving in a manner unfit for those who are supposed to be moral and spiritual exemplars. Throughout the tales told by the lieta brigada, many priests, and friars are portrayed as being extremely lustful and greedy, frequently indulging in sex (often with the wives of other men), and living lives more befitting of a minor lord than a monk. Those clergymen who are not portrayed as out rightly immoral are usually stupid, and are unable to stop others from acting immorally because of their ignorance. Despite this, a few of the clergymen in the story are shown as ultimately having good intentions, or improving in morality through the actions of another. To understand all of these criticisms of the clergy, we must look at them through a historical lens, and observe the behavior of members of the Church in the Late Middle Ages. Finally, these analyses of the Decameron’s portrayal of clergymen may give us insight into Boccaccio’s own faith, and allow us to understand the motives of the author. In this essay, I will analyze the portrayal of clergymen and members of religious communities in Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron. I will focus on the licentiousness, greed, and stupidity of these members of the Church, while also evaluating the few portrayals of good me...
Francis of Assisi is one of the most influential personalities in the entire world. In the book ‘Francis of Assisi: Performing the Gospel Life,’ Cunningham recounts the life of this humble monk who lived in the medieval times, and shaped the Christian life, which spread in Western culture throughout the rest of history. I believe Cunningham accurately accounts for the life of Francis of Assisi, and in doing so; he provides a trajectory of the Christian faith from its early and historical proponents through its fusion with western culture, and its subsequent spread throughout the world.
It among all the other montages is symbolic of the different magnifying events in the story. There is no actual rose in the story, only the word “rose” appears four times. The first two with the use as a verb. The next two occur at the very end, “A thin, acrid pall as of the tomb seemed to lie everywhere upon this room decked and furnished as for a bridal: upon the valance curtains of faded rose color, upon the rose-shaded lights, upon the dressing table, upon the delicate array of crystal and the man 's toilet things backed with tarnished silver, silver so tarnished that the monogram was obscured. (Faulkner 5.4)”
Faulkner, William. “A Rose for Emily.” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 12th ed. New York: Pearson, 2013. 549-51. Print.
McGlynn, Paul. "The Chronology of `A Rose for Emily.'" Studies in Short Fiction, 6 (1969): 461-62.
The Story of Christianity is a very informative summation; a continuation of Volume 1 which covered the beginning of the church up to the Protestant Reformation, while Vol. 2 dealt with the Protestant Reformation up to more modern time period. This author delivers a more comprehensive and deeper look into the development of Christianity, which includes particular events which had transpired throughout the world; particularly how Christianity has expanded into Central and South America. Gonzalez opens up this book with the “Call for Reformation,” where he shares with his readers the need for reform; the papacy had started to decline and was corrupt, in addition to the Great Schism, which had further weakened the papacy (p.8). The author explains how the church was not the only issue but that the church’s teachings were off track as well, seeing that the people had deviated from...
The narrator of the woman’s rose starts by describing the content of a wooden box which has been kept with special care over the years. This box is special because it contains a rose which is unique. Among the rose once belonged some other flowers but none are as important as the rose which resisted the test of time. The narrator moves on by describing the story behind her rose. When she was still fifteen, she visited a village where single men constituted the majority of the population. The narrator describes the only girl who was seen there and the young girl had power to seduce the men. Every one of them was falling for her. As soon as the narrator made her apparition in the village, the young girl became