Braveheart vs. William Wallace

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Braveheart vs. William Wallace

The movie Braveheart, directed by Mel Gibson and released in 1995, is an epic tale about a Scottish hero named William Wallace. The movie is exceptionally accurate when compared with other historical movies. However, changes have been made to make the film more entertaining and romantic. Despite some minor historical glitches, Braveheart is wonderfully composed and really gives the viewer a good idea of what living in Scotland in the 13th-14th centuries would have been like.

Braveheart starts out with a young William Wallace whose father, a Scottish patriot, is killed by the English. He comes back to the village of his birth when he is much older. There, he meets Murron who he knew from his childhood. They get married. An English Sheriff kills Murron. Wallace kills the Sheriff and proceeds to fight many more battles with the assistance of his fellow patriots. He has an affair with the Princess of Wales, Isabella, and fathers her child. The King of England, Edward I, executes him (Braveheart, movie).

Language:

The movie Braveheart is almost entirely in English. The Scottish nobles, rebels and peasants as well as the English soldiers and royalty all speak English. Princess Isabella, her lady in waiting and Wallace were the only exceptions. Isabella, when speaking to her lady, spoke entirely French. Wallace displayed his knowledge of both French and Latin at various points all the way through the movie. All of the Scottish characters, including Wallace, displayed delightful Scottish accents throughout the entirety of the production (Braveheart, movie).

One of the major differences between reality and the motion picture was very obvious from the beginning. Language. Scottish people of that particular time period, 13th-14th centuries, would not have spoken English. Rather, the uneducated people would be speaking their native Gaelic, and educated Scotsman would have been speaking either Gaelic or Latin (Braveheart, commentary). The real William Wallace did know English, French, Gaelic, and Latin, but one finds it hard to believe that he would have spoken much beyond Gaelic around his uneducated countryman (Campbell, 1). The rest of the characters, with the exception of Princess Isabella and her lady in waiting, also spoke English in the movie. Again, the Scottish would have been speaking Gaelic in reality, bu...

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...n. Paramount, 1995.

Campbell, Melanie. The History Behind Braveheart. 16 Aug. 1996. 7 Nov. 2014

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Campbell, Roy. Sir William Wallace. Electric Scotland. 5 Nov. 2014 electricscotland.com/ history.wallace.htm>.

Edward I. 1 Jan. 2000. Electric Library. 26 Nov. 2014 edumark/getdoc.cgi>. Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia. “Despenser, Hugh Le.” EBSCO

Publishing. 23 Nov. 2014 .

Gillingham, John. Sir William Wallace. 2000. Electric Library. Nov. 2014 www.elibrary.com/s/edumark/getdoc.cgi>. National Wallace Monument. Impressions. 5 Nov. 2014 castles/castle_8.shtml>. Prestwick, Michael. "The Art of Kingship: Edward I, 1272-1307." History Today. May

1985: 34-40 .

“Robert (I) the Bruce (1274-1329).” The Hutchinson Dictionary of British History. 1

Jan. 1998. Electric Library. 26 Nov. 2014 getdoc.cgi>. The Trial of William Wallace. Duhaime.org. 5 Nov. 2014
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