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Importance of myths in literature
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One of the first versions of Sleeping Beauty was published by Charles Perrault in 1697. However, he based his story on a tale by Giambattista Basile in 1634, called Sun, Moon and Talia. A lord got a beautiful daughter, named Talia. He asked many astrologers and wise men to tell him her fate and after a while they concluded that she would be put in great danger by a splinter of flax. The lord ensured that no flax, hemp or anything of that kind was brought into the house to keep his daughter safe.
When Talia was older, she looked out the window and saw an old woman spinning on a spindle. Talia had never seen one and because of her curiosity, she walked over to the woman and asked if she could stretch the flax. Once she did, a splinter of flax went under her nail and she dropped down dead. The old woman ran away in horror and as soon as the father heard of the horrifying news, he ran to the corpse and cried in misery. He put her to bed in her most beautiful clothes. He could not bear the thought of burying her, so he and his staff moved to his country estate so his daughter could rest in peace in their old home.
After some time had passed, a king went hunting in the forest near the resting place of Talia with his servants and a falcon. The bird escaped and flew through one of the windows of the house. The falcon did not respond to the calls of the king, so he sent a servant to knock on the door and ask for the bird’s return. However, there was no answer at the door and the door itself was locked. The king decided that he would retrieve the bird himself and climbed up the walls. When he jumped through the window, he saw the most lovely girl he had ever laid eyes on, sleeping in her bed. He could not help desiring her and made love ...
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...his event. The queen’s servants made a huge fire in the courtyard for Talia to be thrown in. stalling for time, she asked the queen if she could take her beautiful dress off before she would be burned. With every piece of clothing she removed, she cried and screamed louder. Upon returning, the king noticed the screams and saw Talia and the queen near the fire. He demanded an explanation, and so the queen said: “You ate your own children and will now watch your mistress burn.” Hearing this, the king demanded his servants to cast the queen herself into the fire, along with his secretary. The cook was to be burnt as well, but he cried: “Do not reward my faithfulness with this horrible punishment, Sire. I saved your children. They are not dead, for I hid them with my wife.” The king made the cook a gentlemen and gave him a large sum of money and of course married Talia.
The Old English story “Yonec”, written by Marie De France portrays how love and symbolism can be displayed through a woman and a bird. “Yonec” is astonishing love story, because the woman was sent a knight to love and cherish her, yet devastating because knight died for their love. The woman in “Yonec” desired to be loved and was distraught that she had been constrained to a tower, and was saddened about her life and spoke of how “knights would find maidens to their liking, noble and beautiful, and ladies found lovers who were handsome and courtly and valiant” (de France 96- 99). Right after that moment of expressing her melancholic feelings, a hawk flew through the window and transformed into a handsome knight whose name was Muldumarec. The
Rachel Perkins hybrid musical drama One Night the Moon set in the 1930’s Australian outback and Malala Yousafzai’s ‘speech to the UN’ in 2013 were composed to raise awareness and reveal truths of multiple perspectives, representing the voice of the unheard and disempowered in juxtaposition to the dominant and powerful. Both Perkins and Yousafzai challenge societal expectations of their context, advocating for all voices to be heard and for the potential unity between cultures and races through education and shifts in paradigm.
"From behind the maid who opened the door darted a lovely little girl of nine who shrieked ‘Daddy!’ and flew up, struggling like a fish, into his arms. She pulled his head around by one ear and set her cheek against his.
Basile’s Sun, Moon, and Talia is the first recorded version of Sleeping Beauty in which Talia the young daughter of a noble, is cursed once she pricks herself with ...
... beloved wife has made the decision for him. After going through this incredible journey of his, not only did he study women but he had to explain what women most desired to the queen. Otherwise he would have been beheaded, but was spared because of his looks. Was this justice? Indeed it would have been justice back in the 1300’s because if you were beautiful you could be spared and do a noble deed for the king/queen as they asked. If you did not complete it who knows what could have happened. But for the knight, he completed what he was told to do and in fact after he raped the woman and he was being prosecuted, the journey of his made him find the true knight inside of him. The old woman choice that was offer to the knight demonstrated that he learned his lesson through his sufficient punishment and redemption for his crime.
Sylvia was out one night bringing the cow home from pasture when she heard a whistle. The whistle was from a man in the woods. Sylvia viewed the man as the enemy at first. The man was lost and asked Sylvia how far it was to the road, Sylvia consumed with fear could hardly speak to answer. The man was out hunting for some birds. The man asked if he could stay the night, and Sylvia said that she would have to ask her grandmother. The man was allowed to stay the night, and he also received dinner. After the dinner, the three of then sat out in front of the door and tal...
After returning to her grandmothers house for the night, she finds a bundle of letter addressed to her held together with a piece of old yarn. As she opens the first one she reads that the letters tell the real story o...
Confined behind his castle’s walls: King Gabriel Wylie stood on the windowsill of his study’s window, desperately feeling a dire need to escape from the ruthful eyes of the bereaved that are still in mourning of those that came before him. He opens his eyes to the color of amber, feeling a gentle breeze sweep across his honey nut skin from the morning’s shower.
In Perrault’s story, the young prince immediately falls in love with a young woman who “…was dressed like his great-grandmother” (11) and marries her immediately. The story was to be a shock, however, the young prince did not tell about it. Perrault says, “The Prince told him: That he lost his way in the forest as he was hunting, and that he had lain in the cottage of a charcoal-burner, who gave him cheese and brown bread” (12).Being so blinded by his love, it conquered his life enough to tell a lie, in which Perrault says, “The King, his father, who was a good man, believed him; but his mother could not be persuaded it was true…” (12). The King is so blinded by the happiness from his son’s love to ignore what may have happened. Blinding love, however, can come in multiple different ways. Many times this love comes as the love for materialistic goods. The King is never truly in love with his queen but instead her money, in which Perrault says, “… The King would never had married her had it not been for her vast riches…” (12). ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬The King only saw the money before him and that’s all. He never saw the queen and that’s why they are so different. With the money in sight, he lost the view of true
T his outrageous act created a great stir and King Arthur was petitioned for justice. The Knight was condemned to death according to the law and would have been beheaded if the queen had not mediated on his behalf. After many pleas for mercy King Arthur finally told the queen to decide the Knight’s fate. The queen then told the Knight to answer the question what women desire the most in order to save his life. She also gave him a time period of one year to find an answer and appear before her. Seeing no other solution the Knight decided to go in search of the answer. He visited every house and every spot in the country but couldn’t find any two people who agreed on the subject. Some women loved riches and wealth while others loved fine clothes. There were yet others who claimed that they best loved flattery and attentiveness. There were still others who took great delight at being considered as dependable and discreet. In short everybody held a different opinion. The one-year granted to the Knight eventually drew to an end but he had still not found an answer. He rode back home with a heavy heart. On his way he happened to catch a glimpse of twenty-four ladies dancing but they miraculously disappeared when he reached the spot. There was nobody in sight except for an extremely ugly old woman. She asked the Knight, what he was looking for, as she might be able to help him since old women know plenty of things. The Knight explained his predicament. The old woman said that if he would pledge to do the first thing that she required of him then she would give him the correct answer before the night. The Knight promised to grant her a wish and they rode for the Court. The Knight proclaimed that he had found the answer and told the entire court that women most desire to have mastery over their husbands and their lovers. None of the women assembled in the court could contradict the Knight and the queen spared his life. Thereupon the old woman sprang up and told the queen that she had taught the answer to the Knight in exchange for a wish. She now demands, that the Knight marry her and fulfill her wish. The Knight pleads with her to ask for ...
“The Wife of Bath’s Tale” is written in an entertaining and adventurous spirit, but serves a higher purpose by illustrating the century’s view of courtly love. Hundreds, if not thousands, of other pieces of literature written in the same century prevail to commemorate the coupling of breathtaking princesses with lionhearted knights after going through unimaginable adventures, but only a slight few examine the viability of such courtly love and the related dilemmas that always succeed. “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” shows that women desire most their husband’s love, Overall, “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” shows that the meaning of true love does not stay consistent, whether between singular or separate communities and remains timeless as the depictions of love from this 14th century tale still hold true today.
The Sleeping Beauty by Tchaikovsky is another ballet that is based on a fairy tale, and was first presented to the Tsar of Russia.
The tale of Sleeping Beauty is influenced by oral folklore and various written versions. Today fairytales are told as a domain for the entertainment and teachings of children. In traditional storytelling, peasants transmitted folklore orally around campfires to audiences of mixed ages. However, during the 17th century, peasant tales, such as Sleeping Beauty, were altered by writers like Charles Perrault’s, to appeal to the courts of aristocracy. Thus the characters of Sleeping Beauty adorned a courtly air to appeal to the crown, such as Louis XIV of France. Throughout history, various cultural influences transformed the tale of Sleeping Beauty through the manipulation of various social forces to achieve better entertainment purposes and reflect Christian beliefs and customs. In addition, the moral of the tale conveys a message that women remain passive in hope to marry her true lov...
The story is very lovely but also very sad of how it had turned out for Troilus and Criseyde. Both of them did not get a happy ending as Troilus was killed and Criseyde got another lover in Diomede. The story has romance and love but also sadness that it didn’t end well for everyone. The narrator had given women a bad name even though it had not been Criseyde’s entire fault that she had found a new lover because the “heart wants what the heart wants” and hers wanted Diomede even though it wasn’t Troilus.
"There is a wonderful fable about a young orphan girl who had no family and no one to love her. One day, feeling exceptionally sad and lonely, she was walking through the meadow when she noticed a small butterfly caught unmercifully in a thornbush. The more the butterfly struggled to free itself, the deeper the thorns cut into the butterfly from its captivity. Instead of flying away, the little butterfly changed into a beautiful fairy. The young girl rubbed her eyes in disbelief.