“Men could see no further than the present inconveniences, and never thought of providing remedies for future ones, but in proportion as they arose.” Jean-Jacques Rousseau, French writer and philosopher, acknowledged humanity’s myopic predilection. Ignoring long-term impact in favor of immediate satiation, humanity will often continue to make the same mistakes. This shortsightedness is a contributing factor to the cyclical nature of history. Consequently, common trends tend to exist as a result of this cyclical nature, establishing archetypes in various ideologies, literatures, and movements. One such movement utilizing an archetypical structure is orchestrated by King Arthur in the novel, The Once and Future King, written by T. H. White. In …show more content…
For instance, after Lancelot arrives from his adventures, Arthur laments to him regarding the tribulations of his once grand idea, bemoaning, “My scheme is going wrong. All these knights now are making a fetish of it. They are turning it into a competitive thing” (White, 365). Although Arthur succeeds in implementing his Round Table (the first phase of his movement) and promoting a sense of chivalry amongst his court (the second phase), his intentions are instead being distorted to the very sportsmanship he tried to avoid. Due to not taking account of the possible consequences that eventually materialize, Arthur’s success actually results in failure. Moreover, after Arthur initiates a search for the Holy Grail (the third phase) in order to refocus the Round Table, it is noted that, “Half the knights had been killed--the best half. What Arthur had feared from the start of the Grail Quest had come to pass. If you achieve perfection, you die. There had been nothing left for Galahad to ask of God, except death. The best knights had gone to perfection, leaving the worst to hold their sieges” (White, 477). Although Arthur intended to improve his Round Table, he did not properly prepare for the risks associated with his quest, and the consequences of its completion. As a result of Arthur’s imprudence, the success of his quest is instead detrimental to the resulting state of his court. …show more content…
Initially, Beth Noveck describes the first attempts at an open government during the United States’ inception (first phase). The White House, described by Noveck initially as an “open house” where “neighbors came and went”, juxtaposes with a more contemporary White House that is “anything but open” with “bomb blast curtains” and a “firewall” (Noveck, 1). Similarly to the parabolic quality in the initial stages of Arthur’s kingdom, the United States reverses its attitude on open governance (characterizing the second phase). The openness of the United States - which popularized the nation - ironically succumbs to the growth it helped spur. Noveck then proposes two phases forward that are more akin to Arthur’s proposition for the Holy Grail, stating firstly that the United States should be “getting better information in” and “delivering better information (Noveck, 4), where the government should provide improved outlets of information to its citizens. This approach, unfortunately, is analogous to the shortsighted approaches that Arthur takes. Noveck overestimates the ability of the government to implement this approach, as well as the degree to which these citizens will seek this newfound information under an already apathetic civil union. Her approach, therefore, is questionable in terms of efficacy. Furthermore, Noveck then proposes “getting decision making power
In “The Once and Future King” Arthur’s innocence turns to his biggest downfall letting his enemy to take an advantage. In Book 2 “The Queen of Air and Darkness”, Chapter 14 quote “It is why Sir Thomas Malory called his very long book the Death of Arthur. . .. It is the tragedy … of sin coming home to roost. . ..
Trial And Error By: Mitchell and Bailey In the movie The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers by: Peter Jackson, there are many different archetypes. Archetypes, statements and patterns of behaviour, are seen around almost every corner of the film. In the film, there are two archetypes that stand out more obviously than others.
Within this paper, there are two different pieces writing that will be compared. Those writings are The Epic Poem of Beowulf and A Hero’s Journey Archetype. This paper will be discussing this question: How does Beowulf follow the Hero’s Journey Archetypes? According to Hero’s Journey Archetype, the characteristics of a hero is that, the hero is male.
So few people these days truly understand the political chaos that happened in the early days of the United States. One man named William Manning, a farmer who became enveloped in the ever shifting political landscape, recognized this split in society, especially when it came to how much influence people like him had in policy. Seeing this disparity prompted Manning to construct The Key of Liberty, a series of writings explaining his views on society, critique of the current policies and the role that many ordinary Americans were denied in the democratic system. While we don’t know much about what most people back then thought of early America, we can see through Manning’s lens that the struggle for democracy still had not made its way to the
In the Medieval British legend King Arthur three character archetypes are prominent; the Hero, the Mentor, and the Villain. These archetypes are universal, found in myths from around the world. One ubiquitous archetype that is present in King Arthur
For example, on page 117, paragraph 7, Arthur says “ So this is it, we 're going to die”. This is an example of how Arthur does not go out of his way for others or himself and is willing to accept fate. Arthur likes to use humor to deflect difficult or scary situations. He says "Would it save you a lot of time if I just gave up and went mad now?" (24.45).
A desire for vengeance brings about many of the conflicts that drive the plot in Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur. Sir Gawain in particular stirs up a lot of drama with his endless quarrel with Sir Launcelot. The knights of the round table are seemingly infatuated with the concept of seeking revenge on behalf of their brothers and comrades, but could this infatuation be more harmful than honorable? Perhaps the knights would have been better off without such vengeful inclinations behind their actions.
The idea of a farm boy becoming the true king was so repulsive to some nobles that they refused to acknowledge that Arthur was successful in pulling out a sword, forcing him remove the sword multiple times, until the common people demanded that Arthur has proven his worth and that he should be crowned king. Even after being crowned king, he was engaged in the Eleven Kings War, where eleven nobles claiming to be the true kings challenged Arthur to the throne. Arthur successfully, put down each rebellion and stood tall as the people’s new king (Source B3). Through time King Arthur became an astounding, relished leader with a true mind for the people. During his time as king, he inspired the idea of the Round Table, debatably King Arthur’s most
King Arthur is one of the best kings that has ruled over Britain, throughout all of history. Arthur ruled with honor, loyalty, and chivalry, which made him a great king. Many lessons that he learned on his journeys helped him to become the person that he is. Arthur’s journey becoming king can be seen in the novel The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White, and is very similar to Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey.
After the Green Knight walks in and offers the game he wants to play, Arthur starts to question the game. He asks “‘you request,’ he countered, ‘is quite insane’” (323). Arthur shows no confidence that he can win the game. Gawain steps in, trying to be polite as possible, and says that he will play the game instead of Arthur which shows that Arthur isn’t a good king. Being a good king takes bravery, intelligence, and likability.
He did not have a good start, but his finish was beautiful. Gawaine starts out on the wrong path, but before he dies he forgives Lancelot and stands loyally with Arthur. The Once and Future King by T. H. White tells the story of how the famous King Arthur invented the peace making Round Table. Sir Gawaine was once King Arthur’s worst enemy until Arthur invited him to become one of the first knights of his might defeating Round Table.
Throughout the era between the years 1790 to 1840, the United States withstood numerous involvements in their political system by both factors within their country and as far as an ocean away. These various influences immensely contributed to moulding and creating America’s government system. The political affairs that occurred within the United States were in one way or another connected to the unsolved issues of political parties within the country. For example, after the War of 1812, Jackson introduced what is known as the Spoils System, which specifically targeted the political supporters of the Democrats and rewarded campaign contributors with positions in public office rather than to those who were qualified for the position.
(Gathering of the Knights pp 23). Thus further proving how humble Arthur is, he created the famous Round Table in order to instill equality for all the knights. Arthur could have easily kept the table the same so he could be the head and receive all the attention and glory, but fame was not as important to
First Knight display some of the classical aspects of chivalry, with the most prominent aspect being loyalty as is demonstrated in the repeated use of the pledge that the Knights of the Round Table say to each other during initiation ceremonies and during crucial moments of the film, "Brother to brother. Yours in life and death." Lancelot is shown as a flawed man, but an incredibly masculine and chivalrous one and those qualities allow him to be redeemed of his affair with Guinevere and he gains the recognition from Arthur as the quintessential knight moments before Arthur's death, "My truest. My first knight." This is an accurate depiction of the Arthurian lore in the sense that Lancelot's chivalrous nature was enough to earn the forgiveness of Arthur because of Arthur's extremely chivalrous nature, but the rest of the characterizations of Lancelot are more reflective of modern chivalry.
Individuals lay the foundation of America. The Founding Fathers of this unique nation broke their allegiance with Great Britain to create an improved governing body. They desired an individual-centered authority as opposed to Britain’s monarchy, which ruled with tyranny. These Founding Fathers experienced a neglectful democratic monarchy that cared little about the ethical treatment of its people. The domineering actions of Britain challenged these historic individuals to form a new cultural identity.