A comparative analysis of the theme of love and false love in William Shakespeare's "King Lear", F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Great Gatsby" and "Fifth Business" by Robertson Davies.
769 words (approx. 3.1 pages), 0 sources, 2004, $ 27.95
Abstract This paper examines how although "King Lear" by William Shakespeare, "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald and "Fifth Business" by Robertson Davies, are all very different works from different times and places, the main characters all possess a similar downfall or fatal flaw: They cannot distinguish true love from false love. It attempts to show how as a result, King Lear loses his kingdom and his life and how Nick Carraway, the narrator of "The Great Gatsby", gets involved with a dangerous, immoral crowd and undergoes a personal struggle with his own morals and lifestyle. It also looks at how Dunstan Ramsay, the narrator of "Fifth Business, tells the tale of his life, throughout which he suffers because of his inability to let go of a woman from his past.
From the Paper "In the Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway goes through his own hardships and makes his own mistakes. Most of these, like those of Lear, stem from his inability to distinguish between true and false love. He has an infatuation for Daisy Buchanan (one shared by many characters in the novel), and begins an affair with Jordan Baker, a cynical golfer. The problem, of course, is that he mistakes the infatuation or lust he has in the presence of these two women for real emotion, for real love. Because of this, he believes that they care for him, in some way at least, and that they are good people. As he finds out later, however, this is not the case."
A review of the book "The Monastic Order in England: A History of Its Development from the Times of St. Dunstan to the Fourth Lateran Council" by David Knowles.
Abstract This paper reviews the David Knowles' book "The Monastic Order in England: A History of Its Development from the Times of St. Dunstan to the Fourth Lateran Council", about the changing nature of monasticism from 943 to 1216. The paper explains that this book is the first publication of its kind and is therefore a valuable contribution to monastic literature. The paper relates to the book's detailed accounts of the different phases of monastic life in England, including the activities of English monks within their cloisters and their relationship with society. The paper also includes a brief discussion of the book's insight into the historical events that led to this period as well as the tradition that proceeded it. The paper concludes with a review of the positive academic critique of the book.
From the Paper "Before examining Knowles' book in further detail, it is important to define monasticism in a larger historical setting. The Columbia Encyclopedia defines Monasticism as a "form of religious life, usually conducted in a community under a common rule." In Luke 4:1 we read that, "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert." John the Baptist lived an ascetic lifestyle in the wilderness as the word of God came to him in the desert. In conscious imitation of these examples many early Christians withdrew to remote areas. Often this was to escape Roman persecution, but it was also to flee from worldly distractions and seek God. According to the Columbia Encyclopedia, Christian monasticism had its origin in the Egyptian deserts in the third and fourth centuries with the anchorites, who looked for perfection in extreme asceticism. St. Anthony, who is called the father of monasticism, is the best known of these anchorites. Although they had little organization, they regarded the best Christian life as a solitary, ascetic, celibate existence where the world had been totally renounced and replaced with heavenly contemplation. Western forms of monasticism spread with Christianity to Ireland in the sixth century, where monasteries served as the Church's centers. St. Benedict's efforts in the sixth century led to the establishment of the Benedictine monastic order, a more structured and moderate monasticism. The Columbia Encyclopedia credits monasticism with preserving learning and classic thought in Europe."
This review discusses the theme in "Fifth Business" by Robertson Davies that an unstable childhood is often the cause of a lifetime full of struggles and fears but can also lead to a successful and fulfilled life.
Abstract The author analyses and evaluates characters that reveal evidence of a successful life despite their childhood instability. The paper compares the characters of Dunstan Ramsay and Paul Dempster, both had childhood instability but as adults led a successful and fulfilling life, to the character Boy Staunton, who had the perfect childhood but grew up and became an unstable adult.
From the Paper "Not only does Dunny suffer from a guilty conscience, but also violence and abuse. He refers to a scene where his mother is beating him, ?"she pursued me around the kitchen, slashing me with the whip until she broke me down and I cried. She cried too, hysterically, and beat me harder, storming about my impedance, my want of respect for her, of my increasing oddity and intellectual arrogance-not that she used those words, but I do not intend to put down what she actually said-until at last her fury was spent" I can still feel that hour's misery in its perfect desolation, if I am fool enough to call it up in my mind.? "
