Frame Story Takes a Number

¶ … frame story takes a number of different (sometimes radically) stories and binds them together upon a common thread that all of the stories have. In the Canterbury Tales, they are all on pilgrimage and just as in the Holy land, they require the services of a knight to protect them upon their way there. A good example of how such stories work together is shown in the Knights Tale, which is followed immediately by that of his son in the Squire's Tale. The Knight's tale is an especially appropriate beginning for a list of such tales of Canterbury pilgrims since the old knight can relate his old conquests and battles while he was in Eastern Europe, Spain, North Africa and the Holy land. The story introduces many aspects of knighthood like courtly love and the ethical dilemmas it produces that is spelled out against this background of war. Just as all is fair in love and war, both elements come together in the Knight's Tale. From love and war, the knight has developed perfectly the qualities of chivalry were based in the Middle Ages. As a chivalrous knight, he learned to be quiet and gentle with those who are weaker (such as ladies) and to selflessly defend them and their honor up to and including in battle if necessary. This makes for the true knight. While he had the best equipment, he dressed modestly and his clothing bore the smudges of battle from his former service. All in all, this spelled out the perfect knight as an example for his squire son to follow.

2) an archetype can be defined as a universally understood symbol, pattern of behavior, or a term a upon which other prototype examples are copied. Archetypes are used in myths and in storytelling across many different cultures. The hero archetype found in the saga stories of different cultures have common threads. After all, human beings function and think similarly, even across times and cultures. This is why Beowulf and Gilgamesh both illustrate so many common elements of the hero archetype, even though they are a continent and 3000 years apart. This is why Beowulf's battle with Grendel can be put in the same context with Gilgamesh and Enkidu's fight with the monster Humbaba who stands guard the Cedar Mountain. They later together kill the Bull of Heaven who the goddess Ishtar sends to punish our Conan-like hero Gilgamesh for spurning her amorous advances. Testosterone-based epics can have only so many variations. For this reason, the stories look so much alike.

3) in Sonnet 29 (a love sonnet), Shakespeare describes how he overcomes feelings of despair and failure by remembering his love. He further feels unlucky, ashamed, and jealous of those around him. It is not stated in the sonnet what is the cause of the poet's anguish. All is not lost for the poet however as the sonnet ends on a positive note affirming that the poet can combat the anguish he has with the "sweet love" the dear friend that he is writing about. The audience is a religious one due to the religious references such as that about heaven. However, the truth is something above religion as heaven and God are above all religion and man-made division. The sonnet is using metaphors to do this. The imagery of the poem is that of remembering past love to console over its loss. It has the same basic structure as other sonnets of Shakespeare because it contains fourteen lines and is composed of three rhyming quatrains ending with a rhyming couplet. The sound effects of Sonnet 29 include the use of iambic pentameter.

The above aspects of the sonnet work together to demonstrate the tone and theme of the poem. For instance, the poet comes to believe that heaven is deaf and not hearing his cries. This is a typical and common complaint of us all when we wonder where God is and try to rationalize our lives in the light of religion when nothing else makes sense to us. Like so many of us, he feels that heaven has cursed him. The element of disgrace would mean that he has fallen out of favor with God. He feels that all of his efforts are "bootless" (useless). However, the skylark has risen above this, implying that by remembering his love, he will also rise above it.

This author used the example of heaven because it is universal. We all think about our mortality and want to make sure that our lives have meaning. Without it, we are lost and rudderless. However, like the skylark, love will help us rise above the situation and finally make our way through the troubles of life that we all have.

4) the issue of Jews, Judaism and the character of Shylock are famous and among the most examined aspects of the Merchant of Venice. The raise all sorts of questions about whether or not Shakespeare was anti-semitic. In the context of the play, the quote is Shylock's testament to his humanity and kinship with the rest of the human race given the similarity of the Jew to mankind in general. After all, they have two eyes and "hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions?" In other words, how can someone be a monster when they have all of the aspects of humanity in terms of physicality and emotions. What makes the money-lender Shylock any different from his Christian or Muslim contemporaries that did the very same things? As he notes, he is as human as they are and no more a monster.

Shylock is as human as the next person. He speaks for almost all Jews who appeal to a humanity that has vilified and attempted to accuse them with the most evil and baseless crimes. The blood libel comes to mind. However, even now issues like holocaust denial or denigration raise the specter of anti-Semitic feeling anew. When someone is being anti-Israel, they are really only being anti-Semitic. They just are not able to admit their fault in public. The same accusations of Jews having all of the money or of attempting to dominate and control the world can be heard emanating from Iran today as they seek to wipe out the Jewish state. Unfortunately, this antisemitism is alive and well and Shylock speaks for the Jewish people eloquently across the ages as he attempts to defend them from the slings and arrows of attackers that continue to dredge up the same imagery over and over again in their efforts to fight Jews.