Essay about Geoffrey of Monmouth's Life of Merlin

Mental illness and madness is a theme often explored in literature and the range of texts exploring these is tremendously varied. Various factors can threaten a character's sanity, ranging from traumatic events which trigger a decline to pressure from more vast, impersonal sources. Generally speaking, writers have tried to show that most threats to sanity comprise a combination of long-term and short-term factors - the burning of the library in Mervyn Peake's novel 'Titus Groan' precipitated Lord Sepulchrave's descent into madness, but a longer term problem can be discerned in the weight of tradition which caused him to worry 'that with him the line of Groan should

Because Arthur possessed such a wise and loving tutor who showed him the good and decent side of human nature, he himself grew up "...kind, simple, and upright" (White OAFK 387) Merlyn taught him through the use of animals that were much more peaceful and serene than humans could ever hope to be. Because Arthur possessed such a kind and moral heart, he could not find it in his heart to hate his best friend, his wife, or anyone for betraying him, and his forgiving nature and naivete eventually led to his downfall. If Merlyn had only showed him that all men possessed a streak of evil in them, Arthur would not have been so quick to assume that all men were good "...for if there was such a thing as original sin, if man was on the whole a villain, if the bible was right in saying that the hearts of men were deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, then the purpose of his life had been a vain one" (White OAFK 629).In the end, Arthur lost his battle with might and failed to create a stable, peaceful, and progressive society.

Merlin has successfully brought up King Arthur to become a virtuous man and a worthy king who is exceptionally capable of fulfilling Machiavelli’s guidelines. For example, Machiavelli states in “Concerning Things for Which Men, and Especially Princes, are Blamed” from The Prince that “…a man who wishes to act entirely up to his professions of virtue soon meets with what destroys him among so much that is evil.” Merlin taught Arthur integrity and goodness. King Arthur takes this wisdom to build the

Twain uses powerful people of Camelot as a representation of the upper class of the American South during the late 19th century. Twain primarily uses Merlin, the “great” wizard of Camelot, as a comparison to the rich and powerful of the American South. Merlin is characterized as very selfish and power-hungry, but where in The Crucible, Miller makes a direct reference to Joseph Mccarthy, in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Twain’s comparison is between Merlin’s actions to maintain his power and to the upper class of the American South as a whole. Throughout the novel Merlin only uses his power in the society to keep his power and not help the common people. This is compatible to how the upper class of the AMerican South during Twain’s time did not use their power to help those below them, but mainly used it in order to solidify their own power. Also whenever Hank tries to help the common people of Camelot in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Merlin tries to stop him, as an improvement in the conditions of the common people means a direct decrease in the advantage of Merlin over those common people. This is comparable to how during the late 19th Century the upper class of the American south blocked help from outside sources for their poor people, because this help would disallow them from keeping

Here we first meet the character Merlinus ("Merdinus," a more exact Latinization of the original Welsh, was impractical because of its similarity to the Latin or French word for excrement, surely an inappropriate name for a great hero). (Bruce) Yet the Merlin of this story is not the great magician of later works. In his tale, Geoffrey uses not the Latin word "magus," which would imply that Merlin was some sort of sorcerer, but rather the word "vates," commonly indicating a poet or, often, a prophet or seer. (Tatlock) Merlin does exhibit many features of a mystic in Geoffrey's Historia: he uses clairvoyance in the familiar case, borrowed from Nennius, of Vortigern's vanishing tower; he foretells Vortigern's death and prophesies to Aurelius and Uther of Arthur's coming reign, also making several predictions about political events occuring just prior to the publication of the Historia; and he interprets to Uther Pendragon a portent of the death of the king Aurelius Ambrosius. (Bruce) Clairvoyance, prophecy, and the interpretation of dreams are all rather shamanistic actions that would fit Merlin's Welsh character as a druid.

Then in the Colorado woods Admas and his dog Merlin saw this two cute, furry, puffy and unknow animals. The two animals is like a dog with a cat combie. Then the two unknown animals followed Admas and Merlin. Then later the two unknown animals went to play with Merlin the dog. “ The unknown animals were large enough to be formidable predators if they had claws and sharp teeth”(5).

Merlin, a prophet with the gift of sight in Mary Stewart’s “Hollow Hills” plays the protagonists in the quest to make Arthur King. He has several magical abilities including most notably his gift of sight and magic. These powers bring him comfort in time of despair and guidance in his quest to make Arthur King. These powers are what Merlin is most known for but without his “human powers” Merlin wouldn’t be who we picture him to be today. Merlin has several human characteristics such as a gift of dialect and the ability to manipulate and adapt to his environment that serves as powers in his quest.

Madness in its entirety is a fluid term. It can be mended and shaped to mean whatever you want it to. By fluidity of definition, it is easier to label anyone as mad. For the purpose of this paper, madness will be looked at through several different lenses of violence in fairy tales. When madness is depicted in fairy tales it is in different forms of violent tendencies. These violent tendencies are not exclusive to one type of character but are universal. Whether male or female, stepmother or biological father, any character can show these symptoms of madness. There are different degrees of violence: child abuse and abandonment, cannibalism, self-mutilation including suicide, and murder. An insane man could be admitted to the hospital for a

Another example of Merlin’s struggle with a higher power is when Uther wanted Merlin’s help to get to Igraine. Merlin had to help Uther and Ygraine be together for one night, even if

The story talks about Merlin who is a young boy named after a magician. His name was given because his father figured he would be a magician when he grew up. Merlin's father was a bridge builder. He built the most amazing bridges and people went out of their way to cross over them. When Merlin's mother died, his father began to make the bridges from his dreams. At first people were fascinated by the bridges and loved the intricate details. But that was only the start. Merlin's father would go out of his way to make bridges wherever he felt the need. At one point he made a bridge in between two tall buildings. People thought that the bridge was useless and that Merlin 's father was being pathetic by creating these bridges. They figured that

I wonder what the scene between the King, Camarus, and Merlin is insinuating. I am very confused as to why the King would call his grandson to his quarters only to banish him as soon as he saw his face. I have been pondering the reason behind this and have come up with a few possibilities.

But since Merlin lives in the kingdom of Camelot, he struggles to understand how he can use his magic for good. Furthermore, after witnessing the execution of earlier, he is prone to hide his true self than risk the King’s wrath.

What makes someone a hero? The qualities that a person has can make them a hero. In the movie Merlin, produced by Dyson Lovell, Merlin ishows that he is a hero. He stands goes against what is expected of him, he saves the life of his love in a unique way, and he stands up for what he believes in. Merlin is a unique type of hero, he doesn't follow the social norms, and who stands out among the rest.

He had told Lancelot what had happened when Lancelot revealed his ambitions to be a knight. However, Merlin wanted to see what he could get away with.

As time moves on the legend of Merlin begins to become more simplified and in this case it appeals more to children because children may find an adventurous story about Merlin more interesting than a long winded story with some words they may not understand. The writing style, details and language used in telling the legend of Merlin has changed over time from the early 1600’s from focusing on war, glory and early modern english in the book Le Morte d’Arthur to the late 1900’s where more audiences were interested in fantasies, magic and simple language in The Sword in the Stone. Stories have become more accessible to a wider variety of audiences since the 1600’s because of new companies such as Walt Disney that was established in the early 1900’s and focused on bringing stories to life in the form of television, and also schooling being available to more than just the wealthy men .