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The Portrayal Of Alfred The Great Of Shakespeare 's Life Of King Alfred

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When one approaches a movie or television show about historical events it is important to remember that the primary purpose of this media is to entertain. This does not mean however that there aren 't kernels of truth which reflect aspects of what actually took place. For example in the television show The Last Kingdom, there are some liberties taken with the historical period. Some characters are complete works of fiction or events have been changed. Something that remains the same however is the attitude of Alfred the Great towards writing, specifically recording events as they occur. This aspect of Alfred 's personality is on display in Asser 's Life of King Alfred and thus when one compares the representations it is obvious that this portion of Alfred 's character was transposed successfully to the television screen. While The Last Kingdom might take liberties with certain aspects of this time period, its emphasis on Alfred placing an importance on the written word, is undoubtedly a fair representation of the man 's character. From the records that remain of Alfred 's rule it is quite obvious that the man had an obsession with the written word, and the power associated with knowledge. Both Asser 's Life of Alfred and the prose preface to Alfred 's translation of the Pastoralis show glimpses of a man who is preoccupied with writing and its inherent worth. In Asser 's Life of Alfred one section describing Alfred 's youth makes the man out to be something innately

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