Emma Burns Thank the birds and beg them for forgiveness. Be it insanity or ecstasy, an act of humble love will search to make the world a better place. For even beings perceived as lesser than, are deserving of care and servitude. Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov examines themes of relational identity, especially in respect to…

Heidegger champions a grounding of the human experience that the likes of characters such as Fyodor Karamazov could learn something from. Fyodor’s depravity encompasses every aspect of his life, pushing his deplorable nature onto the people around him. His wives and his sons, even his servants, are all made to feel the unsavory force of…

There’s much fun to be had in living vicariously through the lives of others, and none so much the risk as is found in experimenting with one’s own. Such a sentiment is sure to be shared by the titular protagonist of Jane Austen’s Emma. Within the novel, Emma Woodhouse undergoes a rocky transition into womanhood…

Mastering the art of angling is the way to advance on the path of achieving peace with one’s self, their environment, and God. Izaak Walton’s The Compleat Angler is the one true guide to achieving such perfect peace as it teaches of nature and its potential for spiritual healing. Meanwhile The Rime of the Ancient…

What is it that women want most in the world? Unlikely enough, the answer to this question lies hidden within a small portion of The Canterbury Tales, a medieval piece of literature. Chaucer identifies the significance of marriage in a woman’s life, especially women from that time period, to be of the utmost concern. This,…

The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia delivers one of the earliest western versions of a classic romantic comedy style story which relies on misconception and disguise to further its plot, thus creating an interesting commentary on the ways in which people are initially perceived and how they contain within themselves a unique and hidden nature. The…

Juxtaposition between the will of God and nature with that of the will of man is highly prevalent within the first book of Le Morte D’Arthur, because Medieval imagery is focused on the message of duality, which has the ability to express itself in many different ways. Uther Pendragon, father of Arthur, lusts after Igraine,…

Within The Saga of the People of Laxardal, the power of the land and nature is physically embodied in the independent female characters of the story, which, in accordance with Viking cultural ideas, reflects the link between the earth and the divine feminine. The saga is set in a time prior to the spread of…

Palamon and Arcite’s transformation from brothers to enemies is caused by their shared infatuation with Emelye, echoing the knightly notion that the sacred power of romantic love is capable of great feats, even if it comes at the expense of destroying the bonds of brotherhood. Once the date has been set for the knights’ final…

Within the mythic Icelandic tale, The Saga of the People of Laxardal, there is mention of the existence of a supernatural presence overlaying our own natural world. This presence can be felt from beyond the grave or within one’s dreams, and there always remains the mystifying nature of humans themselves—Melkorka is one such character who…