The whole idea of novels is to educate us on how to be better individuals. Don’t give up, don’t lie to your mum, and keep true to yourself. But then there are those texts out there-CLASSICS, nonetheless-teaching completely bonkers values that are sure to destroy our culture. That’s only over seven of them.
Mass murder is all right as long as there’s a possibility they’ve done you a little harm. -The “Odyssey”
Both the suitors and the mistresses are killed by Odysseus, plus a handful of guys who just happened to be in the opposite part of town time. Zeus kills the whole crew of Odysseus because they ate those pigs. Despite The Kin, Poseidon massacres an entire Phaeacians crew because they assisted Odysseus to get home to Ithaca, even though he never specifically told them not to do so. The ideal way to address the situation is to represent both of these things.
I recognize that this is one of the cornerstones of the civilization of ancient honor. Everybody should only be thankful that they are not actually tied to rock when forever an eagle consumes their liver, but jeez!
As long as they deserve it, it’s safe to toy with people’s lives with love potions. —’A Midsummer Night’s Dream’
You’d imagine that A Midsummer Night’s Dream will conclude with the fairy king, Oberon, and Puck, his pet, discovering that interfering in the affairs of people is false. That love potions are ethically ambiguous, at the very least.
Instead, just as Oberon intended, it ends with Titania turning over the changeling boy, and Demetrius (who is the only one still working under the influence of the love potion) comfortably falling in love with Helena so that the story can end happily. SURE, Demetrius is a total douchebag, and his belief that Hermia should be married destroyed the lives of everyone, but STILL. “This comedy ends with something troubling on a note. “BY THE WAY, Many PEOPLE HAVE BEEN Robbed OF THEIR FREE WILL, AND BY THE Direction, I.T.’S STILL GOING ON.
With trickery, the only way to get a spouse is. —’Much Ado About Nothing’
Claudio accused Hero of adultery in Much Ado About Nothing, for this was back in the day of Shakespeare, and it was just what you did every once in a while to accuse your bride of unfaithfulness. Sadly, this charge leads the Hero to commit suicide out of distress.
Ashamed of his bad behavior, Claudio decides to marry the sister of Hero as a favor to her father, but wait! Surprise! Surprise! The bride is discovered at the wedding to be a hero who’s very much real! She got her death faked! They all get a nice laugh about it!
This is not the only Shakespeare play that is accused of this, to be honest to Much Ado About Nothing. At some stage or another, almost everyone tricks their mate into marrying them. I’m talking to you, All’s Well That Ends Well and Measure for Measure.
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If it proves to be accurate, lying is perfect. —’The Importance of Being Earnest’
Being Earnest’s Value is a psychological commentary that is off-the-wall bonkers. For different reasons, long story short, these two men, Algernon and Jack, begin to pretend that Ernest is their name. Shenanigans follow, of course, and they all fell in love with women who are explicitly drawn to them, so Ernest’s name is so attractive.
Both men, in the end, denounce their deceit. It’s cool with Algernon’s lady mate, Cecily. Still, Jack’s latest fiancée, Gwendolen, maintains that she can only marry a man named Ernest. Jack was an orphan who had never met his parents, but later, he discovered that his name had been Ernest all the time. Everyone is comfortable, and nobody worries because, for 95 percent of the play, these two men have been living colorful double lives.
I realize that this is a farcical sitcom, and it’s every 1895 that I speak about “What Does All this Imply Regarding Community.” Still, I’m just telling, that’s all!
You will be awarded a girdle that protects you from being beheaded if you abandon your commitments. —’ Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’
A Middle English story that is ALL Over Of the Land is Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. So the first thing that’s happening is that some unruly knight (who is absolutely green, it’s not relevant why) turns up to the court of King Arthur and needs to fight anyone; he tells anyone who takes the challenge will get a free swing at him on the promise that he will deliver the blow in a year. “Sir Gawain steps ahead, swings his axe, and beheads the Green Knight, but the Green Knight just lifts up his head and replies, “See You A Year Then.
One year later, Gawain goes off in quest of a knight, and during his trip, he ends up living with a certain lord and his wife. The girl tries to want to make out with Gawain, but Gawain declines. Instead, she sends him presents, one of which is a girdle that COINCIDENTALLY prevents him from cutting off his head, which he learns when he visits the Green Knight the next day. In fact, it turns out, the Lord WAS the Green Knight, dressed as a sorcery. Gawain was not allowed to take the girdle.
He had initially had a pact with the Lord to handle everything from his castle. Still, all were clearly cool with it, and Gawain became a knight with considerable prestige.
So I think the lesson is… is cheating from your host all right? Don’t you make out with weird women? Never fight against green guys? Who’s going to say?
The Department for Women is discriminated against. -“Daniel Deronda”
Smart and pleasant, Gwendolen Harleth has goals for DAYS, and she desires nothing more than to be in charge of her own destiny. And you would imagine, for an abusive partner, the story punishes her for this. Her close friend, Daniel Deronda, has a romantic interest of his own, Mirah, to contend with, but he is no help whatsoever.
To illustrate Gwendolen’s flaws, Mirah acts as a foil to Gwendolen; Gwendolen does wrong what Mirah does good, implying that Gwendolen is selfish, driven, and active, while Mirah is tender, sultry, and quiet. Using these two characters, the goal that the novel appears to be promoting is that good things will come to you if you are sweet, innocent, and obedient; if you are fearless and vocal about the things you desire, you will end up becoming the miserable wife of somebody and, finally, a discarded widow.
Don’t get me mistaken. I love Mirah and the optimistic representation of Judaism in the novel when this was not the norm. What I don’t like is that her faith is Gwendolen’s only weakness, that she attempts to rescue herself from either a life she doesn’t even want and that she is adeptly disciplined for it.
Femininity’s going to drive you out of heaven. —’The Chronicles of Narnia’
Famously, Susan is the only Pevensie sister to deny Narnia later, saying it was just an end up making a game they once enjoyed as children. But did Narnia deny Susan? Or did Susan deny Narnia?
Susan is informed in Prince Caspian that she is not wanted in Narnia anymore, that she and Peter have to go home and move on. And she’s disciplined for that because she does just that. “You might think, “But Elodie, it was ALL SUSAN’s DOING to forget about Narnia altogether,” but I’m not thinking about Susan’s personality within the plot framework; I’m talking about C.S. After the series But FOR Susan, who is “no longer a friend of Narnia,” Lewis decided to let all else join Aslan’s Nation (the allegorical equivalent of heaven).
Suppose it were all about Susan growing disillusioned. In that case, it might be one thing, but her choice to switch her back on Narnia is strongly related to girlhood and emerging femininity. The fact that it’s Jill Pole who criticizes the involvement of Susan in “nylons and lipstick and invitations” smacks of an attitude of “not like other girls” that is, very frankly, not the best thing to learn when you’re a kid from such a cherished childhood show.
