The Norman Conquest

by Monique Barb - The native people of Britain were repeatedly attacked and their land invaded by warriors and settlers from Europe. But the Norman Conquest in 1066 was to be the last invasion from Europe. The Norman invasion did not come as a surprise to the English, for King Harold who had taken the throne on the death of Edward the Confessor had in fact pledged his support to Duke...

Love's Not Time's Fool

by Herminne Tonita - The greatness of Shakespeare's work, the peculiar quality which distinguishes it from that of all the other writers is beyond definition. Perhaps Dryden's saying that Shakespeare had an " universal" mind is the best brief attempt to describe this quality, which justifies John Hales' famous claim that whatever has been well said by any other poet has been better said by...

Robinson Crusoe vs Lord of The Flies

by Herminne Tonita - When we read "Robinson Crusoe" by Daniel Defoe and " Lord of the Flies" by William Golding, we come to notice that the latter novel, written in the XX th century, appears as a reversed "Robinson Crusoe", as the children, who find themselves on the dessert island destroy civilisation, do not continue it. Both novels present the life of persons living on dessert islands,...

A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

by Herminne Tonita - "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare develops at three stages simultaneously according to an intricate, yet very symmetrical structure. These three sub-plots are linked by certain common elements: one character, Puck, the place, the woods of Athens, the time, Midsummer Eve and a certain type of experience, the dream. The three sub-plots have three different...

Hamlet's Questions

by Cristina Nuta - Shakespeare serves a wide variety of cultural purposes, from political nationalism around the globe to modern-day instruction in ‘leadership’ for business and corporate culture. He is in a way always two playwrights, not one: the playwright of his time and the playwright of our time, whatever time that is. Both ‘of an age’ and ‘for all time’, Shakespeare is the defining...

The Norman Conquest of England

by Herminne Tonita - William the Conqueror had governed England and Normandy by travelling from one place to another to make sure his authority was accepted. The king's household was the government and it was always on the move. Kings were crowned in Westminster, but they kept their treasuries in Winchester. When their kingdom grew up, they sent nobles and knights to act as sheriffs. But the...

About William Carlos Williams

by Cristina Nuta - The first thing any practising doctor who also writes gets asked is, 'How do you find the time?' A combined career ought, in theory, to be perfectly possible: writers and doctors are both only trained observers. And there is a distinguished list of literary medics. But almost all end up doing one or the other. And if they are any good as writers, the stethoscope takes second...

The Vikings

by Monique Barb - The Vikings came from Scandinavia from Denmark and Norway. They were a pagan people and were noted for their superb seamanship, their many intrepid feats of exploration and their courage and ferocity in battle. In A.D. 794 the holy settlement at Lindisfarne in Northumberland was taken by surprise when a Viking raiding party landed. It is said that the inhabitants had had some...