Sunday Sayings: Spring Edition

Spring is finally here!

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Feminizing History in The White Princess

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What if the King of England was nothing more than the pawn or prize for some of the most powerful women in the country? This is the question which frames Philippa Gregory's novel The White Princess . The story is told from the perspective of Elizabeth of York, daughter of King Edward IV, who marries King Henry Tudor after her mother made a promise with his in order to protect both of their families. Henry Tudor, though he is both king and enemy of the York dynasty which he overthrew to take the throne, is the most desirable prize for Elizabeth Woodville, the princess' mother, because he is the only way that her descendants can ever reach inherit her husband's crown. He is also a pawn for his own mother, Margaret Stanley (nee Beaufort) because she is unable, as a woman, to rule the country herself and so she desires to rule through him. It is thanks to her associations, marriages, blood status, and manipulation (read possible murder of York princes) that her son is ever a...
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Les Misérables

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[Warning: mild spoilers] Many people may be unaware that Les Misérables  was originally a novel by Victor Hugo, the man who wrote The Hunchback of Notre Dame . And just like his other novel, Les Mis is extremely long. The book tells the story of Jean Valjean's redemption after getting out of prison and the way that he tries to do whatever he can to assist others, until the day when Inspector Javert realizes who he is and he is forced to spend the rest of his days running and hiding from the officer who is bent on revenge. The one thing that continues to push Jean Valjean to run is a girl named Cosette. He adopted the girl when her mother, who had worked for him, passed away. The girl was in the care of a selfish couple whom the mother had paid to raise the little girl. It's very much a Cinderella story, with Cosette being treated more like a servant than a part of the family. Jean thus dedicates his life to caring for the young girl, but the Thenardier family repeatedly co...
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Sunday Sayings

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In honour of Ed Sheeran's new album being released this week, I thought I'd share what might be my favourite lyrics from X. (Seriously, though, every song that man writes is brilliant!) I was part of a discussion a few weeks back - not for the first time - about how all music seems to be about love, relationships, and sex. This is true, save for a few marvelous examples. And I heard someone say that more artists should write songs that aren't about love, but about journeys, like Ed Sheeran does. And I agreed with that. I still do, but I realized later that a lot of Ed's music does still focus on relationships. I might argue that his music feels very real and deep, but that doesn't change the content. So why does so much of our music - and all of our entertainment, in fact - contain so much about love? To put it simply, I think that love is the strongest emotion we can experience as human beings. Whether we are feeling the joy or pain that comes as a consequence o...
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