Daniel Frederick Digital Portfolio
Plot Synopsis
The Hobbit is set within Tolkien's fictional universe and follows the quest of home-loving hobbit Bilbo Baggins to win a share of the treasure guarded by Smaug the dragon. Bilbo's journey takes him from light-hearted, rural surroundings into more sinister territory.
Source - Wikipedia
Ruskin
Changefulness
“... if, as in Gothic work, there is perpetual change in both design and execution, the workman must have been altogether set free” (XXVI).
Merida’s quest for freedom is more personal than in regards to national identity, and what little violence there may be in the movie is dulled way down to suit an audience of children. While this is a recreation in a general sense, it inherits most of all the sentiments of Wallace from Braveheart. It’s execution, on the other hand, is vastly different. It was created for a different purpose; instead of letting the audience apply Wallace’s quest for freedom to what they will or leaving it as a semi-accurate recreation of actual history, Brave applies the sentiments of the time towards its vastly different purpose of empowering young girls.
Eco
Pretext
“There is no real interest in the historical background; the middle ages are taken as a sort of mythological stage on which to place contemporary characters” (p. 68)
There are no real characters in the book, the author just uses the time period to justify the use of other medieval characteristics.
More
There is a lot more to be said about the medievalist aspects of the world Tolkein created, but I'm not qualified to even come close to picking everything out.
