Review Of a Lion In Winter :: essays research papers

Henry, the King of England, married Eleanor for her land their first give-and-takedied, after him, John was Henrys favorite, Richard was Eleanors favorite,but turned out to be homosexual, Geoffrey plan against in all of them withthe King of France who was Richards "friend" Henry had an encounter withRosalyn, and Eleanor, with Richard lead a couple of courteous wars against him,so Henry locked Eleanor in a reign Henrys lover died, he bought a wife,Alice, for the son who was to be King, but had an affair with her . . . Andso went life in the late 12th century. Involved in this complex arrangementthere are many aspects of life during this full stop including the status ofwomen, power of the church and living conditions all of which wereillustrated in The king of beasts in Winter.     One of the most apparent things in The Lion in Winter was the place of women.At first impression they did not take care significant. Eleanor was cheated on,not an unco mmon practice, and then locked in a tower to totally be aloud out onholidays. Alice was bought and then became Henrys new lover, and beyondthat no other women were mention. Despite all this, when looked at more closely women were big to the feudal society. A king could acquireland by conquering, or marrying the daughter who had that land in her dowry.Also in the depiction Eleanor wielded more power than one would have thought,for one she and Richard had led civil wars against Henry before. Secondlybecause of her control of the Aquataine she exercised more power than otherwomen of the times. Because of all this women were necessary to the feudalsystem, but were still not regarded as meaningful.     The role of the church was influential in the movie, but not as striking asexpected. It was the church that gave the king his authority and could takeit away. Henry peril to annul his marriage with Eleanor to gainleverage to obtain the Aquatain. There was even jok ing about beingexcommunicated, again. Without the church to have marriages and settlethings of that temperament it probably been more chaotic than it already was. Itwas the church that kept knowledge and writing going through the Dark Ages, andalso played and important role in the late 12th century.     More interesting than other topics was the living conditions. Wheneverreading a fairy tale, or watching a movie about castles they are alwaysglorified as wonderful places, large and beautiful, with every luxury.