Robin Hood comes from an 800 year old English legend about an outlaw in the Sherwood Forest in conflict with the Sheriff of Nottingham. There has been evidence that the person the sheriff was battling was someone named "RobertHod" or "RobinHod." Yet there are several example of a Robin Hood scattered across a hundred years or more, my guess is that they may have been inspired by the legend and borrowed the name. According to the University of Rochester's (UK) website project on RH, references to an outlaw began appearing in chronicles of the times in the mid 1400s.In the 1700s and 1800s, English writers began searching through their ancient history in order to find folk heroes (probably a sign of the growth of nationalism or love of one's country). English historians have also tried to find out RH's true roots as well, and this website concludes:
"Despite the efforts of authors like P. Valentine Harris (see case 5), no verifiable Robin Hood emerged from the historical record. Today, most scholars accept Robin as a literary invention, based in part on other figures like Gamelyn and Fouke fitz Waryn, as well as real-life outlaws. Any search for the ideal Robin Hood, a dispossessed noble who robs from the rich to give to the poor, is doomed to failure. That Robin is a modern figure whose individual characteristics were added in different stages, which are roughly represented in this exhibit" (http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/rh/RH%20Exhibit/pref.htm)
In the 1800s, he appeared in plays, songs, and operas as well as novels. Because of the lack of solid facts on RH, it appears that artists have fit him into almost any context that they have wanted to, placing him within the Anglo-Saxon invasion or in today's movie version, a returning archer from the Crusades. An author named Pierce Egan in 1838 wrote a series of adventures that added Robin's Merry Men to the myth. Sir Walter Scott also included RH in his classic, Ivanhoe (1820). The two most recent American movies Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) with Kevin Costner in the lead role along w/ Morgan Freeman and Alan Rickman. The other was Mel Brooks' farce, RH: Men in Tights (1993) which had its best moment when Cary Elwes, as Robin Hood, cracked, "unlike other Robin Hoods, I can speak with an English accent." Costner's portrayal of RH was criticized for losing his lame British accent half way through the movie. The first movie goes for serious drama and action and includes a Moor from the Crusades (Morgan Freeman's character), while the other movie shreds the Robin Hood convention with tons of jokes.
Your questions:
1. Why do you think a country like Britain that had a strong tradition of law and loyalty to the monarch would honor such a popular rebel hero who stole from the rich and gave to the poor?
2. The current RH movie that we just watched could be viewed in the time period that it was made: Britain had withdrawn from the Iraq War by 2008, their once popular Prime Minister (Tony Blair) was booted out of office for his decisions to go to war and among other things like a bad economy. Do you think that the director of this current RH, Ridley Scott, made the movie with the intentions of using some of the movie events to reflect current events in Britain (King Richard returning from a "failed crusade" as Robin called it = leaving Iraq; King Richard dying before returning home = Tony Blair losing his job; terrible economy, poor and starving people = disastrous bank failures and economic crash in 2008)? Why or why not?
These are some deep questions, so if you need help, ask your parents.
Due Tuesday, October 19th. 200 words minimum.
