The adventure of Yvain the knight

                    Yvain the knight is a French romance novel written by Chretien de Troyes. It’s all about romance and adventure. All started after Yvain’s cousin had been defeated by another knight called Esclados. Yvain the knight went to seek avenge for his cousin and decides to take on this task as a personal challenge.  Yvain defeats Esclados as he wished. Laudine, Esclado’s wife was really furious to learn that her husband has been killed by another knight. All she wants is revenge. They looked all over the castle to find Yvain, but they couldn’t find him. With the help of Lunete, Yvain cured from his wounded, and he falls in love with Calogrenant’s widow Laudine.  

                  Later in the novel, Yvain convinced Laudine and marries her. But after the marriage was done, Gawain convinces Yvain to go on an adventure with, which Laudine agreed to let him go. But she gives him a year to come back to her or he will be concider as her husband no more if he takes longer than a year to come back. Years after, Yvain has forgotten the promise he made to his wife, and he goes crazy because Laudine bars him to come back. He would do everything to get his wife back.

                In order for Yvain to get his wife back, he goes through a lot of difficult situations, and difficult decision. For example, in the forest he intervenes in the battle of the lion and the snake. At first he didn’t know which one he should helped, and then he chooses to help the lion. And the lion in his turn pays repays him with a lot of loyalties.

               On his journey to reconquer Laudine back, the knight Yvain has a lot of difficulties. One of the difficulties is that he had to follow order; he also has to forget about himself and fight battle for other people. In another word he has to put his personal thoughts or feelings aside and do hat ever they ask him to do. For example, Yvain has been ordered to fight his beloved one Gawain. These two characters both love each other but they had to put their love aside and fight as required the two sisters. Yvain turns himself into an avenger to help woman who’s in need.  Yvain wins back his wife with the help of Lunete, after rescuing her from being burned. 

The thief and the dogs

           "The thief and the dogs" I have read this novel twice, it's really interesting. This novel wrote by Mahfouz has a lot of lessons. The novel begins in a morning where Said Mahran the main personage of the novel is released from prison, after a four year sentence for robbery. 

           This novel is all about vengeance Said wants and reintegrate in his community or society again. Since he has been in prison, he lost every single thing he had. His wife, a book that he wrote and his six-year old daughter, and he is trying to get everything back.Said plans to take revenge on Ilish Sidra, an associate who turned him in and who then, after Said’s incarceration, secured everything that Said had home, money, and his wife, Nabawiyya.  Ilish is provided with the police protection, which make it difficult for Said to get his revenge. But Said is trying everything he can to get Ilish down.

           Said visits Ali al-Junaydi, his late father’s religious counselor. The Sufi sheikh offers him food, advice, and sanctuary. Said accepts the hospitality and spends his first night of freedom at the sheikh’s house. Within the next three weeks, he returns there twice, after criminal deeds. 

          This personage Sheikh in the novel played an important role. Even though all Said wants is revenge, Sheikh is trying to convince him that revenge isn't a good way to solve problem or to ease emotional pain. We can clearly notice that Said is emotionally in pain from the beginning of the novel till its end. Said loses everything once he got into prison, he tried to get his belonging back, unfortunately he cannot. Even his six-year daughter doesn't recognize him anymore; she keeps running away from him. All of this things put Said in pain and all he wants his to get revenge from the people who put in in this situation. Sheikh, the religious counselor father is giving him good advice to forget about revenge which he thinks that isn't going to take Said nowhere. Said as a poor man doesn't listen to any advice, all Said has in his head is vengeance. It is really sad that Said died seven days right after he has released from prison. 

         This character "Sheikh", Mahfouz used him in the novel as a tool to preach against war, crime and violence that where happened in his society in this era. While reading the novel, it gives you a good sense of how our society his and how people actually prefer the way of violence to ease their pain. 

Analysis of The Tempest

                  The tempest is a play by William Shakespeare. Throughout this play you can notice that power is making the rules. In the centuries that the play was written it was all about power. If you have power, you can control and dominate anything. When I look these two characters "Prospero and Caliban" very close, i see that there is a big conflict between them. Caliban was the first one who ruled that island before Prospero with his devil power taken over or conquered the island. Even though there is cold war between these two characters,they still teaching or share to each other things they know. For example Prospero taught Caliban how to read and how to speak his language. In Caliban in return taught Prospero a lot of good things about the island. However, the fact that Prospero is the one is ruled the island, there is a kind of jalousie. Caliban hates the fact that Prospero is ruling the island and he doesn't have power to control the island anymore, and he feels like Prospero is using him or makes him turns his slave to do whatever he requests. For these reasons, Caliban wants to be free and takes control of the island again. To do so, Caliban wants to kill Prospero in order to take control of the island again. 

                  There is also an exchange of culture between Stephano and Caliban. Stephano at first thinks Caliban was a a fish because he smells just like a fish. Then he thinks he can make a lot of money with Caliban which he considers to be a strange creature if he takes it back home. As back home Stephano is just a poor guy in the middle class with respect, he thinks that would be a good idea to take Caliban with him. In his mind people are going to like it because Caliban look like a fish, and he actually expects to get respect if he does such a thing. Caliban in his turn wants Stephano to be his master, so that Stephano can help him killing Prospero. 

                    There are several other conflicts in the Tempest. Caliban against Prospero, Alonzo and Antonio against Prospero. All of these conflicts have the same objective which is the envy to dominate. They all want to be free from the one who has the power to control them. 

                     Later in the play, Shakespeare concluded that everything goes back to normal. At the end everybody make peace to each other. As they have made peace, they plan to get back to their native country. As for Caliban, the play doesn’t say what Prospero did with him. But from my understanding, I can assumed that Prospero leave Caliban on the island. I assumed Caliban stay on the island because at the end Prospero rejected him. And I don’t think no one would still want to be in contact with someone who hates you and wants your death.