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  • Essay / Selfishness and complicit sorcerers in The Tale of Nectanabus

    Is the crook entirely at fault? The artist only paints a picture that may be very desirable, but the choice is up to the observer to blindly follow the artist in his need for a pleasant fantasy or not. In the "Tale of Nectanabus" by John Gower, the sorcerer Nectanabus shows Queen Olimpias and King Philipp fantastical and wondrous dreams of gods, prophecies and strangeness in the hope that he can have sex with Olimpias and advance his selfish desires. However, the problem is not only Nectanabus's deception, but also the problem of human desire, the need for an amazing future, no matter how imaginative. Both the king and queen want to believe in this incredible chance of the prophecy when they should rather doubt it. Their thirst to believe, to live in a fantasy, blinds them to the truth. This tale warns that humans should be wary of the deception of others like Nectanabus, who claim to be the voice of fate or the gods. It also tells us to be aware of our own greedy desires to believe such fantastical prophecies, because once people get so caught up in believing such falsehoods, they lose the ability to see the big picture, to foresee potential dangers in the future. no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Queen Olimpias is the first in history to get caught up in the imagination and excitement created by Nectanabus. The queen shows hints of her human weakness in believing the fictitious ideas that Nectanabus implants after telling her how a god "He will beget one of you, / Who with his swerd schal winne et gete / The world wyde in length and en brede. »(6.1935-37). Gower notes that Olimpias in his mind: "She said little what he said, / For it was cunning and sorcery, / Al which she took for a prophecy (6.1950-52). Here, Olimpias does not carefully consider the scenario that Nectanabus is a complete fraud, but rather she considers it a "prophecy." She asks for proof which arises later in her dream, but this scene shows that she has an ingrained need to believe exciting stories. She loses herself in a feeling of happiness at the thought of giving birth to a wonderful king. Olimpias, as a member of the ruling class, dangerously chooses to be so optimistic about a dubious prediction rather than being cautious. It seems strange and contrary to reason and wisdom that a person easily believes that a great leader will be born from such hypnotic visions. This scene shows the Queen's ignorance of how much she craves situations and information of a fantastical nature, hopes for a better future, and in her pursuit she loses sight of how stupid this is. Nectanabus enters her dreams in which she "lai stille and Nothing crid" (6.1990) when he seduces her, then sees himself "With Childe immediately praising wombe aros / And she was surprisingly happy about that" (6.2000-1). In this case, the predicted vision occurs and, strangely, it is not called into question. Even though her belly immediately expands, it seems like she's "surprisingly happy." This desire for wonder and respect is what blinds his judgment. When actual impregnation occurs, “sche soffreth al his wille, As sche which wende no misdo” (6.2082-3). Here the text states that she desired all of his will and thought that all was well. His willingness to believe in fiction happens because it is so much more interesting and fantastical, but it blinds him and shows his lack of wisdom. This tale illustrates how one should not overdoto wrap oneself in the pleasures of experiencing fiction, because this obscures reasoning and blinds us to the underlying purpose of the fiction weaver. Even if it ultimately comes out positive, the intentions and mindset of both parties are selfish and make one wonder how effective leaders can be when their minds are oblivious to the bigger picture of the situation .reality. Everyone assumes that the king is a wise ruler, but King Philipp in the Tale of Nectanabus also falls prey not only to a conjurer's magic, but also to his own wishful interpretation of seemingly supernatural events. The strange dream that the king of Nectanabus has is that of a dragon between him and the queen, the god Amos, a lion armed with a sword which seals the womb of his wife. It is Amphion, the king's clerk, who first interprets this dream as: A god wanted to be this woman and have a son, who will win the world and everything within it. Here, one of the king's subordinates considers the extraordinary dream a blessing. disguised rather than simply disguised. Although the king says he "doubts this dom", I think the seed of imagination has been sown in his mind. It also doesn't help to have subordinates unable to see through the ruse and it is possible that they themselves willingly accept such positive interpretations because they also have a taste for the fantastical. Here, the clerks accept such extraordinary ideas, probably due to the hope that their kingdom and empire could expand exponentially. Not only that, but they can eventually win the king's favor by being heralds of good news. The problem here is not whether the fortune actually happens or not, but that everyone seems to be looking out for themselves and looking for the easy way out. The characters in this tale do not seem able to evaluate different possibilities or consider an alternative, darker meaning of the dream events. Again, in another scene, King Philipp and his subjects see a dragon transform into several other creatures and at the end of the performance the king thought: "For he knew well, as he looked upon it, / Sche was with the child with a god. »(6.2214-15). Here, the king's selfish imagination takes over: although the visions seem fantastic, they do not seem rational. The king and his cleric also witness a pheasant laying an egg which opens to reveal a snake inside which eventually dies shortly after. The king's clerks see this as a prophecy that Alexander "will happen to him, and in his youth / He will desire in his courage [...] To be torn in the world / Where he was born, and in his life / Towards the house il schol puson deie” (6.2241-45). The answer is that “His jealousy is forgotten” (6.2249). It seems here that the king is content with the idea that Alexander will die young, thus alleviating his jealousy of someone who surpasses him in power. This illustrates the complacency of the people in this tale, especially the king. Rather than thinking about the good or evil that Alexander will bring to the world, Philipp focuses on this small, petty view of the world of how he will appear in comparison. This does not seem to be the characteristic trait of a good leader. A good leader has many doubts, is not superficial in his interpretations and has the wisdom to see a broader worldview that benefits not only himself. The king and his clerks seem content to dwell on assumptions that benefit them and which, in turn, can lead to bad governance and bad kingship. However, the most cunning and selfish of all the characters in this tale and an example of a bad king is.