The context of Magna Carta and the Robin Hood films Essay

The context of Magna Carta and the Robin Hood films - Essay Example His story has won the hearts of many young and adventurous readers who view him as a type of deliverer, and it’s interesting to discover that he had a bigger impact in history than we know. The first time for the story to be put into film was in 1938. It was filmed in Technicolor and starred Errol Flynn as the main character. It was released in the United States on a whopping two-million dollar budget. It was highly acclaimed by critics and won three Academy awards. The plot is focused on the political affairs of medieval England. It shows how Robin Hood plays a big part in preventing the royal throne from being usurped while King Richard is away. His younger brother, Prince John has been scheming the whole time, hoping his brother would encounter some trouble so that he would take the throne. When it does happen, he takes power and immediately exercises his authority, raising taxes all over the kingdom. Meanwhile, King Richard is smuggled into England, disguised as a monk. He joins Robin Hood, and together, they outwit his treacherous brother and manage to win the throne back to its rightful king (Dirks, 2002). In the film, the Magna Carta is not mentioned, although it was a main event during those days. The Magna Carta was drafted by the barons and noblemen in the year 1215 and presented to the king as a strategy to limit his powers and lighten the loads he had placed on their backs. But the signing of this document did not fully give the people the freedom they wanted. King John still caused problems. Moreover, the pope denounced the charter, calling it treason against the king’s God-given authority. This gave the king courage to stand up to the barons, who reacted violently, plunging the country into civil war, and threatening its collapse (Danziger & Gilligam, 2003). All the while, Robin Hood had been banished to Sherwood Forest as an outlaw, and he was daily evading capture from the king’s soldiers. Since then, Hollywood has produced many other films about Robin Hood and his exploits, the newest one starring Russell Crowe as the main character. This is one of the few films that includes the Magna Carta within its plot. Set on the backdrop of the early 1200s, this film also dwells largely on the political conflicts in the royal courts. In the film, King John promises to sign a charter promising to establish fair and just laws that will limit the monarch’s power and protect their privileges. This was to be done after a French invasion led by King Philip was overthrown. Believing in his promise, the barons unite with the King’s army in fighting off the French in the coastal beaches of England. They attain success and are able to push back the French armies. Once this is accomplished, the final scene depicts the barons in London eagerly awaiting the King to keep his promise to sign the document. The king stares at the document loathsomely, then after a short moment of silence, sets it on fire and casts it to the ground. Seeing this, the barons break into anger and hurl their curses at the treacherous King John. Unperturbed, he summons his soldiers to contain the crowd, then as a final act of betrayal, he banishes Robin Hood from England, declaring him an outlaw. Robin Hood is then forced to hide in Sherwood Forest together with his band of merry men. Various

EU Legal Contexts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

EU Legal Contexts - Essay Example The company terminated her services on 19 December 2006, providing her with a notice period up to 31 January 2007, calculating the period of service as 3 years, that is the computation period commencing from the time she was 25 years of age. The company ignored her pleas that she was serving the company for a period of 10 years that is, since December 2006, and thus her notice period should have been four months and not over one month as provided to her in her termination notice. Aggrieved, the petitioner took up this matter with Labour Court on the grounds that the subject clause in German Civil Code (BGB) which denies credit for the period below 25th year of service validity was void and â€Å"Paragraph 622(2) of the BGB is a measure which discriminates on grounds of age, contrary to European Union law, and must be disapplied.†1 Laws: There were two main questions that need to be answered in this case. The first question would be in terms of whether national legislation such as that at issue, under which periods of employment completed by the employee before reaching the age of 25, which was not taken into consideration in calculating notice period for dismissal, constitutes a difference of treatment on grounds of age prohibited by European Union law, with special reference to EC Directive 2000/78/EC. ...The main contention in the reckoning would be â€Å"Thus in the case of two employees each with 20 years’ seniority in service, the one who joined the undertaking at the age of 18 will be entitled to a notice period of five months, whereas the period will be seven months for the one who joined at the age of 25. †¦ the situation of Ms Kucukdeveci shows – may, despite several years’ seniority in service in the undertaking, be excluded from benefiting from the progressive extension of notice periods in the case of dismissal according to the length of the employment relationship, from which older workers of comparable seniority w ill, by contrast, be able to benefit.†