Original Thoughts of England

Thinking back to the influence map assignment, I realize that most of my ideas of England have been formed by romantic or imaginative stories. I included images in my map of Peter Pan flying across London and Alice (from Alice in Wonderland) in a field before chasing the white rabbit because for me, these images gave me my very first impressions of England. I also included pictures of Shakespeare and Jane Austen, which represents romantic ideas through stories of love and tragedy, which are still well known in today’s time, like Romeo and Juliet and Pride and Prejudice. These images are used to show that I tend to view England as a beautiful magical place, which still impacts the way I think of it now.

The other theme that I included in my map had to do with Monarchy and the historical ideas associated with the system, like Robin Hood and Henry VIII. The events that influenced the lives of these people, whether true or not, give a foundation or belief to their legends and history, and explains the fascination that people have with royalty. Even today, there is curiosity and excitement that focus on The Royal Wedding and The Royal Baby (the new prince), since they live lives that many of us will not experience, and as a result, we find them even more interesting.

I wanted to start blogging about my influence map first because we have started reading The Canterbury Tales, and I have realized that I never considered the middle or lower class positions when thinking about England. Logically, I know that there were societal stations, but never gave them much though until reading about the Knight, The Monk, The Parson, and The Miller. I’ve realized that I have had a sheltered view of what England is, but these stories are entertaining because of how they relate to the “common man”.