The Match Between Rival Twins in Myth and Literature
evil are well defined in it. The evil doer is Anne’s cousin Elliot, who is discovered as a dishonest man who had acquired his wealth in crooked ways. Her other suitor is the righteous Captain Wentworth, who has earned his money honestly. Anne, the heroine, indeed holds in her hand the power of happiness for either of these men, and in the end she makes the good choice, which will be the best for her. In this book, a crave for riches which is the symbol of the Underworld and evil is, indeed, the power behind the scenes which really determines who is good and who is evil.
IV
There is, then, a development, which can be clearly seen from the various stages of ancient myth, to Medieval fairy tales and modern literature, especially in regard to the position of Woman between the two rivals and the various ideas about good and evil, who vie for her love and the power it grants. When the Goddess of Nature ruled alone, there were no good or evil but the necessities of existence; with the advance of the moralistic Monotheistic religions, and the deterioration of Woman’s position in society, there was also a change in such ideas, which have been well expressed in the literatures of all periods, and which – if I may be so bold as to say – plague us to this day.
REFERENCES
Robert Graves – The White Goddess
Robert Graves – The Greek Myth
Thousand and One Nights
William Shakespeare – Hamlet
Emily Bronte – Wuthering Heights
Charlotte Bronte – Jane Eire
Jane Austen – Persuasion
Alexander Dumas – The Count of Monte Christo
http://www.themystica.org/mythical-folk/articles/Baal.html
I live in Israel and I hold an M.Phil. degree in literature from the London University,
having studied both Hebrew and English languages and literature for B.A.. I taught these subjects before I became a full time writer. My main interest is mythology, but I write also fantasy and science fiction stories, novellas and books, and had many of them published in print and on the Net, both in Hebrew and English. Among works of mine published on the Net and in print are Minstrel in the Forest and The Myth of Tristan and Isolde. [email protected]