Good Blog Entries Essay Example

1. Canterbury Tales is similar to the “new” world in that in both cultural contexts, religion uses the fears of the worshipers in order to build profits. In that time, the Pardoner was carrying around false relics that he would sell in order to make money. He also carried around indulgences, which were basically “Get Out of Hell Free” cards that let the purchaser gain freedom from sin just by buying the document.
In modern times, the fear has changed from excommunication to a lack of material success. That is why such evangelists as Joel Osteen promise believers that if they simply pray hard enough or believe enough, they can get all of the wealth and material contentment that they want. Then they collect proceeds from the sale of their books and buy eight-figure compounds for their families.
2. In Hamlet, we learn that the ways of the old world are quite similar to those of the new world, particularly in the ways of lust and self-interest. Claudius, the brother of the elder Hamlet, kills his brother and marries his widow, Gertrude, just a few months later. The implication is that Claudius and Gertrude had been carrying on for some time and then found the elder Hamlet an impediment to their happiness.
A modern example that has plenty of lust and self-interest without the homicide is the tale of Brad Pitt, who left one wife (Jennifer Aniston) after he met his next wife (Angelina Jolie) on the set of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Working with Jolie had already wrecked an engagement for Billy Bob Thornton. Unlike Claudius and Gertrude, whose adulterous union ended in death, “Brangelina” has become a couple known much more for charitable work than for a dalliance.