Oral bac - myths and heroes

Sujet du devoir

The notion I am going to deal with is « myths and heroes ». First, let me give you a definition. A myth can be defined as a story about gods or heroes, it can be a popular belief, a tradition, or a false notion. A hero is a person who is admired for his or her achievements, noble qualities and great courage. Moreover, they can be fictional, like Harry Potter, or real, like Elizabeth 2. Indeed, I’m going to illustrate this notion by trying to explain to what extent the image of Queen Elisabeth 2 is a matter of the myth. Firstly, I'll talk about what she's seen as a myth, and secondly, about the limits of it.

I) The Queen = myth
She is seen as a myth because she represents a big part of the collective identity of the British people. Indeed, when we see this face, we are instantly thinking about England. For example, a picture taken during her Silver Jubilee has been the start of the portrait pinted by Andy Warhol in 1985. This painter realised a lot of celebritie’s portraits (like Marylin Monroe), so we can deduct that he’s also doing it for her, propelling Queen Elisabeth 2 in a status of icon. This portrait is made by face, and not by profile. Like that, the Queen seems less haughty, closer to her people. Conversely, the artist Annigoni said that he doesn’t want to represent her like a star. Instead, in 1955, he represented her by profile, like a monarch, with beautiful robes of the order of the garter. On this portrait, she’s alone, with her responsibility of taking care of her people. Furthermore, unlike Warhol’s portrait, this one is official and was ordered by the royal family.
The painting isn't the only form of art capable of making live a myth such as Elizabeth 2. In class, we read an extract of "The uncommon reader”, written by Alan Bennett. This book was published in 2007. This uncommon reader is no other than Elisabeth 2, who discovered the pleasure of reading and while doingt it, she is just a person among the others. So this novel gives a more human image of her.

We can also say that she's seen as a myth because there is a lot of tradition behind all of this. For example, every Christmas, she's doing a speech. She has never given an interview, so for the english people these little glimpses into her character are gold.

She's a myth because she represents britishness, or the fact of being british. The entire world saw this at the London Olympics Game Opening Ceremony, in 2012. In a video projected behind the stadium, we saw Queen Elizabeth 2 going to a helicopter, causing the hysteria of the spectators. She went with James Bond there, who is also seen has a hero, but fictional. We all had the impression that the scene took place in real time, because when on the video, the helicopter stopped, a helicopter arrived above the stadium, and two remplacements jumped of it while on the screen, the Queen and James Bond “jumped”, the James Bond's soundtrack resonating in the stadium at the same time. This example shows two english myths, chosen to represent this country during an international event. We also saw that she represents britishness more recently, in April, when she“celebrated” her 90th birthday. Not only her family wished it to her, but the entire world did it. The press from all around the world talked about it.

II) The limits
The british people see Queen Elisabeth 2 like a hero, but there's some limits. People want to think that she's perfect and, like, untouchable, but there's example to show that this isn't true. At the death of Diana, the “people's princess”, the Queen decided that she'll not do a national tribute, despite the English were not agree with this decision and did not understood it. After that, she was in a bad position, and she was kind of “saved” by her prime minister, Tony Blair. This episode marked her people, who are still remembering that, as they are making film about it, like “The Queen”, that we saw in class.

To conclude, Queen Elizabeth 2 si a symbolic figure of the British History, and is really admired by English people, as she has the longest reign of the British royalty, surpassing her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria last year. She is a myth as she is the reflection of the power and glory of the United Kingdom.

Où j'en suis dans mon devoir

Mon oral d'anglais est mardi, j'ai finis cette fiche mais je ne sais pas s'il reste des fautes. Merci d'avance pour votre aide! ;)