In light of the recent midterm, I was thinking of various themes we've covered this semester.
It struck me that the idea of the journey has not only been a linking theme this semester. It has been a prominent theme since we started our own journey as a class in the medieval times that has carried us through the Enlightenment. Remember Sir Gawain and the Green Knight? Or Saint Benedict's spiritual journey? Petrarch's search of the self? Chaucer's portrayal of pilgrims traveling to pay homage to a saint's relic? Dante's depiction of a journey through hell?
I think this says a lot about human nature as a whole. We are constantly searching, never satisfied with what we have. We have this irresistible urge to discover. There is something enchantingly romantic about the noble quest: spiritual, mental, emotional or physical.
I'm sure this idea will keep returning into the Spring. I just thought it was interesting that one idea could carry through time, literature and history in such an absolute and dramatic way.
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