To refer to the private life of Charles II is to abuse the adjective. His personal life was anything but private. His amorous liaisons were largely conducted in royal palaces surrounded by friends, courtiers and literally hundreds of servants and soldiers. Gossip radiated throughout the kingdom.
This book explores the virtues Shakespeare made of the cultural necessities of servants and service. Although all of Shakespeare's plays feature servants as characters, and many of these characters play prominent roles, surprisingly little attention has been paid to them or to the concept of service.
Ten years after the fall of Troy the victorious Greek hero Odysseus has still not returned to his native Ithaka. Follow Odysseus and his men as they survive many adventures on their way back home. Once they arrived back home, they in turn had to battle suitors and disloyal servants who have taken over Odysseus’ palace, thinking he was long dead.
This classic tale begins in Heaven. Mephistopheles, the Devil complains about the state of the world. Mankind is corrupt, he revels in the evil and disaster he is able to cause. Mephistopheles makes a bet with the Lord that he will be able to turn one of his servants, Dr. Faust over to sin and evil. The Lord agrees, claiming that Faust will remain a loyal servant.
Thomas Jonathan 'Stonewall' Jackson was the great-grandson of indentured servants from Ireland who were sentenced to serve time in America for larceny. He began his career in the U.S. Army fighting in the Mexican-American War and later became a teacher. He and his wife owned slaves, and he saw slavery as ordained by God, although he also considered it the slave master's duty to treat servants fairly and humanely at all times. His reputation as a kind slave master meant several slaves asked to be purchased by him at auction.
