Start the Week - 13/04/2009

Michael Portillo examines what drives people to violence and whether any one of us has the potential to become violent. If society tells us violence is good or justified, how does that change us? According to John Gray, society is not progressing. Although we may be progressing in the arenas of science and knowledge, Gray believes that we cannot use the same model for our progress in ethics, politics and the arts. He thinks that these are essentially cyclical, and our progressions can easily be lost. Author Amanda Craig thinks that we need to return to the values of the Victorian novel which gave an insight into contemporary social issues. She thinks that authors are now timid of writing works with a large cast driven by a strong plot. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales incorporated the medieval styles of bawdy anecdote, allegorical fable and courtly romance. Peter Ackroyd has translated these tales of universal human themes into the language of modern day prose.