Compare And Contrast Beowulf And The Wife's Lament
Beowulf Journal Setting: When and where does the story take place? The story appears to be set I the sixth century in the region known as Scandinavia—includes what is today Denmark and Sweden, lands of the Danes and Geats respectively. This early medieval story written as a poem takes place on two places.
The conventions of an epic tale consist of allusions, archetypes, foils, symbols, and parallels. The use of the literary devices of an epic tale are strewn throughout the plot of The Natural and are utilized very well throughout the movie. The Natural, starring Robert Redford as Roy Hobbs, demonstrates the same examples of allusions, archetypes, foils, symbols, and parallels as the classic epic tale Beowulf. An allusion is a reference to something, whether that it’s a person, place, object, or piece of literature.
Beowulf explained how Unferth was wrong and claimed that Unferth should not make such accusations when he killed his own family. Beowulf overcame his shadow, and later on Unferth becomes a
Despite Unferth’s challenge and jealousy towards Beowulf, his actions help Beowulf admit his flaws amidst his greatness. Beowulf first encounters Unferth, one of Hrothgar’s courtiers, when he goes to the Danes to help King Hrothgar fight Grendel.
Beowulf and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” are both narratives in which gender acts as an important theme within their individual communities; both have underlying meanings when it comes to defining what the role men and women in a good community should be. Or in other words, both stories paint a vivid picture of the role of women during the medieval time period, by suggesting that one gender had more power over another. However, these two narratives take alternative paths when expressing their views; Beowulf conveys its message through what is missing, while “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” incorporates satire and uses explicit narrative when telling the experience of a woman that is highly different from other women in her time. Furthermore, another difference that is appealing to the reader’s eyes, besides the way the two narratives reflect to women’s role in medieval times, is that men become the hero in Beowulf, while “the wife”, so a woman, becomes the authority figure in the story of “The Wife of Bath’s Tale.” I want to first introduce the two main differences between the two narratives and then I will explain how regardless of the differences, both of these narratives’ main goal is to show that women had less power and a good community back that time was male dominated.
He outright rejects feminine traits ergo, his character propagates ideals to the audience. In addition, the ability to sacrifice one’s life is tied directly to masculinity. When Grendel’s mother is seeking revenge for her son and needs to be killed, Unferth does not portray manly will. Thus, he is described as “not man enough/ to face the turmoil of a fight… and to risk his life”(1468-70). Through contrasting Beowulf’s readiness to kill Grendel’s mom and Unferth’s lack thereof, manliness is even more yearned for.
In the poem,”The wife's lament”, by Ann Stanford, and the excerpt of Beowulf, by an anonymous author both have distinct characters. For example, the wife in the poem states that,”I should find the man well matched to me hard for fortune mournful of mind hiding his mood thinking of murder”.(line 18-20) In this quote the other tries to describe how hard it is to deal with the wife and that the future husband should hide his murderous thoughts if he has any. However, in the Beowulf excerpt, Beowulf claims,”I slew nine sea-beasts with my sword. I have never heard of a fiercer fought by night under heaven’s vault nor of a man who endured more on the ocean streams.
The poem and movie of “Beowulf” are very different and they are also sort of similar. There are a lot more differences between the two than you would expect and while some of them are minor differences others are drastically different. Most movies are very different from the book they are made from. The biggest differences between the movie and poem were the three battles. The three battles have drastic differences.
The epic poem “Beowulf”, translated by Burton Raffel, focuses on a hero by the name of Beowulf who goes on a quest to rescue King Hrothgar and his people from an egregious monster by the name of Grendel. This Anglo-Saxon tale gives insight into the values and beliefs of the people from whom the story originated. Their war-centered ideology and views on loyalty and courage were the principles that the Anglo-Saxon culture was founded upon. While warfare was a focal point in their lifestyle, it was far from a savage, barbaric state of fighting. Honor and prestige were bestowed upon those who died during battle and selflessness for fellow warriors was a fundamental belief.
Beowulf is an excellent piece with a lot for the readers to desire and relate to while reading. This analysis explores different escapades while examining the role of women in the literature. One thing to point out is that female characters have always received very thin attention in different pieces of literature, something that has always made many people think that their role is meager. Every piece of literature has an important message to pass across to its intended audiences. Indeed, this study seeks to demystify the male-centric mindset to promote the visibility of women in the contemporary interpretation of literary works demonstrating that women play a greater role in the literature despite the proximity given to male protagonist.
I believe that Beowulf can be seen as a Christ figure throughout the epic of Beowulf. He shares many characteristics with Jesus. He faces a devil figure, sacrifices himself, and is recognized as a savior by his people. Beowulf to the Danes is a savior, taking away the fear that Grendel will kill all of Hrothgar’s people. In the Christian sense Jesus Christ is a savior to all Christians.
Once upon a time, there was a marvelous warrior that was a hero to so many and king to some. In the story of Beowulf, the hero, Beowulf, must follow and go through the hero’s journey. The hero’s journey has twelve stages, or three acts. The stages go in the order: 1) The Call to Adventure, 2) Assistance, 3) Departure, 4) Trials, 5) Approach to the Inmost Cave, 6) Crisis, 7) Treasure, 8) Result, 9) Return, 10) New Life, 11) Resolution, and 12) Status Quo (Winkler). Since Beowulf is facing three different monsters, there is not only the story’s significant journey, but also multiple inside it.
The epic poem Beowulf is a classic tale of good versus evil. Good, as shown in the story, is any action that fights evil and defends the community and the people of it. The evil intent of Grendel, the story’s antagonist and cannibalistic murderer, who is depicted as a “fiend out of hell” (99), is strongly countered by the heroic actions of the stories main protagonist, Beowulf. The noble King Hrothgar is a role model for young Beowulf at the beginning of the epic, displaying acts of charity and wisdom throughout his life.
5 Literary Devices in Beowulf: “the way it all melted as ice melts” (p.52) Beowulf just finished slaying Grendel and his mother; the ancient sword he used to kill them melts. The poet uses a simile comparing the sword to ice cubes as they melt to emphasize. Giving the image/effect of the sword slowly dissolving in a stunning way; emphasizing the incredibility of it. “the shining blade refused to bite” (p.50) Beowulf dives underwater to fight Grendel’s Mother.
n both the excerpt about Unferth from Beowulf and the poem “The Wife’s Lament”, the themes of betrayal and anger are shown within the stories; however, they are expressed differently. To begin with, Unferth shows his anger towards Beowulf by attempting to embarrass him in front of all the men, including King Hrothgar. For example, Unferth states “No one, neither friend nor foe, could keep you from your sad journey, when you swam out to sea… Breca outslayed you, he was stronger” (427-435). Unferth is trying to say that Beowulf is weak and can’t compete with anyone or anything.
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