Paying attention to the structure of a poem is extremely important because it gives significant hints of what the reader expect from the piece of literature. The epic poem Beowulf is structured with quantitative verse, emphasis on syllables with long vowels allowing alliteration to occur. When the tale of Beowulf was created, it was an oral epic that was spoken. The alliteration written down was a byproduct of the oral tradition because it kept the speaker and audience focused on the tale. Beowulf also is structured with incremental repetition for a sense of progression in the tale. A tripartite of fights exists in Beowulf, where Beowulf fights Grendel, then Grendel’s mother and lastly the dragon. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight additionally …show more content…
The commitatus stems from a patriarchal culture, where the individual values his lord and father equally. Additionally, the commitatus only works properly if all members cooperate together and trust each other. A betrayal in the commitatus is deemed the worst possible outcome. In Beowulf, Unferth kills one of his fellow thanes and “will suffer damnation in the depths of hell” for breaking the trust of the commitatus (Beowulf 598). In Song of Roland, a betrayal in the commitatus occurs where Ganelon, out of revenge, betrays Roland because he nominated Ganelon for a dangerous mission to Spain (Song of Roland 20.289-91). Ganelon betraying Roland is a sign that Charlemagne’s commitatus is broken. Once the commitatus is broken, no member is protected. The break allows Roland to become vulnerable and is killed in action. The use of allegories is very prevalent in the literature discussed. In The Divine Comedy, purgatory is a highly symbolical in terms of morality, ethics, theology and psychology. Purgatory is “a dark wood” where “the right way was nowhere to be found” for Dante (Dante I.3). This is symbolical for the Dante’s midlife crisis because he sidetracked himself off the pathway to