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The Wife's Lament And Beowulf Comparison

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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. He says such things because he is madly jealous that Beowulf will fight with Grendel instead of him. On the other hand, Beowulf counteracts Unferth by staying calm, explaining …show more content…

For instance, she says that “First my lord went out away… Then I went forth a friendless exile to seek service in my sorrow’s need” (6-10). Since she felt agony, she was seeking the attention by cheating (betraying) on her King with another man’s wooing. Although these characters express similar themes/emotions, they show it in different forms. As an example, the poem about the wife isn’t written in Anglo-Saxon, while the excerpt from Beowulf is. Anglo-Saxon is a culture that has a lot of belief in fate, treasure is their success, and where loyalty to a leader is crucial. The excerpt identifies all these qualities of Anglo-Saxon because Beowulf says that “the woven war-garment, adorned with gold covered my breast... Fate will often spare an undoomed man, if his courage is good... But soon, quite soon, I shall show him the strength, the spirit and skill of the Geats" (470-471, 490-491, 518-520). The gold on his chest represents the treasure and success, he also mentions fate when he speaks, and his loyalty to King Hrothgar promising that he will defeat Grendel with his warriors. However, the poem is written first person point of view and is a lyrical

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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.

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926 Words | 4 Pages

What conventions make an epic tale? The conventions of an epic tale consist of allusions, archetypes, foils, symbols, and parallels. The Natural, starring Robert Redford as Roy Hobbs shows the same use of the conventions of a classic epic tale as the story of Beowulf. The conventions of an epic tale are strewn throughout the movie, and are utilized thoroughly throughout the plot.

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1002 Words | 5 Pages

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

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566 Words | 3 Pages

Because they did not believe in an afterlife, the Anglo Saxons felt that immortality was achieved by fame and positive reputation, and that achieving fame was the most important task in one’s life. Beowulf clearly defines this idea in his speech to Hrothgar before attacking Grendel’s mother: “he who can earn it should fight for the glory of his name; fame after death is the noblest of goals.” The Anglo Saxons remembered their heroes’ fame through the telling of their epic tales and the passing down of their mementos. Beowulf embodies memento mori in nearly every aspect; the epic itself is a prime example of oral tradition. Within the story, there are several instances of scops recounting the stories of past heroes, such as the tale of Siegmund.

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1220 Words | 5 Pages

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.

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648 Words | 3 Pages

While reading Beowulf, one might think that Wealhtheow’s role in Beowulf is insignificant, or that she is merely an extension of Hrothgar, the Danish king. But after studying her character, the queen of the Danes clearly holds a far more powerful role than at a first glance. Her speeches are brief, but full of meaning and authority, and her astute counsel is often relied upon by Hrothgar. While she plays only a small role in Beowulf, Wealhtheow demonstrates that women played an integral part in medieval culture. Wealhtheow’s wisdom and respect is apparent in her role as the cup-bearer.

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Wiglaf states, “I gathered them up, gold and silver, filled my arms as full as I could and quickly carried them back to my king” (Beowulf lines 3090). At the end of Beowulf's life he requests to see the gold he had won from killing the dragon. This shows how much treasure is worth to the Anglo Saxon culture. To these people, treasure and power were to die for. The Anglo Saxons would risk dying to get more treasure and to be deemed honorable by their

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1333 Words | 6 Pages

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.

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650 Words | 3 Pages

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.

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242 Words | 1 Pages

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.

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631 Words | 3 Pages

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.

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821 Words | 4 Pages

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.

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805 Words | 4 Pages

The continued honor shown in Beowulf’s character shines through when Beowulf never mentions that Unferth’s trusted sword was no match for Grendel’s mother. Beowulf could have simply boasted how the sword was useless and ineffective against the female beast, yet he was silent out of respect for Unferth. Finally, during Beowulf’s time as ruler (fifty winters), another beast arrives: a dragon. This time, Beowulf is much older and is in a much weaker state than when he first defeated Grendel and his mother. However, that does not deter Beowulf from going out and defending his kingdom.

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1033 Words | 5 Pages

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.

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306 Words | 2 Pages

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.

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