Many books have timeless themes that are relevant to modern day life. I agree with the critics who believe that the epic poem Beowulf is one of these cases. Although there are numerous themes in this book, two important ones are good vs. evil and the importance of family lineage. Even though this poem was composed toward the end of the first millennium, its themes are definitely significant topics for life today. Good vs. evil can clearly be seen throughout Beowulf. Grendel, a twelve-foot monster with huge red glowing eyes, eats people. He virtually is the meaning of evil. Everyone who has gone against him has died or has been eaten. Eventually Beowulf, a strong legendary Viking, says he will take care of the problem that the Danes and King Hrothar have with Grendel. Beowulf, who signifies true "good," decides to fight Grendel and realizes that no man can destroy him with weapons, so Beowulf decided to take off his armor and fight man to man, or in this case, man to monster. Beowulf defeats Grendel, and later defeats Grendel's mother, which indicates good defeating evil. Good vs. evil in today's modern day life can be compared to America vs. Saddam. America is also a "Legendary Viking," a country that has fought and will continue to fight for "good" in this world. The current "evil" that America is fighting is Saddam, a cruel "monster" who is causing harm to the world. America has won important battles against its monster and will hopefully win the war, but the important issue is that "good" is making its best attempt to destroy evil, as Beowulf did with Grendel….
There is no doubt that the story of beowulf still holds revelance to modern day life. As mentioned in the article, most critics agree that the two themes in the story would be "good vs. evil and the importance of family lineage". Family lineage is shown through the characters in the story. An example would be beowulf and his father. He gets more respect because he is the son of Ecgtheow. Good vs. evil is a major theme in the story of beowulf. This is shown throughout the story. A major conflict in the book is Beowulf going against Grendel. Beowulf would represent good while Grendel represents evil. This theme is also shown in other cases, such as beowulf fighting the troll wife and the dragon. These two themes are relate to modern day. Family lineage still holds an importance today. Good vs evils is also shown to this day. Many conflicts occuring in modern day involves the theme "good vs. evil"
I think that there is a relavent modern day life feel to Beowulf. TheGood v. Evil aspect is very evident in Beowulfs battle withGrendal and the trolls.
I agree with Brittany. I think that the theme of good vs. evil can be applied to a lot of things in modern day society, and that most conflicts in life are viewed as good vs. evil.
I agree with Brittany and the critic on the theme of family lineage, good versus evil, and how both are still present to this day. The critic explains the accepted fact of how Beowulf is good, and Grendel is evil, and how Beowulf wins, proving, once again, that good triumps. Family lineage is also an apparent theme, just how Brittany pointed out that Beowulf has the legacy of his father and at the same time Grendel's legacy is a descendant of Cain.
Here we go with Good vs. Evil again.... ...but who is the good guy and who is the bad guy? Good is really a point of view, as well as Evil. For all I know, Grendel may have believed that HE was the one who was doing the right thing -- for his own reasons. Grendel most likely believed that Hrothgar was Evil, mainly because he was Grendel's enemy. Society today automatically assumes that Grendel portrays Evil, but we never heard Grendel's side of the story, did we? DID WE?
im starting to agree more and more with Brandon. i think we get the picture, good vs evil, good suppossed to win. but is that really the case. while in the story and in the poets mind i do believe thats what he was shotting for, this really awesome triumphant good guy, what about grendel? and what about his poor mom? who never hurt anyone till she got mad that beowulf killed her kid? and what about the dragon? o thanks beowulf for helping to off all the dragons! now ill never ever get to see one!
this author's comparison between America and Beowulf is scary, or at best very weak. in the story, Beowulf either trumped over his enemies or was completely destroyed in the process of victory. It seems right now that while America may be fighting for the "good" of the world, it is currently in a position where it simply can't fight Grendel, his mom and the dragon at the same time.
I also find the topic of good vs evil to be rather repetitive. Its in almost all stories, especially fairy tales. The easiest story to tell is a story about an evil man and a good man overcoming him. I could've written a story about a hero killing a monster back then and you'd all be reading about the aspects of good vs evil in my story.
I find it interesting that one of the important themes of this book is the importance of family lineage. I never would have thought of that one. I also find it interesting that the critic of this criticism that he compares the good vs evil theme with america vs saddam, but it does make sence.
Good versus evil is a timeless theme in many epics. It will be forever portrayed and as Brandon points out, it will most likely be one-sided. Therefore our view of the good and bad in stories may be completely inaccurate and distorted due to lack of another opposite viewpoint.
I completely disagree with the quote "Good vs. evil in today's modern day life can be compared to America vs. Saddam." America has not had the best history of being quote on quote "good." While America is a wonderful country now, and has given its citizen huge amounts of freedoms, it took a while for America to actually be able to give people the chance to obtain "life, liberty and the Pursuit of happiness," as Thomas Jefferson Wrote in The Declaration of Independence. Even today though, America is not know as "good," as many countries are dissappointed with the United States's government trying to be the world police and trying to make all countries become Democratic. America has also lost battles too. Beowulf only lost one because of his death. America as suffered through plenty of losses, whether it being their fault or not. I dont agree that the good of Beowulf can be linked to a country such as America, Beowulf was a pure good person, as America has done plenty bad. I also don't think that Grendel can be linked to Saddam. I think that the author could have represented the story of Beowulf and the theme Good v. Evil in better ways than comparing it to America and Saddam.
Fmaily lineage is definitely a major theme in this poem, but I think some people forget about it and focus only on good vs evil. The start of the poem talks about the Scyld, who was the Dnaes king and basically founder and his funeral. Then it jumps to Hrothgar and they trace him all the way back to the Scyld, and Hrothgar eventually becomes king.
This critic, like most others, recognizes the main theme of good vs. evil in Beowulf. He also notes the importance of family lineage, and this also could be compared to mondern day events.
The importance of family lineage is an interesting theme that I haven't seen brought up before. It seems to be a valid theme although it wasn't backed up by very much evidence. The good v. evil theme is also valid and has slightly more evidence, but more could definitely been provided.
I agree that the theme of good vs. evil has played a big part in Beowulf and in modern dya life as well. The theme will always be around in the world becuase there will always be good people just like Beowulf and bad people like Grendal.
The Nun's Priest's Tale and Nominalism: A Preliminary Study Originally published in Richard J. Utz, ed. Literary Nominalism and the Theory of Rereading Late Medieval Texts: A New Research Paradigm. Medieval Studies: Volume 5. The Edwin Mellen Press, 1995, 135-146.
The study of the influence of nominalism on Chaucer's work represents an attempt to specify and extend the contemporary intellectual context, to relate Chaucer to the philosophic currents of his day, rather than assume he simply ignored them. An improvement in our understanding of the philosophical context of late fourteenth-century England has made this possible. Recent decades have seen a growing body of editions and studies of the nominalist philosophers, especially William of Ockham but also of others, and a flow of scholarly studies devoted to them. This study and those like it are heavily indebted to the work of these scholars of late medieval philosophy.1
The influence of nominalism upon the NPT is suggested by the discussion of free will and determinism by Pertelote and Chauntecleer, and by the celebrated lines in which the Nun's Priest as narrator interrupts the story of chickens and fox to explicitly introduce the difficult philosophical problem of reconciling human free will with divine foreknowledge.
This was unquestionably the most significant philosophical controversy of the 14th century, the nub of the sharp disagreements between nominalists and "Augustinians", or, as other scholars would have it, between moderni and antiqui. 2 The issue of human will was also of central concern to Chaucer. 3 The long speech in Book IV of T&C in which Troylus declares for determinism attests to the importance of this issue for Chaucer, and no doubt as well to the interest it held for his audience.
23 comments:
By: Jared Hackmeier, (Upper School)
Many books have timeless themes that are relevant to modern day life. I agree with the critics who believe that the epic poem Beowulf is one of these cases. Although there are numerous themes in this book, two important ones are good vs. evil and the importance of family lineage. Even though this poem was composed toward the end of the first millennium, its themes are definitely significant topics for life today.
Good vs. evil can clearly be seen throughout Beowulf. Grendel, a twelve-foot monster with huge red glowing eyes, eats people. He virtually is the meaning of evil. Everyone who has gone against him has died or has been eaten. Eventually Beowulf, a strong legendary Viking, says he will take care of the problem that the Danes and King Hrothar have with Grendel. Beowulf, who signifies true "good," decides to fight Grendel and realizes that no man can destroy him with weapons, so Beowulf decided to take off his armor and fight man to man, or in this case, man to monster. Beowulf defeats Grendel, and later defeats Grendel's mother, which indicates good defeating evil.
Good vs. evil in today's modern day life can be compared to America vs. Saddam. America is also a "Legendary Viking," a country that has fought and will continue to fight for "good" in this world. The current "evil" that America is fighting is Saddam, a cruel "monster" who is causing harm to the world. America has won important battles against its monster and will hopefully win the war, but the important issue is that "good" is making its best attempt to destroy evil, as Beowulf did with Grendel….
There is no doubt that the story of beowulf still holds revelance to modern day life. As mentioned in the article, most critics agree that the two themes in the story would be "good vs. evil and the importance of family lineage". Family lineage is shown through the characters in the story. An example would be beowulf and his father. He gets more respect because he is the son of Ecgtheow. Good vs. evil is a major theme in the story of beowulf. This is shown throughout the story. A major conflict in the book is Beowulf going against Grendel. Beowulf would represent good while Grendel represents evil. This theme is also shown in other cases, such as beowulf fighting the troll wife and the dragon. These two themes are relate to modern day. Family lineage still holds an importance today. Good vs evils is also shown to this day. Many conflicts occuring in modern day involves the theme "good vs. evil"
I think that there is a relavent modern day life feel to Beowulf. TheGood v. Evil aspect is very evident in Beowulfs battle withGrendal and the trolls.
I agree with Brittany. I think that the theme of good vs. evil can be applied to a lot of things in modern day society, and that most conflicts in life are viewed as good vs. evil.
I agree that good verse evil is present in modern day. Family lineage is also still important in modern day.
I agree with Brittany and the critic on the theme of family lineage, good versus evil, and how both are still present to this day. The critic explains the accepted fact of how Beowulf is good, and Grendel is evil, and how Beowulf wins, proving, once again, that good triumps. Family lineage is also an apparent theme, just how Brittany pointed out that Beowulf has the legacy of his father and at the same time Grendel's legacy is a descendant of Cain.
Here we go with Good vs. Evil again....
...but who is the good guy and who is the bad guy? Good is really a point of view, as well as Evil. For all I know, Grendel may have believed that HE was the one who was doing the right thing -- for his own reasons. Grendel most likely believed that Hrothgar was Evil, mainly because he was Grendel's enemy.
Society today automatically assumes that Grendel portrays Evil, but we never heard Grendel's side of the story, did we? DID WE?
im starting to agree more and more with Brandon. i think we get the picture, good vs evil, good suppossed to win. but is that really the case. while in the story and in the poets mind i do believe thats what he was shotting for, this really awesome triumphant good guy, what about grendel? and what about his poor mom? who never hurt anyone till she got mad that beowulf killed her kid? and what about the dragon? o thanks beowulf for helping to off all the dragons! now ill never ever get to see one!
I guess you can say Good V. Evil played a huge role in alot of the epics in the modern days.
Good vs evil is always going to be a huge theme. It is seen many times in Beowulf.
The theme of good versus evil pops up many times in the text. This theme can be realated to most things in life in one way or another.
this author's comparison between America and Beowulf is scary, or at best very weak. in the story, Beowulf either trumped over his enemies or was completely destroyed in the process of victory. It seems right now that while America may be fighting for the "good" of the world, it is currently in a position where it simply can't fight Grendel, his mom and the dragon at the same time.
I also find the topic of good vs evil to be rather repetitive. Its in almost all stories, especially fairy tales. The easiest story to tell is a story about an evil man and a good man overcoming him. I could've written a story about a hero killing a monster back then and you'd all be reading about the aspects of good vs evil in my story.
I find it interesting that one of the important themes of this book is the importance of family lineage. I never would have thought of that one. I also find it interesting that the critic of this criticism that he compares the good vs evil theme with america vs saddam, but it does make sence.
Good versus evil is a timeless theme in many epics. It will be forever portrayed and as Brandon points out, it will most likely be one-sided. Therefore our view of the good and bad in stories may be completely inaccurate and distorted due to lack of another opposite viewpoint.
I completely disagree with the quote "Good vs. evil in today's modern day life can be compared to America vs. Saddam." America has not had the best history of being quote on quote "good." While America is a wonderful country now, and has given its citizen huge amounts of freedoms, it took a while for America to actually be able to give people the chance to obtain "life, liberty and the Pursuit of happiness," as Thomas Jefferson Wrote in The Declaration of Independence. Even today though, America is not know as "good," as many countries are dissappointed with the United States's government trying to be the world police and trying to make all countries become Democratic. America has also lost battles too. Beowulf only lost one because of his death. America as suffered through plenty of losses, whether it being their fault or not. I dont agree that the good of Beowulf can be linked to a country such as America, Beowulf was a pure good person, as America has done plenty bad. I also don't think that Grendel can be linked to Saddam. I think that the author could have represented the story of Beowulf and the theme Good v. Evil in better ways than comparing it to America and Saddam.
There is a modern day relavice to Beowulf. It is espically present in the battle of Grendel v Beowulf.
There are so many critical essays on good vs evil. And I still agree, that it is good vs evil.
Fmaily lineage is definitely a major theme in this poem, but I think some people forget about it and focus only on good vs evil. The start of the poem talks about the Scyld, who was the Dnaes king and basically founder and his funeral. Then it jumps to Hrothgar and they trace him all the way back to the Scyld, and Hrothgar eventually becomes king.
This critic, like most others, recognizes the main theme of good vs. evil in Beowulf. He also notes the importance of family lineage, and this also could be compared to mondern day events.
The importance of family lineage is an interesting theme that I haven't seen brought up before. It seems to be a valid theme although it wasn't backed up by very much evidence. The good v. evil theme is also valid and has slightly more evidence, but more could definitely been provided.
I agree that the theme of good vs. evil has played a big part in Beowulf and in modern dya life as well. The theme will always be around in the world becuase there will always be good people just like Beowulf and bad people like Grendal.
The Nun's Priest's Tale and Nominalism: A Preliminary Study
Originally published in Richard J. Utz, ed. Literary Nominalism and the Theory of Rereading Late Medieval Texts: A New Research Paradigm. Medieval Studies: Volume 5. The Edwin Mellen Press, 1995, 135-146.
The study of the influence of nominalism on Chaucer's work represents an attempt to specify and extend the contemporary intellectual context, to relate Chaucer to the philosophic currents of his day, rather than assume he simply ignored them. An improvement in our understanding of the philosophical context of late fourteenth-century England has made this possible. Recent decades have seen a growing body of editions and studies of the nominalist philosophers, especially William of Ockham but also of others, and a flow of scholarly studies devoted to them. This study and those like it are heavily indebted to the work of these scholars of late medieval philosophy.1
The influence of nominalism upon the NPT is suggested by the discussion of free will and determinism by Pertelote and Chauntecleer, and by the celebrated lines in which the Nun's Priest as narrator interrupts the story of chickens and fox to explicitly introduce the difficult philosophical problem of reconciling human free will with divine foreknowledge.
This was unquestionably the most significant philosophical controversy of the 14th century, the nub of the sharp disagreements between nominalists and "Augustinians", or, as other scholars would have it, between moderni and antiqui. 2 The issue of human will was also of central concern to Chaucer. 3 The long speech in Book IV of T&C in which Troylus declares for determinism attests to the importance of this issue for Chaucer, and no doubt as well to the interest it held for his audience.
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