In the epic “Beowulf,” there is a constant struggle between good and evil. This poem is an early example of the phrase, “Bad guys never win.” Examples of this theme include: God versus Cain, Beowulf versus Grendal, and Beowulf versus Grendal’s mother. The first battle between God (good) and Cain (evil) is actually an allusion from the bible. This story of Cain is used to compare God’s feelings of Grendal, a descendant of Cain. The book states, "…Since Cain had killed his only / Brother, slain his father's son / With an angry sword. God drove him off, / outlawed him…" (Beowulf, 1261 - 1264). Cain killed his brother because he was evil and God shunned and marked him for his evilness. God has the same feelings for Grendal. Grendal is described as a vicious monster that is an offspring of everything evil. Grendal is so evil; God refuses to forgive Grendal and favors Beowulf’s pride over Grendal’s sins. In the battle between Beowulf and Grendal, God grants Beowulf overwhelming victory. The book states, “the Ruler of the heavens brought about a right issue, when once more he stood up with ease.” God can stand with ease because the beast he hates, Grendal, is dead. Beowulf is a mighty, honorable hero who has super strength and the ego to match his strength. Beowulf defeats Grendal with his bare hands and then he forced to fight Grendal’s vengeful mother. Tired and torn, Beowulf, through his goodness, is able to vanquish Grendal’s mother. At the break of exhaustion, Beowulf grabs a monstrous sword and the book continues, “he struck furiously…the blade went straight through the doomed body.” The epic poem Beowulf encompasses all aspects of a great tale. Beowulf, God, and Wiglaf represent good in the poem whereas; Grendal, his mother, and Cain portray the contrasting side of evil. Throughout the epic poem “Beowulf” there are many examples of good versus evil.
The writer is historically responding to the story of Beowulf you can tell because he uses historical evidence to prove his point. I agree with what he says because I do see a correlation between Grendal and Cain of the Bible. There is also the issue of good v. evil which is one of the themes of this story.Good v. evil is comparing Beowulf v. Grendel
CANTERBURY TALES Saintly or Sexual? Chaucer plays with the concept in religion in The Canterbury tales. He shows that many clergymen are corrupt, both by the stories that the pilgrims tell and the pilgrims themselves, for example the Summoner and Pardoner. In fact, most of the characters of The Canterbury Tales have a loose interpretation, or no interpretation, of morality as told by the Bible. The Sailor, the Reeve, and the Miller tell racy bar-room stories, and the Wife of Bath speaks of her many husbands, and many years of marital experience, in a way that puts quite a different interpretation on religious and moral beliefs of her day.
Characters that keep to a strict moral compass are few; the Prioress and her company are the most notable examples. However, even they have an altered view of morality. In the Prioress' Tale, she exalts a young boy as a martyr, but condemns the entire Jewish Race in the same breath. Historically, this was an accepted thing for Christians to do, but Chaucer puts the story there as a subtle attack on the intolerance of Christianity.
Crime and Punishment In each story of The Canterbury Tales, a punishment, revenge, or retaliation always occurs. However, the nature of what should be punished varies from character to character more than any other theme in the book. As was mentioned above, the Prioress considers cold-blooded murder of an innocent, or more generally, any attack on Christianity, a sin that must be punished. The Friar gives a litany of stories where great rulers were destroyed because of their greed, arrogance, or ignorance. On a much lighter side, Promiscuity is rarely seen as a sin to be punished, but as a punishment for some other sin. For example, in the Reeve's Tale, the Character of the Miller tries to rob the two students of their grain, but they get the best of him by sleeping with his wife and teenaged daughter. In many other stories, husband's inattention is reason enough for them to be punished by their wives infidelity.
Wives and Husbands Another theme of The Canterbury Tales is what makes a good wife or husband. The stories range from ones that empower the wives, like the Wife of Bath's Tale, and at the other spectrum, the Scholar's tale, where the wife endures patiently and happily sadistic griefs that her husband tests her with, such as pretending to kill their children and pretending to divorce her.
The author emphasizes on the corruptness of the character's in Canterbury Tales. I agree with his thoughts and criticisms. There are few characters in the story that are actually pure and true many of them are fake.
As the article states, most of the characters in Canterbury Tales are corrupt in one way or another. Most notably are the christian church members and representatives.
I also agree with thoughts of this criticism, saintly or sexual... Some characters in Canterbury Tales are truely tainted,and cover their sexuality with saintly titles.
Throughtout the novel we start to see just how corrupt some of the members of the Christian church are. I agree with the authors critism and although there are some characters who stay true to their beliefs, for the most part many are corrupt.
I agree that most of the characters in Canterbury Tales are corrupt in the Christain church. However we cant forget that there are a few that stay true to themselves.
I agree that many of the Characters in Canterbury Tales are corrupt. I think the different scales of punishment for sins is intersting such as "Promiscuity is rarely seen as a sin to be punished, but as a punishment for some other sin." This is not a punishment a married man wants to experience.
I agree with this author's observation that many of the characters in The Canterbury Tales are corrupt, and that the Church that holds itself out as being on higher moral ground is also permeated with corruption.
I agree that most of the characters in Canterbury Tales are corrupt, but we cant say that all of the characters are corupt because there are a few that stay true to the christian church.
I agree that many of the characters in Canterbury Tales are corrupt. The Nun and the Friar are examples of two characters that are corrupt. However, not all of the characters are corrupt. The knight is a noble man.
I agree that most of the characters in the story are corrupt, however not all the character went on the pilgrimage for the wrong reasons. The knight and the cleric are the two that i think are the moble man
I agree with the author and his views on the corruption of the Catholic Church. I think that Chaucer did a good job of highlighting the irony and the corruption of the catholic church situation.
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Good vs. Evil as found in “Beowulf”
In the epic “Beowulf,” there is a constant struggle between good and evil. This poem is an early example of the phrase, “Bad guys never win.” Examples of this theme include: God versus Cain, Beowulf versus Grendal, and Beowulf versus Grendal’s mother.
The first battle between God (good) and Cain (evil) is actually an allusion from the bible. This story of Cain is used to compare God’s feelings of Grendal, a descendant of Cain. The book states, "…Since Cain had killed his only / Brother, slain his father's son / With an angry sword. God drove him off, / outlawed him…" (Beowulf, 1261 - 1264). Cain killed his brother because he was evil and God shunned and marked him for his evilness. God has the same feelings for Grendal.
Grendal is described as a vicious monster that is an offspring of everything evil. Grendal is so evil; God refuses to forgive Grendal and favors Beowulf’s pride over Grendal’s sins. In the battle between Beowulf and Grendal, God grants Beowulf overwhelming victory. The book states, “the Ruler of the heavens brought about a right issue, when once more he stood up with ease.” God can stand with ease because the beast he hates, Grendal, is dead.
Beowulf is a mighty, honorable hero who has super strength and the ego to match his strength. Beowulf defeats Grendal with his bare hands and then he forced to fight Grendal’s vengeful mother. Tired and torn, Beowulf, through his goodness, is able to vanquish Grendal’s mother. At the break of exhaustion, Beowulf grabs a monstrous sword and the book continues, “he struck furiously…the blade went straight through the doomed body.”
The epic poem Beowulf encompasses all aspects of a great tale. Beowulf, God, and Wiglaf represent good in the poem whereas; Grendal, his mother, and Cain portray the contrasting side of evil. Throughout the epic poem “Beowulf” there are many examples of good versus evil.
The writer is historically responding to the story of Beowulf you can tell because he uses historical evidence to prove his point. I agree with what he says because I do see a correlation between Grendal and Cain of the Bible. There is also the issue of good v. evil which is one of the themes of this story.Good v. evil is comparing Beowulf v. Grendel
CANTERBURY TALES
Saintly or Sexual?
Chaucer plays with the concept in religion in The Canterbury tales. He shows that many clergymen are corrupt, both by the stories that the pilgrims tell and the pilgrims themselves, for example the Summoner and Pardoner. In fact, most of the characters of The Canterbury Tales have a loose interpretation, or no interpretation, of morality as told by the Bible. The Sailor, the Reeve, and the Miller tell racy bar-room stories, and the Wife of Bath speaks of her many husbands, and many years of marital experience, in a way that puts quite a different interpretation on religious and moral beliefs of her day.
Characters that keep to a strict moral compass are few; the Prioress and her company are the most notable examples. However, even they have an altered view of morality. In the Prioress' Tale, she exalts a young boy as a martyr, but condemns the entire Jewish Race in the same breath. Historically, this was an accepted thing for Christians to do, but Chaucer puts the story there as a subtle attack on the intolerance of Christianity.
Crime and Punishment
In each story of The Canterbury Tales, a punishment, revenge, or retaliation always occurs. However, the nature of what should be punished varies from character to character more than any other theme in the book. As was mentioned above, the Prioress considers cold-blooded murder of an innocent, or more generally, any attack on Christianity, a sin that must be punished. The Friar gives a litany of stories where great rulers were destroyed because of their greed, arrogance, or ignorance. On a much lighter side, Promiscuity is rarely seen as a sin to be punished, but as a punishment for some other sin. For example, in the Reeve's Tale, the Character of the Miller tries to rob the two students of their grain, but they get the best of him by sleeping with his wife and teenaged daughter. In many other stories, husband's inattention is reason enough for them to be punished by their wives infidelity.
Wives and Husbands
Another theme of The Canterbury Tales is what makes a good wife or husband. The stories range from ones that empower the wives, like the Wife of Bath's Tale, and at the other spectrum, the Scholar's tale, where the wife endures patiently and happily sadistic griefs that her husband tests her with, such as pretending to kill their children and pretending to divorce her.
The author emphasizes on the corruptness of the character's in Canterbury Tales. I agree with his thoughts and criticisms. There are few characters in the story that are actually pure and true many of them are fake.
As the article states, most of the characters in Canterbury Tales are corrupt in one way or another. Most notably are the christian church members and representatives.
I also agree with thoughts of this criticism, saintly or sexual...
Some characters in Canterbury Tales are truely tainted,and cover their sexuality with saintly titles.
Throughtout the novel we start to see just how corrupt some of the members of the Christian church are. I agree with the authors critism and although there are some characters who stay true to their beliefs, for the most part many are corrupt.
I agree that most of the characters in Canterbury Tales are corrupt in the Christain church. However we cant forget that there are a few that stay true to themselves.
I agree that many of the Characters in Canterbury Tales are corrupt. I think the different scales of punishment for sins is intersting such as "Promiscuity is rarely seen as a sin to be punished, but as a punishment for some other sin." This is not a punishment a married man wants to experience.
I agree with this author's observation that many of the characters in The Canterbury Tales are corrupt, and that the Church that holds itself out as being on higher moral ground is also permeated with corruption.
I agree that most of the characters in Canterbury Tales are corrupt, but we cant say that all of the characters are corupt because there are a few that stay true to the christian church.
I agree that many of the characters in Canterbury Tales are corrupt. The Nun and the Friar are examples of two characters that are corrupt. However, not all of the characters are corrupt. The knight is a noble man.
I agree that most of the characters in the story are corrupt, however not all the character went on the pilgrimage for the wrong reasons. The knight and the cleric are the two that i think are the moble man
I agree with the author and his views on the corruption of the Catholic Church. I think that Chaucer did a good job of highlighting the irony and the corruption of the catholic church situation.
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