The epic poem Beowulf describes the most heroic man of the Anglo-Saxon times. The hero, Beowulf, is a seemingly invincible person with all the extraordinary traits required of a hero. He is able to use his super-human physical strength and courage to put his people before himself. His leadership skills are superb and he is even able to boast about all his achievements. Beowulf is the ultimate epic hero who risks his life countless times for immortal glory and for the good of others.
Beowulf is a hero in the eyes of his fellow men through his amazing physical strength. He fought in numerous battles and returned victorious from all but his last. Beowulf is also strong enough to kill the monster Grendel, who has been terrorizing the Danes for twelve years, with his bare hands by ripping off his arm. When Beowulf is fighting Grendel's mother, who is seeking revenge on her son's death, he is able to slay her by slashing the monster's neck with a Giant's sword that canonly be lifted by a person as strong as Beowulf. When he chops off her head, he carries it from the ocean with ease, but it takes four men to lift and carry it back to Herot mead-hall. This strength is a key trait of Beowulf's heroism.
Another heroic trait of Beowulf is his ability to put his peoples welfare before his own. Beowulf's uncle is king of the Geats so he is sent to help the Danes of the evil Grendel. Beowulf risks his own life for the Danes, asking help from no one. He realizes the dangers but fears nothing for his own life. After Beowulf had served his people as King of the Geats for fifty years, he goes to battle one last time to fight a horrible dragon who is frightening all of his people. Beowulf is old and tired but he defeats the dragon in order to protect his people. Even in death he wished so secure safety for the Geats so a tall lighthouse is built in order to help the people find their way back from sea.
The most heroic of traits within Beowulf is that he is not afraid to die. He always explains his death wishes before going into battle and requests to have any possessions delivered to his people. "And if death does take me, send the hammered mail of my armor to Higlac, return the inheritance I had from Hrehtel, and from Wayland. He knows that when he fights an enemy like Grendel or Grendel's mother he will achieve immortality as the victor or the loser. Even with the enormous amount of confidence Beowulf possesses, he understands that Fate or Wyrd will work its magic no matter what and he could be killed at any point in his life. He faces that reality by showing no fear and preparing for a positive or a fatal outcome.
Beowulf is the prime example of an epic hero. His bravery and strength surpass all mortal men; loyalty and the ability to think of himself last makes him worshiped by all. Beowulf came openly and wholeheartedly to help the Danes which was an unusual occurrence in a time of war and wide-spread fear. He set a noble example for all human beings relaying the necessity of brotherhood and friendship.
Beowulf is definitely an epic hero. Beowulf shows distinctive characteristics of an epic hero. The structure of the poem also clearly sets the story up to be an epic poem. I completely agree with the article’s persuasiveness that Beowulf is a true epic hero. There are 5 criteria that create an epic poem and they are easily shown in Beowulf. The poem itself easily creates Beowulf as an epic hero. In Beowulf there is a fabulous adventure (Beowulf crossing the sea to help Hrothgar), superhuman deeds (Beowulf killing Grendel and the troll-wife), Polyphonic Composition, majestic language and literary craftsmanship. The story of Beowulf is in old English, so there is plenty of polyphonic composition, and literary craftsmanship. There is majestic language when Beowulf kills Grendel and Hrothgar then reward Beowulf for all of his deeds. Beowulf is especially an epic hero. His great strength and power gave him the ability to kill Grendel and the troll wife. Also in his adolescent years Beowulf was able to fight off/ battle a sea dragon in the water. He was the only man who was able to kill Grendel and terminate the mass slayings of Hrothgar’s men. Beowulf is also an epic hero because of his mental strength. Beowulf promised Hrothgar that he would fight to his death. Beowulf accepted his fate and was not scared to die. He understands that he is only human, yet he is still willing to risk his life for the safety of Hrothgar’s land. At Beowulf’s funeral, all the men honor him. The characters in the play acknowledge Beowulf as a hero and honor all that he has done for them. The heroic deeds of Beowulf are not diluted even after he dies. The story of Beowulf defiantly sets Beowulf up to be a hero, and he is indeed one. One author of the article is correct in his observations of Beowulf’s heroic deeds.
Many of the religious characters in The Canterbury Tales represent character traits that are different from what is traditionally expected of them. This is because the Catholic Church, which ruled all of England, Ireland and most of Europe in the Fourteenth Century, was extremely wealthy. Extravagant cathedrals were built in every big city while the people suffered from poverty, disease and famine. The contrast between the wealth of the church and misery of the people was overwhelming. As a result, the characters in Chaucer’s tales were portrayed as deceitful and greedy. Two examples of this are the Summoner from the “The Friar’s Tale” and Death from the “The Pardoner’s Tale.” The Summoner is a church official who brings people accused of violating church law to special courts set up by the church. This particular Summoner from “The Friar’s Tale” is a deceitful, greedy person who uses his position as a church official to pressure innocent people into giving him “bribes” or money. He actually has a network of secret spies who report to him so that he can issue false summons and extort money from people. Instead of representing justice, he represents the exact opposite, injustice. Chaucer wrote this tale to show how greedy and corrupt church officials were during the Middle Ages. In “The Pardoners Tale,” all the characters seek out Death, and the Pardoner describes Death like a person, an evil person. During the fourteenth century death was commonplace. The plague was the biggest killer of all and nobody knew what caused it therefore it was considered a mysterious and evil occurrence. In this particular tale death is personified, and all the characters in the tale who seek him out either die or kill each other when they get close to him. The point Chaucer makes through the words of the Pardoner is that the evil traits like greed, avarice and corruption lead to death. Of course the Pardoner himself is a hypocrite and embodies all of these traits. In the end of the tale he tries to sell his relics to the people to make money which shows that he, as an official of the church, is just as evil and corrupt as the Summoner in “The Friar’s Tale.”
Both The Summoner, and Death as he is personified by the Pardoner, are examples of religious officials who are the opposite of what they are supposed to be. Instead of being upright, honest church leaders, they are hypocritical liars driven by the same vices that they preach against. In other words, they use their positions to deceive and make money. Chaucer’s point in both tales is to show how greedy and corrupt the Catholic has become. The circumstances in each tale are different, but the main point is that “greed is the root of all evil.”
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Criticism
Beowulf - Hero
The epic poem Beowulf describes the most heroic man of the
Anglo-Saxon times. The hero, Beowulf, is a seemingly invincible
person with all the extraordinary traits required of a hero. He is able to
use his super-human physical strength and courage to put his people
before himself. His leadership skills are superb and he is even able to
boast about all his achievements. Beowulf is the ultimate epic hero
who risks his life countless times for immortal glory and for the good
of others.
Beowulf is a hero in the eyes of his fellow men through his
amazing physical strength. He fought in numerous battles and returned
victorious from all but his last. Beowulf is also strong enough to kill
the monster Grendel, who has been terrorizing the Danes for twelve
years, with his bare hands by ripping off his arm. When Beowulf is
fighting Grendel's mother, who is seeking revenge on her son's death,
he is able to slay her by slashing the monster's neck with a Giant's
sword that canonly be lifted by a person as strong as Beowulf. When
he chops off her head, he carries it from the ocean with ease, but it
takes four men to lift and carry it back to Herot mead-hall. This
strength is a key trait of Beowulf's heroism.
Another heroic trait of Beowulf is his ability to put his peoples
welfare before his own. Beowulf's uncle is king of the Geats so he is
sent to help the Danes of the evil Grendel. Beowulf risks his own
life for the Danes, asking help from no one. He realizes the dangers
but fears nothing for his own life. After Beowulf had served his people
as King of the Geats for fifty years, he goes to battle one last time to
fight a horrible dragon who is frightening all of his people. Beowulf
is old and tired but he defeats the dragon in order to protect his people.
Even in death he wished so secure safety for the Geats so a tall
lighthouse is built in order to help the people find their way back from
sea.
The most heroic of traits within Beowulf is that he is not afraid
to die. He always explains his death wishes before going into battle
and requests to have any possessions delivered to his people. "And if
death does take me, send the hammered mail of my armor to Higlac,
return the inheritance I had from Hrehtel, and from Wayland. He
knows that when he fights an enemy like Grendel or Grendel's mother
he will achieve immortality as the victor or the loser. Even with the
enormous amount of confidence Beowulf possesses, he understands
that Fate or Wyrd will work its magic no matter what and he could be
killed at any point in his life. He faces that reality by showing no fear
and preparing for a positive or a fatal outcome.
Beowulf is the prime example of an epic hero. His bravery and
strength surpass all mortal men; loyalty and the ability to think of
himself last makes him worshiped by all. Beowulf came openly and
wholeheartedly to help the Danes which was an unusual occurrence in
a time of war and wide-spread fear. He set a noble example for all
human beings relaying the necessity of brotherhood and friendship.
Beowulf is definitely an epic hero. Beowulf shows distinctive characteristics of an epic hero. The structure of the poem also clearly sets the story up to be an epic poem. I completely agree with the article’s persuasiveness that Beowulf is a true epic hero. There are 5 criteria that create an epic poem and they are easily shown in Beowulf. The poem itself easily creates Beowulf as an epic hero.
In Beowulf there is a fabulous adventure (Beowulf crossing the sea to help Hrothgar), superhuman deeds (Beowulf killing Grendel and the troll-wife), Polyphonic Composition, majestic language and literary craftsmanship. The story of Beowulf is in old English, so there is plenty of polyphonic composition, and literary craftsmanship. There is majestic language when Beowulf kills Grendel and Hrothgar then reward Beowulf for all of his deeds.
Beowulf is especially an epic hero. His great strength and power gave him the ability to kill Grendel and the troll wife. Also in his adolescent years Beowulf was able to fight off/ battle a sea dragon in the water. He was the only man who was able to kill Grendel and terminate the mass slayings of Hrothgar’s men.
Beowulf is also an epic hero because of his mental strength. Beowulf promised Hrothgar that he would fight to his death. Beowulf accepted his fate and was not scared to die. He understands that he is only human, yet he is still willing to risk his life for the safety of Hrothgar’s land.
At Beowulf’s funeral, all the men honor him. The characters in the play acknowledge Beowulf as a hero and honor all that he has done for them. The heroic deeds of Beowulf are not diluted even after he dies.
The story of Beowulf defiantly sets Beowulf up to be a hero, and he is indeed one. One author of the article is correct in his observations of Beowulf’s heroic deeds.
Greed and Corruption in The Canterbury Tales
Many of the religious characters in The Canterbury Tales represent character traits that are different from what is traditionally expected of them. This is because the Catholic Church, which ruled all of England, Ireland and most of Europe in the Fourteenth Century, was extremely wealthy. Extravagant cathedrals were built in every big city while the people suffered from poverty, disease and famine. The contrast between the wealth of the church and misery of the people was overwhelming. As a result, the characters in Chaucer’s tales were portrayed as deceitful and greedy. Two examples of this are the Summoner from the “The Friar’s Tale” and Death from the “The Pardoner’s Tale.”
The Summoner is a church official who brings people accused of violating church law to special courts set up by the church. This particular Summoner from “The Friar’s Tale” is a deceitful, greedy person who uses his position as a church official to pressure innocent people into giving him “bribes” or money. He actually has a network of secret spies who report to him so that he can issue false summons and extort money from people. Instead of representing justice, he represents the exact opposite, injustice. Chaucer wrote this tale to show how greedy and corrupt church officials were during the Middle Ages.
In “The Pardoners Tale,” all the characters seek out Death, and the Pardoner describes Death like a person, an evil person. During the fourteenth century death was commonplace. The plague was the biggest killer of all and nobody knew what caused it therefore it was considered a mysterious and evil occurrence. In this particular tale death is personified, and all the characters in the tale who seek him out either die or kill each other when they get close to him. The point Chaucer makes through the words of the Pardoner is that the evil traits like greed, avarice and corruption lead to death. Of course the Pardoner himself is a hypocrite and embodies all of these traits. In the end of the tale he tries to sell his relics to the people to make money which shows that he, as an official of the church, is just as evil and corrupt as the Summoner in “The Friar’s Tale.”
Both The Summoner, and Death as he is personified by the Pardoner, are examples of religious officials who are the opposite of what they are supposed to be. Instead of being upright, honest church leaders, they are hypocritical liars driven by the same vices that they preach against. In other words, they use their positions to deceive and make money. Chaucer’s point in both tales is to show how greedy and corrupt the Catholic has become. The circumstances in each tale are different, but the main point is that “greed is the root of all evil.”
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