Why is Beowulf important? by Araby Greene, Univ. of Nevada:
"Beowulf is a true hero -- one who is flawed, yet uses his weaknesses to his advantage. Beowulf had made the best of all he had, putting each imperfection to work in the service of his integrity. Thus, his real strength lay in the balance of his person --which is, perhaps, another way of saying that he was strong because he was good, and good because he had the strength to accept things in him that were bad. Beowulf was the rare kind of a person who makes strength out of his own weaknesses. Beowulf examines the Anglo-Saxon's fears of the unknown. The fears of death, failure, and the future are mixed with a fear of natural phenomenon not understood during the Middle Ages. Its message is that evil destroys itself; good cannot destroy evil because good cannot destroy. The theme of Good vs. Evil - Black vs. White - Light vs. Dark is evident in the characters of Beowulf and Grendel. Beowulf calls out, 'I am light.' He appears white. Grendel hates light and lives for the darkness. He is pictured as black and torches go out when he passes. Beowulf burns Grendel with the touch of light and heat."
Beowulf is clearly a good character, despite other's perception of his braggart ways. He defeats evil (Grendel) and protects good (his people). He stands for courage, success, and the ability to stand up for what is right and just. Grendel was an evil beast. This is proven by his desire to destroy innocent people. His tyranous raids were anything but just and moral. His prodigious ways were realized by Beowulf and thus Beowulf did what was right and good by ending his grisly life.
Chaucer the reactionary ideology and the general prologue to The Canterbury Tales A Blamires Goldsmiths College, London, UK
Chaucer's General Prologue is a more politically charged text than is usually supposed. It formulates post-Revolt ruling ideology through tactical distribution of blame for oppression among scapegoats, away from lordship (Knight) and judiciary (Franklin). It recognizes a source of manorial exploitation primarily at the level of the Reeve, a peasant foreman whose harsh managerial rigour contrasts with the distant benevolence of his own lord. While the anticlerical dimension of the Prologue's propagandist configuration is well known, readers have missed the full social implication of its uncompromising strategy (here termed 'displacement of oppression') because of the received myth of a socially unfixed Chaucer whose writing emanates from a classlessness straddling different social strata. Here it is argued that, on the contrary, a clear commitment to aristocratic ideology and disdain for peasant aspiration is visible in the General Prologue and persists in the tales, including the Summoner's Tale, as was apparent to a seventeenth-century pamphleteer.
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Why is Beowulf important? by Araby Greene, Univ. of Nevada:
"Beowulf is a true hero -- one who is flawed, yet uses his weaknesses to his advantage. Beowulf had made the best of all he had, putting each imperfection to work in the service of his integrity. Thus, his real strength lay in the balance of his person --which is, perhaps, another way of saying that he was strong because he was good, and good because he had the strength to accept things in him that were bad. Beowulf was the rare kind of a person who makes strength out of his own weaknesses. Beowulf examines the Anglo-Saxon's fears of the unknown. The fears of death, failure, and the future are mixed with a fear of natural phenomenon not understood during the Middle Ages. Its message is that evil destroys itself; good cannot destroy evil because good cannot destroy. The theme of Good vs. Evil - Black vs. White - Light vs. Dark is evident in the characters of Beowulf and Grendel. Beowulf calls out, 'I am light.' He appears white. Grendel hates light and lives for the darkness. He is pictured as black and torches go out when he passes. Beowulf burns Grendel with the touch of light and heat."
Beowulf is clearly a good character, despite other's perception of his braggart ways. He defeats evil (Grendel) and protects good (his people). He stands for courage, success, and the ability to stand up for what is right and just.
Grendel was an evil beast. This is proven by his desire to destroy innocent people. His tyranous raids were anything but just and moral. His prodigious ways were realized by Beowulf and thus Beowulf did what was right and good by ending his grisly life.
Chaucer the reactionary ideology and the general prologue to The Canterbury Tales
A Blamires
Goldsmiths College, London, UK
Chaucer's General Prologue is a more politically charged text than is usually supposed. It formulates post-Revolt ruling ideology through tactical distribution of blame for oppression among scapegoats, away from lordship (Knight) and judiciary (Franklin). It recognizes a source of manorial exploitation primarily at the level of the Reeve, a peasant foreman whose harsh managerial rigour contrasts with the distant benevolence of his own lord. While the anticlerical dimension of the Prologue's propagandist configuration is well known, readers have missed the full social implication of its uncompromising strategy (here termed 'displacement of oppression') because of the received myth of a socially unfixed Chaucer whose writing emanates from a classlessness straddling different social strata. Here it is argued that, on the contrary, a clear commitment to aristocratic ideology and disdain for peasant aspiration is visible in the General Prologue and persists in the tales, including the Summoner's Tale, as was apparent to a seventeenth-century pamphleteer.
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