Saturday, August 20, 2011
Beowulf Discussion Questions...
In his treatment of the theme of good versus evil, the poet depicts Grendel as an agent of evil. Discuss the description in lines 85-113 and the references to WYRD in lines 382-84 and 488- 93 as examples of the poet's intermingling of Christian and pagan elements. Why do you think the poem's tone of melancholy pessimism is appropriate? Discuss at length and specify lines. If you disagree with others comments feel free to comment respectfully! :) Be BOLD!! Go forth.....
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Hi Mrs. Ford, sorry it has taken me so long...this is my second time trying to post and hopefully it will work!! Ok so lines 85-113 describe the monster Grendel in great detail. Here he is described as an evil demon that always stays in the darkness( in the Bible refers to as evil deeds) It talks about the monster listening in at night while the people make joyful noises in the hall about God. Grendel is said to be a cast out( like Cain was cast out after killing Abel). He now warred against God.
ReplyDeleteyayyy!!! it worked :) i am in a much happier mood now..haha not that i was in a terrible one before (just a little bit frusttrated with my computer). Next topic: WYRD ( aka fate) In lines 382-84 Hrothgar is tellling Beawulf and others about how GRendel has been taking the lives of his men by "fate" however he believes that God has the power to save them and kill Grendel. This is an example of paganism (belief in fate) and Christianity(belief in God's sovereignty) being mixed in the poem. Also lines 488-93 in length intertwine the idea of fate and God. These lines say that God uses fate to acheive His will. In this case His will was to save the people from the monster by using Beowulf to slay him.
ReplyDeleteHey Mrs. Ford!!
ReplyDeleteThe description of Grendel references a stictly pagan creature curst of God. The poet makes Grendel feel like he is outside of Gods realm of control. He talks about all the things God has made and then adds Grendel as a side note. Kind of like an outside villian. a pagan's view. But in the second sections mentioned we see the poet's view that with God's strength Beowulf can end Grendel's reign. The poet seems to make reference to the Almighty Sovereignty of God.
To be completely honest i didn't really notice this pessimistic tone. I mean i could see how they could be upset. A horribly mean, ugly, ferocious beast is destroying their mead hall and killing tons of their men. Now personally i feel like that is reason to be melancholy. For instance, lines 128-130 is a very good desciption of how horrible Hrothgar feels that he can't protect his people in his mead hall. The poem continues to look on the negative side of things, like in lines 367-374, where Beowulf accepts the fact that he very well may die in this battle. But we find a small time of rejoicing after Grendel is defeated.
Well I think that's all I have to say on the issue. :)
Last part...melancholy pessimism. Only seeing the bad in circumstances...and more than that from a gloomy point of view. I believe it is appropriate because these people have been under the curse of having a monster kill their men for 12 years!! However if they truly had hope in the power of God and what He is able to do, they would of had a much more joyful outlook on life. Some example of their melancholy behavior would be lines 164-184 which describes Hrothgar after Grendel has taken over the hall at night. Also at the end after Beowulf has killed the monster i was surprised to read in the celebration about Grendel's gory death...however some people don't view that as passimistic but i don't enjoy reading about painful deaths. now i have to go finish my other homework and try to go to bed at a decent time so I probably won't be able to comment on what other people think...see you all tomorrow :)
ReplyDeleteHello there, Mrs Ford!
ReplyDeleteIn lines 85-133, the book describes Grendel as being a Demon-Spirit. His heart was full of fury and hate. He had lived joylessly long in the midst of monsters, being a castaway and exiled from men. Abel's death was being avenged through him, Cain's offspring, by God. He lived among the lowest men and evil mystical creatures. In lines 382-384, the poet mentions how the Wyrd drives Hrothgar's war band in to the hands of Grendel. Apparently Hrothgar believed in fate, although he believed in God. They mix Christianity with the concept of fate as well as their Norse Mythology. It seems a bit strange to believe in the God of the Bible and still believe in the monsters, elves, and spirits.
Well, I suppose the reason the story contained a bit of a melancholy tone to it was because of the circumstances the men put themselves in. Grendel ran the whole place during the night, and yet the men still had the intelligence to come and party and fall asleep in the hall and every night men died. If I wasn't intelligent enough to make a plan to kill grendel or something I'd probably have a pretty pessimistic attitude as well, assuming that I wasn't a pessimistic person to begin with. They felt hopeless and helpless, and when along came Beowulf who was willing to fight, no one thought he'd survive, which I find rather pessimistic. But that's just my take on it.
if anyone wants to argue with me, have at it. haha.
Hey Mrs. Ford! Sorry this is so late.
ReplyDeleteGrendel is an evil spirit, a demon if you will. He has hate and evil in his heart and is totally bent on destroying everyone in Herot. Obviously this story has a lot to do with fate (wyrd), although some Christian elements are thrown in there. The poet sometimes interchanges "fate" and the will of Almighty God. So, the pagan religions and Christianity were one big mush back then I suppose.
The story is kind of melancholy...mostly because a giant demon is eating people at night in this dude's castle. Uh, that's kind of melancholy. And scary. So, I think that the pessimism is warranted. (They were also a little dumb..I mean, this demon eats people every night...and you still stay there...why?) :)