Unfortunately, I was added to this English class a little too late to write about Beowulf in the first week, So I thought I'd re-read it and write about my opinions about certain parts of it. As I'm sure you all know, in Beowulf, we follow the exploits of the titular character as he uses his supernatural strength to combat unholy beings like Grendal and a Dragon. He gains fame for himself, his people, and for his God as he uses the strength he was born with to combat and eventually defeats all three monsters he is faced with. Despite the great strength he has that is praised throughout the epic, an important fact remains is that Other people, both living and dead, were there to help him in his battles.
When Beowulf fought against Grendal, he had a group of warriors with him. While it is true that they could do nothing to harm Grendal himself, One of them still lost his life in Grendal's attack as he was eaten, and likely lulled Grendal into a false sense of security and pride in his demonic strength. One life was given to take the life of Grendal, and if that warrior hadn't given Beowulf a chance to see the strength and speed of Grendal, he might have underestimated his foe.
Later, in the his fight with Grendal's mother, Beowulf once again receives help, this time from a long forgotten sword of Giant from ancient times and the armor he was wearing. In the epic, it says "The son of Ecgtheow would have surely perished and the Geats lost their warrior under the wide earth had the strong links and locks of his war-gear not helped save him."(lines 1550-1552) The armor he wore, and thus the smith who forged it were given praise for the help they gave. As for the Gaint's sword, whose owner was likely long gone, also seems instrumental in Beowulf's victory with the lines "It was easy for the Lord, the Ruler of Heaven, to redress the balance" (1554-1555) as Beowulf found the sword and slew Grendal's mother.
The poem makes it seem as though without the work put into his armor, and the sword of the long-deceased giant just happening to be there, Beowulf would have stood little chance of defeating his foe.
"Next thing, they say, the noble son of Weohstan
saw the king in danger at his side
and displayed his inborn bravery and strength.
He left the head alone, but his fighting hand
was burned when he came to his kinsman's aid.
He lunged at the enemy lower down
so that his decorated sword sank into its belly
and the flames grew weaker. " (2694-2701)
The final example comes much further along in the epic as Beowulf and Wiglaf fought the dragon. Here in this part of the poem, the epic makes it clear that Beowulf would have lost and the dragon lived, despite his great strength, if Wiglaf hadn't managed to injure their foe. In the end, the dragon's final stroke still ended Beowulf's life.
The poem's depiction of Beowful's battles show how even with great strength gifted by god, one person can only do so much. The gift of making great armor and weapons, superhuman strength, and even the unholy powers that Beowulf's enemies had can only do so much if the being given that gift chooses to work by them-self. Grendal's Mother, Grendal, and the dragon all tried to cause havoc alone and lost when the combined strengths of metal smith's, god-given strength, and the bonds that tie people together are used against them. Perhaps Beowulf's story is more a tale of what humans can do when they work together with the gifts they are born with, than what one well gifted man can do alone, as it seems at first.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Rumination: Children of the mind and body, Shakespear's 1st, 3rd, 12th and 15th Sonnets.
Shakespeare and his sonnets, or at least all of the sonnets that are included in the Norton Anthology give there reader a chance to look into the mind of a man who left behind numerous pieces of his life in poetic form. Interestingly in this quote from the biography that precedes the sonnets, "Shakespeare himself apparently had no interest in preserving for posterity the sum of his writings"(page 1059), stands in contrast to the themes of the first of his sonnets. However, not only does it contrast the themes , but it's interesting that without even trying many of his works survive to this day.
The Norton Anthology states that the first 17 of Shakespeare's sonnets, of which only 4 are given, "celebrate the beauty of a young man and urges him to bear children"(page 1061). With lines like "Thou dost beguile the world, unbless some mother. For where is she so fair whose uneared womb Disdains the tillage of thy hunsbandry"(lines 4-6) in sonnet 3, the wish of the speaker that young man in these lines of poetry father children is obvious. He further warns the young man of the consequences of death in the final couplet by saying "But if thou live rememb'red not to be, Die single, and thine image dies with thee"(lines 13-14). The speaker's meaning appears quite clear initially, through all 4 of the sonnets, each seeming to echo and reinforce the necessity of fatherhood and giving the penalty for not pursing that goal.
However, the 15th sonnet appears to change things slightly, and after careful reading begs the reader to take another look at the previous sonnets. In the 15th sonnet, the speaker likens the world to a stage, and seems at first to be continuing on the same trend as his previous sonnets. However, upon more careful reading, the sonnet can just as easily be compared to a the life of an actual play, like the ones Shakespeare is famous for. Could not these first few sonnets relate to a child of the mind, like a play, as to a child of the body?
"That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows,
Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;
When I perceive that men as plants increase,
Cheered and checked even by the selfsame sky,
Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
And wear heir brave state out of memory;
Then the conceit of this inconstant stay
Sets you most rich in youth before my sight
Where wasteful Time debateth with decay
to change your day of youth to sullied night
And all in war with time for love of you,
As he takes from you I ingraft you new."(lines 3-14).
A Stage performance has a "day of youth'(line 12), when they are watched by all, and are just a easily decayed into "sullied night" as fewer and fewer people come to watch it. Perhaps to Shakespeare, as the sonnets writer, the time a play is "most rich in youth"(line 10) is after the manuscript is finished and the debut performance is soon to come. These lines can create the possibility that the speaker is referring to two kinds of children simultaneously if read carefully enough. When the speaker says he will "ingraft you new"(line 14) he could just as easily be creating a new play to be performed as he could be trying to father a child. The "stars" that "secretly influence comment"(line 4) could be the desires of the people or the nobles and the effect they have on stories a playwright must make. Line 5 which follows seems to emphasize the fact that its the cheers of the people that determine how long a play will live, one that receives no cheers is essentially a stillborn child of the mind.
Even though the meaning of the 4 sonnets at the beginning in the anthology seem obvious, perhaps there is more to them than is seen at first glance. After re-reading the previous three sonnet with this new knowledge, the same argument could be made for parts of them, different ideas can be mated together to form a new one just as a child is born from two different parents. People can leave ideas behind for the world to remember them by just as easily as they can leave children to carry their legacy.
Is it possible that Shakespeare means more than just the obvious with these sonnets? What do you as readers think about this interpretation I have come up with, is it feasible or impossible? Let me know what you think.
The Norton Anthology states that the first 17 of Shakespeare's sonnets, of which only 4 are given, "celebrate the beauty of a young man and urges him to bear children"(page 1061). With lines like "Thou dost beguile the world, unbless some mother. For where is she so fair whose uneared womb Disdains the tillage of thy hunsbandry"(lines 4-6) in sonnet 3, the wish of the speaker that young man in these lines of poetry father children is obvious. He further warns the young man of the consequences of death in the final couplet by saying "But if thou live rememb'red not to be, Die single, and thine image dies with thee"(lines 13-14). The speaker's meaning appears quite clear initially, through all 4 of the sonnets, each seeming to echo and reinforce the necessity of fatherhood and giving the penalty for not pursing that goal.
However, the 15th sonnet appears to change things slightly, and after careful reading begs the reader to take another look at the previous sonnets. In the 15th sonnet, the speaker likens the world to a stage, and seems at first to be continuing on the same trend as his previous sonnets. However, upon more careful reading, the sonnet can just as easily be compared to a the life of an actual play, like the ones Shakespeare is famous for. Could not these first few sonnets relate to a child of the mind, like a play, as to a child of the body?
"That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows,
Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;
When I perceive that men as plants increase,
Cheered and checked even by the selfsame sky,
Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
And wear heir brave state out of memory;
Then the conceit of this inconstant stay
Sets you most rich in youth before my sight
Where wasteful Time debateth with decay
to change your day of youth to sullied night
And all in war with time for love of you,
As he takes from you I ingraft you new."(lines 3-14).
A Stage performance has a "day of youth'(line 12), when they are watched by all, and are just a easily decayed into "sullied night" as fewer and fewer people come to watch it. Perhaps to Shakespeare, as the sonnets writer, the time a play is "most rich in youth"(line 10) is after the manuscript is finished and the debut performance is soon to come. These lines can create the possibility that the speaker is referring to two kinds of children simultaneously if read carefully enough. When the speaker says he will "ingraft you new"(line 14) he could just as easily be creating a new play to be performed as he could be trying to father a child. The "stars" that "secretly influence comment"(line 4) could be the desires of the people or the nobles and the effect they have on stories a playwright must make. Line 5 which follows seems to emphasize the fact that its the cheers of the people that determine how long a play will live, one that receives no cheers is essentially a stillborn child of the mind.
Even though the meaning of the 4 sonnets at the beginning in the anthology seem obvious, perhaps there is more to them than is seen at first glance. After re-reading the previous three sonnet with this new knowledge, the same argument could be made for parts of them, different ideas can be mated together to form a new one just as a child is born from two different parents. People can leave ideas behind for the world to remember them by just as easily as they can leave children to carry their legacy.
Is it possible that Shakespeare means more than just the obvious with these sonnets? What do you as readers think about this interpretation I have come up with, is it feasible or impossible? Let me know what you think.
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