Reflection 3 & 4

The monster is something is present in every work of literature we make. Over the years, it has evolved and become more abstract: more of a concept than a physical thing. I believe the reason for this is that, in our gradual dominance over the earth, we have all but eliminated the natural enemies that once plagued us. Without a common enemy to focus on, we turn inward, battling inner demons. The monster becomes more cunning, something intangible and often imperceptible. Thus, there is a perceptible change between Beowulf, the Faerie Queene, and Othello.

In Beowulf, the monster is obviously Grendal, his mother, and the dragon. They are physical creatures with an insatiable hunger that mere humans cannot reason with. They are completely separate monsters with different reasons for fighting Beowulf. However, they are all definitely monsters and leave no conceptual gray areas to dwell on. The destruction of the monsters is only a small part of the whole poem as most of it describes the amount of preparation Beowulf and his people have to undergo before they can even fight the monster.

Like Beowulf, the “monsters” in Faerie Queene are obviously black in contrast to the white of the hero. However, the monsters are cunning and intend to corrupt the pure knight and his pure lady as much as they do destroy. Each physical monster is killed, but the concept behind the monster (the Catholic Church) is not. Thus, the “monster” lives on.

Finally, the monster in Othello is not a single person, although you could say that Iago is most likely to fit the monster concept. Othello, the hero, could also be considered the monster as he kills his own love because of the jealousy fostered by Iago. In fact, this story displays the monster that resides in every one of us. You cannot kill this monster, as it is a constant source of misfortune, sin, and wrongdoing. Thus the monster is never killed in this story. Because of this, I consider this type of monster the most serious and most intimidating of them all. To fight the monster you must admit the wrongness present in yourself and step out of yourself (in mind only, of course) to see the big picture.

Reflection 2

Sonnet 130 seems the most interesting of the sonnets you assigned. As I read the poem, I got the impression of a man looking through a mound of poetry in the hope of finding one that accurately describes the woman he loves. This coincides with verses 1-8 as he compares the appearance of his mistress to that commonly found in poetry describing women. As the poem continues, his tone becomes one of incredulity at the high bar poetry has forced women to conform to. Indeed, in verse 9 he adds, “I love to hear her speak”, which starts to infuse the thought that his mistress does not need perfect beauty for him to love her. Further, in verse 11 and, especially, in verse 12 as he mocks the thought that a woman must be otherworldly in order for him to love her. After searching through flowery words, he concludes that his love must be rare, since he has not found what he was looking for. Additionally, the last two verses finish the transformation from comparison of his mistress to poetry to comparison of the love he has for his mistress to the fake love written of in flowery poetry.

I found this intriguing because this concept continues on today with the advent of photoshoped images, weight-loss diets, and fast-working complexion enhancers. Many young girls have made themselves ill and even died because they were chasing after a false beauty they could never attain. The rare love has become even rarer because there are now more believable descriptions of the perfect woman. The most relied upon sense is sight, so the most powerful medium is images: be they still or moving. Since images can now be faked just as easily as text, honest love has been buried by the “Say what she wants to hear.” mentality.

What caught my attention the most last Wednesday was that others dislike driving as much as I do, if not more. I still do not have my driver’s license since I would rather carpool, saving money, than drive myself somewhere. Compounding my dislike of driving is the routine I have fallen into as I consistently avoid driving. It would take me ten or more minutes after I got in the car to realize that I “wanted” to drive today. Further complicating matters, my permit expired a few months ago and it will more than likely be embarrassing to go into the secretary of states office and get a new one. Thus, it has become difficult to get a permit in order to practice driving, let alone find the opportunity to drive. Unfortunately, my lack of a license means that I cannot move out of the house by myself as I live out in the country. This also means that job opportunities are limited and the possibility of traveling outside of the state, let alone America, rather impossible.

Reflection 1

The author of Beowulf mentions many of the values of an epic Anglo-Saxon story. The building of Hrothgar’s great hall, Heorot, is but one example of the generosity displayed by the Danes, Geats, and Swedes throughout the story within and between their peoples. “it would be his throne-room and there he would dispense / his God-given goods to young and old— / but not the common land or peoples’ lives.” (71 – 3) Of course, a promise does not guarantee his generosity, so the poet further explained: “Nor did he renege, but dole out rings / and torques at the table.” (80 – 2) An example of generosity between the Danes and Swedes could perhaps be “…a daughter, I have heard, who was Onela’s queen, / a balm in the bed to the battle-scarred Swede.” (62 – 3) The reasoning behind this is that it has been common throughout history for two great houses to arrange a marriage in order to keep peace and instill kinship.

Bravery is also a heavily used value in Beowulf as the hero describes his mindset as thus: “It is always better / to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning, / for every one of us, living in this world / means waiting for our end. Let whoever can / win glory before death. When a warrior is gone, / that will be his best and only bulwark.” (1384 – 9) In other words, he would rather die fighting in vengeance than an old man’s death morning those he lost. This did not mean he did not fear, but that he could overcome his fear to defend his kin. “No easy bargain / would be made in that place by any man. / The veteran king sat down on the cliff-top. / He wished good luck to the Geats who had shared / his hearth and his gold. He was sad at heart, / unsettled yet ready, sensing his death. / His fate hovered near, unknowable but certain.” (2415 – 21)

The death of Beowulf served as an epic sacrifice, as portrayed in Wiglaf’s thoughts. “It was hard then on the young hero, / having to watch the one he held so dear / there on the ground, going through / his death agony. The dragon from underearth, / his nightmarish destroyer, lay destroyed as well, / utterly without life.” (2821 – 6) This sacrifice also provides wealth for the Geats, as mentioned in the following: “The treasure had been won, / bought and paid for by Beowulf’s death.” (2843 – 4) Furthermore, the wealth is much needed, as there is no great hero to take up the mantle of Beowulf. Hence, the sacrifice has value and meaning.