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.