Each individual provide written answer to question.
Connor, Jordan--Does the poem end with an optimistic or pessimistic view of life? Explain your rationale.
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Anonymous
said...
Beowulf ends with a pessimistic view, in my opinion. The focus of the ending is solely on how Beowulf was murdered and how the Geats are in trouble due to it. There is a very negative view about how the Geats are going to be attacked because of Beowulf's absence as their leader. Cantos 41 and 43 show the negativity after the dragon killed Beowulf. --Connor
Does the poem end with an optimistic or pessimistic view of life?
Beowulf has died, and what do the people do? They mourn, in a bitter and unforgiving way, leaving the reader to experience the pessimism that the creator of Beowulf was trying to portray. Bits of workings from lines 3010-3027 are as follows:
"The fire must melt...all of this golden pile...No one living should enjoy these jewels; no beautiful women/Wear them, gleaming and golden, from their necks,/But walk, instead, sad and alone/In a hundred foreign lands, their laughter/ Gone forever, as Beowulf's has gone,/His pleasure and his joy...warriors shall waken to...the croak of the dark-black raven, ready/To welcome the dead..."
These lines are describing that because the light that Beowulf carried no longer existed, there could be no more light in the days that would follow.
"Death held it in his hands...Silver and brass/Encrusted and rotting, eaten away/As though buried in the earth for a thousand winters..." (3045-3050)
The men wish to bury the treasure, which is symbolic for the burying the greatness that Beowulf brought. The men do not hope for a future that will benefit them, but they're stupidly and angrily holding on to the dismal feelings.
Also, there are a few instances where Beowulf is noted as "beloved," and it seems as if he were the only existing person or thing that the people loved. With the death of Beowulf came the death of all they held dear.
So, pessimism is most apparent in the conclusion of the epic poem Beowulf. --Jordan
2 comments:
Beowulf ends with a pessimistic view, in my opinion. The focus of the ending is solely on how Beowulf was murdered and how the Geats are in trouble due to it. There is a very negative view about how the Geats are going to be attacked because of Beowulf's absence as their leader. Cantos 41 and 43 show the negativity after the dragon killed Beowulf. --Connor
Does the poem end with an optimistic or pessimistic view of life?
Beowulf has died, and what do the people do? They mourn, in a bitter and unforgiving way, leaving the reader to experience the pessimism that the creator of Beowulf was trying to portray. Bits of workings from lines 3010-3027 are as follows:
"The fire must melt...all of
this golden pile...No one living should enjoy these jewels; no beautiful women/Wear them, gleaming and golden, from their necks,/But walk, instead, sad and alone/In a hundred foreign lands, their laughter/ Gone forever, as Beowulf's has gone,/His pleasure and his joy...warriors shall waken to...the croak of the dark-black raven, ready/To welcome the dead..."
These lines are describing that because the light that Beowulf carried no longer existed, there could be no more light in the days that would follow.
"Death held it in his hands...Silver and brass/Encrusted and rotting, eaten away/As though buried in the earth for a thousand winters..." (3045-3050)
The men wish to bury the treasure, which is symbolic for the burying the greatness that Beowulf brought. The men do not hope for a future that will benefit them, but they're stupidly and angrily holding on to the dismal feelings.
Also, there are a few instances where Beowulf is noted as "beloved," and it seems as if he were the only existing person or thing that the people loved. With the death of Beowulf came the death of all they held dear.
So, pessimism is most apparent in the conclusion of the epic poem Beowulf. --Jordan
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