Journal I think that the biggest theme in Beowulf has to be good vs.. Evil.
This theme is stressed very much throughout the book in symbolism. Greened represents pure evil, while Beowulf represents the exact polar opposite of the monster Greened. In Beowulf anything evil or bad is related to hell, while anything good is because of their faith In god, The original concept of good and evil can be traced back to the sons of Adam and Eve, Cain and Able. Cain killed his brother because god favored his sacrifice more than his. Cain is the origin of evil and Able is the origin of good.Greened Is a descendant of call, and Is pure evil he takes pleasure In causing misfortune for others.
Beowulf is the definition of good and to people he is often viewed ads d deem-god like being; he Is seen ads d man of pure faith which adds to his image of being a god among men. In the end the godly man (Beowulf) defeats the evil Greened. In a hand to hand fight In Horror. In Beowulf religion seems to be a big factor in the life of the Anglo-Saxons. Religion Is seen as a very good trait among me For all conflicts In Beowulf the people rely on god to give them their favor, because they believe this will help their trudge.Anything that is evil seems to have connections with the devil.
Every man seeks god's favor through sacrifices or smelting evil. Blitz sometimes It seems that men rely too much on god, this was the situation at Horror; all men but Beowulf slept with no doubt they would win simply because they thought they had god's favor. I think that the Anglo-Saxons from Beowulf rely too heavily on faith, it is foolish of them to expect god to pull them through every struggle. I think that further In the book their heavy faith will betray them; think they will expect the tight to be easy because they eve gods favor and because of this many men will perish.The role of women in Beowulf seems to be very simplistic.
Women in the book seem to only serve mead, provide entertainment, end serve the men. In the time Beowulf was written women had still not gained that rights they have today. They were of the seen as property rather than a person. And they were treated Eke so.
The role of women back then was not a big one, Hoarder's wife was a queens And all she did was serve mead at Horror. I can only imagine what women who were not married to powerful men had to endure, In Beowulf I think that every man Is trying to make a name for themselves.Also feel that most of the Anglo-Saxon men tend to boast about their achievements, and maybe go as far to stretch them. But why would they do all of this boasting? I think it is because every man wants to make a name for himself[ Beowulf boasts of how he creatures that he had to fight.
I highly doubt that that story is completely true, but the reason he claims such a story is true is to gain reputation. Gifts and wealth play a role in Beowulf as well. When Beowulf and his companions laded the wretched beast Greened he was rewarded with godly gifts.The leaders in their society hold great wealth, and they distribute this wealth to the people to keep them loyal. I think their economy revolved around giving and receiving these gifts of gold, Jewelry, weapons, and armor.
What I don't understand is how they have all of these minerals and fancy things. I would think by the way they basically give away this wealth that the kings would be poor. I don't know if they have to invade other kings land to replenish their supply of wealth, but somehow they seem to hoard unlimited amounts of treasure.The Anglo-Saxon culture during that time seems to be very honorable, and violent. When Beowulf fought Greened he knew that Greened did not fight with weapons so he fought the beast hand to hand.
If one of your companions gets murdered by another man, if a price isn't paid for his death then his companions will seek revenge. I feel that the Anglo-Saxons believed in a fair fight as shown by Beowulf actions. But I also think that their land was a very violent one. It seems that there are constant blood feuds and wars going on, and monsters creeping out of hell Just to cause havoc in the mortal world.To summarize, I think Beowulf revolves around a society in which men hold all of the power and are very religious.
These men are constantly locked in wars over wealth, while fighting "evil" demons from hell. These men constantly boast about past accomplishments trying to become better known. They are very religious, to an extent where they believe god will protect them from a blood thirsty beast that has killed dozens of men. To make sure these men are loyal to their king, the king pays them heaps of gold and showers them with gifts.
There society in a whole is very confusing, and there is no wonder as to why it was not very prolific.
