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CONTENTS
Summary
Some DefinitionsEpic we dealt with last semester, The Death of Arthur, remember… Types of Characters: Epic Hero (Beowulf, Arthur): Strong, noble, brave, and fearless warrior who fights in the defense of others and himself without any thought or regard for his own safety Tragic Hero (Macbeth): In tragedy we see the downfall of a great man, someone respected and held in high esteem by the community. He would have performed brave deeds and shown his ability as a leader. We would know of (or have seen) his acts of compassion and understanding, his righteous feelings for his fellow human. However, because of a fatal or tragic flaw in his character - something that leads a man to disregard the Divine or to disobey a moral law - he will make wrong choices, going with his 'darker side' rather than confronting the forces of evil and selfishness. Aware of the alternatives, he goes ahead with unwise decisions - decisions that result in his personal decline into a state of misery and personal torment, leading to eventual death. In the process the community in which he lives and functions might well also suffer. The audience should feel pity and fear at the decline of a great man into sin and disgrace. (from learn.co.uk, The Guardian’s UK National Curriculum website) Monsters: Come in various shapes and sizes, but all are evil by nature with little chance of them changing. The Beowulf poet gives a comprehensive medieval list in lines 25-27 of your selection. Modern sensibility has added monsters like shape-shifters (vampires, werewolves), poltergeists, and psychopaths – although this last category are debatably human. Interestingly enough, the Beowulf poet has described this essentially non-human life-form as having human characteristics (especially guilty of the seven deadly sins), perhaps we are meant to imagine him as some kind of human. Villains: These are men, or women, of varying degrees of evil and cunning. They are human, i.e. not stereotypes, and are capable of compassion and some change. It is usual to find them used as a contrast to a hero or heroine. Shakespeare’s Iago is probably the most vicious, plotting without cause against two young lovers; then comes Shylock who seems to have some (good) reason for hating Christians, but is condemned anyway. High on the list is Lady Macbeth, who seems more terrible since she is a woman! For Figurative Language, consult the exercises in your Vocabulary book, p. 2) Please don’t memorise all of the above, extract the essence! Alliteration: sounds (vowels or consinants) at the start of words in a line or closely connected lines of poetry. Before the Normans introduced rhyme into English poetry, alliteration was the major sound device in English poetry. It imitates the interweaving of lines and shapes found on their sculpture, drawing and jewelry. For example,
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