I. Line
numbers for Beowulf reading
A. 1-1070
B. 1159-1650
C. 2200-2820
D. 3007-3182
II. 2:10—2:25
A. attendance and permissions—count blanks and go in
order—name and permission # after class dismissed; at 3:55
B. group signup sheets—discuss projects further
III. 2:25—2:40
quiz
A. 2 monitors to pass out question sheets and collect scantrons
IV. 2:40-2:50
A. structure of poem
1.
three units—three fights
2.
unusual split in narrative—50 years of BeowulfÕs rule
passed over—direct move to old age; having proved himself and learned
lessons, his further success and achievement of stability is unnoted
3.
the life cycle paradigm: innocence and experience; youth
and age
a)
The
way up and the way down
(1)
All the events in part I involve obstacles overcome,
building up to a central climax—Happiness came back; l. 1788 the positive
creation
b)
Prefiguration
of gloomier second half
(1)
Warning from the old man—about pride and covetousness;
remember eternal reward; sober
wisdom of old ageÉÓdonÕt get oldÓ--about pride of bad rulers vs. wisdom l. 1724-1757
(2)
Keep old age and death in mind; reversals from bliss to
grief
(3)
There the positive is used to offset the negative
(4)
Inverted U shaped plot for tragedy
c)
General
pessimism
(1)
ÒNorse mythology's vision of the end times is uniquely stark
and pessimistic: É the Norse gods É are in fact destined to be defeated, and
have always lived with this knowledge. In the end, it was believed the forces
of chaos will outnumber and overcome the divine and human guardians of order. É
The gods, aware of the futility of their plight, will nevertheless gather the finest
warriors (the Einherjar) from Valhalla to fight on their side when the day
comes, but in the end they will be powerless to prevent the world from
descending into the chaos out of which it had once emergedÉ
(a) The sun shall be darkened, earth
sinks in the sea, —
(b) Glide from the heaven the
glittering stars;
(c) Smoke-reek rages and reddening
fire:
(d) The high heat licks against heaven
itself.[2]Ó
(i) http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Norse_mythology
4.
Interlace
a)
ÒFrom the early Anglo-Saxon period there
are thousands of interlace designs surviving in illuminations of manuscripts,
in carving on bone, ivory and stone, and in metal work for weapons and
jewelry. They are so prolific that the seventh and eighth centuries might
justly be known as the interlace period. . . . The pervasive importance of
interlace designs in early Anglo-Saxon art establishes the historical
possibility that a parallel may be found in poetry of the same culture. . . .
There is ample evidence that interlace design has literary parallels in both
style and structure(159)
b)
In the interlace design, allusive references from the past cross and recross
with the present subject. In Beowulf the past exploits of Sigemund and Heremod
intertwine or interlace with the present event of BeowulfÕs killing of
Grendel.Ó
(1)
John Leyerle, ÒThe Interlace Structure of BeowulfÓ
(1)
Snakes and monsters in the sea and mere—1425-1430
d)
Interlaced
with creation story
(1)
Building Heorot, the worldÕs creation by God, the poetÕs
creation—pp. 35-6
(2)
—moving forward and back; repetition
e)
Dominant
narrative structure of prefiguration and recollection on large and small scale
(1)
2200-2287—the slave and the treasure
V. 2:50-55
break
VI. 2:55--3:30:
Discussion of quiz passages
A. p.43
1.
alpha male fierceness, aggression and strength;
2.
heroism and nobility—sacrifice, magnanimity and reputation.
3.
Fate—heroic/military ethos—as
positive—but with cost –cf. p.64 Òliving in this world means waiting for our endÉÓ
B. p. 44
1.
Demoralized King; no morale; no protector or ring giver;
potlatch
2.
triumph of forces of violence and chaos—
3.
inevitable decline; frailty and disillusion of old age vs.
optimism and power of youth
4.
interlace; story already told—inside and outside
frames—predictor;
C. p. 44
1.
Human antagonist; rivalry, jealousy and
pride—military ethos;
2.
BeowulfÕs restrained answer
3.
buildup to battle; battle in hall—ll. 530-533,
581-598
D. p. 50
1.
Gruesomeness
is delicious—his crimes and punishments—
2.
Arm as necessary appendage--Arms and the manÉepic
3.
GrendelÕs
approach—pts. of view
ll.710-753
4.
Envy vs. magnanimity and generosity; Unferth and Grendel
E. p. 59.
1.
The Queen—harmony and hospitality; home and hearth;
feasting and sex—children and family—schop telling the story of the
victory--interlace
F. p.67
1.
Another female presence—archetypal landscapes; den,
infested water; hell p. 64—no language for her or the other monsters;
2.
God as savior l. 1554; treasure buried in it; sword
fails—Biblical sense of warrior God—sometimes with and sometimes
not, but the glory to Him;
3.
l.1688—Biblical allusion—God as victor over
giants and monsters; using force of flood
G. p. 81
1.
pessimism, elegiac tone which dominates the last part of
the story; mutability—placed in ground because no use by people; dragon
found it—dragon enraged by slaveÕs stealing it; embodiment of greed;
BeowulfÕs depression and pessimism 2327; pride takes hold
H. p. 92 B. has no
son or heritage, like Hrothgar;
1.
B. gazes on gold sadly not proud or happy
2.
lay of the old man whoÕs lost his son 2444-2462;
3.
Wiglaf—the young man; the last survivor; the heroic
partner set off from the others;
4.
their failure of courage, like HrothgarÕs warriors; leader
and led
I. P.99
1.
reprimand for the heroic behavior
2.
Christian perspective? Ambivalence? Modern view? The Iliad,
which also ends in funeral
J. p. 148
1.
wants adulterous relationship, as she has with Lancelot in
other stories, but here that manifests as wickedness and is contrasted to the
loversÕ flawed loyalty
2.
her transgression is rebuffed by his
3.
both are sinners in the service of love
VII.
3:30-3:50 Lanval and Chevrefoil
A. Lanval
1.
Marie de France
a)
between
about 1160 and 1215
b)
It
is likely that Marie de France was known at the court of King Henry II and his
wife, Eleanor of
Aquitaine.
c)
The
setting for Marie's lais is the Celtic world, embracing England, Wales,
Ireland, Brittany and Normandy
2.
Transition from Beowulf—
a)
similarity
(1)
Arthur the generous ringiver patron; his supporting knights;
exchange of gifts
(2)
Fighting Scots and Picts
b)
differences
(1)
Love not war is the subject—not battles but picnics
(2)
Women are dominant and protagonists
(3)
Not armaments but beds and gowns and womenÕs beauty
celebrated
(5)
Her power and largesse and the prohibition
(6)
What counts?—female power; beauty; loyalty to the
beloved—her revelation is extended and repeated; coming down the runway
(a) Battle of sexes
(b) Women steal the show of the trial
and the contest of ÒwhoÕs the fairest of them allÓ
(c) Fashion show
(d) Astonishing spectacle; miracle 586
3.
Courtly Love
a)
Also
known as Òheroic loveÓ—military macho heroism and tragedy and pessimism
here linked with desire rather than aggression—feminized phenomenon;
knights as lovers more than fighters
(1)
Loyalty to mistress as opposed to lord
(2)
Love as religion
(a) Amor vincit omnia
(3)
Adulterous relationships are privileged—high risk,
tragic and poignant
(a) ÒAllÕs fair in love and war,Ó Francis Edwards paraphrasing
Lyly and Cervantes
(b) Higher Truth of love vs. falsehood
(4)
The court and society not highly valued; the
individual—choices and sensations and emotions and relationships
(a) Social criticism/satire—leads
to Chaucer and Utopia
(5)
Love as sickness
(a) Love was could also be a sickness
-- the "loveris maladye of Heroes" (KnT 1373-74)
b)
Test
of lovers—how true to love
(1)
Courts and games—trials: would he have been better off
not saying anything about Amie?
(2)
Is he rewarded—no more fame or glory
(3)
Threats to love; jealousy and other lovers
c)
Prologue
to GottfriedÕs Tristan
(2)
I now lay before the world
these labors I have undertaken.
May noble hearts find them a
solace—
those hearts I love so heartily,
in that world where my heart sees
clearly.
ItÕs not that common world I speak of
50
(a place I only know from hearsay),
of those who scorn to endure
affliction
and only want to soar in pleasure.
May God let them have their pleasures!
To their world and the one I live in,
what I say means different
things—
their life and mine go different ways.
No, IÕm speaking to a different world
that mingles in its single heart
its suavest spoil, its dearest dread,
its heartÕs delight, its longing need,
its lovely life, its death so dire,
its lovely death, its life so dire.
To that life do I yield my own.
B. Chevrefoil
1.
Courtly Love in Chevrefoil
a)
Love
brings suffering and death
(1)
TristanÕs longing and sadness
(2)
Violation of loyalty to king
(3)
Hiding in woods
(4)
Secret communication—carved in slat
(5)
Image of honesucke and hazel—absoluteness of love
(6)
Into the woods together only to talk
(7)
Plan to meet again
(8)
Desire and frustration: desire is the counterpart to battle
fury; heroic achievement and suffering;
b)
deeds
memorialized in song and poetry and art
(1)
Tristan composes lai about their meeting.