Beowulf Research Paper

A canon is a group of literary works that are generally accepted to represent a field of study. The issue of discussion: is Beowulf a worthy member of the British Literature canon? To accurately answer the question we must look at the criterion that define a canon and then use them as supporting arguments. Based on the evidence presented in the text and external resources, Beowulf should not be considered part of the canon because it lacks the barebones qualities which every canon member requires. These are: that Beowulf wasn't able to help the British people progress in any way, was not well known enough to have a meaningful impact in the development of their culture, it would not reinforce a national identity because of the lateness it has …show more content…
National identity is defined as "the depiction of a country as a whole, encompassing its culture, traditions, language, and politics." Nearly all of these have changed over the 900 years between writing and public recognition of Beowulf. Mentioned above are the culture distinctions between the old and new Britons, but what about traditions, language, and politics? There are two main traditions present in the text: the giving of gifts from the King to the peasant people for their hard work during war times and the code of honor presented by knights. Both of these are miles away from the society when Beowulf was first beginning to be studied: for the giving of gifts from high to lower class, think of Marie Antoinette who is famous for withholding food from the peasants and even mocking them in her castle. In the 1800s the Industrial Revolution was taking place, meaning that the victor was no longer who held the bigger sword, but who had the most advanced machinery. Language is an easy one to notice the cultural disparities: Old English versus Modern English. Picking up the text of Beowulf by Seamus Heaney one can easily compare the stark differences between the Old English and Modern translation, but if one doesn't have a copy at hand here is a snippet: from page 4, "in mǣgþa gehwæ man geþēon" which is translated to "is the path to …show more content…
The problem with that is the fact that Beowulf is only a work of historical fiction, meaning the setting and a few of the people and events were true. However, most of the story focuses upon Beowulf and his encounters with specific mythical beasts which are not historically accurate. Think of most history textbooks: they display the information in a neutral tone, are mainly accurate, and display and summarize thousands of year's worth of material into a few hundred pages. Beowulf is almost completely opposite a historical textbook which is why Beowulf is not studied for its historical accuracy. Another way people may try to recognize Beowulf is as having alternative meanings like Shakespeare that require one's self to ponder over the verbage; however, Beowulf is simply a fiction story of a war hero who saves a country from the evils surrounding it – there is little deeper meaning or social satire that can be noticed when studying the text. Therefore, Beowulf cannot be included in the canon because it has little historical accuracy and does not display an evaluation of the society element like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn nor a motive in the narrative such as with a Shakespeare

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Research Paper On Beowulf

Research Paper On Beowulf

Research Paper On Beowulf