Wednesday, November 13, 2019
themebeo Epic of Beowulf Essay - Style, Structure and Theme
Style, Structure and Theme of Beowulfà à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à A consideration of the stylistic features in the classic poem Beowulf involves a study of the poetic verse, the vocabulary, alliteration, litotes, simile, kennings, variation and double-meaning or ambiguity. A consideration of the structure and the theme of the poem involve a wide diversity of opinion on the subject. à First, let us talk about style. The poetic conventions used by this poet include two half-lines in each verse, separated by a caesura or pause. The half-lines are joined by the oral stressing of alliterative words in the half-lines, both consonants and vowels (Tharaud 34). ââ¬Å"At least one of the two stressed words in the first half-line, and usually both of them, begin with the same sound as the first stressed word of the second half-lineâ⬠(Donaldson 67). When a word was stressed in the first half-line, its alliterative counterpart was stressed in the following half-line; the words could either complement each other, like holy/heaven or sin/enemy, or they could contrast each other like happy/wretched or warm/winter. à Oft Scyld Scefing à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à sceapena preatum monegum maegpumà à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à meodo-setla ofteah (4-5) à The repetition of the ââ¬Å"sâ⬠sound in line 4 and of the ââ¬Å"mâ⬠sound in line 5 illustrate alliteration, and this occurs throughout the poem, providing to the listener what the rhyme of modern-day poetry provides ââ¬â an aesthetic sense ofà rightness or pleasure. à The vocabulary of the poem is remarkable in several ways. First of all, about one-third of the vocabulary is compound words. For the concept ofà ââ¬Å"the seaâ⬠there are 50 different compounds; likewise there are 50 compounds ... ...d Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. à Shippey, Thomas A.. ââ¬Å"Structure and Unity.â⬠In A Beowulf Handbook, edited by Robert Bjork and John D. Niles. Lincoln, Nebraska: Uiversity of Nebraska Press, 1997. à Sisam, Kenneth. ââ¬Å"The Structure ofà Beowulf.â⬠In Beowulf: The Donaldson Translation, edited by Joseph F. Tuso. New York, W.W.Norton and Co.: 1975. à Tharaud, Barry. ââ¬Å"Anglo-Saxon Language and Traditions in Beowulf.â⬠In Readings on Beowulf, edited by Stephen P. Thompson. San Diego: Greenhaven Press,1998. à Tolkien, J.R.R.. ââ¬Å"Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics.â⬠In Beowulf ââ¬â Modern Critical Interpretations, edited by Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. à Ward & Trent, et al. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. New York: G.P. Putnamââ¬â¢s Sons, 1907ââ¬â21; New York: Bartleby.com, 2000
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