Literary

Elements
Through the story of Beowulf
Theme
 The controlling idea of a piece of
literature.

A unifying or dominant idea

Themes in Beowulf
 Greed for glory leads to downfall.

 Greed for glory leads to heroism.

 “The fight is not yours,/ nor meet for any but me

alone/ to measure the might with this monster
here/ and play the hero.”
Characterization
 The characteristics of a character

 Physiological- what the character looks

like

 Sociological- the character’s background

 Psychological- the character’s behavior

Characterization of Beowulf
 Physiological: strongest man of all
 “[…] Higlac’s/Follower and the strongest of the
Geats– greater/ And stronger than anyone
anywhere in this world […]”
 Sociological: loyal & has seen victory far and wide
 “Higlac’s Follower” & “I drove/ Five great giants
into chains, chased/ All of that race from the
earth.”
 Psychological: reckless, brave, greedy for glory
 “But Higlac’s follower remembered his final/ Boast
and, standing erect, stopped/ The monster’s flight
[…]”
Conflict
 Theopposing forces that come into
disagreement in a story

 External & External Conflicts:

 Man vs. self
 Man vs. man
 Man vs. society
 Man vs. nature
Conflict in Beowulf
 Man vs. self
 “ […] my hands/ Alone shall fight for me,
struggle for life/ Against the monster.”
 Man vs. man
 “The sage assumed that his sovran God/ he had
angered, breaking ancient law,/ and
embittered the Lord.”
 Also three battles could be considered here
 Man vs. society & man vs. nature
 Three battles could be considered
Setting
 When and where a story takes place
Setting of Beowulf
A changing world between Pagan and
Christian ideas– a world that is attempting
to rid itself of the old, “evil” ways
 Anglo-Saxon Period in the regions of
modern-day Denmark and Sweden

 “Hail/ To those who will rise to God, drop

off/ Their dead bodies and seek our
Father’s peace!”
Protagonist vs. Antagonist
 Protagonist:
the leading character, hero,
or heroine of a literary work

 Antagonist:the character or force that

works against the hero or protagonist
Pro. & Ant. in Beowulf
 Beowulf vs. Grendel

 Beowulf vs. Grendel’s Mother

 Beowulf vs. Dragon

Plot
 The action of a literary work

 Exposition: the act of explaining the setting and

introducing the main characters & other literary
elements at the beginning of a literary work
 Rising Action: a related series of incidents that build
towards the climax
 Climax: THE POINT OF NO RETURN/ THE HIGHEST OR
MOST INTENSE POINT IN THE STORY
 Falling Action: the part of a story that occurs after the
climax has been reached and the conflict has been
resolved
 Resolution: the outcome of the story- the protagonist
either gets what he/she wants or does not
 Plot Triangle for Beowulf
Climax: Beowulf fights the
Dragon and is injured

Rising Action: Beowulf kills Falling Action: Wiglaf

Grendel & Grendel’s brings Beowulf the
Mother/ is named King treasure

Resolution: Beowulf
Exposition: Beowulf is
dies a hero and is
great/ Danes in trouble
buried in a funeral
and need help
pyre
Point of View
 The perspective from which a story is told

 First person- “I”

 Second person- “you” “us” “we”
 Third person limited- “he” “she” but we see
one character’s thoughts
 Third person omniscient- “he” “she” but we
see all characters’ thoughts
Point of View of Beowulf
 Third person omniscient

 “That shepherd of evil, guardian of crime,/

Knew at once that nowhere on earth/ Had
he met a man whose hands were harder;/
His mind was flooded with fear […]”
 “That mighty protector of men/ Mean to
hold the monster till its life/ Leaped out,
knowing the fiend was no use/ To anyone in
Denmark.”
Motif
A recurring subject, theme, idea, etc. in a
literary work

 These
motifs can also be symbolic, which
can make them also symbolism
Motif in Beowulf
 Fate
 “Fate will unwind as it must!”
 “But Wyrd denied it,/ and victory’s honors.”
 “At home I bided/ what fate might come,
and I cared for mine own;/ feuds I sought
not, nor falsely swore/ ever an oath.”
 Monsters
 Grendel, Grendel’s Mother, the dragon
Symbolism
 Itemsor characters that represent larger
ideas and concepts
Symbols in Beowulf
 The Mead Hall- a place of unity and
celebration
 Beowulf’s chain mail- God’s grace/ the
“chosen one”
 Mead Cup- all soldiers drink from it = the
symbol of unity
Literary
Techniques
Through Beowulf
Allusions
 Referringto a famous person, place,
thing, etc. in a literary text
Allusions in Beowulf
 Several allusions to God and heaven:
 “That was their way,/ And the heathen’s
only hope, Hell/ Always in their hearts,
knowing neither God/ Nor His passing as He
walks through our world, the Lord/ of
Heaven and earth […]
 “God must decide/ Who will be given to
death’s cold grip.”
Foreshadowing
 Hints in the text of what is to come
Foreshadowing in Beowulf
 “But fate, that night, intended/ Grendel to
gnaw the broken bones Of his last human
supper. Human/ Eyes were watching his
evil steps,/ Waiting to see his swift hard
claws.”
Alliteration
 Twoor more words begin with the same
sound
Alliteration in Beowulf
 “Long while of the day/ fled ere he felt
the floor of the sea./ Soon found the fiend
who the flood-domain sword-hungry held
these hundred winters,/ greedy and grim,
that some guest from above,/ some man,
was raiding her monster-realm.”
Assonance
 Rhyme in which the same vowel sounds
are used
Assonance in Beowulf
 “[…] Up from his swampland, sliding
silently […]”
 “Now Grendel’s/ Name has echoed in our
land: sailors have brought us stories of
Herot, the best/ Of all mead-halls,
deserted and useless when the moon/
Hangs in the skies […] Light and life fleeing
together.”
Consonance
 Repetition
of the same consonant sounds
anywhere in the word
Consonance in Beowulf
 “[…] if in thy cause it came that I/ should
lose my life, thou wouldst loyal bide/ to
me, though fallen, in father’s place!”
 “Bloody the blade: he was blithe of his
deed/ Then blazed forth light.”
 “Tore its fasteners with a touch/ And
rushed angrily over the threshold.”
Simile
A comparison using like or as
Simile in Beowulf
 “Brightwithin/ As when from the sky there
shines unclouded/ Heaven’s candle.”
Metaphor
 Directcomparison that does not use like
or as but directly states that one thing is
another
Metaphor in Beowulf
 Kennings and epithets are also metaphorical
 “shepherd of evil, guardian of crime”
 “Prince of the Weders”
 “The Son of Ecgtheow”
 “The Geatish hero”
 “sky-candle”
 “long sleep”
 “whale road”
 About the Dragon: “thus he moaned his woe,/ alone,
for them all, and unblithe wept/ by day and by night,
till death’s fell wave/ o’erwhelmed his heart.”
 “God must decide/ Who will be given to death’s
cold grip.”
Understatement
 Saying
less than reality in order to
emphasize the emotion of a situation
Understatement in Beowulf
 When Grendel’s Mother refers to Beowulf
as her “guest from above” when he’s
come to kill her
Personification
 Givinghuman qualities to inanimate
objects
Personification in Beowulf
 “Death’s cold grip”
 “Herot trembled”
Apostrophe
 Directly
addressing a someone or
something that cannot respond either
because it’s not living or is not present/
oftentimes a digression as a sign of
desperation
Apostrophe in Beowulf
 “Omighty Lord!”
 “God, the Almighty, we call for you to
come”
Hyperbole
 Using extreme exaggeration for emphasis
Hyperbole in Beowulf
 “Courageous men/ carried the head from
the cliff by the sea/ an arduous task for all
the band,/ the firm in fight, since four
were needed/ on the shaft-of-slaughter
strenuously/ to bear to the gold-hall
Grendel’s head.”
 Beowulf’s feats– not realistic
Irony
 Three types:

 Situational- when the opposite of what you

expect to happen actually happens
 Dramatic- when we know something a
character does not know
 Verbal- sarcastic sayings or
understatement/ overstatement in speech
Irony in Beowulf
 Situational-- The giant’s sword hanging on the
wall
 “’Mid the battle-gear saw he a blade
triumphant,/ old-sword of Eotens, with edge of
proof,/ warriors’ heirloom, weapon unmatched”
 Dramatic– the soldiers think Beowulf has died
 “To many it seemed/ the wolf-of-the-waves had
won his life.”
 Verbal- understatement/ Beowulf brags
 “No small band of men had gathered to hear
Beowulf’s boast.”