Depiction of Heroes, Religion & Society in English Literature
Changes Taken Place in Depiction of Hero
A hero can be defined as the principal character in a literary work. However, this term may also be used in a more specialized sense for any figure glorified and celebrated in the ancient legends or Old Age heroic epics like Beowulf, Caedmon, etc. The Old English heroic poetry felicitates ancient and contemporary warriors but also notably illustrates acts of self-sacrifice and contemporary warriors by combining pagan and Christian values while, on the other hand, the hero of the Middle Ages was of the romantic kind. In Anglo-Saxon poems, heroes would usually be deemed virtuous by overcoming significant challenges and fighting for his/her country mercilessly.
There are few prevalent characteristics of an Epic hero. He usually would have a noble birth; which means that they would usually be kings, princes, or noblemen of some sort. The common man would somehow, never become an epic hero. He has the potential to carry out deeds of a magnitude so great that it goes beyond the imagination or physical capabilities of a commoner. A hero has spent a great time of his life in fighting wars and battles and established himself in combat during those. A strange aspect of an epic hero is that he has to travel over vast distances. Apparently, this is taken as an act of selflessness by him if he has fled to a different country or town to fight for his own. He has to be recognized and celebrated by his own countrymen to be regarded as a great or heroic person. He has to be humble; epic heroes don’t possess over-bearing or arrogant characteristics in their personality. Beowulf says, “Wyrd often spares an undoomed man when his courage endures.” It was believed that the gods had control over fate He has to face supernatural adversaries or receive supernatural help to assist him in winning wars or forfeit danger. Most of all, an epic hero is a sterling tragic hero, which means that he would make a judgment error that would ultimately lead to his own downfall. After Beowulf dies, he is described as “the mildest of men and the most gentle, the kindest of folk and the most eager for fame.” This shows that desiring fame and recognition was completely acceptable in the Anglo-Saxon period.
On the other hand, a Middle Age hero has a very clear understanding of self and his inner world. He places more importance on his intuition, feelings, and emotions rather than justifying his actions with logical reasoning. Aside from that, a philosophical thought that was extremely prevalent in mediaeval literature was “chivalry” which was the primal code of what an ideal knight’s behavior should be like. These heroic ideals were therefore the basis of the Arthurian legends that were to come. According to Lard bucket Books, “Under the code of chivalry, the knight vowed not only to protect his vassals, as demanded by the feudal system but also to be the champion of the Church.” So, chivalric literature like the legends of King Arthur his Knights of the Round Table came to life in medieval romance.
Uses of Literature as a Tool to Depict the Society
Some of the most important Anglo-Saxon values, as illustrated by Beowulf, include bravery, honor, truth, loyalty and duty, perseverance, and hospitality. Warriors were expected to be brave at all times. They were the people the rest of the culture looked up to. Bravery was mandatory, whether it was in facing a battle or fighting a monster like Beowulf did while combatting Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon. The Anglo-Saxons valued the truth. Though they were notorious to brag and boon like Beowulf does while he tells about his childhood swimming match, however, their talks had to be rooted in the truth. They were asked to prove their valor and truth and if they failed to like Unferth did, they were socially and morally doomed.
In terms of language in medieval society, Norman French and emerging English co-existed as apparent in “The Canterbury Tales” written by Geoffrey Chaucer. In the Middle Ages, the king-retainer structure of Anglo-Saxon culture evolved into feudalism, a way of organizing society entailing of three estates: clergymen, the noblemen who were contracted fiefs by the king, and the peasant class who worked on the fief. They believed in the “Great Chain of Being” which curtailed social hierarchal order by God himself. The church dominated life and literature in the Middle Ages which referred to as the “Roman Catholic Church”. Reading Chaucer’s poetry gives an impression that people knew how fleeting, brief, and transitory human life can be. This persistent sense of mortality was fostered by sudden outbreaks of plague throughout the country due to poor sanitation conditions. Another important event that occurred during this time was when William Caxton helped homogenize the language and fulfilled a request for literature in the vernacular when he brought together the printing press to England in 1476 which greatly helped to standardize vocabulary and spellings
Impact of Religion on That Society.
The Germanic migrants that settled in Britain throughout the 5th Century were pagans who worshipped supernatural forces and an array of different gods. It wasn’t until Irish and Welsh missionaries were sent to these places that Anglo-Saxon rulers and entire kingdoms started converting into Christianity, a religion that primarily mushroomed from the Middle East. This religious conversion brought with it a huge revolution in how literacy was consumed and preserved in the form of documents and books.
While most people living throughout the Middle Ages believed in the reality of a “spiritual realm all around them” and the Day of Resurrection which means ending up in either hell or heaven, depending on their karma in the world, they belonged from a staunch Roman Catholic school of religious beliefs.in fact, anyone who wasn’t a Roman Catholic Christian was openly persecuted. Many religious customs like baptism, marriages, confessions and burying the dead came from there. The knights believed that going on a crusade will grant them forgiveness for their sins. Visiting shrines and going on extensive pilgrimages was considered a holy act which is evident in “The Canterbury Tales” penned by Chaucer. This was the time when religious literature appeared in genres like devotional books like missals, psalters and breviaries, stories on saints’ lives (hagiographies) and theatrical plays like Mystery and Morality plays appeared. This kind of theatre was also in reminiscence of the Anglo-Saxon oral tradition.
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