The Wife of Bath's Tale Summary

The Wife of Bath's Tale is yet another odd tale of Chaucer's collection in Canterbury Tales. The tale begins by describing the British Isle, which was once a place of elves and faeries. Now, it has been overrun by friars and other political and ecclesiastical leaders, who go through the country raping women.

One lustful knight is travelling and finds a beautiful maiden among Kng Arthur's people. He is so overcome with lust and the ability to do as he pleases, he rapes her. He is discovered and it is decided that he shall be executed. However, the queen among other ladies of Arthur's court intervene, pleading that his life be spared. It is then decided that he shall go out and discover what it is that all women truly desire, and if he fails to do so, he shall be executed.

The knight sets out, unsure of where to begin, he goes around asking women of different regions, towns, shires, and cities, what is it they most desire. All of them gave different answers. He continued to do this for sometime before giving up, and finally making a return journey to Arthur's court to receive justice.

On the return journey, the knight comes across a group of dancing women. Upon approach, they vanish, and instead, an old hag stands before him. The knight still explains his dilemma, and she insists that she can help, but in return she, the knight must do as she wishes. As his final attempt at saving his own life the hag returns with him to Arthur's court.

She speaks in front of Arthur's court, on the knight's behalf, saying that all that women desire is to have complete control over their husbands. All the women in the court agree with this statement. The hag however, requests that the knight marry her. The knight is horrified but reluctantly must agree to as she says.

After several days of being married to this old woman, the knight is encaptured in immense sadness. He vocalises his discontented spirit with his old wife and she asks if he'd rather have an faithful ugly wife, or a promiscuous beautiful wife. Unsure, the knight lets the hag decides, and thus provides her with control: what it was she truly desired. She immediately turns into a faithful and beautiful wife.

The Nun's Priest Tale Summary

In this odd tale, Chaucer makes use of a folklore-esque tale about animals to speak truth about humans, much like Aesop's Fables.

Chanticleer is a rooster, one known for his beauty and crow. He is also quite a proud rooster, but perhaps he is deserving to be. He falls in love and eventually 'marries' (or whatever is the poultry equivalent) an equally beautiful hen named Pertelote. The two are happy and live on as such until one day when Chanticleer is disturbed by a dream in which he is attacked by an "orange beast". Pertelote tells him not to be troubled by it, assuming it to be a physical ailment. And so, the two live happily again.

Their happiness is again interrupted one fateful day. As Chanticleer is out once day in the yard, a fox comes by and spots Chanticleer. Initially alarmed, remembering his dream, Chanticleer begins to leave, but the fox promises no harm. The fox begins to sing to Chanticleer of his own great beauty. As he does so, Chanticleer closes his eyes and stretches his neck to further demonstrate his beauty. The fox quickly takes his opportunity and lunges at the rooster, grabbing the throat and leaping back into the woods from whence he came.

Pertelote begins grieving upon hearing the news, and quickly gathers a party to avenge her husband. A band of dogs go into the woods to find the fox running up a tree with the alive Chanticleer in his mouth. Chanticleer suggests that the fox flatters the dogs to save their lives, and as he opens his mouth to do so, Chanticleer flies out to another tree.

The fox, as a final attempt, begins flattering Chanticleer once again to get him to come back. Chanticleer declares that he has learned his lesson of humility and the deceptive nature of flattery.

Morality over Chivalry in SGGK

SGGK, through the choices of Sir Gawain, demonstrates the difficulty of being both moral and chivalrous at the same time. As the wife of the King, who has provided him hospitality in his castle, seduces Gawain each morning he arises, Gawain chooses to keep to his moral principles rather than submit to his desires by being chivalrous. It would seem that morality supersedes chivalry.

However, it could be that morality only supersedes chivalry in this case because the chivalrous action is combined with the decision to submit to immoral pleasure. In other words, Gawain could be rejecting the queen's advances due to the knowledge that he would be controlled by his own immoral desire.

Gawain chooses to be chivalrous over wholly moral in the decision of allowing the interactions with the queen to go as far as they did, even to the point of kissing. He always had the option of "unchivalrously" of not allowing the queen's presence to avoid any direction of immoral conduct, but Gawain chooses to interact with her. Perhaps he did this because he knew that he could control his desire and still act chivalrously, without crossing any moral boundaries all at the same time.

Close Encounters with Ugolino and the Bottom of Hell

Why do we find so much imagery of eating in Cantos XXXII through XXXIV?

Here, in the pit of hell, we find the worst of sinners. The others were even too righteous to coexist with these foul creatures, having committed acts of satanic value. Evil birthing such lifelessness that fire itself could not eternal nor momentarily consume, but only a frozen wasteland of still and upside-down monsters. The screams and cries of anguish cease, reason and speech are abandoned due to their uselessness.

This is where Dante comes upon the figure Count Ugolino. Ugolino describes himself italian nobility in Pisa. Ugolino was born a Ghibelline, but soon joined the Guelf party as a means of obtaining more political power in Pisa. However he was exiled in his first attempt and later joined with Ruggieri. Both planned to seize power in Pisa, but as soon as their plan began working, according to Ugolino, Ruggieri betrayed him, causing his imprisonment and death. Historically, Ugolino was known to have betrayed Ruggieri first, but failed in imprisoning him as Ugolino had been. In prison, along with both his children (and supposedly grandchildren as well), they were locked in and the key thrown into a river, leaving them to starve. Accounts speak of Ugolino cannibalising his children in order to extend his own life further.

When Dante first comes upon Ugolino, he finds the shade gnawing on the brain of another, both encased waist-up in ice. The other shade he feeds on Dante discovers to be his betrayer, Ruggieri. The cannibalism Dante witnesses not only accounts for that he commits in prison, but also speaks to his sins in his political career as well. Ugolino, used what political power he had to climb over other people, thriving off of their demise, much like the idea of cannibalism.

Cannibalism exists in the centre of hell as the most evil of sins in Dante's hierarchy due to cannibalism's application to all three of Dante's denominations of sins. Dante categorises sins into three distinct sets: sins of incontinence, sins of fraud, and sins of violence. Cannibalism is a sin of violence in that it involves the murder of an individual and/or the mutilation of their body. It also is a sin of fraud in that it takes something that should be living and admired as the image of God and distorts it into something as common as food. Finally, cannibalism falls under the category of incontinence in that it is an unnatural way of satiating something as common as hunger.

Discussion Question on Canto XXVI

Why does Dante create this fantastic ending to the life of Ulysses given that so much material is available for him to use in his encounter with the sinner?

Dante's interactions with Ulysses are no different than that with other ancient (read classical) authors and characters, namely Virgil, Aeneas, and Dido. Of course Dante means to demonstrate his appreciation for these people in his Comedy by mentioning them, but they serve more greatly than Dante serves them in the Inferno. Ulysses, no differently, is being used in Dante's work to prove a point. 

In the case of Ulysses, Dante completely reinvents the story of the Odyssey. In the Comedy, Ulysses speaks of how, after returning from sea after many years, went out sailing again, "longing for experience of the world, of human vices and virtue" (26.94-5). He began pursuing land beyond the Atlantic, which during these times, presumably was considered not within human capability, and consequently, drowns on his voyage. Of course none of which never happened, at least not in the Odyssey. Once again, as Dante continues the story (or perhaps fate) of Virgil among other characters, he does so with Ulysses.

There is, however, quite precision behind Dante's retelling of the Odyssey. Had Ulysses went out to see and did all these things-humans-appreciated, without any credit to God, and still maintained the title of 'ideal hero', Dante would have to place Ulysses in heaven. Therefore, Dante makes death the obvious consequence for Ulysses's choice of 'earthly' pursuits.

Close Encounters with Farinata (Canto X)

In Canto X of Inferno, Dante and Virgil still travel through the sixth circle of hell, where all heretics dwell. As the two walk through the graves intersecting their path, Dante pauses at one. Here, lies Dante's political enemy, Farinata degli Uberti, a ghibelline. The two figures recognise each other, but unfamiliar of what context, both present their ancestry. As soon as their backgrounds are established, tension arises between the two as they argue and defend their respective political parties.

This growingly tense argument is quickly interrupted by Cavalcante d'Cavalcanti, father of Dante's close friend, Guido Cavalcanti. He desperately asks Dante what became of Guido. Dante begins to respond, but hastily Cavalcante assumes Dante said that Guido died, and in pure desolation, descends back into his grave. The character introduces the righteous value of family in contrast to Farinata's value and obsession with political stature. 

Farinata and Dante continue their discussion. Even though the two political figures are enemies, they demonstrate a degree of respect for each other. Farinata and Dante have something in common, they both valued the city of Florence over their own political career. Farinata sacrificed his in order to salvage Florence from being "leveled", Dante refers to Farinata as "defender of Florence". However, both characters imply the irrelevance of Florentine politics in relation to their current position in hell.

Virgil summons Dante to continue on their journey.

Summary of the Papal Seat in Avignon from the West

Papal Palace at Avignon

When Pope Clement V came to power, he set up a[n initially] temporary papal headquarters in Avignon, France. There, he also established a College of Cardinals followed by a secondary Church court. Avignon became a very popular spot for those looking to give their lives to the Church, and as more people cycled through the College, Clement V built more extensions and lavish facilities. Gradually, nearly all of the Church leaders were relocated to Avignon, and the Vatican was left abandoned.

The cardinals that arose from the College of Cardinals at Avignon were more popular among the entire Christian population due to the fact they were not tangled up in the political debuggery of the papal italian states. 

Avignon declared many (and even more) power than the Vatican. They claimed the power to, but certainly not limited to, appoint candidates to clerical offices, collect all vacant and unclaimed revenues, heard all appeals of ecclesiastical courts, and more. 

Because Clement V was unable to collect Church money toward building Avignon, money had to come by other means. The authorities at Avignon began using secular means (read trade and taxation) to gather funds. The papal seat gradually turned to a bureaucratic-like state, and attracted many secular business conducts.

Italians among other Christians saw the corruption at Avignon and demanded that the papal seat return to Rome. At this time Pope Gregory XI was in power, and reluctantly gave into their will. After returning to Rome, he declared the place "not fit to live in", mostly due to the fact it had abandoned for nearly a century, and began to move back to Avignon. However this move was interrupted by his death.

An italian Pope was elected next, Pope Urban VI. The cardinals, who were mostly French, still wanted to live in Avignon. Defiantly, these French cardinals moved back to Avignon without the Pope! 

Summary of Dante's Inferno through Canto XVIII

Through the eighteenth Canto of Inferno, Dante has experienced a long and treacherous journey. He has reached Malebolge, the eighth circle of Hell. He has trudged his way through fiery swamps and burning mud, through rivers of fire and seven circles of deafening sounds of pain. Despite how miserable this sounds, Dante is in fact in a better position than when he begun.

At the beginning of the poem, as you should recall at this point, Dante was hopelessly lost in a dark wood before Virgil came his way. Though geographically, Virgil leads Dante to a worse place, the progress Dante is making is toward an ideal place (positionally and geographically). Without the arrival of Virgil, Dante would never arrive at Paradiso. 

Dante, by walking the path of the unrepentant dead, is able to not only visualise a life apart from God's offered and abundant grace, but he reflects upon the nature of his own actions and how he has been involved politically. For example, when he interacts with his political enemies in hell, Virgil encourages an attitude of neutral grace rather than vengeful arrogance. 

As the reader, we are expected to follow the redemptive thoughts Dante experiences during his journey through Hell. As Florentines of his time, one is supposed to suddenly realise the corruption of Florentine (and Church!) politics and politicians, and the gradual but sure 'Decadence of Florence', as clearly explicated in Canto XVI.

Another interesting point is Virgil has lead Dante so far into Hell, that Virgil, himself, employs the help of others to further descend. For example, in order to cross into the eighth circle of hell, Virgil calls Geryon to ride.

The achievement of reaching Malebolge, meaning evil ditches: a place for those who committed sins of fraud, is quite significant. Here, in the "pit of hell", lie the fraudulent, and, as one could imagine, a great number of political and religious figures. Here, and leading up to this point, Dante makes his most apparent political thesis.

The Literary Fabric of Dante's Inferno

Dante is one of history's most acclaimed and well known poets. He is known as the father of the Italian language. He has influenced, both directly and indirectly; consciously and subconsciously, many writers and poets. Not only has the metaphorical story of his journey through the spiritual world attracted world fame, but the styles, techniques, and allegories used in his story. Dante's work is one the most influential and complex literary works of all time: a thick and tightly knit interweave of philosophical ideas and political thought, masterfully crafted at the loom of his own intellect.

One element of Dante's writing that is quite notable and apparent, is his copious use of references to other literary works and mythologies. Throughout the entire story, Dante references numerous texts and stories, using them as preset tools to provide infinite detail to his own work. Among the references used, the Bible and the Aeneid are the two most common. Dante uses the biblical ideologies as obvious inspiration for his own work but also nearly directly quotes from the Scriptures in his work. The Aeneid provides Dante not only with a set of characters to populate his Inferno, but also a preset mythology and pagan set of ideologies. Both of these texts were widely well known in Dante's time (and until now) due to the religious and re-emergence of classical texts. 

Dante also uses characters and places from his modern time in medieval Florence (or at least from its recent history) as well as famous associates of the medieval, italian, Church. Dante pulls characters from Florentine history (and present) as example and allegory to the circle of Hell in which he describes. For example, in the second circle of Inferno, Dante places Francesca and Paolo, both of whom were murdered and were hot topics of the late Florentine history. Also, Dante strategically places his enemies in particular places in hell. Pope Boniface VIII was the major contributor to Dante's exilation from Florence, and thus, reserves a special place and mention in the Inferno. 

These allegories continue virtually infinitely through the Divine Comedy. It would take thousands of pages of commentary to even cover a fraction of them. Because the story itself is an allegory for our mortal lives and eternity with (or without) God, the allegory is quite expansive. Also, among the story includes allegories relating to the topics of (and not limited to) the meaning of life, morality, the structure of time, space, and the universe, God's love and perfect justice, etc.... To claim a knowledge of them, and how Dante intended them to be read, would be ignorant.

The final element of Dante's work that also shows great literary prowess is his ability to structure his poem. The entire Comedy is divided into a (nearly) perfect three. Each stanza is also structured into terza rima, or three lines. The obvious reference to a holy trinity structure, I think, also implies some degree of perpetuality and cycle. Each time you read three lines, another set of three begins again; each time one's soul travels the path through the spiritual realm, another soul must follow.

The complexities of Dante's work continue to further present themselves more complex each time I review them. Each individual thread of Dante's complex and expansive tapestry are evidently each carefully chosen from an abundance of the world's material. However, the only way to see why he chose each thread and element of his great work is by looking closely to each one as it relates to another. 

Virgil Leads a Tour through Hell

2. Why do you think the poet Dante chooses the Roman poet Virgil as the guide through hell for his pilgrim, Dante?

Dante begins his poem by introducing himself as a lost traveler on the road of life. He wanders hopelessly through a wood, later only saved by Virgil. Though Virgil has died quite some time ago, he still is able to come from Hell, where he has been dwelling since his death. 

Basic ideas (at least on the surface level), but the reader might ask:

Why Virgil?

Dante had the choice of any deceased, pagan, man or woman to make his Guide in his poem. He chose Virgil, specifically. Virgil is a Roman poet most notably of the Aeneid, why would the Florentine, Dante, chose an ancient Roman poet as his guide?

Firstly, it is important to notice that Virgil is quite an upright man for his placement in hell (not even past the first river), yet he is still in Hell. He spent all of his years as a pagan, worshiping "false god who lied". Virgil tells Dante of his desire and hope to go to heaven and regret of his life choices.

Secondly, Virgil's existence in Dante's poem isn't merely reflected in the character, Virgil. Virgil's presence is ubiquitous through the entire poem. The very same poetic techniques, writing styles, and even plot events, are direct reflections of Virgil's Aeneid. Not only is Dante's writing heavily influenced by Virgil's writing, but also the very plot of the Inferno. Both stories show a hero venture through difficult trials; epics. The heroes in the story are shed in two very different lights, however. Aeneas, in the Aeneid, is a very heroic and strong character, not only saving himself from doom, but also many early Romans. Dante, however, in the Inferno is a humble hero, one who is weak and lost, a hero who is saved. In the end, Dante rests in eternal paradise, while Aeneas faces mortality among the other pagans.

By choosing Virgil as his Guide, Dante, in a way, explicates and credits Virgil's influence in the Inferno. The "bibliographic" nature of Virgil's presence gives the reader no doubt of the Aeneid's existence within the very fabric of the Inferno.

Dramatic Irony in the Song of Roland

The Song of Roland is filled with suspense, adventure, and excitement. No matter when the story is written, the Iliad by Homer and all the way to the modern gladitorial story of the Hunger Games, dramatic irony works fluently and flawlessly throughout literary history.

Dramatic irony is when the audience is well aware of the proceeding events in the story, or understands the context of the events, while the character is clueless. Even though each member of the audience is empowered with this knowledge, and in no way is vulnerable to being harmed by any events in the story, the audience still experiences a mimesis of the emotions the protagonist experiences in the story.

This mysterious literary technique is quite apparent in the Song of Roland, certainly in the battle sequences that appear in Laisses 91-130. In this section, we feel the awestruck fear Olivier experiences at the sight of the Paynim's forces. We experience the suspense in the battle as the French, as valiant as they are, cannot withstand the quantity of their enemies. And finally, we experience a sense of relief and loss as the Oliphant is sound for a retreat. Through all of this, we have been told by the author prior to these events, that Roland will lead the Franks in victory over the Paynims. Yet, we still experience the character's emotions as if we were in their own place. 

Heroism in the Song of Roland

In the Song of Roland, the poet makes a very sure distinction between not only the pagans and the Franks, but also between each of the individual characters. Through the heroes and villains in the story, the poet gives a moral expectation for the neo-Romans in Francia. The two heroes in the story, Charlemagne and Roland, symbolise heroism through their actions. Charlemagne, who is two centuries old and has gathered quite a lot of wisdom at this stage of his life, identifies with a more paternal figure and heroism. In the Song, Charlemagne is quite the opposite of the virile hero we might picture. Instead, he is a small, shriveled and ancient man, aged by life and the many battles he fights. He is wise, humble, and diplomatic. He symobolises one side of heroism in the Song.

Roland is depicted as a young fellow, well [self-] absorbed in his own youth. He is strong, noble, brave, and proud. He is the young virile hero we might imagine a medieval hero to be, and perhaps he was the one from which Charlemagne aged. While Roland lacks the wisdom and humility gained with age, he possess the physical prowess necessary in combat. And here lies the other side of heroism in the epic. However, it is important to note that without diplomacy, strength is useless; without humility, pride has no meaning; without wisdom, power is weakness. And so it is exemplified in the Song.

Summary of 'Guerre sainte dans La Chanson de Roland: La «Mythification» de l'histoire' as Translated by Mark Dominik

The Crusades is a tricky topic among Christians and non-Christians today. The sweet pious imagery of Christians we perceive from the medieval world completely mystifies the reason behind the horrific actions of the numerous Crusades. However, historians are well aware that these raids through the Holy Lands were by no means ignorant bursts of hatred. The Crusades were considered, by the Christians who participated in them, a Holy War. This was not merely a pillaging of Islamic land, this was a divine war, God-ordained, this was a way to establish your place in sainthood! The Song of Roland demonstrates to the general population of Francia that the act of murdering and pillaging through Arabia was not only justified, but proved their faith. Mark Dominik, in the essay he translates, notes the different literary elements of the Song that point toward a propaganda nature. 

Dominik identifies that the work is much aligned with a national epic, just as the Iliad was for the Greeks, and the Aeneid was for Rome.  The Franks of Francia are a newly established empire, or more correctly, a newly gathered tribes-people. Having witnessed the quality of power the Roman Empire had possessed over the known world, the Franks had a strong desire to be Rome, and through Clovis's conversion and Charlemagne's name, they were able to accomplish just this. While they now held the name, the Franks knew something was missing. The Rome they had seen had been overrun by Muslims. 
Here is justification number one: the Crusades are only taking back their own land; robbing the robbers; becoming Robin Hood for the Mediterranean. 

Not only do the Franks find a national identity within the Song, they are also able to mythologise religious and political leaders into epic heroes and small battles into great war triggers. The Song of Roland articulates the many atrocities that happened in the battle of Roncevaux at the hands of the evil Muslims, when in fact this was a short battle with the Basques. The heroes of this story end up being both the sacrificial Roland and the omnibenevolent Charlemagne. Dominik notes that both of these men take on the role of Christ symbolically in the Song, providing a tactile embodiment of Christ as a role model of the ideal Frankish Christian citizen, as Aeneas did in the Aeneid and Achilles in the Iliad. And here come the second justification: the Crusades are an act of justice for our fallen hero and serve as a way of imitating a morally upright Christian. 

Another element the author notes abundant throughout the Song is the mentality the poem develops. In the Song, the poet readily establishes an "us vs. them" mentality. The Song never establishes that the enemy they fight are specifically of the Islamic religion. Instead, much broader terms are used, such as pagans. This term not only includes Muslims, which the Crusades were primarily targeted at, but also any non-Christians. Charlemagne not only picked fights with Arabs, but also much further North with Saxons, also of a 'pagan' religion. In addition to this division, the Song clearly denotes the moral purity of themselves (the Christian) against the incurable immorality of the pagans (perhaps Saxons and Muslims). This immorality was seen to such a radical degree that the very language of the poem begins to dehumanise the enemy. Their view of morality remained very black and white. Since all Franks were Christians and all Christians were morally correct, all Franks were morally pure. And also since Christianity was the only way, all non-Christians (read pagans) were evil. Finally, here is the third justification: the Crusades served as a way of keeping the Mediterranean world pure from pagan (evil) contaminants (of a non-human source), and encouraging the world toward a Godly and upright moral standard.  

The complex and questionable nature of the Crusades was of the same nature even prior to the First Crusade. However, the justification of their actions, as demonstrated through Dominik's essay on the Song of Roland, shows a thorough moral compensation for the atrocities committed by the wandering Crusaders. Unfortunately, the propaganda of literary articles such as the Song worked in making the Crusades of a "Christian" source. 

First Impressions on The Tale of Scheherazade

The Tale of Scheherazade is a fascinating story of two Arabian men defending their own status of manliness from the actions of their very own wives. Despite its quite simple plot and curious (especially to westerners) moral theme, this Tale of Scheherazade offers an abundance of commentary of the workings of Arabian literature in the culture it was being read.

One important element I noted in reading The Tale of Scheherazade was the emphasis put into the character descriptions and the conflicts between the characters. Interestingly, the sole source of conflicts in this story is adultery, a practice frowned down upon in many cultures, especially in Islamic Arabia. In many western stories, we see conflict between men and men, men and gods, and gods and gods. Here we have an instance of conflict between man and wife, familial bonds broken, never to be repaired. Family is an important part of all cultures, and serves a great plot twist when there are marital bonds betrayed. In Sophocles' Oresteia, family bonds are treated with just as much emphasis and are dramatised in similar degrees. As for character description, the story places heavy emphasis on the relationship of one's social status with their racial and aesthetic characteristics.

Another element that plays in the story is the immersion of religious and political law. In the story, when the wives and their lovers are caught in adultery, the natural response was capital punishment. Law appears unquestionable in this story, as the punishments dealt in the story are termed in such "matter-of-fact" words. 

The last part of the narrative that I found interesting was its fairytale-esque mannerisms. The story is presented within another story. There is a mythical element to it that coordinates with the reality of the story. And most notably in Burton's translation, there is an almost "forced" rhythm and metre to it. Each of these parts reminds me of tales of Aesop and Grimm, while having the mature content and sophistry of Homer and Virgil.

The Book without Authors Summary

Translation is tricky in any scenario, whether it be translating to or from a foreign language, or translating in the same language but two entirely different cultures or times. When transcribing a manuscript accurately, one must take into account both the obvious linguistic differences as well as the subtle connotational and cultural understanding of the text. Further complexities arise when the language is not in a romanticised alphabet nor the language of the text exists as it did when the document was written. And finally, there are the possibilities of a text going through multiple translators, "co-authors", and others who interacted with the text, and the uncertainty of the original, clouds the original intended meaning of the base text. 
This is tornado of linguistic struggles the text The One Thousand and One Nights went through in order to arrive at the modern American editions and translations we hold in our library. The text is assumed to be a Persian prototype, sourcing back to the height of the Persian Empire in Arabia. As the region fluctuated away from Persian and into [a version] of Arabic, the story was translated and continued to spread through the Mediterranean world, at some point being translated into Egyptian and Syriac. It was then that Greeks were able to translate it, and from there it was quite accessible by the western world. However, orientalists of the west (namely from France and the United Kingdom), revisited the, what they believe to be, original text, translating directly from the Persian and/or Arabic. By doing this, the orientalists tried to achieve the most accurate translation of the original document by going directly to it, rather than indirectly through multiple generations, languages, and cultures. 

The Source of Pain in a World of Hurt: an Augustinian Analysis

It only takes only a few moments of careless inspection to see it. It has existed since the beginning of time. It is what binds all humans together yet creates distinct and distasteful boundaries under which we are repelled from one another. The universal topic of philosophical thought; ubiquitous in all questions. No matter what set of beliefs one holds, there is one thing to be sure, and perhaps one of the only things: the world we exist in doesn’t function properly. In Augustinian terms, “evil” certainly does exist in our world. Religion and philosophy alike try to put reason behind why the world is corrupted and how we can understand this corruption, since that is the only experience we hold. If there was something as ideal goodness, we could not comprehend it considering we have no comparison, having only experienced a less-than-good world. Augustine explains in his Confessions the reason behind our fallen world; why there is the concept of evil. He says that God, who is a perfect being, created man and the world, also perfect. However, when sin contaminated the world, it created a string of improper relationships in the world, that is things interacting contrary to how God intended them to. As Christians, our goal is to come back to the proper relation we had with God and creation before sin entered the world. Augustine sees the relationship between Creator and Creation after the Fall as a complex mixture of the original good God intended and the sin-contaminated interactions between them.

The first aspect to look at when dealing with the problem of evil is establishing what evil is to begin with, where did it come from, and so on. Again, this is an onslaught of philosophical problems and abstract terms. Augustine, however, quite clearly defines evil in the context of good, reaching his definition through several logical steps. First he notes that God created all things, and everything he created was good. Since we understand evil to be, perhaps, the polar opposite of good, it therefore cannot be a ‘thing’ at all, otherwise God put evil in the world, contradicting the first two premises. The next questions that Augustine follows with is, “Where, then, is Evil...?” (Bk. VII, 5.7). Augustine argues that evil is not material at all, nor is good. Rather both are entities that exist in the essence and context of material, that is how material is used. The articulation of evil is solely based on the quantity of good within the material, evil then, being a relative term. 

This concept may be hard to comprehend, however, the nature of light and darkness effectively communicates the parallel nature of good and evil. Light and darkness, both being non-physical, in a tangible sense, are yet detectible entities and exist under human visual senses, yet are invisible to all of our other senses. In a similar way, humans can detect good and evil, perhaps not through any neurological sense, but rather a moral sensory device, noted by no scientific evidence. Also, darkness cannot exist without the acknowledgement of light and vice-versa. Yet darkness only can exist without light, or is defined by “the absence of light”. Evil also exists in the absence of good, being defined in Augustine’s words as “...evil is nothing but the diminishment of good to the point where nothing at all is left” (Bk. VII 7.12). 

Augustine, desperate for answers to the problem of evil in our material world then asks, “...where does it come from and how does it creep in?” (Bk. VII, 5.7). Surely evil though it may not be a ‘thing’, stems from absolutely no root. To properly consider evil’s true origin, Augustine traces it back to its birth: the Fall. He notes how the Fall was again, not begun by any evil object, for everything God created in the Garden was truly good, but rather the Serpent’s persuasion and the choice man was given.  After pondering the mysteries of the Fall, and how humanity became imperfect beings influenced by evil he sources “...the cause of evil is the free decision of our will...”(Bk. VII, 5). It is not the actions themselves not the results they may cause that are evil, for they are only the victims of human defected will (the term voluntarius defectus is used in Ch. IV of Augustine’s Enchiridion). Humans have corrupted will in that they do not submit in obedience to the higher power who created them as they were designed. Instead, we exist in a state of constant rebellion to a force that we can and will never overcome.

Now that the source of evil is identified, it is for man to determine where good is and to align himself accordingly with it. In order to understand how Augustine would determine this. Firstly, goodness should be understood in Augustine’s terms, the way to goodness is the same way to Truth. Augustine considers goodness is a mere stem of Truth, and Truth is parallel with God. Therefore, all good things, or all things, have elements of Truth, but not all of Truth exists within each individual thing. This is a gateway to whole other philosophical study, that being the pursuit of Truth, but also drives Augustine’s audience to inquire what the essence of man is and how man can extract goodness from a fallen world. Augustine’s understanding of philosophical ideas and general Epistemology moves from a Manichean ideology to a Neo-Platonist’s perspective in the context of Christianity. A Manichee sees the world as fallen as well, but not by mere defected will, but everything in it being evil. Augustine’s language strongly reflects his distaste of this idea, provided that at the time of writing he believes all Creation to be good. After abandoning Manicheism, Augustine’s post conversion philosophy shows quite strong Platonic sympathies. In reference to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, Augustine explains the nature of reality. The key to understanding Augustinian Epistemology and how Augustine views the material world is in understanding the Platonic concepts demonstrated in the Allegory of the Cave. 

Through Plato’s ideas, Augustine accounts for reality among the material we live in. He highlights the points of the Allegory of the Cave, creating a parallel to a Christian theology. Here, Augustine sets a Platonic standard that is closely kept throughout the Medieval and Renaissance Church, as can be seen later in the writings of Thomas Aquinas and Dante Alighieri. The significance of Plato’s influence on the Church through Augustine during this time period is key to understanding the shifts the church went through at this time. In the Allegory of the Cave, men are bound to face a wall of shadows, imitations of their true forms. These shadows, while they are not as “real”, or in Augustinian terms as “good”, as the original true form, they reflect parts of it, and thus are not the ‘unreal’ or ‘evil’, but rather they are faded forms. In Augustine’s terms, these imitating forms that we interact with on earth are considered to be “the lowest kinds of goods”(Bk. II, 5,10). The prisoners chained to the wall of the cave, having only been taught that they shadows they see are true, in Augustine’s words “turn away from the better and higher [goods]” (Bk. II, 5,10). However, due to our lack of contact with the greater goods, we are unable to understand the scale of goodness and “these lowest goods hold delights for us indeed” (Bk. II, 5,10).  Humans confuse the lesser goods, which we desire because of the aspects within it pointing toward the greater goods, with the greater goods themselves. Or in Plato’s terms, the prisoner finds beauty and truth within the shadows cast upon the wall because they see part of the beauty and truth in the shadows that exist in the world outside. Augustine says that men “distort Truth into a lie and worship and serve the creature instead of the creator”(Bk. V, 5).

Even though the world that exists around us is good to some extent, it surely cannot be the only means by which we perceive true goodness. Trying to understand Truth through material is as difficult as trying to fully imagine a painting with only exposure to a square inch of it. The often conflicting free-wills of humans who attempt coexistence in the world are indeed corrupt (as men naturally are), and we are to “shape ourselves no longer to the standards of this world, but rather restrain ourselves from it”(Bk. XIII, 30), noting that we should not isolate ourselves from it. If we were meant to completely isolate ourselves from the world, we would have no sensual access to God’s goodness through his Creation. Since we are human, we have a great deal of reliance of the material, rational experience, because we have become “servants of reason”(Bk. XII, 31). God’s encouragement to retain a degree of contact with the world is evident in the reincarnation of Christ, which otherwise would’ve been completely pointless. If we were to rely solely on irrational faith, then we would’ve never been created into physical existence in his Creation to begin with. God very specifically intended the physical, material world we live in and created us to be rational beings to understand the material around us. Since we understand truth in a rational way, he sent Christ as a means of sensual and rational connection. Had we been created to only account for God on a rational level, the miracles Jesus performed would have been only a mystery and the breath of God amid the world would be nonexistent and invisible. It is in our individual lives we are to account for both God’s rational, through the material world, and irrational, through faith, communication and decide how we will control our loose free will.

     Augustine demonstrates through the Confessions the complex relationship between God, man, and the world. He presents God as being the innate-known ideal goal after whom man pursues, all men having a desire for Truth and an understanding of evil. The Platonic forms he refers to reflects the nature of God and how the world appears good to us. It is through the material world that we were designed to know God. However, through our defected will, we deny God’s superiority and often live our lives in futile disobedience. This corruption is evil and therefore, we confuse the world, the means by which we reach the goal, with the goal itself, creating an ambiguous journey for man which God actively tries to clarify through the events in our lives.

Beowulf Pastiche

So it was fate that had brought Grendel down

and future-cast at work in man’s victory.

But the hell homed demon was not alone and the only

a victim of fate for all are given such an affliction

as breath-cease serves both the hero and the horn rigged monster.

Soon it will be our hero’s duty and turn to submit to death;

forced by fate to give up glorious victory.

The warrior who breathes heavily one morn

will only rot in the earth the rest, reason to their notorious names “earth-dwellers”,

men and women descend to the very dust-slime they ascend from.

What great shield-clash there must be between mortals

two warriors fight to enjoy life’s honey-taste for a while longer,

they only postpone a day doomed to come, pointless to avoid.

In a battle’s fierce-cry frenzy any man may believe, even if for a moment

he is beyond the long-grasp of fate, an immortal god.

Almighty God surely determines who dies and lives,

who takes a seat in victory or stands in shameful loss,

a man’s worth is only determined after gracious God determines his end.

Vengeance is justice-made mourning, an exchange considered:

blood for tears, blades for pyres, war-galleys for burial ships.

Man’s fate must play out, it must eventually bring him to breath-cease,

vengeance troubles the wicked wyrd, tears only fulfill its desire.

Each glorious victory only means the earth-dweller one thing,

a glorious death escaped once is a humiliating death to be expected.

Beowulf Response Question: Warrior Code

What evidence do you see in the Beowulf poem regarding the presence of a "warrior code"? How would you describe that code? Which characters do you see exemplifying this code (give textual evidence) and which characters do you see breaking this code?

The warrior code in Beowulf can be articulated in a few common and significant virtues. I have picked up on courage and bravery as two major virtues expected of the warrior. Also the warrior is expected to be loyal to figure in leadership and understand his fate determined by following the other virtues. These traits are demonstrated in the battle scene between Beowulf and his men and Grendle in the mead hall. Prior to the fight, Beowulf promises the lady Wealhtheow that he "shall fulfil that purpose, prove [him]self with a proud deed or meet [his] death in the mead-hall." (l. 636-639). This shows that Beowulf holds fast to a standard of loyalty and bravery in facing Grendle. Beowulf's bravery and courage is again exemplified when Beowulf removes his armour to fight Grendle. Unferth, holding the opposite values to Beowulf, seems to disregard this code completely. The characteristics shown through Beowulf's actions reflect the general standards of the warrior in the poet's culture.

Seamus Heaneyʼs Introduction and Notes on the Translation Discussion

1. Consider Heaneyʼs comment, “...the poem possesses a mythic potency” (Introduction, xii). Based on your reading of his introduction what do you think Heaney means by this phrase? What is “mythic potency”? Do you agree with Heaney?

I think one heavy implication Heaney makes with describing Beowulf with potency due to its mythological nature is that mythology itself has an advantage over more realistic styles of literature. Mythology allows two human characteristics to flourish within the literature: creativity (or imagination) and belief. 
Creativity and imagination, both on part of the author and the audience allows for a much more eccentric form of a story arise without completely distorting the events that happened. The poet of Beowulf accounts for the intersection of the histories of the Geats and the Danes. In reality, their encounter probably was more like two parties of neanderthalic peoples meeting together in harmony, exchanging bear pelts for roast venison. However, this tale lacks a certain excitement for poetry and retelling. The mythology behind Beowulf contributes to its longevity through oral tradition.
The poet, understanding the culture in which he was writing well, is well acquainted with the norse mythology. By using and referencing this mythology in his work, he escapes excessive side-stories and superfluous background information. Beowulf and norse mythology work in synergy, both supporting and further exemplifying each other. The intended audience not only understands the story, but also believes it, looking to it as source of moral code. For the modern reader, it is not quite as easy to relate to it, forcing the reader to be even more aware of this factor.

Augustine's Confessions: Book X Response Questions

6. What does Augustine tell us in book X that helps us understand the structure of the Confessions as a whole, including the non--narrative books?

Books I-IX serve as the narrative of his life describing the events leading to his conversion. In book X however, Augustine justifies the validity of this narrative through the power of narrative as he compels the audience to reexperience the events of his past with him in order to further understand the relationship between man and God. Memory, Augustine claims in book X, is the mode of recalling events and reexpereicing the feeling and senses that came with it. Doing this in Augustine's life allows him to analise the difference between his human-centered motives prior to his conversion compared with his God-filled attitude after it. The change Augustine observes, which he clearly points out to his audience, was extremely provocative in explaining the relationship between man and God, using his Memory to employ himself as a humble example. Reading Augustine May cause some Christians some spiritually nostalgic feelings in recalling their personal experiences after reading Augustine's.