Beowulf 2

Discuss biblical allusions and religious symbolism in Beowulf.

There are many instances of biblical allusions in Beowulf. One example is that Beowulf is regarded as being “chosen by God” to do great things. Beowulf himself often says that he is only able to survive these ferocious battles because God protects him. He also says that he has courage to be victorious in battle, and this courage can be compared to faith in God’s protection. This is similar to the role of a prophet in the Bible, who is chosen by God to accomplish a certain task. Beowulf’s task is saving the Danes from the evil of Grendel and Grendel’s mother. Beowulf follows Christian beliefs so far, and this has made him very successful.

There is another instance in this reading that seems to be a direct Biblical reference. After Beowulf uses the sword that belonged to the race of giants to kill Grendel’s mother, he returns with the hilt. Then a story is told of how the race of giants was destroyed by a massive flood in ancient times. This is exactly like the story of Noah in the Bible. When people turned away from God, a massive flood destroyed them all, just like the giants.

Beowulf 1

What are the social obligations of a hero? Is Beowulf aware of his deification process?

A hero is a person who is admired for their achievements and noble characteristics. These characteristics usually include bravery, courage, strength, persistence, and loyalty. Based on these qualities, a hero is expected by their community to act in a certain way. This makes the hero obligated to protect the standards of being a hero. They must live up to the expectations that society has for them. Heroes must be willing to take leadership roles during times of crisis. Heroes should only place their trust in others of whom they are certain to be loyal. They should never abandon their people, or give up. If a hero gives up, then they are no longer a hero. They must also be willing to sacrifice themselves in order to protect the greater good. They must be completely selfless.

Beowulf is not yet aware of his deification process. Many characters thus far have recognized his name, and known him to be strong and brave. These seem to be similar to characteristics of a hero, but not yet a god. He is aware that he is viewed as a hero, but he does not seem himself as a god. He is taking on the characteristic of a hero by journeying to a foreign land, and intending to slay the evil beast, Grendel. Beowulf is respected by his fellow Geats, so they follow him towards his goal. Beowulf is seen as a hero, and may be on the road towards becoming a god, but as of now he is not aware of it.

Pride and Prejudice Essay

Both pride and prejudice are flaws, which are easily contracted. In November of 1797 Jane Austen’s novel titled First Impressions was rejected from being published. In 1812 she revised the novel, and accurately titled it Pride and Prejudice. This title better suited the book because the two protagonists of the novel are affected by these qualities. Elizabeth Bennet, the main female protagonist, judges her acquaintances based upon selective information, and she is proud when these judgments are correct. Fitzwilliam Darcy, the main male protagonist, is disliked because of his proud behavior. As the novel progresses the love between these to characters becomes what cures them of these bad habits. Pride and Prejudice is the most suitable title for this novel because it directly relates to the relationship between the two most important characters, whereas First Impressions only connects to Elizabeth’s prejudiced attitude towards others.

            Pride is the major fault of Mr. Darcy’s character, and it is this pride that initiates Elizabeth’s prejudice towards him. At the ball in the opening scene of the novel Darcy establishes his character with this rude comment, “She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me” (Austen 13). This is Mr. Darcy’s first interaction with Elizabeth, and it establishes his pride. He dances very little at the ball, and this offends most of the people attending it. This instance is what makes Elizabeth then think of Darcy as “the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world” (15).

            Elizabeth’s prejudice develops further as the novel progresses. She selectively chooses to believe only the information that supports her initial judgments. When Elizabeth first meets Mr. Wickham, she is attracted to his handsome features and agreeable attitude. She becomes inclined to believe his story about Mr. Darcy. Elizabeth searches for negative information on Mr. Darcy, and she is pleased whenever she acquires any. When Mr. Wickham tells his false tale that ruins Mr. Darcy’s name, she believes all that he says because Elizabeth is prejudiced against Mr. Darcy. She is entertained and fascinated by this rumor because Elizabeth takes pride in the accuracy of her initial prejudice. C. S. Lewis describes the situation that is occurring with Elizabeth in Mere Christianity: “There is no fault which makes a man more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others” (Lewis 121). Elizabeth does not recognize the pride she has within herself because she is too occupied noticing it in Mr. Darcy as a result of her prejudice towards him.                                                                                                                                                                         Both Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy’s feelings change after his proposal to her. Darcy states that it was hard for his love to overcome the many obstacles it had to face, such as his love would result in a very imprudent marriage on his part. Elizabeth, though offended that he insulted her family “could not be insensible to the compliment of such a man’s affection” (Austen 179). This shows that Elizabeth yet again has pride in the fact that she has inspired love in Mr. Darcy, despite her hatred for him. Elizabeth states that she would still deny him even if Mr. Darcy had “behaved in a more gentleman-like manner” (182). This phrase stays with Mr. Darcy and causes him to realize how they way he acted came across as proud. Elizabeth denies Mr. Darcy on the grounds that he ruined the happiness of Jane and Mr. Wickham.                                                In order to set the situation straight, Mr. Darcy writes a letter to Elizabeth. He justifies his motives for both offences that Elizabeth accuses him of. It is from this point on that these two characters begin to fall in love. It is ironically Elizabeth’s prejudice that causes her to fall in love with Mr. Darcy. This is because after reading the letter, Elizabeth realizes the error of her judgment, and she feels guilty for having judged him unfairly. This also takes away Elizabeth’s pride in her prejudice, because she realizes it was not as precise as she thought. Now that the other issues have been resolved, the only quality in Mr. Darcy, which Elizabeth dislikes, is his pride, and this issue is too resolved.                                                                                                                        After Elizabeth’s comment regarding Mr. Darcy’s behavior, he begins to change. She no longer sees him as the arrogant man she initially thought him to be. By the end of the novel Darcy states that Elizabeth is the cause for this change in him: “You taught me a lesson, hard indeed at first, but most advantageous. By you, I was properly humbled. I came to you without a doubt of my reception. You showed me how insufficient were all my pretensions to please a woman worthy of being pleased” (343). Mr. Darcy is made aware of his pride by Elizabeth’s prejudice towards him, and once he is aware of it he is able to end it. Mr. Darcy’s pride was the last fault that Elizabeth could find in him, and now that he has been freed of it, she falls in love with him. The two protagonists exhibited pride and prejudice, and they were cured of these qualities by each other, thus resulting in their love.

            It is apparent that the title of this novel should indeed be Pride and Prejudice. Had the title of this book been First Impressions it would only be half as effective as the book’s current title. The first impressions that are made upon Elizabeth do not incorporate what is occurring with Mr. Darcy, the main mail protagonist, or any of the other characters. Nowhere in the novel does it describe the first impressions of Elizabeth on the other characters. This title lacks in comparison to Pride and Prejudice, which tells the story of the two main characters, and how their love grew, all within two main qualities.

            Both pride and prejudice play large roles in the novel, which is why they are the only two suitable words for the title. Mr. Darcy’s initial pride inspires the prejudice of Elizabeth. Whenever Elizabeth’s prejudice is correct, she takes pride in it. When Darcy proposes to Elizabeth in a proud manner offending her family, she rejects him, and this makes Darcy aware of his pride. Then, when Elizabeth realizes that her prejudice is incorrect because of the letter from Mr. Darcy, she no longer takes pride in it, and stops being prejudice. Elizabeth falls in love with Darcy because he was able to eliminate his proud mannerisms, and Darcy falls in love with Elizabeth because she treated him differently then all of the other women who attempted to court him, through her prejudice. These two qualities flow through the novel between the two main characters, and they cure each other of them. Pride and Prejudice is the correct title because it encompasses how their love came to be with only three words.

Wickham

Mr. Wickham is the lying gambler, whose only goal in marriage is to acquire a fortune.

            Wickham lies constantly through out the novel. His most prominent lie involves the evils that he claims Mr. Darcy has done to him. Wickham begins his lying from the moment he first speaks to Elizabeth about this matter by saying, “I have no right to give my opinion” (Austen 75). Wickham then goes on to explicitly give his opinion on Mr. Darcy. Elizabeth fell victim to Wickham’s lies, and would not marry Darcy because she believed that he “deprived [Wickham of] the best years of his life of that independence which was no less his due than his desert” (190). When Mr. Darcy explains the situation truthfully to Elizabeth, Wickham’s deceitful nature is recognized. Wickham’s interest for money is demonstrated when his attention turns from Elizabeth to Miss King the moment he learns that she has inherited a large sum of money. Knowing that Wickham’s motivation for marring is primarily mercenary, everyone is surprised when he is engaged to Lydia, who is far from rich. Mr. Darcy learns that Wickham, being the greedy man that he is, had no intention of marrying Lydia. Darcy had to bail Wickham out of his many gambling debts, and pay extra money for him to marry Lydia.

            Wickham is a tiger that preys upon the innocent minded. The women in the novel are his prey. He deceives them with lies, and the prejudiced Lizzy, optimistic Jane, and foolish Lydia believe these lies. Once the truth is realized his true nature as a weak cat is revealed. He is a pathetic gambler who requires the help of the pride leader, Mr. Darcy, to bail him out of trouble.

            Wickham was a traitor to his good friend Darcy, as Benedict Arnold was a traitor to America.

Jane

Jane is the beautiful oldest daughter, in a less than fortunate family, who is blinded from the evils of others by her tremendous optimism.

            The two major qualities that Austen exerts on Jane are her beauty and her optimism. Jane’s beauty is even acknowledged by the critical Mr. Darcy: “You are dancing with the only handsome girl in the room” (Austen 13). This was the only compliment that was made by Mr. Darcy the entire night. This shows that Jane is beautiful enough even to gain a compliment from the most pessimistic man in the room at the time. Darcy’s initial pessimism is greatly contrasted by Jane’s blind optimism. Jane, even after hearing about the dispute between Mr. Wickham and Mr. Darcy, refuses to believe in the evil of others. Even when Jane hears of what Mr. Wickham has done to Lydia, she is still able to find good in the situation: “But I am willing to hope the best, and that his character has been misunderstood. Thoughtless and indiscreet I can easily believe him, but this step (and let us rejoice over it) marks nothing bad at heart” (254). She is hopeful enough to think that since her family is not rich, Wickham must truly care for Lydia. Jane’s severe optimism is a dangerous flaw that could lead her into pain.

            Jane is a fawn, whose beauty is only surpassed by her innocence. Jane is raised in a society in which she must learn to protect herself from the dangers of others. Mr. Wickham could be considered a hunter, attracted by the beauty of the fawn, but once he realizes that the coat of this fawn is not as shiny as he wishes, he will move on to another. The fawn is only tamed by Bingley, the buck, whose good nature, and large dwelling are able to protect the fawn.

Jane’s optimism and beauty are to her what innocence and loveliness are to Snow White.

P& P # 15 4/9: 16- END

“You taught me a lesson, hard indeed at first, but most advantageous. By you, I was properly humbled. I came to you without a doubt of my reception. You showed me how insufficient were all my pretensions to please a woman worthy of being pleased” (343).

            Darcy makes this proclamation after he and Elizabeth share their true feelings for each other, and they enter into a conversation with explains all of their past actions. The book is accurately titled Pride and Prejudice, because Darcy and Elizabeth respectively exhibited these traits.

            Elizabeth was prejudiced against Darcy from their first meeting. She was inclined to believe every piece of negative gossip she heard against his name. The incident with Mr. Wickham is an example of this prejudice. Lizzy’s prejudice is contrasted by Jane’s blind optimism. Jane wanted to see the good in Darcy, and was actually correct that Darcy did have some good qualities.

            After reading Darcy’s letter, Elizabeth realized that two of the major reasons for her dislike of him were justified. From this moment on she begins to fall in love with Darcy because she now realizes how prejudiced she was. The only other quality left in Darcy that she dislikes is his pride.

            Earlier in the novel when Elizabeth and Darcy were at Netherfield they had a chance to examine each other’s characters. In this conversation Darcy states that “pride–where there is a real superiority of mind­–pride will always be under good regulation” (56). This ironic comment forces Elizabeth to turn away in order to hide her laughter. She has observed his pride since the moment she met him. Darcy is able to notice his pride, which he blames upon his wealthy upbringing.

             The title of the book is an accurate one because the two main characters each possessed one of the qualities in it. They were also able to cure each other of these bad habits, and were united in love. Elizabeth’s prejudice was cured by Darcy’s justified actions, and Darcy’s pride was cured by Elizabeth’s negative attitude towards his proud personality.

In the end of the novel what does Lady Catherine do as a result of the marriage of her nephew?

A. She only approves of the marriage only out of curiosity to see how Lizzy behaves as a wife

B. She approves completely

C. She never talks to Darcy again

D. She encourages her daughter to marry another man

P& P #14 4/8: 13-15

“I am only resolved to act in that manner, which will, in my own opinion, constitute my happiness, without reference to you, or to any person so wholly unconnected to me” (332).

            This quote is Elizabeth bravely standing up to the haughty authority of Lady Catherine. She informs Elizabeth that she heard a rumor about Mr. Darcy wanting to marry her, but dismisses it as false. She thinks Mr. Darcy would not be so foolish as to marry a low class girl such as Elizabeth.

            Elizabeth stands up to her authority, and insults her. This is symbolic of Elizabeth disagreeing with the entire society. Lady Catherine believes that people should marry only to stay at their upper level in class, but never to move down. Lady Catherine follows what the society dictates, and Elizabeth rebels against this, showing that she does not value marriage in the say ways that the rest of the society of this time period do.

Lady Catherine would like Mr. Darcy to marry:

A. Miss de Bourgh

B. Elizabeth

C. Jane

D. Lydia