Medieval literature and its cultural significance

¶ … villains in Beowulf and the Song of Roland, I believe those in the last-mentioned work are more justified in their actions than those in Beowulf. This at least is true from the perspective of the 20th century religious paradigm. In the modern world, it is vitally important to display a tolerant attitude towards all pardigms of religion and other directions of philosophy. In Beowulf there is a direct rivalry between the villagers and the monster, Grendel. There is little doubt that Grendel is a monster and a bully, without any right to reprieve or defense. His mother is the only one prepared to defend him, and she does so to her own demise. Of course this could be understood from the perspective of the family paradigm. Nonetheless, Grendel was never justified in his slaughter of the celebrating party. His villainy is apparently inherent, and he simply enjoys terrorising people without any reason. Killing Grendel and his mother was an act of self-defense.

In The Song of Roland, however, there are no true villains, and also indeed no monsters. The rivals in this work are human beings, just like the protagonists. The only difference is religious philosophy. From the current perspective of tolerance, therefore, I believe that any actions taken by the Saracens in order to preserve their way of life are justified. Charlemagne's purpose was to expand Christendom. Before this decision, the Saracens have done nothing to display villainy. There actions in the work are taken only in retaliation to what was done to them, whereas in Beowulf Grendel is actively destructive without any good reason. The fact that the Saracens are human, and the fact that they are being attacked for no better reasons than their religious beliefs, justify them entirely in any distruction that they effect. The subject of this work therefore does not carry much merit for the current social paradigm, although in terms of literature and language it may still be appreciated.

Question 3

The stories of Dusyanta and Lanval both concern love, its loss and its return. The journey that the protagonists make is one into love, and another towards returned love. In the case of Dusyanta, the ring serves as the symbol of the impossible task of the king remembering his lost love and lifting the curse. The magic then lies in the fact that a curse was placed upon Sakuntala as a result of her neglect of her duties.

In Lanval's story, the magical journey is the love itself. Lanval meets a beautiful lady with whom he promptly falls in love. She is mysterious and magical, and provides Lanval with all his earthly needs, and comes whenever he calls. Like Dusyanta, Lanval also loses his love to forgetfulness. When he tells the queen about his love, he loses it, as he had been warned he would. In this story however there is no symbolic element to parallel Sakuntala's ring. Like Sakuntala, there is a feeling of helplessness when Lanval is unable to summon his lady, and he is driven to such deep despair that he wishes for death.