In this short passage from Seamus
Heaney and Daniel Donoghue’s Beowulf A
Verse Translation, the formation of identity is shown. The people of
Heorot, so-called, loved or admired Hygelac’s “thane” (pg.4, line 194) or
warrior. They did not stop him from going on his journey to stop Grendel, the
demon who haunts Heorot. Hygelac’s warrior and his men went off to their
destination; they spoke with King Hrothgar and informed him on their mission to
purify Heorot from Grendel. Beowulf, Hygelac’s warrior, makes his journey to
Heorot he identifies himself as the son of his famous father, Ecgtheow. When he
and his men are introduced to King Hrothgar, the King instantly identifies
Beowulf as the young boy who is son to the great Ecgtheow and has come to
follow up on some old friendship (pg.12, lines 372-376). Within this epic poem,
Beowulf’s identity is repeated upon different characters; he is well known by
his ancestry and by his heroic actions.
“In his day, he was the mightiest man on earth,
high born and powerful…
whilst he moved about
like the leader he was, enlisting men,
the best he could find”
(Heaney & Donoghue, Beowulf,
A Hero Comes To Heorot, Lines197-198 & 205-207)
This passage resembles to Culler’s Literary Theory A Very Short Introduction
when he states, “there are narratives where identity is essentially determined
by birth” (Culler 110). When a character is born he/she is either, in this
case, high born and powerful, or of a lower class and born with nothing.
Identity is made by fate or through ancestry. If a character’s identity is made
through fate, the character gains his/her identity through actions that he/she
does throughout his/her life or through a prophecy. Now, if a character’s identity
is made through ancestry, the character has a “title” to live up to and show
that he/she will do good/bad deeds that his/her ancestors has done in the past.
In the epic poem Beowulf, Beowulf’s
identity is made from his ancestry and his past battles and gives others the
image of a man who is a hero and will be able to defeat the demonic Grendel.
Identity plays a role in any poem, short story, novel, or text; it just takes
time to point out when and where identity in a character is mentioned.
Hello Brittany,
ReplyDeleteI think you've pointed out a key feature of Beowulf, that is, the heroes of Beowulf are determined by birth. But I might ask two questions. First, if Beowulf is born into greatness, what role do his deeds play in shaping his identity in relation to his birthright? And, second, is Grendel also determined by birth, or, instead, is his status socially/culturally determined by the powerful human communities that are in control?
One note: be careful to accurately cite page numbers.
Best,
James