Examples Of Irony In Beowulf

Irony, a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result. Throughout Night there is use of situational and verbal irony. This use of irony keeps the reader interested. The use of irony causes the reader to know things that the characters often are not aware of.

One example of Beowulf’s strengths was no other man could do the same tasks, and fight the battles he fought. Beowulf goes into many battles throughout his lifetime. Also, the quote in line 505-506 “If weapons were useless he’d use his hands, the strength in his fingers”. Beowulf also lifts the giant forged sword from the wall and swings it hard enough to cut of Grendel’s mothers head. A sword that is described as “so massive that no ordinary man could lift its carved and decorated lengths.

Another ironic moment that contributes to the tone of the novel, is the encounter between Grendel and Unferth later in chapter six. Unferth seeks out Grendel to prove himself, or develop a high level of undeserving fame. Unferth is supposed to be a strong hero, yet he is arrogant and a coward. Unferth criticizes poetry, calling it “mere clouds of words, comfort to the hopeless” (88). The irony of that moment is that in that era, poetry defined what a hero was supposed to be. The only reason why Unferth opinions on what heroism is, is because of how fame is seen is his Anglo-Saxon

William Shakespeare wrote the play A Midsummer's Night’s Dream over four hundred years ago. There are three types of irony, dramatic irony, verbal irony, and situational irony. Verbal irony is is when the speaker says the opposite of what they mean. Dramatic irony is when the audience knows more than the character. And situational irony is the opposite of what you think is going to happen happens.

In the epic poem Beowulf, the struggle between good and evil reveals its omnipresence in even the oldest of tales. The many allusions and symbols throughout the story relate to Christianity and other Pagan beliefs. By looking at them, it becomes apparent that the author of Beowulf believed that the constant war between good and evil is not only fought by the common man but also in the ranks of their highest esteemed rulers and warriors, and even in their dreaded nightmares where monsters lurk and wait for the death of man. Beowulf was written during the budding of Christianity in England, when it was newly forming. In the story there are obvious references to Christian rituals.

In the article “Fallible and Untrustworthy Narrators” by Greta Olson she states that irony is a function of unreliability. A narrator’s use of irony results in being labeled as unreliable as stated in Olson’s Booth’s Model. In the model the narrator’s use of irony “provides the formal means by which distance is created between the views, actions, and voice of the unreliable narrator and those of the implied author”(Olson 94). Thus, the reader is not able to grasp the actual meaning of the author’s words. I agree with her perspective due to how Beowulf’s narrator uses irony throughout his story allowing the story to be dynamic and an interesting read. In Beowulf when

Fredrick Douglass said that “Once you learn to read you will forever be free”. Nothing could be truer, although it may seem to be false to those who dislike reading. Imagine a world where books are ban, sounds pretty cool. But when reading a story solely on such a concept, reading a book seems to be the only thing that would save humanity. In 1950 Ray Bradbury wrote a short story titled The Firemen for galaxy Science Fiction, which later he turned it into the novel titled Fahrenheit 451 in 1953. Ray Bradbury wrote an amazing book displaying a world in the absence of books which to this day still draws readers in, because he shows what life would be like if we continue in a society of censorship. Which is illustrated by his choice to include

Irony is usually termed as a technique or way or presenting a topic with one meaning, not disclosing to the reader that a totally different thing has happened. For instance, one might say it is ironic to save up the money to buy your dream car and it sells minutes before you get there. In the mind of someone like Edgar Allan Poe, irony can take one a far deeper meaning. One piece of irony is the name of the victim, Fortunato. This is an Italian word suggesting good fortune. (Cummings, 2005) However, we know from the beginning of the story that his fortune is not good. The more one looks for it, sometimes the more minute the irony can be. Take the description of Fortunato:

In the book Hamlet by Shakespeare, irony is used numerous times in order to give the reader insight on what is going on. As stated in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, irony is an action that is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play. If this strategy were not included in this drama, it would take away the whole purpose. This play would consist of no suspense and would be extremely boring to the reader because the characters would know as much as the readers know. This allows for incite to what can happen in the future or what has happened in the past. The irony in this play ultimately revolves around Hamlet and his plan to achieve revenge with Claudius. From the play that Hamlet organizes

Before Beowulf goes into the sea, Unferth offers him his sword, Hrunting. During the ensuing battle Grendel's mother carries Beowulf to her underwater home. After a terrible fight, Beowulf kills the monster with a magical sword, probably put there by the Al-Weilder, that he finds on the wall of her home. He also finds Grendel's dead body, cuts off the head, and returns to

The poem of Beowulf is one of the earliest recorded pieces of literature in history, written at an estimated time of around 1000 A.D. and set in the pagan world of sixth-century Scandinavia. Disregarding the poem’s age, the writing uses many of the same literary devices people use modern day-- such as kennings, alliteration, and caesura. Kennings are compound expressions used in Anglo-Saxon writings that have a metaphorical meaning. For example, the word sea-traveler could be used to describe a boat. Alliteration is when there is a repetition of words that start with the same letter. Caesura is a type of verse unique to Anglo-Saxon, Greek, and Latin literature that breaks the text into two with each side sharing a similar number of syllables to create an intense, ominous tone of rhythmic sound. With the use of these three devices, pictures are painted in the minds of readers, and characters are both directly and indirectly developed to enhance the story. Often in this epic poem, courage is expanded upon and interpreted in different ways with the use of these tactics.

“Where is the glory in doing something that others have done” (Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief). A quote befitting of the character Beowulf who slew the abomination known as Grendel to save the people of Heorot, then killing his vengeful mother using the sword Hrunting and finally as his last legendary exploit he brought down a mighty dragon to save his kingdom, the most prominent definition of an epic hero and the epitome of what the ideal Scandinavian hero is. On the surface, this may seem like Beowulf is a selfless hero willing to go to great lengths to save the people around him but after deeper analysis of the story, it may be that Beowulf’s pride and search for glory is what truly drives him.

Burton Raffel wrote a heroic poem called ‘Beowulf’. Beowulf is a heroic poem about Good versus Evil and Beowulf is the hero. In the heroic poem, Beowulf’s wyrd (fate) is to defeat monsters and save lives and with that brings lof (fame), sometimes to believe in yourself you got to have others to believe in you too, Beowulf and Wiglaf have a comitatus that's hard to break.

Beowulf is an Anglo-Saxon epic that was transmitted verbally for hundreds of years before it was written down. Around the time of its composition, Christianity was beginning to gain prominence in England and was quickly replacing the animistic religion of the Celts. As a result of the dueling religions of the time, the poem includes influences from both Christianity and paganism, leaving its readers to wonder which religion had the most sway over the poet. Beowulf is a fundamentally more Christian epic on account of Beowulf’s resemblances of Jesus Christ, its allusions to the Bible, and its intimation of a supreme, monotheistic religion.

Using ironic understatements, also known as litotes, heightens the readers’ fear by adding a suspenseful tone in Beowulf. When a situation is deemphasized the reader/listener can further understand the severity of it because it allows their interpretation to be more terrifying than what the situation is.