Integrity In Beowulf

Witten by an anonymous author, the poem Beowulf consists of several major themes. One of those themes is reputation. Reputation is the acknowledgment by other people of some characteristic. Although having a good reputation is very important to many people nowadays. It is also important to people who lived many centuries ago. In the poem Beowulf, having a righteous reputation is very important and greatly valued by many characters, especially to Danish people, Beowulf, Grendel, and Grendel’s mother.

Every character has dramatic battles with their antagonist that they win, until they don’t. Beowulf is a Northern European myth that sings the praises of our hardy hero, Beowulf. Beowulf starts as the young, brash prince of the the Geats who battles the grotesque monster Grendel with his bare hands. Fifty years later, he is the adept King of the Geats and battles a hideous dragon with a sword and iron shield. Throughout these battles, Beowulf makes mistakes and learns from them.

Honor, something powerful enough to sculpt the world’s oldest and most powerful empires. Throughout history great empires such as China, Japan, and the Anglo-Saxons have fought and died in the hunt for honor and fame; bringing life to many great and powerful heroes. Beowulf, one such hero, who fought many great battle in the name of honor and fame; putting his all into each battle he encountered. In the epic Beowulf, Beowulf decides to help Hrothgar with the dreaded monster Grendel and then battling him bare handed. Throughout the epic of Beowulf, Beowulf is mainly concerned about honor and fame, in his hunt for honor he agrees to help Hrothgar and fight the monster, Grendel, bare handed; but why?

Chaucer recognizes and points out devious and manipulative traits in characters such as the Friar when he says "Therefore instead of weeping and of prayer / One should give silver for a poor Friar's care. / He kept his tippet stuffed with pins for curls, / And pocket-knives, to give to pretty girls" (l. 235-238). In this case, relative to many others regarding clergy, Chaucer's description is ironically allegorical. In the instance of the Friar, the Friar is a member of the Catholic clergy. Members of the clergy are sworn to adhere to the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. The friar is selling his authority to grant forgiveness for monetary profit, a tactic that is greedy and immoral and, therefore, breaking the vow to poverty. Moreover, the Friar is especially concerned with his looks because he meticulously tends to his hair. What's more, the Friar is said to give gifts to pretty

Throughout all the battles he is fighting, and the outcomes of them. Beowulf shows he is courageous, has strength, and is honorable. Beowulf demonstrates these characteristics of an archetypal epic hero, In the epic poem “Beowulf”.

In the days of old, when Anglo-Saxons ruled Britain in many different kingdoms each with their own kings to rule over them, there was a story sung by the scops (which were the tavern bards) called Beowulf this version was translated by Burton Raffel.  This story is about how one man fought for glory and everlasting life. The man was named Beowulf, he went to the Danes in their great time of need and ripped the great beast named Grendel apart and chopped the monster's mother´s head off. He slayed a dragon for his people the Geats at the ripe age of 70 and gave his life in the battle. Beowulf's distant cousin, Wiglaf was in the raiding party with several others and rushed in when his king needed help while all others ran from the fight. Wiglaf got to Beowulf just in time to see him defeat the foul beast, although badly damaged himself. Beowulf asks Wiglaf to bring him some of the treasure from the dragons hoard before he dies, doing so Wiglaf brings back treasure, Beowulf give his last speech to Wiglaf. How did Beowulf use pathos, logos, and ethos to get Wiglaf to do what he wanted?

Chaucer describes his grandiose opinion of himself, the friar is pompous and crooked. He surmises that a man of his “status” should not be seen with the lowly and poor, which is ironic because those are exactly the people he is meant to help. Chaucer as discloses the lengths he is willing to go for even the smallest person gain saying. “His brethren did no poaching where he went./For though a widow mightn’t have a shoe,/So pleasant was his holy how-d’ye-do/He got his/farthing from her just the same/Before he left, and so his income came” (“General Prologue”, 256-262). The friar is willing to take from the people who need it most in the community, the widow’s economic class and living conditions are used further show the reprehensible behavior of the religious characters. Friars, like several other religious orders are supposed to take a vow of poverty in order the become closer to Christ. The Friar in Canterbury Tales does the exact opposite. Both his greed and unscrupulous behavior of another religious character further substantiate the idea that the religious characters are used to reflect the corruption in the church.

Beowulf, considered with a special status because all of his braveness and courage, is the main character

Based on the Canterbury tales, Chaucer's point of view of the Church was that he thinks highly of the priests who pastor their congregations because they follow the commandments of Jesus Christ. The Summoner, the Pardoner, the Monk and the Prioress are full-time servants of the Church, but they tend to be selfish and care more for themselves than for God's work. The students Nicholas and Absalom are interested in promiscuous behaviors more than the Church. Nick' a misled God-fearing man is similar to the tale of Noah's Ark. He is swindled to cheat on his wife, and Abby is also lustful of his wife. The Church doctrine really doesn't help, by taking advantage of the men's situation for their own

The Friar is one of the biggest examples of hypocrisy in the story. Throughout the Friar’s description, he is shown to take advantage of his position and shun his duties to benefit himself. Instead of conforming to the poor lifestyle of traditional friars, Chaucer’s Friar manipulates people into giving him money and then pockets it for himself. One way he takes advantage of his position is by charging people for confessions: “Sweetly he heard his penitents at shrift with pleasant absolution, for a gift” (103, 225-226). He also makes money by being an excellent beggar, as shown in the quote: “He was the finest beggar of his batch...For though a widow mightn’t have a shoe, so pleasant was his holy how-d’ye-do he got his farthing from her just the same...” (103, 259-261). The Friar also rejects his duties by refusing to associate with the needy, as described in the passage: “ It was not fitting with the dignity of his position, dealing with a scum of wretched lepers; nothing good can come of dealings with the

Beowulf is a very well known Anglo-Saxon poem. It shows characteristics of leadership, trust, loyalty, honor, and motivation, and has been an example for leadership skills for ages. (Loughman) Thus, this story has been appreciated for over 1,000 years. Beowulf, the Scandinavian warrior-prince left the Geats and traveled to Deans, made alliance with them, and assisted Hrothgar and his people of the distress their in. Shortly after arriving, he discovers Hrothgar’s mead hall, Heorot, has been under attack for 12 winters and lay empty at night when men should be celebrating. (McDowell) The monster who has been bringing this distress is the almighty Grendel.

Beowulf set out in his adventures with the sole purpose of earning honor for himself. As he approached Denmark, the Shielding’s lookout questions the intentions of Beowulf's party. Satisfied with Beowulf's resolve to fight Grendel, the lookout replies “What's more, I'll order my own comrades on their word of honour to watch your boat down there on the stand -- keep her safe in fresh tar… bear this hero back to Geatland” (Lines 293-298). This is one of the first interactions of Beowulf as well as the first display of how the Geats perceive honor. The Geats had never met this lookout before, he could've been a pirate trying to steal valuables or he could sink the ship if Beowulf did anything out of line in the kingdom, yet they trust him. This

That is how the Friar works for the church is he makes the money for the church by making people ‘right with God’. Chaucer is trying to show that the Friar is not doing his job like he is supposed to. Chaucer is showing the wrongs of the

Three of Chaucer’s tales are written with a central Christian theme, the Prioress’s Tale, the Second Nun’s Tale, and the Parson’s Tale. The Prioress’s Tale is said to be about a miracle of the Virgin Mary, the Second Nun’s Tale is a biography of Saint Cecilia, and the Parson’s Tale is considered a sermon. Just as The Canterbury Tales shows a theme of Christianity, it also shows a theme of religious corruption. In the tales of the Friar, Prioress, Pardoner, and Monk, corruption of the church is shown and influences each character in a different way. In the Friar, the focus is on money, horses, and the responsibility of his monastery. But, the Friar also seduces women and provide them with a spouse to stay out of trouble. In the tale of Prioress, Chaucer describes her as too busy being a court lady to take care of her nunnery. In the Pardoner, he takes advantage of others by taking money for giving pardons for the sins of others, even going as far as selling relics. The Monk takes money for forgiveness, refuses to help the poor, and pays other beggars to leave so he can attain all of the money from that area. He does all of this while he is supposed to be pledging his life to poverty and those less fortunate. Chaucer shows a theme of Christianity just as he shows a theme of religious corruption. As

Chaucer makes it quite clear to the reader that these men boast about the high morals of the Church, and then proceed to live in stark contrast to nearly every one of these morals. One example is how the Church preaches a solemn vow of chastity. Nevertheless, Chaucer tells of how the Friar had "fixed up many a marriage, giving each/ Of his young women what he could afford her." Therefore, the Friar would find husbands for the women that he had previously seduced but then lost interest in. Another aspect of the Church that these "holy-men" prove inconsistent is the vow of simple living. The Monk lives a rather lavish lifestyle, as Chaucer tells, "The Rule of good St. Benet or St. Maur/ As old and strict he tended to ignore;/ He let go by the things of yesterday/ And took the modern world's more spacious way." The monk enjoyed the comforts of good living, with fur-lined clothing, a fine horse, and first class meals. Likewise, the Friar enjoyed fine clothing, as Chaucer says, "Not then appearing as your cloistered scholar/ With threadbare habit hardly worth a dollar,/ But much more like a Doctor or a Pope." These elegant lifestyles are clearly in opposition to the teachings of the Church on simplistic living. Finally, the Pardoner preaches on behalf of the Church against greed and avarice, however he is very greedy himself. In his tale, the Pardoner tells an excellent tale denouncing greed and showing how greed leads to a person's downfall, yet the