Roland's Heroic Hero

Tragedy, like comedy, is in the eyes of the beholder and what makes a particular fictional character more tragic than another can be argued until the end of time. However, despite this, it seems that an undeniable part of what makes a character tragic is their ability to save themselves from their predicament but, for whatever reason, refuse to do so, thus damning themselves to their wretched fate. Likewise, the more obvious this ability, the more control that a character has over their fate, the more tragic their eventual downfall. Moreover, coupled with the preventable nature of the character’s tragic fate, is this fate’s unpredictability, which causes the audience to, even until the very end, have hope that the tragic character will triumph over their predicament. Furthermore, this is all merged with the ultimate insignificance of the tragic character’s demise and how, despite all their struggles, they are eventually rendered wholly irrelevant and forgotten. Hence, the most tragic of the three protagonists studied is Jay Gatsby because his final fate, compared to that of Willy Loman’s or Macbeth’s is the most unpredictable, had the least impact on society, and, ultimately, was the most avoidable.

Death is something that has caused Roland’s only male role model and support system to be taking away from him. The death of his step-father is what caused the emotions he had for his biological father to matesized and to be projected upon others in his life.

In the poem Charge of the Light Brigade Alfred Lord Tennyson utilizes repetition, personification, and diction to present how it is to be in battle and how it can impact people. In this poem Tennyson explains how the Battle of Balaclava

The role of chivalry is a complicated concept for solitary heroes within Beowulf and Albrecht Dürer’s Knight, Death, and the Devil. In Beowulf, the concept of chivalry is explained through the eyes of the hero, Beowulf, which is the idea of performing chivalrous actions in the face of death for glory; however, Beowulf does not realize that his actions will not keep his people safe in the end. In Knight, Death and the Devil, the idea of chivalry is the motivation of the knight on religious grounds to be chivalrous in the face of death. The Knight gives the impression that he understood that his actions would ultimately be meaningless, and he appears resigned to the idea. The argument can be made that chivalry is unsustainable in both texts, given that while it inspires these heroes to pursue these tasks, the result is that they believe that mild sacrifices, such as their own life, must be made to ensure victory; however, these two texts differ with their heroes’ anticipated outcomes of their sacrifices, which turns out to be for nothing. Despite having different outcomes of operating within a system of chivalry, these two texts similarly critique the outcomes of chivalry as being unsustainable based on the demands it places on heroes to sacrifice themselves. To defend this claim, I will begin by similarly critiquing how chivalry is unsustainable within both texts. I will then express how both texts show the unsustainability results from the demands of sacrifice. I will then

Honor; honor is something that all will strive to achieve in life. Honor shapes people and without it, the world would be very contradistinct. But the concept of honor has changed over time. Today, honor is telling the truth, putting others before oneself, being kind, and protecting people no matter the cost. However, in the French epic, The Song of Roland honor is a very incommensurable thing. Honor is idealized by characters like Roland, Ganelon, and Marsilion as bravery to the point of stupidity and ultimately even death. Honor was not defending others, but safeguarding one’s own reputation and legacy. And a multitudinous amount of characters in this epic put honor above all else, and it’s not always smart.

A possible theme for Oedipus the King by Sophocles is that one’s blindness can hide the inevitability that is his destiny. Oedipus is in this situation. He struggles to escape his fate: killing his father and marrying his mother and believes he is successful. Sophocles believes that the gpds control one’s destiny and the inevitability that a person will do what is destined despite there hero’s intentions.Oedipus represent the standards of a true tragic hero: he is well known, basically good, his punishment is out of proportion compared to his crime, the audience at some point feels sorrow and pity for him, and Oedipus has a tragic flaw. During the whole story Oedipus thinks that he may be able to change his fate a live life how he wants but he falls to that which is his destiny.For these reason Oedipus is truly an example of a tragic hero and is unable to avoid his tragic fate.

Over the past month, we read the Story of the Grail by Chretien de Troyes. This poem details the progression of the knight Perceval. In the beginning, Perceval is not called by his name, instead he is referred to as “the youth”. This is an important detail to stress, because the poem is a coming of age story. As the poem progresses, the reader is able to see definitive changes in Perceval’s character. For example, in the beginning of the poem Perceval uses the limited knowledge that was bestowed upon him by his mother in order to complete his “knightly” duties. To make it worse, Perceval feels the need to tell everyone he meets that his mother is the one that taught him everything he knows. Eventually, Perceval outgrows this behavior and becomes a suitable knight. Throughout the poem, Perceval goes through many trials and tribulations, but for the purpose of this essay I will unravel the allegorical meaning of Perceval’s fight with the Red Knight using all four levels of interpretation.

Chivalry and culture transformed the High Middle Ages in the Song of Roland (Le Chanson de Roland) because of the fact that it provides built-in drama for the poets and storytellers. This was originally a song that’s passed down by minstrels and later written down by monks around the twelfth century. Chivalry is a set of systems and social codes governing the behavior of knights and gentlewomen. It also includes a set of oaths of one’s loyalty in regards to the overlord and observing certain warfare. Throughout the poem/song, it showcases the characteristics of a perfect knight in that day and age. The book differs from real events by changing some aspects of location, ethnics, and the time period.

"Song Of Roland." The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Vol.1, shorter edition. Puchner, Martin. Ed. NY: Norton,2013. Print. 989-1029. In the epic poem "Song Of Roland", Roland said " These pagan traitors came to these passes doomed!...I promise you, they are marked men, they'll die."(1055-1058). From this line the reader can predict the Roland perspective on pagans.

The Song of Roland is a poem that exemplifies the devotion of Charlemagne’s knights and soldiers for Charlemagne’s conquest and to spread Christianity in pagan lands. There are several themes relating to good versus evil along with themes of loyalty and bravery. This poem can be read to encourage men to fight for God and country and that it is the righteous and noble choice to make. This poem is undoubtedly fiction, but its purpose is important to medieval society’s chivalric spirit.

Death is inevitable in every person’s life, but death in these character’s lives is easily predicted to be early, and this represents the sadness and sorrows in the innocence of war. There are many ways to die, and war is the saddest way for that to occur, but at the same time,

Roland’s display of pride at the beginning of the poem sets the events in motion for the knight’s downfall. For Roland proudly suggests that his stepfather, Ganelon, represent King Charlemagne as the French messenger. Ganelon reacts furiously because his own

In Song of Roland, the ideas of chivalry and loyalty to one’s king are central. Throughout the text, the author uses the concepts of good versus evil, shown by the Christians versus Muslims, as well as loyalty versus treason, shown by Roland versus Ganelon, to highlight and exemplify the ideals of the code of knighthood. The main character, Roland, is often presented as being an exemplary knight; he personifies the conventional chivalric values of the time such as bravery and loyalty, but he also struggles to balance these values in order to be a responsible leader. Roland is in stark contrast to his stepfather, Ganelon, as well as being in slight contrast to his close friend, Oliver. These contrasts of character come to a climax as the battle against the Muslim army at Roncesvalles begins; Oliver and Roland debate over whether they should call the king to help them, leading to the eventual demise of the French army. This specific scene brings to light the ideological dilemma of bravery versus wisdom and logic, by utilizing Roland as an example of the former, and Oliver of the latter. Roland, as evidenced by this situation, displays perfect loyalty to one’s king and God by being incredibly brave in the face of danger, making sacrifices that he sees are necessary, and fought valiantly until his death, all the while keeping the utmost faith in his God and king.

King Charlemagne talks to his trusted council about a peace offer from the Saracens. Roland, in response to this announcement, warns Charlemagne, “Trust Marsilion—and suffer” (196). He reminds King Charlemagne that Marsilion has already betrayed their trust when he killed the French counts, Basan and Basile and does not believe that Marsilion is trustworthy. King Charlemagne however, does not agree and has decided to send someone from his march to bring his agreement to Marsilion. Setting aside personal feelings, as a great knight should be able to do in times of war, Roland nominated Ganelon to deliver the message. Roland, remembering the deaths of the previous counts that were murdered, realizing that if this was going to work said, “We need a wise man to bring the message” (294). Roland puts asides his personal feelings and acts

The Song of Roland is a heroic epic that depicts the tragic defeat of Roland, the courageous leader of Charlemagne’s army. Within the epic Roland is not depicted as a hero in every way. I believe that Roland’s pride eventually becomes the root cause of his failure to himself and to others. It is this pride that Roland carries that sheds light upon the culture out of which the poem emerges. In this culture during the late 700’s, pride in one’s religion is expected and upheld to great extents such as sacrifice.