Wednesday, October 8, 2008
The Shaper: A Challenge
To follow up on class discussion: Grendel perceives the Shaper as deceitful and clearly his stories about Hrothgar are one-sided, but in what way does the Shaper create something positive despite his "lies"? Why is Grendel so moved by him?
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Grendel and Existentialism
There are two important modern philosophies vying for Grendel's heart: nihilism and existentialism. Lurking somewhere in the mix is a more traditional Judeo-Christian/classical philosophy of truth, sacrifice, beauty and love. Here's my brief (very) overview of the first two:
Nihilism - philosophy that denies any basis for objective truth; state of radical skepticism about reality
Existentialism -- the religious varity believes that through God one may find freedom from the tension of existence (caused by the apparent absurdity of existence); the atheistic variety asserts that existence precedes "essence" and we create essence or meaning by making conscious choices -- through sheer will an commitment, one imposes reason and structure on the chaos of existence and gives it meaning; however, making such choices also forces a recognition of the absurdity of existence (or at least our inability to understand it reasonably). Failure to do so results in a sort of passive, "semi-conscious" existence.
So -- using the above or your own common sense -- what's Grendel's problem? Who or what's the cause? Any solutions? What does he believe about life?
Nihilism - philosophy that denies any basis for objective truth; state of radical skepticism about reality
Existentialism -- the religious varity believes that through God one may find freedom from the tension of existence (caused by the apparent absurdity of existence); the atheistic variety asserts that existence precedes "essence" and we create essence or meaning by making conscious choices -- through sheer will an commitment, one imposes reason and structure on the chaos of existence and gives it meaning; however, making such choices also forces a recognition of the absurdity of existence (or at least our inability to understand it reasonably). Failure to do so results in a sort of passive, "semi-conscious" existence.
So -- using the above or your own common sense -- what's Grendel's problem? Who or what's the cause? Any solutions? What does he believe about life?
Grendel -- a Modern Monster
What do you think of Grendel now?! He clearly has some identity problems and existential angst (more on that in a minute). Before you go too much further you may want to check out the discussion on my friend's blog at www.advancedlitsur.blogspot.com. Look at the posted question about whether people are inherently good or evil. What does Grendel think? Is Grendel evil or simply confused? By what is he confused? Why does he behave the way he does?
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Beowulf Movie Review -- Boston Globe
Click on one of the review titles above to read reviews both positive and negative.
Hrothgar
Is Hrothgar more interesting and effective as a flawed character or as an upright victim of evil in the world?
Hrothgar
Is Hrothgar more interesting as a flawed character or as the upright victim or evil in the world?
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