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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 6 page research paper that discusses how setting affects the narrative in Beowulf and also in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. The writer includes the social conventions of a particular era as an aspect of "setting," and therefore discusses the importance of the mead-hall in Beowulf and cross-dressing in regards to gender roles in Twelfth Night. Bibliography lists 5 sources.
Page Count:
6 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khbeo12.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
narrative, that is not just the locale, but also the historical era and social circumstances, provide a multidimensional frame that facilitates comprehension in the reader or audience. This
point can be substantiated by examining two very different texts - the Old English epic Beowulf and William Shakespeares Twelfth Night -- that, nevertheless, share the common feature that
each narrative reflects the social conventions of the historical era in which it was created. Beowulf , largely through the setting of the Viking mead-hall, conveys the mores
and conventions of that society. Likewise, Shakespeares cross-dressing farce also reveals a great deal about how Elizabethans viewed gender roles in that century. Not long into the saga of
Beowulf, the reader encounters the great mead-hall Heorot. The unknown poet who composed this epic poem makes it very clear that Hall Heorot is much more then simply the setting
for the action. The mead-hall holds a highly symbolic position in Danish life. (The poem is Old English, but the setting for Beowulf is the homeland of one of many
waves of invaders to enter English history). The mead-hall, and specifically Heorot Hall in this poem. Functions as a physical manifestation of the reciprocal relationship between the king, in
this case Hrothgar, and his subjects. The Beowulf poet states that "It came to his (Hrothgars) mind that he would command men to construct a hall; a great mead-building
that the children of men should hear of forever, and therein he would given to young and old all that God had given him (Anonymous 24). As these lines demonstrate,
the Beowulf poet is very clear about the purpose of the mead-hall. It is through the medium of the mead-hall that Hrothgar fulfills his part of the social bargain,
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