Response To Beowulf

Response to Literary Criticism
In Tolkien’s lecture, “Beowulf: The monsters and the Critics,” he argues that Beowulf has been over analyzed for its historical content, and it is not being studied as a piece of art as it should be. He discusses what he perceives the poet of Beowulf intended to do, and why he wrote the poem the way he did. Tolkien’s main proposition, “it was plainly only in the consideration of Beowulf as a poem, with an inherent poetic significance, that any view or conviction can be reached or steadily held” (Tolkien). He evaluates why the author centers the monsters throughout the entire poem, why the poem has a non-harmonic structure, why and how the author fusses together Christianity and Paganism, and how the author uses time to make his fictional poem seem real. He also discusses the overall theme of Beowulf and other assumptions of the text. To support his viewpoints, Tolkien uses quotations and examples from the poem, quotations from other critics, and compares Beowulf to other works of art. Tolkien discusses several statements in interpreting Beowulf as a poem.

Tolkien makes reasonable conclusions over the significance of Beowulf and creates reasonable responses for the unknown writer’s intentions.
Furthermore, Tolkien declares that the central conflict of the entire poem is that Beowulf must die.

He explains that Beowulf’s greatest weakness is that he is a man and men are not immortal. The author, according to Tolkien, is “concerned primarily with man on earth… each man and all men, and all their works shall die” (Tolkien). Therefore, all humans must be prepared to meet their end and accept their. I other words, individuals must learn how to die is the lesson that emerges from Beowulf. The reader learns that “defeat is the theme. Triumph over the foes of man’s precarious fortress is over, and we approach slowly and reluctantly the inevitable victory of death” (Tolkien). Even though Beowulf defeats the monsters he encounters and is victorious, he still has to die and nothing can change the fact because it is inevitable. There is nothing any man can do to change that

fate.
In support, Beowulf starts with a cycle of death of great, courageous, and victorious kings. This cycle of death suggest that everything great had to come to an end, and all the victories of Beowulf have to end eventually. Beowulf is aware of this fact and is indeed prepared to die going into the battles against the monsters. Before his fight with Grendel he proclaims, “may the Divine Lord in His wisdom grant the glory of victory to whichever side he sees fit” (685-687). He leaves the decision of who will die to the Lord. Beowulf is accepting that there is a chance he will die and if he does it is because that is what was meant to happen. Before he goes to his second battle with Grendel’s mother he exclaims, “For every one of us, living in this world means waiting for our end. Let whoever can win glory before death” (1386-1388). Beowulf once again accepts that death must come and that he is already prepared. He is prepared because he has established himself as a legendary warrior, and he perceives that his actions will be immortal. And he has already obtained glory that he sought and that everyone should seek. From the beginning, the reader is introduced to the concept that Beowulf will have to die and it is seen through the entire poem.
To conclude, Tolkien’s clarification of the overall theme of Beowulf is accurate and precise. Beowulf demonstrates that it is crucial for people to be prepared for death. And this idea should shape the way people live their lives. Tolkien’s response to other critic’s historical evaluation is reasonable and well supported. What I found to be more significant can be found in and clarified in Beowulf. The theme shapes everything in the poem and it also explains what Tolkien discovered about the poem. The concept of inevitable death is the principle idea that created Beowulf making the concept exceptionally fundamental.