English 2033E Lecture Notes - Prosopopoeia, Anthropomorphism, Gallows
Document Summary
Don"t know who wrote it or when. Rood means cross often called tree in the poem. Dreamer"s isolation and melancholy characteristic of exiled anglo-saxons. Themes of transformation, change, the individual"s progress. Beowulf doesn"t really change in his poem consistent in his courage and his pursuit of glory. Most of our experience in literature is of stories of a character"s change/growth. The rood(both literal and psychological/spiritual), the dreamer, christ, the reader/listener (potential journey) Personification or prosopopoeia (greek person making ) a figure of thought. The attribution of human qualities to nonhuman forces or objects. The cross is personified in the poem. It is important to distinguish the persona from the author in the poem. Speaker at beginning described in sorrowful/sinful/exiled state and is attempting to move to a state of redemption. The cross moves from humiliation/suffering to a position of strength/glory. A journey from metaphorical death to life.