Papers on "Humor in Medieval Poetry" and similar term paper topics

Paper #063685 :: Humor in Medieval Poetry
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This paper discusses humor in early anonymous medieval English poetry: "The Dream of the Holy Rood", "Beowulf" and "The Wanderer" and later pieces "The Canterbury Tales", "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" and "Everyman".

Written in 2005; 3,725 words; 4 sources; MLA; $ 102.95

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, on first reading, early medieval English poetry seems so deadly serious but, by look at some of the exaggeration in this poetry, even "Beowulf" and the "Wanderer" could be considered funny. The author points out that the bards of the Celts and Druids had a tradition of humor in which musicians and storytellers poked fun at people and situations. The paper relates in detail examples of humor in each poem such as "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight", which the paper states is "a positively outrageous story".

From the Paper:

"When the reader gets into the poem ["Beowulf"] itself, it seems the ideas are ponderous and so is the language. How men who spent all night drinking could continuously be, or at least be portrayed, in such pompous, overblown terms, doesn't make sense. Mead is a powerfully alcoholic drink and ale is what it is. How could these men drink themselves to sleep every night and still function at all? Is it just the modern mindset that is so foreign to this kind of writing or is the sense of someone poking fun at this "warrior class" that apparently thought very highly of itself and its values, an accurate perception? The rigid, almost comically so, codes of honor the peoples of this poem lived by almost defy logic. The aggrandizement of people whose best skills are killing other people leaves something to be desired."

Tags: exaggeration codes poking celts christian

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