Strong Characters of the Celtic Culture - Literature review Example

MEDIEVAL LITERATURE Celtic culture The focal point of this paper is to Contrast the strong characters of Arawn, Rhiannon and Tyernon with the weak or developing characters of Pwyll, Hafgan and Gwawl, son of Clud as they appear in Celtic text Mabinogion. Analysis and evaluation of these two types of characters would reveal the qualities in the Celtic culture that denote a strong character and those that indicate weakness in character. Arawan represents one of the strong characters of the Mabinogi. He is strong by nature and valour. However, it is seen that he makes friend with Pwyll, a predominatly weak character, in order to slain his enemy Hafgan. Then we find Pwyll to be morally superior to Arawan as he refuses to make love to Arawan’s wife even though he possessed enough opportunity to do so. Furthermore, he, during the battle with Hafgan, denies to strike twice once Hafgan was wounded. This shows a complex notion of character build up in this text. It is seen the stronger character is not always moral and the weaker character is fundamentally strong in this respect. Again, Rhiannon, the horse goddess, is found wanting in terms of morality even though, she appears to be a strong character. She kills her infant and devours his. At the same time it should be stated that Pwyll, in marriage with her, develops into a strong character and immediately afterwards we find him mistreating Rhiannon for her inability to bear child. Thus, it is seen that falling from the grace of the reader or listeners is the basic concept of tragedy in the parameters of Celtic text Mabinogion. Here a character is given a higher position and is termed as hero or protagonist but the storyline gradually tends to devalue the character with low moral activities. The same is true about another strong character Tyernon and the other weaker character Gwawl. Here too we find a transformation or transition of character from being stronger in moral to weaker and the vice versa. Hafgan on the other hand hardly goes through any such transformation but his death made him glorious in the context of the listeners or reader as it appear that his death in the hand of Pwyll was more of a chance factor than real defeat. As a result, while contrasting the strong characters of Arawn, Rhiannon and Tyernon with the weak or developing characters of Pwyll, Hafgan and Gwawl it is found that characters in the text tend to play with the emotional supports of the readers or listeners. The characters start in a pattern of either strong or weak but soon gathers sympathy or incomprehension from the readers or listeners as the case may be. This is a peculiar mode of character build up but it should be mentioned that it appears to be very successful its followers. Chaucer 1 Geoffrey Chaucer (1343 to1400) is regarded as the father of English Literature. Apart form being a poet and author he was a diplomat, bureaucrat in the court of Richard II and philosopher. His greatest work is the Canterbury Tales is regarded as a work that stands in sharp contrast with its contemporary forms of fiction in terms narrative naturalism, characterization and variety. The General Prologue like reflects his philosophy and religious alignments and it includes pilgrims that is consisted of various different characters like the host, a pardoner, a summoner, a reeve, a manciple, a miller, a parson, a wife of Bath, a doctor of physic, a shipman, a cook, a tapestry weaver, a dyer, a weaver, a carpenter, a haberdasher, a franklin, a sergeant of law, a clerk, a merchant, a friar, a monk, nuns priest, a knight, his son and a prioress. Thus, it is established and this reflects his ability to depict characters like administrator, supervisor, bureaucrat, valet, messenger, soldier and page in almost true to their nature with potential satire with speech aping techniques. The themes of their tales and covers topics like avarice, treachery and love and in overall sense, they reveal a great deal of the cultural relevance within the formulation of fabliau, beast fable, sermon and romance. However, they are all pilgrims and so their focus is always towards God and this makes the characters simplified and monotonous. Then, religion was going through a hard time due to the affects of bubonic plague while the stories were written. This was a vital problem. Alongside, England was undergoing a socio political change at that point of time. There was a basic change in the area of feudal system and religious piety. With the rise of a middle class, there was the environment of a freethinking society where it was noticed that the wealth was accumulated under certain limited hands of the nobles and the church. The stories are told from the perspective of the general mass apart from one story by the knight. With the chance of church, falling apart Chaucer presents an environment that represents the principals of Christianity that defies the existing rigidity of the previous church and takes the stand of the common mass. Thus, the characters are of various natures. However, they ultimately tend to confluence into a certain predictable mode of religious teachings. Chaucer 2 The focal point of this paper is to discuss and evaluate a comment in reference to characterization in the Knight’s Tale in the Canterbury Tales. The comment is in context of Chaucers method of creating characters and it states, "The sheer variety of wealth of detail creates the impression of a specific person. And yet, taken together, it all adds up to a comparatively simple stereotype." Within all the variables and genres what is evident from the pieces is the basic faith towards religion and god, i.e. love and devotion towards Christianity and Christ where it appear that religion is a part of life and not an essential practice where terms or reference of religion. This mode of belief appears almost with the context of day-to-day life and it show that the teachings of Christ also are a relevant matter of livelihood for the characters. Characters like Arcite and Palamon are true to their free will and they perform their acts as a part of their duty, in both love and hate. However, the result is that the essence of religion remains a refined statement and the characterization developed on this context. The character of Arcite and Palamon start as brave knights and translate into rivalry but is always true to religion. This is a single dimension representation of human nature. However, the writer appears to be successful in helping the mass keep their faith and that was the fundamental purpose of the story. Thus, it could be determined where Chaucer depicted the religious transition from church oriented authority to common perception of the mass and used this parameter into his literary works and particularly in the characterization of Arcite and Palamon in the story Knight’s Tale. Read More