A: In British literature, monsters are used as a tool for what the people of the Middle Ages believed they were supposed to do and created these monsters to be portrayed as something “bad” towards humanity. All of the monsters mentioned do share a few common characteristics of what they were supposed to do in British literature. To start, the monsters all inhabit some space outside of the realm of human civilization because they cannot or don’t want to be a part of the human world due to how different they are.
Some monsters serve a purpose as being a part of a hero’s journey, such as the Giants and Serpents in the Wilderness of Wirral, which, when Gawain fighting monsters on his journey makes him look more like a knight. Some monsters possess (an) unusual power(s) that actually amaze humans, such as the Green Knight, who being able to pick up his head and continue speaking after his decapitation. Monsters can also act with either “monstrous” behavior, or actually possess qualities that allows them to take part in the “civilized” mannerisms of the human world.
For the humans, they don’t even know what monsters would look like and which allowed them to let their biggest fears make up a monster’s supposed appearance, such as Grendel. No one really knows what Grendel really looks like and only you can only create his image by associating him with whatever it is that you fear the most, which makes him more terrifying. In the Medieval World, “Monstrosity” is perceived as something that was not human and belonged only outside the realm of civilization. D: In the world of British literature, the wilderness is represented as “the unknown”.
By being on the outskirts of civilization, it’s a place that is mystical, mysterious, and terrifying all at once. Humans don’t go near it because they don’t know what lurks within its borders. In the case of Sir Thomas Wyatt’s Whoso List to Hunt, the wilderness serves as the perfect place for both his pursuits of hunting and “hunting”. By being a secluded place, it allows Wyatt to do his hunt for the hind he seeks. It’s also mystical because it’s the only place where he can find this hind and continuously chase it to no end.
What’s terrifying about the wilderness is that no one really knows what the wilderness will reveal once someone enters into it territory. For Wyatt, the terror of the wilderness is that the hind has the words Noli me tangere (13), around its neck “graven with diamonds, in letters plain” (11) revealing that the hind can never be his because it’s sacred and belongs to someone much more powerful. Furthermore, being outside the realm of humans, the wilderness is free of the law and order of civilization, which makes it the perfect place where anything can happen.
F: Masculinity is represented as two extremes within British literature. On one extreme there are males who hold more feminine qualities than expected. An example would be Lanval who, although a knight, possesses a passive nature. In the story, he is rather submissive by deciding to leave Arthur’s court after not receiving award for his service. He takes refuge with the Fairy Queen in the woods after giving into her desires, and, after he is accused of trying to seduce Guinevere, he becomes this helpless “damsel” as he is sits in prison wishing to see his lady one last time before his death.
In the end, he is actually the one to be “rescued” and sits behind rather than in front of Fairy Queen when they climb on her horse when they leave for Avalon. On the other extreme, there are males who possess the masculine qualities that are deemed to be acceptable, such as Beowulf. Beowulf is a perfect example of a man who fits the meaning of “masculine”, which he defines through his actions. Compared to Lanval, Beowulf is a leader, for he leads the Geats (and later becomes ruler of Heorot) and also speaks up for himself, such as when he explains to the herald that he’s come to see Hrothgar and solve his problem.
Beowulf doesn’t walk away from a situation, but is courageous and takes any situation hands on by fighting Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the Dragon; the fact that he fights monsters too is both knightly and masculine. Lastly, Beowulf receives honor and respect, and becomes a memorable hero as a reward for being masculine. By comparing both Lanval and Beowulf, the literature shows us that it’s great for a man to possess masculine qualities because it suitable for men to behave in such ways, and provides great rewards for men such as bravery, honor, and being remembered.
Masculinity was probably demonstrated as these two extremes to possibly show what was and wasn’t acceptable for a man to be. G: The concept of Femininity has been featured as two extremes in British literature. Being “feminine” would mean that one would possess qualities that were associated with women, such as being submissive, graceful, charming, and kind. By creating female characters possessing such traits possibly showed women that these were qualities that deemed as acceptable for what defines a woman as “feminine”.
In the texts that we’ve read in British literature, women do possess these “feminine” traits. However, they have been also shown to have defined what femininity is and what they can do as women in so many different ways. For example, Queen Elizabeth I, she is faced the pressure to marry a year after she has descended to the throne in for reasons of establishing a possible alliance, but more importantly for the purpose of producing an heir to continue the monarchy after her death, which is far more important than anything when you’re a woman of royal blood.
However, in her speech “On Marriage”, Elizabeth addresses Parliament with her response to marriage by stating that she will not marry and tells them simply to “put that clean out of your heads” (1077). She believed that God would provide a successor to rule after her passing and will “reigned, lived and died a virgin” (1078) and instead Elizabeth chose to be “married” to her country and her people in order to protect England. By not marrying, it didn’t make her more “masculine” nor less “feminine”, but due to her speech, it proved that being “feminine” can mean so many things.