Final Exam Study Guide WL

*Beowulf:*

            Heroic code

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* The invading Anglo-Saxon tribes were dominated by codes and customs, which included

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* A warrior class that was ruled by a tribal chieftain \n
* A body of personal retainers, or warriors, bound to the chieftain by kinship \n
* The custom of gift-giving—the chieftain gave generously to his retainers

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* A personal code of honor, which included the concept of blood vengeance. This code demanded \n that a warrior must either kill the person who injured or killed a kinsman or get compensation for \n the injury or death

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* A warrior must defend his lord to the death

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*Beowulf:*

            Myths and legends

legends - real

Beowulf

Kenning

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* Compound metaphor (usually two words) \n
* Most were probably used over and overFor instance: hronadeliterally means “whale-road,” but can betranslated as “sea”

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Beowulf

Litote

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* A negative expression; usually an \n understatement
* Example: \n Hildeburh had no cause to praise the Jutes \n In this example, Hildeburh’s brother has \n just been killed by the Jutes. This is a \n poetic way of telling us she hated the Jutes \n absolutely.

Beowulf

 Alliterative Verse

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a. Repetition of initial sounds of words \n (occurs in every line) \n b. Generally, four feet/beats per line \n c. A caesura, or pause, between \n beats two and four \n d. No rhyme

Themes of *Beowulf*

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Good vs. Evil \n Religion: Christian and Pagan influences \n The importance of wealth and treasure \n Loyalty and allegiance \n The importance of the sea and sailing \n The sanctity of the home \n Fate \n Heroism and heroic deeds

Lanval

Qualities of Courtly Love

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1) Before the 12th century women were regarded as inferior. \n 2) Courtly love idealized women. \n 3) The lover was stricken by his lady’s beauty, put her on a pedestal, and obeyed \n her wishes. \n 4) Supposedly the lover’s feelings ennobled him and made him worthy of his \n mistress. \n 5) He wants to be with her in order to obtain moral excellence. \n 6) “Paradoxically, though the lover adored his lady, genuflected at her door and \n observed Christian behavior strictly, the troubadour version of this form of \n love was adulterous” (189). This was partly due to the fact that medieval \n marriages resulted from convenience instead of romance, and partly due to \n the thought that true love had to be given freely, which it would not have \n been in an arranged marriage. \n 7) Courtly love has some universal elements \n a. Four marks of courtly love: humility, courtesy, adultery, and the \n religion of love. \n b. The love is desire. \n c. The love is an ennobling and dynamic force. \n d. The love begins a cult of the beloved.

Lanval

 Why Anglo-Normans valued romance

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Like the Anglo-Saxons, the Anglo-Normans loved stories of battle but \n with a little romantic flair. \n • The knight fights in the hopes of gaining the heart of his lady (who was royal \n and most likely already married).

Inferno

 Elements of epic writing

 

\n - length \n • content: historic, mythic \n • motifs \n • divine intervention \n • heroic flaw \n • orality and performance, writing \n • language \n

Inferno 

Allegory

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“Is the discussion of one subject by \n disguising it as another which resembles \n the first in some striking way.” \n - Derived from Dante’s last name

\- In an allegory the characters, setting and \n plot have a hidden or symbolic meaning \n beyond their literal meaning. \n - An Allegory teaches a moral lesson.

Inferno 

   Types of sinners in Dante’s hell

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\n - Circle 1- LIMBO \n - Circle 2- The Lustful \n - Circle 3- The Gluttonous \n - Circle 4- Misers and Spendthrifts \n - Circle 5- Wrathful and Sullen \n - Circle 6- Heretics \n - Circle 7- The Violent (Murder & Suicide) \n - Circle 8- The Fraudulent \n - Circle 9- Traitors \n

\*Circles 2-5 are \n Sins without \n Malice. \n They do not hurt \n others.

Inferno 

  The meaning behind Satan’s three faces

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In each mouth is a historic betrayer eternally being \n chewed on. \n - In mouth 1 and mouth 2 are Brutus and Cassius the \n assassinators of Julius Caesar (considered the \n greatest Roman leader who sacrificed his life for his \n country.)

\- In Mouth 3 is Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus \n Christ to his enemies. Christ was put to death \n sacrificing his life for his people.

The Prince

            Machiavelli’s advice

\n To cultivate an impression of competency \n • To instill in a ruler’s subjects a fear of revolt and defiance

The Prince

What preoccupation makes a good ruler

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• Build a strong military force to protect against adversaries \n • Create a façade of generosity \n • Appear compassionate \n • Show integrity

The Prince

 How to preserve power

, he must appear to be virtuous and honorable

The Prince

Where loyalty comes from

dependence breeds loyalty

The Prince

The work that restored Machiavelli’s favor with di Medicis

The Prince

*Don Quixote*

            Qualities of a picaresque novel

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What is a picaro? \n • Rascal or rogue \n • Often part of a lower social class \n • Relies of cleverness to survive in a morally bankrupt society \n • Takes from chivalric tales as pastoral works except with more: \n • Caricatures \n • Comic episodes \n • Graphic depictions of suffering \n • Emphasizes economic and social problems

Don Quixote

Foil

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As a literary device, the foil character contrasts with another \n character (usually the hero/protagonist). \n • Serves to emphasize, complement, or contrast the other persona \n • The foil acts as a confidant, offers contrasting views, completes minor \n but important tasks, and provides skills and services that the main \n character lacks or cannot offer.

Don Quixote

 Dramatic irony

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when a reader has more knowledge about a \n situation than the story’s characters do. \n • Emphasizes limitations of human perception and the \n consequences/misunderstandings that result out of that perception \n • Serves to critique the problems facing Spaniards of Cervantes’s time, \n like poverty, unemployment, and corrupt gentry, a failed effort at an \n empire, an obsession with “purity,” and fears about political and \n religious practices \n • Examples: windmills as giants; sheep as soldiers, Quixote’s fortune to be born \n in nobility while Panza suffers the consequences of his misdeeds

Beowulf

unkown

Don Quixote

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Miguel de Cervantes

Lanval

Marie de France

Inferno

Dante Alighieri

The Prince

Niccolo Machiavelli

Beowulf

The protagonist of the epic, is a Geatish hero who fights the monster Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and a fire-breathing dragon. boasts and encounters reveal him to be the strongest, ablest warrior around. In his youth, he personifies all of the best values of the heroic culture. In his old age, he proves a wise and effective ruler.

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King Hrothgar

The king of the Danes.

\- enjoys military success and prosperity until Grendel terrorizes his realm.

A wise and aged ruler, represents a different kind of leadership from that exhibited by the youthful warrior Beowulf.

He is a father figure to Beowulf and a model for the kind of king that Beowulf becomes.

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Grendel

A demon descended from Cain,

preys on Hrothgar’s warriors in the king’s mead-hall, Heorot.

Because his ruthless and miserable existence is part of the retribution exacted by God for Cain’s murder of Abel, Grendel fits solidly within the ethos of vengeance that governs the world of the poem.

Grendel’s Mother

An unnamed swamp-hag,

seems to possess fewer human qualities than Grendel, although her terrorization of Heorot is explained by her desire for vengeance—a human motivation.

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The Dragon

\n An ancient, powerful serpent,

guards a horde of treasure in a hidden mound. Beowulf’s fight with ________ constitutes the third and final part of the epic.

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Shield Sheafson

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\n The legendary Danish king from whom Hrothgar is descended,

is the mythical founder who inaugurates a long line of Danish rulers and embodies the Danish tribe’s highest values of heroism and leadership.

The poem opens with a brief account of his rise from orphan to warrior-king, concluding, “That was one good king”

Beow

\n The second king listed in the genealogy of Danish rulers with which the poem begins. Beow is the son of Shield Sheafson and father of Halfdane. The narrator presents Beow as a gift from God to a people in need of a leader. He exemplifies the maxim, “Behavior that’s admired / is the path to power among people everywhere” (24–25).

Halfdane

The father of Hrothgar, Heorogar, Halga, and an unnamed daughter who married a king of the Swedes, Halfdane succeeded Beow as ruler of the Danes.

Wealhtheow

Hrothgar’s wife, the gracious queen of the Danes.

Unferth

\n A Danish warrior who is jealous of Beowulf, Unferth is unable or unwilling to fight Grendel, thus proving himself inferior to Beowulf.

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Hrethric

**Hrothgar’s elder son, Hrethric stands to inherit the Danish throne, but Hrethric’s older cousin Hrothulf will prevent him from doing so. Beowulf offers to support the youngster’s prospect of becoming king by hosting him in Geatland and giving him guidance.**

Hrothmund

\n The second son of Hrothgar.

Hrothulf

Hrothgar’s nephew, Hrothulf betrays and usurps his cousin, Hrethic, the rightful heir to the Danish throne. Hrothulf’s treachery contrasts with Beowulf’s loyalty to Hygelac in helping his son to the throne.

Aeschere

Hrothgar’s trusted adviser.

Hygelac

Beowulf’s uncle, king of the Geats, and husband of Hygd. Hygelac heartily welcomes Beowulf back from Denmark.

Hygd

\n Hygelac’s wife, the young, beautiful, and intelligent queen of the Geats. Hygd is contrasted with Queen Modthryth.

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Wiglaf

\n A young kinsman and retainer of Beowulf who helps him in the fight against the dragon while all of the other warriors run away. Wiglaf adheres to the heroic code better than Beowulf’s other retainers, thereby proving himself a suitable successor to Beowulf.

Ecgtheow

Beowulf’s father, Hygelac’s brother-in-law, and Hrothgar’s friend. Ecgtheow is dead by the time the story begins, but he lives on through the noble reputation that he made for himself during his life and in his dutiful son’s remembrances.

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King Hrethel

The Geatish king who took Beowulf in as a ward after the death of Ecgtheow, Beowulf’s father.

Breca

\n Beowulf’s childhood friend, whom he defeated in a swimming match. Unferth alludes to the story of their contest, and Beowulf then relates it in detail.

Sigemund

A figure from Norse mythology, famous for slaying a dragon. Sigemund’s story is told in praise of Beowulf and foreshadows Beowulf’s encounter with the dragon.

King Heremod

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An evil king of legend. The scop, or bard, at Heorot discusses King Heremod as a figure who contrasts greatly with Beowulf.

Queen Modthryth

\n A wicked queen of legend who punishes anyone who looks at her the wrong way. Modthryth’s story is told in order to contrast her cruelty with Hygd’s gentle and reasonable behavior.

Lanval

\*A good but overlooked knight in King Arthur's court who begins an affair with a magical, extremely beautiful, maiden. \n \n \* When he resists the advances of the Queen and boasts that his lady dwarfs her in beauty \n \n \*is put on trial for insulting the Queen and faces certain punishment unless his lady appears to validate his claim.

The Beautiful lady In "Lanval"

\* Is said to be beautiful beyond compare and also possess supernatural abilities. \n \n \* She tells Lanval to never tell anyone about their affair and she will grant him anything he wants. \n \n \*Saves him at Arthur's court and takes him away in the end even though he almost gave away their secret.

Gawain in "Lanval"

\*One of Arthur's knights at his round table. \n \n \*He also stands up for Lanval when he is accused of illicit behavior against the Queen, Guinevere.

King Arthur in "Lanval"

\* King Arthur ignores or does not pay a lot of mind to Lanval when presenting him with land and riches. \n \n \* He also places Lanval on trial because he wants to see if there is such a woman more attractive than his own wife.

Queen Guinevere in "Lanval"

\*Hits on Lanval, but gets rejected by him and offended when he explains how his lady along with her lady's maids are far more attractive than her. \n \n \*She then proceeds to claim that Lanval has to be homosexual to have rejected her \n \n \*And also tells King Arthur that Lanval was trying to come onto her.

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Dante

The author and protagonist of *Inferno*; the focus of all action and interaction with other characters. Because Dante chose to present his fictional poem as a record of events that actually happened to him, a wide gulf between Dante the poet and Dante the character pervades the poem. For instance, Dante the poet often portrays Dante the character as compassionate and sympathetic at the sight of suffering sinners, but Dante the poet chose to place them in Hell and devised their suffering. As a result, if Dante the character is at all representative of Dante the poet, he is a very simplified version: sympathetic, somewhat fearful of danger, and confused both morally and intellectually by his experience in Hell. As the poem progresses, Dante the character gradually learns to abandon his sympathy and adopt a more pitiless attitude toward the punishment of sinners, which he views as merely a reflection of divine justice.

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Virgil

\n Dante’s guide through the depths of Hell. Historically, Virgil lived in the first century b.c., in what is now northern Italy. Scholars consider him the greatest of the Latin poets. His masterpiece, the Aeneid, tells the story of how Aeneas, along with fellow survivors of the defeat of Troy, came to found Rome. The shade (or spirit) of Virgil that appears in *Inferno* has been condemned to an eternity in Hell because he lived prior to Christ’s appearance on Earth (and thus prior to the possibility of redemption in Him). Nonetheless, Virgil has now received orders to lead Dante through Hell on his spiritual journey. Virgil proves a wise, resourceful, and commanding presence, but he often seems helpless to protect Dante from the true dangers of Hell. Critics generally consider Virgil an allegorical representation of human reason—both in its immense power and in its inferiority to faith in God.

Beatrice

One of the blessed in Heaven, Beatrice aids Dante’s journey by asking an angel to find Virgil and bid him guide Dante through Hell. Like Dante and Virgil, Beatrice corresponds to a historical personage. Although the details of her life remain uncertain, we know that Dante fell passionately in love with her as a young man and never fell out of it. She has a limited role in *Inferno* but becomes more prominent in Purgatorio and Paradiso. In fact, Dante’s entire imaginary journey throughout the afterlife aims, in part, to find Beatrice, whom he has lost on Earth because of her early death. Critics generally view Beatrice as an allegorical representation of spiritual love.

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Charon

A figure that Dante appropriates from Greek mythology, Charon is an old man who ferries souls across the river Acheron to Hell.

Paolo and Francesca da Rimini

\n A pair of lovers condemned to the Second Circle of Hell for an adulterous love affair that they began after reading the story of Lancelot and Guinevere.

Lucifer

The prince of Hell, also referred to as Dis. Lucifer resides at the bottom of the Ninth (and final) Circle of Hell, beneath the Earth’s surface, with his body jutting through the planet’s center. An enormous giant, he has three faces but does not speak; his three mouths are busy chewing three of history’s greatest traitors: Judas, the betrayer of Christ, and Cassius and Brutus, the betrayers of Julius Caesar.

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Minos

\n The king of Crete in Greek mythology, Minos is portrayed by Dante as a giant beast who stands at the Second Circle of Hell, deciding where the souls of sinners shall be sent for torment. Upon hearing a given sinner’s confession, Minos curls his tail around himself a specific number of times to represent the circle of Hell to which the soul should be consigned.

Pope Boniface VIII

\n A notoriously corrupt pope who reigned from 1294 to 1303, Boniface made a concerted attempt to increase the political might of the Catholic Church and was thus a political enemy of Dante, who advocated a separation of church and state.

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Farinata

\n A Ghibelline political leader from Dante’s era who resides among the Heretics in the Sixth Circle of Hell. Farinata is doomed to continue his intense obsession with Florentine politics, which he is now helpless to affect.

Phlegyas

The boatman who rows Dante and Virgil across the river Styx.

Filippo Argenti

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A Black Guelph, a political enemy of Dante who is now in the Fifth Circle of Hell. Argenti resides among the Wrathful in the river Styx.

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Nessus

\n The Centaur (half man and half horse) who carries Dante through the First Ring of the Seventh Circle of Hell.

Pier della Vigna

A former advisor to Emperor Frederick II, della Vigna committed suicide when he fell into disfavor at the court. He now must spend eternity in the form of a tree.

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Geryon

\n The massive serpentine monster that transports Dante and Virgil from the Seventh to the Eighth Circle of Hell.

Malacoda

The leader of the Malabranche, the demons who guard the Fifth Pouch of the Eighth Circle of Hell. Malacoda (his name means “evil tail”) intentionally furnishes Virgil and Dante with erroneous directions.

Vanni Fucci

A thief punished in the Seventh Pouch of the Eighth Circle of Hell who prophesies the defeat of the White Guelphs. A defiant soul, Fucci curses God and aims an obscene gesture at Him before Dante journeys on.

Ulysses

The great hero of the Homeric epics *The Iliad* and the *The Odyssey*. Ulysses was a bold and cunning man who is now imprisoned in the Eighth Pouch of the Eighth Circle of Hell among those guilty of Spiritual Theft.

Guido da Montefeltro

An advisor to Pope Boniface VIII, da Montefeltro was promised anticipatory absolution—forgiveness for a sin given prior to the perpetration of the sin itself. Da Montefeltro now suffers in Hell, since absolution cannot be gained without repentance and it is impossible to repent a sin before committing it.

Antaeus

The giant who transports Dante and Virgil from the Eighth to the Ninth Circle of Hell.

Count Ugolino

\n A traitor condemned to the Second Ring of the Ninth Circle of Hell. Ugolino gnaws on the head of another damned traitor, Archbishop Ruggieri. When Ruggieri imprisoned Ugolino and his sons, denying them food, Ugolino was driven to eat the corpses of his starved sons.

Fra Alberigo and Branca d’Oria

\n Sinners condemned to the Third Ring of the Ninth Circle of Hell. Fra Alberigo and Branca d’Oria are unlike the other sinners Dante encounters: their crimes were deemed to be so great that devils snatched their souls from their living bodies; thus, their souls reside in Hell while their bodies live on, now guided and possessed by demons.

Agathocles

\n Ruler of Syracuse (317–310 B.C.) who conquered all of Sicily except for territory dominated by Carthage; he was eventually defeated by the Carthaginian army.

Alexander

lAexander the Great, king of Macedonia (336–323 B.C.). He conquered Greece, Persia, and much of Asia.

Alexander VI

\n Elected pope in 1492. Challenged by French invasion of Italy and a war between France and Spain. Father of Cesare Borgia.

Cesare Borgia

Also called Duke Valentino (1476–1507). Cesare Borgia was made duke of Romagna by his father, Pope Alexander VI, in 1501. He lost power after the death of the pope. Cesare Borgia is Machiavelli’s primary example of a prince who has great prowess, as displayed by his efforts to secure his state quickly after he was put in power.

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Cyrus

Founder of the Persian Empire.

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Julius II

Reigned as pope 1503–1513. Julius II strengthened the power of the Church through vigorous leadership and intelligent diplomacy. He defeated Roman barons and negotiated an alliance against France.

Leo X

Elected pope in 1513. Leo X was an advocate of the Medici family.

Lorenzo de’ Medici

\n The person to whom Machiavelli dedicated *The Prince*, Lorenzo II (1492-1519) was the ruler of Florence and the Duke of Urbino from 1516 until 1519, when he died. He was the grandson of the much more famous Lorenzo the Magnificent and the father or Catherine de' Medici, who would become the Queen of France.

Romulus

Founder and first king of Rome.

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Septimius Severus

Roman emperor (a.d. 193–211).

Theseus

Hero of Attica, king of Athens. According to legend, he killed the Minotaur in the Cretan labyrinth.

#### Don Quixote

The novel’s tragicomic hero. Don Quixote’s main quest in life is to revive knight-errantry in a world devoid of chivalric virtues and values. He believes only what he chooses to believe and sees the world very differently from most people. Honest, dignified, proud, and idealistic, he wants to save the world. As intelligent as he is mad, Don Quixote starts out as an absurd and isolated figure and ends up as a pitiable and lovable old man whose strength and wisdom have failed him.

#### Sancho Panza

The peasant laborer—greedy but kind, faithful but cowardly—whom Don Quixote takes as his squire. A representation of the common man, Sancho is a foil to Don Quixote and virtually every other character in the novel. His proverb-ridden peasant’s wisdom and self-sacrificing Christian behavior prove to be the novel’s most insightful and honorable worldview. He has an awestruck love for Don Quixote but grows self-confident and saucy, ending the novel by advising his master in matters of deep personal philosophy.

#### Rocinante

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* Don Quixote’s barn horse. Rocinante is slow but faithful, and he is as worn out as Don Quixote is.

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#### Dapple

Sancho’s donkey. Dapple’s disappearance and reappearance is the subject of much controversy both within the story and within the literary criticism concerning *Don Quixote.*

#### Cide Hamete Benengeli

The fictional writer of Moorish decent from whose manuscripts Cervantes supposedly translates the novel. Cervantes uses the figure of Benengeli to comment on the ideas of authorship and literature explored in the novel and to critique historians. Benengeli’s opinions, bound in his so-called historical text, show his contempt for those who write about chivalry falsely and with embellishment.

#### Dulcinea del Toboso

The unseen force driving all of Don Quixote’s adventures. Dulcinea, a peasant woman whom Don Quixote envisions as his ladylove, has no knowledge of his chivalric dedication to her. Though constantly mentioned and centrally important to the novel, she never appears as a physical character.

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#### Cervantes

The supposed translator of Benengeli’s historical novel, who interjects his opinions into the novel at key times. Cervantes intentionally creates the impression that he did not invent the character of Don Quixote. Like Benengeli, Cervantes is not physically present but is a character nonetheless. In his prologues, dedications, and invention of Benengeli, Cervantes enhances the self-referential nature of the novel and forces us to think about literature’s purpose and limitations.

#### The Duke and Duchess

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* The cruel and haughty contrivers of the adventures that occupy Don Quixote for the majority of the novel’s Second Part. Bored and snobby, the Duke and Duchess feign interest in Don Quixote and Sancho but continually play pranks on them for their personal entertainment. The Duke and Duchess spend so much money and effort on their ploys that they seem as mad as Don Quixote.

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#### Altisidora

The Duchess’s bratty maid. Altisidora pretends to love Don Quixote, mocking his concept of romantic love.

#### Sampson Carrasco

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A sarcastic student from Don Quixote’s village. Sampson mocks Don Quixote at first but loses to him in combat and then dedicates himself to revenge. Self-important and stuffy, Sampson fails to grasp the often playful nature of Don Quixote’s madness.

#### The priest

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* A friend of Don Quixote’s. The priest disapproves of fictional books that, in his opinion, negatively influence society. Nonetheless, he enjoys tales of chivalry so much that he cannot throw them away. Moreover, despite his social conscience, he enjoys Don Quixote’s madness at times.

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#### The barber

Don Quixote’s friend who recognizes Quixote’s madness but intervenes only to help the priest carry out his plans. The barber strenuously disapproves of Don Quixote’s chivalry

#### Teresa Panza

Sancho’s good-hearted wife. Teresa speaks in proverbs, exhibiting more wisdom than most other characters. Unambitious but a bit greedy, she endures Sancho’s exploits and supports him with her prayers.

#### Cardenio

An honorable man who is driven mad by the infidelities of his wife, Lucinda, and the treachery of a duke, Ferdinand. Cardenio is the quintessential romantic lover.

#### Lucinda

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* Cardenio’s wife. Silent and beautiful, Lucinda is a model of the courtly woman. Docile and innocent, she obliges her parents and her lover.

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