Juvenilia ✔/ a Nonfiction Undergraduate University Collection

The Seven Deadly Sins in Epics

ENGLISH 2901

English Literature Pre-1660

December 6th, 2018

The Seven Deadly Sins in Epics

The artistic purpose of the evil creatures in Literature is to symbolically communicate three things: 

~To juxtapose the good from the evil

~To demonstrate how to be a good (Christian) person. 

~To allude to political and/or religious events.

Each monster serves as an allegory to show what not to do if you're to be a worthy Christian. In addition, each physical body of the monster is a mirror image of how they appear inside too. They are depicted with a monstrous body because they are in fact monstrous inside too. 

In Beowulf, Grendel is jealous of what he does not have (Envy), and his mother seeks revenge on those who killed her son (Wrath). Meanwhile, the dragon is often associated with (Greed). 

In 'The Faerie Queen', Error, as her name might suggest, signifies human error, or original sin (Pride). In truth, she represents all seven sins because to sin is the human condition. Despair provokes each person who talks with him to commit suicide. He in particular is scary because he doesn't inflict physical pain: he turns the mind against itself. Arguably, he most represents (Sloth), the slow ,arduous battle against acquiescence; of shirking one's duty to dispel doubt and to rise above the problems of this world, to not succumb to sin in the face of withering resolve. Lastly, we have the almighty dragon that cannot be defeated without having unwavering Christian faith. 

Finally, we have Paradise Lost. In Sin, we find several allegories. The first being that of (Lust), and the second being that she represents the concept of sinning coming from within the mind. Satan represents Pride, and Death represents the consequence, the final destination if you are evil.

Grendel is the descendant of Cain (Beowulf, 102-07), the by-product of a betrayal of brother against brother. He looks at the outside world and is jealous of everything he does not have. He displays envy when he occupies the mead hall and takes out his malice on all those who get in his way(115-25). The suggestion is that to be envious is to become a monster. Grendel also serves the purpose of justifying the tenacity of Beowulf.

Continuing with the seven deadly sins theme, Grendel's mother demonstrates a great deal of hatefulness (Beowulf, 1275-80). In the first fight with Grendel, Beowulf wins because of his brute strength. However, with Grendel's mother, Beowulf swims to the bottom of the pitch-black swamp to meet evil head-on (similarly to The Faerie Queen when the Red cross Knight must descend before gaining the Christian armour). They are parallel situations. (1557) Without the sword (God-given perhaps) Beowulf would have been defeated. The purpose of Grendel's mother was to serve as a challenge of faith. Beowulf, having found the sword, found his faith in a way. He embraced his god and found victory. Once again, good beats evil.

Next, we have the dragon representing Greed. It, combined with Beowulf, can also represent the being Death or Evil itself. Beowulf is a force of good, while the dragon is a force of evil that hoards treasure and kills when it pleases (Beowulf, 2271-2295). It's also the last monster Beowulf fights, so it is the most important battle. The dragon serves to oppose the image of the good king who shares his treasure and fights for a reason (to save his people). With the final defeat of the dragon, even though Beowulf dies, it is symbolic of the vanquishing of evil. The dragon brings about tensions within the story. 

In contrast to the traits of the dragon, Beowulf is everything good. Beowulf is the leader, but he is a warrior first, so the decision to fight the dragon knowing he was the only one who could possibly have a chance was the right call. Some might say that he should have stayed and safeguarded his kingdom and people. However, we already know how that would go because of King Hrothgar who could only watch as his people were picked off one by one. It would have left the community in the same state as when Grendel was attacking, and that situation lasted for years with many casualties where hope dwindled into despair–a breeding ground for Sin. They would have had to wait for another warrior like Beowulf to save them, which was highly unlikely. It is a much easier task to find a leader than a fighter capable of defeating the evil dragon.