Struggles of Civilization and Nature
Alex Lang
The word civilization is frequently used to describe a human society with cultural and scientific development, and a society with a distinct identity. Although the exact definition can be loosely defined due to different points of view or different guidelines, a civilization is always a group of people that can be categorized together as one. In medieval times, generally the people within a civilization relied on each other and developed their own cultures and beliefs. Two different societies are portrayed in “Beowulf” and “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”. In “Beowulf”, the threat of evil looms over Hrothgar’s civilization and in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, the human nature tests Gawain and his strive for perfection. Although nature can be temporarily defeated, nature will always prevail in a nature versus society conflict. The medieval writings of “Beowulf” and “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” show the hardships of maintaining a civilization through the struggles man faces with nature. In “Beowulf”, nature is represented by the monsters that Beowulf encounters, and each monster threatens the standards of civilization. This is because the monsters are supernatural and unhuman. …show more content…
He needs to defeat the challenge from the Green Knight, his sexual desire, and his fear of death. In the story, the Green Knight symbolizes nature. The Green Knight barges into the dining festivities, as this excerpt explains:
There hurtles in at the hall-door an unknown rider,
One the greatest on ground in growth of his frame:
From broad neck to buttocks so bulkv and thick,
And his loins and his legs so long and so great,
Half a giant on earth I hold him to be,
But believe him no less than the largest of men,
And that the seemliest in his stature to see, as he rides,
For in back and in breast though his body was
Alex Lang
The word civilization is frequently used to describe a human society with cultural and scientific development, and a society with a distinct identity. Although the exact definition can be loosely defined due to different points of view or different guidelines, a civilization is always a group of people that can be categorized together as one. In medieval times, generally the people within a civilization relied on each other and developed their own cultures and beliefs. Two different societies are portrayed in “Beowulf” and “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”. In “Beowulf”, the threat of evil looms over Hrothgar’s civilization and in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, the human nature tests Gawain and his strive for perfection. Although nature can be temporarily defeated, nature will always prevail in a nature versus society conflict. The medieval writings of “Beowulf” and “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” show the hardships of maintaining a civilization through the struggles man faces with nature. In “Beowulf”, nature is represented by the monsters that Beowulf encounters, and each monster threatens the standards of civilization. This is because the monsters are supernatural and unhuman. …show more content…
He needs to defeat the challenge from the Green Knight, his sexual desire, and his fear of death. In the story, the Green Knight symbolizes nature. The Green Knight barges into the dining festivities, as this excerpt explains:
There hurtles in at the hall-door an unknown rider,
One the greatest on ground in growth of his frame:
From broad neck to buttocks so bulkv and thick,
And his loins and his legs so long and so great,
Half a giant on earth I hold him to be,
But believe him no less than the largest of men,
And that the seemliest in his stature to see, as he rides,
For in back and in breast though his body was