Three Fight Scenes from Beowulf

 

In any great story of heroics, fight scenes often determine whether the fighter will become a hero or fall a victim in the eyes of society.  In the story Beowulf, the three major fight scenes with Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon differ from one another because they all represent different ethical values of Anglo-Saxon society.  The fight with Grendel represents vengence, the fight with Grendel’s mother represents blood vengeance, and the fight with the dragon represents facing death with courage and dealing with fate.

           The fight between Beowulf and Grendel represents vengeance because Grendel is avenging his curse by God to live as a demon for killing his brother Able.  The text introduces Grendel by stating, “Then a powerful demon, a prowler through the dark, nursed a hard grievance” (Beowulf 42, 86-87).  The “hard grievance” is the curse that God dealt to Cain for the murder of Able that changed Cain into a monster.  An ethical value from Anglo-Saxon society in this fight is revenge, for Grendel is taking revenge on God’s people for his curse.  Later the text states, “For the killing of Abel the Eternal Lord had exacted a price:  Cain got no good from committing that murder” (Beowulf 44, 107-109).  God took revenge on Cain, Grendel took revenge on the people of Heorot, and Beowulf avenged the people of Heorot by defeating Grendel.  This linear module of revenge and avenging continues with the fight with Grendel’s mother.

            The fight with Grendel’s mother represents blood vengeance, also known as wergild, because Grendel’s mother is avenging the death of her son.  The text states, “But now his mother had sallied forth on a savage journey, grief-racked and ravenous, desperate for revenge” (Beowulf 69, 1276-1278).  In Anglo-Saxon society, avenging the death of one’s kin is a major ethical value.  Not only is Grendel’s mother avenging the death of her son, Beowulf and his men are avenging the death of a respected man she killed in Heorot, Aeschere.  The text states “He died in battle, paid with his life; and now this powerful other one arrives, this force for evil driven to avenge her kinsman’s death” (Beowulf 71, 1337-1340).  Beowulf kills Grendel’s mother the same way she killed Aeschere, by cutting her head off (Beowulf 76).  This settles the score of the feud for a while, but the fight with the dragon determines the last battle of ethics.

           The last fight in the text, the fight with the dragon, represents the honor of facing death with courage and fate because Beowulf accepts his death and does not run from his enemy.  Beowulf states, “I shall win the gold by my courage, or else mortal combat, doom of battle, will bear you lord away” (Beowulf 95, 2535-2537).  Beowulf is stating a fact that he will not surrender until he is killed in battle.  The Anglo-Saxon value of courage in the face of death is evident in this statement and in the rest of the passage when Beowulf is deserted by his men and is standing alone in battle with the dragon (Beowulf 96).  Fate is also an Anglo-Saxon ethical value, and is evident in the statement, “…that final day was the first time when Beowulf fought and fate denied him glory in battle” (Beowulf 96, 2573-2575).   This phrase determines that there is a larger force working in Beowulf than just his will, but that he had no choice in preserving his life because fate was determining the fall of events. 

            Great heroes are often remembered for their strength in the face of an adversary and their selflessness to a noble cause, especially at the expense of death.  The three major fight scenes in the story Beowulf differ from one another because they all represent different ethical values of Anglo-Saxon society; vengeance, blood vengeance, and fate.  Beowulf represents an ideal hero of Anglo-Saxon society because of his noble traits.  Humans have always looked to heroes for inspiration in their lives, and it is with great stories that humans can find it within themselves to accomplish great deeds.

 

 

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Les Miserables performs at the Academy of Music

The street in front of the Academy of Music in Philadelphia was flooded with theater goers January 5 awaiting the ushers to allow entrance to see The 25th Anniversary Production of Les Miserables produced by Cameron Mackintosh.

The nearly sold out show kicked off with the orchestra playing the haunting overture as the curtain rose on the set inspired by Victor Hugo's paintings, according to the Showcase program bulletin.

Jean Valjean, played by Peter Lockyer, literally kept the audience on the edge of their seats with his talent, causing them to  lean towards the stage to catch every word and note.

Lockyer's most memorable musical number was "Bring Him Home," which is a true test of all who play the character Jean Valjean because of the intense octave jumps.  Lockyer performed the song with believable emotion and perfect pitch.

Andrew Varela played a fantastic Javert and captured the essence of the sinister and intimidating inspector on stage.  Varela's rendition of the musical number "Javert's Suicide" magnified the struggle of how challenging it can be for a person to change and was performed masterfully.

Fantine was played by Genevieve Leclerc in which the performance of "Fantine's Death" brought the audience to tears when she called for her daughter, Cosette, who was not with her in her hour of death.

The Thenardiers', played by Timothy Gulan and Shawna M. Hamic, brought comic relief to a musical steeped in tragedy and received hearty laughs from the audience.  "The Bargain," the musical number in which Jean Valjean adopted the young Cosette from the Thenardiers' was performed with wit and nicely demonstrated the characters ignorance, especially when Thenadier intended to cross himself in the christian manner and instead of a cross pantomimes a circle.

Cosette, Marius, and Eponine, played by Lauren Wiley, Devin Ilaw, and Briana Carlson-Goodman, offered believable chemistry in the love triangle that they portrayed, particularly in the song "A Heart Full of Love".  The layering of voices as well as the staging with Marius and Cosette singing to each other, as Eponine sang to Marius captured the tragic realization of Eponine being the "third wheel."

Ilaw sang Marius's song "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" with such conviction the audience openly wept, especially when his friends which died in the barricade appeared onstage holding candles to represent their passing over to death.

The finale musical number, sang by the company, was a breathtaking moment which ended the show with the moral that, "to love another person is to see the face of God," which led the audience to give a standing ovation.

Les Miserables will play at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia until January 13 and will continue the United States tour until June 9, 2013.  

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