In the story by Beowulf, it is evident that the aspect of death is well exhibited based on the warfare that is highly adopted in the setting. From the perspective that warfare is the full occupation of major heroes, the mortality point of view is evident for heroic poetry. Most of the death scenes that are found in the story adopt the active usage of vivid images that are quite easy to relate with (Wehlau, 2019). Beowulf, the story poet, enhances the key factors that a warrior's life may or may not be cut short in the most negative way. Through the prior inclusion of outrage and fear, it highly results in horrible deaths, and it becomes an active role by the warriors to gather the utmost courage and strength while handling the matters of the society.
The character Grendel commits various murders even before the main hero Beowulf kills him when he rips off his arm. The poet recalls the instance where Hrothgar's bards sing a song at the held feast; Hrothgar is asked to honour Beowulf for killing Grendel, the murderer. In this entire setting, death is considered to be inclusive of unethical prospects that are not accepted in the societal context. Those who experience the loss of their loved ones exhibit certain behaviors of pain since the effect imposed is hard to bear. An example is when we see Hildeburh lose her brother and son Jute; therefore, she exhibits a powerful image at the funeral to help prove the level of pain she goes through from her losses (Cronan, 2018). The factor on death also acts as a significant foreshadow unto the events concerning death that are to come shortly as per the story of Beowulf setting.
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When Beowulf prepares for his final battle with the dragon that guards a precious treasure, he appears to be very sad and restless on the verge of accomplishing the mission. As a pagan warrior, Beowulf views the entire concept of death to be that of fate since the end of a well-known hero approaches, therefore, proving all the needed facts in regards to death. In this case, "death" symbolizes death since one cannot deter fate from taking its active role in one's life (Baldwin and Stanley et al., 2020). Since the soul is a treasure, it still cannot hold maximum control over preventing the planned events from occurring, and that is seen even when Beowulf prepares for his last battle. Also, as the poem ends, the view of death for the hero is conducted in a very honourable manner where the funeral is done uniquely from the rest.
When it comes to other death instances of the residents in that societal context, it is done in regards to the stature of the person involved. Therefore the view of the death symbol proves that when one is very important in society, much respect is accorded unto them in terms of stature, respect, and honor (Baldwin and Stanley et al., 2020). Those who engage in heroic acts are well remembered in their untimely deaths; hence the context of death is taken to be very important at all costs to those who deserve it.
Story of Macbeth
In the entire story setting, various events occur which bring out the symbol of blood, which is applied to that of ultimate murder and guilt. Its point of view is actively seen from the characters Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. An instance occurs before Duncan got killed where Macbeth ends up hallucinating about a bloody dagger that is directed upon the king's room ( Aldoory & ِ Arwa, 2017 ). When the murder is committed, it is evident that there is the blood which symbolizes acceptance exhibited by Macbeth based on his inflicting guilt. At the same point, blood still affects Lady Macbeth, who is on the verge of cleaning her hands from the effects of blood during death.
It is quite vivid that the role and symbol of blood in the context of death runs in opposite directions, whereby Macbeth receives a change from being guilty into a very ruthless murderer. On the other hand, Lady Macbeth begins her character as a very assertive woman at the expense of her husband but ends up controlled by utmost guilt that makes her commit suicide (Pershina, 2018). Through the symbol of death, it is visible that through the theme of cruelty and utmost masculinity, it drives the characters into murdering since they strive to emerge as the victorious ones in every scenario.
The expression of death is highly notable since it takes into account all the desirable factors where both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth makes ultimate usage of the opportunities they get to murder to help grant them the needed leeway towards achieving their set goals. The active aggression put in place by Lady Macbeth proves that her utmost ambition for cruelty makes her exhibit confident unacceptable behaviours in the society since she has no fear to engage in killing (Ellis, 2016). Therefore, she uses that opportunity to enhance her desires and mission accomplishments, which are framed towards the need for deception and inappropriate manipulation that help her achieve her death expressions.
Through the act of determination, Lady Macbeth exhibits her immoral acts through the symbol of murder. She vividly spurs her husband to engage in the killing of Duncan. She uses specific contextual images to help prove her harmful intentions towards the need for bloodshed, which is quite evident from her conscience (Pershina, 2018). In the realm of ambition, she strives to kill Duncan, therefore, expressing her inbuilt urge for shedding blood hence a terrible atrocity.
References
Cronan, D. (2018). Narrative Disjunctions in Beowulf. English Studies , 99 (5), 459-478.
Wehlau, R. (2019). Beowulf’s Dark Thoughts: Heremod, Hrethel, and Exempla of the Mind. Darkness, Depression, and Descent in Anglo-Saxon England , 135.
Pershina, M. A. (2018, August). Metaphors of Crime and Punishment in Shakespeare's "Macbeth." In Proceedings of the 10th International RAIS Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities (pp. 202-207). Scientia Moralitas Research Institute.
Aldoory, A. H., & ِ Arwa, H. A. (2017). Macbeth in the Multidimensional Narrative of the Unnecessary Woman. Studies in Literature and Language , 14 (1), 50-57.
Ellis, E. S. M. (2016). The Eternal Macbeth: A Tale of Wicked Transformation . University of California, Santa Cruz.
