Explore the Construction of Identiy in Hamlet and Beowulf
Thesis: Identity is constructed through the character’s change/realisation of social ideals and personal experiences throughout the text. “’Identity has been increasingly used to refer to the social and historical make-up of a person, personality as a construct. Sometimes such identities are conceived narrowly psychological, individualist terms, as the cumulative result of personal experience and family history”
This is seen particularly in Beowulf where all men are referred to as their fathers’ sons’. Family history was massively important in those times and men well often well respected because of the heroic things their ancestors had done. Warriors also felt the need to reach the same level of notoriety. This is shown when we are first introduced to Beowulf. We are told about his father before even knowing his name:
“In his day, my father was a famous man a noble warrior-lord named Ecgtheow”
Similarly in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, purely through learning of Hamlet’s lineage we discover he is the son of the king and this plays an important part of his identity and the events throughout the play.
In most novels, plays and poems, the identity of the protagonist changes the more we get to know the character; the more that happens the more we think we know what they are like. This is the same for real life, when we first meet people we are often uncertain about their identity and personality, we usually learn more about them through their actions and associations. This is true for Beowulf; because it is set in the third person we learn about him through what he does and what he says. A text being in third person can also be useful; the narrator can offer definite and universal truths about the character which can be especially useful as it is almost impossible for a writer to create a character that will be interpreted the same way by every person that reads it. Characters are read in different ways throughout the generations and from culture to culture. It could
This is seen particularly in Beowulf where all men are referred to as their fathers’ sons’. Family history was massively important in those times and men well often well respected because of the heroic things their ancestors had done. Warriors also felt the need to reach the same level of notoriety. This is shown when we are first introduced to Beowulf. We are told about his father before even knowing his name:
“In his day, my father was a famous man a noble warrior-lord named Ecgtheow”
Similarly in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, purely through learning of Hamlet’s lineage we discover he is the son of the king and this plays an important part of his identity and the events throughout the play.
In most novels, plays and poems, the identity of the protagonist changes the more we get to know the character; the more that happens the more we think we know what they are like. This is the same for real life, when we first meet people we are often uncertain about their identity and personality, we usually learn more about them through their actions and associations. This is true for Beowulf; because it is set in the third person we learn about him through what he does and what he says. A text being in third person can also be useful; the narrator can offer definite and universal truths about the character which can be especially useful as it is almost impossible for a writer to create a character that will be interpreted the same way by every person that reads it. Characters are read in different ways throughout the generations and from culture to culture. It could