The Seafarer And The Wife's Lament

The concept of exile, or the act of being separated from others, is a common threat in many pieces of Anglo-Saxon literature. The reasoning for incorporating the idea of exile into so many works is to instill the culture’s greatest fear in order to create a greater impact on the reader or listener. The Anglo-Saxon people wanted to be remembered in the future. If exiled, no memory of this person would ever remain in the future because he or she was banished from the land to forever be forgotten. The reason for exile may be displayed in different ways, depending upon the lyric or story. Exile is prevalent in the lyrics “The Seafarer,” “The Wanderer,” and “The Wife’s Lament.” Each lyric displays exile in a completely different way; however, all three works instill the fear of exile in a powerful way to the reader/listener.
“The Seafarer” immediately states the main idea of self-imposed exile in the second sentence of the lyric. Lines 1-3 of “The Seafarer” states, “It tells how
The main character committed a sin in the eyes of the people and was sentenced with banishment from the land. As a result, the woman was refrained from ever returning to her homeland to find love. The woman had to live the rest of her life with a void in her heart created by exile. The woman could not fight against the people for her right to stay because, at that day in age, men had more power over women. The exiled woman had no way of overruling the people’s decision. The reader/listener may or may not feel sorrow toward the character in “The Wife’s Lament,” because there can be different outlooks on the situation. One may feel justice was rightfully served, while others may feel as if the woman’s situation was misunderstood, and she was wrongfully accused of her crime. Whichever way the positions are perceived, the exile was forced upon the woman, and isolation was