formalist critisim in beowulf

Question

What are some examples that show formalist criticism in beowulf?

i need to write a 6 page essay and im struggling

also if someone could explain more thoroughly what formalism is i would appreciate that!!

Thank You!

Answer 1

Criticism is basically analyzing a story or movie or piece and comparing it or finding its good points and bad points. I can do this is a feminist way and point out the gender norms but hopeful feminism of Legally Blonde, or I can do this is a Marxist way, and point out that A Christmas Carol relies on us hoping the man with the money gets generous out of fear before we can fix economic issues. Your task looks like they want you to not do those two methods. They want you to use Formalist criticism, which is almost ignoring the world's context to the work. No feminism or marxism, or even paying attention to the author or time period it was written. This definition helped me the most: "the main focus is on the arrangement of language." So is it written beautifully? Is the story compelling, is he a good writer, are the words interesting to hear and create a song in your mind?

"A formalist critic examines the form of the work as a whole, the form of each individual part of the text (the individual scenes and chapters), the characters, the settings, the tone, the point of view, the symbols, themes, and all other elements of the text which join to make it a single text."

Since it is 6 pages, this seems like a better definition for you. You can talk about one part per page, picking 6 different things you want to talk about. (I like breaking down things, especially 6 page essays, woof!)

https://www2.bellevuecollege.edu/artshum/materials/engl/silano/fall2005/101lsb/formalistlitanalyassgn.htm

This link is from Bellevue College, and it breaks down Formulist criticism so well. They basically hand you 4 questions for 5 different literary aspects you'll need to analyze. Hope this helps!