| dc.description.abstract | Critics of La3amon's Brut have noticed the repetitiveness of the work, and some have noted that La3amon often establishes pairs of themes in opposition The poem is framed by a pair of scenes in binary opposition. The pervasiveness of this feature throughout the work has not, in my opinion, been fully explored. In this thesis, I will examine narrative balance and opposition in representative passages from the Brut. Furthermore, unlike previous studies, this one will discuss the relationship of La3amon's narrative structure to that of Old English poetry. Poems such as Beowulf, The Wanderer, and Aelfric's Lives of Saints place themes in binary opposition to show contrast and to provide a "frame" for their narrative. The Brut represents a continuation of this aspect of the Anglo-Saxon poetic tradition. | |
