Reference no: EM133420587
There's an intense focus on material wealth, the status it accords, and various types of material exchange in the works Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and either The Miller's Tale/Prologue or The Wife of Bath's Tale/Prologue. In a detailed, thoughtful essay supported by textual examples, discuss the following:
1. how are material objects are represented, the degree to which they are valued, what kinds of cultural meanings they carry, and how they affect human and social relationships in Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and either The Miller's Tale/Prologue or The Wife of Bath's Tale/Prologue.
2. Does the importance of material exchange and status transform over the course of the works ?
3. What conclusions do you think each of the works arrive at concerning materialism, greed, or perhaps the possibility of upward mobility through various kinds of exchange?