In lines 1932-1962 a beautiful story of change from bad to good is displayed. It is the story of Queen Modthryth and how she grew into a charismatic woman following her marriage to Offa. In lines 1932-1943 it discusses her cruel ways and how she tortured innocent people. The book says,":he was kept bound in hand-tightened shackles, racked, tortured until doom was pronounced- death by the sword, slash of blade, blood-gush and death qualms in an evil display." (Heaney, 133) By this quote we can assume that the innocent people were tortured and killed just for making eye contact with the queen. The book even goes on to say that even a queen does not have the power to do what Queen Modthryth did. I think this can bring up the question of how far a queen's power extends. To what extent can a queen go before she exceeds her power? Even in today's society we struggle with the idea of power. This is the reason a balance of power must exist in our government. Our government contains three branches in order to prevent one branch from becoming too powerful or abusing the power they have. I think power is something people will always struggle with and we as humans must be able to recognize when power is bring abused and have the courage to challenge it.
The book goes on in lines 1944-1962 to tell of how Queen Modthryth changed her ways and became more charismatic and forgiving. The book says that kinsman challenged her ways and she became better after she married Offa. I think it is important to point out that the kinsman challenged her ways. I think it is important for us as a society to have the courage to challenge the abuse of power when we recognize it happening. We as a society have the responsibility to observe the world around us and recognize when wrong is being done. We also have the responsibility to do something about it if we see something we do not believe is right. I think the book portrays this beautifully in the story of Queen Modthryth and her change from evil to good.
I commented on Abigale Bell's and Haylee Lynd's post.
Wow, connecting Queen Modthryth's evildoings to our government definitely puts things in perspective from a societal viewpoint, should one view things from a plethora of different views. Going off of what you pointed out, I can't personally remember in all my life of collecting knowledge of any leader that was successful and achieved greatness by having just a bunch of "yes men" around them. The great leaders like FDR, Churchill, Sun Tzu, Lincoln, Washington, and others had a council that had people of different viewpoints who knew better on specialized issues that advised the leader on the optimal course of action. It's a major reason the President of the United States has a presidential cabinet and advisors today: accountability. Good Post!
ReplyDeleteHi Emma Kate! Really interesting post! I love that you connected that story with an issue relevant in today's world. I was tempted to overlook Queen Monthryth when reading this section, but thanks to your making these connections, I now see a valuable practical application for the story within a story.
ReplyDeleteI like what you said on the idea of power. I agree as to how power should and shouldn't be distributed and how one person can take their power and overuse it from any government standpoint. Thank you for addressing the topic in relation to today's world and things many government officials seem to be terrible at doing at points.
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