ShmoopTube
Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.
Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos
Exile Videos 4 videos
Boy and girl meet, fall in love, and commit suicide in a tomb. You know, your average love story.
This video discusses the important ladies of The Sun Also Rises…make that the one important lady. Brett is the only major female character in the...
The Wanderer 18841 Views
Share It!
Description:
You'll never guess what this Old English poem is about. Wait, what? You think it's about some dude who wanders around a lot? Hey, nice guess! Have you read it before?
Transcript
- 00:01
The Wanderer, a la Shmoop. The Old English poem, The Wanderer, is basically
- 00:09
one old warrior-dude going on and on and on about his past.
- 00:14
We're not exaggerating. It's pretty much the entire time.
- 00:20
But what's the main point of all this reminiscing?
- 00:23
It's got to be a reflection on something, right? But what?
Full Transcript
- 00:29
One thing the speaker spends a lot of time reflecting on is exile.
- 00:33
He reminisces about how sweet his life used to be when his lord and relatives were alive.
- 00:39
They were warriors, and they partied like rock stars.
- 00:42
Things were great... until everybody he knew was killed in battle.
- 00:46
Now, the speaker is homeless and alone.
- 00:50
It's not a lot of fun, but his exile does give him plenty of time to reflect on the
- 00:53
meaning of life.
- 00:55
About a zillion famous poets have written in exile... Ovid, Dante, et cetera...
- 01:02
In the poetry world, it's kind of the "in" thing to do.
- 01:06
So, even though it's a bummer, it has helped a lot of people think their... deep thoughts.
- 01:13
Another thing the speaker reflects on is God.
- 01:16
For most of the poem, he expresses traditional Germanic beliefs about how a wise man should
- 01:20
act.
- 01:22
He talks about stuff like the inevitability of death and mankind's inability to change
- 01:26
his fate.
- 01:27
Yeah, he's doesn't have a particularly sunny disposition.
- 01:31
At the end of the poem, though, he changes his tune a bit and starts expressing some
- 01:35
Christian ideas.
- 01:36
The speaker says that the only possible refuge from all the misery he's seen is in God's
- 01:42
grace.
- 01:43
There's no doubt the speaker spends a lot of time reflecting on suffering. With all
- 01:47
the terrible things that have happened to him, it's probably hard not to.
- 01:51
We have to hand it to him, though. Despite the bad times he's gone through, the speaker
- 01:54
works hard to find meaning in his suffering.
- 01:56
In fact, his suffering becomes bigger than just his personal experience.
- 02:01
It becomes part of the collective struggle of all mankind.
- 02:05
Because, really, aren't we all just trying to make sense of this great big... whatever-it-is?
- 02:10
So what's the reason for the trip down memory lane?
- 02:14
A reflection on exile?
- 02:16
On God?
- 02:17
Or on suffering? Shmoop amongst yourselves.
Related Videos
They say that honesty is the best policy, but Jack lies about his identity and still gets the girl. Does that mean we should all lie to get what we...
Ever wish you could remember everything that you ever studied? How about everything that everyone has ever studied? Yeah, pretty sure our brains ju...
Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is an American classic. Hope you're not expecting any exciting shower scenes though. It's not that kind of book.
Do not go gentle into that good night. In fact, if it's past your curfew, don't go at all into that good night. You just stay in your good bed and...
