“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Beowulf: Rowling’s Beowulfian Analogs and Inversions”

Abstract

Beowulf profoundly impacts fantasy literature, evidenced in the heroic quest cycle and archetypal symbolism infused into its narrative. Such literary influences are realized in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The Beowulf narrative follows its titular champion through three duels with unique monsters, with each confrontation escalating the narrative tension, along with the poem’s thematic and symbolic stakes. Analogously, in Rowling’s fourth installment of her heptalogy, Harry, Hogwarts’ unexpected champion, must face three challenges, each more difficult and formative than the previous.

While cursory popular links have been made between the Old English epic with Rowling’s text, a sustained dialogue between Beowulf and Goblet of Fire has yet to be made. I argue Rowling mimics and inverts the Beowulfian duel sequence, presenting thematic and characterological analogues between Harry and Beowulf, while borrowing symbolic elements from the Old English epic poem for her own thematic use. My reading is informed by archetypal and symbolic frameworks, analyzing both texts through a Christological lens, following the lead of Beowulf scholars such as M.B. McNamee, Margaret E. Goldsmith, and Alvin A. Lee and Potter scholars like Rita Singer. This essay treats Rowling and Beowulf within a shared heroic, mythopoetic tradition. This project adds to Potter scholarship while simultaneously offering a comparative avenue of interpretation which instructors can use to introduce these heroic English epics side-by-side within the classroom.

This paper has been submitted to the academic journal Mythlore for publication consideration.

“‘Happy Birthday, John, I Want a Divorce!’: Margaret Atwater Mason’s The Binding of the Strong: A Love Story and American Divorce Discourse on John Milton’s Tercentenary”

Abstract

1908 marked John Milton’s three hundredth birthdate, an event early twentieth-century American culture celebrated. While there were numerous literary Miltonic dedications presented within periodicals, American novelist Caroline Atwater Mason stands distinctive, publishing The Binding of the Strong: A Love Story in 1908. Mason’s novel presents a historically fictional adaptive narrative depicting Milton’s rumored affair with Dr. Davis’ daughter during Mary Powell’s marital desertion, a suggestion presented in a late seventeenth-century Milton biography typically attributed to John Phillips, Milton’s nephew. Interestingly, since 1867, America’s divorce rate rose, causing it to be a popular topic of conversation in speech and print.

Thus, I argue Milton’s tercentenary American celebration in 1908 brought with it a venue for Margaret Atwater Mason to add to the ongoing American discourse on divorce, as her novel deals with Milton’s love life and divorce tracts. Binding can be read as Mason either advocating for or against divorce, with socio-religious implications for either reading. I provide analysis from both perspectives, illustrating how reading Binding from conflicting standpoints empathetically honors Mason’s cultural moment. Mason’s novel can be read both ways because it should be read both ways; oppositional readings demonstrate Binding as a reflection of the attitudinal dichotomies towards divorce in America during the Progressive Era, and how a female writer used Milton to add her voice to the divorce dialogue.

This project was one of my portfolio papers, part of USF English’s graduate program requirements. The paper is in revision with the aim to submit for publication consideration.