Judith

1 Pages 346 Words

Judith’s identity as woman warrior put the poem in the social scope of old English times. It was rare that a woman was portrayed as having power, even super-power based on God working through a woman, yet alone acknowledged as being supreme during the time old English times. Surprisingly not, Christian themes are featured in the poem (which reflects the Anglo Saxons vs. Pagan invaders). The most outstanding and important theme in the poem is Judith, the Christian heroin symbolizing good, vs. Holofernes, the Devil symbolizing evil. It is one poem with two very important victories.
First of all a woman has been portrayed as the unlikely hero of the time and shines flawlessly on the journey to triumph. This is seen as a symbolic depiction of contemporary literary issues. Through a display of extreme faith Judith is able to overcome adversity and triumph. This is a very powerful message brought about in the poem showing woman everywhere anything is possible through having faith and male dominance will not continue to triumph. In the times where all hero’s and superiors were males, this poem brings about a curve in the history of literature as well as the world. Something as small as changing the sex of a character in a story or poem can have countless effects on the world. Male dominance of the time was based on the mentality of winning and taking, this is exactly what Holofernes was expecting to do. Conquering the woman through rape and taking her prison as a sign of weakness, but the woman warrior prevailed.
The second triumph in the poem is good (God) prevailing over evil (the devil). Judith’s faith in the Lord is far more powerful then the temptation of evil by the devil. Darkness represented by a drunken man’s idea to rape a “helpless woman” is denied by the bright light of heaven shining onto the earth to bring courage and strength to a child of the Lord. Brightness proves to be a sign of good life on earth will preva...