The Wife's Lament
Publication Date: April 19, 2010
Chapter: English Literature During The Middle Ages
I find "The Wife's Lament" ridiculously entertaining for reasons beyond my understanding. Depending upon how you look at the poem, the long-divided husband and wife share a sorrowful bond, as they can never be reunited. It's a truly sad tale. However, if you interpret a few words differently, the relationship is decidedly more one-sided; the husband is a total dick that tells his loving wife to live in a tree for a while. According to Norton, these are "diametrically opposed interpretations" of the poem.
Obviously the version with the douchebag husband is far more amusing, hense the comic. I'm also starting to imagine a rather violent sequel to this poem, in which the wife finds a sword and cuts a path of destruction throughout England on her quest for vengeance. "Coming this summer: when the lament is over, the payback begins." It'd be kinda like "Kill Bill," only with dialog that varies depending on who's translating it.
Year: c. 900 • Source: The HyperTexts • Info: Wikipedia
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Lit Brick is a comic started by Jodie Troutman in an effort to read the entire Norton Anthology of English Literature. Having eventually succeeded in that goal, it now features comics about all manner of random literature. For more of Jodie's work, visit longtalljodie.com!
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