Product Description

Imagine a society

seething with resentment because of the perception that certain groups receive special treatment

beset by grief about the decline of its glory days

grown hard and callous, with miserly leaders unwilling to redistribute the country's wealth.

Sound familiar?

This is the world of 9th Century England, where a society facing the constant threat of decimation finds guidance in the great English epic . The poem understands how rage, taking the form of monstrous resentment, vengeful grieving, and venomous greed, can tear a society apart.

The monsters in are no less present in America today, taking up habitation in the extreme right, their enablers in the political class, and the cynical and self-absorbed 1%. By examining the poem's namesake, and his monster-fighting tactics, literature professor Robin Bates shows how the poem provides a blueprint for combating the great challenges facing America today and for reclaiming the promise of a society that insures justice, equality, and the promise of a good life for all.