The poem, The Husband’s Message, is not an epic poem because it lacks the characteristics that are essential to an epic poem. One of the basic characteristics of an epic poem is that the main protagonist or the hero should generally be “larger than life” and possess traits that can make him a legend someday. In addition, in an epic poem, both the good and the bad side of the protagonist are presented without bias. Meaning to say, an epic poem must portray the rise and fall of the hero through his or her deeds. Moreover, the hero’s actions and deeds must perform courageous deeds that would affect a large area such as an entire nation or several nations.
In the case of The Husband’s Message, while both the main character’s downfall and triumph were
...depicted, he did not posses traits and he did not perform heroic acts that would make him a legend or even a hero. Another important characteristic of an epic poem is the setting. Usually, the setting in an epic poem covers a large area such as two nations at war with each other in which a hero would emerge. In the case of the poem, although it was depicted that the wooden plank, which personified the husband, traveled great distances across the seas, it did not cover a large enough area to make it an epic poem.
Finally, one other important characteristic of an epic poem is the events that take place. These events usually shape the future of the people and the nations involved and are mainly affected by the deeds of the hero. The poem in question did not portray
events that would significantly affect the lives of a lot of people because it only depicted a man who is persuading his wife to join him, which is relatively common in the modern setting.
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