ABSTRACT
Responding to such criticism, modern analysts have argued the need to recognize and appreciate that Cynewulf’s aesthetic is purposely non-mimetic, non-realistic. Juliana, the defenders explain, “was never meant to portray reality;” it was developed “without regard for realism, psychological probability or historical accuracy;” it depends on a “schematic pattern carefully worked out rather than any realism in the depiction of the conflict.” To say that Juliana portrays Cynewulf’s concept of reality does not invalidate the symbolic correspondences within the poem which modern critics have found. Indeed if the poem is to be interpreted figurally, as Joseph Wittig has suggested,8 one must accept that Cynewulf believed in the reality of the characters and events portrayed. In the devil’s parting words to Juliana, Cynewulf seems to emphasize the effect the confession should have on the audience as well as the saint.
