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Symbolism in the epic story Beowulf
Monsters in beowulf
An essay on depiction of monsters in literature
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Recommended: Symbolism in the epic story Beowulf
The monsters of Beowulf live within us. Grendel, his beastly mother, and the hoarding dragon have frightened each and every human from the Stone Age to the era of the internet. All of our technology and globalization cannot banish them. Audiences worldwide are both repulsed and attracted to tales of their evil. They are Anglo-Saxon manifestations of primal human fears, those of the marauding predator. But the genius of Beowulf is that the monsters represent more than archetypical spooks and scares; they are foils to the civilized human being.
Since the advent of art and writing, monsters have been at the forefront of human creation. From cave paintings of great beasts to the snake-haired gorgons of Greek myth, mankind has been fascinated by what frightens it. The horror genre is so eternally popular because it provokes a very intimate reaction from the audience. Just as comedy is met with laughter and tragedy with tears, horror is met with fear. Horror has taken its place not only as an artistic and literary medium but also as a facet of society. Monsters and fear motivate and inspire just as much as heroes and hope, shaping cultures and religions along lines of light and dark. One must look no farther than the skeletal depictions of Hell and its beasts in medieval manuscripts to see the social weight terror can wield. The pious medieval citizen was motivated equally by the feverish desire to stay out of hell as he was to gain access to heaven.
It’s no secret that monsters have always been incredibly popular in fiction. The question one must then ask is “Why are monsters so scary”? The answer is more scientific than social. Monsters are terrifying because our brains tell us that they are. Evolution has hardwired our brains to ...
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...t as slain, adhering to all their culture’s norms, by a creature that followed none of them. The idea of being burnt alive or consumed while sleeping by a beast that epitomized everything your society abhorred was terrifying to the Anglo-Saxons. It would be an insult to their society, their very way of life, to let the monsters win.
In the end, however, the forces of good triumph. Beowulf and his followers defeat the evil beasts through honest combat, proving that the warrior’s path is always the highest. But that does not change the fact that the monsters remain terrifying. Born from our most basic and primal of fears, fictional monsters have grown to become a key component of the social and spiritual lore of the human race. In every story, in every time, there will always be the Grendel outside of Herot, the predator in the darkness, the monster under your bed.
In times before printed books were common, stories and poems were passed from generation to generation by word of mouth. From such oral traditions come great epics such as England’s heroic epic, Beowulf. In Beowulf, the monster Grendel serves as the evil character acting against the poem’s hero, as shown by his unnatural strength, beast-like qualities, and alienation from society.
In literature, monsters are often used to symbolize characteristics in humans. In the poem Beowulf, monsters are used to symbolize destructive behavior in humans. In the case of Hrothgar and Beowulf, their pride causes them to become selfish. Pride often makes people lose focus of their priorities and that can make their selfishness get out of control, and lead to destructive behavior.
We live in a world inhabited by Monsters. Monsters have been identified and represented in a myriad of ways since the birth of time and humanity. The intrusion of uniformity as we define it, the monster. Monsters have been depicted to frighten and agitate, to destruct and clout arguments, and to shape societies. In the chapter “Monster Culture (Seven Theses)”, Jeffrey Jerome Cohen argues with logic and reasoning to the way monsters have been interpreted far and near time. In everything we create, monsters are the by-products of our technology, the products of the things unconsidered. By inspecting our monsters, we divulge the intricacies of our culture, past and
Asma, Stephen. On Monsters :An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print.
...owards Grendel. Gardner’s retelling of Beowulf reinforces the universal idea that there are two, if not more, sides to every story. It is prudent to remember that what is monstrous to some may be perfectly normal to others and recognizing all viewpoints can help bring about a truth: good and evil are not always clear-cut.
There are three prominent monsters in the Beowulf text, Grendel, his mother, and the dragon. While the dragon proves to be the most fatale of foes for Beowulf, Grendel and his mother do not simply pose physical threats to the Germanic society; their roles in Beowulf are manifold. They challenge the perceptions of heroism, a sense of unrivalled perfection and superiority. Moreover, they allow the reader to reconsider the gender constructs upheld within the text; one cannot help but feel that the threat that these monsters present is directed towards the prevalent flaws in Beowulf’s world. Moreover, what makes these monsters is not their physical appearance; it is what they embody. Both Grendel and his mother have humanlike qualities yet their monstrous appearance arises from what their features and mannerisms represent. The challenge they pose to societal paradigms makes them far more terrifying to our heroes than any scaled flesh or clawing hand. These monsters provide the ‘most authoritative general criticism […] of the structure and conduct of the poem’. Their presence provides contrast and criticism of the brave society (Heaney 103).
One of the many staples of horror fiction is the employment of a monster to aide in the fear the reader experiences. A monster gives the protagonists a tangible object to fear. When the fear is tangible the protagonists are able to be drawn into the story in a more concrete manner. The reader is also able to be included in the fear because they can get a full picture of what is scaring the main characters. Unlike ghosts or spirits, monsters provide a visual representation of the fear to be experienced. One pair of monsters stand out from the others, this is the wolfman and the werewolf. On the surface, both are seemingly the same character with a different name, but this paper is going to explore the differences between the wolfman and the werewolf as they appear in fiction and how their different manifestations relates to the characters in the story and those behind the fur. This writer believes that although there are many similarities behind the werewolf and the wolfman, there are a few differences in how the characters are portrayed. This difference is shown primarily in The Wolfman by Jonathan Maberry and The Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen king.
Tolkien, J.R.R.. “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics.” In Beowulf – Modern Critical Interpretations, edited by Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.
Jeffery Cohen's first thesis states “the monster's body is a cultural body”. Monsters give meaning to culture. A monsters characteristics come from a culture's most deep-seated fears and fantasies. Monsters are metaphors and pure representative allegories. What a society chooses to make monstrous says a lot about that society’s people. Monsters help us express and find our darkest places, deepest fears, or creepiest thoughts. Monsters that scare us,vampires, zombies, witches, help us cope with what we dread most in life. Fear of the monstrous has brought communities and cultures together. Society is made up of different beliefs, ideas, and cultural actions. Within society there are always outcasts, people that do not fit into the norm or do not follow the status quo. Those people that do not fit in become monsters that are feared almost unanimously by the people who stick to the status quo.
Monsters are towering, fierce beings best known for causing nightmares and battling heroes. Tales are told of their devastating power, but also of their agonizing defeats. Monsters are symbols of the inherent evil of human nature and of the dark truths of the natural world. Monsters are also challenges, tasks a hero must complete. Sometimes monsters are the ultimate measure of a hero’s worth, other times just another step in a hero’s journey. In the book Bulfinch’s Mythology, Thomas Bulfinch writes that “Monsters, in the language of mythology, were beings of unnatural proportions or parts, usually regarded with terror, as possessing immense strength and ferocity, which they employed for the injury and annoyance of men.” Although independent of what they represent, Monsters come in numerous builds and multiple figures, like humans.
Gilmore, David D. "Why Study Monsters?" Gilmore, David D. Monsters: Evil Beings, Mythical Beasts, and All Manner of Imaginary Terrors. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003. 210.
Matheson’s tale reflects society’s new fear of mob mentality, along with mindless consumerism, as the world was beginning to be dominated by large cities. Jeffrey Cohen stated in Monster Culture (Seven Theses), “‘Monster Theory’ must therefore concern itself with the strings of cultural moments, connected by a logic that always threatens to shift” (6). Monster culture has been constantly changing for as long as humans have recorded history because fear is a natural instinct. Humans will always be looking for something to rationalize their fears and provide tangible evidence to explain strange
In history, evil men have reigned supreme across many cultures. Some people say that being evil is inherent in every human. If this is true, then writing may be the ultimate way of releasing hatred of the world without hurting anyone. In Beowulf, all of society's evil men can be personified within the demons of Cain. The main demon presented in Beowulf is Grendel. Grendel personifies the exact opposite of what the Anglo-Saxons held dear. Beowulf, the story's hero, is the embodiment of what every Anglo-Saxon strove to become in their lifetime. Grendel is constantly angry, afraid and unsure of himself; while Beowulf is fearless and loyal to his king.
Tolkein, J.R.R. “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics.” Beowulf: The Donaldson Translation Backgrounds and Sources Criticism. Tuso, Joseph F. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1975. Print.
“In my youth I engaged in many wars”, Beowulf boasts to his warriors, which is certainly true. Throughout his life, he faces many deadly foes, all of which he handily defeats, save one. His story focuses on the most challenging, as well as morally significant of foes, Grendel and the dragon. These creatures reveal much about society as well as Christian virtue at the time. Even after Grendel and the dragon are defeated physically, the two monsters pose a new threat to the hero on a higher plane. Beowulf is not only at risk of losing his life, but his humanity, virtue, and even spirituality.