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Beowulf character analysis essay
Beowulf character essay
Literary analysis of beowulf
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Throughout time, society has come in contact with individuals who are praised due to their bravery, loyalty, strength and a tendency to go beyond the limit. One may call this individual a hero, and if asked to give some examples of heroism, one may pick the classical literary hero Beowulf. According to Roger B. Rolling, Beowulf is classified as a Type I hero who, “if superior in degree to other men but not to his natural environment, … is a leader. He has authority, passions, and powers of expression far greater than ours but is subject both to social criticism and to the order of nature” (434). Beowulf’s heroism is exemplified first when he kills Grendel, then when he kills Grendel’s mother, and finally when he kills the Dragon. Also, Beowulf …show more content…
According to Henry Bosley Woolf, “News of the evil wrought among the Danes by Grendel is carried across the seas” (86). When Beowulf, who is in his home in the land of Geatland, hears about the tragic attack that Grendel has caused the Danes, he announces his plan to sail to Heorot and help King Hrothgar with Grendel (Beowulf 45). Beowulf, by helping King Hrothgar, is showing great signs of honor because Beowulf feels as if it was the right thing to do since he had been successful in his past deeds. In return, Beowulf expects no reward for his action but rather just being able to put another notch in his …show more content…
After Beowulf serves as King of the Geats for fifty years, he goes to battle one last time to fight a horrible Dragon that is terrifying his people. While others cower, Beowulf shows signs of bravery that define him as a hero. An example of Beowulf showing bravery is when he goes to slay the Dragon even though all his men abandon him. He realizes that the Dragon is more powerful than he is, but he will still not back down.
While engaging the Dragon in combat, Beowulf runs into complications with it and realizes that his sword can do no damage. Beowulf finds himself in defeat for the first time. However, Wiglaf, one of Beowulf’s kinsmen, comes to his aid and together with the combination of courage and strength delivers a deathblow to the Dragon. Although Beowulf is mortally wounded and is about to die, he passes the throne to Wiglaf and gives thanks to God for the treasure they receive from the Dragon’s hoard. This ends Beowulf’s third and final heroic battle in this case with the
Ernest Gaines novel, A Lesson Before Dying, is a story about, Jefferson, a black man who is wrongfully charged with a crime he did not commit. He cannot get a fair trial because he is a black man in the south. He is sentenced to be executed, but before he dies Grant, an educated black man, teaches him how to walk like a man, so people do not think of him as a hog. "Beowulf" is an epic poem over one thousand years old, which was told from one generation to another. It is about, Beowulf, a great hero who defeats three different monsters to save the kingdom. In his last battle he is much older than before and is killed by a dragon. A hero does something that other people do not do and he does things for others, and other people look to a hero for guidance.
To be considered an ideal hero, you must be willing to risk everything to succeed. A hero is one who would give his own life to save another; one who is fearless in the face of death. In the epic poem Beowulf, our hero thrives on the opportunity to prove his worth. He is young and strong and is driven to make a name for himself. The author describes Beowulf’s exceptional ability and warrior character long before he is named in the poem: "Great among Geats, this man was more mighty than any then living" (Damrosch 913). Shortly after Beowulf arrives in Denmark, Wulfgar, one of King Hrothgar’s men, explains to the King why he must meet with the men that have come to slay the beast. ”Far-sailing Geats have come to our kingdom across the wide water. These warriors call their leader Beowulf and bid me bring their plea to our prince, if it pleases him to allow them entrance and offer them audience. I implore you t...
In the poem Beowulf, the protagonist is portrayed as a heroic figure who strives to spread his name and glory out across the land in order to be remembered. Although his acts may not entirely be for the right reasons, Beowulf does express his heroic qualities of bravery, arrogance, and brute force.
The character of Beowulf stands as a hero to the ancient Danes because of his actions. He is constantly being cited as a "war-chief" and a "gold-giver" (61). Beowulf has achieved fame through what he has done with his own hands. His identity as a leader is based upon the Danish society’s emphasis on personal action, as opposed to the delegation of responsibility through conscious thought. It is this very sense which spurs Beowulf to fight the dragon: "In my youth I engaged in many wars. Old guardian of the people, I shall still seek battle, perform a deed of fame, if the evil-doer will come to me..." (59). Beowulf derives his power from a strong link to the past. Without his history of glorious deeds, he would see himself bereft of the very power which qualifies him to be a good King. Beowulf’s bravery never comes in to question, he does meet every challenge head-on, with deadly attention. The society which labels Beowulf as a legendary hero, recognizes his actions and his bravery as a integral part of his definition as a hero. Without the society to support th...
Beowulf, the great Geatish warrior, lives a very adventurous life filled with many voyages, battles, and victories. Through all of these events, he meets various people who are considered to be heroes like himself. These heroes, however, are unable to have the same abilities and characteristics of Beowulf. His great achievements cannot be matched by anything that they have done in their lives. Beowulf is a superior hero to Hrothgar, Unferth, and Wiglaf in the epic of Beowulf because he kills every monster that he fights, becomes a widely feared warrior and king, and dies in battle completing his final heroic act.
Right away, readers encounter the main character in Beowulf as he arrives in Denmark after a long journey from his homeland of Geatland. Beowulf has traveled to Denmark in an attempt to slay the monster Grendel that constantly terrorizes the Danes. “Then news of Grendel, hard to ignore, reached me at home…my one request is that you won’t refuse me, who have come this far, the privilege of purifying Heorot…” (Heaney 409-431). This immediately shows a selfless and heroic act of Beowulf. He has ventured into a country he does not even reside in to help protect the people of Denmark. The hero brings a wave of confidence into a sputtering community of Heorot that desperately needs some assistance in their fight against Grendel. Thankfully, Beowulf slays Grendel and even does so without any weapons, “…it won’t be a cutting edge I’ll wield to mow him down…the monster back-tracking, the man overpowering…an extraordinary wail arose, the howl of a loser…He was overwhelmed, manacled tight by the man of all men was foremost and strongest in the days of this life.” (Heaney 679-789). Beowulf successfu...
Beowulf’s fight against the dragon shows Beowulf as a hero. Although Beowulf had previously defeated two other foes, he stands fast and fights his most formidable foe yet, the dragon. Dragons were notoriously difficult to kill, and the poem states that it was a great man, who could kill a dragon, even if it meant losing one's life. While others cower away Beowulf fights the dragon. Beowulf defeats the dragon but loses his life in the same instance. Like the classical hero Beowulf loses his special status in death. Beowulf sought no compensation for his services; the mere satisfaction of helping others was pay enough. Like his two previous battles Beowulf fights for those who could not fight for themselves.
First of all, Beowulf came to help Hrothgar on his own free will. Hearing of the troubles that Hrothgar was having with a monster terrorizing Herot, his mead hall, Beowulf bravely offered his help not knowing what he was up against. When he arrived, Beowulf did not ask the king for either money nor fame. The only favor that he asked of Hrothgar was that he and his men were to fight the monster, Grendel. Coming away from one's homeland to help get rid of a man-eating monster and asking for nothing in return takes much courage and is an extremely brave deed.
Beowulf was a Geatish warrior. He went to the Danes in order to fight the dragon, Grendal. Beowulf's goal was to prove his strength and courage by defeating this horrible demon that had been terrorizing the Danes for a while. The King of the Danes holds a great fest in Beowulf's honour, during which Beowulf boasts of past accomplishments. Grendal comes during the feast to once again, terrorize the Danes. Beowulf fights the Demon with no weapons and proves his strength to be greater than Grendal's. As Grendal tries to escape, Beowulf rips his arm off. Grendal goes back to swamp where he dies. Beowulf fought the dragon with no weapon in order to prove his great strength even without a weapon. The Danes greatly rejoiced in Beowulf's great show of power and ability by killing Grendal. Grendal's mother however, determined to extract revenge for Grendal's death. She killed one of the Danes, Aeschere, the King's most trusted adviser, and then went back to her swamp. When the Danes mourn the death Beowulf says to the King, "Wise sir, do not grieve. It is always better to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning. For every one of us, living in this world means waiting for our end. Let whoever can win glory before death. When a warrior is gone, that will be his best and only bulwark." By saying this Beowulf shows that his reason for everything he does is to win glory before his death. He also firmly believes that revenge is better than mourning. To avenge Aeschere's death the Danes went to the swamp. Beowulf dove into the swamp to fight Grendal's mother. Fighting underwater, Beowulf defeated her and then cut the head off the corpse of Grendal, which was at the bottom of the swamp, as a prize. Beowulf departs from the Danes and went on...
Towards the end of Beowulf’s epic hero cycle and life as king, he had to take on one last monster, the Dragon. He commuted back to Geatland with his men. As he begins to fight the Dragon, his sword failed him, and Beowulf was left with no weapons. Then ten of the eleven men he brought fled in fear and Beowulf was left with only Wiglaf. They took on the Dragon together and successfully killed him only after being badly wounded in the neck. Beowulf then collapsed and passed on. This finished his cycle as hero and as
Throughout the story, Beowulf shows his passion for doing heroic deeds around the area. One example of when he does this is in line 112 through 116. The text says “Heard how Grendel filled nights with horror and quickly commanded a boat fitted out, Proclaiming that he’d go to that famous king, would sail across the sea to Hrothgar, Now when help was needed.” This proves that Beowulf does brave deeds because it says it bluntly in the text. Beowulf heard about a terror that was going on in Herot, and set out to go help them and stop it. A little further on in the story, Beowulf arrives in Herot to talk to Hrothgar, the king, and tells him of some of the brave deeds he has done. In line 151 through 159 it says “They have seen my strength for themselves, Have watched me rise from the darkness of war, dripping with my enemies’ blood. I drove five great giants into chains, chased all of that race from the earth. I swam in the blackness of night, hunting monsters out of the ocean, and killing them one by one; death was my errand and the fate they have earned.” Here, Beowulf is boasting about all the brave deeds he has actually done. This is a great example showing how he does brave deeds because he even backs him self up by saying that his fellow men have seen him do these heroic things. Not far after this event, Beowulf asks Hrothgar if he will grant his request in doing this deed
An example of this is located when Beowulf is boasting to Unferth, stating that he “drove great Giants from into chains, chased all of that race from the earth” (Beowulf 29). He goes on later to say he also “swam into the blackness of night, hunting monsters out of the ocean” (Beowulf 29). These examples show that he willingly accepts adventure in dangerous situations, and fights in the midst of danger, even when compromising his own safety. For instance, Beowulf alone killed Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and with the aid of Wiglaf, the dragon. Before any of these battles, he states that “death was [his] errand, and the fate they had earned” (Beowulf 29). This statement shows his acceptance of death if he is unable to defeat the monsters, alluding to his exceptional courage in battle. Although Beowulf completes these tasks to earn infinite fame and glory, Harold Bloom states that “his hero’s virtues have nothing to do with salvation, and everything to do with warlike courage”(Bloom 7). Because of this, many see Beowulf’s duties are seen as courageous, rather than something of a duty. In the words of Jacqueline Vaught, she states that “Beowulf’s attitude is praiseworthy, whereas Grendel’s is not… The distinction is that which we regularly make between the reckless courage of the criminal who has abandoned all hope and whose actions are purely selfish and the selfless courage of the hero who places the good he is defending before his instinct and self preservation” (Vaught). Her statement reflects the courage found within the epic hero, and the definitive comparison towards Beowulf’s opposing character, Grendel. To summarize, many of Beowulf’s actions when confronted with dangerous tasks and his acceptance of fate show readers courage, making him a prime example of an epic
He also demonstrates his strength in his encounters with Grendal’s mom and the fierce dragon. Beowulf also proves his huge amount of bravery throughout the story. He was very brave in facing and defeating Grendal in his first battle ever, and also by doing so without any weaponry. He is also very brave when he goes in search of Grendal’s mom in her underwater cave and proceeds to defeat her as well.
Beowulf shows his bravery by accepting King Hrothgar’s request of slaying Grendal. This shows Beowulf’s bravery because all of King Hrothgar’s men are too afraid or too weak to face him as shown by text “Herot stood empty, and stayed deserted for years…” and has requested for Beowulf’s help since Beowulf knows no fear. Also during the show down of Beowulf and Grendal, Beowulf faced Grendal alone because no one dared to face Grendal other than Beowulf himself showing that he had more braverly than anyone else in the story which makes this a trait of an epic hero. Another example of Beowulf’s bravery is “exploring the deepest seas risking your lives” which shows Beowulf is willing to do what other are afraid of
The classic hero is a well-known character of high social position whose qualities represent those valuable to his society. The hero is pitted against monsters and is, therefore, strong and courageous often to the point of seeming superman. Beowulf often displays cunning and craftiness in dealing with others. At the same time, since he represents all humans, he struggles to overcome human weaknesses. He is challenged and he triumphs. In Beowulf: A new telling by Robert Nye, Beowulf is a classic hero. He struggles against monsters, endures challenges, suffers, and eventually is victorious over evil. His words and actions, which help him decide the fate of a group of people, demonstrates that Beowulf is a brave, wise, and benevolent leader.