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Beowulf literaryanalysis
Literary analysis essay
Beowulf character essay
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Beowulf literaryanalysis
Literary analysis essay
Beowulf character essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The poets within Beowulf sing about tales of heroes and their heroic deeds. The sing about these deeds, even if some of them have failed. They sing their songs to King Hrothgar, his subjects, Beowulf, and his men. The poets sang to share these stories, back then stories were always passed down orally through
Beloved Beowulf…” Pg81, King Hrothgar to Beowulf These two quotes are essential to the story of Beowulf, as it describes Beowulf’s sincere character, his valor and loyalty to those he meets. The quotes above carry themselves throughout the story, as our protagonist proves again and again that his good nature, and incorruptible character is faithful to the end. Beowulf retained that personality, while still remaining a noble warrior in the battlefield, slaying hundreds upon hundreds of those who threaten his homeland. And when the dragon awoke from his slumber among riches, and terrorized people of Beowulf’s land with torrents of dragon fire, Beowulf took it upon himself to end the dragon where it stood, instead of having further
There were an abundance of changes implemented into the Beowulf movie that show how our society's customs, morals, and beliefs have changed over the years. The director of Beowulf was trying to make an old epic poem relevant to today's societal problems and add more action. A recurring theme throughout the movie is giving villains a reason to be villains, and showing that heroes are very similar to mortals. In the poem, all of Beowulf's enemies were evil, just because it’s who they were.
The chapter of “The Man I Killed” starts with an extensive list of physical attributes of a Vietnamese soldier killed by O’Brien in My Khe with an explosive grenade. In this chapter, O’Brien narrates an incidence which had permanently destroyed his life, murdering an innocent man. He had a lot of difficulties describing the man he killed, and that is why he avoided using the first person in his narrative. The reason for doing this was to relieve some of his guilt which had possessed him.
The third and final evil Beowulf must face is the dragon. At this point in the poem, Beowulf has been the “ring-giver” or king for half a century (Beowulf 2207). The role of a king in Germanic times included rewarding warriors with treasure captured in battle; however, the dragon keeps his treasure to himself. This greediness is in direct opposition to the qualities of a good king, and the dragon becomes the representation of selfishness and destruction. Beowulf takes on the role of a warrior once again, and defeats the dragon.
The Anglo-Saxon kings in Beowulf are very generous with their wealth to those who have served them. Consequently this exchange of wealth shows a positive relationship among the kings and their subjects. For example, Hrothgar gives Beowulf gifts in order to thank him for defeating both Grendel and Grendel’s mother: “Then Halfdane’s son presented Beowulf with a gold standard as a victory gift, an embroidered banner; also brest-mail and a helmet; and a sword carried high, that was both precious object and token of honour.” (1019-1023). Beowulf has helped Hrothgar by slaying the monsters that were attacking his tribe and killing his people.
Wiglaf states, “I gathered them up, gold and silver, filled my arms as full as I could and quickly carried them back to my king” (Beowulf lines 3090). At the end of Beowulf's life he requests to see the gold he had won from killing the dragon. This shows how much treasure is worth to the Anglo Saxon culture. To these people, treasure and power were to die for. The Anglo Saxons would risk dying to get more treasure and to be deemed honorable by their
As the story progress, Beowulf became king of the Geats for 50 years when suddenly a dragon emerged from slumber began to burn down villages. However, Beowulf didn’t pay the slightest attention, but instead ignored what was happening. Finally, when the dragon burns down Beowulf’s throne room Beowulf decided that he needs to deal with the dragon. In Beowulf 's eyes, the lives of his citizens couldn’t even compare to his throne room. When Beowulf prepared to fight the dragon he said, “Now I am old, but as king of the people I shall pursue this fight for the glory of winning” (lines 2512-2514).
In addition, Beowulf is also generous because when Beowulf arrives back to his homeland. He is carrying many riches from his battles against evil in Hrothgar’s land. He goes and talks to his king, whereupon he gives all of it to him and the queen, even a prized golden collar. Beowulf simply said that all he gained was gained as a retainer of his king, so it all belonged to him (lines 82-83). This shows that Beowulf had no greed and did not desire any gold or riches.
Which counts more, taking a stand or winning? Or have you ever read the story Beowulf? In my opinion, winning is more important in society nowadays. Winning makes everyone happy, and makes most people humble. Even though winning can lead to very bad things, everyone counts more to winning.
Beowulf attempted to comfort Hrothgar and the warriors by exclaiming, “Let your sorrow end! It is better for us all to avenge our friends, not mourn them forever”. He then aims to convince Hrothgar that “for the glory of his name, fame after death is the noblest of goals”. Beowulf believes it is worth dying for a good
No one could try.” Beowulf is showing his strength and bravery that he can try to defeat the dragon. His motivation and goal in this battle is take the treasure back to his people. In lines 802-805, “ for this, this gold, these jewels, I thank our father in heaven, Ruler of the Earth for all of this, that his grace has given me, allowed me to bring to my people while breath still came to my lips.” In conclusion, Beowulf’s faith and confidence changes when he fights these three characters and these signify changes means Beowulf is getting old which means he didn’t have the same strength as he had during the fight with
Questions of Honor: Beowulf Beowulf’s honor and integrity can be questioned throughout the entirety of the epic poem, Beowulf. Whether or not his actions are inspired by his own pompous arrogance or confidence, one can argue that he is a hero nonetheless. Evidence and experience prove that Beowulf is more of a fearless hero than an excessively prideful man, and his hubris is more than justified due to the formidable duties he is able to execute. Throughout the poem, Beowulf expresses his intense strength and courage to the fearful people in the poem. His daring sense of self-assurance is backed by his victories against all three monsters, (even though he suffers a tragic death after facing the dragon, it is a defeat nonetheless).
Even when he saves countless lives, the hero never intends his quests to benefit anyone else than himself. This is constant throughout the book, and not even at his deathbed does Beowulf acknowledge something that is not about him or gold. He is often preoccupied by money and fame, but the wellbeing of other people is not in his vocabulary. For example, when a dragon begins to terrorize his kingdom, Beowulf 's first thought is not to protect his people. Instead, he says, "I 've never known fear, as a youth I fought in endless battles.
Beowulf had done the unthinkable—he had killed a demon that no warrior of Denmark could have done. This opened several new doors for Beowulf, including one that promised of honor, glory, and riches. Beowulf had achieved his goal of fame, a goal which had created a poem of a hero that birthed and shaped a story to be told even years later. Furthermore, Beowulf’s fame was set in stone by Hrothgar, the king who owed Beowulf his everything, including his thanks. After giving Beowulf the speech to further glorify his prominence, Hrothgar declares, “Glory is now yours/