“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” - Charles R. Swindoll. Why is it that the majority of the time, heroes have tragic flaws? Not all heroes do, but those that do are either successful or unsuccessful. Take a look at Beowulf for example. He is an epic hero and at first is successful. But it is not until several years later when he is an old man that he is unsuccessful. Why? Because he pushed the fact that he is or was unbeatable as young man and decided to prove that once more. Therefore it lead him to his demise. Sir Gawain however is successful because he did not die. Finally, Macbeth is unsuccessful because of the choices he made, which led him to his demise. Although, some may say the tragic flaws of Macbeth, Sir Gawain and Beowulf led to their success, it led to their demise as well.
Beginning with Beowulf, “John Gardner suggested interpreting Beowulf in terms of that commonplace of medieval thought which identified the three qualities of the tripartite soul with the three ages of life. As in the fourteenth-century Parliament of the Three Ages, in which youth is identified with the irascible part, middle age with concupiscence, and old age with the search for wisdom"(Abraham). Continuing with Gardner’s suggested interpretation, “the world of Grendel focuses on beginnings; the qualities of
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He of course decided to participate in honor of King James so it wouldn’t show that he did not have any loyal knights. However in Macbeth, we also see Macbeth was given a choice to listen to the witches about what would happen. In both scenarios, each character was given a choice that would more than likely affect their own future. In Macbeth’s case, he chose to listen and it led him to his demise. In sir Gawain’s case, he chose to cheat the game and save himself but he still lived therefore leading him to his