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Symbolism in beowulf examples
Beowulf symbolism introduction paragraph
Beowulf symbolism introduction paragraph
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In today’s society, most of our life can be defined by what is occurring in the media. What trends we are following, what we find entertaining, and even the values that we hold close to our heart. As you examine the movie, Beowulf and Grendel (Gunnarsson, 2005), and compare it to the original work that it is modelled after, Beowulf (Heaney, 2000), you can see that there is a significant difference in the cultural values of the time period that Beowulf and Grendel was written compared to Beowulf. There is a multitude of differences in the values people hold close to their heart in our world today compared to Beowulf. With Beowulf representing the Anglo-Saxon time period and Beowulf and Grendel representing the early 2000s era, the differences …show more content…
With our culture, we find certain kinds of inaccuracies, such as the exaggeration Beowulf’s boast, to be unstimulating. As a society, we now have the knowledge and common sense to not believe everything we hear without validation. Because of this, our culture places more value on entertainment that is more realistic within the actions of the characters, but more complex within the plot itself and how the characters interact with each …show more content…
Even though, the values of Beowulf and Grendel are similar to the ones that I and my entire generation have grown up learning, both of the epic and movie have qualities that make me unable to come to a conclusion as to which of the works recounts the story of Beowulf and Grendel in a more exceptional way. Therefore, I give the forthcoming generations the responsibility of making that
The book Grendel, written by John Gardner, and the poem Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney, both have very distinct opinions on what role each character plays. The translator of Beowulf and the writer of Grendel follow the idea that everyone has a story. A story is the writer’s perspective on a character’s personality, the way people in the story see and treat the character, and the way it ties the ideas together. There are many examples in these two writings of this concept, but the main instances connect with the lives of Grendel, Beowulf, and Unferth.
Throughout the poem, similarities between personal relationships then and now are evident. Betrayal within a family, murder caused by jealousy, and marriage for the wrong reasons are all themes in Beowulf, yet a look at today's soap operas, talk shows, and movies reveals that little has changed.
For ages, humanity has always told stories of the classic struggle between man and monster. The battle between Beowulf and Grendel is a prime example of this archetype, but is Grendel only purely a monster? In his article “Gardner’s Grendel and Beowulf: Humanizing the Monster”, Jay Ruud makes a point that Grendel is a hybridization of both monster and man, particularly in John Gardner’s novel Grendel. In the poem Beowulf, Grendel is depicted as a purely evil monster who terrorizes Hrothgar and his people, but the novel provides a more humanistic backstory to the fiend. Throughout the novel, Grendel tells of his internal struggle between his thoughts of filling the role of the monster versus attempting to make amends with the humans. This conflict
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.
Society has evolved culturally since the 6th century. The simplistic and barbaric lifestyle of the Middle Ages, as portrayed in the epic poem Beowulf (Heaney, 2000), contrasts with the complex and civilized lifestyle of a modern day society, as depicted in the movie Beowulf and Grendel (Gunnarsson, 2005). The flat characters of the epic poem exhibit little to no knowledge of the concepts of humility as well as compassion, whereas the characters of the film utilize these concepts to give each of the main characters a sense of depth as well as realistic personas that allow the audience to connect with them on a much deeper level.
Grendel in the novel Grendel by John Gardner, and Grendel in the poem Beowulf, which has an unknown author, presents two different views of the same character due to the perception differences of Gardner and the unknown author. Grendel in Beowulf and the story of his namesake both have notable similarities and differences that make each distinctive from one another.
He does not act like the blood hungry beast he is seen as in Beowulf. In
Beowulf outlines turmoil between three opponents: Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the Dragon. These separate discords each serve to fulfill different metaphoric purposes. Grendel’s character epitomizes the adverse persona of how an Anglo-Saxon warrior should not be. His mother represents everything that a woman during the time era should seldom be. Lastly, the Dragon embodies all the values that an Anglo-Saxon king should not dare retain. Without a doubt, the symbolic implications of the monsters in Beowulf bring the context to a new level of understanding.
John Gardner’s Grendel is the retelling of the heroic epic poem Beowulf; however, the viewpoint has shifted. Grendel is told from the viewpoint of one of Beowulf’s antagonists and the titular character of Gardner’s work—Grendel. In Grendel, Gardner humanizes Grendel by emphasizing parallels between Grendel’s life and human life. Through Gardner’s reflection of human feelings, human development, and human flaws in Grendel, this seemingly antagonistic, monstrous character becomes understood and made “human.”
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).
The epic poem, Beowulf, coming from the years of 600 to 700 AD has been translated in many different styles. In these excerpts by Burton Raffel and Lucien Dean Pearson, provides a clear understanding of this epic poem. Reading the two different translations, Raffel tends to provide the reader with a better understanding of the evil nature of Grendel and the heroic characteristics of Beowulf.
...nto popular culture. Meanwhile, the contemporary anxieties over violence and homosocial relationships in comic books necessitated changes from similar aspects in comitatus order to reach the mainstream. Uslan and Villamonte balance out the popular and the academic with respect to Anglo-Saxon culture by stretching the Beowulf poem to fit a multi-faceted mainstream audience. Old English words are kept because of their educational value, which lends acceptance to the more violent scenes portrayed in the comic. Meanwhile, the gory monsters and celebrated "REAL LIVE action and adventure" make the learning of the same words less distasteful to adolescent readers. In short, Uslan and Villamonte bring their interpretation of Beowulf into the popular sphere through working at comforting social anxieties over the entertainment value and safety of Anglo-Saxon literature.
Beowulf and Grendel (Gunnarsson 2005) depicts a very different protagonist than the one in the epic (Heaney 2000). The Beowulf in the film learns how to have mercy as the movie progresses, while the epic Beowulf is very flat. This is due to the fact that the modern culture is very different from that of the epic. Our culture isn't content with such characters. We want our characters to have more lifelike characteristics such as emotions and a change of heart.
E. L. Risden is the author of The Cinematic Sexualizing of Beowulf. He has published other works, one being Tolkien’s Intellectual Landscapes. Risden is an English Professor at Purdue University in Indiana. Within this source, he uses several examples and evidence from the various Beowulf movies to support his theories. However he does not use as much textual evidence as he does movie references. Risden does not show an evident bias toward one way or another, instead he points out how sexual references are hidden within Beowulf and its movies.
The story of Beowulf is a heroic epic chronicling the illustrious deeds of the great Geatish warrior Beowulf, who voyages across the seas to rid the Danes of an evil monster, Grendel, who has been wreaking havoc and terrorizing the kingdom. Beowulf is glorified for his heroic deeds of ridding the land of a fiendish monster and halting its scourge of evil while the monster is portrayed as a repugnant creature who deserves to die because of its evil actions. In the epic poem, Beowulf the authors portrays Grendel as a cold-hearted beast who thrives on the pain of others. Many have disagreed with such a simplistic and biased representation of Grendel and his role in the epic poem. John Gardner in his book, Grendel set out to change the reader’s perception of Grendel and his role in Beowulf by narrating the story through Grendel’s point of view. John Gardner transforms the perceived terrible evil fiend who is Grendel into a lonely but intelligent outcast who bears a striking resemblance to his human adversaries. In Grendel, John Gardner portrays Grendel as an intelligent being capable of rational thought as well as displaying outbursts of emotion. He portrays Grendel as a hurt individual and as a victim of oppression ostracized from civilization. The author of Beowulf portrays Grendel as the typical monster archetype as compared to John Gardner’s representation of Grendel as an outcast archetype.