Essay On Bravery, Honor And Morality In Beowulf

In the article, “Bravery, Honor, and Loyalty as Morals in Beowulf,” the author, Eleanor Cory, states that Beowulf serves as a moral instruction and demonstrated important values of the Anglo-Saxon people. Cory states, “...the poem Beowulf illustrates three important morals of its time: bravery, honor, and loyalty.” Throughout the article, Cory goes into explicit detail on how two characters from Beowulf, Beowulf and Wiglaf, demonstrate these morals. Cory refers to the epic, Beowulf, as “...a work of art,” alluding to its instructive purposes. Cory’s main focus refers to the values and morals of the Anglo-Saxon era demonstrated in the life of Beowulf and Wiglaf. Beowulf is one of the characters that the author believes greatly demonstrates bravery, honor, and loyalty. Cory states, “ Reckless and impressive actions like these demonstrate Beowulf’s courage and daring and make him appear more heroic.” The author uses the supporting statement when elaborating on Beowulf’s bravery and honor when he decides to “throw away his armor and sword before leaving for his fight with Grendel”. Cory also

Even though she had a well written introductory paragraph, she failed to do as well in the paragraphs to follow. For Beowulf’s bravery, she used the example of Beowulf fighting weaponless, by stating, “...deciding that using a weapon or protection of any kind would make the battle too easy.” She failed to provide any explanation on why this particular situation showed his bravery. Cory also uses the same example for bravery as she does for honor. Yet, she still failed to describe how the situation showed brave or honorable acts. While she did give examples for the morals, she was missing a clear and to-the-point explanation backing up her examples. With varying examples and clear explanations, I feel as if the paper could have been drastically