Compare And Contrast Essay On Beowulf

Beowulf

Every child has wanted to be a hero at one point in their life, whether it be Superman, Spiderman, Batman or anyone that does heroic deeds. These children wanted nothing more than to grow up and save lives, like every hero does. Beowulf did grow into a hero, in both the movie and the poem. Although the movie Beowulf received some harsh criticism for changes made from the poem, it is a reliable source of information for the poem because it kept the core values of the poem and it gave deeper insight into the life of Beowulf.

Critics arguments against Zemeckis’ Beowulf is that it changes details from the poem, and Zemeckis did alter some significant details, such as Grendel’s mother. “ . . . Zemeckis depicts her as a golden beauty clad in

nonsensical high heels and played by Angelina Jolie” (Rees). Zemeckis may have chosen to portray her like this because the devil does not always show up as an ugly monster. Often, he appears as the things that human mortals want the most. Just as Hrothgar did, Beowulf had a son with her, which ended up being the dragon he battles with at the end of the movie. In the poem the portion about Grendel and his mother and the portion about the dragon seemed so isolated. “Suddenly the two halves of the Beowulf epic, which had always seemed so disjointed, made perfect story sense” (Rees). The critics picked apart every little thing they changed from the poem. Zemeckis had to change some things for his movie to be as successful as possible and to appeal to a modern film audience (Wood). Although some significant details were altered, Zemeckis still kept the core values of the poem in tact.
The movie changed some details of the poem, but kept all of the core values of the poem which include bravery, honor, and loyalty. It does not matter whether the viewer enjoyed the movie or not, no one can argue that what Beowulf did required massive amounts of bravery. For someone to battle a demon from hell and a dragon with seemingly little fear is extremely impressive. Wiglaf and Beowulf have comitatus. Beowulf provides Wiglaf with everything that they need, and in return, Wiglaf is faithful and loyal to Beowulf until his death.
In the poem, Beowulf is portrayed as a powerful, great and flawless, Superman-like hero, but in the movie he is more human (Wood).

The writers of the movie did this to make him more relatable for all of the people that watched the movie. Even though he was still a great hero in the film, he was more human. Beowulf had flaws just like every other human being. In the poem, riches and fame seemed to be the only things he cared about. “Bring me ancient silver, precious / Jewels, shining armor and gems, / Before I die. Death will be softer, / Leaving life and this people I’ve ruled / So long, if I look at this last of all prizes” (759-763). Instead of wanting to be around the people that he loved and the people that loved him, he wanted jewels and gems. Wiglaf did everything that Beowulf had ever asked of him, even his last selfish wish. However, in the movie it showed a more human, caring side of the great hero. Beowulf cut off his own arm in order to save his queen and a young girl. His battle with the dragon took his life, but he died honorably. Beowulf died an unselfish death, protecting the people and the kingdom that he loved. This showed the watcher that Beowulf, in fact, did care about more than fame and

riches.
Even though severe criticism was given to Beowulf for changing the movie so much from the poem, the core values of the poem were kept in the movie, therefore it was still a reliable source of information for the poem and the watcher was able to see deeper into Beowulf’s life. The movie version of the story of Beowulf, in reality, is not as different as some people may think. It provides the fans of the poem a different perspective on the life and story of Beowulf and his people.