Good Vs Evil In Beowulf

Throughout history, literature has portrayed a variety of character arcs. This ranges from the vengeful hero to the sympathetic villain to the chaotic anti-hero. Yet the further back through time written works go, the simpler the characters portrayed. In the Seamus Heaney translation of Beowulf, the characters of Beowulf and Grendel are the least complex version of heros and villains ever created. They fall under all the typical traits of these arcs. Beowulf is strong, vain, and seeks further enlightenment via the path of endless adventure. There are no qualities he possesses that may indicate any depth to his beliefs or weaknesses. The same can be seen in the character of Grendel. Simply put, he is the incarnation of evil. The concept of good vs evil is portrayed in Beowulf

through simple, straight-out heros and villians, showing that the mindset of Anglo-Saxon storytellers lacked the depth to create complex characters seen in today's media.
The type of character that Beowulf lacks the complexity and touch of evil that modern heros have.

Examples of characters that do portray this are Thor from the Avengers franchise, Raoul from Phantom Of The Opera, and even Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar. All of these heros share traits with Beowulf, like being selfless, courageous, and a tad narcissistic. Yet they all also have other defining characteristics, ranging from selfishness to persistent to holier than thou. Beowulf is by all means the perfect hero, and that in and of itself is why he is not the ideal character. He is too perfect. Even when he does have a flaw, such as the tendency of breaking swords during fights, it is explained “...his hand was too strong, the stroke he dealt / … would ruin it” (2686-2687). These sort of characters in modern media are seen as jokes or for young children. If Beowulf was written today, it would just be an obscure book that would be sold among the harlequin novels in grocery stores across the nation. This does shows the evolution of literature, and how an epic poem from over a thousand years ago could be a masterpiece, yet similar modern stories can not hold up to the current literary

competition.
Grendel's excessive evil is a bland representation on the common villain archetype. He has no traits other than being bad. It can be argued that this is due to him being a monster, instead of a human, but there are many creatures throughout media that this would be contrary to. Several examples are Smaug from The Hobbit, Count Dracula from Dracula, and The Phantom from The Phantom Of The Opera. These villains all show other traits besides being evil, they include invoking sympathy and pity, intelligence, and the yearning for excessive luxuries. There is nothing that makes Grendel an interesting character. He is just in the story for the purpose of Beowulf having something to fight. Even the nature of his evil is dull. It is savage without any sort of logical thoughts behind his brutality. Grendel is described as being “The bane of the race of men roamed forth / hunting for prey in the high hall” (712-713). This is an animalistic way of describing a major antagonist. Beowulf may as well be fighting a bear. Compared to modern villains and antagonists, Grendel is just a lackluster brute who can easily be replaced with a wild animal and still have the same effect on the story.
Within the cast of uninspired characters there is one that does portray some sort of depth. This particular person is portrayed as committing the horrendous crime and being doubtful of the strength of Beowulf, yet he is still redeemed and an all around neutral within the story. The character is Unferth. While he is only portrayed over the course of a few pages, his character is revealed to make a complete turn around. This is very similar to the character arc of a typical rival. Yet the complexity comes in through the fact that he killed someone within his family. This is seen as being a great evil within the story’s realm. Later in the story though, Unferth is shown as being a changed and redeemed person. This is seen through the giving of Hrunting to Beowulf . The gesture is symbolic of a change within Unferth’s morals. He finally realizes he is not cut out to be a hero in the same respect Beowulf is. In the Seamus Heaney translation of the epic, it even states, “He was not man enough / to face turmoil of a fight under water / and the risk to his life” (1468-1470). Whilst being a minor character, Unferth showed more complexity to his character than any others in Beowulf.
Through the epic poem Beowulf, it is revealed that storytellers within Anglo-Saxon society, and possibly earlier, lacked the comprehensive minds to create complex characters similar to those of modern media. This can be seen through the characters of Beowulf and Grendel. They are both bland versions of the base of each’s arcs. It is possible though that they are the foundations for what was to become. If it was not for Beowulf and Grendel, writers never may have been able to add complexity to the archetypes. This means that Beowulf is perhaps the most important piece of written work throughout all of history. Using this lens, it can easily be understood why the poem is still read and enjoyed in the present by people across the globe.