Joseph Campbell explains monsters by saying “By monster I mean some horrendous presence or apparition that explodes all of your standards for harmony, order, and ethical conduct”. The movie Pan’s Labyrinth, directed by Guillermo Del Toro, shows a courageous tale of one young girl named Ofelia, and her fight against a sinister monster, Captain Vidal. Likewise, the epic poem Beowulf, written by Gummere, tells the tale of Beowulf and his battles with different monsters, one being Grendel, a horrific monster who loves to cause chaos, and another being a dragon, who is a hoarder of treasure set to protect it at all costs. Both stories have monsters that truly explode all standards for harmony, order, and ethical conduct. As Beowulf and Ofelia fight …show more content…
against merciless monsters, they are both willing to sacrafice their lives for the welfare of the community. Grendel is the first monster Beowulf is challenged with. Gummere describes Grendel attacking Heorot mercilessly: “Suddenly then the God-cursed brute was creating havoc: greedy and grim, he grabbed thirty men from their resting places and rushed to his lair, flushed up and inflamed from the raid, blundering back with the butchered corpses.” (Gummere 120-125) Grendel clearly is amused with his destruction and loves to cause utter chaos. He captures men to bring back to his lair to torture. When Beowulf comes to fight and conquer Grendel, Gummere gives an insight on the true evil Grendel portrays: “And his glee was demonic, picturing the mayhem: before morning he would rip life from limb and devour them, feed on their flesh.” (Gummere 730-733) His look of demonic glee as he pictures mayhem reveals his motives of pure evil as he prepares to fight Beowulf. Beowulf heroically takes down Grendel and his evil, but his monster fighting is still not over. Later, Beowulf soon finds out his ultimate arch-nemesis, the dragon. The destiny of the dragon showed never to be evil, until the dragon was to guard the treasure of a deceased wealthy man at all costs. One day a runaway slave stole a gold goblet from the dragon, and when the dragon found out what the runaway slave had done, the dragon mercilessly terrorized the Geat people. Gummere states “The Intruder who broached the dragon's treasure and moved him to Wrath had never meant to” (Gummere 2221-2222). The dragon turned to wrath and rage and became a ruthless monster. When the Lord of the Geats, Beowulf, finds out about this dragon he takes it upon himself that he must defeat this dragon to save his people and it would be his ultimate test. As Beowulf prepares for battle he announces: “But I shall be meeting molten venom in the fire he breathes…” (Gummere 2522-2523) giving an insight on the true power and evilness the dragon has with him. The words molten venom especially prove that the dragon means to kill and the true test this would prove to Beowulf. Much like the dragon and Grendel, Captain Vidal from Pan’s Labyrinth portrays an evil and merciless character.
Initially, Captain Vidal does not seem like the monster in the story and much like the dragon, Captain Vidal was not destined for evil, but while he entered into the military life, he remembered his troubling childhood and his deceased father, and it all contributed to his ultimate evil character. Similarly to Grendel, who takes people back to his lair to torture them, when Captain Vidal finds the man who has been spying on the camp and even one of his own personal servants, he sees to it that they be tortured to get information out of them. Captain Vidal orders the imprisoned to be tortured but when he sees that his soldiers are not doing it harsh and mercilessly enough, the Captain steps in. This is just like Grendel because he loves to cause chaos and pain. The smile Captain Vidal gives when he tortures his victims is demonic and truly sinister just like the same demonic and sinister look Grendel portrayed when causing chaos. As compared to the dragon, Captain Vidal will not stop his rage even when severely injured. Beowulf severely injures the dragon, yet the dragon still fights on, without a question for his own safety. He is only concerned with killing Beowulf. The same is true with the Captain. When he becomes severely injured, his main priority is to still kill Ofelia, without regards to his own health. Captain Vidal is also similar in the sense of that he …show more content…
will not stop at making his message clear through violence, but rather through death, as the dragon did with its lethal injury given to Beowulf. Captain Vidal makes it very clear to Ofelia the kind of power he has through verbal and physical abuse, but he does not stop this until he ultimately kills her. The dragon also attacks and seriously injures Beowulf and like Captain Vidal, is seemingly in a position of power and in a winning position, but instead of sending a message to Beowulf and leaving him badly injured, he ends up killing him after being killed itself. Both evil monsters, the dragon and Captain Vidal, end up indirectly killing themselves when they kill their rival. Beowulf is a proud and great warrior.
Ofelia is a little girl. They both have to take on monsters, but they do it in very different ways and yet still have the same outcome. For Beowulf, he knew what he had to do. Beowulf takes more of a violent approach to the situation. Throughout the entire story, there are tales of Beowulf’s heroism in battles. Now, when Beowulf is faced with the biggest threat, he knows what he must do. He knows he must fight the dragon. To save his community he had to lay down his life and defeat the dragon. Beowulf battles and makes the ultimate sacrifice. Going into the battle Beowulf knew what the outcome would be. Beowulf fights the dragon regardless and tragedy strikes. Gummere writes “When a chance came, he caught the hero in a rush of flame and clamped sharp fang into his neck. Beowulf's body ran wet with his life-blood: it came welling out.” (Gummere 2690-2693) Beowulf was fatally injured by the dragon, but he was not defeated yet. Gummere goes on to write how Beowulf kills the dragon with his dagger while Beowulf is more or less on his death bed. As the dragon’s lifeless body falls, Beowulf realizes he won. With the peace of mind that his community is safe from the monster and that his heroic work was done, he passed away from the dragon’s inflicted injuries. Beowulf was willing to die for his community to save them from the evil monster, truly being a hero. Unlike Beowulf, when Ofelia is approached with her monster, she takes on a less
violent approach. Ofelia’s main priority was to save the people against Captain Vidal, and her brother. Ofelia was set onto many different quests from her own imaginative monsters, and during these quests, she always created problems for her mother, which in turn created problems with the Captain. As more of these problems arose, the more Captain Vidal hated her. It soon became that the only person to protect Ofelia from Captain Vidal, was her mother. When her mother died, however, it changed everything. Ofelia knew that with her mother no longer there to save her and her brother, it was up to her to do so. As the Captain was preoccupied with the rebels, Ofelia steals her brother in accordance to the quests her monsters gave her. When she steals her baby brother and takes him to the place to where she was to go, Captain Vidal is outraged and chases after her in the labyrinth. When Ofelia gets to her final destination where she was told she would be able to save herself and brother, the monster reveals to her that she must sacrifice her own brother to save herself. When the Captain reaches Ofelia he demands that she give back his son. She refuses to sacrifice the boy to the monster and refuses to give the Captain’s son back. The Captain then takes matter into his own hands and shoots Ofelia. The Captain is then detained by the rebels and gave the rebels a true reason to execute him. The monster appears to Ofelia in her vision right before she dies, and explains to her that she completed her true quest. Ofelia’s true quest was not to sacrifice her brother to save herself and community, but to sacrifice herself to save her brother and community. It was a test to see if Ofelia would be the true hero and make the ultimate sacrifice and she passed. Beowulf and Ofelia fight against merciless monsters in different ways, but with the same goal: to save and protect welfare of the community. They both make the ultimate sacrifice of giving their lives, not because they are told to, but because they are true heroes. These two characters give a call to action for modern man to act selfless and to be a man for others. The world has a few men for others, but there are a lot more monsters out there. If everyone’s goal was to become a man for others, the world would have little to no monsters “… exploding all of your standards for harmony, order, and ethical conduct”. The world needs more people like Ofelia and Beowulf. Those willing to fight against and counter monsters for the good of society.
society. In Beowulf, Beowulf shows extraordinary courage and strength that gives him special status. This notion is shown, when Beowulf fights Grendel and Grendel’s mother, but it is especially noticeable when he fights the dragon. When Beowulf fought Grendel others had the courage to attempt to fight him. The same is true with Grendel’s mother. When Beowulf goes to fight the Dragon, the other warriors cower away into the woods. Beowulf shows his courage by fighting the Dragon. Even when Beowulf is fighting the Dragon and realizes that his sword can do no damage he continues to fight. After Beowulf is on the verge of death he shows a combination of courage and strength by delivering the death blow to the Dragon, and not just laying down to die. Beowulf’s strength is shown when he is able to actually do battle with the Dragon; any normal man would have fallen to the dragon immediately.
Varying from time, location and person, what it takes to be considered a hero has remained for the most part unanimous and throughout time has been represented in multiple ways. Most present in dated writing, a hero 's image and pride make up a big portion of most heroes. Their heroes aren’t so humble and they aspire to keep their title of "hero". On the contrary, most heroes in literature today are quite modest and don 't expect to be viewed as or considered heroes (more often than not they themselves do not classify with being heroes). As is the case for Beowulf and Katniss Everdeen, both different and yet also similar in terms of action, motives and thought (their personality being what really separates the two). Perhaps the biggest part of how a hero is treated and acts depends on what their society is like. Throughout time, the overall qualities of a hero have remained very similar. What has changed, is
What is hero? A hero, under the Merriam-Webster definition, is a person who is admired for brave/great acts or fine qualities. This is a very broad definition that combines both ancient and modern belief of what --or who-- a hero should be. Beowulf is an epic poem that focuses on an Anglo-Saxon hero. As such he embodies the traits that his culture valued most. Deadpool, on the other hand, portrays the most recent ideas of what traits a hero should embody. With these examples from contrasting periods, we are still able to see similarities and differences that shows how modern and Anglo-Saxon idea of heroism reflects its culture.
Towards the end of the story, Beowulf travels to fight a dragon who is protecting a large treasure. He wants to prove to his kingdom that he is still the brave and strong man he used to be, but his main motivation is the treasure he will get after his victory. "And Beowulf uttered his final boast: 'I've never known fear, as a youth I fought In endless battles. I am old, now, But I will fight again, seek fame still, If the dragon hiding in his tower dares To face me'" (606-610). On the other side, the dragon has the same motivation. He is willing protect the treasure if it takes his life. This makes the fight one to the death. "When he comes to me I mean to stand, not to run from his shooting Flames, stand still till fate decides Which of us wins" (619-622). Beowulf feels that if he cannot have this victory, that this is the proper way to
There are many similarities and differences between the movie "Beowulf and Grendel", to the poem. Major differences between the movie and the poem would be Grendel himself. In the poem, he is described as an evil monster born from two demons. In the movie, Grendel is actually human, but known as a troll to the warriors and Danes. The poem doesn’t give the background of Grendel or show how the Danes killed his father and the possible reason of his revenge, like in the movie. If the witch, Selma, was not included in the storyline of the movie, the audience would not have known key information that she was used to show from more flashbacks. The witch gives more of an idea about Grendel’s past life that could have been the possibility to reasons for his actions. Some major similarities are the battles. Both epics include the battles between Beowulf and Grendel, as well as Beowulf and Grendel’s mother. The end results are the same, leading to their death, but the journey and process to the two tales are different.
The first opponent Beowulf must face in the land of the Danes is Grendel, textually described as “a fiend out of hell … [a] grim demon / haunting the marches, / marauding round the heath / and the desolate fens” (Beowulf, line 100 – 104). The author also provides us with a moral description, explaining how Grendel is “merciless … malignant by nature, he never showed remorse” (line 135-137). As we can see here, the author’s physical and moral portrayal of Grendel is rather unforgiving. We also resent Grendel further once we learn that he has wreaked havoc upon the Heorot hall for twelve years, “inflicting constant cruelties on the people / atrocious hurt” (line 165).
Do people ever talk about superheroes, and monsters? Especially people into comic books and children. Every child, even adults, have a superhero they look up to, or a role model they want to grow up to be like. Superheroes are everywhere from movies to books. Children even sit in their room playing with toy superheroes, hoping one day they can be just like them. Even hundreds of thousands of years ago there were superheroes! A long time ago in the Anglo-Saxon Period there was a brave and loyal hero! His name was Beowulf, and everyone looked up to him. This hero definitely brought peace to many people, and if it wasn’t for the mighty hero Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxons would have been terrorized forever. Therefore, the times were hard before Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxon warriors always stood for three values, and the time was changed without monsters.
There are numerous similitudes and contrasts between Beowulf the motion picture which was made in the year 2007, and the poem by an obscure Angelo Saxon poet. A large portion of the likenesses and contrasts are clear. The poem was changed into a motion picture and was more advanced and simpler to see then the epic poem itself. The movie happens to be more modern and gives the audience a better understanding of Beowulf and what happened during his life. It also helps the audience visualize it rather than having to picture the occurences while reading the poem.
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.
In contrast, Beowulf is seen as a hero, even when exemplifying the violent and dangerous qualities the dragon is feared for. Anglo-Saxon society prized loyalty, personal valor, and fame. In order to be a hero, one must recognize the need to act, and not shy away from it. The dragon, based on that definition, embodies the Anglo-Saxon idea of a hero: it is loyal to its cause, it is a good warrior, and it recognizes the need to act. It even has a sense of justice and a sense of wrong, shown by the way it reacted to the theft of the chalice. The dragon becomes vengeful and defensive, using cruelty as a means to correct the wrong. Described as “the guardian of the mound” (2302), the dragon’s intent is identical to Beowulf’s. Beowulf is seen as a hero not only because of his actions, but because he is human. The only thing that makes the dragon different is its inhuman qualities, and therefore it is a monster, a “ground-burner” (2713). Heroism in Anglo-Saxon society is a concept embodied by warriors and guardians, who would vie to be the most well-known. Heroism, to the Anglo-Saxons, is an excuse to use cruelty as a way to further one’s fame. It is a social crutch of sorts, leaned on for the vain chance to be immortal. When Beowulf agrees to fight the dragon, it is to have a heroic death, so he may be remembered. In the battle, just as with Grendel and Grendel’s mother,
As king of the Geats he has a reputation to maintain and the responsibility to protect his people. When the dragon attacks, he sacrifices his well-being for the safety of the Geats despite his justified forecast of his own death. It is apparent that the older Beowulf has much more responsibility in comparison to the young Beowulf. He not only has to...
In many European traditions, dragons are viewed as villains because they represent the antithesis of a good king. Good kings share their wealth; dragons hoard it. However the dragon’s actions against society in Beowulf can be justified. After Beowulf becomes the ruler of Geatland and all seems well and peaceful, the dragon enters the story. His appearance is provoked: one day while the dragon quietly guards his ancient hoard, an unnamed Danish slave manages to enter the hidden lair and awaken the dragon’s dormant rage.
In the stories of Beowulf and A Knight's Tale, there are many different themes. One of the major themes is the religion that runs through both of them, yet both stories have a very different view of religion. In Beowulf, it seems as if God has chosen where our life will end and where it will begin, everything happens by the will of God in a fair and just way. In The Knight's Tale, we see Greek gods playing with the characters and when they "play" with them, there is no real pattern to how they choose things. Each vies is different and this affects the stories in different ways.
The last battle in Beowulf was against the fierce dragon that could also be saw as the power of Satan. During this battle Beowulf chooses to use a weapon because of the dragon’s deadly venom, it would only be fair. It was a hard fight but Beowulf wasn’t capable of defeating the dragon. This battle could be compared to the will of Christ, in which Christ gave his life for the people, while Beowulf did the same. The dragon now represents the evil a man must fight in order to preserve the good in life. Although Beowulf was defeated, it was not shamelessly, just like Christ he saved the people. Beowulf had a good heart but was sometimes overturned by the bad influences in life. He represents the fact that everyone makes mistakes, you can’t be perfect all the time, everyone’s bound to lose.
Beowulf’s first accomplishment as an epic hero was his battle with Grendel. Grendel was a huge beast, a descendent of Cain, who ruthlessly murdered innocent Danes because he felt pity for himself. Upon hearing of the Dane’s problem, Beowulf set off to help the Danish without having been called upon. Even though Beowulf had men backing him, He drew battle with Grendel alone and without armor or weapons. Yet, Beowulf emerged victorious with the arm of Grendel as his trophy. Beowulf then went on to kill Grendel’s vengeful mother and a huge fire-breathing dragon who thought it had been done wrong by the Geats. Alas, the killing of the dragon would be Beowulf’s last great battle for the dragon took Beowulf’s life in the struggle for his own.