Similarities Between Macbeth And Sir Gawain

Even though Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Beowulf,and Macbeth happened in three different time periods and share different cultural standards, they all share the common factor of being called heroes.The time periods of these specific stories are the Anglo-Saxon, Renaissance, and the Medieval times.Classifying a hero and not knowing the standards of each period can be a difficult task. Having a clear idea of what all these time periods intel can help when classifying if in fact these people are hero's. Individually looking at Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and, Macbeth,it can be easy to see how each story describes the hero’s personalities and how the time period had an effect on them.

During the time Beowulf was written, there

were standards a hero such as Beowulf had to stand by and be committed to. In the Anglo-Saxon times, a hero had to loyalty and posses great strength. In the case of Beowulf, these qualities stayed with him his entire life. Beowulf was always talked about being prideful on several occasions.One example would be when beowulf said that” A solider should know the difference between words and deeds,and keep that knowledge clear in his brain”(200-202).When he says this to the Coast guard,he explians to him that knowing the difference between words and actions and then being able to keep his word about it, he is showing great loyality towards others. During the Anglo-Saxon times, men just like Beowulf were supposed to speak of their actions, not just do them.So when he says this to the coast gurad, we know that Beowulf is going by the rules and regulations of the Anglo-Saxon way. Beowulf keep his loyalty close to him, When Beowulf then goes to show what speaks of, we can see his great strength. When he takes on the battle between Grendel, he does it without weapons, just like the monster. He says"I have heard moreover that the monster scorns in his reckless way to use weapons; therefore, to heighten Hygelac's fame and gladden his heart, I hereby renounce sword and the shelter of the broad shield, the heavy war-board: hand-to-hand is how it will be, a life-and-death fight with the fiend." (433-440) Warriors during this time were not supposed to back out of fights and face things head on whether you were going to die or not. For Beowulf to show this much strength at such a young age was very heroic. Having these things tied together, we can see Beowulf as a true hero during his time period. The way Beowulf handled the situations he was given stay true to the way a hero is supposed to act.

Some hero’s however don't follow all the rules and this is true in the case of the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. This story happens during the Medieval Period which means that knights are to follow the ways of god and stay true to the christian values. This code states that knights are supposed to be brave, follow the church and not think of only themselves. When we are first shown Gawain, he is showing bravery. As the Green Knight appears, he demands a game with the king. Gawain takes his place due to the King's old age. Gawain says” "I am the weakest [of your knight], I know, and the dullest-minded, So my death would be the least loss, if truth should be told; Only because you are my uncle am I to be praised,No virtue I know in myself but your blood."(128-131). He admits that he is weak but he still takes on the task to protect the king and his fellow people. Keeping the people in mind is important but so is your faith. During this time, keeping faith close to you is very important. Gawain is know to keep his faith with him. One even says”So is Gawain, in good faith, to other gay knight”(455). He is know to keep faith with him. One important thing when following God is if you are trustworthy. As he takes on the quest to play the game, he comes across another king that begins to test how trustworthy he is. He asks him anything he gets hunting gawain has to share what he receives in the kingdom. However he fails to keep his word a became greedy. On the third day, he received a magic girdle and didn't give it to the king on his return. When confronted he is exposed of his greed the knight says” But that you loved your own life;the less, than, to blame”(458) and Of disloyalty and lies, bad luck to them both! and greed”(473). For him to keep the girdle showed that he betrayed the chivalry code because he only cared about himself becoming stronger. As we see his true colors, he only cared for himself in the end. He was willing to lie in order to make himself stronger which didn't even happen. This shows that lying and greed are not heroic like qualities that are shown in the Medieval Period.

In the case of Macbeth.

the way it is written and the time period it's takes place in says that Macbeth is a tragic hero. A tragic hero is a little different from a normal hero because tragic hero will experience some supernatural being that will be the purpose of his actions and is said to experience a bad end when these said actions lead him or her there. In Macbeth, this is very true. Throughout his life, he displayed characteristics that would be considered a tragic hero.
We clearly see that he does have his own belief in freedom. An example would be when he makes decisions on his own. He says “ My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, Shakes so my single state of man, That function is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is but what is not. (1.3.52-55).Another thing we see are the supernatural at the beginning of the play. The three witches are calling to Macbeth saying’ All hail, Macbeth’(1.3.68). They tell him he is going to be all the great things such as “Thane of Glamis’(1.3.48), Thane of Cawdor’(1.3.49) and “King hereafter’(1.3.50). These things begin to overwhelm him and feels like everyone is out to take his power. As he beings to feel this way, it becomes clear he is going to have a bad ending to all this. He was killing friends, allies and any he believed was going to take his kingdom. When things didn't go his way, he was faced with death. Its because of these two things specifically that shows Macbeth as a tragic

hero.

In conclusion, knowing the cultural impacts and characteristics of a hero can help when classifying them as a hero or not.

In the case of Macbeth, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Beowulf, even though they were from different time periods, they were still able to all be classified as heros in the end. Although the time periods were a clear difference, they all came together in the end. Specifically during the Renaissance with Macbeth, a tragic hero was a more official name due to the particular writing style. Knowing all these things can be beneficial when it comes to classifying more offical people or

subjects.