When you think of a good king, most people imagine a loving leader whom is admired and honored by his people. In the Anglo-Saxon culture especially, kings are revered and looked up to by all. A king should be someone who the people can depend on to lead them the right way. Similarly, people look up their heroes and honor them as they would do for a king. Both kings and heroes have fame and fortune. Beowulf excellently combines the two. Before he was a king, Beowulf was a great young warrior who was revered by his people. All the people, whether it be from Gateland or Daneland, cheered Beowulf on in his quest to defeat the vicious Grendel and conquer Grendel's mother. Beowulf holds the experiences of an all mighty warrior as well as the wisdom of a king. Beowulf had to overcome a lot to go from warrior to king. Kings and leaders lead their people in different ways just as their people admire them in different ways. Beowulf was able to bring his kingdom riches from his time as a warrior and intimidate his enemies which brought his land peace for a period of time. His past as a warrior carried over with him when he assumed leadership, particularly his enemies and rivals from before. His experience as a warrior gives him knowledge that some kings don't possess and make him a more effective leader with a greater foundation. Beowulf is eager to fight and defend his kingdom, even when he reaches old age as a king. In my opinion, Beowulf should have left the fighting to a younger warrior and he stay back and lead his kingdom. Beowulf chooses to prove himself once again, despite his old age and best the dragon. It is his excessive pride that get him killed; he believes that he will can conquer the dragon without the help of the Danes which leads to his death. This one quality which believe does not make him a good leader. I think that a good leader should be humble and as we know Beowulf doesn't quite fit that description. One would think that as he matures and progresses in life, from warrior to king, he would have learnt to be humble by now. I think a king should be learning new things every day, about himself or about his people, I expected Beowulf to have learnt the obvious and tried to correct his flaw. Overall I think that Beowulf is a good leader with his vast knowledge of war strategy and the wisdom of his people. Clearly, Beowulf cares for his people as he goes time and time again,, even when he is old, to protect them which I think makes a good king.
Beowulf, on the surface, shows a young warrior's way to kingship and their culture in general. But if you look closer, on a deeper level, Beowulf faces an internal struggle. Beowulf decides to take his call to action when he hears of the mighty Grendel. In every action+ movie, the hero has to answer the call for action, without it there would be no plot. Like most heroes do, (like Luke in Star Wars, the Avengers in the Avengers or basically hero in any action film) Beowulf decides to answer his call to action. Upon hearing of a murderous monster, time after time again, Beowulf volunteers to fight. Beowulf could choose to sit by and wait for another young warrior to take his place but instead, he confidently takes upon the challenge. Beowulf shows the audience through his actions that in order to accomplish something he, (we) must get up and do it ourselves.This has a deeper message than the surface of a young fellow fighting the monster. On his way to becoming king, young Beowulf needs to find his place in society as young people do. Beowulf wants to prove himself to society and to himself. I think by answering the call to action Beowulf conquering the internal struggle within himself. Beowulf's end goal is for him to accept himself for who he is and we see that happen as the story progresses. As a mighty, self-confident warrior,mostly everyone in his land of Geatland and even Daneland respect and look up to him for his braveness. Beowulf steps out of his comfort zone when he claims that "he will “renounce / sword and the shelter of the broad shield” during his battle with Grendel, something even the bravest of warriors would never do (lines 436 – 437)" Everyone is scared of something and maybe that is our internal quests but Beowulf conquers this quest as he steps forward and does what many are too afraid to do even think about to further prove himself. Beowulf pushes aside his fears when battling the monsters as we should learn to do with our monsters. One thing I believe that Beowulf never conquers is sense of self accomplishment and self pride. His self pride is what I believe to be his most tragic fall and it leads to his ultimate doom. Beowulf shows us that even the most invincible of heroes will come to an end as they cannot escape their inevitable doom. But it is important that even they, like us, must find their way.
Sources used: http://skywinger.weebly.com/beo-blog/beowulfs-internal-quest It is believed that Beowulf was written by a Christian monk who There are many Christian elements that are incorporated in Beowulf. One of the Christian elements incorporated in the story is that through Beowulf’s adventures, God looks over him and offers him protection. Beowulf knows that God is looking out for him as he ensures his survival. Throughout the story, Beowulf repeatedly thanks God for his numerous victories. The narrator always gives credit to God whenever a man accomplishes something heroic explaining that it could only be done with the help of God. “If God had not helped me, the result would have been quick and fatal.” A value that conflicts with a theme which comes up in the story multiple times is Beowulf’s pride. Beowulf is well aware how great he is as he boasts about himself and flaunts it around many times. This conflicts with the Christian concept to always be humble. In the end, his pride is what results in his ultimate downfall; this shows the Christian idea that you must remain humble and unselfish to remain under the mercy of God. In one point of the story, Hrothgar tells of a story about a selfish king who owed all of his success to God but did not realize it. Biblical allusions appear in this work’ Grendel is said to be a descendant of Cain. Hrothgar’s speech to Beowulf is referred to as Christ’s Sermon on the Mount and the hilt of the giant sword is compared to Noah and the flood. Beowulf faces many monsters which in Christianity can resemble the devil and be a symbol of evil/darkness. The Christian overlay in the story reminds the audience of its Christian roots. The message would be portrayed the same whether or not there was any Christian elements; this story just ties its causes and affect back into Christian philosophy. I think that the Christian overlay ties into the themes found in the story. Christian elements can incorporate well into themes like Strength and Skill, Courage, Mortality, Wealth, Religion and Good vs. Evil. In Christian beliefs, it is only God who can give you strength, skill and bravery. God gives humans mortality as well as wealth, He is the basis of their religion. In the battles between Beowulf and the 3 monsters as well as Grendel, God and Beowulf’s faith helped good conquer over evil. The Christian God can be tied back to every one of these common themes in Beowulf. Christian elements play a fundamental role in the telling of this story.
Sources used: http://csis.pace.edu/grendel/projs1d/CHRIST.html http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-cristian-elements-beowulf-45955 In Beowulf like in many texts and older literature from the past, women are deemed to be weaker and hold less power than men do. This has been the stereotype of all men throughout literature up until recently. It has been viewed that all women need a man to protect them and to depend on. However, if you look at Anglo-Saxon societal values at the time Beowulf was written;; these common beliefs are viewed differently. At the time, women were not seen as weaker or lesser tan men but as equals. Women were free to marry who they please and even own property. It is true even then and as it has always been viewed that "women were the focus of fertility" and men had the physical prowess. Women, as a stereotype, have been known to be the weaker gender. In Beowulf, one of the monsters he battles is Grendel's mother. Now this can be looked at from many perspectives. In the end Beowulf ends up killing Grendel's mother which can prove her to have less physical strength; however Beowulf also killed her son which could just be because Beowulf is a mighty warrior. Unlike most stories, a woman fights against a man; this could symbolize the society's belief that men and women are equal. But then again, the woman who is fighting is a monster exacting revenge for her son, which could also mean that normal women don't fight. The women in Beowulf have minor roles which leads people to feel as if they are degraded or skimmed over in the book. Wealhtheow and Hygd do have important roles to serve even if they only play a minor part of the story. The women in this story are indirectly given roles of power as they have an influence over men's decisions in the book. Wealhtheow is Hrothgar's wife and is known as the "woman of the Helmings." She has much wisdom in the proper etiquette of the royal court and exudes power in the first scene in which she appears. Wealhtheow shows her power in thew scene of the celebration of Grendel's mother's death. Even with a minor role, she is able to show that she is definitely not one of the frail women that people have stereotype women to be. Grendel's mother also exerts power onto the readers as we can see with her vengeance for her son and her battle with Beowulf.
Sources Used: http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/704/reevaluating-the-role-of-women-in-beowulf?utm_expid=22625156-1._HyAAxXdT4Cb3b9ocWvJYA.0&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F In this story, the concept of blood feud is important. A blood feud is a long conflict between families which can go on repeating, involving a cycle of retaliatory killings or injury. Blood feud can be seen as a measure taken for revenge when a loved one is killed or as vengeance for a people or land. These are both seen in this story. Beowulf avenges Hrothgar's men as Grendel continues to kill them for 12 years straight. Beowulf takes it upon himself to put a stop to it and eventually avenges all Hrothgar's people and land. In the second case, after learning that her son is dead, Grendel's mother chooses avenge her son. Grendel's mother challenges Beowulf underwater to pay him back for what he did to her son. Blood feuds are pointless as they take the lives of many for a single unimportant cause done out of spite. An injustice which invokes the need for revenge within a person can usually disappear given the proper amount of time, but the plot for revenge is enacted right away the result is many innocent lives lost for something that could have been avoided. Blood feuds can go on forever through many generations; lucky for Beowulf since these two feuds are connected the blood feud is short. If there were more monsters instead of two, (Grendel and Grendel's mother) the blood feud could have lasted much longer. "This was not a good bargain, that on both sides they had to pay with the lives of friends." In this particular society, the need for revenge may be associated with pride. Pride brings people to believe that they are better than their equals and consequently when something unjust happens to them they are lead to believe that they being higher can exact revenge upon their lower counterparts. If read carefully, it seems that the author is against blood feuds by his wording. The killing of anyone is bound to leave someone hurt and there fore can lead to a blood feud. This shown with Grendel's mother; even though all of Hrothgar's men hated Grendel and all wanted him dead for his crimes, Grendel's kin, his mother, still cared for him and therefore this lead to her exacting revenge against Beowulf. As long as there are people to care for another, there is always a possibility of blood feuds occurring again and again.
Sources Used: http://csis.pace.edu/grendel/proj1b/beowulf.html Throughout Beowulf, there are numerous narrative digressions or flashbacks within the story such as "Unferth's challenge to Beowulf, the fight at Finnsburg and Hrothulf's treachery." These interruptions serve actually serve a purpose; these flashbacks are meant to enhance Beowulf's character. They give the audience deeper insight into who Beowulf is and inform us of his history that we are unaware of. They usually signify important events that have occurred and remind the audience of Beowulf's heroism. One of the more crucial flashbacks is Unferth's challenge to Beowulf. This provides insight to the unknowing reader. "Are you that Beowulf/who with Breca strove,/on the open sea/over a swimming match,/where you two out of pride/tempted the floods/for this doltish boasting. . . . (ll. 506-509)" In this particular digression, Unferth means to challenge Beowulf's might and smarts as Unferth believes that he is stronger than he. This challenge is done through a swimming contest which neither of them won (Breca was the winner as he came ashore first). Unferth believes that Beowulf is incapable of defeating Grendel and meant to prove that through this contest. But as we all know Beowulf is successful in his brawl with the vicious Grendel. In Beowulf's telling of this same flashback, he deems himself winner as he completed heroic deeds. Beowulf tells the story stating that he had to battle serpents and sea creatures within this contest while the other two stood idly by. Flashbacks told by different people are recounted in different ways. This is seen in everyday life one friend may recount an experience in a positive manner while the other friend recounts the same experience in a pessimistic way. This is proven with the two different version and the two different winners told by Unferth and Beowulf.
Sources Used: http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-significance-digressions-beowulf-367420 |