Essay On Good And Evil In Beowulf

Beowulf is a poem that based in the 10th and 11th century that revolved around the idea of good vs evil. The poem is named after Beowulf who is a supernatural hero that slays any evil that crosses his path but is a real sweetheart when it comes to other people or the king. Beowulf is to be considered an epic poem because the hero in the story creates acts of being courageous and even superhuman in some cases, reflecting timeless values such as courage and honor, and the poem reflects unforgettable values with honor and courage.

The epic poem, Beowulf is about a hero who comes to the aid of King Hrothgar. Hrothgar’s Mead Hall was being destroyed by a demon that lurked the boundaries of the small town. Beowulf hears the news and comes to try to defeat the demon. He performs this admirable deed because he wanted to achieve immortality by being a hero. He fought the monsters with his bare hands.

The epic poem Beowulf was a story told in the anglo saxon time period. A time when people believed in dragons, monsters, and curses. Many stories told by people of this time talked about the good and evil forces there are in the world and what happens when they collide in battle.The hero in this story has sailed from his home to fight this evil being named Grendel, a monster that has become a nuisance in Herot.

On numerous accounts, Beowulf involved himself in many challenges such battling Grendel, Grendel’s Mother, and the Dragon to prove himself as a hero. In the beginning of the reading, Beowulf faces a rude and self-absorbed being with the name of Grendel. Grendel causes much destruction and terror for the kingdom of Herot by killing many people for their display of happiness. Once hearing

Near the end of his life as a king, Beowulf found that his citizens were being terrorized by a dragon. Although he was old and grizzled, the king took it on in battle. He showed tremendous courage even when knowing the odds were not in his favor. Previously, during his time in Denmark, Beowulf killed Grendel’s mother with the sword made for a giant. This showed his superhuman strength because as an ordinary human being Beowulf was able to handle and control the giant’s sword.

Furthermore, Beowulf’s death and the downfall of his people highlight the destruction caused by excessive pride. After defeating Grendel and his mother, Beowulf , the warrior, earns a name for himself and eventually rules as the warrior king of the Geats for 50 years. Yet at the end of the poem, Beowulf, similarly to Grendel, lets his insatiable greed consume him. His self-centered desire to gain and maintain fame and glory overrides his duties as a leader of his people, the Geats, and causes him to become irrational. He irrationally decides to battle with the dragon that was causing mayhem in his kingdom alone.

I am old, now, but I will fight again, seek fame still, if the dragon hiding in his tower dares to face me." (52) To Beowulf, even as an older and supposedly wiser man, his main reason for fighting monsters continues to be to gain more fame. Other heroes, like Gilgamesh and Odysseus, usually do heroic deeds to help their kingdoms and men. For example, Gilgamesh kills the heavenly bull to avoid a famine from wrecking his kingdom, while Odysseus works to save his men throughout the story multiple times. Loyalty towards himself before anyone or anything else, is one of the qualities that separates Beowulf from other traditional heroes.

The characteristic of an epic that is dominant in Beowulf is that the actions of the hero decide the fate of a nation. Upon hearing of Grendel’s attacks at Herot, Beowulf travels to Denmark to help Hrothgar. Hrothgar agrees to let Beowulf try to defeat Grendel. If Beowulf kills the demon, then Herot will be cured of all evil, but if he fails, then Grendel will continue to terrorize Hrothgar’s men until the kingdom is completely demolished. Beowulf succeeds in defeating Grendel, and saves Hrothgar and his men from Grendel’s wrath. Similarly, when Hrothgar offers beowulf the challenge of fighting Grendel’s mother, Beowulf accepts because “...our only help...lies with you…” (lines 443-444). Beowulf is the only warrior who has the strength to

“Beowulf” is an old English heroic poem written in the Anglo-Saxon Era. While the battles of Beowulf were mesmerizing, the concept of defending the civilians throughout the whole poem was self- evident. Even so, the poem contains many types of archetypes; situational, character and symbolic. Beowulf hears the monstrous acts of Grendel and sets forward towards a quest to conquer the wild beast.

An Understanding on Beowulf: An Analysis on How Beowulf Contrasts Good Versus Evil Beowulf is the typical story of good versus evil.in this poem, good is portrayed by our hero, Beowulf. Evil, on the other hand, does not have one representation, but rather several, most are in form of monsters. To be good, you need to be the opposite of what evil is and what it does. Beowulf does that several times throughout the whole poem. Grendel, the first monster Beowulf encountered, attacked because he was exiled form the rest of society and probably felt angry and jealous out of the peoples joy(87).he was probably jealous of the happiness of others, and like many people, he decided that if he was not happy, no one should be happy.

The real monster in the story of Beowulf,is the famous and glorious Beowulf. Throughout history Beowulf is looked at as someone heroic , but was he just doing it for his own glory and not for his people. Grendel is looked at as the monster but the real monster is Beowulf. Beowulf only wanted glory, money and fame. Although everyone saw Grendel as something horrible, he never hurt anyone just to hurt them.Grendel did it for his own self defense. Beowulf was disguised as someone who only wanted good for the people ,but reality he was just a manipulative, vicious, and selfish monster.

Beowulf’s Unstoppable Courage In the novel Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney, Beowulf possesses unstoppable courage which allows him to help move the plot along and maintain the balance between good and evil. Beowulf first exhibits courage when he first hears the news of Grendel. He immediately assembles a team together and goes over to Heorot upon receiving word of Grendel’s actions. Beowulf shows courage even when no one else volunteers to complete the task: “Then news of Grendel,/ had to ignore, reached me at home...

Good vs Evil in Beowulf Evil profoundly immoral and malevolent Good to be desired or approved of. Although the two adjectives are the polar opposites from each other complete In the Anglo Saxon poem Beowulf, the reoccurring theme of good versus evil is used to contrast the ideal Anglo Saxon person with its flawed opposite. Anglo Saxon literature was typically written in Latin, which is known as “the language of learning” (Amodio).

Nick Gardner Ms. Kelton British Literature 22 October 2015 Beowulf essay Good and evil are age old forces that have influenced the human mind since the beginning of time. Good people are often portrayed as heroes to society and represent a role model who people look up and try to emulate their behavior after. A hero will face the issues that everyone else fears and always makes the decision that will benefit the people he is trying to help. Villains are those who ignore what is right for society and will try achieve their goals that will benefit only them by any means necessary.

There is a good and an evil in everyone… it just matters what side you show. One isn’t born evil and one isn’t born good. You choose the kind of person that you want to be. Not only are people evil, but situations and places can be evil too. The world today is an evil place, there is not many people that have a good heart anymore. It is the people that are genuine and true that will help out this world to become a much nicer place to be.