Conclusion: As we can see there are many different examples of revenge in Beowulf. That all play a vital and very important role in the plot of this story.It basically keeps you on your toes wondering what is going to happen next. They all take revenge on people for different things. Grendel 's mom takes revenge on the meade hall of heorot and people there because of the loss of her son, While Beowulf takes revenge for the loss of his companion. There 's also the instance where the dragon takes revenge on the town for a servant taking some of his treasure.
Grendel’s mother arrived at the Mead hall attacking everyone and kidnaps one of Hrothgars very best friends; she takes him to her lair and kills him. Things were very different in the movie; instead of taking Hrothgars friend she killed everyone on the Mead Hall except for Beowulf. Beowulf then goes looking for Grendel’s mother; he enters her lair with a horn, hearing a voice talking to him and sees Grendel’s body on the table. Grendel’s mother appears looking beautiful to Beowulf. Out of anger she slices her sons head off and seduces Beowulf, she tells him to give her a son since he killed her only son.
To prove himself, Beowulf informs the King Hrothgar of his new expedition, killing Grendel. “Grendel was the name of this grim demon haunting the marches, marauding round the heath and the desolate fens; he had dwelt for a time in misery among the banished monsters, Cain's clan, whom the creator had outlawed and condemned as outcasts.” (Beowulf, 102). Basically, Grendel was constantly a threat to the community, which is why it was quite a task to rid of him. Eventually, Beowulf kills nine sea monsters and faces his battle with Grendel. When he murders Grendel, he leaves all the materialistic treasures and only takes the most valuable thing to him, Grendel’s head.
As per Joseph Campbell's "Saint with a Thousand Faces", the intrepid warrior Beowulf was viewed as a legend. Beowulf , was a little story expounded on a man who was a contender/Warrior , who yielded his life for the general population in Scandinavia to shield them from the assault's of the awful beast Grendel and his mom . Beowulf is viewed as an incredible saint in the book composed by Joseph Campbell " The Hero With A Thousands Faces . "Beowulf demonstrates physical quality in the story by crushing Grendel. In line 219 of Grendel's mom, it tells how Beowulf murdered her.
Success is something that Beowulf comes to know very well, as he has three great battle successes. Beowulf's first success is when he defeats Grendel. He went to fight Grendel, because the monster was destroying a village called Hereot. Grendel was destroying the castle, that King Hrothgar lived in, and he was killing anyone that got in his way. Later, after Beowulf defeated Grendel, he was faced with the task of defeating Grendel's mother.
Beowulf fights the dragon so that the people he rules can be safe and he is willing to risk his life. In the end, both the dragon and Beowulf die. THEMES: Inevitability of death- When Beowulf and the Dragon both kill each other the cycle of losing a great king begins again. Scyld Scefing died and the kingdom was overtaken with evil. “Such is the feud and enmity, the cruel malice of men, for which I look, in which the Swedish people will come against us, when they learn that our lord is reft of life, who aforetime did guard against those that hated him his treasury and realm, after the fall of mighty men did rule the sea loving Geats, accomplishing the profit of people, yea, and before all did knightly deeds.” This shows that Beowulf was going to end and the fate of his people was inevitable.
Beowulf grabs Grendel by his arm with his bare hands and rips off the monster’s arm with ease. Grendel is fatally injured and runs back to his den. The second part of the hero quest was when Beowulf fought Grendel’s mother who killed Hrothgar’s best companion during the night. Beowulf dresses in heavy chainmail and brings along the sword that Unferth gives to him as a gift. He dives into the depths of the
She, too, possesses the same repulsive and violent features as her son. She is described as a “greedy she-wolf” (426) but possesses fewer human traits than Grendel. However, she goes out to seek vengeance for her son’s death, clearly a human motivation. Grendel’s mother is more beast like as she fights with Beowulf into the depths of the hellish lake she calls home. There is a moment in the struggle when the reader thinks it may be the end for Beowulf as “she carried him, armor And sword and all, To her home; he struggled To free his weapon, and failed” (433-435).
In the epic of Beowulf, the dragon symbolizes evil and death. Beowulf, subsequently defeating Grendel and Grendel’s mother, he decides to go after the monstrous dragon. Who both are evil characters in the story and their deaths are what the dragon represents. From a biblical point of view, it is almost as if the dragon represents the devil. The dragon ignited the Geats homes and land to ashes.
evil is represented through Macduff, whom represents the ‘good’ and Macbeth, who has been completely consumed by his evil counterpart. Macduff has fled to England to plot against Macbeth, therefore, in retaliation Macbeth sends murderers to Macduff’s estate to slaughter his family and staff all-the-while claiming treason as a means of justification. Macbeth says,” The castle of Macduff I will surprise; seize upon Fife; give to th’ edge o’ th’ sword his wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls…” (Act IV,scn i, ln 150-153) Macbeth no longer cares if he kills the innocent. He will do anything and everything to protect his reign, sparing no one who deems a threat. This is why he has Macduff’s family killed, but what Macbeth hadn’t realized was now Macduff had nothing to lose and every reason to destroy him.