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Materialism In Beowulf

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Beowulf Idealism and Materialism Contrasts Old English Epic vs. Modern Day Film In the story of Beowulf, (Heaney) which takes place in 1000 AD, the protagonist Beowulf is a Geat hero who fights monsters and is known as the strongest conqueror around. The cultural values in the Novel contrasted to Beowulf and Grendel, (Gunnarsson) a movie produced in 2005, are different. The materialism and idealism that both Beowulfs have are completely different in many ways. The reputation, appearance, and attitude as well as a few more characteristics are different from the novel to the cinematic production. In the novel, Beowulf was introduced as a god like hero that could conquer any monster, creature or person that dared cross his path. In the epic, Beowulf was the only person anyone could call if they needed help with anything, and in the movie he is just an average looking man. …show more content…

That was a good king.” (9-11) Beowulf ruled over 50 years with the influence of the Anglo-Saxon culture that he was the strongest ruler there would ever be, even long after he was gone. The idealism of Beowulf will live forever and strike fear in the enemies of the Anglo-Saxons. The goodness, loyalty, courteousness, evenness, and bravery of Beowulf to the Anglo-Saxon culture was well proven in Beowulf and Beowulf and Grendel by showing both versions of the tale who Beowulf was. While the epic provided a more specific, vivid, and precise understanding of not only the cultural values and the characteristics of the old English tale, but also the detail of an Anglo-Saxon writer. The movie, bringing the epic to life, provided an image of the plot and gave faces to the characters to help better understand the story. The idealism and materialism of the culture that this story provided was immensely focused on how the life of the Anglo-Saxon people valued life in the time of their

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