Beowulf Essay

Beowulf exemplifies the heroic traits and the literary techniques of its time.  Analyze this in the context of our class discussion and the commentary you read, and compare with a contemporary hero and the way his/her story is told.  

Literature is a window into a different perspective. It teaches us about the person and time period it was written in. The same can be said about Beowulf, the way it illustrates a hero of a different time, however it shows us a hero that isn't too far different from heroes today. The zeitgeist of Beowulf is evident in the heroic traits and literary techniques used in the story, by comparing it to modern heroes it gives a better grasp of how society was during the time period this piece was written.

One of the most memorable things about Beowulf was his confidence, that can be reflected as almost arrogant through our more modern perspective. The way he volunteers to the hero's call even though he doesn't have to get involved, or the way he boasts about being able to take out Grendel naked, show how confident he is in his ability. He didn't ignore danger he faced it head on and tackled it. This shows us how society during that period valued confidence much more that humility. Compared to today's culture, a hero like Beowulf might be considered a jerk that is too egotistic. However this isn't the case for early English civilizations that wrote Beowulf. 

Another characteristic we see in about Beowulf is that he relied completely on his brute strength and never really had to plan things out. He just came in storming and did his job. this is very different from modern heroes that are put through several tests and have to prove their intelligence as well as strength. This proposes a society that wasn't so interested in intelligence to determine leadership but brute strength. Beowulf didn't have to go through the typical heroes' journey like other heroes such as Odysseus. People simply saw his strength and excepted him as their leader.

One last thing that we see about the story in context to history is that their is only on e important female character, and she is a villain. Grendel's mother is all we can use to classify women of this time period, and the fact that they show her as a villain, tells the reader that society of this time period were sexist. women were seen as evil and worthless than men. Had this story been told through the perspective of a women, it probably would have never been told. Women during this time period were probably too scared to come up with such a story because of the social attention and segregation they would receive for describing such a controversial story.

The characteristics of Beowulf and the story have shown us glimpses of what society was like and how it compared to ours. Society valued power and confidence, as well as have a sexist view. We can see these things through the actions of Beowulf and how other female characters are described.