Beowulf is an ancient epic telling of a hero named Beowulf and his quests throughout his life. Back in Anglo-Saxon time, this epic, like much of their literature, was not written, but spoken. By the time it was written down by the Romans, it could have been told in many different variations. We read the epic, and then saw the 2007 film adaptation of the epic that was directed by Robert Zemeckis, and there was a great number of differences in the characters and their traits, and the plot of the epic. One of the major differences between the epic and the movie was Beowulf himself. Besides him trying to further his fame at any cost to be remembered, he was a very different character in the movie than he was in the epic. First off, in the epic he is a “stronger than anyone anywhere in the world” and shows no weaknesses at all (110 – 111). But, in the movie, he had a weakness for beautiful women, and whenever he was confronted by one, he would forget his objective and would give in to their beauty. …show more content…
In the movie, Hrothgar named Beowulf as his heir and jumped from Herot to his death immediately afterwards. This is a huge difference in plot and a dramatic change from the original epic. The original was better for the epic, because the movie’s take on this didn’t make sense. Even if Hrothgar named Beowulf as his heir, the Danish people wouldn’t allow that, because Beowulf wasn’t Danish. And even if they allowed it, why would Beowulf accept it? He was well on his way to becoming the king of his homeland, which is what happened in the epic. This change in plot wasn’t, in my opinion, the best idea. It was too different from the
Beowulf was a very interesting and entertaining epic poem and movie. It tells the story about the different challenges Beowulf had to go through and accomplish. The book and the movie both showed similarities for the whole time. Also it had some differences to when it came to different events that occurred. Beowulf was a very strong and brave character, and he faced a lot of challenges. The challenges he faced was the battle with Grendel, the battle with Grendel’s mother, the battle with the dragon and so on and so forth.
Heroes bring a hope to people whom they protect. Heroes bring people joy and bring a sense of relaxation to the people of their society because they play such an important role in lives everywhere. Heroes are complex rather than unembellished because they can fight dragons to defend their kingdom, or create a non-profit foundation to enhance the quality of life for more than 2,000 underprivileged kids. Heroes in our present day can be very complex because a person’s viewpoint on a hero’s life can be a completely different than the way another person looks at that same hero. Thomas Davis Sr. can be extremely comparable to Beowulf but they also have major differences.
Beowulf is an epic poem telling the story of Beowulf, a legendary Geatish hero who later
Movies and books are never the exact same, sometimes even the whole plot is changed around. In the book Beowulf the plot, characters, and setting are a lot different than they are when the movie was created. If a person watched the movie before they read the book, it may be totally confusing to read. In the book, Beowulf shows up and plans to fight with his men, then leaves to go back to his own kingdom. In the movie Beowulf, Beowulf ends up staying and becoming king of Dane Land.
Beowulf is one of the oldest poems in history, it was originally written in Anglo-Saxon, and it was told orally with many literary devices so it could be remembered throughout generations. It shows what their society was based on back in the Anglo-Saxon era. Although throughout history the poem has been changed to fit our modern day society. For example, having different values and morals and how we look at religion has all changed. In the Beowulf poem and movie there are many similarities and differences in Religion, Characterization, and Morals it highlights the value and beliefs of each society.
Beowulf was Achilles in the movie. He possessed no awe of the tempests. He shows no thankfulness to God for safe traveling. Equally for the book Beowulf was thankful for safe change of location. Making sure his men were safe on the boat with many weapons to protect them. In his day, he was the mightiest man on earth, highborn and powerful.
Unlike Batman’s reliance on using fancy gadgets, which helps him in succeeding to defeat evil, Beowulf, the first Anglo-Saxon hero, however, only ever relied on his very own strength and bravery, while he selflessly thwarted Grendel’s evil plans. Aside from the wickedly advanced technology that Batman uses, Beowulf and he are very similar in many ways. They have this desire to seek justice for those who cannot seek justice themselves. This is one of the many commonalities in which they both share as heroes. Similarly to Superman, Beowulf has extraordinary unspeakable strength.
Beowulf is one hell of an adventure. Slaying demons and dragons and even evil dark queens. But the movie compared to the epic is very different. In the movie, instead of Grendel attacking at night, he attacked while people had been awake just to add more adventure in the movie, but also, Beowulf is not entirely honest in the movie like he is in the epic. An example of this shows when he is slaying Grendel, he takes off all of his armor and clothes to give this naked, weaponless demon a fighting chance. Yes, Beowulf put up an intense fight with his demon to kill him, but Beowulf ended up killing him with the door of the room and taking the demon’s arm off with it. This is considered using a weapon, but making Beowulf kill the demon with the door gave him a chance to add more of the adventure to the story when he gives his “I am Beowulf” speech to the demon while the demon’s arm is in the door, defenseless. Also, in the movie they add pathos to the story line by showing after Beowulf left the island to go back to Geatsland, Hrothgar kills himself instead of just
Beowulf and Hrothgar are both great kings with responsibility to take care their people. Beowulf is a great king because there has been peace and prosperity for fifty years in his village when he became king. Hrothgar is a good king because he created the mead-hall and became successful, also implying that he had wealth. They both have experiences in combat. Hrothgar has responsibility for his people, while beowulf just worried about the glory and fame.
In the film version, Beowulf talks about his many qualities that make him epic enough, “[but] wasn’t it three” said one of the comrades of Hrothgar after Beowulf just finished talking about the reasons he didn’t win the match between him and Brecca in Unferth’s challenge. Robert Zemekis even changes up the battle (or what we thought would be a battle) between Beowulf and Grendel’s mother by making it seem as if there was a sexual relations between the two them, enough so that Beowulf gets a son. This fortifies Beowulf, as the very flawed hero, which fell for a monsters trickery. In the film version also, when Grendel the first monster (there were three, I checked) first encountered Hrothgar he was portrayed as a gentle giant. The first thing we could obviously
Beowulf is described as the most heroic man of the Anglo Saxons, he was important and needed by his people, known as courageous and strong. He was their hero, but the movie shows a different side.
Foreshadowing is a unique literary device in which the author must balance revealing the future and leading the reader in a certain directions. Different kinds of foreshadowing yields different results. Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney, and The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Zafon are very different when it comes to foreshadowing. The former tells a story of a great hero on his quest for fame and glory. In his quests he slays multiple fearsome monsters and separates himself from normal humans. In the latter, a young boy grows up with a love for literature. He falls in love with a book and dives into the mysterious history of the author while dealing with his own social problems as he grows older. Even though they are quite different,
Beowulf is an epic story that relates well to the time that it was introduced by having the stories of the epic battles and the defeats of the treacherous monsters that kept everyone entertained during this era. Not only does Beowulf represent the era well, but it also has very interesting characters, themes and symbols that help teach us lessons that are very much so needed in today's society.
The epic poem Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney, presents two heroic kings that have very clear differences on how they overcome challenges but they still keep their people in safe keepings. Hrothgar and Beowulf are admired by their people because they both show strong characteristics of what an Anglo-Saxon king should do or be.
Literary epics tend to follow the basic path in their plotlines of a hero who undergoes a quest, and Beowulf is no different. Beowulf is unique in that his tale is split into two stories taking place decades apart, one when he is a young warrior and the other when he is an old and wise king. Both stories follow the basic structure for a literary epic, a talented hero is charged with a quest, proves himself with a smaller feat, is aided by supplementary characters, enters a foreign and often supernatural environment, faces near-defeat, recovers and triumphs, and then reaps the rewards of his endeavor. Another example of an epic with this structure is Homer’s Odyssey, which blatantly follows the established sequence of events in a hero 's journey.