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Beowulf Essay

Beowulf's battles with Grendel, Grendel's mother, and the dragon symbolize the development of his epic heroic characteristics over his lifetime. His first fight with Grendel represents his youthful traits of bravery and desire for glory. The battle with Grendel's mother shows Beowulf's growing awareness of his capabilities as a more mature adult. His final battle against the dragon occurs after he has gained wisdom in his older age. Throughout his life, Beowulf demonstrated courage in different ways appropriate to each stage, making it his most defining trait as an epic hero.

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Ignacio Noria
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95 views1 page

Beowulf Essay

Beowulf's battles with Grendel, Grendel's mother, and the dragon symbolize the development of his epic heroic characteristics over his lifetime. His first fight with Grendel represents his youthful traits of bravery and desire for glory. The battle with Grendel's mother shows Beowulf's growing awareness of his capabilities as a more mature adult. His final battle against the dragon occurs after he has gained wisdom in his older age. Throughout his life, Beowulf demonstrated courage in different ways appropriate to each stage, making it his most defining trait as an epic hero.

Uploaded by

Ignacio Noria
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Ignacio Noria – Literature 1

Write an essay discussing the importance of battling to enhance the epic


characteristics of Beowulf.

Authors often use abstract ideas or events to symbolize someone's personality traits.
Symbolism is the practice of representing things by means of symbols or of investing
symbolic things with a symbolic meaning or character. In the anonymous epic, Beowulf
fights Grendel, Grendel's mother and the dragon. Beowulf's battles with theses three
evils symbolize the epic characteristics in him.

Beowulf’s epic characteristics are shown mainly through stages of his life. The battle
against his first enemy, Grendel, represents his youth and all the typical traits that
come with it. Bravery, the desire for fame and glory, to name a few. This can be seen
when Beowulf goes to Hrothgar and asks him if he can fight Grendel for him and his
people. Beowulf shows this trait when he says,

Grant me, then, lord and protector of this noble place, a single request! I have come so
far, oh shelter of warriors and your people's loved friend, that this one favor you should
not refuse me. That I, alone and with the help of my men, may purge all evil from this
Hell. (Beowulf, page 19).

The battle against Grendel’s mother represents a more adult side of Beowulf. As he
grows older, he becomes less daring and more aware of his capabilities as an adult
person. He now realises that he needs to be more defensive in order to take on his
enemies. This can be seen when he decides to fight with mail armor and sword.

Fifty years have gone by since his fight with Grendel, and now Beowulf has become a
man of wisdom. It feels like all those traits that once characterised him have now
merged and taken a whole new level to make of Beowulf a more centered, wise
individual, ready to fight his very last battle. His final chapter, the battle against the
dragon marks a glorious end to a glorious man.

But above everything, it was courage the common trait present in all his lifespan. The
exhibition of courage in Beowulf differed in every stage and was shown in different
ways, but still managed to become his most special trait.

In his first battle against Grendel, he showed courage by being able to defeat a
monster no one could defeat before, and take a challenge despite all the odds against
him. In his second fight, Beowulf manages to defeat Grendel's mother alone. This
decision to fight alone shows Beowulf's courageous nature. In his final fight, Beowulf
enters into the battle against the dragon alone and, despite being joined by Wiglaf,
faces the dragon with an extra difficulty that is his age.

Through all of Beowulf's battles and stages of his life, Beowulf showed his heroic and
courageous nature by him taking on great challenges by himself. Those challenges
enhanced the already strong features that characterised him and molded him to be the
epic hero he is known for.

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