Culture and Literature
Beowulf now vs. Beowulf then
Although the film and the epic are related to each other, the two are also incredibly different. Why is this so? It is really quite simple. They were made at different times, by different people, and with different reason. Our ideas of heroes and our relation to heroes are completely different as from what they were when the epic Beowulf was written. There are differences in the characters and the plot. We can see this in the way that the movie’s characters handle the same situations presented in the book. In other words, the plots are related, but branch out in different paths. Religion is also a key factor in how the entire movie played out. Beowulf in the epic’s view of religion is not …show more content…
In the epic, Grendel, for one, was portrayed as an evil demon from the swamps that had no reason as to why he was conducting senseless acts of terrorism. Grendel also never had a father, and he sure as heck never had a son. Grendel also never even seemed to speak any language and we simply assumed that he received his name from his mother. Beowulf, a Geat, came to slay Grendel to simply take revenge upon him for killing so many Danes for no reason at all. Then, Grendel’s mother tries to avenge her son by killing Beowulf but fails to do so. Beowulf also becomes king and eventually sleighs a dragon that was destroying the land because somebody stole a golden goblet from him. Beowulf later dies from wounds he received from the battle. In all honesty, the epic left many things unanswered. It was very vague in explanation as to why certain events happened, who certain characters were, and how certain things came to …show more content…
Spaced out by different times, different kinds of people, and different reasoning, the movie was changed in a way that our society would connect to it. We are all human, that is the basic idea that the movie was made upon. Everybody has issues that others can’t see. At least this is how our modern idealism is. Back when the epic poem was written, the hero was always the hero who made perfect decisions against a villain who was just simply born evil. It really all depends on the best way that an author can connect with the audience. Times change, and along with the changing of time, comes the change of our preference in literature. In other words, you will notice that the literature as a whole including characters, situations, and storylines will change as time goes on. A culture has an incredible imprint on how the story is told and how each situation and character is
Beowulf now vs. Beowulf then
Although the film and the epic are related to each other, the two are also incredibly different. Why is this so? It is really quite simple. They were made at different times, by different people, and with different reason. Our ideas of heroes and our relation to heroes are completely different as from what they were when the epic Beowulf was written. There are differences in the characters and the plot. We can see this in the way that the movie’s characters handle the same situations presented in the book. In other words, the plots are related, but branch out in different paths. Religion is also a key factor in how the entire movie played out. Beowulf in the epic’s view of religion is not …show more content…
In the epic, Grendel, for one, was portrayed as an evil demon from the swamps that had no reason as to why he was conducting senseless acts of terrorism. Grendel also never had a father, and he sure as heck never had a son. Grendel also never even seemed to speak any language and we simply assumed that he received his name from his mother. Beowulf, a Geat, came to slay Grendel to simply take revenge upon him for killing so many Danes for no reason at all. Then, Grendel’s mother tries to avenge her son by killing Beowulf but fails to do so. Beowulf also becomes king and eventually sleighs a dragon that was destroying the land because somebody stole a golden goblet from him. Beowulf later dies from wounds he received from the battle. In all honesty, the epic left many things unanswered. It was very vague in explanation as to why certain events happened, who certain characters were, and how certain things came to …show more content…
Spaced out by different times, different kinds of people, and different reasoning, the movie was changed in a way that our society would connect to it. We are all human, that is the basic idea that the movie was made upon. Everybody has issues that others can’t see. At least this is how our modern idealism is. Back when the epic poem was written, the hero was always the hero who made perfect decisions against a villain who was just simply born evil. It really all depends on the best way that an author can connect with the audience. Times change, and along with the changing of time, comes the change of our preference in literature. In other words, you will notice that the literature as a whole including characters, situations, and storylines will change as time goes on. A culture has an incredible imprint on how the story is told and how each situation and character is