Duality In Beowulf

The cultures reflected in the Beowulf epic (Heaney) and the modern movie, Beowulf and Grendel (Gunnarrson,) are different in the sense that in the epic, objects are simply either evil or good. Throughout the epic, Beowulf and his motives remain the same. Similarly, the cultural values of the Anglo-saxons remained steady and unchanged compared to modern society’s and its ever-changing views. Since the movie was made in modern times, script-writers added extra elements so that viewers could be able to relate to the characters and their values. In Beowulf and Grendel, Beowulf first exhibits the same type of attitude towards simplistic duality that is in the epic. He is all for killing and glory without examining the situation. The values of modern …show more content…
“My wits still war with how this all began.” This is where Beowulf exhibits the values that modern society appreciates. “Has this thing, troll, killed any children? Women?” Beowulf takes a step back and examines the situation. He looks past the concept of simplistic duality that is shown throughout the epic. “An arrow from the bow of the Geat chief got one of them as he surged to the surface: the seasoned shaft stuck deep in his flank and his freedom in the water got less and less.” (line 1432) The Beowulf in the epic remains a flat character as he acts the same from beginning to end. Simplistic duality is ever-present and an important factor in his actions; perhaps the only factor. In the movie, the progression of the static Beowulf that simply sets out to kill an ugly creature to a Beowulf that seeks truth and reason makes him more relatable to modern society due to his new-found thought processes that involve not judging a book by its …show more content…
As the movie progresses, the values of modern culture become more visible and the concept of simplistic duality is overtaken by the modern concepts of truth and rationality. Beowulf’s conscience becomes evident when he questions popular opinion. Decisions concerning the death of a creature aren’t as simple as they were in the times of the Anglo-saxons. A member of modern society will not kill a living thing just for appearing evil. Since the epic was written in the time of the Anglo-saxons, it is hard for the modern population to relate to it. Although simplistic duality is not very much present in modern times, it very much guided many of the decisions that Anglo-saxons made. This is the reason for the flatness of Beowulf in the epic. He remains unchanged throughout the whole poem and simply sets out to glory himself and God with every decision he