Pride In Beowulf, Macbeth, And Everyman

Emotions make people who they are, and pride is one of the most common and powerful human emotions that has the power to change a person completely for the better or worse. Many writers use pride to cause the rise and fall of heroes in epics such as Beowulf, Macbeth, and Everyman. Therefore pride can be characterized throughout British literature as one of the biggest conflicts heroes struggle with. Pride can be arguably one of the greatest flaws in human nature according to Christians and one of the most valued strengths to the pagan culture. Many Literary authors from both sides use pride as a weapon against heroes in epics in order to give a significant conflict that could change the character and even kill him. Christians say that “the …show more content…
Pride is often recognised as a selfish and sinful act by Christian culture however Beowulf was written by the pagan culture authors which makes his pride an extraordinarily good thing. Beowulf seeks fame and glory with his pride but unlike the usual “selfish fame, the story often associates honorable fame with generosity” (Pride & Beowulf). Therefore Beowulf’s lust for glory with his pride is an honorable deed and is classified as more of a strong positive self-esteem passion that aids Beowulf on his quests. For example, when Beowulf went to fight the monster Grendel he went because of his pride telling him that he had to be the biggest and baddest thing feared and not some monster. The fact that Beowulf went because of this matter gives his character a sense of dominance but not to the point of gaining immortality pride like Macbeth did. The way that Beowulf gained the proper pride was “his acceptance of such a possibility as being under the control of God shows that he is willing to sacrifice himself for the good of a people under a king that is not even his own” (Pride & Beowulf). Since Beowulf was claimed to have the proper pride instead of corrupting evil pride like Macbeth previewed, he proved to people that not all power dominant prides are classified as evil. The author of Beowulf even said “Beowulf has communicated that while improper pride may always be more dominant, and certainly easier to obtain, there is a place and function for proper pride” (Pride & Beowulf) Having the proper pride sets an example for all future pagan culture authors who want to use pride in stories by showing that sometimes, pride can lead an epic character into becoming a classical heroic picture such as Beowulf. Furthermore, they did not have to follow Christian culture beliefs and could begin