Beowulf, Written In 1000 A. D.

From the very outset, it is worth noting that the article’s central theme is the practice of adaptation. Adaption is used in the article to describe the practice of transforming an already existing work of art to come up with a new form of art. In essence, adaptation involves developing a new work of art (such as a film) from an existing one (such as a novel or play). The new work of art is said to have transformed or adapted the original. As such, it is inevitably referred to a reproduction or adaptation of the original. In this sense, the focus of the article is on how different artistic and literary works have been transformed into films through adaptation.

It is common in today's media-driven society to reach into the past for inspiration and ideas. A trend has developed where original works are transformed into other mediums. For example: books are turned into movies and/or plays, movies are turned into weekly sitcoms, and cartoons will spawn empires (Disney). These things happen so often that an audience rarely stops to question the level of authenticity that remains after these conversions. Perhaps it is only when a project is not well received that people begin to think of the difficulties involved with changing a work's genre. Using Gulliver's Travels as an example, discrepancies and additions in the movie can be

“She sits there. She is now a woman. And what is a woman? A woman is a vehicle for life. Life has overtaken her. Woman is what it is all about – the giving of birth and the giving of nourishment. She is identical with the earth goddess in her powers, and she has got to realize this about herself. The boy does not have a happening of this kind, so he has to be turned into a man and voluntarily become a servant of something greater than himself.”

Modern films are significantly influenced by the differences they have in contrast to medieval romantic literature. An example of the differences displayed in medieval romantic literature influencing modern film would be when Arthur “learns his illegitimate son, Mordred, has seized control of England” (Malory 185). This example shows the differences displayed in medieval romantic literature influencing modern film because in the story Le Morte d’ Arthur, Arthur was against Mordred, his illegitimate son, but in the film First Knight Arthur was against Malagant, “a dropout from the round table”. (Malory 189, Simon, par 13). Also, it shows how Mordred was looking to control England whereas

    Film and literature are two media forms that are so closely related, that we often forget there is a distinction between them. We often just view the movie as an extension of the book because most movies are based on novels or short stories. Because we are accustomed to this sequence of production, first the novel, then the motion picture, we often find ourselves making value judgments about a movie, based upon our feelings on the novel. It is this overlapping of the creative processes that prevents us from seeing movies as distinct and separate art forms from the novels they are based on.

Beowulf is an epic poem written 1000 to 1300 years ago in Old English and translated by Seamus Heaney into Modern English. Beowulf is a significant piece of literature art work not only because it is one of the earliest known works, but also because it reflects and represents the authors, the Anglo-Saxons’ culture and values. At first, this story was passed around orally, from one person to another. Then, later on, the Anglo-Saxons wrote the entire story down into a manuscript. As well as the Anglo-Saxons loved their stories, they loved to boast, too. Boasting wasn’t an arrogant thing to do in their society, instead, it was socially acceptable, or even essential in one’s life. The Anglo-Saxons loved telling stories and boasting; they also liked material things such as gold swords and silver shields. Those were the rewards a soldier receives from their king, which represents their qualities and achievements. Beowulf reveals the Anglo-Saxons’ values in many parts of the poem.

An epic is a long poem, usually derived from ancient oral stories, describing the adventures and deeds of a legendary hero. Typically, most epics follow a pattern or hold certain characteristics. These characteristics are; a hero, a quest, valorous deeds, divine intervention, and great events. The hero is usually the protagonist that in which is sent on a quest. As the heroes proceed on their quest, they will exhibit valorous deeds or actions that show their character. Epics also intertwine great events to set the theme of the story. Some of these events develop from myths or cultural aspects. Lastly, the hero must undergo divine intervention, or the help from a person or supernatural force. One of the most well known Anglo-Saxon Epics is Beowulf. The story of Beowulf contains all of these characteristics, along with the values of the Anglo-Saxons.

Having considered the opposing side’s perspective, individuals should also recognize not only a filmmaker’s necessity to express their creative freedom but the factors which contribute to the limitations of adapting a book into a movie. Members of an audience often scrutinize an adapted film because of their initial bias and previous knowledge of the original work, without taking into consideration the possible factors which play a part in alterations of the original works. Prior to the adaptation of a film, there is a lengthy process a film must go through before its production. In these facets of adaptation the creator of a film must attempt to transform an author’s work into a physical and tangible vision for his audience. In screenwriter and script adviser Linda Seger’s book The Art of Adaptation, she explains the vital factors which film producers are subjected to when adapting literature. In her introduction and “Why literature Resists Film” chapters, Seger deals with recurring issues in adaptation such as timing constraints, commerciality of a film, plot clarification, and the elimination of key plot points and characters (1-13). Having an audience be aware of the limitations and factors which filmmakers face, makes them less liable to scrutinize a film or at least makes them aware of the existent hardships of adaptation and the reason behind potential alterations to the original work. As a result, of both genres’ unique process and struggles, some supporters of the film industry propose that both genres should be seen as independent from one another, and that criticism be set aside to respect each other's effort to create something of value. Researcher James M. Welsh, cinematography writer and author of the book, The Literature/Film Reader: Issues of Adaptation, agrees. However, in his book he also acknowledges that those opposed to a film’s creative freedom will

Every hero has a character, whether it is being a rich businessman who protects his city from evil villains or rather a less successful teenager who works as a pizza boy and has special powers that resembles a spider! The key points that make up a character is theri characteristics. Back in the Anglo-Saxon period, writer would write stories that were about heros. These stories were called epic poes. In these poems, there was always a story about a hero, known as the epic hero, who would go on quests to save their mankind. These heros would have different characteristics that helped identify their character. The very famous Anglo-Saxon Beowulf is the perfect example of characteristics.

Artists employ appropriation techniques to convey contemporary ideologies through countless forms of texts. An integral aspect of all appropriated texts is their ability to modify the initial intention of the text and adapt it into a new context. Latter adaptions of original texts exert a new insight or perspective upon the audience and accentuate the contextual differences. Potentially, the alterations of underlying cultural, political and social concerns may influence wide spans of the audience. Contemporary film makers, more specifically American, frequently bring classic literature to the screen. Shakespeare’s constantly applicable plays are commonly reconstructed for a distinctly different range of audience allowing them to overcome prevalent barriers such as language differences (Elizabethan English and 21st Century English). Although Shakespeare’s implications are dependent on its context,

While analyzing pieces of literature written by Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Katherine Anne Porte, we are able to compare and contrast the literary devices used throughout the stories. Along with those pieces of literature comes movies which were based upon the story. While comparing the book to the movie we are able to see how the producer chose to portray the literary elements such as characters,plot and the settings in the stories, along if he had decided to leave some of the story out and or create an alternative resemblance of a certain scene from the book.

This question is a perplexing one, and will be explored throughout the following text. However, first a person must consider the value of a films translation of text into cinematic language. “A movie based on a literary source is often seen as a secondary work, consequently, of secondary value” (Cahir). What makes this ideology present in our society? What makes one translation considered more valuable than another? “Literature, generally, still occupies a more privileged position in the cultural hierarchy than movies do…” (Cahir). It is in the translation versus adaptation of text to cinematic language that offers film its own identity. Adaptation equates to the transformation of written word

Beowulf by the Anglo-Saxon, is a poem about a hero who saved the Danish people from an evil monster named Grendel. The time was about 1,000 A.D. The setting is Denmark and southern Sweden. Grendel was controlling the Mead hall, Heorot, when Grendel was slinged by Beowulf. When Beowulf tore his arm off, Grendel returned to his swamp home to die. Then Grendel's mother came to Heorot and killed one of the advisers to get revenge on Grendel's death. Beowulf goes and dives down to the bottom of swamp to kill Grendel’s mother, and then becomes king of Geatland. Later, Beowulf dies of a dragon biting him in the neck.

Throughout the past century, it has been increasingly the case that authors and artisans utilize familiar stories and adapt them into a different medium. This practice of course, has been in place for many thousands of years, as we see the epic of Gilgamesh transcending its initial narrative to become more poetic, and weave itself into various mythologies, and Homers tales have long since made the rounds through all manner of works, whether narrative, paintings, plays or poetry. However, this practice has become more and more common as the number of mediums through which the story teller can communicate has increased, and so have the relative audiences. Film, in particular, has become especially subservient to the role of adaption, as many other films can be found have, in some way or another drawn adaption from one or more sources. This has led to an interesting state of affairs, in which conflicting or complimentary viewpoints can be espoused by the original author of the work, and the director and/or screenwriter of the film. Often, these viewpoints are close to in sequence, but even in the closest of manifestations, divergence from the original meaning can be found. I find this to be the case with ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’ and its film adaption of the same name. For although consumers lauded the closes with which the film captured the essence of the written work, I believe core differences can be found. To that end, this paper will first begin by analyzing the

The following is written to examine a connection made between the varying texts using manipulation and how it impacts the audience’s perception of reality. The texts I will include which are evident of manipulation are 'Shutter Island ' a visual thriller directed by Martin Scorsese, 'Inception ' a visual action, adventure conducted by Christopher Nolan, 'Twelfth Night ' written by William Shakespeare, and 'Tell-Tale Heart ' produced by Edgar Allan Poe. I decided to choose texts that are recognized for their brilliance. Both visual and written texts are contrasted in relation to time, the visual texts are of modern era whereas the written texts are of a previous generation.