Ever since a young age, children have been told stories with a clear moral lesson. These lessons are used explicitly to show basic principles that a growing mind needs. However, as one ages the morals become less obvious, but they remain just as influential. Examples of these less direct morals are seen by young adults in academic analyzation and in their personal and social lives through popular movies or music. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Homecoming and Anglo-Saxon poem, Beowulf, exist to help readers understand a variety of moral principles needed to become a respectable citizen and a hero. The writers of the screenplay and epic portray the main character as a tragic hero to show audience that one may have the confidence to attempt a task, but they must be reasonable enough when they are not capable to do so. In the film, Spider-Man/Peter Parker takes on crimes that he thinks he is ready for, but is not trained enough to do so. When he is not able to complete the task, his mistake leads to almost costing the lives of thousands of people and him losing his suit. (Spider-Man: Homecoming). The screenplay writers use this scene to show how our hero relied on the wrong factors and did not take in account that he was not ready to complete his goal, representing society’s tendency to eagerly jump at opportunities that they are not yet ready for.
In the epic, Beowulf , the author writes, “… Beowulf rose, still brave, still strong, and with his shield at his side, and a mail shirt on his breast, strode calmly, confidently, toward the tower…” (Lines 511-513). The author wrote this quote to emphasize to readers how confident Beowulf was upon entering this battle despite his older age. This event causing his untimely death gives the impression to the audience that going into a situation unprepared sometimes leads to irreversible outcome. In addition to encouraging audience members to understand their limits, the two works also show the importance of asking for help.
The main characters in both plots are given opportunities to achieve their goals by already respected superiors, proving to the audience that it is okay to require help. In the film, Peter Parker is finally given his chance to become the hero when billionaire,
Honor, something powerful enough to sculpt the world’s oldest and most powerful empires. Throughout history great empires such as China, Japan, and the Anglo-Saxons have fought and died in the hunt for honor and fame; bringing life to many great and powerful heroes. Beowulf, one such hero, who fought many great battle in the name of honor and fame; putting his all into each battle he encountered. In the epic Beowulf, Beowulf decides to help Hrothgar with the dreaded monster Grendel and then battling him bare handed. Throughout the epic of Beowulf, Beowulf is mainly concerned about honor and fame, in his hunt for honor he agrees to help Hrothgar and fight the monster, Grendel, bare handed; but why?
Hypocrisy: the act of saying one has moral standards but then committing actions that do not correspond with those standards. The theme of hypocrisy can be detected within the epic poem Beowulf. In this lengthy poem, the Danes are being terrorised by a demon named Grendel. Upon hearing of the Danes predicament, Beowulf, a Geat hero sets out with fourteen other men to help the Danes. All fourteen of them travel across the sea till they reach Denmark, the home of the Danes. Here the monster Grendel has killed and stolen the lives of many. The people of the Danes speak about how these killings make him a monster, and yet they do these things as well. The Danes and the Geats both have killed whole villages of people just to obtain their
Not only is Beowulf honorable and well respected, he is brave as well. His courage is shown by not hesitating to risk his own life to pursue the Dane’s enemies. By being self-assured, Beowulf is able to successfully defeat the fiends, Grendel and his infamous mother. At the time Beowulf is planning to pursue the vindictive dragon, the epic poem states, “I’ve never known fear, as a youth I fought in endless battles. I am old now, but I will fight again, seek fame still, If the dragon hiding in his tower dares to face me.”(ll. 2511-2515). He feels no fear, is confident in fighting the dragon alone, and has no qualms in risking his life to save others. He declares his bravery by saying, “When he comes to me I mean to stand, not run from his shooting flames, stand till fate decides which of us wins... No one else could do what I mean to, here, no man but me could hope to defeat this monster.”(ll. 2525-2534). In his actions, Beowulf’s bravery is clearly shown throughout the poem.
This shows Beowulf’s strength, courage and fearlessness. Through this it is evident that he possess courageous traits.
To begin, a cultural truth admired by the Anglo-Saxon is courage in battle because it is a trait of a good warrior in the eyes of Anglo-Saxon people. Courage in battle is the ability to not be afraid of the enemy, be strong, and brave. Beowulf shows his above average strength and courage in battle when he is going to battle Grendel: “When it comes to battle, I count myself/ as dangerous any day as Grendel,/ … No weapons, therefore,/ for either this night: unarmed he shall face me/ if face me he dares” (Beowulf 677-685). In this quote Beowulf states and declares his abandonment of weapons, as well as his belief that he is as strong as Grendel, so he will fight him without a weapon. This shows Beowulf’s courage in battle because it displays his tremendous strength and boldness by going to fight a monster with no weapons, which demonstrates that he is not
Beowulf’s virtues of courage and strength appear throughout the poem during his life as a warrior and as a king. He begins the story with courage and “the strength of thirty / in the grip of each hand” (380-381), which are vital to his accomplishments as a warrior. His courage and strength are apparent when he fights Grendel without the use of weapons. Both virtues are crucial to his success in that battle and lead him to become a leader of wisdom and stature. As king of Heorot he uses his courage and strength in the battle against the dragon. Before the fight he has a feeling of uncertainty and it is stated “He was sad at heart / unsettled yet ready, sensing his death. / His fate hovered near, unknowing but certain: / It would soon claim his coffered soul.” (2419-2424). His sense of forthcoming death may illustrates a lack of confidence in his ability to slay the dragon; however, it also shows tremendous courage by involving himself in an unevenly matched fight. Although his physical strength may have abandoned him in his last fight against the dragon, his courage and wisdom intensified his glory beyond his death.
All throughout the poem Beowulf has not once hesitated in showing that he is brave and that he does not care about risking his own life to help others. In the beginning of the
The last battle that Beowulf partook in was perhaps the most heroic of all. Although the battle ended his life, it proved that of all the men in the story, Beowulf was the only true Anglo-Saxon hero. All of his troops proved to be fickle. They abandoned him in a time when they were needed the most. Though his men lived, they lived as cowards, yielding to the dragon apprehended by all the Geats. Never the less, Beowulf’s strength of heart and mind gave him the will to fight the dragon, although none of his men were there to help him. In this part of the tale, Beowulf was older and his physical strength had dwindled. But despite this, his tremendous heroism remained. He fought the dragon to his death and died with a pride, gallantry and chivalry that no man at the time had
Beowulf is an epic poem being cited as one of the most important works of Old English literature. Beowulf is an Old English epic poem. The poem is set in Scandinavia. Beowulf, a hero of Geats, comes to the aid of Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall in Herot has been under attack by a monster named Grendel. After Beowulf slays him, Grendel's mother attacks the hall and is then also defeated. Victorious, Beowulf goes home to Geatland and later becomes king of the Geats. After a period of fifty years has passed, Beowulf defeats a dragon, but is mortally wounded in the battle. After his death, his attendants cremate his body and erect a tower on a headland in his memory. Beowulf is clearly a hero because of his brave deeds, he is a strong and responsible leader, and his courage. Beowulf is a hero because of his brave deeds. Throughout Beowulf, Beowulf does many deeds which are considered to be brave during the Anglo-Saxon period.“Grendel is no braver, no stronger/Than I am! I could kill him with my sword; I shall not,Easy as it would be. This fiend is a bold And famous fighter, but his claws and teeth.../ Beating at my sword blade, would be helpless. I will meet him With my hands empty-unless his heart /Fails him, seeing a soldier waiting /Weaponless, unafraid. Let God in His wisdom /Extend His hand where He wills, reward /Whom he chooses!”. In his first battle, Beowulf fights Grendel. He fights without any armor. Also, Beowulf kills Grendel’s mother. He then
outcome of the way their life may or will end. Both Spider-man, also known as Peter Parker and
Nearly all heroes are faced with a variety of inconceivable tasks which in turn help to overcome obstacles that the character may face. In Spider-Man, Peter Parker is forced to overcome these impediments so that he can help protect the people in his city. The task that first illustrates this quest is Spider-Man’s revenge on the man who killed his uncle and committed robbery. To catch this criminal, though, Spider-Man has to learn how to use his mind: thinking quickly and on-the-spot. Not only does it take courage for Spider-Man to defeat this criminal, it takes quick reflexes that only his “spidey senses” can offer him. In the end, Spider-Man tricks the man and is successful in turning him into the police. Another example of a
Beowulf’s last test of courage comes in his old age when his people are threatened by a “mighty” dragon. Beowulf felt as if something he had done had caused the irascible beast to wreck havoc on his people, “killing and destroying” them and their homes with its “molten” breath. Knowing what had to be done, Beowulf bravely faced the dragon, while all of his people, except for one, fled in fear. His last battle, which ended in death, displayed Beowulf’s unwavering courage, the type that every hero should possess.
In Beowulf the classic epic, Beowulf, the hero of the epic, and other major characters reflect heroic ideals and beliefs of courage, generosity, unquestioning loyalty and devotion. Courage is most evident throughout Beowulf Beowulf does not back down from any challenge that stands in his way whether it be Grendel, Grendel’s mother, or the dragon. His bravery is most evident in his preparation for his fight with Grendel, Beowulf, “took off his shirt of armour, the helmet from his head, handed his embellished sword, best of irons to an attendant,…” He chose to bravely fight his foe, man to beast without weaponery for he knew it would be “cowardly” to defeat Grendel with a sword and armor when Grendel himself had none. Even in his
Culture and Values: An Analyzation of the Beowulf Epic and the Beowulf and Grendel Film
Spider-Man: Homecoming is the 16th installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the 3rd reboot of the titular character in less than 20 years. Directed by Jon Watts, the film stars Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Jon Favreau, Zendaya, Marisa Tomei, and Robert Downey Jr., among others. Quite frankly, Homecoming is the