Research Paper On Beowulf

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In society nowadays, we are run by the presence of media. We define our lives by the things we see and hear in the world today. Many old movies and books have been remade to meet the standards that we have set upon ourselves. The alterations on the literary work and motion pictures of before usually are not major. In some cases, the artistic views of the author and director are changed immensely. An ideal example of this modification process in a literary work would be the epic poem Beowulf, written in 1000 A.D.,compared to the movie Beowulf and Grendel, produced in 2005. The variations lie not only in the plot structure of the movie but also in some of the characteristics of the characters. For example, Hrothgar, the king of the Danes,…show more content…
There is a demon-like creature killing and terrorizing the people of Dane. Word is reached in Geatland of the troubles of the Danes so Beowulf, a mighty warrior, decides to come to aid. The Danes are unclear on the reason of the attacks on the people. In the movie, the troll is seeking revenge on Hrothgar for killing the troll’s father. Also what the movie contains that the epic does not is a prologue explaining the reason behind the troll’s actions. This reason is provided to try to make the audience feel empathy for the creature. Back in the A.D. century, there was no reason why someone or something was evil or good, they simply just were. In modern day culture, the audience needs a reason for someone to be bad or good. Even once proven bad, the audience could still feel sympathy for the…show more content…
The character of Selma is not even mentioned in the epic when Selma seems to place such an important role in the movie Beowulf and Grendel. In the poem, Grendel does not have any reason for attacking the Danes. He is shown as simply doing it because he is evil and that is what evil guys do. He is also not seen as having any human characteristics as he does in the movie. Even when Grendel comes to first attack the Danes in the mead hall, he just takes one and rips off his head easily with no hesitation, in the book. In the movie when the Geats come to kill Grendel, they must wait three days before Grendel even appears. When Grendel does appear, he does not want to kill any of the Geats since he does not have any beef with them. He simply just taunts and pokes fun at the Geats which of course angers them even more. When Beowulf finally gets his hands on Grendel in the epic, Beowulf rips Grendel’s arm off when he tries to flee and places in above the mead hall as a trophy. When Grendel’s mother gets wind of the trophy arm above the mead hall, she scurries on to the hall to retrieve the arm. She does not go to fight or stir trouble, she just simply would like having her son in one piece. As Grendel was perceived before, Grendel’s mother is automatically seen as an evil spawn of Satan and must be hunted down and killed as well. Just for being descendents of Cain made Grendel and his mother

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