At this point, I've gone over Beowulf so many times that I am fairly certain I could write a dissertation on it (not really - please don't quote me on that). Since the presentation given last week by Rafael, Alyssa, and myself touched upon the major themes present in Beowulf's first and second battles, I don't really know if I have it in me to examine the events again in great detail. Instead, I want to look at the most important characters we've been introduced to at this point, and their motivations.
Starting with Beowulf: he's a warrior, he craves battle, and is the hero of the story. There isn't much else to say, other than I find myself wanting more depth to the character. Perhaps it's because I've seen so many "good versus evil" stories that feature heroes that have some form of character development beyond "See that monster? I'm going to kill it. Hrothgar, hold my beer." that I find myself almost wishing for Beowulf to experience some form of defeat or hardship so that he can grow as a character, other than being the generic, undefeated hero that has been seen in hundreds of stories throughout the ages. Granted, this story is thousands of years old and is the original "epic", so the concept of character development was not around when it was created. However, I find it difficult to relate to Beowulf beyond him being the "good guy" and thus worthy of our support.
Grendel, while still falling victim to the same simplicity that plagues Beowulf, nevertheless develop a little bit more than Beowulf does, and at the very least, one can understand his motivations and sympathize with them. For example, Grendel's main point of rage is the noise and festivities that constantly stem from Hrothgar's mead hall. While he goes a little overboard in his desire to eat the partygoers, I can still sympathize with him in the fact that I'd be upset if someone didn't stop partying into the wee hours of the night. His motivations may be simple, of course, but I feel as if they're a bit more relatable than Beowulf's. Please note that I do not condone the eating of partygoers. Grendel's mother is in the same vein. A desire to protect her child and to promote his wellbeing (and then the pain of seeing him with his arm ripped off) gives her a better level of character depth than what one would see from Beowulf.
As said before, I am not trying to be overly critical of Beowulf. I fully acknowledge the impact the story had on English literature and the fact that it's the foundation for hundreds of more advanced stories to come. However, I am saying that because we've gotten to the point in society where we want more depth to our characters, I find it a bit difficult to appreciate the vanilla archetypes presented in Beowulf.
I feel the same way about the characters. There is little character development and it all seems very superficial. I am not invested in these characters and I can careless if they die. They are not unlikeable characters; they are just not relatable. I kept trying to connect Grendel with my favorite character of all time Magneto (I am sure everyone, especially Dr. MB, is tired of me talking about him. I am very sorry). I wanted to feel sympathy for him, but I just cannot. There is a difference between the monstrosity of Grendel and that of Magneto. Magneto has a caused, a selfless bigger purpose. He also tries to change his ways and immediately gets turned down by society. Magneto tries and Grendel doesn’t, he indulges in self-pity and cowardly destroys his enemies who haven’t even done anything to him other than party above him. The humans have directly attacked Magneto ever since he was a child. Magneto is the face of the mutants against those evil humans and his past is an explanation of his actions rather than an excuse. Grendel is just an evil creature seeking revenge for the sake of revenge.
ReplyDeleteSteven, although I understand your viewpoint on Beowulf in the story, I think that there is room in the future sections of the poem to further expand upon the lack of character depth that you have felt thus far. At this point in the text, Beowulf has clearly been described as a strong, physical, and faithful warrior, overcoming great obstacles and monsters on his path to glory. You are definitely correct in the idea that his character has not been well developed past the point of a fierce fighter even after the battle with Grendel's mother. However, I would not relinquish the possibility of more character development for Beowulf in the future. By this time, Beowulf is still fairly youthful, maintaining his agility and strength which has enabled him to win epic battles and gifts. However, Hrothgar's prophetic speech, starting on line 1700, explains that these distinguishing factors of Beowulf's being will eventually subside, forcing him to adapt to the physical and mental changes that his body undergoes. Therefore, perhaps the reader is being prepared for further development of Beowulf's character in his later years.
ReplyDeleteI disagree that Grendel's motivation is as simple as, "They're loud, I'mma kill'em." Instead, I think that the rambunctious joy emanating from Hrothgar's Hall was the final straw for Grendel. As we know, Grendel has been condemned to a life of misery, due to his relation to Cain, and is dreadfully envious of the joy he cannot have - which they're flaunting in front of his face. So, while I can agree that the characters may be flat and static, that doesn't necessarily mean they're simple.
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