Comparing Beowulf and Hamlet

Descriptive essay comparing Beowulf and Hamlet A hero is usually the principle character of a story and is admired for their brave deeds. Their characteristics and accomplishments are established in an adventure or quest that they have been involved in. In the essay an old heroic epic poem Beowulf and tragedy by William Shakespeare Hamlet will be compared. The main purpose of choosing Beowulf is that Beowulf is the most important epic poem in Anglo-Saxon literature. It is the first English literary masterpiece, unaware of the author’s identity and the exact year in which it was written. More importantly, it is one of the earliest European epics written in English instead of Latin. Anglo-Saxon culture has become more explicable because of the references made in the epic poem. Burial customs and social class distinctions are two examples of these references. The ageless theme of good versus evil continues to make “Beowulf” a classic read among students of early English Literature. Hamlet is one of the most-quoted works in the English language, and often included on lists of the world's greatest literature. Hamlet is Shakespeare's longest play and among the most powerful and influential tragedies in all of English literature, with a story capable of seemingly endless retelling and adaptation by others. The play was one of Shakespeare's most popular works during his lifetime and still ranks among his most-performed, topping the Royal Shakespeare Company's performance list since 1879. It has inspired writers from Goethe and Dickens to Joyce and Murdoch, and has been described as "the world's most filmed story after Cinderella". In the plays of Hamlet and Beowulf we see two comparable "heroes", one being Hamlet, and the other being Beowulf. Although both are heroes in the different ways, they are heroes all the same according to the time. Both characters are faced with numerous challenges that they must overcome and this leads to their over