Examples Of Antihero In Beowulf
Hero, Antihero, or Villain?
In the original story of Beowulf, Grendel is described as the monster and Beowulf as the hero. While in Gardner’s rendition, Grendel is seen as the antihero while Beowulf is the actual villain. Then who the actual villain and hero? Between chapter eleven and chapter twelve, Grendel describes Beowulf as this type of winged monster disguised as a human. This comes as some surprise because Beowulf is always portrayed as the hero in every story. To Grendel this man is insane, making him a monster just like himself. The reason why Grendel sees Beowulf as evil is clearly because Beowulf has no sense of humanity with his persona. Beowulf sees no fault within his actions and will easily put anyone down once you question his superiority. He is a cold mechanical monster, which right away …show more content…
The very own people who need his help to defeat Grendel are not so fund of Beowulf. Right from the start the strangers’ arrival start upsetting the Danes. Which irritates Grendel, giving him more of a reason to kill Beowulf. Grendel watches how Beowulf makes a joke out of Unferth by calling him out for killing his brothers. With an ironic smile but no humor intended he said “I don’t boast much of that. Nevertheless, I don’t recall hearing any glorious deeds of yours, except that you murdered your brothers. You’ll prowl the stalagmites of hell for that, friend Unferth-clever though you are.”(162)All this because Unferth commented about a contest between Beowulf and Breca. Beowulf has killed nine sea monsters with only his sword while both Breca and Unferth never done such a thing. Beowulf doesn’t like to admit defeat, he calls the whole contest a draw between the two. All this made Grendel end up with ended having this image of Beowulf as some type of shapeshifter. No one will notice unless they are unless you are some type of monster of monster as
In the original story of Beowulf, Grendel is described as the monster and Beowulf as the hero. While in Gardner’s rendition, Grendel is seen as the antihero while Beowulf is the actual villain. Then who the actual villain and hero? Between chapter eleven and chapter twelve, Grendel describes Beowulf as this type of winged monster disguised as a human. This comes as some surprise because Beowulf is always portrayed as the hero in every story. To Grendel this man is insane, making him a monster just like himself. The reason why Grendel sees Beowulf as evil is clearly because Beowulf has no sense of humanity with his persona. Beowulf sees no fault within his actions and will easily put anyone down once you question his superiority. He is a cold mechanical monster, which right away …show more content…
The very own people who need his help to defeat Grendel are not so fund of Beowulf. Right from the start the strangers’ arrival start upsetting the Danes. Which irritates Grendel, giving him more of a reason to kill Beowulf. Grendel watches how Beowulf makes a joke out of Unferth by calling him out for killing his brothers. With an ironic smile but no humor intended he said “I don’t boast much of that. Nevertheless, I don’t recall hearing any glorious deeds of yours, except that you murdered your brothers. You’ll prowl the stalagmites of hell for that, friend Unferth-clever though you are.”(162)All this because Unferth commented about a contest between Beowulf and Breca. Beowulf has killed nine sea monsters with only his sword while both Breca and Unferth never done such a thing. Beowulf doesn’t like to admit defeat, he calls the whole contest a draw between the two. All this made Grendel end up with ended having this image of Beowulf as some type of shapeshifter. No one will notice unless they are unless you are some type of monster of monster as