Beowulf Essay

As an epic poem Beowulf has created a cultural idle in which the main character Beowulf is looked up upon for his great characteristics of honor, loyalty, and stability. The epic is broken down perfectly into the heroes call to adventure and the act of answering the call. Although some have never read this poem it is apparent that we have seen this style before in the formation of other novels, short stories, and comics. How is this poem so similar when the epic was told so far in the past? In fact it turns out that each story written in based on a story or poem that was told before it. To create a clearer picture take Superman for example, the two pieces embrace the same ideals in which Superman hears of crime and becomes involved in each short comic that is created and Beowulf is called to action to kill the monster Grendle. Superman like Beowulf is seen as a figure of God in which nobody can lessen the value of. Both embody strength and fate which are large components to epics in which fate and outside influences bring them face to face with their opponent. Therefore the idea is shown that Beowulf, being one of the oldest heroic journey's, has set the stage for all heroic stories to be told and written after him.
The cultural reflection of its time is consistent with oral tradition in which qualities and events were over exagerated within the mono-myth. The literary techniques of the time were forms of persuasion to lure the audiences in with enticing vocabulary and tone in which was translated verbally for extreme effects of entertainment. The language of Old English was more metaphorical than to the point like most of modern day text is written like Superman in which has the book even emphisize the noises of the fights. For example in the very beginning of the peom the author talks about the death of Shield Sheafson and his death to sea as very descriptive. The Old English vocabulary dates the poem in which shows the time period and the events of the story to be more of a personal journey rather than a structured outcome. The author of Beowulf although unknown has a masterpiece at hand in which shows what was wanted by this society and what was disliked in their cultural beliefs. The comparison between the modern day super hero and the classic hero are shown in the evolution of language in which learning contains more detective work in the past stories than today in which themes are typically told to you through sequence of events.

Including the ideas of cultures today and in the past we typically don't see cultures accept feminist heroes as often, sure there are a few female heroes, but are they popular? The answer is no, not really. When you think of heroes you think of strength, integrity, and male figures. Why not women? If the poem of Beowulf was told through a feminist perspective we would not be reading this text in our advanced placement English class today because the story wouldn't have lasted. I say this because the cultures who produce stories only tell the stories the public want to hear. In other words, the culture in which produced Beowulf would have shunned the idea of female triumph. The culture would reject this due to the fact any woman during this time period could not be seen as stronger than the men, it was a patriarchal society.

Beowulf as an epic has all aspects of this type of poem in which contains a call to action and the response. The literary techniques of the poem are similar to all stories that follow like superman who has the same qualities that Beowulf embodies. The feminist profile of Beowulf would be incomprehensible to that of the culture that created it due to society creating only what it's culture accepts. Therefore showing the relationship between modern day literature and classic forms in which all modern forms originated.