How Tragic is Beowulf? Free Essay, Term Paper and Book Report
‘The Germanic hero is invariably a tragic hero’ (Swanton). How tragic is Beowulf?
Being the seminal work that it is, many of the standards by which a modern audience might coin a ‘Germanic hero’, are set within Beowulf itself. One of the ways in which the poet achieves this is through the use of antiheros. An example of which is Heremod who exemplifies the anti type of the ideal king, ‘ne geweox he him to willan,/ ac to wæfealle// ond to deað cwalum/ Deniga leodum’ and ‘Đeah Þe hine mihitig god…hwæ Þere him on ferÞe greow/ breosthord blodreow/ Nallas beagas geaf Denum æfter dome’ in this way the poet raises his audiences expectations and sets the standards by which we later examine Beowulf’s kinship as he is another ruler ‘favoured by god’ . The poetic energy, as demonstrated in the example of Heremod, originates in the violent oscillation of sense from one extreme to the other. Further examples include Unferth and the cowardly retainers who retreat from the dragon’s attack and hide in the forest. The language the poet uses lends particular emphasis to the possibility o......
Word Count: 1983
Page Count: 7.9 (250 words a page / double spaced)
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