BEOWULF ESSAY

The values that are most prominent in society are often shown in the literary pieces that are created by that society. These values can sometimes be shown through a heroic character such as Beowulf in the old English story Beowulf. Just as old English societies had literary pieces where heroes displayed the values of that society we have heroes that display our societies values today. A good example of this is the fictional character of Superman in the many comic books that were written about him.

            

            Beowulf exemplifies the heroic traits and the literary techniques of its time. It exemplifies the heroic traits that were important to the society at the time through the character of Beowulf. The heroic traits that are most defined by Beowulf are strength, bravery, and confidence. Those three traits were often what people wanted to be in the Old English time period. Since most people were fighting off invaders during this time period they often tried to have the three traits that Beowulf has. Beowulf was just created by this society to exaggerate the traits that were most important to them. Beowulf also did not use as many literary techniques as are used in today’s literature because English was still a language that was developing.

           

            Superman and Beowulf are both fictional heroes but there came from two different societies and time periods which lead to many differences between the two. One major difference between the two heroes is the way that they handle beating their enemies in battle. Beowulf talks about how great he is and makes a big ordeal out of beating his enemies while Superman is way more humble and actually hides his true identity from the public. This shows a major difference in the way our society and the society that created Beowulf, viewed heroes and what they expect of them. In Old English times, heroes were supposed to be proud and show everybody how great they were but now in today’s society we think the opposite.  Today we believe that are heroes should be humble and we think poorly of them when they are arrogant in anyway.

           

             Heroic traits and values are often exemplified in the literary pieces that are created by society. Beowulf shows us the characteristics and values that the Old English society aspired to have in their heroes and warriors. While today we have a completely different set of values that we look to have in our heroes and we convey this through our literary works in characters such as Superman. The definition of a hero has not changed over the years but the way the stories are told and the way the heroes act have definitely reflected the changes in our society over the years.