The biggest difference between Beowulf’s heroism in Gardner’s story and in the poem can be seen during the battle. In the poem, Beowulf bravely fights Grendel, defeats him, and there is a celebration. In Grendel, there is no celebration; Grendel’s life is over and so is the story. At the begging of the fight, Grendel grabs Beowulf and the moment he does, he realizes the mistake he has made. “A shock goes through me.
What does the story of Cain and Abel have to do with Grendel? • Cain killed his brother Abel, so God punished Cain • All of Cain’s descendants will be cursed – Grendel is a descendant of Cain, thus destined to be an outcast 3. How is Grendel characterized during his attack? What physical traits do we know he possesses? What do we observe about his character?
He is nervous yet scared and disgusted at the out come of his long toil. The author shows this with the quote “with an anxiety that almost amounted to agony”, again this really brings out the gothic image using pain and suffering to make sure the reader realises the full extent of the horror that Frankenstein has unleashed on the quite country around him. When the creature is finally brought to life Frankenstein’s
Brutus is an honerable man.... the words chosen by Mark Anthony in William Shakespeare's popular play "Julius Caesar." Anthony starts the speech off speaking how Brutus just explained how Caesar was an ambitious man which is why he was murdered. Anthony argues with that stating how Caesar gave to the needy when they needed, "When the poor has cried, Caesar has wept." Following this statement he mocks Brutus saying, "But Caesar was ambitious, and Brutus is an honorable man." After that was all stated he reminded the people how Carsar did turn down the kings crown multiple times, "I thrice presented him a kinlgy crown, Which he did thrice refuse."
In Frankenstein, Victor continually refers to his creation as ‘vile wrench’, ‘abhorred devil’. This uses of epithet illustrate his immediate repulsion towards the creature and his recklessness towards conformity of life he has bestowed. Despite this, the creature gladly desires Victor’s acknowledgement on his behalf - ‘Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam; but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed’. Juxtaposition between two biblical allusion, ‘Adam’ and ‘fallen angel’ suggests us the contrast in Victor and God. In Bible, Adam was the first male with gifted creation from the God’, but the creature rather refers himself more of ‘fallen angel’, ‘devil’ who plunges the eternal war against God.
“Nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God”(Bible). Another example of Christian influence is the character Grendel. “Descended from the race of Cain, Grendel bore the age old curse, the mark of murder, of his death-dealing ancestor” (Rosenberg). Cain, who was the first born son of Adam and Eve, was cursed for murdering his brother Abel. “A mark was put upon him to warn others that killing Cain would provoke the vengeance of God, that if someone did something to harm Cain, the damage would come back sevenfold” (Wikipedia).
An example would be; “So lived the clansmen in cheer and revel a winsome life, till one began to fashion evils, that fiend of hell” (I, 47-49). Grendel isn’t just Beowulf’s enemy, he personifies everything that is evil, and he is literally a demon from hell, a descendant of Cain. In our everyday life we face the same controversy of good against evil, we all get to the point where we have to decide what’s wrong and right, that’s why I personally feel Good vs. Evil, is a Universal theme. Beowulf follows the pattern of lots of stories where good always defeats evil, where the hero fights the bad guy and always comes victorious.
The harsh, gloomy characteristics of the land are reflected in the human characters. In Frankenstein, Victor’s country house near Geneva is described as isolated, dwarfed by massive, snow capped mountain ranged and hunted by the emptiness of a calm lake. Victor also describes it as "an unusual tranquillity"(page 27) This effect of isolation and tranquillity leads directly into the dreary element of mood. Victors apartment at the university also conveys a feeling of dread with its piles of books, scattered equipment, dust and unkemptness. Shelley’s novel takes us on a tour of the wildest, most isolated geography in Europe: the Swiss and French Alps, the Rhine valley, the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, Northern Ireland, Russia and the Arctic.
Faith is also a symbol of Eve, curious and corrupted by evil because of that fact. Goodman Brown, indeed represents Adam, a man who appears to represent human beings confronted with temptation. As he crosses the threshold, he enters a dark forest of sin, so to speak, to satisfy his curiosity about the happenings there and perhaps even to take part in them. The forest symbolizes confusion, cross roads, self discovery, and the Garden Of Eden. The man who meets Brown in the forest appears to represent the devil; his staff is a symbol of the devil as a serpent.
The use of language contributes by the dangerous vocabulary Lovecraft exceptionally uses. Antarctica is a continent that is not well known by many people. Once you are in Antarctica you are isolated from the rest of the world and are in your own world. It is portrayed as a place that is very lonely and for Lovecraft to use a setting such as Antarctica, adds nervousness to the plot of the story. What makes isolation even more scary is that anyone can go mad being left alone in an unfamiliar environment with only mountains surrounding you, that the “appalling antiquity and lethal desolation of the place [are] enough to overwhelm almost any sensitive person, but added to these elements were the recently unexplained horrors at the camp, and the revelations all too soon effected by the terrible mural sculptures around us” (56).