Beowulf Critical Analysis

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Katie Grover Mrs. DeLong Honors British Literature and Composition 21 October 2011 Vengeance In the epic Beowulf vengeance consumes all of the characters throughout the work and eventually leads to more than one’s untimely demise. *The theme of vengeance throughout Beowulf is centralized around Grendel. The vicious cycle begins with Grendel and in a way also indirectly ends with Grendel. Grendel is the one who initially gets revenge on another group of people. To begin with, he takes revenge on the Danes for celebrating in Herot. Grendel was an outcast in the Danish society and shut away from all men. Grendel is described in part one as being in pain, “A powerful monster, living down / In the darkness, growled in pain, impatient / As day after day the music rang / Loud in that hall . . . So Hrothgar’s men lived happy in his hall / Till the monster stirred, the demon, that fiend, / Grendel, who haunted the moors, the wild / Marshes, and made his home in a hell / Not hell but earth” (Raffel 40). It is unclear whether or not he was angry at them for not inviting him to the festivities or if the Danes were just too loud and merry for Grendel’s evil ears. Regardless, he felt insulted by them so he took it upon himself to ravage the great banquet hall and feed on every man in sight. This occurrence set the wheels in motion to a constant tag-game of vengeance between good versus evil. *Once Beowulf arrives in Denmark and visits with Hrothgar, he sees that it is his duty to take revenge on the voracious beast, Grendel. Beowulf feels it is his responsibility and shows no reticence towards approaching the monster. Beowulf is very confident in his battle against Grendel and feels it is destiny that they fight, “Now Grendel and I are called / Together, and I’ve come. Grant me, then, / Lord and protector of this noble place, / A single request! I have come so far, / Oh

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