Macbeth Group

Question:

mahkai3
mahkai3
Student
College - Sophomore

Which charecters would you say are most like Beowulf? Which would you say are more like monsters?

Recall the views of vengeance,heroism, and kingship expressed in Beowulf. Cite details from the two works as support.

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Posted by mahkai3 on Thursday March 26, 2009 at 4:02 PM and tagged with beowulf, heroism, kingship, macbeth, vengeance.

Answers:


  1. luannw Teacher
    High School - 11th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    In "Beowulf", Beowulf is the brave warrior who kills Grendel, Grendel's mother, and the dragon - all three monsters.  He becomes king and rules justly and well for 50 years.  In "Macbeth", the one who slays a "monster" is Macduff because he kills Macbeth who has become a monster of a ruler in Scotland.  Macbeth starts out as a good character, unlike the monsters in "Beowulf" who are always monsters, but Macbeth becomes a villain.  In "Macbeth", Macduff comes to kill Macbeth once Macbeth has become the villain, but Macduff, unlike Beowulf, does not become king - Malcolm becomes king.  The similarities are slight.  Macduff kills Macbeth, in large part, as revenge for Macbeth having Macduff's family slaughtered.  The revenge action in "Beowulf" comes when Grendel's mother tries to kill Beowulf because Beowulf killed Grendel.  Vengeance is in both stories, but those seeking revenge aren't parallel in the stories.  Heroism is certainly evident in "Beowulf" with the character Beowulf himself.  In "Macbeth", Macbeth is a hero in the opening act according to the report given by the Captain after the battle.  Whereas Beowulf goes on to continue being a hero, Macbeth does not. His heroism ends in Act 1, sc. 2.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/beowulf/characters
    http://www.enotes.com/macbeth/character-analysis
    http://www.enotes.com/macbeth/summary

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    Posted by luannw on Friday March 27, 2009 at 4:23 AM