Compare and Contrast of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the...

Compare and Contrast of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Beowulf is an epic poem that was written in the Anglo-Saxon time period where only a few privileged people were able to read and write while Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, which is also an epic poem, was written in the Middle English time period where reading and writing was more wide-spread. While both the epic poem Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight have similar protagonists, the main character of each poem also has different characteristics that make up the unique identities of each, such as Beowulf’s possession of superhuman abilities that Sir Gawain does not possess naturally, the chivalrous code of Sir Gawain and the heroic code that Beowulf lives by, and†¦show more content†¦To his credit, Sir Gawain does withstand the advances of a married woman three times. Both men have fights they have won, but Sir Gawain overcame his fear of death in order to fulfill a duty. Beowulf died protect ing his people even when his comrades abandoned him (with the exception of Wiglaf). The final comparison is not of the protagonists of the epic novels but of the forces of nature in both. In Anglo-Saxon times, being immersed in nature meant your demise was not far; there were more vast areas of uninhabited wilderness than in the Middle English era. Since the Germanic people possessed limited resources, they would not leave their villages - especially during the winter months when it would snow. In Beowulf, the antagonists (Grendel, his mom, and the dragon) were embodiments of different aspects of negativity and nature. The people took shelter whenever Grendel would attack in the same manner that someone would take shelter from a hurricane or severe thunderstorm. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the Green Knight himself is the embodiment of nature and the people of the time had a more positive outlook of nature. For example, the description of his appearance in line 151 through 200 and that he wields a branch of holly (for life) and an axe (for death) show that t he Green Knight is the author’s personification of nature. In conclusion, Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight were written in two different eras (the Germanic Anglo-Saxon eraShow MoreRelatedCompare And Contrast Beowulf And Sir Gawain And The Green Knight761 Words   |  4 Pagesworks Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, an admirable warrior and knight are depicted. Although Sir Gawain and Beowulf both possess such characteristics as bravery and strength, readers can observe differences in other traits that make them heroes of their own time that is attributable to the societal mindset in which the poems were written. The goal of this essay is to compare and contrast how Beowulf, which was written in the early eleventh century, and Sir Gawain and the Green KnightRead More Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Beowulf Essay499 Words   |  2 PagesSir Gawain and the Green Knight and Beowulf â€Å"My body, but for your blood, is barren of worth; And tis I have asked for this folly not fit for a King.† These are the words of a true hero. One who is willing to sacrifice his own existence for the life of another. These are the words and actions of Sir Gawain, a character from the beloved British tale, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Beowulf, another character from an ancient British epic entitled, Beowulf, is also portrayed as a â€Å"heroRead More Compare and contrast images of heroism in these two poems. Essay1421 Words   |  6 PagesCompare and contrast images of heroism in these two poems. Heroism is a trait that we seem to have no problem identifying, yet when asked to define what a hero is a myriad of answers emerge. This phenomenon is not unique to today’s society; the definition of a hero is something that is constantly under revision and debate. An example of this can be seen in two older pieces of English literature: Beowulf, written circa 750-900, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, written circa 1375-1400Read More Epic of Beowulf Essay1818 Words   |  8 Pagesbook. I would like to compare and contrast Beowulf, Lanval, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight with some of the modern day creations especially in looking at the values, and belief systems in all of the three â€Å"classic† stories. I will apologize in advance to those who will read this and are not familiar to the texts that are mentioned, due to restrictions in size I must mention all of my topics without specific description of how the stories are told, please at least read â€Å"Beowulf† before consideringRead MoreWomen s Unequal Portrayal, And The Struggle For Identity Of Female Writers1777 Words   |  8 Pagesthe moth // And from a woman a woman’s wickedness.† The Judeo-Christian creation myth, where â€Å"man was not made from woman, but woman from man† gave the philosophical ‘proof’ of inequality. One of the most illogical representations of women, in contrast to Eve as a selfish temptress, is the Virgin Mary. She was an immaculate motherhood figure, but remained ‘uncorrupted’, which obviously was unattainable for real women. The dual imagery of the Madonna and the ‘Gateway to Sin’ established that womenRead MoreThe Sonnet Form: William Shakespeare6305 Words   |  26 PagesShakespeare’s Sonnets William Shakespeare The Sonnet Form A sonnet is a fourteen-line lyric poem, traditionally written in iambic pentameter—that is, in lines ten syllables long, with accents falling on every second syllable, as in: â€Å"Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?† The sonnet form first became popular during the Italian Renaissance, when the poet Petrarch published a sequence of love sonnets addressed to an idealized woman named Laura. Taking firm hold among Italian poets, the sonnet