Beowulf Comparative Essay Example

It is common for Hollywood to take a novel or text, and make changes, whether slight or radical, in their film adaptation. These changes are made for many reasons. This includes simplifying the storyline and making it more interesting and profitable. It can also even make the story more relatable to reality. However, these changes can possibly result in bad reviews, less imagination, and a less detailed explanation of the character’s dynamicity.  Beowulf is an example of this situation because there are many significant changes in the film compared to the text. 

A change that is important to mention is the representation of the monsters and other characters. In the Beowulf poem, Grendel is described as “a powerful monster, living down in the darkness, growled in pain,” (1-2). It is most likely that someone would have fear after that brief characterization. The word ‘powerful’ is a good word to express an antagonist. This word makes the villain incredible, which also makes the hero become a better protagonist. In the movie, he is an immature human-like beast that undergoes severe pain in his ears. This would seem to make people feel sympathy towards Grendel. The excerpts in Beowulf also say, “sorrow heaped at his door by hell-forged hands. His misery leaped the seas, was told and sung in all men’s ears: how Grendel’s hatred began,” (63-66). The poem makes Grendel’s ferocity and horrificness stand out compared to the movie. Grendel is supposed to be expressed as a prodigy of the devil without compassion or empathy. The poem really defines that, whereas the movie does not show that criteria. Grendel goes into a mead hall and decimates many innocent men in their sleep in the poem. Even though the men were awake in the movie, Grendel’s actions are still irredeemable. The change in Grendel’s character was possibly made to make him more relatable to reality and modern-day science fiction. His zombie-like appearance could have drawn science fiction and medieval fans. His dishonest actions in revenge for a fatherless childhood relates to reality because there are people that do bad actions because of bad situations. Even if they tried to draw some sort of fanbase, it does make Grendel less dynamic as a monster. 

Another change in characterization is made on the main protagonist, Beowulf. In both the film and text, he is strong, a great fighter, and has a lot of confidence. However, there are many differences in his other traits. The poem says, “This tower, and remember my name, and call it Beowulf’s tower, and boats in the darkness and mist, crossing the sea, will know it,” (817-819). This shows Beowulf’s greed and arrogance. This is because he believes that he was so almighty that he deserved a tower in his name. Throughout the text, Beowulf mainly cared about his self-determination towards fame and glory. He wanted to be remembered by everyone even in death. However, his belief in immortality was egocentric. In the film, Beowulf was not buried in a built tower because he never asked for a tower. The movie’s interpretation of Beowulf was less arrogant towards the end of the film because he did not ask for the specifics on his burial. Beowulf sailed off to sea in a burning ship of treasure because it was based on Wiglaf’s decision. Hollywood made Beowulf less arrogant to make him a better and more epic hero in the film than the text. Over the years, Hollywood has lost creativity in evolving their heroes into inspiring characters. This does not mean that every hero is done poorly. It just means that the writers in modern-day Hollywood need more creativity and poise to make the heroes more believable. Heroes are meant to make people feel hopeful and that the real world is not horrible. They need to make people believe that they are going to make a difference and win the psychological battle in life. The screenwriters for this film did make Beowulf evolve from himself as time went on. His arrogance and greed at the beginning of the film was just like the novel. However, his changes at the end of the film make people believe that they have the ability to change their negative traits. The changes in these characters changed the overall plot.

A change in the plot that was made was the encounter between Beowulf and the dragon. The encounter was different in the fighting and how Beowulf died in what would be his final battle. The Beowulf poem says that the dragon took a bite out of Beowulf’s neck. Wiglaf struck the dragon, and he and Beowulf had their glory against the dragon (page 56). The battle between Beowulf and the dragon, in the film, has many different elements. After the fire went out of the cave, Beowulf used his axe to climb onto the dragon. Wiglaf at the time was chasing the dragon on horseback. When they are at the castle bridge, the dragon tries to attack Wiglaf and two women. Beowulf soon stabs the dragon’s throat and kills him soon after. Wiglaf did not attack the dragon at all (Beowulf 2007). In the text, Wiglaf helped Beowulf kill the dragon, but in the movie the only person involved in the dragon’s death was Beowulf. Hollywood made this change because they like to make their main protagonist much stronger than the other characters. They want to make it look like Beowulf was strong enough to take down the dragon. It is also possible that they wanted him to lift a curse caused by his flaws since the dragon turned out to be his child. If the movie industry makes the hero have some flaws, they would most likely find a way to make that character resilient. People would need to see that their world can have good people that make sacrifices and overcome their obstacles. Even if the encounter was different, Beowulf’s perseverance and determination for glory was still proven in the film.

Beowulf has had many differences, but it still makes the hero believable for readers of British literature. Whether the change was negative or positive, Hollywood did their best to make a film adaptation that still followed the main details. This Anglo-Saxon era classic is a great example because it helps people have a better understanding of heroes and villains in real life society.