This thesis aims to discuss the heroic and the monstrous aspects of Beowulf. In the heroic part, I will discuss Beowulf as a culture hero and a mythological hero; in the monstrous part, I will discuss Beowulf as a monster-man and monsters as man-monsters. Beowulf is about a hero who intends to prove himself by killing malicious monsters. The victory over the villains further brings Beowulf the character to the Geatish throne, though Beowulf¡¦s obsession with glory finally results in the fall of his kingdom. Beowulf¡¦s rise represents the rise of the Geatish kingdom and meritocracy; and his fall also triggers the fall of the kingdom. Beowulf¡¦s journey to the Danish kingdom also resembles Joseph Campbell¡¦s theories of mythological heroes.
Beowulf has been regarded as a hero for decades, but however heroic, Beowulf embodies some monstrous tendencies. His rationale to kill repugnant monsters and gain glory in return does not work on the combat with Grendel¡¦s mother and the fire dragon, since the ogress kills Aeschere in order to avenge her only son¡¦s death; and the dragon causes strife because of the theft. The monsters, on the other hand, are somewhat heroic since they know the ethics of vengeance.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NSYSU/oai:NSYSU:etd-0908108-145735 |
| Date | 08 September 2008 |
| Creators | Chen, Su-ling |
| Contributors | Tee, Kim Tong, Rudolphus Teeuwen, Yuan-guey Chiou, Hung-chiung Li |
| Publisher | NSYSU |
| Source Sets | NSYSU Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Archive |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lib.nsysu.edu.tw/ETD-db/ETD-search/view_etd?URN=etd-0908108-145735 |
| Rights | not_available, Copyright information available at source archive |
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