Beowulf
Beowulf is the story of a great hero' from another land who comes to rescue the Danish people from a monster.' In many ways the character of Beowulf is larger than life. He possesses all the qualities an archetypal hero would have. He is strong, wise, and courageous in battle; but when put into a different perspective, this image of a hero' can be taken apart.
Throughout the story, Beowulf is seemingly very noble and righteous in his slaying of the monsters. He supposedly comes from another land just to be a decent guy and help some people out. Another way of interpreting this however could be that he simply craved attention and needed some heroic act to further validate himself. All through the story he is not at all reluctant to speak of his previous heroic acts, often bragging about them whenever he gets the chance. It could be said that Beowulf's apparently noble intentions were tainted and that he only wanted the honor and riches that would be associated with the slaying of Grendel to improve his position in society.
Having disproved Beowulf as the hero of the story, it can be seen that the monsters are actually the true heroes. Grendel first appears when King Hrothgar has a giant feast to celebrate the opening of Heorot. The tumult attracts Grendel and during the night he attacks the king's warriors. This action in one context could seem entirely evil, but in another it could be said that Grendel was simply acting by his nature and did not have malicious intent. In this way Grendel is comparable to the monster in Hal Hartley's No Such Thing. It is possible that Grendel was only a monster' because he was different than what society deemed as being normal, and as a result he and his mother were isolated from the rest of the world. The word monster usually infers that a creature is evil and so by normal definition, Grendel was not a monster. It could be said that he was in fact a hero for his ability to stand up to the rest of...
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