Beowulf Motifs Paper Essay

In undefiled literature, one everyow for often get out traces of literary devices that enhance the reading fluency as well as pastime for the reader. Often, the reader leave alone enjoy literature because of the writers attention to lift humor, suspense, drama, and m whatsoever more genres to life. In a narrative a motivation is any recurring or consistent constituent/entity that has symbolic significance in a story. Through its repetition a motif can help produce former(a) narrative or literary aspects such(prenominal) as a division or mood. They are defined as entities/symbols that reoccur end-to-end a literary work sometimes appearing in multiple forms. In the epic tale, Beowulf, humannessy motifs bring in concert the characters and the plot. Consequently, three significant motifs that enhance its theme are loyalty, revenge, and envy.One of the central themes of Beowulf, be by its title character, is loyalty. At all step of his career, loyalty is Beowulfs channeliz e virtue. Beowulf comes to the assistance of the Danes for complicated reasons. He is provoke in increasing his reputation and gaining award and payment. Beowulf does become tycoon and territorys with honor and fidelity to his office and his people for 50 long time. In his final test, the burden of loyalty will rest on other, younger shoulders. Preparing for his go away battle, with the fiery dragon, Beowulf puts his trust in 11 of his finest men, retainers who have vowed to fight to the death for him.Although the at once elderly pansy insists on fetching on the dragon alone, he brings on the 11 in case he needs them. When it is apparent that Beowulf is losing the battle to the dragon, however, all only when one of his men recreate and hides in the woods. Only Wiglaf, an inexperienced thane who has wide respect for his king, remains loyal. Wiglaf calls to the others, but realizing that they will be no help and that his king is about to be killed, he stands beside the ol dish man to fight to the death theirs or the dragons. For Beowulf, sadly, it is the end. Although he and Wiglaf kill the dragon, the king dies. As he dies, Beowulf passes the kingdom on to the brave and loyal Wiglaf.Revenge serves as a motivating factor for several(prenominal) characters throughout the poem, initially stirring Grendel and his mother. Grendel seeks revenge upon mankind for the heritage that he has been dealt. He delights in raiding Heorot because it is the symbol of everything that he detests about men their success, joy, glory, and favor in the eyes of God. Grendels mothers revenge is more specific. She attacks Heorot because someone thither killed her son. Although she is smaller and less powerful than Grendel, she is motivate by a mothers fury. When Beowulf goes after her in the mere, she has the added advantage of contend him in her take in territory. As she drags him into her counteract beneath the lake, her revenge peaks because this is the very man who kill ed her son. Only Beowulfs amazing abilities as a warrior and the intervention of God or magic can defeat her.Finally, in spite of Unferths jealous rant at the first banquet, the most serious pattern of envy in the poem is Grendel. The goliath who has menaced Hrothgars people for 12 years is envious of the Danes because he can never share in mankinds hope or joy. The monsters motivation is one of the few undeniably Christian influences in the epic. Grendel is a descending(prenominal) of Cain, the biblical son of Adam and eve who killed his brother Abel out of jealousy (Genesis 4). The novel is that the monsters of the earth are Cains descendants and eternally damned.Grendel resents men because God blesses them but will never bless him. The lucent lights and sounds of joy emanating from Hrothgars magnificent mead-hall, Heorot, curiously annoy the ogre. The scops Song of base angers Grendel because it reminds him of the light and hope of Gods creation and the loss he suffers b ecause of Cains sin. Grendel stomps up from the mere to devour Danes and rule nightly over Heorot as a form of revenge stemming from this envy.Coming from a highly valued family name, Beowulf must relieve oneself his own reputation within his own family. Throughout his battles, Beowulf personifies the motifs of loyalty, revenge, envy, reputation, vengeance, and fate which contribute to the boilersuit epic theme. Each of these contrasting themes contributes as to why Beowulf was such a ugly epic hero.