Beowulf and Sir Gawain: Compare and Contrast Essay

Topics:
Essay type:
Words:
425
Page:
1
This essay sample was donated by a student to help the academic community. Papers provided by EduBirdie writers usually outdo students' samples.

Cite this essay cite-image

Beowulf is a member of the tribe of the Geats, who goes to serve in the court of Hrothgar and Sir Gawain is King Arthur's great knight. Both of them are the heroes facing the grim challenges in the stories.

To compare the idea of the hero in Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, both of the heroes in the stories are brave. The braveness of Beowulf lies in trying his best to help the king of the Dane, Hrothgar defeat the monsters, Grendel, and Grendel's mother. In the first fight with Grendel in Beowulf, Beowulf wanted to fight with Grendel with his bare hands. Although beating Grendel successfully, before long a more horrible fight was coming, Grendel's mom was sailing forth on a savage journey and desperate for revenge for her son. Facing such a tough fight, Beowulf still kept courageous to hold the hilt to cut deep into the neck bone of Grendel's mom. Furthermore, in the last fight of Beowulf, even though he was not young anymore, he still fought with the dragon in person to deal it a deadly wound. Also, Sir Gawain shares the similarity of braveness as Beowulf in that he accepted the challenge proposed by the Green Knight and kept the words to find him on New Year's Day. The bravest behavior of Sir Gawain is that he keeps his promise to be struck back by the Green Knight.

Save your time!
We can take care of your essay
  • Proper editing and formatting
  • Free revision, title page, and bibliography
  • Flexible prices and money-back guarantee
Place an order
document

The contrasting idea of the hero in Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is that no matter how tough the fights were, Beowulf did not flinch from the beginning to the end. However, although both Beowulf and Sir Gawain are brave and loyal in the beginning, Sir Gawain is afraid of being killed by the Green Knight and feigns a fearless state at the first strike, which shows the timidity in his heart that is different from Beowulf. Besides, because of Sir Gawain's lie, that is, he did not give the belt to the host after Green Knight reveals his identity as a host, he says that Sir Gawain lacks loyalty, which is the obvious contrast idea of hero between Beowulf and Sir Gawain. At the end of the story, Beowulf's braveness causes him died in glory; on the contrary, Sir Gawain still alive after the fight but the symbol of his fault - the scar on his neck and the girdle he held up shows his untruth would last until he died. The contrasting ideas of these two heroes make the different ends of the story.

Make sure you submit a unique essay

Our writers will provide you with an essay sample written from scratch: any topic, any deadline, any instructions.

Cite this paper

Beowulf and Sir Gawain: Compare and Contrast Essay. (2024, March 27). Edubirdie. Retrieved December 25, 2024, from https://edubirdie.com/examples/beowulf-and-sir-gawain-compare-and-contrast-essay/
“Beowulf and Sir Gawain: Compare and Contrast Essay.” Edubirdie, 27 Mar. 2024, edubirdie.com/examples/beowulf-and-sir-gawain-compare-and-contrast-essay/
Beowulf and Sir Gawain: Compare and Contrast Essay. [online]. Available at: <https://edubirdie.com/examples/beowulf-and-sir-gawain-compare-and-contrast-essay/> [Accessed 25 Dec. 2024].
Beowulf and Sir Gawain: Compare and Contrast Essay [Internet]. Edubirdie. 2024 Mar 27 [cited 2024 Dec 25]. Available from: https://edubirdie.com/examples/beowulf-and-sir-gawain-compare-and-contrast-essay/
copy

Join our 150k of happy users

  • Get original paper written according to your instructions
  • Save time for what matters most
Place an order

Fair Use Policy

EduBirdie considers academic integrity to be the essential part of the learning process and does not support any violation of the academic standards. Should you have any questions regarding our Fair Use Policy or become aware of any violations, please do not hesitate to contact us via support@edubirdie.com.

Check it out!
close
search Stuck on your essay?

We are here 24/7 to write your paper in as fast as 3 hours.