Historical Analysis Of Of Beowulf s Poem, Beowulf, Sir...

The study of British literature is an incredible journey that begins with battles against Anglo-Saxon monsters and takes us on a journey to a time where writers try to tackle modern problems. Along the way we come across characters such as Beowulf, Sir Gawain, King Arthur and other legends who remain a vital part of popular culture. History offers us a variety of heroes and legends that we can read and learn about. The historical poem of Beowulf not only reveals to us the importance cultural values of the warrior society, but also the importance of literature. The warrior culture at this time reflects the values of the society of the 6th century. There are a couple of key features of Beowulf’s characterization that reflect what was important in Anglo-Saxon society. For example. Beowulf comes across as arrogant and bigheaded, but Anglo-Saxon society valued the daring and confident young man who was proud of his actions and could use his past experiences and journeys to motivate himself toward future success. Our modern world leans towards modesty rather than arrogance. Anglo-Saxon society also believed in a concept of revenge that resulted in a vicious cycle. If someone killed one of your men, you were obligated to avenge their death, but then that group could come back and avenge that death and so on. This is shown in Beowulf by the killing of Grendel and then Grendel’s mother seeking revenge. The only reason this cycle was broken is because there wasn’t anyone else to