Beowulf: a tragic hero

Beowulf is an Old English epic poem. It is a story about a young warrior and his quest through

life. Some people consider Beowulf a tragic hero, and some people just consider him a hero

period. Whether Beowulf is a tragic hero or not he fights many great battles. The reason Beowulf

fights stays basically the same but it changes a little.

In the beginning of the book, Beowulf goes to help the Danes out by killing Grendel. Grendel is

a ferocious monster that has been killing the Danes in the mead hall. During this time period,

warriors will celebrate their victories and tell of their accomplishments by singing. This social

gathering has started bothering Grendel because he can hear all the noise and happiness coming

from the mead hall. This is making Grendel jealous because he is a descendant from Cain, and

knows he will never feel happy. Grendel goes into the mead hall at night, and he begins killing

everyone in there.

News of how Grendel is murdering the Danes starts to spread all over. When Beowulf hears

about Grendel, he feels that it is his obligation to stop Grendel from killing anymore. Beowulf

leaves to go to Herot to kill Grendel. He is mostly being praised for his long journey to face this

terrible monster. Beowulf says, "Grendel is no braver, no stronger than I am! I could kill him

with my sword; I shall not". Beowulf feels that he can defeat Grendel even without a weapon.

The first night, they have a celebration in the mead hall, and the warriors fall asleep in the hall.

Grendel makes his usual nightly visit and finds many victims waiting to be killed. To his

surprise, he meets his match, which happens to be Beowulf. After a brief confrontation, Beowulf

rips Grendel's arm off, and Grendel runs away to die.

After Beowulf slays him, Grendel's mother attacks the hall and is then also defeated. Victorious,

Beowulf goes home to Geatland (Götaland in modern Sweden) and later becomes king of the

Geats. After a period of fifty years has passed, Beowulf defeats a dragon, but is fatally wounded

in the battle. After his death, his attendants bury him in a tumulus, a burial mound, in Geatland.

A tragic hero is a literary character who makes an error of judgment or has a fatal flaw that,

combined with fate and external forces, brings on a tragedy.

By definition, a tragic hero is a protagonist that due to some tragic flaw loses everything he has.

Throughout history, literature has always been filled with main characters possessing some tragic

flaw. In Macbeth, Macbeth’s tragic flaw is his enormous ambition to become king. In Hamlet,

Hamlet’s tragic flaw is his need for revenge for the death of his father at the hands of his uncle.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh’s tragic flaw is his need to be remembered. In the Anglo-

Saxon epic Beowulf, Beowulf also has a tragic flaw, excessive pride and the search for fame,

which ultimately leads to his demise.

Beowulf’s extreme bravery makes him a tragic hero in many ways. Beowulf shows why in many

ways, the first he travels to fight Grendel, secondly he fights and kills Grendel’s mother so the

people would not have any problems with her. Lastly Beowulf fights a dragon, and this battle is

what makes the story “Beowulf” tragic. Because Beowulf is old now but he still wants the heroic

glory so he fights once again, and little does he know, the last fight he will ever fight, and also

the fight that leads to his very tragic death.

Beowulf had not any chance at winning the fight against the dragon, because he was very old and

the dragon was very big and strong as well. Beowulf did not give up hope; he tried his best to kill

the dragon. But unfortunately, he could not be successful finally. Beowulf showed very greatly

how to not only be a true hero, but also how to be a tragic hero. So, undoubtedly it can be said

that Beowulf is a tragic hero.