Compare And Contrast Beowulf

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Fearsome monsters, Heroic characters and the glories of battle. The story of Beowulf has been around longer than most other stories. The epic poem was bequeathed by many generations until Hollywood finally came to have it’s hands on it. Hollywood seized and twisted the story however they wanted. The Beowulf film, directed by Robert Zemeckis, who is known for his movies such as “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” and the”Back to the Future” series. Beowulf the film had numerous differences than the epic poem. Numerous amounts of people have critiqued the film as a result of the major differences between the poem and the film. The big question is why did Hollywood feel the need to change the story?

One of the biggest differences between the film and …show more content…
The Epic poem was written down by a monk. The poem is loaded with christian philosophies and sentiments. For example; in the poem, king Hrothgar's throne cannot be disturbed by Grendel or his mother because it has been blessed by God. In the film a substantial percentage of the Christian ideas were not there. Changing religious stories to match the ideal movie narrative is something that Hollywood likes to do. In the film Hrothgar's chair is demolished without hesitation by Grendel. Another religious aspect of the poem is the connection between Grendel and Cain of the Bible. In the poem it shows that Grendel's ancestor is Cain. The first person to ever commit murder. Cain was punished by God to live wandering for the rest of his life. Along with Cain’s own punishment God cursed all of his descendants. In the film it shows that Grendel is the son of Hrothgar and the sea hag. This part of the story was alternated to make things more dramatic.

Back to the question of why Hollywood chose to change the story. The story was changed to please the modern audience. One of the reasons they do this with films nowadays is to make more money. The main target in many of the movies in Hollywood is to make money. In the end, a dramatic tale makes more
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