Examples Of Monsters In Beowulf

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Why are people afraid of monsters; is it because monsters look scary, or because people’s minds make them think they are scary? For instance, in Beowulf, monsters frighten people because they are seen as vicious creatures. As a result, Beowulf fights the monsters to get praise from his people. The unknown author of Beowulf uses the main character, Beowulf, to portray the values of the Anglo- Saxon culture by making his character strong, courageous, and loyal. Another example of monsters is shown during the Romantic time period through Frankenstein, by Mary Shelly. Monsters are also seen as a scary creature in this passage, but instead of destroying monsters, Frankenstein creates a monster to get the public to appreciate him. Although Beowulf …show more content…
For example, Frankenstein secludes himself from the outside world because he “[he] has lost all soul and sensation but for this one task” (4). As a result, he only has himself and the “monster in making” as companions. Similarly, the invention of this creature has taken over Frankenstein’s mind by allowing him to believe that “a new species would bless [him] as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to [him]” (4). Frankenstein believes that whatever he creates will be so wonderful and so mighty that he will be able to create a new species and they will call him “father.” As Frankenstein come close to the end of his creation, “[he shuns his] fellow creatures as if [he has] been guilty of a crime” (5). Deep inside Frankenstein’s mind, he realizes that what he is doing is not right, but he cannot seem to stop himself because he has become mental and his mind only thinks about the monster lying next to him.
Although Beowulf and Frankenstein both want to have the praise of making a difference in the world, they are opposite because Beowulf uses his unhuman like power to destroy monsters while Frankenstein creates mental monsters. For example, Beowulf wants to protect his society by destroying evil monsters so his people will recognize him as a higher power. On the other hand, Frankenstein creates mental monsters in himself because he is too involved in putting
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