Compare and Contrast

Compare and Contrast (Beowulf)

There are many differences in the movie Beowulf and the book Beowulf that stood out to me. Usually when a book gets made, there is a movie but there are many differences and similarities. The movie seemed artificial and not believable in comparison to the book.

One difference between the book and the movie was that the book explained the actual story of Beowulf and his journey in much more detail. On the other hand it was very interesting to be able to see the movie, where as to when you read the story you have to do a lot of visualizing. I often pay a lot more attention when I can actually see the film for myself and not have to visualize it.

The movie (portrayed) Beowulf cut off his own arm so he could kill the dragon and also showed him ripping the dragon’s heart out. He died when he fell off the cliff with the dragon. This made it extremely different than the story. Beowulf is considered a heroic figure in the story because he protected the Danes from the beasts and in the movie he is portrayed more as a liar than a hero.

Here’s an example, he lies about the dragon being his son and having an affair with Grendel’s mother. This was never mentioned in the story. In the movie, Hrothgar is accused of cheating on wealthow with Grendel’s mother and letting her give birth to Grendel’s. In the movie Beowulf came to protect the country of the Danes he is mesmerized by Grendel’s mother’s beauty. However the story makes no mention of that either.