Comparing Beowulf And William Shakespeare s Macbeth

Actor Anson Mount, once made an insightful observation, â€Å"all of us have a hero and a villain in us.† This is something that has been proven over time, across cultures, and is also corroborated in famous literary works such as Seamus Heaney’s Beowulf and William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Key characters in these epics often rose to the occasion and made a positive impact on the society with their exceptional bravery, selflessness, moral courage, and steadfastness of character. There were also instances where the same characters didn’t exercise the best judgement. Although Beowulf had many more heroic moments than Macbeth and Macduff, each of them had their virtues and flaws that surfaced at different times and under different circumstances, validating that there is nothing such as a perfect hero or an absolute villain and therefore the society should be more careful in assigning such labels. Beowulf, who possessed a rare combination of physical strength, m ental courage and self confidence, was much more than a brave warrior. What distinguished him from other warriors was that he never misused his superhuman strength and always followed the highest standards of morality. An example of Beowulf’s classy behavior was when Geats were left without a king after Hygelac’s death. Queen Hygd didn’t have confidence in her son’s ability to protect their homeland against invaders. She offered Beowulf â€Å"throne and authority† and â€Å"Yet there was no way the weakened nation / could get Beowulf to