2007-12-30 15:32:31 · 3 answers · asked by Jess 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Homework Help
He exceeds them! Although no one thought he would amount to much, he travels to Denmark when he hears about Grendel, kills Grendel bare-handed, and then, when he realizes there's another troll in the vicinity, takes the battle to them. Although he takes a band of warriors to Denmark with him, he does all the fighting, and all they have to do is wait patiently at the edge of the mere after the Danes have given up and gone back to Heorot, and carry Grendel's head back when Beowulf finally emerges.
The first time he's offered the Geatish throne, he declines because the deceased King, his uncle, has a young son living. Even though the nobles of the land and the Queen herself offer him the throne so that the country will have a strong man as ruler, Beowulf replies that he will not deprive his cousin of his rights but will stand behind him to prevent any enemy from taking advantage of a child king. Although no one would have thought badly of him for stepping in front of the natural heir, he would evidently have thought badly of himself if he had done so; thus his sense of honor is stronger and more internal than that of those around him.
After Beowulf has been king for fifty years, when the dragon begins devastating his kingdom, the people instinctively run to him, although he must be eighty by now, to do something about it. And he does. Once again, he takes for granted that he will do the fighting unassisted, because he has only one fire-proof shield made. After he has killed the dragon (with the help of Wiglaf, the only one of his followers who didn't panic and flee at the sight of it) and lies dying of the its venomous bite, he implicitly passes his kingship to Wiglaf. What more could he have done for his society?
2007-12-30 16:03:40 · answer #1 · answered by aida 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, Beowulf's society's expectations for him are so great, he does all he can to live up to them. To them he is fautless; in their regard more a deity than a mortal warrior. By going off on his quest to conquer Grendle, he is not exceeding is people expectations of him, but meerly fufilling his obligation, as set to him by his nation. Beowulf does all he can to live up to his peoples standards, and for most of his reign he does, but in the end, by dying, he disappionts them.
He had exceeded the expectations of his people one too many times, and each time he succeeded his people's expectaions grew. By the time he faces the dragon, what is "expected" of him is hardly reasonable, it is his legend his subjects expect him to uphold. In their eyes he is no longer an extraordinarily talented and gifted man who has done amazing deeds and completed impossible quests, but immortal.
When the dragon starts terroizing villages, who do the townsfolk come to? Beowulf, their glorious king, of course. They disregard the fact that by this time he is an old man, very near the end of his life, and expect him to defeat the dragon. Beowulf, held by decorum and his honor, must fight the dragon. He may have killed the dragon, but he lost his life in the process. The Geat's unbeatable King has fallen. That is how he disappionts his own legend and his people expectations, by dying. Just dying.
2007-12-30 18:36:34 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
he gave in to temptation showing he had weaknesses.
i didnt read the book i just saw the movie:)
2007-12-30 15:40:40 · answer #3 · answered by IceM88 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋