Gotham's Beowulf

The heroic journey, a story repeated from generation to generation, literary period to literary period. Although the zeitgeist may change the essence of a heroic tale doesn’t change all that much.  Beowulf an epic poem of Britain embodies the characteristics of a warrior that saves a town and its people from imminent destruction.  Bruce Wayne or Batman also is a warrior that also saves a city from villainous beings. Both stories and protagonists have unimpeachable similarities bit there are also massive differences that distinguish the two stories; also a feminist perspective from both Beowulf and Batman would be a noticeable difference.

Beowulf and Batman both were extravagant fighters. Beowulf was able to beat Grendel, Grendel’s Mother and a Dragon. Batman was able to beat the Joker, Harvey Dent and Bane. All of the enemies faced be Batman and Beowulf faced are monstrous in comparison to a normal person but to the heroes theses bouts are overcome with effort and skill. Beowulf starts off wanting to beat Grendel in parallel Batman wants to keep Gotham crime-free. Both characters do what they can to help their people and gain favor. Batman looks to be favored by Commissioner Gordon while Beowulf gets favored by Hrothgar.  In both stories the quality of strength is very important. Many people look up to Beowulf for destroying beasts when nobody else could. Batman was looked up too because through the difficult challenge of beating the villains he encountered Gotham was saved from the horrors of crime.

Now if both tales were told from the feminist perspective there would many contrasting aspects.  Beowulf was loved by women, Batman was not. Beowulf was haughty and arrogant but in the eyes of women it was fine because he could back it up. Batman was arrogant and could back up his arrogance, but in modern society women hate arrogance and the sense of entitlement. Bruce Wayne was rich but nobody knew he was the Batman. Rachel Bruce Wayne’s lover disliked Bruce’s arrogance entirely and went with Harvey Dent as her lover.

Both stories are told from similar perspectives but if seen from a feminist lens both stories would be noticeably different. Beowulf’s amazing strength and arrogance was valued in the old Celtic society, while modern American society looks up to Batman’s strength and skill but down at Bruce Wayne’s money and arrogance.