Beowulf and Superman and Mac Duff Comparison Many similarities can be made when comparing Beowulf and Superman. Between what they are, what they do, who they do it for, and how they do it. The two characters are so similar many people could probably say that Superman came from the story of Beowulf with a few changes. In any Superman comic or movie, he is always portrayed as a hero who always comes in at the last second to save the day. He always helps the good and gets rid of the bad just as Beowulf does in his story. Both of the characters have superhuman abilities. Superman can fly, run fast, shoot lasers from his eyes, jump over tall buildings, and many other things. Beowulf is stronger than the regular human and when he has to fight …show more content…
He even has a disguise for himself so he can live a normal human life just like everyone else and not be noticed or recognized. Superman is also Clark Kent, a normal person just trying to live life who works at the Daily Planet. Superman has no fear and will never back down from evil. “Clearly, through all of the cases and conditions, Superman is obviously a moral character. He helps those who cannot help themselves and to the best of his abilities does all he can to stop the spread of suffering in Metropolis region and around the world.” (Vendrick, "Superhero Ethics: Superman") Although the two are similar in so many ways, they do have some differences. Beowulf has no problem with killing whatever is causing harm. He kills Grendel and his mother without hesitation to help the people. Superman never killed anyone. He would beat the person down into submission to be handled by the police. Superman is not from Earth. His parents sent him here right before his home planet of Krypton was going to be …show more content…
He happened to be one of Macbeth’s good friends and had to turn against him to save the lives of his people. He realized that what Macbeth was doing was bad and he needed to be stopped. Macduff was in the army with Macbeth and knew him well. When Macbeth rose to far into power, he started to let the power to go his head and began corrupting the system and taking over to start a dictatorship. He gets so crazy, when his wife dies, he doesn’t even care. He just brushes it off like nothing happened. Even though he ends up killing Macbeth, he is a very noble guy. He always did what he was told and was one you’d want on your side. “In a game of Marry, Date, or Dump, we'd dump Macbeth (duh); date Malcolm (nice boy, but too many responsibilities) and marry Macduff. He's a loyal Scottish nobleman, a loving father and wife, and an all-around great guy.” (Shmoop Editorial Team, "Macduff in Macbeth") “We see just how much Macduff loves his country in when Malcolm tests his loyalty by pretending that he'd be an even worse king that Macbeth. He finally breaks down, saying "O Scotland, Scotland," telling Malcolm that he's not fit to live, and then decides to leave Scotland forever rather than see her ruled by a man who "By his own interdiction stands accursed" (4.3.125), a.k.a. Malcolm.” (Shmoop Editorial Team, "Macduff in
Before Macbeth meets with Macduff, he thinks of ways to handle Macduff so he would no longer be a problem. Macduff was considered to be a problem because he left the kingdom in order to assist an opposing force. Macbeth states “Then live, Macduff: what need I fear of thee? But yet I’ll make assurance double sure, and take a bond of fate.” (Act IV scn i, ln 82-84) He wants to make sure Macduff will not be a problem; he wants to keep Macduff out of his way. In this scene Macbeth is attempting to discover ways to inforce his superiority through the phrase “The castle of Macduff I will surprise; seize upon Fife; give to th’ edge o’ th’ sword his wife, his babies, and all unfortunate souls.” (Act IV scn i, ln 150-152) He hired men to kill Macduff’s family, so he will be depressed and will grieve; he wants to keep Macduff out of the way of him still being King. The main reason he did this, however, was to exert his leadership over Macduff and send a message. This paragraph explains how Macbeth was disloyal to Macduff and how he did anything to keep Macduff out of his way, but things did not turn out as he
While Macduff is in England, Macbeth learns of the abandonment of Macduff's family and resolves to have them murdered. When Macduff learns of the murder of his family, he is motivated by Malcolm to get revenge. It is this that pushes Macduff to the edge and forces him to go after Macbeth himself. The power of Malcolm's taunting that he must take it like a man and his own love for his family makes him hate Macbeth to the fullest extent, and eventually he succeeds in killing him.
Macduff is also a character that deals with guilt. He is guilty of leaving his entire family behind in Scotland which is eventually why they are killed. He uses this guilt to drive him to bring Macbeth down. If Macduff would have thought to bring his wife and children they wouldn't have died. This shows that every action has consequences and those consequences must be taken into consideration.
They enter the castle in scene seven and Macduff seeks out Macbeth, ignoring all other beings there. "Let me find him, Fortune! And more I beg not" (5.7). They finally meet and Macbeth tells him to leave, as he already has so much of his blood. Macduff says that he has no words for him and that he will let his sword be his voice. Macduff then tells Macbeth that his prophecy does not protect from him, as he had to be removed from his mother by C-section and thusly is not “Woman-born”. He then fights Macbeth to the death. He reappears in scene nine with Macbeth’s head and announces that Malcolm is now the king of Scotland.
Macduff’s burning desire for revenge towards Macbeth was encouraged by many forces. As it is known, Macbeth murders Duncan which causes Malcolm to flee to England because he fears for his life. Following Duncan’s death, Macduff was the first to discover Duncan dead, and it can be inferred that he was so angry and mortified that it sparks apprehensiveness towards Macbeth’s acquiring the throne. As he realizes that he does not agree with Macbeth’s reign, he decides to leave his family behind in Fife to go to England to find Malcolm, the true heir to the throne. His plan is to conspire with Malcolm to build an army against Macbeth. Macduff was so loyal to Scotland and the true ruler that he was willing to abandon his family in the process of freeing Scotland from tyranny. As he meets with Malcolm, Ross delivers the news that
Next, Both heroes posses much strength and endurance: Beowulf is said to have swam seven days while fighting off sea-monsters and he tore off Grendel’s arms using just his hands; Batman, too, single-handedly fights off big groups of gangs and criminals on many occasions. Lastly, both Batman and Beowulf are truly committed to fighting evil to save others, even putting their own lives at risk to do so. Both heroes are there when a villain attacks the innocent. For example, Beowulf traveled all
Superman and Beowulf have some obvious similarities. For instance, Superman is just about the coolest superhero around, just like Beowulf was in the Middle Ages. First, a little background. In the story, Grendel had been stomping around the land, ripping people to shreds and eating them. Beowulf, a
One major similarity between Beowulf and Superman is their battles with supernatural foes. For example, Beowulf defeated the monstrous Grendel, a dragon, and Grendel’s mother. Similarly, superman had several fights with the invaders from Krypton. The battles are related in many ways such as their fighting style. The heroes in both battles only use their fist in battle, that is if the opponent only uses fists. Although Beowulf and Superman fought fairly, both heroes used weapons at some point. Beowulf used a sword in his fight with Grendel’s mother and Superman threw various objects at the soldiers. The heroes also fought the battles for others rather than for themselves.
Beowulf and Superman are characters that define what it means to be an epic hero. Epic heroes are leaders, warriors, or rulers that possess characteristics that provide for the betterment of their people. Although they are similar in many ways, Beowulf and Superman are also different in many ways to. Beowulf is known as a great warrior with unmatched fighting skills, and Superman is known as a man from another world that has god like powers. Beowulf and Superman possess the characteristics of battling supernatural foes, superhuman capabilities, and unmatched warriors.
Macduff's only ambition is to kill Macbeth, the man who has murdered his wife and children. He has no interest in personal gain and is the first character in the play to understand that Fortune rules you, you don't rule Fortune. This is a certain indicator that he'll be the one to take down the tyrant, who is always challenging
King Arthur and Beowulf are both heroes in their stories which causes them to have many similarities in their traits but, they have differences in their traits as well. Arthur and Beowulf are both courageous leaders. They fight fearlessly for themselves and their people in battle. A difference between Arthur and Beowulf is their ability to depend on others. Arthur depends on others many times in The Once and Future King while Beowulf depends only on himself in Beowulf. Despite the differences, Beowulf and Arthur still have many things in common such as their wisdom. Both men are wise and make incisive decisions in battle and in leading. Their wisdom on the battlefield is a heroic trait that both men possess. Another heroic trait that they share is their courageousness.
All actions and sacrifices that were made had sprouted from his nationalistic roots--his utter adoration for the country of Scotland and its citizens. Macduff’s actions were bold and spoke volumes—as they were meant to; Refusing to attend noble gatherings organized by Macbeth, fleeing Scotland to travel to England where the noble Malcolm resides and organizing the rebellion against Macbeth, every action was organized and executed accordingly, which is a trait rightfully belonging to a natural born leader. Macduff’s search for Malcolm, the brother of the previous king and rightful heir to the throne, was fueled by the immense desire to obtain the rightful king of Scotland for the sake of its citizens. This urge to find the rightful king weighed so heavily upon Macduff, so much so that he could not hold his tongue in front of Malcolm once he heard of his corrupt and dishonorable character. Macduff’s motivation, for the sake of his country, never wavered, even in the face of an immense threat to his family and to himself.
His courage and emotions showed as he hunted for fearsome Macbeth on the battlefield, “Tyrant, show thy face! If thou beest slain, and with no stroke of mine, My wife and children’s ghosts will haunt me still. I cannot strike at wretched kerns, whose arms Are hired to bear their staves. Either thou, Macbeth, Or else my sword with an unbattered edge I sheathe again undeeded.” (5.7.15-20) If anyone other than Macduff killed Macbeth, Macduff’s family’s ghosts would haunt him forever. He would rather not fight the hired soldiers. Either he would use his sword in fighting Macbeth or not use it at all. In this battle, Macduff is not only seeking revenge on Macbeth for the murder of Macduff’s family and King Duncan, but also saving his country from a tyrant. Was Macduff’s motivation purely revenge for his family’s murder or also the good of his countrymen or both? He does succeed in decapitating Macbeth and bringing “the usurper’s cursèd head” to Malcolm, the legitimate heir of Scotland. Although courageous in the battle against Macbeth, Macduff’s actions overall didn’t rise to the extraordinary level and he embodied human virtues such as love for his country and family, and and human flaws such as poor judgement in exposing his family to the evil of
Heroes, from Beowulf to Superman our cultures have always created heroes. We may always have political, social, economic and religious differences, but at the end of the day we all have one thing in common, heroes. They help define who we are and what we want to be. They give us hope and inspire us to head in the right direction. They show us that good will always triumph over evil and that anything is possible if you set your mind to it. Heroes give us the inspiration we need to overcome problems in our own lives and that is why we create them. Beowulf perfectly embodies the idea of a hero. He defeats the evil Grendel and his mother, slays the dragon and saves his people. He is
Macbeth was the most trusted and noble person in Scotland in his time. He fought fairly, and for his family, friends, and most importantly, his king.