Beowulf Analysis
Many assume that from his great deeds, Beowulf is a hero that should be respected and adorned. However, The epic Beowulf is about one man who thinks he is better than everyone else. He shows off to everyone and tries to get people to idolize him. He does everything he can to make sure people know who he is and to get people to love him. In the story, he says he does everything out of the goodness of his hard. He says wants no reward. Even in the story, he is known as Stronger than anyone anywhere in this world (3:111). To any normal reader, Beowulf may seem like a hero and someone to idolize. Someone to want to be like, but if one were to analyze Beowulf from a psychological viewpoint, one will easily be able to tell that Beowulf has some underlying problems that, if studied intently enough, can be noticed. Beowulf is obviously very narcissistic. He believes he is better than everyone else, and through the retelling of the story, he is made to actually be better than everyone else. Especially physically. If you look deep enough, you can also tell that he is quite insecure. He does many things to try and make himself seem better, but deep down he is insecure.
One doesn't even have to look deep to realize that Beowulf is narcissistic. One could even say he has a disorder. Narcissism is “ the stereotypic acts associated with the trait include self-flaunting body posturing, expansive arm gestures, bowing, instinctive self-adornment, and a natural attraction to the limelight of personal recognition” (“Meir”). This sounds exactly like Beowulf. He believes he is stronger than anyone anywhere in this world (3:111). He even said “might think less of me if I let my sword go where my feet were afraid to, if I hid behind some broad linden shield: My hands alone will fight for me...” (4:170-74). This makes him seem like he think that he is so amazing that he can kill anything with just his bare hands. Granted he is able to do that, he still should not be so boastful or overly confident that he actually would think to do it like that. Even if he is able to kill any monster with his bare hands, he should at least bring his weapons and armor just to be safe, but no, he is so narcissistic that he says he will do it anyway. Also Beowulf even says “I’d use no sword, no weapon, if the beast could be killed without it, crushed to death...”(14:668-669). This is just another way that is showing Beowulf being Narcissistic and overly confident. He believes that he can do anything with no help at all. That will eventually be his downfall. Beowulf looks to other people for admiration. Like when he first got to the island. They throw him a banquet: “Beowulf, a banquet in your honor: let us toast to your victories, and talk of the future” (5:223-224). He openly accepts this praise without even acting humble. This shows his narcissism. Even when Beowulf mortally injured Grendel, he welcomed the praise. He didn't try and act like he wasn’t the hero; Incompletely accepted it and acted very narcissistic. One must finally realize how narcissistic Beowulf is.
If one was to look deep enough into the passage, one could even see that he seems pretty insecure about himself. There are many definitions for insecurity. Some of which are “the condition of being susceptible to harm or injury“, “the state of being exposed to risk”. Another way insecurity can be described as is: “lacking stability, troubled” or “lacking self confidence, plagued by anxiety” (“insecurity”). In my opinion Beowulf shows all of these definitions throughout the entire epic. Even just by looking at the first couple definitions that were just given to the reader, one can tell Beowulf fits the conditions. “The condition of being susceptible to harm or injury.” This definition probably means more along the likes of emotions, but if you look at it physically, (“signs of insecurity”) Beowulf is susceptible to harm and injury pretty much the entire epic. From fighting Grendel, to Grendel’s Mother, to the dragon, where he eventually dies, Beowulf is in danger or getting hurt or dying throughout the whole entire epic, so in this sense of being insecure, yes, he is very insecure. Whether its fighting Grendel, Grendel's mother, or even the dragon, I believe that Beowulf is just trying to boost his own confidence by saying he can do it. Down deep he probably believes that he can't do it, thus being insecure, but he puts himself in these dangerous situations and tells himself that he can do it, so that he can eventually boost his confidence and not be so insecure. Emotionally, we have no evidence in the story that he is insecure. The closest thing we could get to support that he is insecure emotionally is that he stands up for his dad when Hrothgar talked bad about him. Beowulf got quite defensive about it.
Beowulf is narcissistic and insecure. In this day and age that is not a good combination to have, so just imagine how bad of a combination it was back then. Some would even say that insecurity could cause narcissism to try and compensate for what they think they do not have. Beowulf does this is many ways and in many situations. After reading the entire epic Beowulf, one would realize that Beowulf does have underlying problems, which if were not taken care of, would have became a problem. Either way he ended up dying so it did not matter. If he hadn’t of died though, his situation could have became worse and he could have turned into the very things he was fighting. He would've stopped helping the people and started hurting the people.
One doesn't even have to look deep to realize that Beowulf is narcissistic. One could even say he has a disorder. Narcissism is “ the stereotypic acts associated with the trait include self-flaunting body posturing, expansive arm gestures, bowing, instinctive self-adornment, and a natural attraction to the limelight of personal recognition” (“Meir”). This sounds exactly like Beowulf. He believes he is stronger than anyone anywhere in this world (3:111). He even said “might think less of me if I let my sword go where my feet were afraid to, if I hid behind some broad linden shield: My hands alone will fight for me...” (4:170-74). This makes him seem like he think that he is so amazing that he can kill anything with just his bare hands. Granted he is able to do that, he still should not be so boastful or overly confident that he actually would think to do it like that. Even if he is able to kill any monster with his bare hands, he should at least bring his weapons and armor just to be safe, but no, he is so narcissistic that he says he will do it anyway. Also Beowulf even says “I’d use no sword, no weapon, if the beast could be killed without it, crushed to death...”(14:668-669). This is just another way that is showing Beowulf being Narcissistic and overly confident. He believes that he can do anything with no help at all. That will eventually be his downfall. Beowulf looks to other people for admiration. Like when he first got to the island. They throw him a banquet: “Beowulf, a banquet in your honor: let us toast to your victories, and talk of the future” (5:223-224). He openly accepts this praise without even acting humble. This shows his narcissism. Even when Beowulf mortally injured Grendel, he welcomed the praise. He didn't try and act like he wasn’t the hero; Incompletely accepted it and acted very narcissistic. One must finally realize how narcissistic Beowulf is.
If one was to look deep enough into the passage, one could even see that he seems pretty insecure about himself. There are many definitions for insecurity. Some of which are “the condition of being susceptible to harm or injury“, “the state of being exposed to risk”. Another way insecurity can be described as is: “lacking stability, troubled” or “lacking self confidence, plagued by anxiety” (“insecurity”). In my opinion Beowulf shows all of these definitions throughout the entire epic. Even just by looking at the first couple definitions that were just given to the reader, one can tell Beowulf fits the conditions. “The condition of being susceptible to harm or injury.” This definition probably means more along the likes of emotions, but if you look at it physically, (“signs of insecurity”) Beowulf is susceptible to harm and injury pretty much the entire epic. From fighting Grendel, to Grendel’s Mother, to the dragon, where he eventually dies, Beowulf is in danger or getting hurt or dying throughout the whole entire epic, so in this sense of being insecure, yes, he is very insecure. Whether its fighting Grendel, Grendel's mother, or even the dragon, I believe that Beowulf is just trying to boost his own confidence by saying he can do it. Down deep he probably believes that he can't do it, thus being insecure, but he puts himself in these dangerous situations and tells himself that he can do it, so that he can eventually boost his confidence and not be so insecure. Emotionally, we have no evidence in the story that he is insecure. The closest thing we could get to support that he is insecure emotionally is that he stands up for his dad when Hrothgar talked bad about him. Beowulf got quite defensive about it.
Beowulf is narcissistic and insecure. In this day and age that is not a good combination to have, so just imagine how bad of a combination it was back then. Some would even say that insecurity could cause narcissism to try and compensate for what they think they do not have. Beowulf does this is many ways and in many situations. After reading the entire epic Beowulf, one would realize that Beowulf does have underlying problems, which if were not taken care of, would have became a problem. Either way he ended up dying so it did not matter. If he hadn’t of died though, his situation could have became worse and he could have turned into the very things he was fighting. He would've stopped helping the people and started hurting the people.