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Timeless Beowulf, Tireless Executives

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Timeless Beowulf, Tireless Executives
Timeless Beowulf, Tireless Executives The literary masterpiece Beowulf compiles the life of Beowulf as living the supreme military life. The concepts and themes of the story are considered timeless because comparisons can be drawn from Beowulf’s life to the lives of the people of today. Consider the fact that Beowulf lives a detached life, which validates him being a wise and strong leader. This also leaves him a man who must face his death grasping the fact that he has foolishly abstained from having a devoted relationship with another person. In his tenacious quest for fame and glory, Beowulf is evocative of concurrent young executives in that they classify their profession above all other facets of life, just as Beowulf placed his quest for fame and glory above all other aspects of his life. Beowulf demonstrates his unrelenting desire for fame by the slaying of the monster Grendel, keeping his composure to stay calm without being nervous or scared. Beowulf “[began] to remove his iron breast-mail, / took off the helmet and handed his attendant/ the patterned sword, a smith’s masterpiece” (Beowulf lines 44). His next expression of seeking heroic fame comes with the defeat of Grendel’s monstrous mother. Further proof of Beowulf’s heroism and glory is acknowledged when he “cuts the corpse’s head off” (Beowulf 65). Even when Beowulf is older and becomes king, he continues to seek fame because he is willing to battle the dragon despite realizing his heroic fate. The solitary life that Beowulf leads leaves him without having meaningful or intimate relationships. He is not a typical affiliate of their society and he has no close kinsman or companion with whom he can share his feelings. According to the critical essay “Beowulf’s Androgynous Heroism.” written by scholar Robert Morey, “[Beowulf] is the only king in the poem who never marries. Rather Beowulf appears married to the eorlscipe [earlship] he enacts among the Danes” (4). In addition to never having an


Cited: 13 Nov. 2009 . 16 Nov. 2009 .
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