Grendel

Summary

Exposition

Grendel philosophizing

Interactions with characters of
differing philosophies

Rising Action

Grendel terrorizes Hrothgar's kingdom

Climax

Grendel's battle with Beowulf

Falling Action

Grendel's reflection of his existence

Resolution

Grendel's death

Themes

Isolationism

Existentialism

Nihilism

Hopefulness

Morality

Grey areas of good vs. evil

Identity

Conformity

Nonconformity

Power of Stories

Greatly influential

Hrothgar's people

Grendel

Human Condition

Finding meaning in a meaningless world

Narrative Voice

Grendel

Unreliable narrator

Struggles to grasp reality

Intense emotion

Outcast

Resentful

Philosophical

Characters

Grendel

Protagonist

Freyja

Grendel's mother

Animalistic and detached

Beowulf

Antagonist

Foil to Grendel

Heroic

Unferth

Beowulf's Rival

Killed by Grendel

The Dragon

Beowulf's final battle in Beowulf

Wise and cynical

The Shaper

Storyteller

Influential figure

Hrothgar

King of Danes

Writing Techniques

Vivid imagery

Assonance and alliteration

Intertextuality

Based on the poem Beowulf

Characters representing ideologies

Historical Context

Published in 1971

Counter cultural movements

Civil Rights and LGBT-centered issues
entering the mainstream

Nonconformity and rising
against authority

Vietnam War

Cynicism and protest

Literary era

Modernism

Highly influenced by
philosophy