Hamlet, the prince of sighs, and Beowulf, the great hero of the Geats and slayer of Grendell are two classic heroes from Britain only separated by a millennium in their creation. People may argue that both died tragic deaths killing their hated enemy, both are old and hard to understand and that they are pretty much the same character so let’s move on already. Contrary to popular belief, Hamlet could never be so different from Beowulf and it all boils down to how Hamlet sets himself almost into a league by himself by the use of his language and words.
Hamlet is often seen performing soliloquies to the audience for no other apparent purpose then just to say them. He is actually saying this to gather his thoughts and reflect on past events just like how many of us talk to ourselves, verbally or non-verbally, to help figure out what to do next. “To be, or not to be--that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them.” Hamlet is reflecting how he must kill Claudius even though death itself looks like a pretty good option right now. He is not contemplating suicide; he already swore to the ghost that we would try to carry through with avenging him. More or less he is commenting the fact that he is stuck between a rock and a hard place. This makes Hamlet is one of the first characters in British literature to actually voice what is going on in his head.
Beowulf is classic hero of ancient Britannica, the youth who set out for a quest of glory and matured into a wise and heroic ruler. More or less Beowulf is integral by the fact that most of what he says is either a statement of what happened or a promise that he will fulfill. Other than the description of him and the actions that happens where he openly laments or is proud, there is no reflection, no second guessing or overly analytical speeches or mental notes going on in diction. “That this one favor you should not refuse me, that I alone and with the help of my men, may purge all evil from this hall.” It is a promise just like how Hamlet promised the ghost but different in how very quickly Beowulf disposes of Grendell compared to Hamlet who takes an entire play to kill Claudius. Beowulf is a man of action as dictated by his diction while Hamlet is a planner and a thinker.
There are multiple times throughout Hamlet where Hamlet is seen as second guessing the true nature of reality of which he lives in. He knows the social games being done all around him, all the manipulations that people try to do to each other to gain influence and get higher up in the scheme of things. “The spirit that I have seen may be the devil: and the devil hath power to assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps out of my weakness and my melancholy, As he is very potent with such spirits, Abuses me to damn me: I'll have grounds more relative than this: the play’s the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king.” This reveals how Hamlet is not readily to be deceived and how well he can find purge the truth from the king without openly revealing himself that he knows that Claudius killed his father. By coming up with this intricate plan, Hamlet will have confirmed what the ghost has said as well as place the perfectly laid trap on Claudius.
Hamlet and Beowulf are both similar in the fact that they were both tragic heroes in British literature, but that is where the similarities end. Through Hamlet’s use of language we clearly see that Hamlet is the manipulator and the planner while Beowulf is the man of action who gets things done in the moment and worries about the consequences later, as seen when he has to fight off Grendell’s mother. Hamlet made every action count and twisted the reality around him through what he said to achieve his goals. Beowulf created the reality around him by committing great acts of strength and let his actions speak louder than his words. Beowulf is a lot easier to predict from a reader’s stand point while Hamlet is always a wild card because what he says and how he says those things to the people around him, including the audience.
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