Differing Modes of Heroism in 'Beowulf' and 'Wuthering Heights'

Introduction

Through a religious paradigm, Beowulf’s epic hero and Wuthering Heights’s Byronic hero each provide unique insight toward where heroes source their power–from external sources such as religion, or internal sources such as revenge and passion. These sources of power also bring new clarity for each of the heroes’ respective epochs, by revealing information and ideas of power, heroism, and values during these time periods. The anonymous Beowulf poet’s Beowulf, and Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights represent through their leads, differences between the models of heroism between Old English (c.450-1066) and the Romantic era (c.1785-1832). This thesis is supported by analysis through a religious paradigm, and the differences between these epochs and modes of heroism.

Epic Heroism in Beowulf

An epic hero is described as having strong qualities of bravery and nobility, and is valued for their strength, nationalism, and feats as a warrior. Beowulf, being one of the most famous epic heroes in all of literature, meets all of these criteria. Throughout the epic poem, Beowulf is represented as heroic and nationalistic, his value for ancestry most prominently depicted when in chapter five, Beowulf identifies his clan before himself, “We are of Hygelac’s clan; I am named Beowulf,” (B. 11). Beowulf is honorable and serving of God, believing He is responsible for his glory. This commitment to a higher power underscores a worldview where divine favor is crucial for true heroism. In contrast to this, Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, represents a world of injustices that God has seemingly turned His back on.

Religious Context in Beowulf

Being an Old English text, Beowulf denotes much from this epoch to this mode of heroism. There is much scholarly debate over whether Beowulf is a Christian text or not. Whallon argues Beowulf’s Christianity is “naïve and rudimentary” (Whallon, 1982, p. 85), but “another scholar declares in a celebrated lecture that the poet laid his work in a heathen age he thought not so much censurable as noble but hopeless” (Whallon, 1982, p. 87). There are mixed religious elements throughout the text of Christianity and old Norse, due to the story beginning as a pagan myth, but through the influence of Roman Missionaries through Sweden and Denmark, Beowulf became woven in with Christian values and ideology. Grendel best represents these mixed faiths, the monster’s backstory is a strong biblical allusion, as it is the son of Cain, but the monster itself is founded in Scandinavian myths. Beowulf’s clan is Christian, yet fallen clansmen are honored with heathenistic funeral pyres, rather than with a Christian burial. This seemingly religious indifference can be viewed in different ways; that Beowulf’s Christianity was present because it was expected of virtuous heroes, or that it is a result of the centuries of oral tradition which the text was spread before finally being written down by Christian monks between the 7th and 10th century. Scott Gwara questions if Beowulf is a “pre-Christian archetype” or a “noble pagan,” (Gwara, 1990, p. 1) but inevitably Gwara summates that the character’s Christian values are demonstrated primarily to reinforce his virtue and morality, and because such faith came to be expected of heroes (Gwara, 1990, p. 2).

Heathcliff and Byronic Heroism

The heroism of Beowulf’s epic hero is not present in Wuthering Heights, instead Heathcliff portrays a much darker unidealized form of heroism, the Byronic hero. A Byronic hero is a brooding, smart, cynical, and self-destructive pariah. Heathcliff is all of these things, and one of the most famous examples of a Byronic hero. Throughout the novel, Heathcliff consistently pushes others away, and as the story goes on, he becomes “more and more disinclined to society” (Brontë, 1847, p. 293), and for others, except for Cathy, as his affection for her grows even more obsessively, especially after her death, wanting her to “haunt [him] always—take any form—drive [him] mad” (Brontë, 1847, p. 158), and stating that he “cannot live without [his] soul” (Brontë, 1847, p. 158). Heathcliff's character demonstrates how love and obsession can drive an individual to the brink of madness, ultimately leading him to seek vengeance as a form of solace. In this metaphorical death, Heathcliff has become a vengeful revenant that is solely motivated to spread harm and misery to all that have crossed him. He takes his own injustices out on his beloved Cathy’s partner, Edgar, by marrying and abusing Edgar’s sister Isabela, and on Hindley, by mistreating his son the same way Heathcliff was mistreated in his childhood.

Historical Context of Wuthering Heights

The historical context of Wuthering Heights’s epoch holds a strong influence over its dark mode of heroism. Brontë wrote her book during the Victorian Age of the Romantic era, a time of great political, social, and economic change. While this was a prosperous time for many, like the Earnshaw family, it also brought abject poverty. Heathcliff can come to portray this side, with unknown origins, he is found, “starving and houseless … in the streets of Liverpool” (Brontë, 1847, p. 33). His dark and mysterious origins emphasize the notion that Heathcliff is the physical embodiment of this crueler side to the industrializing world.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Beowulf and Heathcliff present very contrasting modes of heroism, which provide unique insights to the different ways that heroes source their power, externally through things such as religion, or internally such as strong emotions of revenge or passion. Emily Brontë’s Byronic hero and the anonymous Beowulf’s epic hero shed new light towards values associated with their related epochs. These insights are emphasized greatly through the analysis provided through a religious paradigm, and the distinctive contrasts with these epochs and modes of heroism.

References

1. Brontë, E. (1847). Wuthering Heights. Thomas Cautley Newby.
2. Gwara, S. (1990). Beowulf's Christian Values. Literary Review, 1-2.
3. Whallon, W. (1982). The Christianity of Beowulf. Studies in Philology, 85-87.