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Mark Olson
Senior English
Compare and Contrast Paper
March 26, 2011
Reading Paradise Lost, Beowulf, and Macbeth has been no walk through the park by any means.
Sure there is a message behind each and every one of these stories, but as of right now the thoughts of
most people when they think of it would be sleepiness, difficulty, and frustration. No offense to any
Literature teachers at all, but there is a struggle within many people pondering where this will prove
useful in their lives; however, this is a very immature way of looking at it. To people that actually strive
to understand what Literature is, they may think that Literature is a required subject because it helps
students develop better critical thinking skills; it teaches students how to interpret how a person feels in
a story that seems written in a foreign language, much like how Beowulf, Macbeth, and Paradise Lost is
written, actually. The interesting thing is that many of the Literature stories have numerous similarities
and differences among them. After reading a compare and contrast article between the epic stories of
Paradise Lost and Beowulf, these comparisons and contrasts are further revealed as the plots, the
characters, and the setting more closely intertwine, yet the stories still have bold distinctions between
themselves.
Upon reading these books, something similar can be drawn about them: They all had a plot
about the good side pitted against the resistance of the evil, or dark, side. Beowulf had Beowulf himself
fighting the three evil monsters seeking to destroy Hrothgar’s kingdom as well and Beowulf himself.
Macbeth dealt with the mystery of the treacherous murder of a kingdom’s beloved king; Macbeth and
his greed for power forced him to kill Duncan, and as a result Banquo and Macduff searched for the
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evildoer so that justice would reign over the kingdom rather than a traitor. Paradise Lost probably has
the most obvious plot as far as determining who the good and bad side is concerned. Ever since the
beginning of time the epic struggle between God and Satan has been the cornerstone of good against
evil stories, and Paradise Lost gives just that plot. In Beowulf and Paradise Lost, the authors both had a
Christian as well as a more worldly view so that they could appeal to a vast array of people. Paradise
Lost had classical allusions to contradict the Christian side, and Beowulf had a pagan influence to do
that. Macbeth really did not have that kind of double-sided influence. Moreover, the primary plot of
these stories is a struggle between a force of evil and a force of good; these plots bring them closer
together more than they tear them apart, but the comparing and the contrasting is just beginning. What
really makes a good compare and contrast clash is within characters involved in these stories.
Jennifer Smith has written about how the similarities of the characters of Beowulf and Paradise
Lost. Following the reading of the paper, many similarities and contrasts can be drawn. Smith writes
about how Hrothgar and God represent the kings, the men in charge. Both of these characters have the
qualities of a caring father being gracious and wise, but yet God and Hrothgar are far from being twins.
Hrothgar was a human with a sinful nature, and God was, well, the all-powerful, uncontainable, allknowing, and perfect God. God really never was in such a pickle that he had to call for help; God had a
plan and he used his son, Jesus, to save humanity and defeat Satan. Hrothgar need for help was very
dire, and Beowulf came to him. In Pardise Lost, the king sent the hero while in Beowulf, the hero came
to the king; and if one would like to bring Macbeth into this, King Duncan had the same kingly qualities
as Hrothgar and God, but King Duncan, unlike the other two mentioned above, was killed.
The heroes in Macbeth, Beowulf, and Paradise Lost are also worthy of speaking of. Macduff is
the primary hero of Macbeth as he tries to find the murderer of his beloved king. Beowulf is obviously
from Beowulf, and is a soldier from a distant land that has slain many a monster; he came to Hrothgar
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and cleansed Hrothgar’s kingdom of evil, and after Hrothgar’s death Beowulf reigned king over
Hrothgar’s lands until he died in his final fight with a dragon. Finally there is Jesus, who was the son of
God and came to save humanity from their sinful lives destined for death. Jesus was a hero because he
healed the sick, raised the dead, and most importantly died on the cross for the atonement of
humanity’s sins, thus defeating Satan. These three men each from their own different stories all had
courage, a desire to do good things, and made an impact on the people around them; however, there
are some key contrasts that can be drawn between them. First of all, these three men all had their own
style of heroics. Beowulf was by far the cockiest. It seemed half of the words out of His mouth were
complements to himself. Macduff seemed like a determined man looking for someone to take revenge
upon for killing his king, although Macduff’s character may be a bit skewed because of a lack of
knowledge about him. Jesus though was by all means possessed a completely different style of saving
people. First of all, Jesus was not a great soldier like Beowulf or Macduff; Jesus was first born of a virgin
in a stable. He was a carpenter, and more importantly, he never killed anyone nor did he use violence to
further extend the kingdom of God. Jesus used humility and love to get people to follow him, he also
was a miracle worker. Jesus, through the power of God, healed blind, crippled, and sick people; he even
raised people back to life. So Jesus exemplified more of a humble and caring hero, while Macduff and
Beowulf were more violent; however, both Beowulf and Macduff were had a sinful nature which made
them more prone to making mistakes, Jesus never sinned, was sent from God, and actually was a real
person. Also, both Beowulf and Jesus were heirs to a throne. Beowulf was a king and Jesus is kind of the
universe being that he is part of the Trinity of Christ; Macduff really never became king.
For once, Beowulf and Paradise Lost have less of a strong tie in their characters. Both Macbeth
and Beowulf have a trio of primary enemies. After one reads Macbeth, one can clearly see that the three
witches in the story were the main enemy of the good side; and in Beowulf, Beowulf is pitted against
three monsters: Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon. These two stories ironically had three
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enemies, and all of these enemies were seeking to destroy the forces of good. Paradise Lost was no
different, except the primary enemy was Satan; however, one third of the angels from heaven were sent
into hell with Satan as it states in the Bible, so once again, the number three shows up in one way or
another. Even though Satan is only one, he is probably the most evil of the enemies mentioned in the
stories being discussed because it seems that all kinds of evil spawn from Satan. The three witches in
Macbeth and the three monsters in Beowulf probably came from Satan, or at least a close relative like
Hades. No matter the degree of their evil, however, each of the villains being compared here were the
main obstacle to overcome for the heroes. They all had selfish desires of contempt, suffering, and death
among them, and that is the primary tie between them. The characters of Beowulf, Paradise Lost, and
Macbeth have similar qualities but yet they still have their own personality and ways of doing things; in
addition to these stories’ similarities and differences in plots and characters, the settings of the stories
bring tie them together.
Settings bring an added effect of ambiance to a story. If settings were not important, then hell
could be a quiet, serene prairie with birds chirping and cattle grazing. Hell is described in the Bible and in
Paradise Lost as a fiery inferno full of pain, burning, anguish, suffering, and death. God was not stupid in
making hell a place for insubordinate and rebellious people destined for eternal punishment, so take it
from God, settings make a huge difference in the feel of a place or time. Beowulf, Paradise Lost, and
Macbeth all have well described settings that fit the mood of the situations in the stories. For example,
whenever the three witches were described in Macbeth, there was always a misty, gloomy, dark setting
that gave the witches their mysterious and evil vibe. Similarly, the monster’s place of origin in Beowulf
could be described as dark, rank, and deathly; the stillness of their liar gave off a feeling of death and
the evil supremacy there. Hell in Paradise Lost, also has a dark, scalding, and disturbing mood about it.
The only things that seems to separate the liars of evil in the three stories are the degrees of evil and the
temperature strangely enough. The feeling that the three witches and the three monsters gave off a
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cold feel, like the cold, clammy feel of a dead person; hell, on the other hand, is obviously a burning
inferno with lakes of lava, so the temperatures of these liars differ here. Also, hell was a place where
God sent people to be punished, the three witches in Macbeth, as well as the monsters in Beowulf,
seemed just to choose to be down at their level of darkness. Hell seemed like much worse of a place to
be in because even the evil did not want to be there; however, they did in time learn to live with it as
stated in Paradise Lost.
The forces of good in these stories also have their differences and resemblances. Fortresses play
a huge part in the good side in all of three of these stories. The reason behind why the forces of good all
had stories is because a fortress best protects their people from things that can cause harm; however, it
seems that even though Heaven in Paradise Lost, Hrothgar’s kingdom in Beowulf, and Duncan’s castle in
Macbeth were all fortresses, they each had their key differences. First of all, Heaven was by far the most
safe and glorious; Heaven was described as a city with golden streets and emerald gates. The fortress of
Heaven is impenetrable and no force of evil could ever overcome God and His great host of angels
residing in Heaven. Both Hrothgar’s kingdom and King Duncan’s castle seem much more vulnerable,
which makes sense since their fortress is being compared to God’s stronghold. The more important
matter here is that all of the forces of good in these stories gave of a feeling of joy, peace, and order,
which is typical for the good side in many other stories too. The forces of good in Paradise Lost
especially gave off a glorious and harmonious ambiance; the main reason for that is because God is the
good person in that story and His power, wisdom, light, and love for people really gives a feeling of
security and comfort. The good side in Beowulf and Macbeth was certainly present and easily
distinguished from the evil, but the rulers of the lands of those two stories seemed much more
defenseless, which they were compared to The Almighty. Hrothgar was a merry king that partied
hardcore, and that gave off a more celebratory and joyous feel. King Duncan was more of a divine ruler
compared to Hrothgar, but his reign was shortened when Macbeth killed him, so Macbeth’s forces of
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good were sincere and good-hearted, but it yet they seemed weak because of their king’s untimely
death. Regardless, though, the forces of good and the forces of evil in all of these stories were easily
recognizable, and they all had similar settings in their stories.
The stories of Macbeth, Beowulf, and Paradise Lost have a dominant amount of similarities that
bring them closer together, but they also have differences that set them apart from each other. The
plots of these stories were similar, yet the sources their authors used were not; and certain characters
from each story could be compared to another, some obviously more than others. Even the settings
were alike besides some minor differences within the moods and feelings of the stories, which is good;
otherwise, there would be no point in reading all three of the stories because someone could just read
one and say, “I read Beowulf and therefore do not need to read Macbeth nor Paradise Lost because they
are so similar.”
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Annotated Works Cited
Smith, Jennifer. Paradise Lost and Beowulf: The Christian/Pagan Hybrids of the Epic Tradition 15
February 2001
Jennifer Smith provided me with most if not all of my ideas as I read her article comparing
Paradise Lost and Beowulf, thus it is no wonder I used this article as my one and only source. I
really could not think of similarities and differences within the stories, but after reading her ideas,
I as suddenly thinking of similarities left and right; so a special thanks to Jennifer Smith for
writing a paper to give me ideas to write mine.