A parody is defined as an imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration. As such, one can see in which ways the novel Grendel, by John Gardner is a parody of the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf. To begin, the ideals in the two pieces are quite similar. Both the unknown author of Beowulf and Gardner stress the values of strength and valiance. Further, the two writings almost present opposites of each other, pulling readers from one belief to another.
For instance, in Beowulf, Grendel is the vile monster who is feared by all. He is the humans of Herot’s epitome of evil. Yet, in Grendel, he is simply a monster with human-like feelings who craves acceptance and is repeatedly denied it. The irony and comical effect in this is that the two characters of Grendel, each in their respective works, are almost foils of each other. After reading Beowulf, readers who venture into Grendel may find themselves laughing a bit at what seemed to be a vile monster but is really a bitter, soft-hearted, hairy being.
Furthermore, in Beowulf, Grendel is portrayed as well versed in his language and poetry. In Grendel, however, language is the very thing he struggles with. Not to mention, it is strange for readers to think of a hairy beast as a language guru. These differences, creating the elements of a parody, provide comic relief for readers from one work to another, and connect the two works in an unprecedented way.
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