During both the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the hero figure remained an important character for authors, but it was shown in different ways. While it was still important in both times, the definition of hero changed. During the Middle Ages a hero was someone who possessed bravery, fortitude, and loyalty. This changed during the era of the Renaissance where the hero was someone who possessed values of a Protestant: fidelity, hope, and charity. These ideas of a hero can be seen through Beowulf and the Redcrosse Knight. Though there are differences in the definition of a hero, there are similarities in the ways in which the two characters are portrayed fulfilling their heroic duties.
The main difference between the hero during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance is that one is more focused on the ideals of religion while the other is focused on typical ideals of knighthood. Beowulf is essentially the perfect knight, having each value in spades. Beowulf has the heroic ideals of bravery, fortitude, and loyalty. In each situation that Beowulf encounters, he proves that he is a hero by displaying these values.
Beowulf consistently expresses his bravery and fortitude is when he goes to battle on three different occasions. The first time he shows his bravery is when he hears of the trouble the Danes are experiencing and he decides to offer his “wholehearted help and counsel” (line 278). He shows this same bravery again when going after Grendel’s mother. This isn’t the last time either, even in his old age, he maintains his bravery and goes to slay the dragon. These occasions not only display his bravery, but his fortitude as well. Each villain he meets gets stronger and stronger, yet he is unrelenting and manages to overcome the three. Beowulf’s bravery is confirmed when he decides to go to battle with the dragon. He does this even though “he was destined to face the end of his days/ in this mortal world” (lines 2342-2343). As we see, the other knights do not display courage, but show their cowardice, which contrasts with Beowulf so that the audience can see what a rare being he is, how he is truly a hero.
Beowulf not only shows these two virtues but he also shows another important knightly value: loyalty. Beowulf first displays his loyalty when he initially comes to Hrothgar to aid in the attacks from Grendel. His own father “acknowledged me[Hrothgar] with oaths of allegiance” (line 472). In a way, Beowulf is continuing that pledge of loyalty himself by aiding Hrothgar. He then, later pledges his loyalty to Hrothgar before he returns home By fulfilling his father’s promise of loyalty, and then later making a pledge of his own to the king, he shows how loyalty should not be taken lightly and is a virtue of a hero.
The Redcrosse Knight shows very different ideals than Beowulf, the values of Redcrosse’s heroism are that of Protestants. Throughout his journey he is tested and tempted, but only when he fully possesses fidelity, hope, and charity, does he become a true hero. It is also when he possesses these three virtues that he is able to overcome his final test, the dragon protecting Una’s family. In the story, the audience can see these virtues beginning to rise in Redcrosse and then see when he fully obtains them and becomes the hero he is meant to be.
Redcrosse becomes a hero figure because he is tempted and he struggles with the traits of a hero. The first time we see the trait of fidelity arise is when he is deceived by the images he receives of Una. Rather than having faith in her and her love for him, he believes that she would betray him. He is not trusting of her and leaves her behind. We also see his struggle with fidelity when he falls for the lies that Duessa tells him, most distinctly when she tells Redcrosse that her name is Fidessa. He finally grasps claim of this virtue after having spent time with Fidelia, the Faerie Queene’s daughter. Through her he is able to learn about what it truly means to have faith when she tells him of the doctrines in the Bible and “taught him celestiall discipline,/ And opened his dull eyes, that light mote in them shine” (1.10.18).
The audience later sees Redcrosse struggle with hope when he battles Despair. During this battle, that is actually a conversation, Despair tempts Redcrosse to kill himself, which in the Christian world is the ultimate disgrace to God because He gave you life, and you spit on it. Redcrosse loses hope when he hears Despair tell him that “Is not his law, Let every sinner die:/ Die shall all flesh? What then must needs be donne,/ Is it not better to doe willinglie” (1.9.47). Despair essentially tells Redcrosse than since the punishment for sin is death, why should he wait to die for his sins when he can just kill himself and get it over with. He again begins to lose hope after talking to Fidelia and recognizing his wrongdoings. However, Speranza then comforted him and gave him hope in that he was able to “take assured hold/ upon her silver anchor” (1.10.22). Meaning that he had something to ground him rather than lose hope because of his sins again.
The last important virtue that Redcrosse is portraying is charity. Charity can be taken as philanthropy and donation, but in this case charity will mean acting out God’s will without judging others. Throughout his journey, Redcrosse was not very forgiving and was jealous of the man that he was tricked into thinking Una was betraying him with. Redcrosse “would have slain them in his furious ire” (1.2.5). This in combination with the fact that he left Una shows that he was quick to judge and that he would not have been justified in killing the two. Through his time spent with Charissa, he learned “holy righteousness, without rebuke or blame” meaning that he should only act in a way that God would deem just and that he should not judge others when acting in such a manner.
The actions a hero must enact are very similar in the Middle Ages and in the Renaissance. The most important expectation in both eras is that the hero must overcome evil in battle, and that on their journey the problems get worse and worse. This is seen in both “Beowulf” and “Faerie Queene,” Beowulf’s villains get worse and worse and Redcrosse fights demons within that challenge him until he becomes weaker, and he also has multiple battles that try his physical strength. The biggest similarity in the heroes of both ages is that the hero often conquers a dragon. It is the last battle that each man partakes in – the battle against the dragon. Both mean conquer the dragon, the final act that affirms their hero status. Both are fully seen as heroes in this battle, as well. Beowulf is reaffirmed a hero because he knowingly goes to his death to save the people, and Redcrosse is confirmed a hero because he is finally able to conquer the dragon now that he possesses the three most important Christian virtues. The battle against the dragon is the test of the virtues a hero must possess.
While very different in their interpretations of the hero, medieval and Renaissance authors thought this figure to be essential to display the important values of the time. In the Middle Ages these values were portrayed in Beowulf as bravery, fortitude, and loyalty; during the Renaissance they were seen in Redcrosse as fidelity, hope, and charity. The most important similarity in both ages is that for the hero to be a bonafide hero, they must have these virtues, either that they were born with or that they learned along their journey, and be able to conquer the dragon. In the death of the dragon comes the confirmation of the man being a hero. The hero is an important figure for the authors of both time periods to portray the important values that need to be lived out in life.