Question

In Ch. 8, Unferth says “Are you the same Beowulf whose vanity led him to battle Breca in the open sea just to show you could win?” Define the word vanity in your own words. Then, use context clues from the text to describe what Unferth is asking.

Answer 1

Answer and explanation:

The word vanity refers to the (bad) quality of having too much pride and confidence, especially in one's own achievements or appearance. When we say someone is vain - or has vanity, for that matter -, we mean to say they think highly of themselves, but we probably don't agree with their opinion.

In the epic poem "Beowulf", Unferth is a warrior who insults and is jealous of Beowulf. In this excerpt, he mentions one of Beowulf's feats - swimming against Breca in the open sea - but in a critical tone. In the story, he actually claims that Beowulf lost the contest. By using the word vanity, and adding the information "just to show you could win", Unferth seems to want to diminish Beowulf's qualities. He basically states, as an underlying meaning in his question, that Beowulf is full of himself. The reason for his jealousy is most likely the fact that Beowulf has been "invited" to defeat the monster Grendel, something that Unferth has failed to do.

Answer 2

When talking of vanity, it simplifies means when one has a lot of pride in the abilities, appearance of even qualities. Sometimes one may have a bad experience because of a small change. This will, therefore, lead to failed vanity. For instance, when you do something wrong, your friends will be talking ill things about you behind your knowledge. They will use all sorts of words to bring you down because of a simple mistake that happened. This ideally ruins the image of an individual harshly.