In Plato's text, the prisoners in the cave are living a different perspective of reality. Once a prisoner is freed, the knowledge of another world changes his reality. The individual experiences a different perspective of reality that he is not accustom to. In fact, when the prisoner ascends towards the other world he immediately experiences the sun and "his eyes will be dazzled". The prisoner is then given this perspective and goes back to his previous world in the cave; however, he is weaker and considered more of a laughing stock in that society. By simply coming back to his previous world, the prisoner has become enlightened. I believe that the prisoners represent humanity, the cave represents the prisoner's world, the shadows represent perception, the light represents revelation, and that the sun represents God or salvation. I also think that both Grendel and Batman relate to this experience of the freed prisoner.
Grendel lives in a cave with his mother in which he is subject to darkness and shadows. Through exploration, he finds the fire snake pit and ascends towards it to enter in to the new world of men. This relates to the prisoner in the way that he enters in to the new world. In fact, right as Grendel enters this new world, he experiences a "moon light" for the first time. Similar to the sun and light from the new world, Grendel experiences the same scenario. He is given a new perspective of reality that he has never experienced before. It is also interesting to note the Genesis symbolism when Grendel darts "from tree to tree". The tree and snakes are allusions to the Garden of Eden and the idea of a pursuit of forbidden knowledge. I don't believe that Grendel has come back to his previous world as somebody enlightened yet because he is conflicted. He is stuck in the "chasm" or existential void that makes him a part of both worlds: the reality of man and the reality of the cave. In fact, we immediately note this conflicting character when Grendel is seen as both animalistic and human. I believe that until he understands his conflicted self, he will not be enlightened to return to his community.
I believe that Plato's allegory also has a direct correlation to Batman in the Dark Night Rises film. Batman suffered a lose from the antagonist Bane and was sentenced to live in a dark prison that was similar to a cave. Within the cave, Batman experiences a different perspective of reality. The darkness, the people, and the environment all give him a distorted reality from his perspective in Gotham. Once he ascends through the prison to the top, he experiences sunlight. He then returns to Gotham and tries to help the community. In this way, Batman is enlightened because of his attempt to save the city of Gotham while viewing a different perspective of reality.
I'm not sure if I completely agree with your connection between The Dark Night and Plato's Allegory of the Cave. When Bruce Wayne is thrown into the cave, he is trapped and must undergo a transformation to "rise" again and return to Gotham. In Plato's Allegory, the cave represents a twisted, incomplete view of reality. The ascent out of the cave represented an enlightenment that allows the prisoner to see the world more clearly. In The Dark Knight Rises, the pit, originating from the Lazarus Pit of the comics (comic book geeks might beat me up for this oversimplification), represents a place of rebirth in which Bruce was forced to leave behind his understanding of Gotham and the outside world and embrace the reality of the pit. In this pit where life met death, Wayne learned that the abandonment of fear, the ideal by which he lives, the reason he dons the identity of a bat, is his downfall. He was forced to reinvent his ideal. To leave the cave and rise above, Wayne embraced fear and the pit and leaped. It was with the knowledge he gained inside the pit that allowed Wayne to leave the pit. The pit was merely an obstacle that he could overcome when he was ready. The knowledge he gained inside the cave was then instrumental for his fight with Bane.
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