Women In Beowulf

Beowulf is an Old English poem written somewhere between the eighth century and the tenth century; the culture of Germanic times is depicted through varying concepts of masculinity that not only describes their capability as a warrior, but also their aptitude as a leader. Beowulf shows of a demon named Grendel attacking Heorot, and the king, Hrothgar, calls Beowulf, a warrior, for help with the slaying of Grendel. Characteristics and qualities of leadership are directly linked to the masculinity of the characters within Beowulf. The leaders in the prologue are demonstrated with the aspects of masculinity through their strength and brutality. In Beowulf, a man demonstrates his essential worth through evidence of masculinity as seen in Unferth’s cowardice, Beowulf’s heroism, and Wiglaf’s bravery.

Beowulf is an epic tale written over twelve hundred years ago. In the poem, several different female characters are introduced, and each woman possesses detailed and unique characteristics. The women in Beowulf are portrayed as strong individuals, each of whom has a specific role within the poem. Some women are cast as the cup-bearers and gracious hostesses of the mead halls, such as Wealhtheow and Hygd, while others, Grendel's mother, fulfill the role of a monstrous uninvited guest. The woman's role of the time period, author's attitude, and societal expectations for women are evidenced throughout the poem.

This is represented here when the king, “…entered the queen’s apartments and when she saw him, she complained aloud, fell at his feet, cried for mercy and said that Lanval had shamed her” (77). After the queen offers herself and attempts to throw herself at Lanval, he denies her because of his new fairy like lover. Once the king walks in the queen victimizes herself as soon as she sets eyes on him. Her ability to completely transform herself at the sight of her husband and manipulate his thoughts to her favor shows the power of women. In showing her weakness by falling to her feet and putting herself in a vulnerable position, she is ultimately taking the power into her own hands. With his wife in this state, the king feels an obligation to protect her by punishing whoever did her wrong. In reaction to the queen’s account of what Lanval has done, “The king grew very angry and swore on oath that, if Lanval could not defend himself in court, he would have him burned or hanged” (77). This is a significant act because it displays the control a woman has in a relationship, It also demonstrates how a dominant feminist character influences her male counterpart’s masculinity and gives it purpose within a

Women have had many different roles in the history of European literature but have generally been restricted to the roles assigned to them in a largely patriarchal society. As a result of this society, these roles have often been powerless ones. This calls into question the constitution of a powerful woman in literature: in Beowulf, being a powerful woman means becoming the bond between families and alliances; in Lanval, power comes from assertion and control-- a powerful woman is a woman in charge. The primary difference between the representation of women in Beowulf and Lanval is that the latter transcends overarching patriarchal boundaries, and the former does not; the reason for their respective representations lies in the literary time periods in which the stories were written. From this, one can see that the introduction of romance as a central theme gave way to new representations and roles of women in predominantly heteropatriarchal English literature and gives new meaning to the analysis of stories like these.

In John Gardner's Grendel, women are viewed as inferior and as objects. For example, women are used as peace treaties between kingdoms. When Hygmod meets Hrothgar, he offers his sister as a means of peace. By serving as peace offerings, women are capable of being designated as material possessions. In addition, women are utilized as servants. By making her serve the Geats upon their arrival, Hrothgar clearly reduces Wealtheow into a laboring role. Through this patronizing, inferior employment of women is undoubtedly conspicuous. Through degradation of women's societal roles, the novel accentuates the discriminatory behavior between

In conclusion, the values of a women’s role are very important in our society and in the Old English epic poem literature. All these women in Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight poem have shown all good things such as love, loyal, and romances in the medieval period of society. So, love is a good feeling for everyone in life that makes people happy with family and friends. Love will bring as many good things to everyone with these happiness, joyful, and peace for their life. Therefore, all the women love want to be a good wife with most of the powerful man and loyal man around them. And they can easier to hold the main position in the good relationship with all these men in the medieval period. Besides that, the women characters in

Although traditional Anglo-Saxon society emphasizes on patriarchal views, women play significant roles in “Beowulf”, challenging the masculinity presented. This is portrayed through Wealhtheow, Hildeburh and Freawaru, and Grendel’s mother through their hospitality, their peace weaving, and their anger. In contrast to the stereotype of women being submissive and compliant, “Beowulf” brings new light to the idea of women. An example of hospitality is when Wealhtheow, queen to Hrothgar, is a hostess for people in the hall, allowing all the nobles there to drink and have an appropriate celebration for the event.

As the poems of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight show, women have always had power, yet not as overt a power as wielded by their masculine counterparts. The only dynamic of women’s power that has changed in the later centuries is that the confines and conditions in which women have wielded their power has become more lax, thus yielding to women more freedom in the expression of their power. The structure, imagery, and theme in the excerpts from Beowulf (lines 744-71) and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (lines 2309-30) support the concept of more power in the later centuries, by contrasting the restriction of Wealhtheow and the power she practices in Beowulf with the Lady’s more direct assertion of power in Sir Gawain

Beowulf is known for displaying the importance of male heroism via Beowulf, but what about the significance of the women in the poem? The significance of women in Beowulf is overshadowed by the great heroism of the character Beowulf, but the women each have a reason for participating in the epic. The ideal woman was someone who was a noble, a mistress and loyal. An ideal woman is described in Maxim I: “at mead drinking she must at all times and places approach the protector of princes first, in front of the companions, quickly pass the first cup to her lord’s hand”. The significance of women in Beuwolf is a minor detail in the epic, but proves to be vital to Beuwolf. The epic of "Beowulf" illustrates three major roles for the women in the society: the hostess, the peacemaker, and the monster. Five women in Beowulf play the major roles throughout the epic: Wealhtheow, Freawaru, Thyrth, Grendel's Mother, and Hildeburh. These women entertain, bring peace, and contradict societal expectations of the female gender, either directly or indirectly.

As an epic tale of heroes and monsters, Beowulf gives its readers much excitement and adventure, but Beowulf's importance is more than just literary. It offers many insights into the beliefs and customs of seventh-century Anglo-Saxon culture. Among these insights is the Anglo-Saxon view of women and their role in society. Good Anglo-Saxon women are peaceful and unassertive, greeting guests and serving drinks to the warriors and other men in the meadhall. Wealhtheow, the queen of the Danes, represents a typical subservient Anglo-Saxon woman. As a foil to Wealhtheow, Grendel's mother is a strong and combative monster whom Beowulf must kill. By analyzing these two characters in Beowulf, we can understand the

When thinking about great poems coming out of the middle ages Beowulf is the most iconic and well recognized pieces of work. It is about the great quest of Beowulf who is the fantastic protagonist and through his bravery and manliness he prevails when all others could not. He is not the most interesting character however. Even though the female characters are not the heroes of the narrative they deserve much more appreciation, their actions are worth prowling into in this male centric work. On the surface the women embedded in this epic seem to hold little value, are given almost no lines and are even the villain Beowulf must defeat.

In both Beowuld and Angelo- Saxon stories women are over - looked but both still had significant women roles. Although Grendals mother was killed in the story, she played a significant role. Grendals mother along with weathow often over looked. One major part of the story is how Grendals mother gets killed by beowulf and.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s works have been analysed for decades and have often been criticised for the lack of female characters. Arguably his most cherished publications, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, in particular has been condemned for the passivity of his relatively few female characters. Having said that however, throughout the three books, there are a number of female characters who combat the stereotypical role of women and subvert the norm of submission to a patriarchal authority. Arwen, Éowyn and Galadriel in The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return

The oppressive nature towards women can be seen in the depiction of Guinevere in Chretien de Troyes' Knight of the Cart. This story gives Guinevere an unchristian, unfaithful look. Taking on a sacrilegious light Guinevere disrespects her god by committing adultery, contemplating suicide, and lusting while she prays. Her infamous affair is with the knight Sir Lancelot, the right hand man of her husband King Arthur. In her rebellious nature, she decides to spend one night of excitement with another man rather than filling her expected role of a faithful wife. When Guinevere hears the news of Lancelot death, she contemplates suicide because she couldn’t bear life without her lover. Suicide in the 12th century was one of the worst crimes to commit against the church ,therefore it was considered shameful. One of the most egregious sins she commits is coveting Lancelot’s body while she is praying, wishing, “both of them naked” (1987 trans., p. 244) as it

In the Middle Age literature, women are often presented or meant to come off as an unimportant character; which can also reflect on how the author wants the women character represent. Women are usually shunned, have no say or control in what they do; due to what men desire; like Ophelia and Gertrude did in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. But these female characters that I will discuss are women with power, control, and a voice. Majority of the female character’s appearances are made to represent wickedness, evil, or a seducer who challenges a man belief; and does not symbolize perfect women.