Women's Roles In Beowulf

In Beowulf, Wealhtheow and Hygd were both queens and hosted functions and events for the kings and the tribesman. Queen Wealhtheow, wife of Hrothgar, was well known as the mistress of Heorot Hall. Her main concern was that her son 's, Hrethric and Hrothmund, became the rightful heirs to the throne in the possibility of the king 's death. Wealhtheow was fearful that Beowulf would attain the throne for himself. Hygd, wife of Hygelac, was wise and intelligent in her role as queen, but was worried about the ability of her heir to rule the kingdom after her husband 's death. Queen Hygd offered Beowulf the crown, but he convinced her to award her son, Heardred, the honor of becoming King

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.

Within the pages of the well-known epic poem are many extraordinary and warring narratives of the Middle Ages. Beowulf is important because it is one of the most ancient European epics written in the vernacular, or native tongue. The seemingly super natural heroes of this exciting and famous writing have a great impact on the typical roles of their women. As declared through out the many lines of the astonishing poem, the women have many purposes and serve a variety of roles. Wealhtheow, Hygd, Hildeburh, Freawaru, and Grendel’s Mother give examples of the historical roles that are expected of the women of this ancient time. The women in “Beowulf” have the significant roles of hostess, peaceweaver, and mother.

Beowulf is an epic poem that connotes the contents of the world including history, terrorism, different cultures, and gender roles through the life events of the character Beowulf. Among the contents, gender roles played a significant role throughout the story of Beowulf. In the story, the conceptions of the male and female roles are emphasized through the diverse characters, which give a glimpse the similarity and dissimilarity of the gender roles in modern-day society. During the post-war era, the women's characteristics and attitudes of the roles in society were circumscribed and unnoticeable, but the men's roles compare to the women's roles were desirable and prosperous. However, gender roles in the modern-day society, the new generations, distinctly altered the roles compared to the post-war era just as Beowulf, who represents older generations, passed as Wiglaf, who represents newer generations, approached. While the gender roles in Beowulf's era were restricted and definite, the gender roles in modern-day society are unconstrained and diverse compared to Beowulf's age that can be proved by historical and global evidence.

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

In Beowulf there are three main women: Wealhtheow, Grendel’s mother, and Hildeburh. These women would amuse, bring contentment, or counteract their society's expectations of women in general. While the common role of a woman in this story is depicted as feeble and is dismissively mentioned, the Monster’s mom (who is intentionally nameless to mirror the idea of a male dominated civilization) fights like a male warrior, claiming her position as a goader; one who provokes, annoys, or stimulates an action or reaction physically.

The epic poem, "Beowulf" is widely acclaimed for the extravagant accounts of heroism of an extraordinary warrior prince, Beowulf. Beowulf is a (near) matchless, tenacious warrior and hero who, for the sake of honor and good will, defeats three monstrous creatures that have disrupted and pillaged nearby settlements. With these acts of male heroism in the central focus, the women in "Beowulf" are often overlooked. To the casual eye it might appear that the women in “Beowulf” are meek and only have minor roles in society due to the shortage in numbers of female characters, but upon closer examination of the poem, it is clear that what the women lack in numbers, they make up for in power and influence. Of the few female characters we meet throughout the text, Wealtheow and Grendel’s mother are two of the strongest and most influential.

Other roles of women during the Anglo-Saxon time was the memory keepers. Now the memory keeper role was a role that isn't what it sounds like. Before researching this I thought that this meant they would be like poets during this time who would be able to tell stories about warriors, but that's not it. This role was meant for women would remember all the troublesome stuff like when their warrior was killed and no one was able to defend their tribe or nation. An example would be in the story Beowulf when the women of Geatish sung a song at their warrior Beowulf died and was burned .They had women remember this so they knew what was going to happen if one of their loved ones or warriors fall during battle. Their nation would fall and probably

Within the epic poem Beowulf, written by an unknown author during the Anglo-Saxon time-period, the focus is undoubtedly the male form and what makes a hero. However, even with that focus, there are still glimpses into how a female would fit into a hero’s tale during that period. In Beowulf, the primary male characters are all personified through the acts they commit and how much of a hero such acts might make them; if they are noble, humble, strong, loyal, etc. Women of this time period however were imprisoned by the mindset of others. They were nothing more than an object, a possession to do as their father, husband, or lord willed.

THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN ‘’BEOWULF’’ Throughout the history of literature, female characters are often side characters that do not get much recognition from readers but analysis of male-centric works, reveals that women play central roles in literature. 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. Some critics have argued that “women had no place in the masculine, death-centered world of Beowulf. Probably because of the importance of male heroism in this poem, the significance of women is minimized.

The epic poem Beowulf is best known for it’s peek into the Anglo Saxon life and Beowulf’s battle with the nefarious monster Grendel. Few people ever think about how the women in the poem were more instrumental characters than Beowulf himself. Most of the women in the poem go unnamed and have minimal acknowledgement throughout the story. The few instrumental women in Beowulf are the Female Mourner at Beowulf’s funeral, queen Wealhtheow, her daughter Freawaru, and Grendel’s mother. The mourner had a moving scene in the end of the poem and the queen had more power than the author gave her credit. Freawaru was used as an bargaining tool to create peace between her father Hrothgar and an enemy ruler. Grendel’s mother, though she was evil and ultimately killed, had an important role in the poem as one of Beowulf’s opponents. The roles of women as insignificant as they may seem are very instrumental in Beowulf’s story and show what power they truly had in his time period.

“It is not the beauty of a building you should look at; its the construction of the foundation that will stand the test of time” (Coe). This quote rather explains the beauty of the world by depicting that everything has a foundation that keeps it intact and determines how long it lasts; living and non living everything has what weaves it together. This very idea is what manufactured my interest in determining what holds the fragile society of “Beowulf” together. Beowulf is an old Anglo-Saxon poem passed through generations of people, it was supposedly finally written in text by a Christian monk. The poem “Beowulf” is implying that the role of women is just as imperative to the human society as men are, it shows women are like the foundations

The narrative of Beowulf exhibits power and retribution, thus, the role of women is in minority. Grendel’s mother and Wealhtheow, the gracious queen of the Danes are the only principal characters whom are women, with a significant influence on the storyline. The other Geats and

There exists between the Anglo-Saxons and modern days a stereotype about women and their lack of being treated as equals in comparison to men. It is assumed that while the male characters were out battling monsters in return for honor and glory, the women lay at home anxiously pacing back and forth for their husbands to return. Little worth was assumed about them in accordance to man. While nowadays, no one blinks twice when a woman is offered a job instead of a man. Equal rights for both genders are essentially guaranteed. However, although the years lay significant between time periods, women were not treated any more or less poorly than they are today.

Throughout the poem Beowulf, women can be looked at as unimportant, but from Campbell’s excerpt one can see how the role of women in Beowulf is as essential as the role of men. Throughout the course of Beowulf, many men take part in acts of protection, bravery, and sacrifice, but what many do not notice is women take part in those same actions. Although women’s acts of protection, bravery, and sacrifice in this poem seem to be minor and not as celebrated as the men’s acts, they are still critical to the well-being and overall success in the character’s lives. According to Campbell, “A woman’s what it’s all about; the giving of birth and the giving of nourishment. She’s identical with the earth goddess in her powers, and she’s got to realize that about herself. The boy does not have a happening of that kind.” From this quote one can see that women have a certain purpose, a purpose that no man can attain, and this is something that is quite remarkable. Women may not get the same attention as men do when they achieve something, but this is because what women do is inherent to them; it is something that is a part of them. Men are celebrated for more things than women are in Beowulf, but the woman’s role in the poem is a behind the scenes kind of role that holds just as much importance. Campbell’s explanation of gender roles in early literature holds true in Beowulf due to the importance of the female characters in this epic.