Beowulf Gender Roles

Even though Beowulf mainly focuses on the heroic acts of males, female figures contribute largely to the story. They have an essential place in the poem even though the common belief is that the females are believed to be very passive and submissive. This misconception of the female characters is based on the belief that their roles as noble women, monsters, or peace-weavers are not as important as the roles of the men. It is important to realize that the expectations of the time were much different then they are today. While each gender was “equal”, they were deemed suitable for certain roles within their society. Typically men were looked on for their physical prowess while women were the focus of fertility. This does not mean that women

Through the story we can see the roles that women have within the society and the mead hall. The hall represents the central social place where people came together to talk, drink, and tell stories. Wealhtheow is not only a queen, but also her other role is to be hostesses. Her role as hostesses is to have the task of passing the mead cup to the king and warriors. This seemingly unimportant task is quite important because it creates a hierarchy in the hall. Wealhtheow is able to assert her power in the hall by passing the mead cup around. She visually shows that Hrothgar has the highest status in the court, since he is given the cup first, and that Beowulf has risen to a higher place because he is given the cup second. By giving Beowulf the cup second, Wealtheow places the responsibility of protecting her people on

The pace-weavers were women who were married off to a man in an enemy tribe in order to create an alliance between the two families and end a feud. However, peace was not always the end result as we see with Hildeburh’s marriage because it ends with the death of her son, brother, and husband and peace is never even achieved. In Beowulf, war is something that is often avoided and peace and harmony within the tribes seem to be the end goal. Without these peace-weavers, fighting and death would instead settle feuds. These women are an essential part of the story because they must be the ones to sacrifice themselves for the well being and betterment of their families. In a time where the survival of families is the most important thing, a woman being able to create peace without having to go to war is seen as someone who strengthens the ties between communities. Of all the roles an Anglo-Saxon woman had to take on, being a peace-weaver was probably the most difficult.

Finally, we have Grendel’s mother. Grendel’s mother is another example of a powerful woman in Beowulf. This woman is considered monstrous because she is completely opposite of the peace-weavers and noble women. Grendel’s mother is portrayed as violent and unpleasant because, unlike all the other women, she relies on physical violence rather than words or marriage to get what she wants. She shows her independence by protecting her