Comparison between Female Characters in Beowulf
Beowulf, the Old English epic tells the story of one brave hero and his battles against evil monsters. The poem deals with mostly masculine elements like fight descriptions, depictions of armor and long inspiring speeches. However, the women characters in the epic also have important roles and they are far from being superficial, as it may seem at first. There are several female figures in Beowulf; this paper will focus on three of them- queen Wealhtheow of the Danes, queen Hygd of the Geats and Grendel?s mother. These characters have many parallels between them but in a way some are the ?alter-ego? of the others.
Wealhtheow is the perfect hostess and devoted queen and wife. Her first appearance in the poem demonstrates her official duties as the queen: ?Wealhtheow came in, Hrotgar?s queen, observing the courtesies. Adorned in her gold, she graciously saluted the men in the hall, then handed the cup first to Hrotgar?So the Helming woman went on her rounds, queenly and dignified, decked out in rings, offering the goblet to all ranks, treating the household and the assembled troop?? (lines 612-623). As a queen, Wealhtheow has a role to fulfill and she does it with grace. She welcomes the guests; offers mead and creates a peaceful atmosphere in the mead-hall. The figure of Grendel?s mother is quite the opposite in this aspect- she is the ?anti- hostess? and far from being graceful. This creature does not greet the man who arrives to her dwelling; she fights Beowulf desperately and only a divine interference saves his life: ?It was hard-fought, a desperate affair that could have gone badly; if God had not helped me, the outcome would have been quick and fatal? (lines1657-1658). One can claim that these manners of Grendel?s mother are quite masculine. We find that she fights well and has the qualities of a great warrior if she was almost able to overcome Beowulf and she takes upon herself the manly duty of avenging her dead son. Beowulf himself says to Hrotgar that: ?It always better to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning? (lines 1384-1385). Taking vengeance for warrior?s death is noble but Grendel?s mother?s attentions are condemned by the poet ? she cannot be noble and she cannot act upon warrior?s code of honor; this notion comes from the fact that she is not really human and more impor...
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...at queen does not trust her son to be a successful sovereign and she does not try to secure his future on the throne. Unlike Wealtheow and Grendel?s mother Hygd?s primary concern is to her people, not her son: ?There Hygd offered him throne and authority as lord of the ring-hoard: with Hygelac dead, she had no belief in her son?s ability to defend their homeland against foreign invaders? (lines 2369-2372).
After a closer look in Beowulf one will find that the women roles in the poem are quite central and significant. They enrich the narrative by developing the plot and enlighten their men?s intentions. Nevertheless the women in the poem have their own will and power- political or physical. Thought some share similar qualities women characters are not patterned or superficial; these women are defined by dominant male figures but nonetheless they have their own significant features and depth.
Works Sited:
Anonymous. Beowulf. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 7th Edition.
Vol. I. (pp.32-99). Ed. Abrams, M.H., New York: W.W. Norton &
Company, 2000.
?Germanic History and Culture?, Germanic Heritage Page, The Anglo-Saxon Domain
www.anglo-saxon.demon.co.uk .
...st darkness" (l. 73) to restore peace and order. Wyrd works to bring disorder and doom to Beowulf and the warriors of Heorot, just as Grendel's mother wages her war of destruction and death on Hrothgar and his kingdom. Beowulf subdues Grendel's mother permanently by killing her, but Wyrd can only be avoided temporarily, not destroyed once and for all. This suggests that the struggle against female authority and uprising is timeless, and the only way to deal with this problem is on an individual basis.
The confines of structure, in which the poems are written, parallel the confines of society that these two women inhabit. Beowulf presents a more restricted society for women; the actual passage itself is set up to reinforce the ideology that women’s power alone is ineffective. Before Wealhtheow begins her speech, the poet introduces her, “Then Wealhtheow pronounced in the presence of the company” (Beowulf l 1215). This device is used not only to introduce her to the reader, but also to reinforce her presence as the Queen. Instead of just inviting her to speak, it ironically undermines her authority and magnifies the need of intervention on someone else’s part. This frames Wealhtheow’s power as ineffective, because she needs someone else to command attention for her to speak, and is not able to command that attention on her own. Even after the end of her speech, the poet feels the need to follow up with a few lines of his own by saying, “...
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The fact there is no mentioning of Grendel’s mother’s name implies that she is valuable insofar as her son is alive. This is could not further away from the truth because Grendel’s mother saved his life, and she is more powerful (Hala 39). Grendel acknowledges when he mentions “a shriek tens as loud as mine came blaring off the cliff. It was my mother!” (Gardner 27). While Grendel situates himself in danger, his mother comes along to save him from the situation that he placed himself into. Even though she has her own identity and persona, the novel never mentions her as something other than him. She is more powerful and dominant than Grendel physically, but because of the nature of her role, she becomes as subservient mother whose only function in life is to serve her son. She does not know anything besides her role as a mother, implying that mothers have no other role in life even they are talented or powerful. The novel is eroding the worth and value that comes from a mother because she has played an important role in raising Grendel. Because the book Grendel is trying to mimic the same world from when Beowulf is written, there are apparent contradictions when Gardner writes the mother “had forgotten all language long ago, or maybe never had never known any. I’d never heard her speak to the other shapes.” The mother is powerful and influential, but Grendel’s mother is continually portrayed is an unintelligent, useless being that has no independent worth beyond her
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