Beowulf - Essential #2

1. Discuss the role of women in Beowulf. How do Wealtheow and Grendel's mother compare and contrast in their roles?

• Wealtheow and Grendel's mother live in an era of absolute male domination. Women like them, no matter how noble or, on the contrary, depraved, are born to be the sacrifices of male chauvinism. Wealtheow, queen of the Scyldings, the noblest among all women, entered the story with the following description: "adorned with gold, that proud woman greeted the men in the hall, offered the cup" (606-670). Rather than depicting her inner qualities, the author chose to just superficially describe how beautiful she looks with her jewelries and how well she serves her husband - this is a neglect of human characters. Another obvious evidence for women's low social status is the nameless Grendel's mother - she does not even have a name throughout the poem! Women, at that period of time, are gorgeous creatures to entertain men or docile wives to serve their husbands. If a woman is neither gorgeous nor docile, she will be despite and alienated like Grendel's mother.
• Grendel's mother is a devilish monster. As a mourner of her only offspring's death, her heart is filled with hatred and vengeance. However, Wealtheow, the beautiful and noble queen of Scyldings, in this case, is a contrary to Grendel's mother. Wealtheow is not only graceful, but thankful for everything that was given by God. She praises the heroes while Grendel's mother fights and kills them.