Masculine fear of Feminine Pow
As an epic story of heroes and monsters, Beowulf gives its readers much excitement and adventure, but Beowulf's importance is more than just literary. It offers much insight into the beliefs and customs of seventh-century Danish culture. Among these insights is the view of woman and their role in society. Good women in this time are passive and unassertive, acting as hosts to the warriors and other men in the mead hall. Wealhtheow, the queen of the Danes, represents a typical submissive woman. On the other hand, Grendel's mother is a strong and aggressive monster who Beowulf must destroy. The author of Beowulf generally supports the traditional views of women by praising Wealhtheow, condemning Grendel's mother, and showing the need to suppress feminine forces; however, he does offer some criticism of these views by creating sympathy for Grendel's mother, allowing Wealhtheow to assert herself in the interest of her husband and children, and revealing masculine fear of feminine power. The author creates Wealhtheow to exemplify the role of an ideal woman in her time, and he presents this role as the only appropriate one for Wealhtheow to fulfill. She serves as a peacekeeper in the ever-c
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. 1260-61) Being a monster, she possesses great warrior-strength, however, since she is a female, her strength is "less only by as much as an amazon warrior's strength is less than an armed man's when the hefted sword / razes the sturdy boar-ridge off a helmet" (ll. In order to defeat Grendel,, Beowulf simply grips one of his arms until it rips off; in contrast, Grendel's mother wrestles with Beowulf and nearly defeats him. Despite her physical shortcomings, she is actually more difficult for Beowulf to defeat than Grendel himself: she cleverly lures Beowulf into the darkest depths of her lair and fights him with enormous emotional strength. Beowulf subdues Grendel's mother permanently by slaying her, but Wyrd can only be avoided temporarily, not destroyed one and for all. The author writes, "Then Wealhtheow came in / Hrothgar's queen / she graciously saluted the men in the hall, then handed the cup first Hrothgar, their homeland's guardian" (ll. The author's views on women may never be fully revealed, but it is clear that he believes in male pre-eminence and that 'rebellious' females ought to be suppressed. She is a descendent of Cain and "had been forced down into the fearful waters, the cold depths" (ll. Here Wealhtheow shows us her cleverness by securing her children's right to the throne in front of everyone by asking Boewulf to help in 'guiding her two boys'. It is evident from this passage that the author's attitude toward Grendel's mother is one of both fear and admiration for her relative success fighting Beowulf. Beowulf only wins this fight because of divine intervention. When the queen is not serving drinks or greeting the hall guests, she may usually be found obediently following Hrothgar throughout the meadhall. Like Wealhtheow, females should only exert minimal power and influence. This shows, like Wealhtheow, the presence of masculine fear of feminine power.
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