Women’s Roles in Beowulf
Are women in this poem active equals of the men? Or are they passive victims of the men? The role of the women in Beowulf is not a stereotyped one of passive homemaker, but rather one having freedom of choice, range of activity, and room for personal growth and development, such as is reflected in Anglo-Saxon England of the time.
Beowulf makes reference to Ingeld and his wife and the coming Heathobard feud:
in that hot passion
his love for peace-weaver, his wife, will cool (2065-66)
This is a rare passage, for Anglo-Saxon poetry rarely mentions romantic feelings toward women. In fact, one’s marital status wasn’t even considered significant. For example, with the hero himself the poet never mentions whether he is married or not, likewise with most characters in the poem. Because this is a poem about the heroic deeds of men, Hildeburh excepted, the feeling between man-and-woman is downplayed, and the feeling among warriors is emphasized. Remember that the poem opens with Scyld Scefing, who came motherless to rule the Danes:
than those at his start
who set him adrift when only a child,
friendless and cold, lone on the waves. (44-46)
Scyld’s motherlessness perhaps tells the reader that the heroic, superhuman, violent deeds about to transpire are perhaps not all that compatible with women and womanly qualities like passivity, gentleness, compassion. It is a predominantly masculine, rough and tough narrative which would only be detrac...
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... was honored by nations (-1957)
The roles of women in Beowulf are varied and non-stereotyped; some are peaceful and one at least is a killer, is warlike. The women of royal blood have considerable freedom of choice, range of activity, and room for personal growth and development.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Chance, Jane. “Grendel’s Mother and the Women of Beowulf.” In Readings on Beowulf, edited by Stephen P. Thompson. San Diego: Greenhaven Press,1998.
Chickering, Howell D.. Beowulf A dual-Language Edition. New York: Anchor Books, 1977.
Overing, Gillian R. “The Women of Beowulf; A context for Interpretation.” In The Beowulf Reader, edited by Peter S. Baker. New York: Garland Publishing, 2000.
Tacitus: The Annals of Imperial Rome, translated by Michael Grant. New York: Penguin, 1996.
Frank, Roberta. “The Beowulf Poet’s Sense of History.” In Beowulf – Modern Critical Interpretations, edited by Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.
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But even through a gap of almost 1,200 years, we see in We Have Always Lived in the Castle, written in the 1960’s, that the views of women having a say in the community is a minority, and not everyone agrees. Yes, there has been some sort of progress in women’s right, from 800 AD, alike in Beowulf, a person who wants revenge on her son’s death, is considered a hell-bride, but in the mid 1900’s, it would receive a little bit of a less negative reaction. But in both in Beowulf and We Have Always Lived in the Castle men are considered the ruler of them family, well at least until Merricat kills everybody. In my opinion, Merricat’s way of looking the hierarchy of gender, is different of having women in control, that symbolizes that idea that began as a minute topic in the time period of the 1960’s, and has expanded into the situation of women’s role of
The women in Beowulf are barely discussed and seem to exist solely for the use of the men. They are weak and portray none of the legendary qualities that the men display. Wealhtheow, the Queen of Danes and Hrothgar's wife, is the only female character in the epic that talks. In a speech to her husband, we are able to see that she is a strong woman, who is able to speak her mind. She tells the king that it is good that he adopted Beowulf, but reminds him that he already has two sons. However, her speech is made while she carries the drinking goblet to all of the men in the room, "Wealhtheow came in,/ Hrothgar's queen, observing the courtesies./ Adorned in her gold, she graciously handed the cup first to Hrothgar, their homeland's guardian,/ urging him to drink deep and enjoy it because he was dear to them" (612-618). When she is given the opportunity to talk, she only praises the men and plays a role defined by their society.
Stop and Frisk is a procedure put into use by the New York Police Department that allows an officer to stop and search a “suspicious character” if they consider her or him to be. The NYPD don’t need a warrant, or see you commit a crime. Officers solely need to regard you as “suspicious” to violate your fourth amendment rights without consequences. Since its Beginning, New York City’s stop and frisk program has brought in much controversy originating from the excessive rate of arrest. While the argument that Stop and Frisk violates an individual’s fourth amendment rights of protection from unreasonable search and seizure could definitely be said, that argument it’s similar to the argument of discrimination. An unfair number of Hispanics and
The stop-and-frisk policy could be considered a big controversy facing New York in recent times. The whole concept behind this stopping-and-frisking is the police officer, with reasonable suspicion of some crime committed or about to be committed, stops a pedestrian, questions them, then if needed frisks the person. This policy started gaining public attention back in 1968 from the Terry v. Ohio case. A police officer saw the three men casing a store and he believed they were going to rob the store; this led to him stopping and frisking them. After frisking them, he found a pistol and took the weapon from the men. The men then cried foul and claimed they were unconstitutionally targeted and frisked.
“A peace-weaver was a woman who would be married to a person from an enemy tribe in the hopes of ending a feud” (Yewdaev). The role of women in Anglo-Saxon culture was simple: to settle arguments through arranged marriage. However, Grendel’s mother did not follow similar principles. Instead of arriving at the mead hall ready to make amends and to settle Grendel’s dispute, she returns bloodthirsty and yearning for revenge. Another part that women in the Anglo-Saxon period undertook was that of a cupbearer. “So the Helming woman went on her rounds, / queenly and dignified, decked out in rings, / offering the goblet to all ranks, / treating the household” (Heaney 620-623). Cupbearers served the purpose of passing around cups of mead around to the men until they were all drunk and merry. Grendel’s mother’s independence and lack of subordination to men in the culture epitomizes the contrast she faces with other women in the era. Her attack is surprisingly more impactful than all of Grendel’s together, even though she only delivers a single fatality. Rather than taking out a random drunk guard, she goes straight for Hrothgar’s favorite advisor. “To Hrothgar, this man was the most beloved/ of the friends he trusted between the two seas” (1296-1297). Evidently, coincidence or not, her attack on his advisor was immensely powerful, and contradicts the passive,
A skeptic once argued “trying to find a common cause for every Bermuda Triangle disappearance is no more logical than trying to find a common cause for every automobile accident in Arizona” (“Bermuda Triangle”). Although some theories may be more plausible than others, this is implying that there is not one single explanation of these disappearances. While some researchers propose far-fetched theories, historical events as well as scientific observation and experimentation show many reasonable explanations to the abnormal phenomenon that occurs within the boundaries if the Bermuda Triangle.
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Miller, Connie Colwell. The Bermuda Triangle The Unsolved Mystery. Mankato, Minnesota: Capstone Press, 2009. Print.
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. The women in Beowulf are portrayed as strong individuals, each of whom has a specific role within the poem. Some women are cast as the cup-bearers and gracious hostesses of the mead halls, such as Wealhtheow and Hygd, while others, Grendel's mother, fulfill the role of a monstrous uninvited guest. The woman's role of the time period, author's attitude, and societal expectations for women are evidenced throughout the poem.
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The area of the Atlantic Ocean popularly referred to as the Bermuda Triangle is a complete enigma and has proven to be so for much of recorded history. Many seemingly inexplicable occurrences and disappearances have taken place in this particular area. No rational explanation that will satisfy the materialistic parameters of the typical scientist has been offered that would account for all the mysterious happenings that have taken place in the Bermuda Triangle during the course of many thousands of years.
7. Bhattacharya, Raj. (n.d.). Tudor Star Tiger. Disappearance In The Bermuda Triangle. Retrieved 29 March, 2014, from http://www.bermuda-attractions.com/bermuda2_00009e.htm
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