Examples Of Femininity In Beowulf

In the poem of Beowulf, the depiction of femininity is largely relegated to small, inconsequential roles. In this poem women are not given much literary real-estate, and if there is mention of a female figure, it is dependent on and often in congruency to the actions or the mention of a male figure. I argue that in Beowulf, femininity is seen as the antithesis of masculinity. And as such, a feminine character must rely on being tied to a male character, or if there is a stand-alone female character, their actions are measured against the social concept of masculinity. This leads to a further argument of: womanhood, and therein femininity, can only be expressed when it is juxtaposed against the occurrence of masculinity or a male figure.
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In the poem, she serves as a feminine figure that is attempting to undertake a traditionally masculine role in enacting vengeance (Beowulf lines 1257-1259, 1276-1278, 1281-1291, 1290-1304, 1330-1340, 1349-1355, 1500-1569; Acker 703-709; Morgan 54-58, 60-61). As author Paul Acker asserts in his article that “Grendel’s mother acts aggressively, arguably in a fashion reserved for men” (Acker 705) when speaking about the vengeance that this character is attempting to enact (Beowulf lines 1257-1259, 1276-1278, 1281-1291, 1290-1304, 1349-1355, 1500-5659; Acker 705). In the poem, the introductory description of the attack launched by Grendel’s mother is written in such a way so that there is less emphasis placed on her actions that besieged Heorot by the poem stating that “Her onslaught was less only by as much as an amazon warrior’s strength is less than an armed man’s when he hefted the sword …” (Beowulf lines 1282-1285) to which Acker supplies the implication that “Grendel’s mother was less horrible simply by virtue (so to speak) of lacking a phallus.” (Acker 705). The idea in that Grendel’s mother is to be less considerable due to her not being a male or other masculine figure seems to fit very neatly into my own argument that women are dependent on masculine figures (Beowulf lines 1282-1285; Acker 705). This idea of masculine dependance is also seen through two associated quotations from Acker: “Grendel’s dam may have seemed monstrous not only because she was a female exacting revenge, but more specifically because she was a mother” (Acker 707) and “a mother, expected to be empowered chiefly through her son …” (Acker 707). What this is indicative of is yet again, a feminine figure being put in second place to the masculine nature of revenge (Acker 704-707; Beowulf lines