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Gender Roles In Beowulf

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Throughout Beowulf, within the film and the text, women are portrayed as possessions for the benefit of the men. Furthermore, women are used as devices to further the plot of men in both the film and poem. Yet, in the text, women are less prevalent to the story, their presence secondary to the men. Women are more sexualized in the movie than the poem, yet they also assume more authority over the men and have more developed characters. While the gender roles were historically accurate throughout the book, women subservient to men, the movie afforded women more dominant and involved roles. The differences between both of the versions of Beowulf demonstrates the varying ways women are portrayed within literature and film, as well as the aspects …show more content…

The queen of the Swedes wasn’t even given a name, her identity near inconsequential to her role as the wife of Onela, the king. The majority of the plot in the poem was focused on the men, such as Hrothgar, Beowulf, Wiglaf and Unferth. Consequently, the mention of women are far and few between in comparison. When women are referred to in the poem, they fulfill traditional gender roles, such as being a caretaker, “... the Helming woman went on her rounds...treating the household and the assembled troop.” ( Beowulf 620-624). The text reflects the standard of women around the eleventh century, that they are meant to care for men and expected to be gentle. Later in the book, Queen Modthryth was introduced as the foil to the queen Hygd, independent and scornful of men. She was looked upon in disdain, “Even a queen of outstanding in beauty must not overstep like that.” (Beowulf 1940-1941), until she married Offa, who was rewarded for restraining her personality. Queen Modthryth was only deemed acceptable by society was when she got married, thereby showing women had less value unless they were attached to a

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Passed down through various societies for multiple generations, the poem Beowulf is a true literary masterpiece. While first spread by word of mouth, the work was later transcribed, translated, and transformed into numerous forms of literature and media. Due to this, we know that their is not one true Beowulf. As Professor Martin Foys once said, “each generation gets the version of Beowulf it deserves”. These various adaptations led to differing tales of the conquests of Beowulf, as is the case with the first of the three agons, Beowulf’s clash with Grendel.

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However, he immediately has doubts and destroys the creature. Although she never appeared as an active character, she showed insight into Victor’s thought process and perception about women and the roles they play. Although the women in Beowulf and Frankenstein do not appear as central characters, their roles are significant to the plot.

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In the article, Beowulf’s Androgynous Heroism, The author tells us that Beowulf is one of the “most memorable in his capacity as the masculine warrior and king.” (Robert Morrey, Beowulf’s Androgynous Heroism, University of Illinois Press) Even though he had no feminine companion beside him, he still fulfilled his roles, as he should have. Beowulf was authentically strong and unquestionably capable of standing up, even when nobody else could. He was able to stand up and arrest control when need be. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, he was struggling to be the best he could be until Enkidu died, his best friend.

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Beowulf is the best epic story. Including perfectly embodies the manners and values such as: Being Loyalty, it seen when Beowulf already travelled through the sea, when the monster began to attack and Beowulf known as the bravest, he wants to fight the monster by himself, not only to consider as a hero but to defend their soldier to them. Being Friendship, after Beowulf won to fight the monster in the middle of the sea, they began to travel among the island, under king hrothgar .Beowulf did not familiarize the island, but he and his soldier still joined to the people around there, to protect and save them to the monster, he is a mission to face the monster, but they enjoy to joined there, and they treat as a their own tribe. Courtesy, instead

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1492 Words | 6 Pages

Beowulf, a strong warrior from the tribe of the Geats, being a part of the gay community would be hard to believe. Although it is difficult to consider, applying queer theory to Beowulf is simple when the epic poem demonstrates various situations as to apply queer theory. In the work Beowulf, the anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet utilizes coded language, paradigms of hetero-culture, and unsuccessful hetero-normativity to demonstrate how the fight between Grendel 's Mother and Beowulf caused Beowulf to be uncomfortable, how the heterosexual married men had a lot of failures compared to the never married Beowulf. During one scene, the poet used "coded" language in a hetero culture to explore the heroism of the queer warrior.

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792 Words | 4 Pages

In Beowulf, the most prominent theme is the duty. A duty to be fulfilled by the person that is assigned to. It gives characters in the poem unique identity because of their devotion to duty. This means the warrior must fulfill his obligations to protect the people of the land and risk his life for their king. It also applies to women, in Beowulf, a woman's duty is to entertain the men as well as to serve a symbol of peace.

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648 Words | 3 Pages

While reading Beowulf, one might think that Wealhtheow’s role in Beowulf is insignificant, or that she is merely an extension of Hrothgar, the Danish king. But after studying her character, the queen of the Danes clearly holds a far more powerful role than at a first glance. Her speeches are brief, but full of meaning and authority, and her astute counsel is often relied upon by Hrothgar. While she plays only a small role in Beowulf, Wealhtheow demonstrates that women played an integral part in medieval culture. Wealhtheow’s wisdom and respect is apparent in her role as the cup-bearer.

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Paying attention to the structure of a poem is extremely important because it gives significant hints of what the reader expect from the piece of literature. The epic poem Beowulf is structured with quantitative verse, emphasis on syllables with long vowels allowing alliteration to occur. When the tale of Beowulf was created, it was an oral epic that was spoken. The alliteration written down was a byproduct of the oral tradition because it kept the speaker and audience focused on the tale. Beowulf also is structured with incremental repetition for a sense of progression in the tale.

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Chivalry is a code of conduct associated with the medieval institution of knighthood which developed between 1170 and 1220. Between this time period many authors wrote about knights and warriors and how they represented the values of being loyal, courageous and their willingness to give one’s life for another or in other words being a chivalrous warrior. Some examples of these tales are Beowulf and Le Morte d’Arthur. Beowulf and Wiglaf from Beowulf and King Arthur from Le Morte d’Arthur each have two examples of them reflecting the values of being a chivalrous warrior.

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Throughout Old English Literature, women were seen as evil. Like in Beowulf where the woman with the most power was a monstrous sea creature who destroyed things. Or in Lanval and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight where women were dishonest and corrupted men, or like in The Wife of Bath where women manipulated men to get what they wanted; owned them in a way. In old English texts women are seen as an evil force; a force of destruction, corruption and cunning.

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862 Words | 4 Pages

Women are depicted as “trophy” to men and nothing more. Throughout the epic a sense of bravado and machoism is played out, giving off a man’s world feeling which women and little or no real reason to be wanted. To understand the epic and the roles in which women played, one may not have to look further than how the book has been put together. First and foremost, the book is being told through the eyes of a man (good luck ladies).

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1333 Words | 6 Pages

First of all, despite the fact that men are highly emphasized in Beowulf, women are highly absent in the story. Even within the first couple of sentences, the style and wording create an atmosphere in which

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Masculine Ideals in Anglo-Saxon Society The concept of a hero is prevalent through all generations because it presents a template for ethics and behavior. Beowulf is a pivotal epic told by poets throughout early european society and mirrors the manly nature of their ideal hero. The patriarchal values of the Anglo-Saxons are displayed through the epic Beowulf. The characters’ loyalty to their leaders as well as their conventional sense of masculinity indicate that the values of a society determine the values of an individual.

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846 Words | 4 Pages

Beowulf is an excellent piece with a lot for the readers to desire and relate to while reading. This analysis explores different escapades while examining the role of women in the literature. One thing to point out is that female characters have always received very thin attention in different pieces of literature, something that has always made many people think that their role is meager. Every piece of literature has an important message to pass across to its intended audiences. Indeed, this study seeks to demystify the male-centric mindset to promote the visibility of women in the contemporary interpretation of literary works demonstrating that women play a greater role in the literature despite the proximity given to male protagonist.

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603 Words | 3 Pages

Medieval literature portrayed women as either proper or monstrous. Lanval, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Beowulf all carry the pattern of women’s roles throughout the period of time. In Beowulf, women are portrayed in two ways, confined and unconfined. The women that adhere to the roles of wives, mothers, and

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