Gender Roles In Beowulf

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

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