Beowulf- Gender Roles


In the first 1000 lines of Beowulf, the difference in the way the women and men are discussed is very evident. There are clear signs of gender roles displayed early in the novel. In the first 500 lines, there aren't any female characters that are mentioned by name, thus proving they are not as important as the male characters. For example, in lines 61-62 all of the brothers in the family are mentioned by name yet the daughter is not named. Another sign of gender roles in this novel is the mentioning of the ship. The ship that Beowulf and his men travel on is referred to as being female and along with that, it is also described as being birdlike and only good for bringing the men home safe. By using these qualities to describe a "female" object, it shows that the men think that females and feminine things are weaker than they are. Next, it is mentioned on lines 374-375 that, "Hrethel the Great gave Ecgtheow his daughter in marriage." This shows that the women are treated as possessions and are given away without much say over what happens to them, making them powerless over their own bodies. Lastly, a woman is finally mentioned by name but she is mentioned as having to come and serve the men at dinner. This shows that this stereotype that women are supposed to serve their husbands and other males was used even in this time period. In conclusion, it is clear that the women in this novel are regarded with much less importance than the men and there are typical gender roles applied to the characters.

Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 8, 2017 at 8:32 AM

    Chelsea, I agree that the author depicts the male characters as identifying with their male lineage and masculine characteristics rather than what women can offer. The author portrays women as fragile and at the service of men. The text refers to a woman as someone “who brought forth this flower of manhood” (942). Women bring vulnerability and emotion which contrasts with the power and strength expected of men. In the few instances of women’s names, the author writes in a way that describes the woman’s relationship to a man. An instance of this format includes, “Wealhtheow came in, Hrothgar’s queen” (612-3). The author does not present women as separate people from their husbands, and the description of women’s roles indicates a passive nature expected of women to men.

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  2. UnknownSeptember 8, 2017 at 12:47 PM

    I think the Grendel excerpt we were assigned to read for this class also gives an interesting outlook on the neglect of women and their and rights. In this excerpt the queen is described as waiting for her cue to enter the room to serve the men. She has to be granted permission by the men to enter the room and once that permission is granted, she doesn't even get to become an equal member of the festivities. She's expected to serve the men and make sure they're content and upon their contentment, only then can she leave the room. I think this emphasizes that at this particular point in time women's worth was defined upon their husband's satisfaction. If the men were happy then women were doing their job correctly.

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