Compare And Contrast Beowulf And The Wife Of Bath's Tale

Wealhtheow and the Hag The women of the Medieval Age surprisingly had very important strengths and advantages that impacted their individual societies. This essay will be discussing the roles of women in Beowulf and The Wife of Bath’s Tale by comparing the two major women of each story, Wealhtheow and the Hag. Wealhtheow’s main role was to encourage Beowulf to kill the monster that had been terrorizing her community. On the other hand, the Hag’s role was to help the Knight find redemption and save his life. Now on to strengths and advantages, both women used theirs to impact and help resolve the problem the communities faced. Beowulf viewed Queen Wealhtheow as a supporter, but the knight regarded the Hag as a woman who could help him escape …show more content…
She made him realize that women should be given an opportunity to voice their opinions, make decisions in relationships, and have rights to their own bodies. Before he met the Hag, the Knight obviously had not been behaving in a way the culture expected him to. King Arthur’s Knights were supposed to be chivalrous and noble, but that was not the case with this particular Knight. The people of Chaucer’s time made King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table role models for their thoughts, behaviors, and attitudes. Karl discusses the legend of Arthur in his …show more content…
For example, Wealhtheow’s simple role of handing out mead brought peace and unity into the mead hall. She also brought peace into her community and was an appeaser that tried to stop her tribe from fighting unless it was necessary. The Hag changed the Knight’s view of women, and he became a better Knight because he learned how to respectfully treat women. She additionally helped him reclaim his life and redeem himself, so he could be the true hero that the culture portrayed him to be. On another note, being of a high class usually meant that the roles will be easier to accept and complete because men would respect a high class woman than the poor Hag. The Hag had been living in poverty her whole life and the Knight of the Round Table initially refused to marry her, even though he had promised her he would do what she asked of him. Presumably, if she had been of a higher class he would have had no problem marrying her. Finally, both cultures benefited greatly from the actions of these women. Women had one less man to worry about when they were alone in The Wife of Bath’s Tale and in Beowulf the community could sleep better knowing that the monsters were taken care of by