The Roles and Values of Women
Can you imagine being a woman in a society that was not valued for the tasks she completed or her role in society? Imagine men in society being looked as more valued individuals. In the translation of the epic poem Beowulf, by Seamus Heaney, women are objectified by men and only valued if they were good servants to men during the Anglo-Saxon time period, this lifestyle shows the cultural norms of valuing servitude, obedience, and acquiescence. Women are looked at as inferior to men and are used as servants to preform scandalous tasks in order to please men. In Beowulf, an epic hero is greatly honored and preforms many dangerous tasks while other men have failed. This poem shows that men are powerful and can perform …show more content…
For example, when the narrator was explaining how the lord of the Shieldings was leaving he says, “left the mead-hall to lie with Wealhtheow, his queen and bedmate” (lines 666-667). His queen was looked at as something to do in bed as opposed to the elegance a queen should have. Beowulf’s society looked at women as more of an object than another individual. In the Anglo-Saxon time period, women were okay with being treated as property to the men in the society. With this being said, women are associated with giving the image that they are weak and obedient. Women were okay with being looked at as weak because they wanted to be valued by men. Although they thought they were doing the right thing, men took advantage of the thought of being able to use the women to complete tasks. Not many women fought back and so men were automatically looked at as superior. Women that did fight against their image were easily stopped, like Grendel’s …show more content…
Grendel’s mother was seeking revenge for the scandalous acts that were taken out on her son. To perform her revenge, Grendel’s mother would kill innocent people and then attempt to kill Beowulf in her lair. With Grendel’s mother threatening Beowulf, it proves that women are not as powerless as they seem. Soon after the underwater fight with Grendel’s mother the narrator explains what would have happened if Beowulf did not come armed by saying, “The son of Ecgtheow would have surely perished and the Geats lost their warrior under the wide earth had the strong links and locks of his war-gear not helped to save him” (1550-1553). This is significant because when fighting Grendel Beowulf did not use anything but his bare hands. Although when fighting Grendel’s mother, Beowulf had to use a giants sword and chain mail to keep him alive. This shows that women are not as powerless and weak as the Anglo-Saxon society makes them out to be. Also it shows that men are allowed to be dangerous and threatening but as soon as a woman is, she must quickly die. The men in this society do not wish to accept the fact that a woman can be the same as a
Can you imagine being a woman in a society that was not valued for the tasks she completed or her role in society? Imagine men in society being looked as more valued individuals. In the translation of the epic poem Beowulf, by Seamus Heaney, women are objectified by men and only valued if they were good servants to men during the Anglo-Saxon time period, this lifestyle shows the cultural norms of valuing servitude, obedience, and acquiescence. Women are looked at as inferior to men and are used as servants to preform scandalous tasks in order to please men. In Beowulf, an epic hero is greatly honored and preforms many dangerous tasks while other men have failed. This poem shows that men are powerful and can perform …show more content…
For example, when the narrator was explaining how the lord of the Shieldings was leaving he says, “left the mead-hall to lie with Wealhtheow, his queen and bedmate” (lines 666-667). His queen was looked at as something to do in bed as opposed to the elegance a queen should have. Beowulf’s society looked at women as more of an object than another individual. In the Anglo-Saxon time period, women were okay with being treated as property to the men in the society. With this being said, women are associated with giving the image that they are weak and obedient. Women were okay with being looked at as weak because they wanted to be valued by men. Although they thought they were doing the right thing, men took advantage of the thought of being able to use the women to complete tasks. Not many women fought back and so men were automatically looked at as superior. Women that did fight against their image were easily stopped, like Grendel’s …show more content…
Grendel’s mother was seeking revenge for the scandalous acts that were taken out on her son. To perform her revenge, Grendel’s mother would kill innocent people and then attempt to kill Beowulf in her lair. With Grendel’s mother threatening Beowulf, it proves that women are not as powerless as they seem. Soon after the underwater fight with Grendel’s mother the narrator explains what would have happened if Beowulf did not come armed by saying, “The son of Ecgtheow would have surely perished and the Geats lost their warrior under the wide earth had the strong links and locks of his war-gear not helped to save him” (1550-1553). This is significant because when fighting Grendel Beowulf did not use anything but his bare hands. Although when fighting Grendel’s mother, Beowulf had to use a giants sword and chain mail to keep him alive. This shows that women are not as powerless and weak as the Anglo-Saxon society makes them out to be. Also it shows that men are allowed to be dangerous and threatening but as soon as a woman is, she must quickly die. The men in this society do not wish to accept the fact that a woman can be the same as a