Beowulf is set in a highly male-dominated world governed by wars, honor,
and violence. The role of women in this world seems to follow a pattern: either
used as peace weavers to avoid warring tribes or used as trophies for show. Men
in Old English literature are always seen as the heroes, while women are not. Wealtheow,
Hygd, Hildeburh, Modthryth and Freawaru all fall victim to their role deemed to
them by male society. Wealtheow was given to Hygemod as a trophy to avoid war,
Hygd avoids responsibility, Hildeburh and Freawaru failed as peace weavers, and
Modthryth denied her true identity for her husband.
The only female character that declines to conform to gender
expectations and embodies male-like characteristics is Grendel’s mother. Grendel’s
mother does not fall victim to the patriarchal society and breaks through
gender boundaries that were set by men. She challenges the way women are
portrayed to be, and she decides to create her own fate. In the past, these
gender boundaries were placed by men to show their “superior position” however,
Grendel’s mother pushes through these boundaries thus posing a threat to male
authority. This is the real reason why Grendel’s mother is portrayed as an
atrocious monster. Her overstepping boundaries and not being like the other
women during this time period was so unthinkable that had she had to have
attributes of a monster.
In the poem, Grendel’s
mother has the role of a warrior: a position that was only seen with men. Grendel’s
mother challenges the stereotype of a passive female when she barges into Heorot
hall and takes on Beowulf in her home. “So she
reached Herot, Where the Danes slept as though already dead; Her visit ended
their good fortune, reversed The bright vane of their luck. No female, no
matter How fierce, could have come
with a man’s strength, Fought with the power and courage men fight with…” (Heaney
101). This quote shows that the narrator is concerned more about Grendel’s
mother gender as the most horrific factor, rather than the attack itself. It also
shows that Beowulf respects Grendel’s mother enough to know that
she is a strong warrior and that he could maybe die by her hand. It seems as
though that Grendel’s mother is alienated from the Danes because of the
accepted norms of women at the time. The Danes were most frightened that
Grendel’s mother had the strength equivalent to that of a man, thus it would be
unspeakable to be defeated by a woman.
Another way Grendel’s mother breached the gender boundaries was
her involvement of avenging her son’s death. Vengeance is typically a masculine
attribute, especially in the Anglo-Saxon period where families had to get
revenge (or get paid a fair price) for the deaths of their loved ones. It is
surprising how Beowulf or other men never faced consequences for the murders
they committed, unlike how Grendel’s mother does. There seems to be a double
standard when Grendel’s mother tries to avenge Grendel’s death, which is more
justifiable than Beowulf avenging Aeschere’s death (a man who he barely knew). However,
Beowulf is shown to be the hero while Grendel’s mother a stone cold killer. In conclusion,
the narrator in Beowulf was attempting to describe Grendel’s mother as a woman
who possessed masculine qualities and was only evil due to her gender. The
power that she had challenged the ideals and norms a woman was supposed to
embody during that time period, and so she became something that the Danes
could not relate to, a monster.
