Introduction: When one considers criticism of Beowulf, from the earliest to more recent writings, the lack of early interest in Grendel's mother is very apparent. Background: In 1936, JRR Tolkien returned her as a secondary figure to his son. Major feminist critiques also seemed to avoid it until the 1980s, when Jane Chance focused on the female monster, discussing the structural unity of Beowulf. Thesis Statement: Although the episode concerning Grendel's mother is shorter than that of his son, the questions the poet raises in these lines seem infinitely more complicated and encompassing than the obvious sense of right and wrong communicated in the fight between Beowulf and Grendel. no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Topic Sentence: Grendel, the murderous and bloodthirsty offspring of Cain, commits crimes without provocation and indiscriminateness. Evidence and Citation: He is undeniably evil, and the poet certainly strives to portray him as a grotesque and fearsome being. Grendel is the “feond on helle” (Beowulf 101), “grimma” (102), and “wonsaeli” (105). The poet is never short of new words to describe Grendel's wickedness and his ugly face. Comment: The situation is simple; the beast is evil and deserves to die. The murder must be avenged, quickly and mercilessly. The simplicity of this judgment and the murder of the evil Grendel remains fresh in the reader's mind as he or she is confronted with the next monster, a nameless being, referred to by kinship, Grendles modor (1282). Jane Chance points this out in her essay: Topic Sentence: Grendel's mother is...described in human and social terms. Evidence and Citation: She is specifically called a wif unhyre "a monstrous woman" and an ides aglaecwif "a lady-woman-monster". Ides elsewhere in Beowulf designates “lady” and evokes either a queen or a woman of high social rank… Moreover, as if the poet wished to emphasize her maternal role, she is generally characterized as the modor or the relative of Grendel, the first being a word almost exclusively reserved for her, although other mothers appear in the poem. Commentary: It is clear from these epithets that Grendel's Mother reverses the Germanic roles of mother and queen, or lady (Chance 249). Already contradictory, the poet gives it an element of status, but also presents it as an inversion of the ideal. As such, a woman acting in a manner inappropriate to her gender, in an active rather than a passive role, should be forced to return to her rightful place. A woman should not avenge her sons and take blood revenge. Topic Sentence: Beowulf's adventure into the lady-monster's abode should therefore be simple, he must kill her and, in doing so, restore the Germanic social ideal. Evidence and Quote: Yet the poet Beowulf refuses to facilitate Beowulf's triumph. This is not achieved without considerable effort, and it does not remain easy in the minds of readers. Grendel's mother does not, of course, act without provocation, as her son did. She seeks revenge for the death of her son. The only reason she is not justified in doing so is because she is a woman. As a woman, she is expected to passively accept her son's death and leave the task of seeking revenge to her male relatives. Yet how can she do this when Beowulf killed her only male relative? Comment: The poet never mentions brothers, nor a father, nor a husband on whom she can count to ensure her security and her honor. Thus, she has no choice but to take on male responsibility (Chance 252). Here, Grendel's mother is a mix ofmany things, she is a grieving mother, a monster and a servant. Subject sentence: It cannot be denied that she, in at least two of these faces, is entitled to a share of sympathy. Evidence and Citation: She looks, as Chance points out, like a human mother; Like Hildeburh, she is innocent and “dark-minded”; her journey to Heorot must be sad because she “remembers her misery”. However, a woman's primary loyalty as a pledge of peace was to her husband, not her son, according to the Danish history of Saxo Grammaticus. Perhaps this is why Grendel's mother is presented as husbandless and obsessed with her son – to suggest to an Anglo-Saxon audience the dangers inherent in the woman's function as fridusibb "pledge of peace » (Luck 252). If this is indeed the case, the poet is certainly guilty of using Grendel's mother to disconcert his audience rather than to represent an incarnation of evil. A grieving woman can be very dangerous in this sense, but she cannot easily be considered evil. Comment: In his aggressive masculine attempt at bloody revenge, the poet presents it as more pathetic than terrifying. Emphasizing above all her feminine attributes, he makes her seize a lone man, not directly involved in the murder of her son, whom she hastily brings back to her lair for fear of being confronted by others; “héo wæs on ofste wolde út þanon/ féore beorgan” (Beowulf 1292: 93). Topic sentence: The great act of revenge is vague and cowardly. Evidence and Citation: We cannot forget that the monster is in the form of a human woman and poses less of a physical threat than her man-shaped son. “Waes se gryre laessa/ efne swa micle swa bid maegpa craeft/ wiggryre Wifes be waepnedmen” (Beowulf 1282: 84). Commentary: Martin Puhvel discusses the discrepancy between the reader's introduction to Grendel's mother and his second appearance. Since she is initially portrayed as inferior and her act of revenge is somewhat pathetic, the difficulty Beowulf faces in defeating her must be questioned. While Grendel's mother's return to the swamps can certainly be seen as a dramatic device used by the author to create tension and suspense, it is understandable, but the eventual difficult battle between Beowulf and Grendel's mother Grendel seems to have another, more significant meaning; Some critics have suggested that the poet's moral sensitivity, his "sense of fairness" is an important factor. Topic Sentence: According to this reasoning, while Grendel is a ruthless and unprovoked aggressor, his mother, again, acts in accordance with the standard Germanic code of bloody vengeance; moreover, his own domain is invaded; for these reasons, a certain sympathy on the part of the author is due to him and this is why Beowulf's revenge is presented as a difficult and risky undertaking (Puhvel 83). Although Puhvel rather attributes a more mythological interpretation, it seems reasonable to examine these points in more detail. Evidence and Quote: The poet oscillates between describing Grendel's mother in feminine terms and describing her in aggressive masculine terms. The audience is already very confused as to what they are supposed to feel about the lady-monster. Beowulf now stalks her in order to avenge her dubious crime, and in doing so he invades her home, her sacred hall. Topic Sentence: The societal importance of the hall and the house cannot be underestimated at this point. Evidence and Citation: It is a central point of life, where the lord and his servant reside, where the lord distributes gifts and treasures in exchange for the loyalty of his thanes, and where women act as peace-weavers , holding the alliances together. The roomis not a place of war, but a place of peace. Commentary: In this case, Beowulf becomes the perpetrator, committing a crime that had already been committed by Grendel himself; bringing blood and violence into sacred space. Topic sentence: Chance thinks that the second meeting with Grendel's mother allows him to gain yet another side. Evidence and Quote: She is no longer a grieving mother, nor a vengeful servant. Instead, she became lord of her own hall; The merewif, as queen or guardian, protects her "battle hall", the cave-like lair, of the visiting hero, like the royal dragon guarding his hall of rings, and like king Beowulf his kingdom, in the final section of the poem... As a queen or lady without a tribe, she rudely receives her "hall guest" Beowulf by "kissing" him and then "repaying" him for his bravery, not with treasure but with " sinister handles.” »… Indeed, the parody of the treasure handover ceremony in the hall is completed by a “scop” (Beowulf's sword, acting like a bard) who sings a fierce “war song” to the side of his head (Chance 253).Comment: The poet has now masculinized the monster, she is the mistress of the place, Beowulf is the intruder. In this position, although her space has been invaded, the reader can expect Grendel's mother to take responsibility for her violent act and have less sympathy for her. Evidence and citation: She becomes extremely active, a lord protecting his domain; “Bær þá seo brimwylf þá éo tó botme cóm/ hringa þengel tó hofe sínum” (Beowulf 1506: 07). She holds power over Beowulf, and it's almost as if the two have become equals. Evidence and Quote: The poet then asks them to fight for domination. At this point, the poet undermines the monster's masculinity, introducing a disturbing sexual element into the battle. Chance asserts that this is not an element common to Anglo-Saxon literature. Indeed, the poet's inclusion of erotic imagery can serve to disconcert his audience by posing the threat of a feminine, pagan power found deep within a woman's sexuality. (Luck 254:55) We can even view the female monster's battle room as a watery womb, representing the mystery of women's sexuality and regenerative power. This is the place where Beowulf can be reborn into heroic glory or die. Comment: This is not a simple case of right and wrong, but a very complex issue calling into question the morality of the ancestors of the Anglo-Saxons and forcing them to think about their Christianity and how whose faith could be attacked by the same forces of nature. Evidence and Citation: Chance writes this; after his (Beowulf's) sword failed him... he "grabbed her by the shoulder", throwing her to the ground... Then, as a "reward" for his bravery, this lady "repaid" him with the her grimman grapum's treasure "fierce grabs", forcing him to trip and fall, whereupon she climbs, rather ridiculously, on top of her "room guest", intending to stab him and so (again ) to avenge his only offspring (Luck 253: 4). Topic Sentence: Beowulf's triumph over Grendel's mother establishes Germanic moral and social ideals. Evidence and Citation: She was stripped of her masculine facade after being penetrated by the phallic sword. Thus, as feminine, passive and defeated, an element of sympathy for the lady-monster reappears in the poem to remain in the reader's mind until Beowulf's death at the hands of the last monster he fights; the dragon, a creature that, like Grendel's mother, has its own lair invaded. Comment: Although until now it has been easy to see how the poet disconcerts his audience through the characterof Grendel's mother, it is also possible to see the sea wolf as an incarnation of evil in the same way as her monstrous son. She has been linked by criticism to the figure of Eve, temptress and antithesis of the Virgin (cite). And yet, Eve is redeemable by Christ and can thus gain the sympathy of Christians. Perhaps Beowulf's lady-monster could be better linked to the figure of Lillith, a tempting and irredeemable demon from biblical tradition. Topic Sentence: Her succubus-like struggle with Beowulf and the sexual imagery of the scene may portray her as unforgivable. Additionally, Herbert G. Wright points out in “Good and Evil”; Light and Darkness; Joy and Sorrow in Beowulf 'that; Grendel's mother also belongs to the race of giants and because of this origin she also bears the curse imposed on the descendants of Cain; indeed, in the genealogical table, she is a little closer to Cain. (Wright1). Commentary: Although Wright goes on to say that she is not as doomed as Grendel, we must consider the significance of her death, the means by which she was killed and by which Beowulf succeeded in killing her. He first attacks her with the sword, and it proves useless: he tries to master her with force alone, as he defeated his son. This also failing, he notices a sword among the treasures of the cave, and only with that. sword that he succeeds in killing his enemy. In his essay “The Necessity of Evil in Beowulf,” James W. Earl discusses the significance of the mysterious sword; On the sword itself is depicted the image of God's judgment on the race of giants. It was of course the giants of Genesis 6:4, the “giants of the earth in those days,” who so angered God that He flooded the earth. They are commonly considered to be the descendants of Cain, and therefore not too distant cousins ​​of Grendel and his mother. Commentary: The engraved sword therefore announces itself in fact as a sword of divine judgment over Cain's race, and thus announces its own role in the poem, after its purpose has been accomplished in the deaths of Grendel and his mother (Earl 84). ). This suggests that Grendel's mother is no different from her son, and that the poet, by having Grendel's mother killed by a sword of divine judgment, presents her as another incarnation of evil. However, one could also consider the fact that Grendel's mother could represent here another "geomuru Ides", a female victim of male machinations. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. We are told of no other crimes committed by the female monster before her attempted revenge, and as such she was simply born cursed through no fault of hers, only that her male ancestor Cain was a murderer and that the The male ancestor Cain was a murderer. God took a form of bloody vengeance for his crime by cursing and banishing Cain. Thus, the poet draws comparisons between Grendel's mother and Hildeburh suffering from the Finnsburh fragment, succeeding in complicating readers' view of Grendel's mother. Concluding Paragraph: In conclusion, it seems reasonable to agree with the view that the poet Beowulf's treatment of Grendel's mother serves to disconcert the audience rather than present them with an embodiment of evil. He is a character with many contradictory faces, ready to destabilize and unbalance Beowulf himself as well as readers of the Anglo-Saxon and even modern era. She is a wronged and grieving mother, a terrifying sea wolf, a cursed descendant of the first murderer, the lord of a dark battle hall, and a powerful sexual creature. It cannot be easily classified, nor carefully framed under the title of the..