Compare and Contrast Grendel’s mother and Women in Beowulf Although Beowulf is an epic and long poem about the adventures and roles of a warrior named, Beowulf, the main character and as well as mainly focusing on the men in the story. We forget and lose focus on the roles of women in Beowulf, such as Grendel’s Mother, Wealhtheow, Hildeburh, and etc, who throughout the story were seen in either a positive, helpful or negative, cruel point of view. We also fail to see how their roles, although were few but of great importance, from peaceweavers, queens, hostess, mothers, and monsters, play an important key to the story and how they effect society within the story. Although their roles may not be as popular or major such as a king or a warrior, they were important in keeping their society together and in order. Looking back to the Anglo-Saxon period or culture, women had just as much rights as men did. For example, marriage, they had the right to marry any person at free will as well as the right to divorce (word doc). Usually, other cultures did not allow these types of rights to women; they had no voice what’s so ever and were force to marriage at a young age, in exchange of valuables of properties or social ranks. During this time period, not only did they have rights, but they also had many unique roles to fill, in order to keep…show more content… She can be described as a “monstrous hell-bride, brooded on her wrongs” that “had been forced down into fearful waters, the cold depths” (Beowulf 1258-1260). We can also read on line 1338, that she was a stronger than Grendel. So she’s not really queen material herself, with her being described in such negative ways and pretty much an outcast, compared to a queen, who would be the exact opposite. So the actions of a monster, which would be described as destructive and cause terror, we see examples of this when she comes into Heorot and
