Power Hungry Women In Beowulf

The power hungry women in We Have Always Lived In The Castle, face the powerful male warriors in Beowulf. In both texts one gender has the upper hand of power over the other. In Beowulf male power overrides female power and women are only viewed as peacekeepers and have a lower role in the text. But in We Have Always Lived the Castle, Merricat and Constance despise male power and will do anything in their power to prevent the males from getting any power. In Beowulf, we see how male power is dominant and how it condemns female power in the sense that women in the book are only traditionally viewed as quiet peacemakers but men are supposed to be ruthless warriors. The exception to the traditional women way is Grendel’s mom. According to Heaney she is considered …show more content…
In this way Beowulf portrays the lack of female power in the sense that they can’t go out and fight but they can quietly promote peace. Furthermore, the queens in the epic poem only come out when they are in a time of peace. The queens “graciously saluted the men in the hall, then handed the goblet first to Hrothgar their homelands guarding… offering the goblet to all ranks” (614) queen Wealtheow passed around the goblet during the feasts, as if she is serving the men. And this portrays the female role in society that they should feed the men and help them drink, not a very substantial role of power found here. We also see that the Queen gives King Hrothgar the goblet first symbolizing his power as king. And the second time she passes the goblet around after Beowulf defeats Grendel she gives Beowulf the goblet after the king showing how he proved himself powerful and that he deserved to drink right after the king, we see when Beowulf gained power Weoltheow had to respect him second to the king and we see even though she is the Queen her duty is to be there during peace (after Beowulf killed Grendel) and to serve the