What is the role of women in literature? This is a question that is asked when people see female characters in literature. In newest translation of “Beowulf” by Maria Headley, there are parts of the book where a female character is what the reader might assume of a woman in medieval times, and there is a part where another female character is the opposite of what people might assume of woman in the time “Beowulf” is set in. And in literature, like Marie de France’s “Lanval,” women in power such as queens and princesses in the Old English period, they might use their power to their advantage. The role of women in literature is not always what the audience expects, and the audience should not always assume what the role of women is in any time period.
In some literature, the role of women is what some people might expect of women in the old English period and sometimes today, such as taking care of the kids and the house, doing the cooking and serving the food, getting the chores done, looking after the pets, etc. That is the role of women in some forms of literature depending on the time period. If the book, poem, whatever form of literature that has female characters and if that female character is a queen, the reader would expect her to treat her king or a hero well. In some books, if a king is away at war, the queen would look after the people and the kingdom as well as ruling in the king’s absence. There is a part of “Beowulf” where everyone is having a big feast in a mead hall and the queen, Wealhtheow is serving drinks and giving out treasure.
An example of a woman treating a man like a king in the Old English period, if not a god, is this, “She offered armlets, garments, a neck-ring: a collar larger than any I’ve ever seen, as heavy as Heaven is light, and all the brighter and better than any hoard since Hama’s.” Headleypg. 53, 2021. This quote from the newest translation of “Beowulf” tells me that the queen, Wealhtheow, showered Beowulf himself with riches and was friendly toward him because he killed the monster, Grendel, prior to a feast in a mead hall. In literature, this is one of the many things that people in the Old English period expect of women and one of their roles. There are roles of women in real life that are similar to this. The queen, Wealhtheow, fits perfectly into what is expected and assumed of women in literature. She also falls into the category of the “perfect woman” as one would say. In the question of what is expected of women, this is appears to be one of the many answers.
Even though there are a lot of assumptions of women in literature and real life, women are sometimes the opposite of what they are and expected. In movies, books, poems, etc., women are like men in many ways. Some ways that women and men are the same in real life today is that men and women go to work, both pay the bills, take care of the kids, look after the pets, etc. How women and men are the same in literature and in medieval times is that some queens go to war alongside their kings, they can lead soldiers into battle, women can be great warriors and leaders, etc. In another part of “Beowulf,” when Grendel is killed, his mother is driven by revenge and avenges her son’s death.
The author of the book stated in this part of the book “She tore a warrior from his bed, and dragged him, defenseless, to her fen. This was Hrothgar’s best friend, most adored on the land between the two salt seas, warrior and retainer. She slew him sleeping.” Headley, pg. 57, 2021. This quote from “Beowulf” about Grendel’s mother avenging her son’s death is that she started with someone who was close and dear to Hrothgar. One would say that was “an eye for an eye,” she lost her son, and she took Hrothgar’s best friend from him. This quote from the book says that women can be just as vicious as men when it comes to losing someone who is dear to you, if not many times more vicious as well. From what Grendel’s mother does, she changes what everyone in the Old English period expect to behave and because of what she did to avenge her son’s death, she would be considered a monster like her son.
There is another thing that some people today might expect or assume of women in literature set in medieval times: a queen or princess might use her power and position to her advantage. I think some women do this because not only does it give them power over others, but it might also make them feel good, it helps them get back at people they believe have wronged them and have hurt them greatly and they can probably bring justice to criminals among the people in their kingdoms. This can be seen in books, movies and T.V. shows, etc. In Marie de France’s “Lanval,” because Lanval refused Queen Guinevere’s love, she used her position and power to her advantage, lying to King Arthur and falsely accusing him of treason.
Marie de France wrote in “Lanval,” “’Vassal, you have wronged me greatly! You were extremely ill-advised to shame and vilify me, and to slander the queen. You boasted out of folly, for your beloved must be very noble for her handmaiden to be more beautiful and more worthy than the queen.’” De France, pg. 77, 1999. This quote from the book tells the audience that when Guinevere told Arthur that what had happened between them and wrongly/falsely accused him of treason, Arthur had Lanval arrested without a second thought. How Guinevere used her position and power to her advantage in this situation is that since she was queen of the land and since she was denied what she wanted, she thought “I will tell the king that Lanval asked me to be his lover. Arthur will believe me more than one of his knights no matter how beloved Lanval is.”
One final thing that people in the Old English period expect and assume of women is that when a woman marry a man, people in this time will assume she will stay married to that man for the rest of their lives. But in forms of literature like Marie de France’s “Bisclavret,” husbands will keep leaving home for a few days every week and the wives will worry even if their husbands return to their arms, they lose their trust in their husbands, turn their backs on them, start seeing other men, like the husband’s friend, and they eventually fall in love with them and end up marrying them. There is a part in the book where the baron’s wife is worried so much, she begs him to tell her where he keeps going for a few days every week.
As de France writes in “Bisclavret,” “’In faith,’ she said, ‘I am relieved to hear this. Lord, I am so fraught with anxiety the days you are apart from me, my heart is so heavy and I have such fear of losing you that I shall surely die shortly from this unless I soon get help. Please tell me where you go, what becomes of you and where you stay. I think you must have lover and, if this is so, you are doing wrong.’” De France, pg. 68, 1999. This quote from the book tells the audience that the Baron’s wife got so worried about him leaving her alone for days at a time, that she basically begged him to tell her where he was going while he was away from home and thought he had a lover. This is another thing that everyone in the Old English period and some people today expect and assume of women: they worry about their husbands when they are gone for days on end.
The husbands’ constant leaving home for a few days at a time, that might be one of the signs that the wife is beginning to lose faith in her husband and loving him less and less as time passes and considering leaving and marrying another man that they might secretly love and long for. The more the husbands leave their homes and loved ones for days on end, the more the wives will worry, lose faith, and love their husbands less and less with each passing day.
There are a lot of things that some people today expect and assume of women in literature. Sometimes that’s true, other times women are the opposite of what they are assumed to be in the medieval times, they can be like men, if not better, and if the husbands do something that causes the wives to constantly worry about them, they might start seeing other men and consider marrying them. This is what some people today expect and assume of women in literature and sometimes in real life, how they are the opposite of what is expected of them in the Old English period and how they are like men, how women in power sometimes use their position to their advantage and what people today and in any time period don’t expect of women in literature and sometimes in real life, and why the audience shouldn’t always assume what the role of women and how they should behave in literature is.
Works Cited
De France, Marie. (1999). The Lais of Marie de France, London, England: Penguin Classics
Headley, Maria. (2021). Beowulf, Broadway, New York Farrar, Straus and Giroux