(If you're not interested in the poem, you might want to skip this part.)
The epic of Beowulf
is teeming with men, ruling majestic halls, going through fatal battles and
causing bloodshed in the name of vengeance. Within this aggressive
male-dominated society, women play few, yet central roles. Women fill in three
roles in the Anglo-Saxon culture: they are the peacemakers, the hostesses and
the monsters. The monster role fascinated me the most. Grendel’s mother is the
embodiment of the monster of the Anglo-Saxon culture. However, her nature is
fluid, for at the same time she is portrayed as a vicious, hostile monster, she
is also given human characteristics and feelings.
Grendel’s
mother is introduced to the reader as a threat to humans, ready to slaughter
and kill them in order to avenge Grendel’s death. Also, the poem reveals that she attacks
anyone who dares come near her lair. In a Danish male-dominated society, it was
not acceptable for women to engage in combat or to avenge their deceased loved
ones; these were the duties of the men. Grendel’s mother, however, defies these
norms and resorts to violence to resolve the matter. Such actions reveal
masculine power and energy that should only be associated with men. It is
because Grendel’s mother doesn’t abide by the female role she’s expected to
fulfill that she becomes an outcast and a monster in their society. She is
excluded not just because she’s a descendant of Cain, but also because she
rebelled against the cultural standards.
However, once we inspect her closely, we can
detect her human side. It is believed that she and her son roamed the moors
together, so this shows that he’s the only family she has. As a mother, she is
stricken with grief and full of wrath upon Grendel’s death. Consequently, she
wants to give herself a closure, a consolation to her loss, and she can achieve
that by killing the man who killed her son. Up until her son’s death, she’s
never actually attacked any humans. Furthermore, she doesn’t approach Heorot
Hall for the sheer enjoyment of killing – she has a specific task at hand.
Beowulf himself explains in the poem that it is better seek vengeance than to
sit passively in mourning. Consequently, she attacks the hall, lures Beowulf
into her lair, but instead of killing him, she ends up being murdered by him.
My portrait of Grendel’s mother is a reflection
of the society’s misconception of who she is. Excluded, misunderstood, and
overwhelmed with grief, her insides turn black. The red pulsating from her
chest symbolizes her anger and her need for retribution. Within her eyes is the
tormented scream of a mother who’s lost her dearest love. Her arms are hidden
behind her back because even though she tries to avenge her son, she fails to
do so. The butterflies are a personification of her soul. They are a mixture of
blue, purple and red, which in a row, represent sadness, mourning, wrath and
vengeance. Finally, her son’s cut off arm is the only thing she is able to
salvage.
*Will take better picture once my teacher hands it back.
