Craving For The Queen Essay Research Paper

Craving For The Queen Essay, Research Paper

Brittney Turner September 19, 1996

English 291

Craving for the Queen

In both texts, Beowulf and Grendel, the chief intent of the Queen s are to function the tribunals as & # 8220 ; weavers of peace & # 8221 ; . In Grendel nevertheless, Queen Wealththeow is described in much greater item and serves a farther intent. The reader additions insight to a portion Grendel that is non present in Beowulf, his desire for a human.

It was non unusual for adult females to be offered as items of peace within the baronial tribunals. In the fresh Grendel, Wealhtheow s brother, King of the Helmings, bestowed her to King Hrothgar to advance peace amongst the Helmings and Scyldings. & # 8220 ; She had given, her life for those she loved. So would any simpering, eyelash batting female in her tribunal, given the proper apparatus, the minimum conditions & # 8221 ; ( Grendel, p.102 ) . It is dry how she promoted peace from her reaching because she was an indispensable portion in maintaining peace, as the & # 8220 ; weaver of peace & # 8221 ; in the later of both texts. Queen Wealhtheow nevertheless is non the lone adult female in the texts that was forsaken to promote appeasement amongst feuding tribunals. Queen Hygd was offered to Hygelac under really similar fortunes as told in Beowulf, and portrayed the same function in Hygelac s land. There is mention in both texts concerning this tradition, and it is apparent to the reader that this is non an unusual Anglo-Saxon usage.

Queen Wealhtheow and Queen Hygd served as first-class function theoretical accounts for the tribunals in which they served. They exemplified the idiosyncrasies and etiquette of the baronial people. Queen Wealhtheow showed first-class poise from the really beginning of both texts. She was admirable as she passed the Mead bowl around Heorot. The offering of the bowl was symbolic, being that the bowl was foremost given to Hrothgar and so passed to Beowulf, as if she presented him with her trust. Beowulf gave Wealhtheow his warrant that he would be successful or dice in conflict. After she presented Hrothgar and Beowulf with the Mead bowl she served the Scyldings, and did so as if they were her ain people. She was non a Scylding, nor did she want to be one, but she ne’er made her unhappiness known, as described in Grendel. There is non great item on Queen Hygd in Grendel, but from what the reader can garner from Beowulf, she is every bit much of a female function theoretical account as Queen Wealhtheow. She was immature but really intelligent. In fact King Hygelac felt intimidated by Hygds intelligence. Queen Hygd was unlike Wealhtheow in the manner in which she did non bare many gifts. Hygd was more concerned about the hereafter of the people of her land wining Hygelacs decease than Wealhtheow. Hygd offered Beowulf the land because she believed it was in the best involvement of the people, she loved the warriors and wished peace amongst all the people. Wealtheow on the other manus felt that the land should be preserved for her boies.

Wealhtheow spoke after the & # 8220 ; fight at Finnsburg & # 8221 ; about the importance of her boies taking over the land in the verse form Beowulf, and this reminds Hrothgar of his age. This same address affected Hrothgar in both texts. It forced him to contemplate his worthiness of Wealhtheow. He realized that she was immature and beautiful, and need non be with an old adult male. Which made his sorrow even worse is the fact that she knew all this every bit good.

Queen Wealhtheow put up an first-class camouflage when concealing the hurting she experienced from being forced to be Hrothgars married woman. Unlike in Beowulf, in Grendel the reader was given insight into Wealhtheow s sorrow. The lone clip she would expose her sadness was when she would lie in bed at dark with Hrothgar with her eyes full of cryings. Sometimes she would go forth the land to brood in her sorrows but she would be instantly surrounded by guards, and escorted indoors. Wealhtheow was homesick, she missed her land, and her brother. When her brother visited Heorot she paid no attending to Hrothgar, and Hrothgar fulfilled go throughing around the Mead bowl. In Grendel, it told of Hrothgar s love for wealhtheow. He would frequently gaze at her in esteem. Despite her bitterness she treated Hrothgar with much regard, she ever looked up at him and referred to him as & # 8220 ; my Godhead & # 8221 ; .

Although Wealhtheow has much bitterness towards se

rving the Danes, she puts all that beside her and fulfilled her responsibilities as an praiseworthy queen. In Grendel it told how she came between drunken work forces in the Mead hall, as if she was their female parent. Her intercession reminded them of their duties toward the land. Her presence “brought visible radiation and heat, work forces began speaking, joking and laughing, both Danes and Geats together” ( Grendel, p.163 ) . She created a positive feeling throughout the land. In her presence the Shaper vocalized on a positive note about comfort and joy. Wealhtheow gave Beowulf advice about proper etiquette, how to talk to the Geats with “mild words” . She advised him to do certain he shared his gifts. After all that was a regulation by which she lived. Before Beowulf left the Danes, Queen Wealhtheow gave Beowulf a cherished neckband, the Brosing necklace, in grasp for his responsibility. She gave him the gifts so that he could do known who he was, to be proud of his achievements. She wished him the best of fortune and asked him to take attention of her boies.

There was much focal point on Queen Wealhtheow s outer beauty in the fresh Grendel. It went into much further item than in the verse form, Beowulf. From Wealhtheows entryway into the novel, the reader was told in great item of her physical beauty. Beowulf chiefly focused on her interior beauty. She was described as & # 8220 ; holding hair ruddy as fire, every bit soft as the ruddy shininess on firedrakes gold. Her face was soft, cryptically unagitated & # 8221 ; ( Grendel p.100 ) . This combination made her a really desirable adult female. So desirable that Unferth was attracted to her. Unferth flirted with Wealhtheow frequently in Grendel. When she would offer him the Mead he would peek at her and look down and smile. Unferth felt embarrassment after he made a remark about work forces killing their brothers while they were rummy. Few people in Heorot found the remark humourous, the queen was caught off guard. He respected the queen, as did every one throughout the land. He was humiliated at what he had said, he felt regret and ridicule by his error and glanced at the queen without looking off. Bing the sort individual that she was she forgave him, and he was put at easiness.

The lecherousness for Wealhtheow did non halt with Unferth. Possibly the most important difference in the two texts is that in Grendel, the monster, was attracted to Wealhtheow. There is no suggestion in Beowulf that Grendel posses any feelings toward the worlds. This desire for Wealhtheow gives the reader better penetration into Grendels character. Up until this point the reader was given no intimation that Grendel possessed anything except hatred toward the human race. Grendel was touched the first clip he saw Wealhtheow, he was struck by her artlessness and beauty. He wanted to sob at the sight of her ; the reader had ne’er been introduced to this sensitive side of the monster. The reader wasn t the lone 1 who had a job apprehension Grendels feelings, Grendel couldn t understand them either. He was & # 8220 ; tortured by the red of her hair and the set of her mentum and the white of her shoulders & # 8221 ; . There is decidedly a sexual overtone in Grendels desire for Wealththeow. Upon his onslaught of her he ripped her out of bed by her pess as if he was traveling to divide her in half. He wanted to kill her but he was torn by his feeling for her, all the hurting he wanted to bring down was sexual. He wanted to & # 8220 ; cook the ugly hole between her legs, and squash out her fecal matters with his fists & # 8221 ; . His motivation for killing her was justified by desiring to learn the Danes world, but he refrained because it would be & # 8220 ; pointless pleasance & # 8221 ; . Grendel was clearly unhappy about his desire for Wealtheow, and was disconcerted. He contemplated killing her because he wanted to acquire rid of these feelings, alternatively he decided to concentrate on the unwanted side Wealhtheow, & # 8220 ; her unqueenly scream & # 8221 ; and & # 8220 ; the ugliness between her legs ( the bright cryings of blood ) . & # 8221 ;

Although the two texts are basically the same, there is a important difference in how Queen Wealhtheow is portrayed. In the fresh Grendel, the reader is given non merely farther penetration to the beauty and appeal of Wealhtheow, but the sensitiveness and demands of Grendel. Both texts allow the reader to derive a farther apprehension to the place of adult females in the Anglo-Saxon society by agencies of the development of the characters, Queen Wealhtheow and Queen Hygd.