World Literature

Gender Roles in Beowulf and The DecameronThe Anglo- Saxon epic Beowulf and Giovanni Boccaccio s Decameron tell very different stories , but nevertheless can be deport to sh atomic number 18 one common literary elework forcet : the mold of gender . Both Beowulf and many of the stories in the Decameron arrange wo manpower as being the subject to hands in both view . Beowulf is a mannish epic whole , in which wo custody argon absent , silent or physiqueer(a)wise only a tool that serves the world of custody . In The Decameron on the other hand , although women argon present in all the stories , Boccaccio makes them the victims of his irony most of the times , picturing them either as adulteresses or as very simple beings that completely escape penetration , like the char woman who lets herself be persuaded by her buffer that he is the angel Gabriel himself . However in both Boccaccio s tales and in Beowulf the purpose of the women is even more interesting to notice when the authors narrow down to beget a irresponsible representation of them , in the form of type women . The ideal women for the two texts , Griselda in Boccaccio s hundred invention and Wealhtheow in Beowulf offer indeed a good sagacity into the centering in which women were represented : they atomic number 18 intended to be positive figures , but they are ideal only insomuch as they are perfect tools that serve in the men s worldThus , Beowulf is as Gillian Overing notes , an absolutely masculine epic , which focuses only on resolution . The world of men is accurately constructed : it is entirely cool of men s wishes , men s actions and so on : Beowulf is an overwhelmingly masculine numbers it could be seen as a chronicle of potent intrust , a tale of men dying .There is no stray for women in the masculine economy of Beowulf . (Overing , 69 ) Beowulf is the ! maven and later(prenominal) the king , who saves the Danish people of the powerful monster Grendel and of his founder .

The very few women who appear in the story are mostly mentioned directly as instruments in the world of men , as love-in-idleness-weavers more exactly , like Hrothgar s daughter for fountain , who is mentioned directly as a promise to a veritable man , as a means to bring peacefulness to the kingdom : Oft to the heroes Hrothgar s daughter / to earls in turn , the ale-cup tendered -- /she whom I heard these hall-companions / Freawaru name , when fretted gold / she proffered the warrior s . Promised is she / gold-decked / maid to the pleased son of Froda / Sage this seems to the Scylding s-friend kingdom s-keeper : he counts it wise / the woman to wed so and ward off feud / adhere in of slaughter . But seldom ever /when men are slain , does the murder-spear sink / but briefest while , though the bride be fair It is quite clear that this woman leave behind probably fail even in her modest position as a peace maker , according to the prophecy of the unidentified author Wealhtheow , queen to Hrothgar is the only woman who is devoted a...If you trust to get a full essay, order it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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