ENG Assignment 1 Draft

Beowulf is an epic poem comprising of 3182 lines. The poem is about Beowulf, a great hero who was a king of the Danes. In a part of the poem, Heorot is attacked by a monster which is known as Grendel. After slaying Grendel, the mother of the monster becomes furious due to the loss of her son and attacks Heorot. There are several roles which are portrayed by Grendel’s Mother. Comment by Gabrielle Kappes: always in italics Comment by Gabrielle Kappes: push your thesis further – what kind of roles does she fit into?

Grendel’s mother is a monster who possesses several characteristics. First of all, she shares similar characteristics like her son. She is gruesome, terrifying and also evil. Furthermore, the poet of the poem has made Grendel’s mother to possess human characteristics. We are told that she can walk upright with two legs and hands. We are also told that her eyes were bulging out and from her black hair stands a sprouting horn. On her body, scales cover her making her possess amphibian-like creature. The poet states that her scales are hard as a diamond that she can withstand swords from hundred of males. She also has a deep and rough voice which intensifies every word that she speaks. Her odor is the wet sea-water, and the smell can be detected from a significant distance. Comment by Gabrielle Kappes: good, but I need to see quotes from the poem as evidence to prove your argument!!!

Villagers were not sure if the cave where had one or two monsters. This means that Grendel’s mother was not terrorizing the village as much as her son. But all this changed when they killed her son, Grendel. Grendel’s mother showed mother characteristics based on her action when she learned that her son is dead. Every woman would like to avenge anyone who attacks their son. That is what Grendel’s mother decided to do. When the villagers were celebrating the death of the monster which has been terrorizing them, Grendel’s mother appeared and killed two men. Furthermore, her motherly characteristics are seen when she went after the hand of her son. This showed how she cared for her son that she felt humiliation when she witnessed the hand of her son hanging on the roof of the hall.

Grendel’s mother is automatically placed in the evil category and a natural enemy of Beowulf and his people when the poet stated that Grendel and her son are descendants of Cain. Grendel’s mother is a monster due to her being a descendant of her Cain. The poet placed Grendel’s mother in a position which makes her the enemy of Grendel. As a result, she becomes the avenger of Grendel’s death. Hrothgar states that “she had taken up the feud/because of last night, when you killed Grendel.” (1333-4, 1340) See if you can add another sentence here that works to analyze this quote further – can’t have a quote end a paragraph

The poet placed Grendel’s mother in a position that made her to be in the maternal category. The poet described the earlier reason for wanting revenge. : But now his mother/ had sallied forth on a journey, / grief-reached and ravenous, desperate for revenge” (1276-8). After Grendel’s mother kills the counselor of Hrothgar, Beowulf states that “it is always better /to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning (1384 – 5). With these two context, there are two people who are after revenge. Beowulf was revenging for Hrothgar whereas Grendel’s mother was seeking revenge for her son.

Unlike Hildeburh, Grendel’s mother has no men who can act on behalf of her. One confusing fact that that as a female character, she should be taking revenge. However, she is the only kind which is at alive in her species.

Roles of Grendel’s mother Comment by Gabrielle Kappes: is this your conclusion? You are being a bit repetitive in this essay, see if you can be more focused and to the point, cut out paragraphs if you think you already proved your point. ithink these lines of argument would work in your introduction and then your essay uses quotes to prove these points.

First of all, Grendel’s takes the role of a mother. Grendel is still a son to his mother. When her son died, she showed a lot of pain, who was the only close relative that she had. Furthermore, she went and avenged the death of her son, and took the hand which was placed in the hall. She showed supporting characteristics to her son and a lot of pain when she died. Living in the cave with her son also, showed how he comes back home, there is someone there for them.

Another characteristic which I feel that Grendel’s mother possess was evilness. The poem begins by stating they are descendants of Cain, the first person to kills person. Cain being the person who killed his brother, it means that there are sort of evilness in the poem. She hates the Danes only for one reason. They killed their son and thus must avenge her. Comment by Gabrielle Kappes: use stronger verbs I argue