Beowulf, Feminist Remix

X-Men was one of the first, possibly the first, comics to portray a women in power. Many women were seen as inferior and unskilled in former times. This lack of power created a revolution because when something is submissive for so long, it reacts. Unfortunately, Beowulf was written before this time and it came from a different culture with different values. Women were seen as powerful, but surreptitious. They would reel a man in and make him waver from his path setting ingrained connotations towards women in the time. Beowulf is interpreted as a serious, masculine tale of daring adventure and relentless strength and bravery, but when seen through the eyes of a woman, it is nothing but a story of how a man thought himself strong, tested his strength, and when something came along that was stronger, died. If retold, the story would show the characters' submission to the beasts and the slyness of character rather than the brute force.

Beowulf is the search for power. It's the story of man beating man who then gets beat by creature. The hackneyed idea of pure strength fixing everything and ruling the thoughts of those around. Through the culled eyes of a woman, it can be reinvented. Women were seen as sly creatures themselves who tricked men into unfaithfulness and wondering off course. For example, the mermaids in the Odyssey weaned Odysseus and his men off course and got them into trouble. This trait is something that is desirable and can be used for good. Beowulf would use his sense of surroundings and human nature to conquer those around him. Instead of tearing off Grendel's arm, he would slowly poison Grendel with the food he was eating and make him either die of the poison or abandon his harmful diet. The portrayal of mother's intuition helped shape the idea of female dominance rather than slyness. Mother Grendel exemplified the presence of love and compassion of a mother for her child. The reaction was understandable under the circumstances. From a woman's eyes, Beowulf would be told in a satirical voice to poke fun at the little appearance of women throughout the whole piece but embrace the wisdom that comes with the few roles. A feminist would twist the heroic story to emphasize the idea of "thinking on your feet" over strength to defeat the enemy.

Beowulf is a classic for good reason; it shows the values of bravery, pride, willfulness of the culture it was written from. It teaches leadership to the youth of the culture and opens a window into what life was like. It is the typical masculine tale, but has qualities of feminisim. The power and love of women is not to be toyed with are constant themes within the text. But, if told from the perspective of a women, the attributes desired would resemble the way women were looked upon, as snakes.They would reverse the rolls of man and woman to create a paradox of what was seen as masculine and what is newly seen. Women use their skills to teach and solve problems rather than aimlessly fighting to establish circulatory dominance.