Samantha Lombardo
Nicholas Helms
Rethinking Medieval and Renaissance Literature
October 11, 2022
Throughout history, women have constantly been pushed to the side for men to be able to come forth with power. When women gain power or look like they have some form of it, they are then deemed nasty, evil-like people. Most of the time it is men who declare these women as villainous and almost always determine their fate. When looking back at old-time works, it is evident that the women in these writings were not evil on their own, but rather perceived to be by the reader due to the actions the men had towards them. This idea of women being looked at this way is still noticeable in modern-day art as well.
One old-time work that has a multitude of translations and shows the idea of women being villain is Beowulf. For the purpose of this argument, I will be using the translation written by Maria Dahvana Headley. The whole poem has three villains, two of which are female, the first being Grendel’s mother. Mothers are notorious for being protective of their children, whether they be human or animal, it’s instinct. People use the phrase mother bear to signify the protection a mother gives to their child, which is very clear in what Grendel’s mother was doing in the story. In a study conducted by Marta Moita at the Champalimaud Center, she shows that females have a hormone called Oxytocin in them which makes them behave this way, the same hormone Grendel’s mother would have had as well. When Grendel was murdered, this hormone kicked in causing her to attack the hall, “ An avenger lay in wait, counting sworded seconds until the latest hour, her heart full of hatred” (Headley, pg 56, lines 1255-57). If Beowulf (the man) never killed Grendel (the action), his mother would not have attacked, since this hormone would not have kicked in. Even though both men and women have this oxytocin hormone, a women’s is much stronger because, “Mothers, with a stronger level of oxytocin, during pregnancy, exhibit a stronger bonding between mother and child”(HubPages, Are Mothers Better Than Fathers). With a higher level of oxytocin in their systems, a stronger bond can be created which is why mothers can be more protective of their offspring. So even though fathers are also protective of their offspring, they may not be as aggressive as a mother would when it comes to protecting their child.
This same hormone kicked in with the Scarlet Witch in both the show, WandaVision, and the movie, Doctor Strange and The Multiverse Of Madness. She was viewed as the villain more predominately in the movie rather than in the TV show however the idea is still there. She did everything she did for the reason of being with her children. The actions of men here don’t actually lead to her being the villain, however at one point in the movie, she makes a comment to D. Strange explaining how she was playing nice and that if he did anything to interrupt her goal, things would get worse very quickly. Dr. Strange not listening to what she said did in turn make her more aggressive and deadly to getting what she wanted. Mothers always say they would do anything for children with no hesitation and no one has a problem with it until it is actually done like in the case of Scarlet Witch and Grendel’s mother.
The second villain in Headley’s Beowulf is Shedragon. Here she represents the idea of men taking from women. In the poem, Shedragon (no name was actually given to her), lived in a cave away from the people of the land and one day a thief snuck in and stole one of the treasures in there that she was protecting. The reading explains how, “There she dwelt, this nameless fear, for three hundred years padlocking her hall with all her limbs until the infiltrator infuriated her” (Headley, pg 98, lines 2278-80). Shedragon was content with her life until provoked by the thief who stole her items. It goes on to say, “that guardian of old gold and haunted history” (Headley, pg 99, lines 2304). It was her job to protect that treasure of gold from the past, which is exactly what she was doing. Someone stole from her and she got angry, which every reasonable person would be. One may think she is the villain in these scenes but when one breaks down the reasoning for it, one can see what actually caused it and the fact that she was doing her job of protecting history.
A modern name character that has a similar storyline to Shedragon is Maleficient in the modern-day movie rather than the classic Disney princess movie. In the movie, she falls in love with the Prince but is betrayed by him. He takes her wings which is what makes her powerful (a clear representation of men taking from women who have power). This clear act of theft is what leads her to her jealousy and causes her to in return put a spell on the child in it. If he had never taken her wings she would have been content with her life in the woods. By the end of the movie, she turns more into the hero-like figure whereas the guy turns into the villain.
One very old myth that views women as bad is Medusa, in the Percy Jackson movies and throughout other stories. However, if one were to actually look into her story one would realize she is not actually the bad guy. Medusa was raped by the Greek God Poseidon one day and after turning him into stone due to rage and shame. She was then slaughtered by Perseus who cut her head off, which was then used as a trophy for the Goddess Athena. One article that explains her story explains that “her story is a reminder of the power of rage and despair” (MagnifyMind). In the current day, Medusa is viewed as evil yet is a symbol for sexual assault survivors. People started to view her as a symbol for sexual assault survivors according to the article written by Candy Belworth titled, #MeToo and The Medusa Myth, where she states, “In 2020, Argentinian artist Luciano Garbattipetitioned the New York Arts in The Parks Program to mount his statue Medusa with the head of Perseus as a symbol of triumph for sexual assault survivors”.Recently, a statue was put up in New York that flips the story of Medusa where she cuts the head of Perseus off. In an article written by Tessa Soloman she explains how the creator of the statue, Luciano Garbatti states, “How can a triumph be possible if you are defeating the victim”. This can be translated to, “how can she be the bad one when she is the victim of a male crime”. The act of Poseidon is what caused Medusa to go on to murder others who crossed her path, not just her want to do so. We still see in modern times victims of these cases are the ones who are being blamed for the cause of the acts done to them.
Many would argue that these female characters are indeed bad/villainous, however, I argue the reversal, these females are not bad for the actions made toward them. Women are viewed as villainous personas in modern and old-time works. Mothers are considered bad for doing things out of protection and love for their children. Women are viewed as bad when fighting back for something that was taken from them and women are viewed as villainous and power-hungry when they come out on top of men (roles reversed). They are viewed poorly based on what men do to them.
Work Cited
Bedworth, Candy. “#MeToo and the Medusa Myth.” DailyArt Magazine, 26 Oct. 2021, https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/metoo-and-the-medusa-myth/.
Dr. Strange And The Multiverse Of Madness, Sam Raini, Kevin Feige, Marvel studios, 2022
Headley, Dahvana Maria. Beowulf: A New Translation. Scribe, 2021.
Jlshernandez. “Are Mothers Better Parents than Fathers?” HubPages, HubPages, 12 Feb. 2021, https://discover.hubpages.com/family/mothers-better-parents-than-fathers#:~:text=Mothers%2C%20with%20a%20higher%20level%20of%20the%20hormone%2C,the%20mother%20spends%20more%20time%20with%20the%20child.
Neuroscience News. “What Makes a Mother Risk Her Life To Protect Her Kids?” Neuroscience News, 13 June 2017, https://neurosciencenews.com/maternal-protection-6897/.
Solomon, Tessa. “#MeToo Medusa Sculpture Met with Controversy Ahead of Unveiling in New York.” ARTnews.com, ARTnews.com, 12 Oct. 2020, https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/medusa-metoo-sculpture-luciano-garbati-controversy-1234573326/.
“What Is the Story behind Medusa? Unpacking the Myth of Medusa.” MagnifyMinds, 14 July 2022, https://magnifymind.com/what-is-the-story-behind-medusa/#:~:text=The%20story%20of%20Medusa%20is%20a%20tragic%20one.,Poseidon%20saw%20her%20and%20was%20overcome%20with%20desire.
Sprockets and Springes 