• The Masculine Queen of Beowulf

    Author(s):
    Mary Dockray-Miller (see profile)
    Date:
    1998
    Group(s):
    Anglo-Saxon / Old English, Early Medieval, LLC Old English
    Subject(s):
    Literature, Medieval, Women's studies
    Item Type:
    Article
    Tag(s):
    Old English, Beowulf, Medieval literature
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6K96S
    Abstract:
    Traditional equation of women with the feminine and men with the masculine is disrupted when Beowulf is read within the rubric of gender performance as determined by Judith Butler in Gender Trouble and Bodies that Matter. Performativity enables a new way of interpreting the characters of Beowulf; specifically, in the world of the poem masculinity is power, most emphatically the power to control the actions of others. The violent queen Modþryðo illustrates the performative nature of the gender of power and shows that action, rather than biological sex, is the determinant of that gender. Modþryðo, though female, is ultimately masculine since she wields power in the way that Beowulf does.
    Metadata:
    xml
    Published as:
    Journal article     Show details
    Pub. Date:
    1998
    Journal:
    Women and Language
    Volume:
    21
    Issue:
    2
    Page Range:
    31 - 38
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    6 years ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved

    Downloads

    Item Name: pdf mdmmasculinequeen.pdf
      Download View in browser
    Activity: Downloads: 1404

    Back to Deposits