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Queer Theory In Beowulf: The Problem Of Grendel's God

1492 Words6 Pages

Beowulf, a strong warrior from the tribe of the Geats, being a part of the gay community would be hard to believe. Although it is difficult to consider, applying queer theory to Beowulf is simple when the epic poem demonstrates various situations as to apply queer theory. In the work Beowulf, the anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet utilizes coded language, paradigms of hetero-culture, and unsuccessful hetero-normativity to demonstrate how the fight between Grendel 's Mother and Beowulf caused Beowulf to be uncomfortable, how the heterosexual married men had a lot of failures compared to the never married Beowulf. During one scene, the poet used "coded" language in a hetero culture to explore the heroism of the queer warrior. The coded language is seen between Beowulf and Grendel 's Mother. The coded language during this scene projects a sexual tension and an uneasiness that Beowulf went through. In the article, The Structural Unity of Beowulf: The Problem of Grendel 's Mother by Jane Nitzsche, she discusses "the contrast of the mock-sensual embracing and grasping" of Beowulf 's other two battles between Grendel and the dragon compared to only Grendel 's Mother (Nitzsche 293). Grendel 's Mother demonstrates the sexual tension in three different ways: first, the emphasis upon clutching, grasping, and embracing while they fight; second, the contest for a dominant position astride the other; and third, the use of fingers, knife, or sword to penetrate clothing or the body, the latter

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