ENGLISH 400: MONSTER THEORY
Alys Parker
Research Abstract
"'Now She Would Avenge Her Only Child': Beowulf's Warning to Anglo-Saxon Mothers"
This paper will examine the characterization of Grendel's Mother, or dam, in relation to the motherhood role as it existed within Beowulf's Anglo-Saxon setting. The highly popular psychoanalytic interpretation of Grendel's Dam identifies her monstrousness as embodying a cultural fear of feminine sexual dominance. My argument will similarly examine how female monstrosity is born from anxieties about women resisting their narrow, predetermined roles, but rather than considering sexual passivity and perversity, I will argue that Grendel's Dam is called monstrous because of her refusal to act as a passive, providing womb. Moreover, in contrast to the contemporary trend of reframing her character as a tragic heroine who was merely misunderstood in her own time, I posit that Beowulf's Anglo-Saxon listeners likely received a clear message from the actions
and death of Grendel's Dam: a mother had no say in what might become of her children. Supported by research into Anglo-Saxon political and familial structures, in addition to close readings of passages describing Grendel's Dam and other women within the Old English text, I will contrast the character of Grendel's Dam with that of the peaceweaver Wealtheow. For mothers of men who risked their lives for the sake of earning their place within society driven by the need for homosocial belonging, Wealtheow modeled how best not to disrupt the glory-driven, masculine warrior culture, while Grendel's Dam served as a reminder not to misstep--and what may become of them if they do.
Capstone Presentation
"Samite, Brocades, and Phrygian Silk: The Orientalism of Textiles in Marie de France's Lais"
In my presentation, I will focus on three single-sentence excerpts from The Lais of Marie de France’s “Le Fresne,” “Lanval,” and “Laüstic,” that invoke the name of a specific kind of foreign textile in order to convey a sense of wealth or luxury. Then I will place these passages and the stories in which they appear into the context of 12th-century Eurasian trade routes. Using this historical reading, we will be able to view the textual references to textiles from a medieval point of view, as well as through the lens of contemporary postcolonialism.