Female characters who played a prominent and crucial part in events occur in the books of different times regardless of the real position of women in society. The authors gave them extraordinary powers, strength, and influence on others’ actions and decisions. For instance, Wealhtheow from Beowulf demonstrated how the Germanic society perceived women and treated their assistants (Heaney 30). Other prominent heroines are Beatrice from Dante’s Inferno and Fair Miss Pertelote – a henwife from The Nun’s Priest’s Tale by Chaucer. While the former assisted Dante’s journey by asking an angel to assign Virgil for guidance, the latter directly influenced the main character’s, Chanticleer, actions. The authors represent distinct societies and periods of cultural development; however, their texts’ perception of women as powerful and irreplaceable is similar. This paper aims to discuss the female characters’ prominent position in Beowulf, Inferno, and The Nun’s Priest’s Tale and examine how they serve as an example of a woman strongly influencing the stories’ plots.
Beowulf, the Scandinavian epic poem representing early Germanic culture, includes a detailed explanation of how populations perceived gender-divided roles. Men were the bread takers, crafters, and warriors, while women were responsible for maintaining households, raising children, keeping families healthy, and hosting guests. An example of a powerful woman in Beowulf is Wealhtheow, Queen of the Danes and wife of Hrothgar, who participated in post-battle activities and served the warriors by passing the mead cup (Heaney 46). She was strongly influential in Beowulf’s plot because she used the mead cup ceremony to praise the warriors, ask them about their needs and thoughts, and motivate them. Wealhtheow was the first with whom Beowulf shared his intention “I meant to perform to the uttermost what your people wanted or perish in the attempt, in the fiend’s clutches” (Heaney 47). Through these actions, the queen helped her husband sustain peace in their clan and timely revealed and shared observations about the potential danger with the king.
In the ‘Inferno’ part of the Divine Comedy, Beatrice was an example of a strongly influential woman who participated in the plot by reaching an angel to ask for Virgil to guide Dante’s journey. She was a real woman whom Dante fell in love with and carried his feelings throughout his entire life journey. They were not together because she died at a young age, and this story made the author place her in heaven and the highly powerful position close to God. Beatrice does not appear in front of Dante in Inferno, but Virgil shares their conversation, reminding Dante that he is loved, still may find his way to faith, and there is a guide to assist. Beatrice said: “Now much I dread lest he past help have stray’d / And I be ris’n too late for his relief, / From what in heaven of him I heard” (Alighieri 2). Inferno displays how the strong influence of a woman on a man helped the latter cope with the challenging experience, remain hopeful, and remember God’s divine power.
‘The Nun’s Priest’s Tale’ is part of the famous Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, the set of Medieval English poems based on the pilgrims’ stories about diverse true and imaginary occasions. The Nun’s Priest told about the rooster Chaunticleer who lived with seven wives, among whom the best and most influential was the hen Pertelote. She encouraged him not to be superstitious about the night dreams and to get to work as usual. The hen said, “How dare you say, for shame, unto your love / That there is anything that you have feared?” (Chaucer, lines 78-79). Pertelote was wrong, and bad luck, the fox who stole Chaunticleer, indeed happened; the rooster still managed to escape (Chaucer, line 360). Although the rooster was in a dangerous situation, he also received an opportunity to use his intelligence to survive. Without Pertelote’s influence on Chaunticleer, the story could end severely for the barnyard’s animals as the fox could take others who would not escape. The Tale reveals that the woman’s power over a man’s decision-making is frequently underestimated, yet it is an essential part of a family’s well-being.
Women’s role in society has evolved, and the literature of different cultural periods revealed that it has always been significant. In Beowulf, the queen Wealhtheow was portrayed as a crucial figure responsible for maintaining peace, exploring the warriors’ moods via communication, and sharing with the king. In Inferno, a poem written in another historical and cultural epoch, Beatrice was a strongly influential woman whose actions helped Dante on the challenging journey through Hell. Her modest yet powerful involvement was essential for the main character to remain hopeful in divinity and the trueness of God. A hen with a prominent position in The Nun’s Priest’s Tale also demonstrated the influence on her husband. Rooster’s decision to consider the beloved wife’s opinion became an important lesson for all barnyards and the fox. Female characters have a prominent position alongside the men who love and praise them.
Works Cited
Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy. Translated by H. F. Cary, Wordsworth Editions, 2009.
Chaucer, Geoffrey. “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale.” The Canterbury Tales: Complete. Ed. Larry Dean Benson. Houghton Mifflin, 2000.
Heaney, Seamus. Beowulf: A Verse Translation. Norton, 2002.