Friday, October 5, 2012
Wealtheow's Internal Monologue
At first I was angry at my brother for giving my hand in marriage to Hrothgar. But there is no use in being frustrated, this is my life now and I have to deal with it, so why not make the best of it. Sometimes these men are so brutish! They are always trying to get the upper hand on one another. Why don't they just leave Unferth alone! His accident with his brothers happened so long ago and it is obvious that he feels ashamed. I feel bad for him. All of these men have so much pride. It is sometimes difficult to deal with when they are all boasting about their victories and accomplishments! They all just expect me to wait on them like a servent. Well I guess that is what my life is now. I wish that I could speak up sometimes and tell them all to be quiet. It is not like I go around flaunting myself and talking about how much better I am than the other women. I would never do that. A woman must always keep the men happy in this tribe. Oh well, I guess God wanted it to be that way, so I must not question Him. Well, Hrothgar never listens to the priest when he talks about God. Does that mean that God does not exist? Why am I even thinking this? God will send me to Hell if I keep thinking these terrible thoughts. But what if the priest made it all up? Just to control everyone in the tribe and tell us all what is right and wrong? No, that is impossible. I really must stop thinking about this... I wonder what this Beast looks like who everyone talks about. He seems so scary. I do not understand why he is haunting our tribe! I wonder if he is lonely, what if he is just trying to befriend us. Oh listen to yourself, this is crazy! You are trying to justify the monster's actions when he comes into your husbands tribe and eats people! He really must be a terrible thing. Gosh I really should not worry myself with a man's problem. My only duty here is to take care of my husband and comfort him and his men. Obviously a woman has no other place in this tribe. If she did she would be out hunting with the men and fighting the monster and working! No, my job is to bear children and take care of my family. And if I were not the king's wife I would have to cook too! Thank God I am the king's wife.... that would be a meaningless life.
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Great journal entry, Walker. I really liked the part where she was asking questions relating to Grendel. I think that Wealtheow would be asking herself these questions, since there is no absolute answer for any of them. I thought that you did a really nice job with the general structure of this post and the wording/phrasing of the sentences. It all flowed really well. Good job!
ReplyDeleteThis was really good, I liked how it was formatted as a giant rant, it helped characterize a supporting character that the reader hardly get to hear about in both Beowulf and Gardner's novel. I also really liked how she has so many thoughts and isn't just portrayed as a mindless female. Great job!
ReplyDeleteNice piece, Walker. I enjoyed reading this piece. I like the constant questioning of the situation by Wealtheow. Also , I liked the discussion at the end about the role of the mother as the queen and how that contrasts to being a mother anywhere else.
ReplyDeleteIt must be a bit frustrating to put yourself into the mind of a character who sees her lot in life as God's will. But even she doesn't seem completely convinced by that thinking, so perhaps there's a touch of the modern woman in there as well. Nicely done.
ReplyDeletePS--what is the room with the destroyed piano? Is it from something or just a picture you found and liked?