Women in Anglo-Saxon England Essay -- English Literature Essays

Women in Anglo-Saxon EnglandAnglo-Saxon literature was based on Germanic myths round battles, heroes, diseases, dragons and religion. Writers did not pay much attention to female issues, and there argon only few poems that talk about(predicate) them. Beowulf and The Wifes mourning are two examples that briefly consider womens lives in that time. Anglo-Saxon history and poetry portray womens lives as uneasy and low-level on their economises positions. Women had to endure arranged marriages, abuse and male dominance. Marriage meant actually much to women particularly for their status and economic security. In the medieval era, raft wed within their class and only a slave could sometimes find his match and marry for true love. Wars and family feuds forced females to play the spot of peace-weavers. They were often married to their familys enemy to make a truce between warring tribes. The poem The Wifes Lament is about a cleaning woman who, at one time, apparently, was a peace-weaver. The wife and her husband are separated against her will she feels very unhappy and lonely. The husband has move a murder and then has abandoned her I am sweep over with longing. These dales are dark, and hills high, bitter bulwarks ever grown with briers, a joyless dwelling. present very often my lords going away has wrenched me (102). In Anglo-Saxon England, a marriage did not mean happiness or love. It put women in a very tough position since they had to dupe the role of peace-weavers and to unite two families that hated one another. In many an(prenominal) cases men treated women as sexual objects and did not respect them. In Anglo-Saxon England, there was a law called wergild, which meant man price. When someone got ki... ... is informed of her sexuality and sovereignty over men. I think that her character is disputed even though I think that she is a great woman and deserves credit for her actions.Citations Abrams M. H, et a l. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 7th ed. New York W. Norton & Company, 2000. Fell, Christine. Women in Anglo-Saxon England and the match of 1066. Bloomington Indiana University Press, 1984. Catholic Encyclopedia. Online. October 24, 2000. http//www.newadvent.org Harvard University. Online. October 24, 2000. http//www.icg.fas.Harvard Luminarium Organization. Online. October 22, 2000. http//www.britannia.com/history/biographies/guinever.htmlhttp//www.georgetown.edu/labyrinth/subjects/women/women.htmlhttp//www.r3.org/life/articles/women.htmlhttp//www.luminarium.org/medlit/chaucer.htmhttp//www.infoplease.com