Afternoon of Alterity - Nazareth College

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easons for “otherness.” On top of the notion that she is monstrousfor being able to reproduce is that she is monstrous because shecannot guarantee her child immortality. This is a theory created bymen to make the womb and reproduction into something negativeand horrific. These theories were not created suddenly and withoutpremise. Literature has been depicting the female as monstrous sinceas early as the eleventh century.Though Errour, Sin, and Grendel’s Mother all are viewed asmonstrous, there are slightly different reasons why. Franscus writesthat Errour and Sin are monstrous because they reproduce often andbecause they refuse to be sexually and socially passive, which violatesthe codes of proper female behavior (Franscus). This code is stillvery much intact today and can be seen through the objectificationof women as well and will be discussed later. Grendel’s mother, alsoperceived as monstrous, is labeled as such one, since she has alsoreproduced but she is even more monstrous as she takes mattersinto her own hands by seeking revenge on Heorot due to themurder of her son at the hands of the hero Beowulf. After Grendel’sdeath, Grendel’s mother is introduced to the story. “He went awaywretched, deprived of joy, to find his place of death, mankind’sfoe. But his mother still greedy, grim-minded, wanted to go on hersorrowful journey to avenge her son’s death” (Liuzza 92). Would notany mother wish to seek revenge on the person who has taken heronly son’s life? According to Acker, in Old Norse literature, womentaking vengeance into their own hands are considered distinctlydeviant. He writes that because these aggressive acts are reservedfor men, Grendel’s mother is highlighted as monstrous (Acker705). This same story depicts a similar situation of men seekingvengeance, but is seen through the men’s eyes as a true warriordeed. “Wise sir, do not grieve. It is always better to avenge dear onesthan to indulge in mourning/When a warrior is gone, that will behis best and only bulwark”(1384-1389). The hypocrisy prevalent insara cruz 85
these men is comical. A mother seeking revenge on the murdereris evil and monstrous, however, these men who go to find this onewoman to seek their revenge, are considered the ultimate warriors.These ideas are patriarchal and misogynistic. Along with her deviantbehavior, Grendel’s mother has also produced offspring. This isher first step into monstrosity, her deviance only adds to her evil.She also lives within nature and it is made quite clear in Beowulfthat nature is considered “other” by the people of Heorot. WhereGrendel and she reside is a place that not many wish to go. Herunderwater home is a cave and deeply symbolic of a uterus as isErrour’s place of residence in The Faerie Queene. The descriptionof Errour’s home seems threatening and like Grendel’s mothers,is also in a cave. This is not a coincidence. “That houses formewithin was rude and strong, Lyke an huge cave hewne out of rockyclifte/And with rich metal loaded every rifte, That heavy ruinethey did seeme to threat/Her cunning web, and spred her subtilenett” (Spens 123). Errour and Grendel’s mother’s abode’s representnature, the uterus, and the abject just as childbirth represents theabject in a patriarchal society.Childbirth is considered abject because it is unfamiliar to menand they envy the authority that comes to a woman after bearing achild. Any being that can carry a living being in their womb for ninemonths and go through the agony of birthing that child, gives thatbeing higher authority than a being which has not gone through thesame experience. Defiling, deforming, and objectifying woman andher natural ability is a coping mechanism for men. The reproductiveability is raw and close to nature. Today females bear the label of“other” by being objectified by men and even themselves. NickHeflick states that most literally, objectification refers to makinga person into an object, and consequently, less than fully human(Heflick). Today the female is still perceived as “other” but insteadof being monstrous, now she is something less than fully human.86 afternoons of alterity
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Afternoons of Alterity A Codex of t
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Table of ContentsFrom Medieval Mars
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From Medieval Marsh Monsters toFutu
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imagination, we must first attempt
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seed of monstrosity within themselv
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essence as a monster, it seems reas
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she bore two sons, one from the imp
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perhaps, anti-heroes) of the futuri
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to watch the murder and mutilation
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and modern audiences through their
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Works Cited“Bushwhacked.” Firef
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Projecting Otherness ontothe Disabl
Page 26 and 27:
in any systematic structuration. An
Page 28 and 29:
The idea of the monstrous’ vulner
Page 30 and 31:
not us and are in the proximity of
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they want to be treated. The interv
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Monstrosity and theIrruption of Rea
Page 39 and 40: describing his fears of this place
Page 41 and 42: stained with sin” (Spearing 221).
Page 43: often and at will to show man somet
Page 46 and 47: What’s Love Got To Do With It?The
Page 48 and 49: story than as the beginning? What f
Page 50 and 51: It is textual content like this tha
Page 52 and 53: through the story as the Green Knig
Page 54 and 55: the first advocating voices for end
Page 56 and 57: “capable of seeing things objecti
Page 58 and 59: Darkness: The True Monster ofLitera
Page 60 and 61: the way they can make us feel, but
Page 62 and 63: not only closes out, extinguishes,
Page 64 and 65: and temptation, most especially for
Page 66 and 67: hours “led to the term ‘night
Page 68 and 69: specifically his relationship to da
Page 70 and 71: humanization of Grendel draws the r
Page 72 and 73: subconscious the message may be. Th
Page 74 and 75: Serial MonstrosityEmily Mastrobatti
Page 76 and 77: is clear that they are monsters and
Page 78 and 79: murderer that he once was. He has b
Page 80 and 81: of the killing, “When investigato
Page 82 and 83: ook “contains recipes from the bo
Page 84 and 85: asks Charles Manson to marry her, t
Page 86 and 87: Monstrous Mothers andObjectified Da
Page 88 and 89: and her sisters plot to kill their
Page 92 and 93: The original ideas are still intact
Page 94 and 95: objectified creature. “Cultures o
Page 96 and 97: Works CitedAcker, P. Horror and the
Page 98 and 99: Grendel: A Manifestation ofMedieval
Page 100 and 101: ut never was his physicality hinted
Page 102 and 103: to wander in the darkness and the c
Page 104 and 105: Magic could not resurrect Grendel t
Page 106 and 107: Works CitedBeowulf. Trans. RM Liuzz
Page 108 and 109: The Monster Under the BedThe Creati
Page 110 and 111: to procreate but the accepted manif
Page 112 and 113: Cain had/killed his father’s son
Page 114 and 115: can, without a doubt, be placed int
Page 116 and 117: The vagina’s ability to function
Page 118: Ed. Barbara K. Gold, et all. Albany
Page 121 and 122: To understand precisely how states
Page 123 and 124: a strict delineation between each g
Page 125 and 126: monstrous and societal rules to fol
Page 127 and 128: Gawain is willing to accept his mis
Page 129 and 130: survive, challenge, and defeat. Esp
Page 131 and 132: governmental standards, then are we
Page 134 and 135: They Walk Among UsOccupational Viol
Page 136 and 137: sports and regard our members of th
Page 138 and 139: modern readers are not part of the
Page 140 and 141:
otherness and disdain for humanity.
Page 142 and 143:
are underpaid and for the most part
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Home and Spatial IdentityPhysical t
Page 146 and 147:
closeness among the people that the
Page 148 and 149:
Into the dark gorge I ventured; the
Page 150 and 151:
the treasures that fill up their ho
Page 152 and 153:
threatened by the very existence of
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and draped in damp, shaggy moss, an
Page 156 and 157:
individual. Home resides within the
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Works CitedArmitage, Simon. Sir Gaw
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Afternoon of Alterity - Nazareth College

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