A comparative essay on Grendel” and “The Picture of Dorian Gray.”
The roles and functions of female characters in Grendel and The Picture of Dorian Gray reflect several attributes of contemporary women. In Grendel, the only female character that embodies these elements is Grendel’s mother.
On the other hand, The Picture of Dorian Gray” features several minor female characters. However, the role of Dorian Gray’s distressed fiancée, Sibyl Vane, is portrayed vividly as a modern woman.
Intellectual differences
Grendel’s mother and Sibyl Vane are two different women with varying levels of intellectual capacity. While Grendel’s mother struggles to express herself and is portrayed as a beast lacking intelligence, Sibyl Vane is depicted as a genius. Grendel’s mother communicates solely through soundless means, leading her son to believe that she is nameless and only exists as a vague memory. Grendel finds her behavior irritating and believes she may suffer from some form of psychiatric disorder.
Despite this, Grendel’s mother plays an important role in the novel by highlighting the significance of language and its impact on civilization. As expressed by Grendel himself: “I was, in her eyes, some meaning I could never know and might not care to know” (Gardner 11). This quote emphasizes how crucial it is for his mother to communicate with him effectively; without language, she fails to make her presence felt.
On the other hand, Sibyl Vane is the total opposite of Grendel’s mother both physically and intellectually. She is an actress with so much beauty and talent that Dorian Gray falls in love with her. However, this external beauty and talent only exist while she is on stage playing the role of Juliet.
Both female characters hide behind deceptive cloaks and superficial attributes.
Although Grendel cannot communicate with his mother, he believes that she is hiding secrets from him. There is something she knows but will not tell him. Grendel only discovers the sad truth after the dragon reveals everything to him. When Grendel looks into his mother’s eyes, he sees indifference and feels the crushing love that embraces him but avoids looking deeper because she wants to hide the truth of his existence and express separateness.
On the other hand, Sibyl Vane portrays two different personalities: the Sibyl Vane playing Juliet on stage and another character off stage. After falling in love with Dorian Gray, she realizes how the stage has turned her into an artificial being. In other words, she is not her true self in the general sense; in Dorian’s eyes, she is different. After seeing her poor performance (during which time she is already deeply in love with Dorian Gray), Sibyl Vane feels conflicted.
Dorian Gray broke her heart and led her to commit suicide after leaving her that night. You have killed my love. You used to stir my imagination, but now you do not even pique my curiosity. You simply have no effect on me anymore. I loved you because you were marvelous, because you possessed genius and intellect, because you brought the dreams of great poets to life and gave shape and substance to the shadows of art. You have thrown it all away. You are shallow and stupid,” (Wilde 98) these words came from Dorian Gray’s mouth full of sneering pain that penetrated into her inner soul. She realized that she was not the Sibyl Vane who had once existed with beauty and talent; rather, she was a woman with false character and confused identity.
Similar implications can be drawn from the two female character roles to the present day.
The role of the two female characters has several implications that are very relevant to society. Grendel’s mother represents a person’s love for someone but refuses to let that person see more inside her. This is reflective of a society where individuals exist but seem invisible in the general sense because they lack openness and broad-mindedness.
Similarly to Sibyl Vane, she acts but not as her true self. She portrays a different kind of woman and is aware of this after realizing that she no longer needs to act. When she saw how beautiful it is to be true, she understood that being genuine is more important than pretending. This illustrates how modern women do not want to be solely recognized for their beauty, but rather observed for their personalities.
Conclusion.
The novels Grendel and The Picture of Dorian Gray reveal the true nature of our society. They mirror how people manipulate and control their image in society. However, internally, they crave to express their true selves, while superficially acting in the shoes of another person, depriving themselves of their own originality. Today’s society is filled with women whose lives are focused on superficial beauty and deceptive motives. They compromise themselves and thus deprive themselves of true happiness.
Works Cited.
Gardner, John. Grendel. New York: Knopf, 1971, p.11.
Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. Edited by Donald L. Lawlered. New York: W. W.
Norton & Company, 1988: 53-98.
