| SparkNotes: Grendel: Chapter 7 (1177 words) |
 | Though Wealtheow is awe-inspiring in her beauty and comforting in her kindness, Grendel sees her less as an individual woman and more as representative of the state of all women—as he makes clear when he compares Wealtheow to his own wretched mother and finds little essential difference. |
| Wealtheow is never shown with female companions, which underlines her function in this patriarchal society: she exists to articulate relationships between men. |
| Wealtheow is even named in honor of her duty to the men of her world: she is a “servant of common good.” Grendel finds this idealized image of women just as seductive as the Danes do, but he breaks that illusion when he storms the hall and exposes Wealtheow’s sex organs. |
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