Thryth is however easily rehabilitated by marriage, as she is to some degree functional within her society. Grendel's mother is not, and the only remedy for her type of complete evil is death. As her son, she is an outcast, and deserving of a death as such. Her evil has no place in a society that sees itself as predominantly good.

In Oedipus, the fulfillment of fate is the ultimate undesirable element, and can be compared to the idea of 'evil' in Beowulf. There is however no apparent duality that differentiates the women of the play, except in terms of maturity and in terms of their role as compared to that of men. Interestingly, a woman, Jocasta, is the cause of the undesirable event. She attempts to break the curse by what she believes is the murder of her son. Eventually however she is driven to suicide by her failure....
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