the structural unity of beowulf the problem of grendel's mother
Grendel's mother Jane Chance argues in The Structural Unity of Beowulf:The Problem of Grendel's Mother[3] that there are two standard interpretations of the poem: one view which suggests a two-part structure (i.e., the poem is divided between Beowulf's battles with Grendel and with the dragon) and the other, a three-part structure (this interpretation argues that Beowulf's battle with Grendel's mother is structurally separate from his battle with Grendel). Chance stated that, "this view of the structure as two-part has generally prevailed since its inception in J. R. R. Tolkien's Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics in Proceedings of the British Academy 22 (1936)."[3] In contrast, she argued that the three-part structure has become "increasingly popular."[3] She later developed this argument in Woman as Hero in Old English Literature.[4]