Emotions and Rebellion in Old English Female Poetry: A Comparative Analysis of Judith and The Wife's Lament

This study analyses the words and aspects related to two female figures in Old English poetry Judith and The Wife's Lament. To do this, the work starts with an overview of Old English poetry and its literary genres, both religious and non-religious. It will then focus on the description of the two manuscripts containing the poems abovementioned, namely MS Cotton Vitellius A XV and the Exeter Book, with particular attention to female poetry. Therefore, the female figures within these manuscripts and their fight against the “stranger” will be analysed in order to have a complete overview for the analysis of the two poems.