The story of Charoba in Walter Savage Landor's "The Seventh Book of Gebir" calls to mind images and tales from classical Greek myth. Perhaps my familiarity with Greek civilization hastened such associations to my understanding. It is significant to consider such allusions because, when reflected about in the context of Greek myth, Charoba is painted in a vastly different, unsympathetic light .
Charoba's vivid description recalls much classical imagery; she is introduced in naked form, reclining on "the soft inward pillow of her arm" (92) with classical instruments harmonizing in the background--a constellation of harps and lutes. Landor includes classical luxuries and symbols of decadence such as wine and purple decor, further suggesting a connection to Greek mythology. By the same token, the very length of the poem and its various stanzas recalls the epic poetry of Homer.
The most prominent Greek tale intimated by Landor's poem is Euripides' Medea. Interestingly, Medea, which was performed in a competition in 431, earned last place. It is rather ironic that an originally- unappreciated piece of Greek tragedy appears to have been imitated by Landor. In Euripides' tale, Medea is portrayed rather misogynistically as an evil sorceress who seeks vengeance on her husband's hubristic actions by killing her two sons and his new wife. Medea uses a poisoned garment to kill her husband Jason's new wife, Glauce. Thus, Gebir and Glauce suffer the same fate by the same means. The strong association between these two pieces suggests a possible incrimination of Charoba. Perhaps Landor chose to use a seemingly paradoxical storyline to imply the underlying motives of his female "protagonist" and allow his audience to foster some doubt as to the true antagonist of the piece.
Note: Facts about Euripides and his tragic play Medea were taken from lecture notes of Dr. Daniel Solomon's Greek Civilization class at Vanderbilt University.
Having been in this class with you, Alex, I really enjoyed the connection you made to Euripides' Medea! I also got the same feeling when reading Landor's work, especially in relation to the killing of Gebir by Dalica with the poisioned garment, as well as the imagery surrounding Charoba and her appearance. In addition to the Medea reference, many aspects of Greek Mythology and imagery are used in this work such as the "Nymphs and Naiads" (14), the monster of Charybdis (most notably mentioned in the Odyssey) and as you mentioned, the lavish description of the marble and the decadent,exotic fabrics. These Greek references call to mind an epic poem, which sets a mysterious tone, allowing the emotion and the romantic style of the story to come through to the 18th century reader.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting connection. Not only is the poisoned garment a classical motif, but also crops up in the Arthurian mythos and the Lay of the Volsungs (a Germanic epic). The connection in all three, though, is its use as a weapon by women. I think this enhances your conclusions of misogyny, and therefore furthers the unstable interpretation of protagonism/antagonism.
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