The epigraphs at the beginning of “The Bride of the Greek
Isle” from Byron’s Sardanapalus,
reflect aspects of the character of Eudora. The first lines, spoken by Myrrha,
are a pledge to Sardanapalus but also to herself; as an enslaved woman, death
will make her free. Although Eudora is not enslaved, she is treated as if she
is a possession, something to be passed from her father to her new husband. The
murder of her fiancée and her abduction, merely passing from one man to another
once again, intensifies the situation and the poem takes a heroic turn. At this
point the second epigraph from Sardanapalus comes into play: “I will not live
degraded.” Eudora takes this heroic agency upon herself, deciding death on her
own terms rather than letting others determine her future. In this way she
achieves her freedom, noting that, “The slave and master alike are gone.”
I agree with Carly about the importance of the epigraphs in reading this poem, as my post similarly reflects these ideas. I am wondering if in the end Eudora achieves freedom in dying by her own terms or if this is something that had to happen. In other pieces I have read, the woman character has to die because she could not go on living the way that she wishes she could so death is a way out of this constricting lifestyle. Could this be a similar situation with Eudora?
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