Wednesday, April 18, 2012
A Poem I'd Like Read at My Wedding-- Minus the Pirate Horde
Hemans's portrayal of a bride's experience in "The Bride of the Greek Isle" is quite compelling. The waves of love lost, love found, and love renewed between the bride and her childhood, home, family and groom are beautifully crafted throughout the poem. I am curious, however, with all the bride's recent reflection on the special relationships she shares with each of these entities, why is her life ended so quickly after the death of her lover? Does the act of marriage render a woman so dependent on the husband figure that--despite all the love she feels from her mother, father, and sister--she cannot live contented after his death? Perhaps Hemans means to comment on how sour an attempt to mourn and then move on can turn out. Eudora begins her grieving through this attempt at revenge. The pride--"Proudly she stands, like an Indian bride"-- she takes away from it, however, results in her demise. Can a woman in Hemans's time live proudly without a male counterpart? We know from Hemans's biographical information that she herself only succeeded in doing so after her husband's departure until the young age of 41. Eudora's fate serves quite a predictor for the fate of her creator.
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In my post, I also wonder how Heman's choice of subject truly helps her case. If she wants women to be more empowered, why is she so enigmatic in her characterization of women? Perhaps it is to show the true dynamism that women hold or to subtly pass her message on in a man's world. After all, Byron would rather have her knitting.
ReplyDeleteYou bring to mind an interesting point that we haven't really talked about... a man without a wife is likewise not exactly and honorable social character. I think there is a major codependence that we're sort of ignoring. A bachelor in this period would strike his social contemporaries as rather odd, I think.
ReplyDeleteI think Heman's is illuminating the issues with this social system. The bride first acts out the stereotypical departure from her family, in which she is characterized as the weak, submissive woman. After she breaks free from this role, she is given to her husband and starts to acquire a more masculine personality. After her husband dies, she is able to become the hero in this story. I think it is a critique on how societal roles are what hold down a woman from becoming empowered and active.
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