There is an apparent theme among the readings we have done for this week involving the fortitude and moral strength of women. Beginning with our analysis of Myrrha, we observed her masculine inclinations to fight alongside Sardanapalus. She defends her rights to do so based on her connection to the Greeks, by strategically exploiting her nationality to disengage from her cultural context. Yet, the trajectory of the play ultimately settles Sardanapalus and Myrrha into more traditional gender roles than were established at the beginning of the play. However, in Heman's The Wife f Asdrubal, his wife never falters in her convictions about honor and morality. Hemans glorifies the wife as a heroine figure, describing her as possessing "wild courage," "a daring spirit,"and "mightier than death, untamable by fate"(24-25). In reality, she is killing her children to shame Asdrubal, and ultimately killing herself: an immoral and emotionally unsound action of a mother. Yet, Hemans recognizes the courage it takes to perform such an act, and she defends the wife's efforts to put the "woes and passions" of her children to rest. Hemans draws a clear distinction between Asdrubal as the "scorned and dishonored" traitor, and his wife as the "avenging goddess". Though fierce and of "delirious power", Asdrubal's wife is a figure representing the strength and conviction of women and mothers.
I too picked up on the theme of powerful women in these week's readings! In addition to the connection between Myrrha and the wife of Asdrubal, I also saw a connection with Aikin's "Epistles on Women" that we read for last week. In this work, Aikin describes the plight of a Native American women who is forced to commit infanticide, the murdering of her own child, in order to protect it from the evils of the world and starving to death. This is exactly what the wife is forced to do in "The Wife of Asdrubal" as well.
ReplyDeleteI was struck by her killing her children and herself as well. For a mother, this is immoral. And yet, when Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son in the Bible, it was to prove his faith. I wonder if this poem was well-received in Heman's time.
ReplyDeleteA couple of thoughts...
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, is the wife of Asdrubal truly a courageous figure? The more I think about it, the more I realize that this extreme emotional response seems to reinforce rather than abolish gender stereotypes. The rational (masculine?) response would have been either to punish the transgressor, or, if that proved unrealistic, to take the children and flee. The wife of Asdrubal acts out of revenge.
Secondly, the reference to Abraham above is interesting. I think it raises an excellent point, but the fact does remain that Hebraic tradition indicates God specifically called Abraham to the task. He does no such thing in the case of the wife.