Women in Romantic Literature Essays

Women in Romantic Literature Essays Women in Romantic Literature Essay Women in Romantic Literature Essay During the time period that Romantic Literature was being written woman in society were being stereotyped, oppressed, and generally given no respect compared to their male counterparts. Feelings and actions that were considered to be natural for a man were then criticized when reciprocated in a woman especially when it had to deal with sexual desires. Authors such as William Blake and William Wordsworth commented on the role of women by writing poems in which the oppression placed on their women characters by the conventions of society is the cause of their demise. The question that is brought up in the poems â€Å"Visions of the Daughters of Albion† by Blake and â€Å"The Thorn† by Wordsworth is whether the women in the poems are victims to the cruelty of the word’s thinking or are they sinners being punished for being women with improper attitudes towards sex. Oothoon in â€Å"Visions of the Daughters of Albion† is quite open about her feelings towards men namely her love for Theotormon even being as brazen to say, â€Å"I loved Theotormon/And I was not ashamed†(Blake iii. 2-3). Not only was she admitting her feelings, she was also proclaiming that it was not something she felt she had to hide or feel bad about; she was not apologetic about having sexual desires. Martha Ray in â€Å"The Thorn† had similar feelings for Stephen Hill and it is said that she, â€Å"Gave with a maiden’s true good will/ Her company to Stephen Hill† (Wordsworth 117-118), which signifies her giving up her virginity to the man she loved for what she believed to be an understanding that he would marry her afterwards. Although feelings and ardor for someone are natural and can not be controlled women were not supposed to give in to them and after Oothoon voicing and Martha Ray acting upon their passions their fates do not end up as joyous as they once had hoped and planned on them being, as if they were being punished for their feelings towards the ones they loved. In the beginning of †Visions of the Daughters of Albion† Oothoon is the image of the typical innocent little girl wandering around a field plucking flowers but on her way to see Theotormon when, â€Å"Bromion rent her with his thunders† (Blake 1. 17), and she is raped thus losing her innocence. For Martha Ray her innocence had already been taken from her when she gave herself up to Stephen Hill but after being denied by him when he married someone else she also lost her sanity. Even though both poems show the ludicrousness of the effects society has on people’s lives Oothoon is able accept what has happened to her and move on from it whereas Martha Ray gives into what has happened to her and lets it define her. Blake did not believe in conventions and felt that societys way of thinking was small minded and that feelings regarding the human body were natural and should not be suppressed. He did not agree with the way women were treated and the hindrance that was placed on their emotions. His thoughts on how women were treated can be seen in the fist line of the first plate when he says, â€Å"ENSLAV’D, the Daughters of Albion weep† (Blake 1. 1) showing that he sees the burden placed on women similar to the one placed on slaves. After that the poem becomes the story of Oothoon breaking free not only from the figurative bonds she is attached to by being a woman but also the actual bonds placed on her by Theotorum when he bounds Oothoon to her rapist, Bromian,†The adulterate pair/Bound back to back† (Blake 2. -6). â€Å"Visions of the Daughters of Albion† is written as an allegory which Blake used to comment on how the roles people held in British society was the cause of this style of enslavement of not only women but men as well. His use of an allegory also showed what Blake saw as the answer, which was to look west towards America. Si nce America had just freed itself from Britain rule he saw it as them breaking the connection that forced discrimination onto people. In this allegorical set up Oothoon is the representation of America and the potential the new country held and is called, â€Å"the soft soul of America† (Blake 1. 4). This shows that Oothoon’s struggle against the overly pious and righteous hold of the church shown through Theotormen’s character whose name actually means tormented by god and the over controlling lustful man displayed by Bromian’s character is really a struggle of breaking past conventions to just be a liberated person who is able to live and love freely. After her rape Oothoon at first aligns herself with the conventional idea of her needing to be purified when she calls upon Theotormons Eagles to prey upon her flesh which shows that this idea is connected to Theotormon as well but through questioning and talking comes to the realization that she did not ask to be raped and calls herself, â€Å"A virgin fill’d with virgin fancies/ Open to joy and to delight where ever beauty appears† (Blake 6. 21-22). This is important because it shows Oothoon reaking away from the conventions that have been forced upon her and starts to understand that beauty is everywhere and should not be limited. A line in the poem which meter is extended by the use of spondees to convey the importance of what is being said is, â€Å"I cry Love! Love! Love! Happy Happy Love! Free as the mountain wind! † (Blake 7. 16). The importance of this line is that it holds the message of the poem which is that love should be and have no restrictions jus t like nature shown by Blake referring to love being as free as a mountain wind which has nothing to block it off. Also by having Oothoon be the one speak this line it supports how Oothoon understands there is no need for all these rules and limitations that Theotormon is tormenting himself about. She even goes as far to question Theotormon about his devotion to religion asking, â€Å"Why dost thou seek religion? Is it because acts are not lovely, that thou seekest solitude, Where the horrible darkness is impressed with reflection of desire† (Blake 7. 9-11) She is able to realize that the life he is following is one filled with the same desires she has only he is destined to wallow in them since he can not act upon them and will end alone because of this. It is these realizations that Oothoon makes that show she is not a sinner being punished but a victim who had to overcome her role in society. Martha Ray however was not able to overcome her tragic event of losing the man she loved to another woman. The effect it was said to have on her changed who she was, â€Å"A cruel, cruel fire, they say, Into her bones was sent: It dried her body like a cinder, And almost turn’d her brain to tinder. † (Wordsworth 129-132) This shows how she lost her sanity and becomes target of multiple stereotypes and is shunned from society for multiple reasons. She is a woman who acted on sexual desires that ended up badly which caused her to lose her mind and is said to have killed her baby because of it. Another way she is victimized by her community is the speculation that surrounds her life. On numerous occasions the narrator makes it clear that the story he is telling is not certain. Examples of this are, â€Å"I cannot tell; but some will say/ She hanged her baby on the tree,† (Wordsworth 214-215) and â€Å"No more I know I wish I did, / And I would tell it all to you;† (Wordsworth 155-156). This shows that this nothing but a story and one that is based on speculations. There was never any sympathy for what happened to Martha, she was never looked at as a victim hurt by Stephen Hill. In â€Å"The Thorn† Stephen Hill plays a similar role to the one that Bromian played in â€Å"Visions of the Daughters of Albion† since he is controlled by his desires. He does not care who he hurts as long as his needs are met just the way Bromian hurts Oothoon when he rapes her. Oothoon’s rape takes away her future with Theotorum and when Stephen rejects a future with Martha he takes away her place within in society. Martha loses her innocence twice in the poem the first one being when she gives up her virginity the other is in the death of the baby whether it is real or not. If she did kill her own baby she then has blood on her hand which is referenced through the color red that she wears on her cloak and is now a murderer and has killed a purely innocent being but even if the death of the baby is pure speculation Martha in eyes of society is shunned and deemed unstable. An important line that is repeated by Martha is, â€Å"Oh misery! Oh misery! † it shows how Martha has given into what society says about her. She does not put up a fight like Oothoon did to try to get the people to see things in her way by talking out her thoughts and feelings but rather gives into what is being said and cries about it. She accepts the label that has been put on her of being of unstable mind and an outcast since she does not try to interact with anyone else either and just goes up to the hill to sit by the thorn. When looking at these two poems the similarity of how women were put down in society if they acted against the grain and were punished for their actions even if they were out of their control. However I think Oothoon was portrayed stronger than Martha Ray since she was able to overcome her place in society and would not except the names and attitude Theotormon was giving her, and Martha was not able to overcome the fate that placed upon her and gave into what other people were saying.