Author Biography

Born in Leicestershire, England on June 20th, 1743, Anna Laetitia Aiken, or “Nancy,” grew up in a home with easy access to education, as her father was a dissenting minister and schoolteacher for an all boys’ school.  It was the male influence that caused Nancy to later adopt a masculine voice when writing poetry.  Her father went on to teach at Warrington Academy, a dissenting college, and Nancy’s experiences there inspired her to begin writing poetry.  She published Poems (1773) and later, she joint published a book with her brother, John Aiken, called Miscellaneous Pieces in Prose (1773).  On May 26, 1774, shortly after her success, Nancy married Rochemont Barbauld, a theatrical man that was considered by her close friends to be “instable due to his excitable nature” (Wakefield 31).  Together, Mr. and Mrs. Barbauld went off to Palgrave to teach at a school for boys.

It was her relationship with Charles, her adopted son from her brother John, and her experiences as a dissenting schoolteacher that inspired her to write Lessons for Children and Hymns in Prose for Children (1781).  The latter was a change from poetry to prose, much to her readers’ dismay; her critics thought it to be a waste of talent and time.

After retirement, Mr. and Mrs. Barbauld sought a home Stoke Newington, and it became the end for a lot of things in Barbauld’s life.  Her husband was on a fast track towards insanity, and in 1808, Mr. Barbauld drowned himself.  Three years later, Barbauld published her last piece Eighteen Hundred and Eleven; criticisms of the poem were harsh, and Barbauld wished to never publish her work again.  And, on March 9, 1825, in Stoke Newington, Anna Letitia Barbauld passed away of old age.  After her death, her niece, Lucy Aikin, published two pieces of Barbauld’s work, The Works of Anna Laetitia Barbauld, with a Memoir by Lucy Aiken (1825), and A Legacy for Young Ladies (1826).

Cultural Context

Dissenter Education

Dissenters were a religious group of Protestants who did not belong to the Church of England, which included Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Baptists, Quakers, and others (Olsen 287-288). Stunted by intolerance, they opened their own academies, which covered topics of a broader range, although still learned by the rote memorization characteristic of the time (Olsen 225). This is true even in Barbauld’s revolutionary children’s literature, as it was written with the intention that it would be memorized and recited (Barbauld iv).

Attitudes Towards Children & Parenting

During the early 18^th century, children were seen by adults as “small, unruly adults” who were meant to be frightened into submission. However, these ideas began to change. Childhood became a time with “a special state of innocence, during which children could be molded and shaped by love and education” (Olsen 52).  This led to the founding of children’s literature by John Newberry, who published Mrs. Barbauld’s works (Plumb 35). Barbauld experimented with a new style of writing that did not frighten children in her works Lessons for Children and Hymns in Prose for Children, among others. Her writing “revolutionized the culture of childhood, spreading a new way to teach literacy, a new religious mood, and the idea of associating childhood with rural life” (McCarthy ix).

Bluestocking Gatherings

In the 1750’s some society women such as Elizabeth Montagu hosted informal gatherings which were not characterized by the traditional gossip, but instead by intellectual conversation. This group, nicknamed the Bluestockings, came to be known for their dedication to freedom of expression and “the promotion of scholarship, literature, and culture” (Eger Introduction x). These women sought to protect female intellectuals, poets, and painters, while treading carefully to protect their social status. (Eger and Peltz 16-17). Barbauld was involved in this group, and the discussions that took place at these meetings certainly influenced her greatly.

Textual Analysis

Venturing from the literary realm of verse and into the literary realm of prose, Anna Letitia Barbauld wrote Hymns in Prose for Children to stimulate the “spirit of social worship” and to “impress devotional feelings […] on the infant mind” (Barbauld iv).  Assuming she would get criticism for writing in prose, Barbauld states in the Preface that her intention was to make it easier for children to recite the hymns from memory.  Barbauld justifies her decision on the basis that verse is “elevation of thought and style above the common standard” (vii).  Poetry would not be conducive in educating young infants.

In Hymns in Prose for Children, the reader will immediately notice the many biblical allusions that Barbauld introduces children to. The rhythmic cadence of the writing will immediately remind them of songs or psalms, as is appropriate for a “hymn” book.  It makes sense that Barbauld would choose to write in this fashion, as she intended for the children to learn as she did in school, through memorization and repetition.

Throughout her book of hymns, Barbauld addresses society’s hierarchy in her time. She first starts with the comparison between humans and animals.  Humans are able to speak and animals are not, so Barbauld wants the children to know that humans rank higher than animals. Her emphasis on obedience throughout the hymns stresses the values of her dissenting faith.  Literary critic, Lisa Zunshine, says Barbauld is “socializing children to the ideological creed of bourgeois society” by including a hierarchy within her work.

In addition, Barbauld also addresses slavery in society.  Hymn VIII emphasizes the role of the servant within the household; servants are treated like every other member of the household. While others would argue that Barbauld is justifying slavery as God’s divine plan, Barbauld’s dissenting faith is most important when trying to interpret this hymn.  It was such an integral part of her life; Barbauld grew up in a dissenting home and later married a dissenting minister.  It would be difficult for Barbauld to separate what she believed in when writing this work.

In the entirety of her writing, Barbauld ensures that the literature will be very accessible. She pioneers the decision to make both the book size small enough that children can hold it and the text size large enough that they will have no trouble reading it (McCarthy ix). She uses a combination of simple words the children will have learned in everyday life and new, more complex words for them to learn. Barbauld makes many comparisons that children will easily understand. The writing is also filled with springtime nature imagery and birth, inspiring a tone of hope and joy.

As the reader examines the text of Barbauld’s Hymns in Prose for Children, he or she should keep in mind the innocent perspective of the intended audience.  Feel wonder at the beauty of the earth, marvel at the incomprehensible scope of the creator, and celebrate the life given to them.

Works Cited

Barbauld, Anna Laetitia (Aikin). Hymns in Prose for Children. 4th ed. N.p.: Norwich and Trumbull, 1786. OneSearch. Web. 06 Dec. 2014.

“Children’s Literature.” The Columbia Encyclopedia. New York: Columbia University Press, 2013. Credo Reference. Web. 8 December 2014.

Eger, Elizabeth. General Introduction. Bluestocking Feminism: Writings of the Bluestocking Circle, 1738-1790. Ed. Elizabeth Eger. Vol 1. Brookfield, Vt.: Pickering & Chatto, 1999. ix-xi, xxvii-xxix. Print.

Eger, Elizabeth and Lucy Peltz. Brilliant Women18th Century Bluestockings. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008. Print.

McCarthy, William. Preface. Anna Letitia Barbauld: Voice of the Enlightenment. By McCarthy. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2008. ix-xii. Print.

Olsen, Kirstin. Daily Life in 18^th Century England. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1999. Print.

Zunshine, Lisa. “Rhetoric, Cognition, and Ideology in A.L. Barbauld’s Hymns in Prose for Children (1781).” Poetics Today 23.1 (2002): 123-39. OneSearch. Web. 6 Dec. 2014

Biography

Christina Rossetti was born in London, England on December 5, 1830 to Gabriele and Frances Mary Rossetti (Bell). Rossetti was three-quarters Italian and even spent her childhood speaking the language with her Italian father. She had a devotion to her parents, especially to her mother that she had dedicated all but two of her books to her mother (Bell). Sister of the famous pre-Raphaelite painter, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Christina was a product of her family and environment. As is evident in her poetry, Christina had a passionate love for Christianity and she often used her works to explore both the nature of religion and her own relationship to the Lord.  Frances Mary, Christina’s mother, was a devout follower of the Church of England and raised her children to become devout Protestants despite her husband’s relationship to the Roman Catholic Church (Bell).

Christina had a respect and admiration for all forms of life. This trait is best captured in the account of her and Dante Gabriel discovering little birds and her insistence on ‘plaintive verses’ about their happy existences (Bell). The overarching tone of Christina Rossetti’s life is one of calmness. She was blessed to have a life not terribly afflicted by tragedy nor war. Although she lost both her parents within her lifetime, Christina was able to handle their loss without excessive sadness.

Culture

Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” was composed in the heart of the Victorian era and was greatly affected by the beliefs that were held onto so strongly in that time. Scholars read this poem as Christina Rossetti taking a stance on some of the major social questions of her time.

“Fallen Women” was the term coined for those women who did not comply with the expectations of Victorian Culture, and often associated with prostitution. Specifically, they would not comply with social standard of abstaining from expressing their sexual desire until after they were married. This phrase expressed the idea that a “sensible” woman’s sexual experiences should be completely limited to marriage. These women were considered impure and unable to be good wives or mothers.

Another major aspect of Victorian culture recognized in Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” is man’s relationship with God. I originally read “Goblin Market’s”religious themes with the religious knowledge possessed by most modern Christians. But Christianity was very different back in the 1800’s.  The Victorian 1800’s God was a distant symbol of power and a looming threat to scare man into living a pure life; not the unconditionally loving Father we learn about today. The modern idea that your slate is completely wiped clean upon accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior was a foreign concept to most people in this time.

Analysis

“The Goblin Market” has a seemingly endless number of interpretations and this poem can be used to argue against everything from the Victorian ideals of chastity to the commodification of Victorian women and the echoes of a feminism to come.

“Goblin Market” was symbolic of man’s relationship with God. Most critics will jump to say that the character Lizzie is meant to be a Christ figure and they may be right; but I am not entirely convinced. After Laura tells Lizzie of the ecstasy she experienced from eating the fruit, Lizzie does not symbolically banish her from the Garden of Eden, but rather Rossetti goes on to describe the closeness of the two sisters. “Cheek to cheek and breast to breast, Locked together in one nest” (GM; 197-198) Despite the contrast between Laura and Lizzie, Rossetti never speaks of them as anything less than equals, despite Laura’s supposedly immoral actions. So the religious aspects of Goblin Market are not a spiritual redemption of a sinner, but a sign for society’s need to accept sinners where they are and not to be so quick to judge.

            Christina Rossetti takes the “Fallen Woman” that her culture so despised and devised a poem to recreate her as the prodigal son, not the woman cast to the wayside. “The Goblin Market” gives these poor souls a chance to “return from depravity to chastity, if not outright purity” (Escobar). Christina Rossetti uses the fall of Laura and the heroic salvation that Lizzie brings about to restore the fallen woman.

The redemption of Laura is seen best in Rossetti’s closing of the poem that tells the audience that “Days, weeks, months, years / Afterwards, when both were wives” both women bore children to their husbands (GM; 543-544). Marriage and children is the happy end of the women, but they are not defined by their roles as mothers and wives, so much so that neither their children nor husbands are given a distinct identity or name. The only names within the poem are the three women who tango with the Goblins: Jeanie who fell and passed away, Laura who fell and was saved, and Lizzie who saved her sister. There is a great power in names and only our women are privileged to be named in the poem.

“The Fallen Woman” trope is masterfully transformed into the “Prodigal Son” in Christina Rossetti’s capable hands. “The male profligacy, fraternal jealousy, and paternal compassion of the parable acquiesce to youthful curiosity, female transgression, and sororal kinship in the poem” (Escobar). Laura is not the woman cast to the wayside after her sin, but the prodigal daughter who is spared judgment of her actions by the redemptive love of her sister.

Works Cited

Bell, Mackenzie. Christina Rossetti; a Biographical and Critical Study. New York: Haskell House, 1971. Print.

Campbell, Elizabeth. “Of Mothers And Merchants: Female Economics In Christina Rossetti’s ‘Goblin Market’.” Victorian Studies 33.3 (1990): 343. Academic Search Complete. Web. 07 Dec. 2014.

Escobar, Kirsten E. “Female Saint, Female Prodigal: Christina Rossetti’s ‘Goblin Market’.” Religion & The Arts 5.1/2 (2001): 129. Academic Search Complete. Web. 07 Dec. 2014.

Scholl, Lesa. “Fallen or Forbidden: Rossetti’s “Goblin Market”” Fallen or Forbidden: Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” The Victorian Web, n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2014.

BIOGRAPHY

A major English Romantic poet, William Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770 in the small town of Cockermouth on the northern border of the English Lake District, a quiet, natural refuge that would later inspire his poetry. His only sister, Dorothy Wordsworth, was born in 1771. She played a significant role in poet’s life as a silent listener, friend, inspirer, and traveling partner. After their mother’s death, Dorothy and Wordsworth were separated and educated in different parts of England. After completing his undergraduate education at Cambridge (1791), he became a fervent supporter of French Revolution in France, fell in love with Annette Vallon, and fathered an illegitimate child in 1792. After he was forced out of France by the war, Wordsworth visited Tintern Abbey for the first time in 1793. He returned to Tintern Abbey with Dorothy five years later, after the two were reunited. Here he composed “Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey,” in which he discusses his soothing relationship with nature.

CULTURAL ANALYSIS

The French Revolution

Beginning in 1789, the French Revolution played an important role in politicizing the Romantic Movement. Wordsworth and other Romantics supported the French rebellion against the monarchy because they believed in the ‘Utopia of Democracy’ presented by Godwin and his followers, which “ ‘was based on the belief in the original goodness and the ultimate perfectibility of man’ ” (Beatty 26-27). Though initially angered by Britain’s declaration of war on France, Wordsworth retracted his support for the Revolution during the Reign of Terror. When Wordsworth first visited the Wye Valley and Tintern Abbey in 1793, he had just fled from France, for the political and social turmoil ravaging the country put his life in danger. Many suggest that Wordsworth is alluding to this social and political chaos when he recalls, “flying from something that he dreads” in line 71 of “Tintern Abbey” (Bromwich 4-7).

Industrialization

Though the Wye Valley is a rural and secluded area of Eastern Wales, the effects of the Industrial Revolution were felt even here. Since the onset of the Industrial Revolution, the town of Tintern in the Wye valley of Eastern Wales supported ironworks (Rezpka 155). Wordsworth notes signs of Industrialization in the Wye Valley when he ponders the “wreathes of smoke” being emitted from the rooftops of pastoral farms (“Tintern Abbey” 118-120). Since the poem’s publication, several scholars have traveled to the Wye valley and have confirmed that “the region showed prominent signs of industrial and commercial activity” (Levinson 29-30). In “Tintern Abbey,” Wordsworth also questions the presence of vagrants in the hills (“Tintern Abbey 21-23), which Levinson later confirms were “casualties of England’s tottering economy and of wartime displacement” (Levinson 29-30).

Walking tours and tourism 

Improved technology and infrastructure from the Industrial Revolution facilitated travel throughout Europe in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, and thus a thriving tourism culture was born. Romantics often went on walking tours “as a way of both moving through a knowing world and knowing a world that was changing through enclosure and industrialization” (Gilroy 2). The emergence of travel literature also played a significant role in late 18^th and 19^th century British travel. This thriving tourism culture inspired Wordsworth’s visit to Tintern Abbey.

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

Nature

As a nature poet, Wordsworth turned to nature for comfort. However, nature did not only provide him comfort while he was on his walking tour, but also in his mind. Throughout “Tintern Abbey,” Wordsworth recounts how the Wye valley was a place of comfort and solace for him throughout each stage of his life. He particularly recalls how the Wye valley functioned as his sanctuary when he was “flying from something he dreads”(Tintern Abbey 70-71) —likely after his tumultuous experiences in France in 1793. Writing “Tintern Abbey” five years later, he comments on how the valley now offers a comforting and sobering welcome that allows him to meditate on “the still, sad, music of humanity” (Tintern Abbey 89-91).

Even when Wordsworth is not physically present in the valley landscape, the memories of the geography and topography, as well as the feelings of comfort elicited by them are present in his mind. When seeking comfort from the “darkness,” “many shapes of joyless daylight,” and fever of the world” (“Tintern Abbey” 50-56), Wordsworth turns to his memories of the Wye landscape and the comfort it provided him while there: “How oft, in spirit, have I turned to thee, / O Sylvan Wye!” (“Tintern Abbey” 56-57). The landscape reignites his “unremembered pleasure”—the comfort he found in it (“Tintern Abbey” 31). The comfort and memories are “Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart; / And [pass] even into my purer mind, / With tranquil restoration” (“Tintern Abbey” 28-30). Wordsworth’s relationship with nature was therefore rooted not only in great appreciation for nature on the surface, but for the comfort it provided in his mind as well.

Dorothy

Dorothy “plays a major role in the poet’s life as close friend, supporter of his vocation as writer, editor, and secretary, almost his ‘all in all’ ” (Mahoney 5). Her special place in the poet’s life is solidified through her role as a silent listener and observer. Wordsworth points out in his poem, “Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey,” that Dorothy’s voice, her eyes, and her existence enables him to access his “former pleasures” (“Tintern Abbey” 117). While one group of scholars identify Dorothy as his helpmate only, others view Dorothy as her brother’s muse (Thomson 531).  James Soderholm argues that Wordsworth uses Dorothy for “his own poetic ends” (Soderholm 311). On the contrary, Heidi Thomson emphasizes that “Tintern Abbey” is the poem that “affirms the continuous necessity for a web of interlocution between Wordsworth and his sister to substantiate the myth of memory” (Thomson 533). As Thomson mentions, “Tintern Abbey” can be read as a warm sibling memory poem excluding any utility value granted upon Dorothy. Regardless, Dorothy provides Wordsworth with inspiration throughout his poetry and his life.

Lord Byron comes from a long, established tradition of Romanticism to which he played a part in shaping and polishing.  Manfred remains a great example of Byron’s contributions to the Romantic Movement and the establishment of what it is to be a Byronic hero.  Through the events of his life as well as the events and movements of the world, Lord Byron creates a mentality that drives the main issues of his play, Manfred; his use of the Byronic hero and subliminal nature creates a true illustration of Romanticism and literature in the 19th century.

Byron participated in the second wave of the Romanticism movement in the early nineteenth century.  This literary and cultural movement directly stemmed from a turn away from the Enlightenment ideals that spurred controversial events such as the French Revolution (Curran 26-27).  Because of the bloodiness and chaos of the French Revolution – and the revolutions it spurred in consequence – society’s mentality began to turn away from the doctrines that incented these episodes.  Though many writers were initially supporters of the Revolution, they were inevitably shocked by “its internal development, its repercussions in Britain, and its activities abroad” (Curran 50, 53).  It is important to understand the stark turn from these ideas while trying to understand the cultural context in which Lord Byron writes Manfred.  All while spurning the ideas of the preceding movement, Romanticism reflected the tensions of an age “at the intersection of competing philosophical traditions, of political and class divisions, of emergent gender distinctions, of high and low and sacred profane cultures, of battles of the books, and contested claims among the arts” (Curran xiv).

In Manfred, Byron goes against preceding canon and tradition by epitomizing the Byronic hero.  This character appeals to the Romantic tradition because of their strong and visceral personalities, sardonic sense of humor, tortured pasts, and link to supernatural elements.  Manfred’s implied incestuous relationship, his attempt at suicide, and his lack of sympathy make him a great example of this archetype.  Looking at the Romantic turn away from Enlightenment ideals, this description of what makes a Byronic Hero fits well into the Romantic canon.  Byronic heroes oppose the traditional set of standards of heroism by upholding different character values. These heroes define themselves by: rebelling against convention or society, having low tolerance for societal norms and social institutions, being isolated or choosing to be isolated from society, not being impressed with rank or privilege, having larger-than-life abilities and pride, being suspected of committing a crime or has been cursed, suffering from grandiose passions, and having a tendency to be self-destructive.  Manfred’s relationship that has doomed him shows his self-destructive nature and a facet of his overly passionate temperament.  However, the second act does much to uncover this representative personality.  Also, these characters ironically are purposefully constructed as dislikeable. When Manfred is advised by Chamois Hunter to be patient, Manfred responds:

Patience and patience! Hence—that word was made

For brutes of burthen not for birds of prey;

Preach it to mortals of a dust like thine, —

I am not of thine order (Byron 646).

Because the Chamois has acted as the traditional hero in saving Manfred from killing himself, the reader sees the switching of roles, and therefore a turn in the idea of heroic characteristics.  However, this does not make Manfred more likeable or admirable a character, but emphasizes his tortured soul and duality of his nature.  This quote also indicates the most dominant characteristic that makes Manfred such a perfect example of the Byronic hero.  He is someone cast apart from society, distinct from the social order and solitary.  When he says, “I am not of thine order,” he separates himself from his savior and therefore the world and society in which Chamois belongs.  His motivations are not entirely known, though the reader does get some insight into the tragic past from which he is running and the internal demons that haunt him and drive him.  Also, when Manfred is able to accept his overall fate, the reader is able to see that Manfred is an overall decent human being, something that the Byronic Hero receives at the very end of the narrative.

The isolated setting of Manfred is perfect for our Byronic hero. This setting is used to emphasize the sublime aspects in nature.  Many other contemporary poets of his time used similar settings when describing the sublime.  Look at Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Mont Blanc”, arguably the poem that showcases the sublime in the best way. What does “Mont Blanc” have in common with Manfred?  They both share this setting of harsh mountains and nature.  In the opening scene, the dialogue between a hunter and Manfred infers that the local environment is very hazardous and could easily take Manfred’s life.  One of the main criteria of sublime nature is to belittle human nature while building up nature.  By implying this inherent danger of simply being on the mountain Byron makes Manfred seem little.  Later, when we see him complete his journey to the summit, it then causes us to be placed in a state of awe at what this little human did against this towering dangerous mountain.

Next we look a list of sublime he encounters during his trek up the mountain.  First, the witch of the Alps is the character through which we can see the supernatural within the play.  She is indeed a nature spirit as Manfred summons her by flinging some water into the air and chanting some sort of incantation. He is also superhuman is her physical appearance:

Beautiful Spirit! With thy hair of light

And dazzling eyes of glory, in whose form

The charms of Earth’s least mortal daughters grow

To an unearthly stature, in an essence

Of purer elements” (Byron 648).

There are several ways of being superior to humans and here we see the sublime beauty and purity of nature. In Act III Scene III, the reader is introduced to the Three Destinies. In the opening monologue, the First Destiny goes on to describe in detail the various sublime aspects of the Alps: “The glassy ocean of mountain ice, / We skim its rugged breakers, which put on / The aspect of a tumbling tempest’s foam, / Frozen in a moment – a dead whirlpool’s image” (Byron 653). Here, ice is transformed into this permanent and strong embodiment of the Sublime.  Also note how Byron writes that the ice is “frozen in a moment.”  From this we are to understand that in order for any piece of nature to be Sublime, it must be enduring and permanent.  While Manfred is only familiar with Eternity, the Sublime, by default, embodies eternity (Higashinaka 68).  Manfred, then, must look towards this Sublime nature, the eternal being, for answers he cannot find himself.

Lord Byron lived in interesting times. The Romantics were originally supportive of the French Revolution but after receiving but a taste if its aftermath, they split away from this once glorious idea. The Romantics were turning a new leaf, they changed their ideals. Byron saw this change coming and created the Byronic Hero, a new archetype that embodied new traits. This Byronic hero was and is very distant cousin of the hero that save princesses and fights dragons for his king. Instead the Byronic hero took to isolation and punished himself for crimes that only he knows. Such ideas may stem from the Romantics’ original support of the French Revolution and living with the guilt for the rest of their lives.

Sources:

Bainbridge, Simon. Napoleon and English Romanticism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.

Chandler, James. England in 1819: The Politics of Literary Culture and the Case of Romantic Historicism. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1998.

Curran, Stuart. The Cambridge Companion to British Romanticism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Greenfield, John R. British Romantic Poets, 1789-1832: Second Series. Ed. John R. Greenfield. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 96. Detroit: Gale Research, 1990.

Lord Byron – Biography – Poet, Playwright.” Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2014.<http://www.biography.com/people/lord-byron-21124525>

Higashinaka, Itsuyo. “Manfred and the Sublime.” Revue de l’Université de Moncton (2005): 63. CrossRef. Web. 6 Dec. 2014.

Semmel, Stuart. Napoleon and the British. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004.

Anna Barbauld was a pronounced English poet and essayist, bringing light to political, scientific, and gender issues in her society.  Unfortunately, her works were disregarded after her death and were not resurfaced until the feminist movement in the 1970s. Until this moment, her political works were mostly forgotten, and she was remembered for her work with children literature.

Barbauld’s contemporary society is best understood through the Enlightenment. Society observed great advances in areas such as natural sciences, art, and philosophy.  Proponents of the movement could not agree to what degree reason should be taken. Likewise, Romantics and other figures opposed the Enlightenments supposed neglect of the human spirit. Just as it dominated the contemporary society, the Enlightenment framed the literary scene in which Barbauld worked.  The Enlightenment era brought about radical changes to literature due to the need to fund a proper medium through which to impart knowledge.

Literature may have been enormously influenced by the Enlightenment, but it also was a medium through which many resisted stark empiricism.  Many writers proposed that there was more spiritedness to humanity than rationalism admits. “Although rationalizing philosophers repeatedly declared that superstitious customs had been eradicated, traditional practices were not eliminated but rather concealed” (Fara 490).  Letters, diaries and other personal writings reveal that traditional spiritualism (i.e. practices such as witchcraft and astrology) had not been supplanted by empiricism and was actually experiencing an underground revival.  Many mainstream writers were influenced by this resurgence; its mystical aspects allowed for a greater infusion of humanity’s mysterious qualities into literature.   These “essentialist views of language were inimical to scientific writers seeking to strip their prose of metaphorical allusions, but these views enriched the poetry of Romantic authors” (Fara 506-507).  Literature thus drew on both Enlightenment ideals and irrational sentimentalism.  As a publicly renowned writer, Barbauld had the unusual task of catering to both diametric ends of the Enlightenment literary scene.

Barbauld’s poem, “The Mouses Petition”, was written in response to her friend, Dr. Priestley’s animal experimentation.  Concerns for animal rights first appeared in the Enlightenment and Romantic periods.  A very literal reading of “The Mouse’s Petition” denounces the experimentation on animals for scientific development. Allegedly, she found a mouse in a cage and placed this poem inside the cage for Dr. Priestley to read.  Although Barbauld denies the meaning of her poem was a condemnation of Dr. Priestley’s inhumanity, her contemporary readers misread the poem as a judgment upon Dr. Priestley.  She explains, “her poem was about ‘mercy’ and ‘justice’” instead of humanity and cruelty (Ready 92). Barbauld’s status as woman in the Eighteenth Century caused the public read her poem wrongly by adding a great deal of sensibility to the piece, assuming she became emotional due to the cruelty imposed upon the animals and due to her gender.  In reality, Barbauld was attempting to make a political statement as well as a gender statement proving that women can be a part of the scientific realm.

The use of first-person narration from the perspective of the mouse gives the animal the ability to “suffer, feel, and reason” (Ready 97).  The mouse begs his captivator to “hear [his] pensive prisoner’s prayer,/For liberty that sighs” (Barbauld 1-2).  The personification of the mouse by making the “wretch” “tremble at th’ approaching morn” waiting for his fate evokes the image of the impoverished and enslaved (Barbauld 4, 7).  Upon first reading, one may assume Barbauld refers to women and gender inequality, but the mouse is more easily related to the poor (Ready 108). The mouse appeals to liberty and inane rights by telling his reader to “cast round the world an equal eye,/ And feel for all that lives” (Barbauld 27-28).  As a woman, Barbauld struggled to break through the gender molds society imposed upon women.  Barbauld used her poem to critique the treatment of the enslaved and impoverished, as well as critique the inequalities thrust upon women within the realm of science.

Barbauld’s writings allowed her to make unique critiques of culture.  Through her poetry, Barbauld could make claims concerning scientific endeavors without relinquishing sentimentalism.  The second stanza of “Mouse’s Petition” reads:

For here forlorn and sad I sit,

Within the wiry grate;

And tremble at the’ approaching morn,

Which brings impending fate. (Barbauld 5-8)

In this passage, Barbauld exhibits familiarity with the workings of a laboratory, perhaps due to her close relationship with Dr. Priestley’s personal experimentations.  Nevertheless, scientific understanding doesn’t negate sensibility.  The use of first person narrative and  melancholic diction evokes sympathy; the reader is supposed to identify with the mouse.  Thus, “Two hundred years on, at the end of a century that institutionalized the separation of art and science into what C. P. Snow called `the Two Cultures’, Barbauld’s work reminds us that science had not yet become a specialized activity” (Saunders 503).  Critique in the form of a poem serves as reminder that science cannot be pursued with reason alone.  Furthermore, Barbauld made an effort to emphasize Priestley’s “scientific and moral greatness, linking his discoveries to political freedom” (Saunders 504).  Scientific endeavors are intrinsically linked to the political sphere. Poetry thus became Barbauld’s medium to relate morality and rationality.

Coincidentally, poetry not only enables Barbauld to speak to the relationship between science and sensibility but also gives her a voice in a patriarchal society.  Historically, poetry was peculiar in that authority saw in it no threat to the status quo.  Kathryn Ready asserts, “writing about animals provided women— whatever their intended audience — with a socially accepted medium ‘for engaging in discussions of political ideas, national identity, and foreign policy’” (Ready 108).  Anything offensive could simply be dismissed as mere figurative language found in literature.  Julia Saunders notes:

Her use of scientific imagery demonstrates that women writers were also able to use the potentially explosive combination of verse mixed with chemistry in the cause of radical politics.  At the same time, she provides a critique of the activities of late eighteenth-century radical scientists, bringing a woman’s voice into a debate that has too long been assumed to be only for men. (Saunders 502)

As seen in the preceding paragraph, “even as a young woman Barbauld did not believe that her sex excluded her from using scientific language and ideas to express a political stance” (Saunders 505).  It was the medium of poetry that enabled this expression.

Anna Laetitia Barbauld balanced many opposing ideals through her work.  Her poetry gave her an outlet to denounce flaws in society. In doing so, she resisted society’s overbearing standards of femininity.  Despite the cultural pressure to either adopt or reject Enlightenment, she proclaimed sentimentalism is crucial to scientific endeavors.   Finally, she was capable of critiquing a close friend while still highlighting his noble characteristics.  Therefore, “The Mouse’s Petition” illustrates the multiple forces that influenced Barbauld.

Sources:

Barbauld, Anna. “The Mouse’s Petition.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Major Authors. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. Eighth ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. 1389-390. Print.

 Bellanca, Mary Ellen.  “Science, Animal Sympathy, And Anna Barbauld’s ‘The Mouse’s Petition’.”  Eighteenth-Century Studies 37.1 (2003): 47-67

Fara, Patricia. “Marginalized Practices.” The Cambridge History of Science. Ed. Roy Porter. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2003. 485-508. Print.

Hamm, Enrst. “Enlightenment.” Reader’s Guide to the History of Science. London: Routledge, 2000. Credo Reference. Web. 4 December 2014.

Ready, Kathryn J. “”What Then, Poor Beastie!”: Gender, Politics, and Animal Experimentation in Anna Barbauld’s “The Mouse’s Petition”” Eighteenth-Century Life 28 (2004): n. pag.Web.

Saunders, Julia. “‘The Mouse’s Petition’: Anna Laetitia Barbauld and the Scientific Revolution.”

The Review of English Studies 53.212 (2002): 500-16. JSTOR. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.

Siskin, Clifford, and William Warner. “If This Is Enlightenment Then What Is Romanticism?” European Romantic Review 22.3 (2011): 281-91. Web.

Wordsworth, William. “Letters of the Wordsworth Family.” Letter to Alexander Dyce. 10 May 1830. MS. N.p.

Wordsworth, William. “The Tables Turned.” Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2014.

The Byronic hero is most notable for the human capacity of extremes. These extremes center on the capacity of good and evil: the mortal interacts with the supernatural; pleasure is only found in the acceptance of suffering; there is an unsteady balance between responsibility and resilience against consequences. The Byronic hero is both appealing and detestable to the reader because he represents both the best and worst in us, and his ethics are a reflection of our own desire for redemption. Human responsibility for one’s own good and evil is explored in Manfred through mortal interaction with the supernatural and the power of memory in the reconciliation of an individual’s deeds.

Memory

The plot of Manfred is driven by Manfred’s desire to repress his memory. He seeks out spirts of the earth to request “Forgetfulness— …. Of that which is within me” (1.1.136-137). Manfred is consumed with wanting to forget, not only the past, but also the implications that an incestuous relationship with his sister has on his own soul. Unfortunately, he cannot just forget the past because he recognizes that it is intertwined with the present. Thus, his nights and days are spent in seeking oblivion. Oblivion implies not just as a state of forgetting, but of not actively living. Manfred says that “I have no power upon the past, and for / The future, till the past be gulfed in darkness, / It is not of my search” (1.2.5-7).

Malaney, in discussing the ethical concerns of Manfred, asserts that “Manfred is haunted by the past, which prevents him from achieving a satisfactory relationship to the present … [he] undertakes a journey that remains forever out of phase with the possibility of ideal fulfillment” (Melaney 466). It is not just the memory of his past that Manfred wants to escape, but the memory of the evil he is capable of. He himself asks, “Think’st thou existence doth depend on time? / It doth; but actions are our epochs” (2.1.51-52). Actions define the passing of time, so actions define the quality of existence. Without memory, Manfred is suspended in a state of disrupted continuity; by trying to suppress the past, Manfred cannot live in the present.

As long as Manfred strives to forget, he will never know peaceful living. Eventually he determines that there is no way to drive away memory. He resigns himself to the suffering of memory and instead finds calm:

There is a calm upon me—

Inexplicable stillness! which till now

Did not belong to what I knew of life.

. . . .

… It will not last,

But it is well to have known it, though but once:

It hath enlarged my thoughts with a new sense,

And I within my tablets would note down

That there is such a feeling.

(1.1.6-8, 14-18)

In remembering Manfred recalls the knowledge of his own evil, and in seeking oblivion he tries to push away the weight of responsibility for that evil. However, it is only in remembrance that Manfred can find redemption. Rawes says that “memory is not only capable of imposing intensely painful recollections on him, but also capable of offering his consoling, comforting, and revitalizing memories… Obsessed with finding an escape from one kind of memory he has sought escape in all” (127).  In seeking to drive away the memory with the power to crush him, he also drives away the memory with the power to restore him.

In the final act, Manfred discovers that, although he has the capacity for evil, his life also has the capacity to experience good. It is the remembrance of the good in him that redeems him from being overcome with the evil. The Byronic hero recognizes that although humanity is capable of extremes both good and bad, as long as there is good not all is lost.

The Supernatural

Byron’s description of his Byronic hero looks at nature in terms of the sublime, and Manfred’s thought process plays an important role in understanding the supernatural aspects of the poem itself. Byronic heroes are “invariably solitary, and are fundamentally and heroically rebellious, at first against society only, and later against the natural universe or against God himself” (Thorslev 67). In his isolation, Manfred calls upon the Witch of the Alps:

Of Earth, whom the abstruser powers permit

At times to commune with them- if that he

Avail him of his spells- to call thee thus.

And gaze on thee a moment

(2.2.25-30)

Manfred calling upon the Witch of the Alps shows that he cannot turn back on his journey that he began. His own journey into the Alps represents the framework for the “threshold of the sublime” and it “has not resulted in a satisfactory solution to the problem of moral guilt.  (Melaney 464). Manfred creates a moment in which elements of the sublime have not been fully expressed. This also alludes to the theme of incest, because he calls on the Witch of the Alps in order to express his feeling towards her.

Throughout the play, the setting plays an important role. While the setting might seem very simple such as on the Alps or the Jungfrau Mountain both give off a sense of beauty and power. This reflects the power that Manfred seeks and the power that he could have as an individual.

In his journey of for supernatural aid, Manfred requests of the Witch of the Alps:

My long pursued and superhuman art,

Is mortal here: I dwell in my despair-

And live- and live for ever

…

To do this thy power

Must wake the dead, or lay me low with them.

(2.2.147-149,152-154)

Manfred expresses this concern that the world around him is holding him back from both death and a peaceful life. The death and guilt that he feels for his most beloved, Astarte, also plays a role in his despair. Manfred is also bereaved by the death of Astarte and is toured, because the Fates will not allow him to die in order to be with her. This influences the idea of the supernatural, because Manfred reaches beyond mortal bounds.

Time and experience also play an important role in understanding the Byronic hero, because a character such as Manfred senses that there is a bigger life than the life around him. His experience and sense of time leads him out of the human world into a world of nature is part of the sublime. Time also plays an important role, because the poem begins in the morning and ends at twilight. Over the course of the day, Manfred has to understand his past in order to understand how he can move forward. Manfred states in when talking to Nemesis:

I have outwatched the stars,

And gazed o’er heaven in vain in search of thee

Yet speak to me! I have wandered o’er the earth,

And have never found thy likeness- Speak to me!

Look on the fiends around- they feel for me:

I fear them not, and feel for thee alone.

 (3.1.141-146)

Manfred uses this as an understanding of being outside of time that he seeks an answer to understand his own past as a way to understand his own present and future. The conscious mind of his past plays an important role, because it provides him with a limited understanding of being able to reject the supernatural that is around him.