It All Started When God Made W

Essay, Research Paper

It all started when God made woman second:

The Woman Question

The woman question was not born when Eve ate the apple; no, it all began when Eve was created second. God can t be at fault for the woman question ; after all, men wrote the bible. A man wrote a story about creation: Man is born first and is given life by the Almighty. Woman is born second and is given life by the Almighty and from the rib of the first man. Hence, woman could not have existed without man. The shortcomings of females began early on and have persisted throughout the history of this world even into present day. The subordinate status of woman is based primarily on her supposed inferior intellect; because woman is less intelligent than man is, she should be submissive to and dependent on the superior gender. Additionally, a woman should have attributes that are considered to be feminine: tenderness of understanding, unwordliness and innocence, domestic affection, and, in various degrees, submissiveness. 1(1719). Women and men alike of England began to question gender-specific roles during the 19th century. Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Alfred Lord Tennyson and Robert Browning were prominent authors during the Victorian Era who voiced their opinions on the gender debate through poetry and persona.

In Aurora Leigh, Elizabeth Barrett Browning presents a refreshing character that rebels against the Victorian norm. Additionally, she creates Aurora Leigh s aunt as a character foil to reveal the true feminist nature of Aurora. The epitome of the ideal Victorian woman, Aurora Leigh s aunt is everything she is not. Browning employs cold, sharp images to delineate the aunt s appearance: Her somewhat narrow forehead braided tight brown hair pricked with gray/ By frigid used of life a nose drawn sharply (1181). Aurora Leigh s aunt has the appearance of a cloistered woman and leads the life of one as well. Leigh explains, She had lived, we ll say, / a harmless life, she called a virtuous life which was not a life at all (1181). Aurora equates her aunt s virtuous life with a restrictive, stifling existence. Not only does the aunt lead a structured life; additionally, she adheres to the traditional gender roles (or rules) established by man in a man s world. The lord-lieutenant looking down sometimes The apothecary looked on once a year (1181). These male, authority figures feel it is their duty as Christians and, more importantly, as men to look upon the aunt who has no man in her life to take care of her. Leigh s aunt does not object to the men fathering her, but instead, exercised her Christian gifts/ of knitting stockings and continues to fill her female role in a males society (1181). Aurora perceives her aunt s traditional role playing as A sort of caged bird life and describes herself as, A wild bird scarcely fledged, who was brought to her cage (1182). Perhaps Browning employs the bird metaphor to invoke sympathy in the reader for Aurora Leigh. By doing so, the reader develops sympathy for the advancement of women in society. Also, in portraying Aurora s aunt in a negative fashion, the aunt s opinion becomes less credible. For instance, the aunt hates Aurora s Tuscan mother who had fooled away/ A wise man from wise courses, a good man/ From obvious duties (1182). The aunt s opinion of her late brother s wife reflects the collective Victorian attitude towards women. Hence, women are foolish creatures who lead men astray. One may also notice that the aunt gives no responsibility to her brother; a silly woman is completely at fault. The aunt now feels it is her obligation as a moral, Christian woman to assure that Aurora will not turn out like her mother for, She misliked women who are frivolous (1184). Instead, She liked a woman to be womanly, / And English women were models to the universe (1185). The aunt s convictions perfectly reflect the ideals placed on women by Victorian society. Aurora, a true feminist at heart, rails against these ideals. She remarks sardonically:

The works of women are symbolical.

We sew, sew, prick our fingers, dull our sight,

Producing what. A pair of slippers, sir,

To put on when you re weary (1185).

Desperately questioning the complacent behavior of women, Aurora is asking why a woman should have to destroy her body to serve a man. Aurora does not subscribe to the idea of a complacent woman. Her complete rejection of Victorian ideals is evident when she turns down her cousin s marriage proposal. She reasons to him, You have a wife already whom you love, / Your social theory I am scarcely meek enough/ To be the handmaid of a lawful spouse. Leigh refuses to marry Romney because she knows that he isn t in love with her, but rather with an ideal woman; Leigh knows she is not and never can be the Victorian ideal. Evident in Aurora s unhappiness in England, her opinion of her caged bird aunt, and her rejection of Romney are Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s convictions on woman s place in society. Through use of persona, Browning fully embodies the pre-feminist movement.

In his The Lady of Shallot , Alfred Lord Tennyson creates a female character who represents the embowered woman of the 19th century. The Lady is ideal in all aspects. The purpose of her dwelling, which Tennyson describes as Four gray walls, and four gray towers, is to protect her from the world. Tennyson may, however, be poi