The Wife's Lament
"A young woman must always be
stern, hard-of-heart, unmoved, full of belief,
enduring breast-cares, suppressing her own feelings.
She must always appear cheerful,
even in a tumult of grief." (The Wife's Lament, pg. 2)
In this portion of The Wife's Lament, the unnamed wife lists some of expectations society has for her emotions. Even when sad, a young woman is still expected to remain composed, suppressing her own feelings, and even act cheerful in the face of pain. Throughout the piece, words like grief, regret, sad, and misery are frequently used. With the end of her relationship, she says that the "naysayers" told her to "go, seek repentance in the sacred grove, beneath the great oak trees, in some root-entangled grotto, alone," and in so many words, telling her to basically go away until she was able to act composed again. Even though her marriage was unhealthy, she still seems to be mourning the loss of the person who made her feel at home in this new place when she didn't have any money or friends.
It seems like the societal expectations of women during the time this was written still remain true in today's society. Women (and men really) are often criticized for being overly emotional. You often see pictures of celebrities on the cover of those gossip magazines puffy eyed and without makeup with some terrible headline underneath like "Angelina Jolie hits a rough patch after her divorce," or something along those lines. It's a shame that, since as far back as 990 AD, women are still expected to, in so many words, go and grieve or be emotional in our own "root-entangled grotto, alone."
stern, hard-of-heart, unmoved, full of belief,
enduring breast-cares, suppressing her own feelings.
She must always appear cheerful,
even in a tumult of grief." (The Wife's Lament, pg. 2)
In this portion of The Wife's Lament, the unnamed wife lists some of expectations society has for her emotions. Even when sad, a young woman is still expected to remain composed, suppressing her own feelings, and even act cheerful in the face of pain. Throughout the piece, words like grief, regret, sad, and misery are frequently used. With the end of her relationship, she says that the "naysayers" told her to "go, seek repentance in the sacred grove, beneath the great oak trees, in some root-entangled grotto, alone," and in so many words, telling her to basically go away until she was able to act composed again. Even though her marriage was unhealthy, she still seems to be mourning the loss of the person who made her feel at home in this new place when she didn't have any money or friends.
It seems like the societal expectations of women during the time this was written still remain true in today's society. Women (and men really) are often criticized for being overly emotional. You often see pictures of celebrities on the cover of those gossip magazines puffy eyed and without makeup with some terrible headline underneath like "Angelina Jolie hits a rough patch after her divorce," or something along those lines. It's a shame that, since as far back as 990 AD, women are still expected to, in so many words, go and grieve or be emotional in our own "root-entangled grotto, alone."
I LOVED your connection of the literature to modern times. I interpreted this poem very similarly when I read it. I'm glad that you pointed out the repetition of negative emotion words. It really conveys the author's interpretation of women. The point you made about women being criticized about being overly emotional is especially true in today's society! I can't tell you how many times I have been ridiculed for crying even though it is a natural emotion that both genders do!!! The section where the author said that she had to be in her own "root-entangled grotto, alone" to express her grief really struck me too. Thank you for writing this comparison!
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