Felicia Hemans, had a very impressive biography. Under the teaching of her mother, by age fourteen she had learned four languages and quickly developed a talent for writing. Unlike Dorothy Wordsworth, she sought fame for her work and published numerous publications. Lord Bryon, a critic of her's thought it was out of the ordinary for a woman to write poetry criticized her work. He stated, 'I do not despise Mrs. Heman- but if she knit blue stocking instead of wearing them it would be better" (page 404), suggesting that women should not aspire to be writers, this should only be done by men. This, I disagree with.
Also I have noticed in the introduction that she has had some negative experiences with her father and husband, and had to raised five children on her own. These experiences has really influenced her work as shown in her gruesome writing of "The Wife of Asdrubal."
I had mixed emotions while reading, "The Wife of Asdrubal." On one hand I felt Asdrudal's wife rage towards her husband but on the other hand I could not understand understand why she could have killed the children. This does not make sense to me. Sometimes in rage we do terrible things to repay others for what they have done to us, so I guess she felt that she had to repay her husband for the hurt and pain that she was going through. She was determined to take her revenge, she would not back out. This was obvious in the following verses;
"But a wild courage sits triumphant there,
The stormy grandeur of a proud despair;
A daring siprit, in its woes elate,
Mightier than death, untameable by fate......
She seems th' avenging goddess of the scene." (page 407)
Also from these lines, it seems as if she was being heroic in bringing to her husband's attention that she was hurting, because the author uses words as courage, triumphant, proud and daring life spirit to validate this point. In her rage to get even with her husband she killed the children as stated in these lines "Bright in her hand the lifted dagger gleams, swift from her children's hearts the life-blood streams" (page 408) I am not clear if it was her children or not because the poem did not answer that question.
"Are those her infants, that with suppliant cry
Cling round her, shrinking as the flame draws nigh," (page 407)
It is unclear if the children that were killed were Asdrubal wife's children because the poet did not give an answer when the statement was made "Are those her infants." Might be they were not her children but his, and in her rage to take revenge she killed his children. One can only wonder. However, it is clear from the poem that she did perish in the flames as was evident in the last verse.
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2 comments:
Anthony,
Very good focus in this post on one of Hemans's most intriguing and troubling poems. "The Wife of Asdrubal" is unlike anything else we have in our book by her (although she wrote at least several other similar poems that I am aware of that are not included in our textbook). I like the way you quote a long passage from it and discuss it in depth--that is exactly the strategy I would like to see in these posts. As far as I can tell the children she kills belong to her and her husband, and the passage you quote ought to be interpreted as the shock of the narrator at the act. On the other hand, as you point out, the narrator also uses words with very positive connotations, so it is challenging to figure out how to interpret the poem. I suppose one could see her as heroic in saving her children from a life of slavery at the hands of the Roman victors, or from seeing their father the traitor, but it is hard not to see her as the vengeful wife punishing her husband by slaying his heirs in front of him, and out of his reach to stop her.
Good thought-provoking post--keep up the good work!
I love your discussion of "The Wife of Asdrubal." It's so deep and...well...thought provoking! I have never questioned whether the children belonged to her or not, but now that you point out the question asked by the narrator of whether the children belonged to her or not, I can see where it could be possible that the children belonged to her husband and not her. Regardless of whether the children belonged to her or not, I feel that she is completely psychotic for taking the children's lives. She's no hero, she's a psycho that needs mental treatment. The death of a child is never necessary
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