ENGL 3002 Position Paper "Feminism"

Year taken: 2012-2013

Professor: Nellie Vázquez

Class: INGL3002

University: University of Puerto Rico, Cayey Campus

Grace H. Rodríguez Cruz

Professor N. Vázquez

English 3002

April 17th 2013

             Female Criticism and Elizabeth Barren Browning‘s Sonnet 43

         The powerful performance of eternal and transcendental love portrayed in her famous “Sonnet 43” is not only an emotional burst, but also, a portrayal of the common female role of society. “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” From the beginning, we can understand the topic of the poem: love.  Although this is one of the most powerful feelings in poetry, the whole context of her irrationality about the wanting to surpass her love even after death, makes her persona look over-emotional and exaggerated. Example: “I love thee with a love I seemed to lose/With my lost saints,—I love thee with the breath,/Smiles, tears, of all my life!—and, if God choose,/I shall but love thee better after death.” From the stereotypes of females, it has been discussed that women would’ve usually been placed in two categories: the good girl and the bad girl. Barren Browning’s poem places her, assuming it is the speaker in the poem, in the good girl kind. Her kindness, purity and sweet intentions to just love this other someone breaks out as that delicate flower a man would keep in a crystal box to prevent from breaking it. An example of this would be: “I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;/I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.” Even so, we see how she explains a certain passion, but since it compares it to her childhood appreciation of other figures we can still assume she is the girl who follows tightly society’s positive role of women: “I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.” And this is also placed in her desire to show her feelings comparing them with his (or her) everyday needs: “I love thee to the level of everyday’s/Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.”

        The author’s stand in the stereotype portrays the inferiority of women in an England, ironically enough, ruled by Queen Victoria; one of England’s most iconic rulers and an extremely recognized woman.  In Victorian society, “many political and legal reforms granted citizens many rights. However, women did not share these rights.”-Tells us the Norton Anthology of British literature: Romantic Period through the Twentieth Century. “Many limitations in educational and employment opportunities…In 1837, none of England’s three universities was open to women.”  It was then that certain changes were noticed like mosquito pinch. Still, the most honorable job a single woman could get in those days it is said to be the position of a ruler. Many of the poor-class women went with the option of prostitution to survive the horrible conditions and salary of the era. Queen Victoria was a woman lucky enough to have an important job and still be considered high-up, probably not equal, but appreciated. With the patriarchal society given to England and the age, society was concerned with the very nature of women itself; being classified as biologically weaker and over-reactional with no capacity to understand her surroundings neither better nor equal than the male. Therefore, the cries of mothers and daughters were submitted to the false illusion of happiness portrayed and reminded by media and writers to become the “ideal Grace” for women.

Sources:

·         The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Romantic Period through the Twentieth Century. 8^th Ed. 2005

·         Barren Browning, Elizabeth. "How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)." - Poets.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2013.

·         Vázquez, Nellie. "Feminist Criticism" Powerpoint presentation for English 3002, University of Puerto Rico at Cayey. Spring 2013.