If you agree with Deborah Logan that the poem explores deviations from the "Victorian norm of acceptable female sexuality" do you find anything revealing in that exploration (294)? Does the deviance defined by Aurora, Lady Waldemar and/or Marian empower them in any way? What is the effect of any empowerment, if you see it?
Ultimately, it seems, despite the ending of Aurora's marriage to Romney, Logan concludes that the poem is an example of one woman writer (Barrett Browning, not Aurora) who acknowledges the presence of a character like Marian who "demands recognition and articulation on her own terms" in the case of defining her own sexuality, and that Barrett Browning uses Marian to "say the unsayable and think the unthinkable" and posits a "femaleness not bound by social, sexual, or economic constructs" (305). Does it matter that the poem is not about Marian? What about how Aurora ultimately defines her sexuality?
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Aside from taking up the pen to do "man's work", Aurora also deviates from the norm of female sexuality when she writes in sexual poetic tones,namely in Book 8 when she describes the city of Florence. Lady Waldemar acts "unladylike" by actively pursuing a man and putting herself out there to do the dirty work of charity, even if she doesn't have her heart in it. Marian acts outside of the norm by turning down Romney when he asks for her hand in marriage when he finds out she has a baby. Marian's child was not Romney's, but by wedding Romney, she would have gained back some respectability than remaining an unwedded mother who was not even a widow. Each of the women is empowered by the deviance because in the end they experience some kind of personal growth and satisfaction. Aurora is able to explain her emotions through powerful words, a gift that makes her book successful and also makes her realize she is capable of doing what others thought she couldn't do. Lady Waldemar gains Romney for a brief moment but she comes to terms with the truth of the lack of love and she is strong enough to send him on his way. Marian gains independence and cares only for her son.
ReplyDeleteMarian is important to the poem because Aurora chooses to tell her story. The poem isn't necessarily about Marian, but she keeps popping up in the boldest of ways. Marian momentarily outsteps the boundaries of class structure, but her main weakness was that she could be talked out of anything--at least up until the point that she had a child to care for. In this particular situation, Marian stood firm and chose to raise her child without a husband. She knew that Romney was not the father and she felt the sole responsibility of raising that illegitimate child fell upon her. She was genuinely caring and her rejection of marriage was not in the least a subtle move towards independence from man in a a patriarchal society.