Beth Rehbehn's Canonball

Throughout this semester, we have encountered several examples of intertextual works from various authors covering both prose and poetry. By comparing texts, like William Wordsworth’s poems with his sister’s journals, we were able to instill a deeper understanding of both texts and examine the relationships between contemporary authors. Aside from analyzing a work between authors, we have also focused on closely critiquing a text in itself, distinguishing between how an author intended for us to read their work, and the various other perspectives one can take while interpreting a text. Anna Letitia Barbauld’s poem “To a Lady, with Some Painted Flowers” sparked both a dialogue between Barbauld and Mary Wollstonecraft, but can also be read through both a conservative and ironic perspective, which is why I have chosen this work to be considered for the Romantic Literature canon.

Barbauld’s poem is a prime example of a work of Romantic literature that inspired a dialogue between two authors. In chapter four of Wollstonecraft’s “Vindication on the Rights of Women”, she references Barbauld’s poem to express her distain for the frivolousness of the education of women. Barbauld later retorted again with her poem “The Rights of Women”. By reading Barbauld’s “To a Lady” along side Wollstonecraft’s “Vindication”, on is really able to critique both works in comparison of one another. Wollstonecraft’s essay helps to deepen the reader’s understanding of Barbauld’s poem by forcing the reader to consider the context in which Barbauld’s speaker is addressing the subject. Alone, the poem appears to be a short sweet text regarding the beauty of a youthful woman. But once placed besides Wollstonecraft’s essay, the read is able to examine the poem either through a conservative or ironic lens. We can look at the poem as either epitomizing or critiquing the role of women in British society.

Through a conservative perspective, Barbauld’s poem embodies the values of the accomplishment’s education, which was being taught to the British Romantic women. Barbauld appears to glorify the carefree lives of women, expressing how their only identities revolve around their beauty. She describes the flowers as “the sole luxury which nature knew” (7) and stemming from “Eden’s pure and guiltless garden” (8). Barbauld is comparing virtuous women to that of beautiful flowers. These are the standards to which she is upholding the women of her society. They are to be innocent, beautiful, and submissive. She writes, “Flowers sweet, and gay, and delicate like you/ Emblems of innocence, and beauty too” (3-4). Barbauld is exemplifying the ideal woman in terms of her beauty and innocence. Apart from feminine beauty, Barbauld also reinforces the idea of male dominance. She states, “The sheltering oak resists the stormy wind/ The tougher yew repels invading foes/ And the tall pine for future navies grows” (10-12). She is insinuating that a young girl does not have to worry about the hazards of the world because there will be others – presumably men - there to shield her from those dangers, be it domestic, foreign, or future threats. Furthermore, She closes her poem with lines that characterize the woman’s duty to men, writing, “Your best, your sweetest empire is – to please” (18). Since it is the man’s duty to protect the women, it becomes the women’s duty to submit to the men. Overall, it is easy to understand Wollstonecraft’s concerns regarding Barbauld’s work as a conservative text.

However, while Barbauld’s poem can be read as a celebration of women’s beauty and submissive role in the family, there is, like many of the other works we have discussed in class, an alternative reading of her work. When you consider Barbauld’s other political writings, as well as her own status as a prominent female writer, it is possible to interpret an ironic speaker coming through. Starting with the Virgil’s epithet which reads, “Behold, the nymphs bring you lilies in overflowing baskets”, one cannot help but wonder why Barbauld would choose to use this particular quote. In classical mythology nymphs were considered to be fairly promiscuous beings, which goes against the image of the pure young lady that Barbauld appears to be promoting. Furthermore, the lilies being portrayed further complicate Barbauld’s message, seeing as they can be associated with death, possibly exposing Barbauld’s views of the lack of women’s rights as repressive. By choosing Virgil’s quote to establish the premise for her poem, Barbauld could be creating an ironic tone to her work. Besides the epithet, Barbauld’s use of overgeneralization could be read as an attempt to expose the hypocrisy of British society. She writes, “To you these flowers I bring/ And strive to greet you with an earlier spring” (1-2). It is possible Barbauld is attempting to expose the unrealistic standards of beauty that society had placed upon women. Men insist on a woman’s physical beauty, yet it is a trait that will not remain constant throughout a woman’s life. Just as flowers will never remain fresh, neither will the woman. She also appears to be creating a support system within the women’s society. The speaker of the poem seems to be an older woman addressing a young lady, attempting to warn her of the impossible standards society has established for her to live up to. Finally, Barbauld’s excessive glorification of the tasks of men could be read as extremely sarcastic. She describes them as “loftier forms” (10), yet later describes them as springing “to cheer the sense, and glad the heart” (16) of women. Ultimately, while the men may have the task of providing for the family, they really are submissive to the desires of the women.

As one of the major women authors of the time, Barbauld plays a critical role in the development of our understanding of the function of women in the British Romantic society. No matter whether you approach Barbauld’s work as a conservative text reiterating the submissive roles women were bound to, or as an ironic text critiquing the mentality of women of the time, Barbauld’s text is still a relevant work of literature. Through her interactions with other writers and her own works in themselves, Barbauld helped to shape the genre as a whole, and thus should be included in the canon.