Jaclyn Petrow's Channel Firing Essay- "Love Verus Learning"

Word Count: 1,119

Presenting to you: Naden’s Magnificent Poem “Love Versus Learning”

Constance Naden may have been a poet who lived a short life, but regardless, her ability to illustrate Victorian society through poetry is just as sharp as many of the great poets we have examined. In the exploration of British literature that I have embarked on this semester only one of her poems have been examined critically, “Natural Selection.” Naden’s ability to illustrate Victorian ladies and gentlemen, and science during the Victorian era offers a crystal clear image of Victorian life when I read her poetry. This is especially the case in “Love Versus Learning.” Even though many of her poems are captivating, this particular poem is significant because it explores male versus female identity and positions in society, in addition to their connections with knowledge and science. And, even the rhythm of the poem offers the illusion of aestheticism in the form of a song. “Love Versus Learning” is written through a young women’s perspective. At the beginning of the poem she describes how her imagination and desires were misleading, she once had pride before it was dropped to the lowest degree after marriage. The idea of gender in the poem is significant because it does not just acknowledge the Victorian era’s stereotypical male figure, but it also illustrates females, and how they have just as many expectations in life, “I pictured him learned and witty” (Love Versus Knowledge line 5). Despite these desires Victorian females do not have means to capture these desires; Naden illustrates this effectively in the poem. The image of a husband for the female speaker in the poem moves from philosopher to an inventor, then to a poet to make compromises with her reality. This is important when thinking of a woman’s power in the time; they rarely had control compared to the magnitude of a man’s power in society. Additionally, with these desires of her husband’s occupation in the poem, there is also a strong desire for the treatment that she will receive as a wife.

“Not scorning to say I was pretty, Not only adoring my mind. No elderly, spectacled Mentor, But one who would worship and woo” (Love Versus Learning lines 7-10).

These expectations of treatment are insignificant to the treatment she actually receives. Within these two ideas there is a clear depiction of the minuscule amount of control female’s have in contrast to what women of the time may desire. Naden’s narration so far in the poem suggests the idea that the image of a desirable husband would be a well-educated charming young man who is balanced in every corridor of judgment of his wife’s character. In the second half of the poem Naden illustrates the reality of a female in the Victorian era, “I smiled, and my freedom was past” (Love Versus Learning line 17). The narrator marries a man, who is a scholar, but not her image of a scholar, “He’s mastered the usual knowledge, And says it’s a terrible bore; He formed his opinions in college, Then why should he think anymore? “	(Love Versus Learning lines 25-29)

The idea that the husband's views of knowledge are dismissive and a mockery versus the wife/narrator’s views towards knowledge, which are treasured is a significant message. The dark contrast between husband and wife portrays the disagreeableness of matrimony and ownership in regards to the wives being owned by the husbands. The wife receives superficial treatment towards her interests in knowledge and science. Instead of her husband encouraging these interests he thinks of her as, “a dear little goose” (Love versus Learning line 32). Naden effectively expresses in the poem how the husband envisions his wife against her wishes to just talk knowledge. The thought of his wife thinking of knowledge is absurd to him: whose lips are too rosy, who has too sunny a head. The sunny reference may refer to the idea of spring and birth, young and simple. His idea of a woman is clear, someone who should not waste time on knowledge. It is really fascinating how Naden crafts the poem in the idea that the narrator’s husband’s distaste for knowledge creates the desire within hr to part with him. And, at the same time knowledge plays in the husband’s power to keep her by his side and to continue to have what he desires; “his love is his law of attention” (Love Versus Learning line 47).

“But compliments so scientific Recapture my fluttering heart” (Love Versus Learning lines 31-32).

In this quote Naden clearly steps away from the illustration of gender in the Victorian era and moves directly into knowledge, which is connected with the narrator’s love. Since the existence of love is infinite, and the narrator’s love is for knowledge, not for her husband the idea of infinite power is definitely exploited in the poem, and directly exists in learning, science and knowledge. Lastly, beyond Naden’s direct illustrations and ideas of Victorian ladies and gents, there is the existence of aestheticism in the poem’s structure, which reaffirms the idea of gender. The poem in general is written with a consistent melody that can easily create the poems lines into lyrics of a song. Since the narrator of the poem is a female, and it seems that she is not only trying to create a message through this poem, but also through music creates the idea of her words as pretty and just to be looked at. The lyrical aspect in the poem, which again is narrated by a female, cannot just be a coincidence. Naden’s illustrations in the poem of aestheticism and female identity coincide with one another in the connected idea of both of these things existing just to be pretty. “Love Versus Learning” really does incorporate so many different images of the Victorian era. This poem as a whole, or just by the study of just a couple of stanzas is a really telling piece of literature in terms of the ideas that it depicts, it shows so much more than what is just on the outside. The study of Victorian literature may as well be at a loss without the examination of Naden’s poem because it does not only offer the depictions of gender, knowledge, and aestheticism, but it also offers a real life testimony from a Victorian female herself of how she sees a woman’s identity; Constance Naden would not have just created these ideas as something completely fictional. This poem is a testimony on life and how she (narrator/possibly Naden) desires to live it, with the contrast of how she has to live it. “Love Versus Learning,” offers the idea of forced separation between females and knowledge, and the restriction of females’ identity and choices in this era.