The Role Of Woman

At the beginning of the lesson there was a picture of the Spice Girls on the board and we had to discuss what girl power is which is a term often used for empowerment, and linked with feminism. We then had a brief discussion on the equality of men and woman and what the stereotypical views of woman and men's roles were, thus producing two separate spheres. Men typically had all the power in the relationship with money, education power, politics and legal matters where as the woman was seen as the domestic housewife, charming, selfless and so on. We then discussed whether the Lady of Shalott was fitted any of these traits, and the fact that she left her home in pursuit of Sir Lancelot, for him to only establish "she has a lovely face" proves that she was foolishly selfless to die for a man who took no interest. It also highlights the plite of woman and how power in distributed in the poem for we learn more about Sir Lancelot in those two stanzas than we do about Lady Shalott in the rest of the poem.

The next poem we looked at was "The Angel in the house" by Coventry Patmore in which he wrote about his wife, Emily.

Man must be pleased; but him to please

Is woman's pleasure; down the gulf

Of his condoled necessities

She casts her best, she flings herself.

How often flings for nought, and yokes

Her heart to an icicle or whim,

Whose each impatient word provokes

Another, not from her, but him;

While she, too gentle even to force

His penitence by kind replies,

Waits by, expecting his remorse,

With pardon in her pitying eyes;

And if he once, by shame oppress'd,

A comfortable word confers,

She leans and weeps against his breast,

And seems to think the sin was hers;

Or any eye to see her charms,

At any time, she's still his wife,

Dearly devoted to his arms;

She loves with love that cannot tire;

And when, ah woe, she loves alone,

Through passionate duty love springs higher,

As grass grows taller round a stone.

Although written about his wife it still highlights the stereotypical views of woman, that for his sin she must weep?

We continued to look at the role of woman in the poem "Mariana" in which Mariana is betrothed to Angelo who later broke off the engagement and Mariana lives outside Venetian society in a secluded country grange visited by hardly anyone. Sir then put an extract on the board in which we had to annotate and find out what the extract suggests.

"With blackest moss the flower-plots

Were thickly crusted, one and all"

The extract uses dark imagery, with the antithesis of moss and flower, and suggests that hope has died, as well as creating a sense of abandonment, may be a metaphor for her feelings. Also with the contrast between one and all, indicating a individuals society. We then continued to read the rest of the poem and the overall impression was that time is passing her by, and that she takes pleasure in being depressed.

Lastly, we worked in groups of two's or three's and annotated a stanza of the poem, focusing on AO2 in which we will share next lesson.

Homework:

Read and highlight the sheet Sir gave us about Tennyson's narrative method in The Lady of Shalott.

Complete annotating the rest of Mariana.

Lucy