Sunday, June 10, 2007
A Letter to the Queen
In Caroline Norton's writing "A Letter to the Queen," she is pointing out, like Elizabeth Barrett Brown, the injustice from the lack of rights women had during this period. However, she seems different than many of the women who were trying to voice their opinion against the injustice that faced women. She had a first hand account about how awful women were treated back during this time because according to the text, she was married to a "Brutal man." In the writing, she states, "An English wife may not leave her husband's house. Not only can he sue her for 'restitution of conjugal rights', but he has a right to enter the house of any friend or relation with whom she may take refuge, and who may "harbour her,"--as it is termed,--and carry her away by force, with or without the aid of the police (565)." This passage from Caroline Norton's writing goes to show that women just did not feel like they were trapped by their duties as a women, but many of them were either in situations or could become in situations to which there was no place for them to go that was safe. Marriage had to be more like being a prisoner for women during this time, but prisoners probably received better treatment.
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2 comments:
Robert,
Good focus and quotation for this posting. You make some good observations, too, but you need to follow them up and develop them more for more credit. You might look at the blogs of some of your classmates to see their approach. Several of them are providing much more extensive and developed interpretations, and I would like to see you emulate them.
Rob,
I like your comment about how women were treated like prisoners, but prisoners were probably treated better. That is definitely the impression that Norton leaves you with after reading this selection. I also like the way you mention her point of view from her own experience of being married to a "brutal man", which could explain why she wrote as she did about the treatment of women. Good job Rob!
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