maude claire Flashcards
written?
1857
link to highgate penitentary
criticises the fallen women and those who induldge in immoral things
structure
12 quatrains
narrative form
metre
roughly equal metre
monosyllabic word choice effect
angel in the house significance
coventry patmore 1854 (close to time period) draws on ideal qualitiues of a women and desirability
‘with a loft step and mein’
lofty alludes to maudes power and dominance, challenges the notion of women as passive and weak
his bride was like a village maid
-queen suggests that she is less desirable
-a maid connotes purity suggestively increasing desirability
significance of maid reference
maude claire less desireable as a bride, not a maid but a queen.
a maid connotes purity suggestively increasing desirability
‘with smiles, almost tears’
tears show ucertainty of emotion, could allude to generational trauma of women being possessed through marriage
‘may nell and you but live as true as we have done for years’
-shows traditional value of marrriage being continued
-the inconsistent rhyme could be an underlying message from the mother, symbolic of not wanting to conform to societies expectations, suggests there isnt happiness in marriage and its just a traditional expectation
‘your father thirty years ago had just your tale to tell; but he was not so pale as you’
-link to generational trauma and cyclical process of being confined in marriage
-shows expectation of men in society
-pale, ambiguous, could suggest nervoussness
-fact both nell and him are pale shows they both don’t want to conform to the tradition of marriage but it is thrust upon them
significance of inconsistent rhyme second stanza
not wanting to conform to tradition of marriage
pale implication
unsure about emotions, nervous?
‘my lord was pale with inward strife
And nell was pale with pride’
MY LORD- -conforms to hierarchy og gender
posessive pronoun suggests maude Claire lasting impact on him despite constrainsts of marriage
nell pale in different way shows disparity in emotion
narrator is ambiguous
’ My lord gazed long on pale maude Clare
Or ever he kissed the bride’
-suggests temptation, the lord doesnt wish to be with nell but maude claret
-shows long lasting effect maude clare had on him
-long emphasises intensity of the gaze
‘Lo, I have brought my gift my lord’
-declaration of maude clare’s presence -possesiveness of my lord
-was rare for a femae voice to declare
‘to bless the hearth, to bless the board, to bless the marriage bed’
-the repeated blessings are insincere
-sexual connotations of bed allude to their sexual past
-marriage bed on an isolated line (scathing)
significance of ‘my lord’
-conforms to hierarchy og gender
-posessive pronoun suggests maude Claire lasting impact on him despite constrainsts of marriage
pastoral imagery
purity of their relationship before it went downhill- signifies ‘plucking’ of innocence
feminist perspective
subverts expectations of women at the time
suggestive of rossettis conflicting views on women
summary
Narrative poem which pits two women against each other. Maude Clare is attractive, but fallen, whereas Nell is plain but virtuous.
what does the ‘gold chain’ symbolise
demonstrates the end of the unity they once had
the fact is was worn around his neck suggests social heirarchy of gender and symbolic of control/possession
the fact he wore the chain around his neck
symbolic of control and possession- ownership
-he wore her innocence round her neck
significajce of Maude claires speech
declaration of her presence, rare for female to assert herself
significance of ‘we waded ankle deep for lilies ‘
waded ankle deep- shows insincerity and lack of intention of commitment
lilies- signifies death (death of unity) or innocence (took innocence)
the lilies are budding now
alludes to pregnancy
‘budding bough’ significance
premature nature of sexual relathionship (alliteration draws attention to it)
‘faded leaves’
pastoral imagrey implies purity of the foundation of their relationship
emphasises decayed and faded nature of their relationship
‘he strove to match her scorn with scorn
He faltered in his place’
-hes inferior and immasculated by her dominating and confrontational presence
-shame, impliues deeper mesning to relationship
“My lady Nell
I have a gift for you
Though, were it fruit the blooms were gone,
Or were it flowers the dew
-adresses nell in a respectful but pitying tone
-blooms gone from fruit suggest he stripped her of her innocence
-incmompleteness of this ‘gift’ indicates the incompleteness of this marriage
‘take my share of a fickle heart
Mine of a paltry love:
Take it or leave it as you will,
I wash my hands thereof’
-fickle heart is a reference to disloyalty
-Mine of a paltry love shows inadequate nature of thomas’s affections
-take it or leave it as u will- feminist perspective insinuating women shpuld of had more choice / freedom in marital relations, criticism of society
significance of marriage vows
suggests nell is trapped in this cycle of husband wife hierarchy cultivated by society
eiher emphaisies stoicism or naivity in nell
‘for hes my lord’
reinforces possesion of husband over wife
‘Yea though you’re taller by the head, more wise and much more fair:
I’ll love him until he loves me best,
Me best of all Maude Clare.
-comment on societal expectations on the type of woman you would marry over tempting features of idealised beauty
-commitment, shows how women couldnt break the cycle and had to engage in traditional marriage values
