The Wife's Lament

The story of “The Wife’s Lament” is a mystery. There are many interpretations of who the wife was and what she was going through. Two of the possibilities are that she was killed by her husband and haunted the earth in her afterlife and that after her husband died she went crazy.

One justifiable theory is that her husband, the lord, was unhappy and killed her. It appears that he could have murdered her in a few sections. In the poem she laments that that he was sorrowful and down on his luck (“Wife’s” 1). For this reason, it is plausible that he decided to take out his bad fortune on his wife by killing her. It is unclear why he would choose to kill her, regardless she speaks as one who has been betrayed. She states openly that he was embroiled and considering murder (“Wife’s” 1). Although he could have been preparing to kill someone else, there is no one else mentioned in the poem to give evidence of that. She is still reeling from the shock of his betrayal, surprised that he would do that. For these reasons, the wife may have killed her husband.

Moreover, the wife is unrestful as one would be if stuck on earth as a living dead. She says that he has sent her somewhere, to an unhappy place (“Wife’s” 1). A place he could have sent her is the afterlife where she now dwells fretfully. The wife may feel alone there and wonder what has become of her husband and how she had such dreadful luck. She has been exiled and is now alone and friendless (“Wife’s” 1). The ‘exile’ might just be premature death which seems to her like an exile since none of her friends would have died yet either. Now she weeps because they are all on earth and she is separated from them. One point is obvious; she is bitter with her situation. The valley ...

... middle of paper ...

...g for her beloved husband (“Wife’s” 2). It is probably upsetting to be the only one who still has hope for his return. For this reason she must have pushed them away even as they got tired of taking care of her. The wife loved him very much; accordingly, she is devastated that they are no longer together, enough to drive her mad.

As has been said, there are many theories of the backstory for “The Wife’s Lament,” two of which have been presented here. The wife may have been murdered by her husband and, unable to pass on, haunted the earth where all of her friends lived still. Otherwise, the husband might have shipwrecked and the wife went mad with grief, longing to have him back. There is no way of knowing who the woman really was and what happened with her husband, but people will always be able to speculate and choose to believe whichever theory they like.