Theme Of Women In The Romantic Era

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Women in the Romantic Era were a long way from being treated as equals; they were expected by society to find a husband, become a typical housewife, and a good mother. So what happens when women get tired of being treated horribly and try to fight back towards getting men to treat them as an equal? Both Mary Robinson’s, “The Poor Singing Dame” and Anna Barbauld’s “The Rights of Women” show great examples of how women in the Romantic Era were disrespected and degraded by men, whereas all they wanted was to be treated with respect and dignity. Females were harassed for doing the smallest thing wrong or for doing something that simply made a male angry. For example, in “the Great Singing Dame” the happy poor woman gets thrown in jail for simply …show more content…

This is perfectly show in, “The Rights of Women” where it states, “Then, then, abandon each ambitious thought, Conquest or rule thy heart shall feebly move, In Nature 's school, by her soft maxims taught,”(Barbauld, Lines 29-31). All women wanted was to be treated as equals to men in society like it states in the poem, “That separate rights are lost in mutual love.”(Barbauld, Line 32). Robinson is trying to show that if women try to rule in their place in society in the Romantic Era will not let it last long, woman’s love towards the opposite gender will overcome their pride and anger. The poem begins in support of a female revolution, but ending with a warning call about the results of such a revolution. Though this revolution would completely change the landscape on how men treat …show more content…

Men expected a good supper, a clean house, and the kids taken care of when they got home after work. This makes women feel as if they were being confined in jail, since they were stuck in the house, hidden away from society. This is nicely portrayed in the “Poor Singing Dame”, the poor woman got thrown in jail where she had her live taken away for just expressing her joyful feelings by singing. Women finally got fed up with being treated like men’s property and they needed change. “Yes, injured Woman! rise, assert thy right! Woman! too long degraded, scorned, opprest; O born to rule in partial Law 's despite” (Barbauld, Lines 1-3) and “He sent his bold yeomen with threats to prevent her, And still would she carol her sweet roundelay; At last, an old steward relentless he sent her-Who bore her, all trembling, to prison away!”(Robinson, Lines 36-40). The timing was perfect for women to assert themselves into society and have some sort of dominance. Females around the world started to feel like they needed to tell men to step aside from their role as the rulers of society, and instead accept that women can rule just as good as any man. But Robinson could also be implying that the urge to rule over the opposite gender is a scenario that only men want and, women should desire something else. She concludes that even if women manage to gain dominance over men they would not be able to hold

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