“Helen” and “To Helen” both greatly recognize Helen of Troy’s outward beauty yet only H.D. is aware of the destruction it brings. Perhaps her being female is a component to her hateful perspective on Helen. However Edgar Allan Poe, a male, may let his attraction to Helen cloud his judgment. Their difference in gender may reflect in the poem, and in two drastically different ways. Poe describes her as compassionate and holy because of her beauty whereas H.D. accuses her of being evil and abhorrent through her acts. Through figurative language, both poets use a different tone in their poems to depict Helen which results in considerably different points of view.
Imagery would obviously be a vital part to a poem that is centered on a woman’s beauty. In “To Helen,” Poe uses the first stanza to describe Helen as the “Nicéan barks of yore” (2) as on a ship. This sends the image that Helen was the ship that brought the speaker home. The second stanza gives us the image of an Odysseus-like speaker, a “weary, way-worn wanderer” (4). The speaker’s admiration of Helen brings him home like Penelope brings Odysseus home in The Odyssey. Poe and H.D. both contain an image of a metaphorical statue in their poems. Poe also describes Helen as “statue-like” (12) which gives off a sense of nobility and confidence. However this simile is written out of love, whereas in “Helen,” a similar image is made from different origins other than love. Those with rudimentary knowledge of life before tanning beds and spray tans know that being exceptionally pale was a good thing as it reeked of nobility. H.D. takes this supposed asset somewhere else. Her “statue-like” (12) Helen is a dead Helen. H.D. starts by giving her “still eyes in the white face” (2) to star...
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...ons” but she doesn’t because anyone can do a bad deed but Helen is unique in that she can enchant people. The comparison of Helen as the “Naiad” (8) that helped him home constitutes the idea that the narrator would be “lost without Helen” and further differentiates it from “Helen.”
Edgar Allan Poe may have thought Paris or Agamemnon to be the speaker of his poem. It is odd to think that anyone in real life who knows Greek mythology could actually love Helen as a character. Perhaps instead of displaying admiration for Helen himself, he was making fun of one of the two mythological characters for loving such a terrible woman because of her beauty. Even in that case, “Helen” is a much stronger and effective poem. Expressing hatred for someone and killing her at the same time, H.D. does a superb job of destroying the woman who smiles at her past evils, even in death.
...he shows us her character, not by how she gives herself respect, but by the continued respect that she gives to others: even her tormenters. Her secret shame was kept inside, and it was an impossible burden to bear. She was brave.
While both characters were isolated from the public and put on “the scaffold...for public shame” their courage is what prevailed, ultimately making themselves prevail as well (Hawthorne, 130). Their beauty also prevails, although it was tested. While neither character is considered beautiful by typical standards, their tragic beauty remains intact through trial,
Edgar Allan Poe primarily authored stories dealing with Gothic literature; the stories were often quite dreary. Poe possessed a very sorrowful view of the world and he expressed this throughout his literary works. His goal was to leave an impression with every detail that he included in his stories. Although Poe’s stories seem very wretched and lackluster they all convey a certain idea. A trademark of Poe’s is his use of very long complex sentences. For instance, in his work The Fall of the House of Usher, Poe tried to ensure that every detail was as relevant as possible by integrating a wide variety of emotion. In the third paragraph, of page two hundred ninety-seven, Poe wrote, “Feeble gleams of encrimsoned light made their way through the trellised panes, and served to render sufficiently distinct the more prominent objects around…” This sentence illustrates the descriptiveness and complexity that Edgar Allan Poe’s works consisted of. The tormented cognizance of Poe led him to use a very gloomy diction throughout his writing. Edgar Allan Poe’s use of symbols and the way he conveyed his writing expr...
Although readers dive into this poem in the middle of the story, the author still manages to establishes Judith’s character in clear manner through their choice of words. In using words such as “radiant lady” (Judith 14), “bright maiden” (Judith 44), and “brilliant maid” (Judith 124), the author makes it clear
Sappho, as seen in poem 16 when she states that Helen went sailing for Troy not for her children or parents, but for love, implies that love is of utmost importance, more so even than one’s family. Sappho attempts to portray love realistically; with both the joy and pain that love brings to one’s life. In poem 31, Sappho focuses on the sharp pain love is capable of bestowing on someone. Sappho first speaks bitterly about the man talking to the women she loves. After recounting the passion she feels for this women, Sappho then discusses how she feels as if her despair might kill her. The jealousy expressed in this poem is one of the many woeful consequences of
In all, the misogyny presented in these two poems is not restricted to the time period they were written. Just as in medieval literature, it is still common for today's woman to be recognized only for her physical attributes. I believe that in order to have equality of the sexes and to help overcome the objectifying of women, it is necessary for women not to use the misogynistic views placed against them to their advantage.
This juxtaposition is what leads the reader to understand the true meaning of the poem. For example, “Danae” is a “vessel” for “Jove” (lines 56). Danae is belittled to an object and claimed by Jove while Jove remains “golden” and godly. In lines seven and eight, “Jove the Bull” “bore away” at “Europa”. “Bore”, meaning to make a hole in something, emphasises the violent sexual imagery perpetrated in this poem. Jove disguises himself as a bull in order to take Europa away to Crete so he can rape her. Not only that, but she becomes pregnant afterwards and “bore” a child. Europa was physically “away” from her home because Jove had stolen her, but Jove “bore away” at her physically as well as emotionally. Finally, in line 8, the “Swan’s featherless bride” refers to Leda, who was raped by Zeus in the form of a swan. Not only is she not mentioned by name but she is owned by the “Swan” as demonstrated by the possessive noun. While the other women had minor historical context, Leda is reduced to three words. Not only that but Jove 's violence against the women increase with every name, Leda being alluded to last drives home the pain he
... of tragedy and lets her be the diamond in the rough. She is the one person whose vision is unaltered from the very beginning of the book and to her the other survivors draw their own courage.
...he Trojan War, as Agamemnon chose to help Menelaus but getting her back. But while she was represented as a victim, she was a bold character that spoke her mind, and no male stopped her. Helen has a direct relationship with the Trojan War, with out her there was none?
The methods of character description in these stories are quite different. Ligeia is a beautiful smart woman that the narrator loved and describes in a positive light. She is very similar to Poe’s own mother, Eliza Poe. Rowena, the narrator’s second wife, is used as an object in the story to bring Ligeia back to him. She is seen as a substitute for Ligeia, similar to Poe’s foster mother, Frances Allan. Berenice is a beautiful woman whom Eageus loved out of consequence, she was around when he was sick, and no one else was. However, he objectified her, piece by piece, and identified her in comparison to him self. In the end, although he doesn’t appear to love her, he still tries to hold onto a beautiful memory of her when he pulls out her teeth. This appears to be similar to most of the women in Poe’s life. They were beautiful women who were around because he needed them. Each woman is an attempt to fill an existing void, such as his foster mothers attempt to fill the void of his mother. Poe’s bevy of beauties, some of whom he becomes engaged, fill the void after his first wife, Virginia Clemm died. As each of them leave him, either by death or circumstance, he desperately tries to hold on to their memory, while continuing to search for what he truly wants, which is to be part of a family
In the Homer's epic poem the Odyssey, there are many themes that serve to make a comment about the meanings of the story. The theme of women in the poem serves to make these comments but also establishes a point of view on women in the reader. From this point of view, a perspective is developed into the "best" and "worst" in women. Achievement of this is through the characterization of many women with single notable evil qualities. Similar to the biblical story of Adam and Eve, Eve like the many women in the Odyssey brings about pain and suffering for mankind. Contrary to the depicting of women as roots of evil, the reader sees the other traits of women that are most desirable. The roles of these women are achieved by their portrayal throughout the poem. This in return has a significant affect on how the poem and the message that is conveyed.
voices of their wives. The reader can believe this of Helen, but the event is
...nce we see women in the Iliad being referred to by both themselves and others, as liars and bitches who twist the desires of men to suit their own purpose, such as when Helen tries to persuade Hector to rest with her in book six. "My dear brother, / dear to me, bitch that I am, vicious, scheming-- / horror to freeze the heart" (6.407-409)! Here we even see a women debasing her own character.
Although difficult and challenging, I have compared and contrasted the works of two American Poets, Edgar Allen Poe and Emily Dickinson, based on literary elements used in their writings. Their differences both in style and subject are contradictory to the fact that both Poe and Dickinson are writers/poets of the same personal nature. The use of literary elements showcase the iconic statuses of the writings created by such reserved yet fame dependent poets such as Poe and Dickinson. To an extent, their chosen elements are what create their uniqueness. Further, it establishes a uniform perception that they are similar yet different poets of the personal essence. Through their writings, readers are able to grasp the concept that they are rarely drawn to the fact their lives were perfect. Dickinson seemed to be a writer of distinct but subtle characteristics. Poe, on the other hand, was considered to be a writer filled with a dependancy on fame and fortune.
The diction of “Annabel Lee” helps create the impression of a fairy tale-like love story. With words such as “maiden” (line 3), “kingdom” (line 8), “beautiful” (line 16), “high-born kinsmen” (line 17), Poe paints a picture of a whimsical, fantastic love story when, in reality, Annabel Lee dies in her girlhood. This is wherein lies the irony: the glamorization of the persona’s love of Annabel Lee