DIPLOMARBEIT / DIPLOMA THESIS - Phaidra

DIPLOMARBEIT / DIPLOMA THESIS

Titel der Diplomarbeit / Title of the Diploma Thesis

„Lonely As A Cloud?

Space and Gender in Romantic Women Writer's Poetry“

verfasst von / submitted by

Veronika Anna Zeppetzauer

angestrebter akademischer Grad / in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of

Magistra der Philosophie (Mag. phil.)

Wien, 2017 / Vienna, 2017

Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt / degree programme code as it appears on the student record sheet:

A 190 333 344

Studienrichtung lt. Studienblatt / degree programme as it appears on the student record sheet:

Lehramtsstudium UF Deutsch UF Englisch

Betreut von / Supervisor:

Ao. Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Eva Zettelmann

I

Formymother,

whoalwaysencouragesmetotakeupallthespaceIneed.

II

TableofContents

Introduction 1

ResearchQuestions 2

Structure 3

1.HistoricalandliteraryContextualisation 5

1.1.QuestioningtheCanonicalRomanticPoets 5

1.2.HistoricalContextualisation 7

1.3.WomenintheRomanticPeriod 9

1.4.GenderedSpace 13

1.5.HistoricalAspectaccordingtoFlather 16

2.SpaceintheNarrative 20

2.1.NarrativeinPoetry-Abriefexcurse 20

2.2.LiteratureandtheAspectofTime 21

2.3.LiteratureandtheAspectofSpace 23

2.4.SpaceasaConstruct 24

2.5.Space-AnAttemptedDefinition 25

2.6.AnalysingSpatialDimensions:Themacro-level 27

2.6.1.Ronen'sApproachToSpace 28

2.6.1.1.Frames 28

2.6.1.2.TheLinguisticAspectofFrames 30

2.6.1.3.FramesandtheirInteriorLife 31

2.6.1.4.Frame-AnAlternative 33

2.6.2.Hoffmann'sDifferentTypesofSpace 34

2.6.3.Zoran'sApproachtoSpace 36

2.6.4.Ryan,theDescriptionofSpace,andtheMentalMap 39

2.7.TextualCharacteristics:Themicro-level 41

2.7.1.TheTreatmentof'RealPlaces'infiction 41

2.7.2.Subjectivity,Semantics,andSenses 43

2.7.3.Space,itsContent,andtheMovementswithinit 44

2.8.Conclusion 45

3.PoetryAnalysis 47

3.1."TheWidow'sHome"(MaryRobinson) 47

III

3.1.1.BiographicalNotes 47

3.1.2.PlotandSpacesMentioned 48

3.1.3.TheoreticalAnalysis 50

3.1.3.1.CharacteristicsoftheFeaturedSpaces 50

3.1.3.2.SensesEmployedandPerspectiveUsed 50

3.1.3.3.FrameTheoryAccordingtoRone 51

3.1.3.4.RaumModelAccordingtoHoffmann 54

3.1.3.5.TextualLevelsAccordingtoZoran 55

3.1.3.6.FictionalMapAccordingtoRyan 57

3.1.4.DiscussionwithRegardtotheResearchQuestions 58

3.2."TheIndifferentShepherdesstoColin"(AnnYearsley) 60






3.2.3.3.FrameTheoryAccordingtoRonen 63





3.3."TheStar"(Jane&AnnTaylor) 69











IV

3.4."ToALittleInvisibleBeingWhoIsExpectedSoonToBecomeVisible"(Anna

LaetitiaBarbauld) 78











4.DiscussionandFindings 88

4.1.Discussion 88

4.2.Conclusion 93

Bibliography 95

Appendix:Abstract(inGerman) 100

1

Introduction

TheRomanticperiodmightbeoneofthemostinvestigatederasinEnglishliterature.

However,asastudent,italwaysseemedtomethatdespitethisperiod'sreputationfor

itsmasterly poetry, therewashardly anydiversity to be found concerning its poets.

Lecturersandbooksalwaysreferredtothesamesixwriters,whoallhappenedtobe

male.Despitethefactthatthisperiodwasthetimeoffamousfemalenovelistssuchas

Jane Austen orMary Shelley, the impression givenwas that nowoman had created

even a single poem in the decades called the Romantic period thatwould beworth

reading.

This,ofcourse,isnottrue.WomensuchasFeliciaHemans,MaryRobinson,AnnaBar-

bauld,AnnYearsley,CharlotteSmith,JaneTaylor,orAnnaSeward,tonamejustafew,

workedwithpoetic formssuchas theballadandthesonnetat thesametimetheca-

nonicalpoemsthatareanessentialpartofmanypoetryclasseswerecreated(Mellor

10).The fact thatnoneof thesewomenarenearlyas famousasSamuelTaylorCole-

ridgeor JohnKeats seems to confirmAnneMellor's statementwhen she argues that

"ourcurrentculturalandscholarlydescriptionsofthathistoricalphenomenonwecall

Romanticismareunwittinglygender-biased"(1).

Itwillbeexploredatalaterpointthatbeingawomaninthelateeighteenthandearly

nineteenthcenturycannothavebeeneasy,especiallybeingawomanwhostepsoutof

thedomesticspherethatisattributedtoherandtriestocontributetothecontempo-

rary political and artistic discourse. It is this stepping out of the woman's assigned

spacethatmademewonder-howdidwomenpoets,whoweretypicallyconfinedin-

doors and not exactly free to experience the sublime nature male poets praised so

much,incorporatetheissueofspaceintotheirpoetry?

Itistruethatarticlesandessayshavebeenwrittenonthespatialfeaturesofsomeau-

thors'novels, including JaneAustenandCharlotteSmith;however,Romanticwomen

writers'poetryisstilllargelyunexamined.Andthisisexactlywhatmakesthistopicso

interesting-thefeelingthatthereisstillaresearchgaponecanattempttobegintofill.

2

ResearchQuestions

ThefactthattheexistingresearchonspaceinRomanticwomen'swritingmostlyfocus-

es on the literary form of the novel is not surprising given that novels, due to their

length,areabletodedicateasignificantamountoftexttodescribingsceneriesandset-

tings. Another issue relevant to the thesis at hand is the narrative aspect of poetry,

which is still somewhatneglectedby theorists. It is true that lengthydescriptions of

backgroundareharder to find inagenre that is, amongotheraspects,definedby its

brevity(Zettelmann240),butthatdoesnotmeanthatthespacesemployedinpoems

arewithoutsignificance.

Thus,fourpoemswerechosentobeanalysed:"TheWidow'sHome"byMaryRobinson,

"The Indifferent Shepherdess to Colin" byAnn Yearsley, "The Star" by Jane andAnn

Taylor, and "To a Little InvisibleBeingWho is Expected Soon toBecomeVisible" by

AnnaBarbauld.InordertoexaminethespatialpropertiesandusethereofinRomantic

womenwriters'poetry,threeresearchquestionswereformulated.

Thefirstaspectthatwillbeinvestigatediswhichspacesthewritersinquestionincor-

porate into their poems, andwhich purpose they fulfil. Despite the fact thatwomen

wereencouragedtostaywithinthedomesticsphereandthustypicallyfemalespaces,it

ispossiblethattheystillincludedspacestraditionallyconnotedasmaleaswell,maybe

not as definite settings, but rather as featured in a dreamormaybe as a contrast to

theirownreality.Also,itisinterestingtoseewhetherthecharactersfeaturedinsuch

typicallymalespacesaremalethemselves,orwhetherthepoetscreatedfemalecharac-

terswhochallengedgenderroles.

Another question thatwill be explored is how thewriter creates the spaces via lan-

guageuseandstylisticfeaturesemployed,andaninterpretationastothepossiblerea-

sonsforthewayaspaceisdescribedshallbeattempted.Itisnotunlikelythatthespac-

esdepicted in thepoemscan functionasmore than justasimplebackground forac-

tionsandemotions;thewriterscouldusethemironically,orinordertoexpresscriti-

cismofthesocialandpoliticalsituation,tonamejusttwopossibilities.

3

Oncetheusedspacesareestablishedandanalysed,attentionwillbegiventotheques-

tionwhether spacesonecould identify tobe typically femaledominate thepoems in

question, or whether there is a balance between male and female spaces. Since art

couldgiveawritingwomanthefreedomshecouldprobablyneverhaveexperiencedin

reallife,itisindeedpossiblethatsomewritersshouldhaveseizedtheopportunityand

exploredsettingsthatwereusuallyoutoftheirreach.Therefore,itwillbeinteresting

toseewhattypesofspacesarefeaturedinthepoets'texts.

Finally,afteranalysingthespatialrelationsaccordingtothepreviousquestions,adis-

cussionoftheresultswilldeterminewhetheranyassumptionscanbemadeconcerning

thetreatmentofspaceinRomanticfemalepoet'swritings.Thisisofcoursenotaques-

tiononeexpectstogetadefinitiveansweronastheexaminedtextsprovidetoosmalla

sampletogeneralise;however,itwillbeinterestingtoseeiftheanalysedpoemsshare

anytendenciesconcerningeithertypesofspacesused,languagestyleemployedinde-

scribing those spaces, function of the setting, or dominance of eithermale or female

spaces.

Structure

Inordertogiveahistoricalcontextforthepoemstobereadin,thisthesiswillbeginby

questioningpotentialreasonsfortheRomanticcanontoconsistalmostentirelyofmale

authors.Inaddition,abriefsummaryofpoliticaleventswillbegiven,asliteraryworks

are oftentimesmirrors of the age theywere produced in. This summarywill be fol-

lowedbyanaccountonthesituationRomanticwomenwritersgenerallyworkedin,as

it is crucial to understand their position in societywhen analysing their poetry. The

chapterwillclosewithadiscussionoftheterm'genderedspace',whichwillpartlyfo-

cusontheworkofAmandaFlather,ascholarwhospecialisesingenderedspacesinthe

earlymodernperiod,which,byherdefinition,alsoincludestheeighteenthcenturyand

isthushighlyinterestingforthepurposeathand(Flather,Gender171-172).

Thesecondchapterwillintroducetheaspectofspaceinliteraturebyexploringitsrel-

evancetofiction;theproblemoffindingasuitabledefinitionwillbeaddressedand-for

4

this thesis - solved.Furthermore, severalmodels for thepurposeofanalysingspatial

dimensions in fictionwillbe introducedanddiscussed,aswellasthevariousaspects

thatcharacterisefictionalspace.Thechapterwillendwithaself-createdchecklistthat

useselementsofthevariousmodelspresentedinordertofacilitatethefollowinganal-

yses.

ChapterthreeisdedicatedtoanalysingthefourpoemschosentorepresentfemaleRo-

manticwritingfortheprojectathand.Theanalyseswillconsistofashortnoteonthe

author'slifeaswellasasummaryofthepoembeforeworkingthroughthetheoretical

checklist.Examplesfromthepoemswillbegivenasdirectquotes.Therespectiveanal-

yseswill thenclosewithadiscussionofthepoemwithafocusontheresearchques-

tions.Lastly,chapter fourwilldiscussthe findingsyieldedbychapterthree.Thepur-

poseofthislastsectionistodetermineanswerstotheresearchquestionsstatedabove.

5

1.HistoricalandliteraryContextualisation

1.1.QuestioningtheCanonicalRomanticPoets

Romantic poetry has enjoyed a rich tradition of careful investigation by countless

scholars.Famously,thisperiodisfirstandforemostassociatedwithonlyveryfewpo-

ets,whoare considered tobe the "HighRomantics" (Fay9) -WilliamBlake,William

Wordsworth,SamuelTaylorColeridge,PercyByssheShelley,LordGeorgeByron,and

JohnKeats.Thesepoets,sometimescalledtheBigSix, formthebasisforthecanonof

Romanticliterature,enrichedbyadding"ahandfuloflikewisemaleessayists"(Curran,

Record263).ThisviewofRomanticismhasprevailedfordecades,andithasbeenrein-

forcedinteachingRomanticliteratureaswell(Linkin92).However,asCurran'squote

abovealreadyhighlighted,thosecanonicalwritersallshareaspecificdetail-theyare

allmale.Thatfact,onceithasbeenexplicitlystated,introducesquestionstothestudy

ofRomanticism,suchasdidn'twomenwriteinthelateeighteenthandearlynineteenth

century?

Thisquestioncanbeprofoundlynegated;Curranstatesthatthereisevidenceofmore

than900 female authorswritingduring theperiod inquestion, and thebibliography

TheEnglishNovelfeaturesovertwothousandnovelscreatedbywomeninthesesame

decades(AlteredI265).AnneMellor'snumbersarenotquiteashighwhenshewrites

thatatleasttwohundredwomenpublishedpoemsbetween1780and1830inEngland,

andat leastanother twohundredreleasednovels,but sheadds that therewere, fur-

thermore,femalewritersconcerningthemselveswithcreatingplays,memoirs,journal-

istictexts,andessays.Allinallitcanbeassumedthatatleasthalftheliterarytextscre-

atedinthelateeighteenthandearlynineteenthcenturywerewrittenbywomen(Mel-

lor2).Thereason for the lackofwomenfeatured in the literaryRomanticcanoncan

thereforenotbeattributedtothenonexistenceofwritingwomeninsociety.

Thislackofinterestin,orshouldonerathersayawarenessof,Romanticfemaleauthors

islikelytosaymoreabouttheattitudetwentiethcenturyscholarshadtowardswomen

poetsthanthereal-lifecircumstancesfoundduringthelateeighteenthandearlynine-

6

teenthcentury.Theriseofgenderstudiesinthesecondhalfofthelastcenturybrought

acertainchangetothat,and,asFayputitinher1998publicationAFeministIntroduc-

tion to Romanticism,"[a]t present, literary scholars are vigorously re-examining who

waswritingduringtheperiodbesidethegreatRomantics,butpriortotheworkdone

by feminist critics on Romantic literature we had even forgotten that women were

writingpoetryatthistime"(3).

Anotherreasonfortheexclusionofwomenfromtheliterarycanoncouldbethattheir

writingssimplywerenotseenasRomantic.Sincethecanonincludesonlyanextremely

smallnumberofpoetswhosewritingshavespecificstylisticandthematic features in

common,itisfairlyeasytoexcludeauthorswhowrotedifferently(Fay9-10).However,

it isquiteobviousthatonlysixauthorsdonotcoverthevariouswaysofwritingthat

thepopulation of an entire countryproducedover the spanof several decades, thus

necessarily omitting the majority of texts written. Despite the fact that women did

write,scholarsseemtohavemadeWilliamWordsworththemainambassadorforhis

generationandbasicallythewholeRomanticsociety(Hofkosh9).Thathisexperiences

werenot,infact,thatofanormalBritishcitizen,butofaprivilegedmale,isfairlyobvi-

ous.Romanticismisthereforeahighlyexclusiveliteraryphenomenon,andalsoamale

one.Theargumentthatwomen'spoetrysimplymightnothavebeengoodenoughtobe

includedinthecanonisonethatshallnotbedeemedworthdiscussing.

Thequestionofwhetherwomen'swritingqualifiesasRomantic is complex formore

thanonereason;periodization, forexample, isadifficultaspect in thecontextofRo-

mantic literature;both theFrenchRevolution in1789and the first editionofLyrical

Ballads in1798areoftencitedasastartingpoint in thiscontext.However, the latter

onewouldexcludenineyearsduringwhichwriterssuchasWordsworthandColeridge,

butalsoAnnaBarbauldandMaryRobinsonwerecreatingpoetryofadistinctlyRoman-

ticnature.Itissimilarlydifficulttodetermineadefiniteendtotheperiod,withsugges-

tionsrangingfrom1832to1837,andeven1850(Fay16).Thus,adifferentwayofveri-

fying a text's Romantic nature would be to work with typical textual elements; Fay

names,amongothers,"aparticularliterarymode(poetry),theemphasisonaparticular

genre (theode), a focusonaparticular topic (nature), and the explorationof an im-

portant imaginativestyle(thesublime)"(12-13).Aswillbeshown in thesubsequent

7

analysispart,everysinglepoemdiscussedinthisthesisisinsomewayconcernedwith

nature,andtheyalladheretothecorrectliterarymodeaswell.Therefore,itwouldbe

importantthere-analysethecanonandincludepoemsthatwerenotcreatedbytheBig

Six,butstilldisplaycharacteristics typical for theRomanticperiod. Itmustbeadded,

however,thatthesefourcharacteristicssimplifytheRomanticspiritenormously;nev-

ertheless, the issueofdefiningwhatexactlyqualifiesas 'Romantic' ishighly complex

andnotthefocusofthisthesis.

Despitea certain fixedness, a literarycanoncanchange;as ispointedout inLinkin's

essayonthestatusquoofteachingRomanticpoets,bothByronandBlakeusedtobe

consideredwriterswhodidnotfitintothecanon(99).Infact,Linkindevotesherpaper

toaskinghercolleaguesaboutwhetherthey include femalepoets in theircourseson

Romanticliterature,receivingmorethanadozenaffirmativeanswerstothequestion.

However, as I can say fromexperience, it isperfectlypossible topartake ina course

about Romanticism for a whole semester and not read a single poem written by a

woman; in fact,onecan finishawholeEnglishdegreewithoutbeingconfrontedwith

femaleRomanticpoets.Thiscomes toshowthat,althoughcanons indeedcananddo

change,theydososlowly,anditisnecessarytoquestionthemtimeandtimeagainin

ordertocreateamorecomprehensiveselectionofexemplaryliteratureforaperiod.

This thesismeanstoquestiontheRomanticcanonofpoetryby focusingsolelyon fe-

malepoetsandtheircreations,givingtheircreativeworkthespaceitrarelygets.Dur-

ing my research process, a colleague argued that writing about women's literature

withoutcomparing their texts to theirmalecounterparts'wasan impossibleendeav-

our.Whetherthisistrueremainstobewitnessed.

1.2.HistoricalContextualisation

InherbookReading JaneAusten,MonaScheuermannmakesthe importantpoint that

thearguablymostfamousofallfemaleRomanticwriters,unlikemanyofhermalecon-

temporaries,hardlyeverreferstotheseriouspoliticalissuesthatshapedthetimeshe

wrote in(171).This,however,shouldnot trick thereader intobelievingthose issues

8

werenotgrave;socialchangeswithintheBritishsocietyaswellastheloomingdanger

of the French Revolution and later the war with France constituted more than one

sourceoffearfortheBritishpeople(169-170).Inaddition,therewereproblemswithin

society itself; those who had become rich due to the beginning industrialisation

yearned for the kind of influence that the nobility had presided over for centuries

(170).

It is also important to remind oneself of the extensivewar that took place between

FranceandGreatBritain;thefightinglastedfromFebruary1,1793,untilafterthebat-

tleofWaterloo,which tookplace in1815,withonlyone shortphaseofpeace inbe-

tween(170-171).Thesetwenty-threeyearsthusformedasignificant,ifnotthebiggest

partofthelivesofallthefemalepoetsfeaturedinthisthesis.Whilewarmightnotnec-

essarilybefeaturedintheirpoems,theraisedtaxes,foodriots,andsocialunrestsurely

shapedtheirlives,especiallyifthosewomenoriginatedfromalowersocialclass(171).

Due to years of bad harvest, bread,whichwas the commonpeople'smain source of

sustenance,was extremely expensive (176).Writers such asHannahMorededicated

theirtimetowritingtextsthatwouldsoothetheworkingclass,urgingthemtobecon-

tentwithwhattheyhad.Thisendeavourwasatleasttheoreticallycrownedbysuccess;

More's pamphlet Village Politics was read so numerously that even more printings

foundtheirwaytoreadersthanofPaine'sRightsOfMan,whichcanbeconsideredone

of themost importantpoliticalmanifestosof its time(172).However, since it isesti-

mated thatRights ofMan reached forty per cent of the English population, it can be

guessedthatMore'staleswereprobablydistributedaswellassold(172;185).Paine

questionedinhisworkthedivinerightofthekingandtheprincipleofthemonarchy

itself,whichofcoursecausedthearistocracytobeanxious(182-185).Scholarsassume

thatboththelovethepublicboretheirmonarchGeorgeIIIandthefactthatBritainhad

alreadyexecutedroyaltyoveracenturybeforethedeathoftheFrenchkingandqueen

prevented a revolution in England (Fay 17).However, this anxiety among the upper

classes resulted in the suspending of theHabeas Corpus act and the introduction of

numerouspunishableoffenses,suchastalkinginagroupofmorethantwomen,which

was reason enough to be punished for treason (Scheuermann 188-190). One could

writeentirebooksaboutthesocialinjusticehappeningduringthelateeighteenthand

earlynineteenthcentury,butthisaccountonlymeanstoremindthereaderofthefact

9

that theRomantic periodwas one of unrest, especially in its early decades. Further-

more,itisusuallytheweakermembersofsocietythatarehitthehardestbysocialine-

quality, and sincewomenwerenot considered equal tomen, it canbe assumed that

theirday-to-dayrealitywasevenmoreextremelyshapedbythehardshipsmentioned

above.

1.3.FemaleWritersintheRomanticPeriod

TherearequiteafewmythsabouttheRomanticpoetess,andthischapteraimsates-

tablishingahistoricallycorrectcontexttoreadherin.Whilethousandsofpagescould

surely be filled about the realitywomen in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth

centurylivedin,thesepagesaremeanttorightmisconceptionsandinvitethereaderto

keepanopenmindwhileengagingwiththesewomen'spoems.

Ashasbeenmentionedintheintroduction,womenwriterswerenotararephenome-

nontheRomanticera.By1790,womenwrotemorenovelsthanmendid,thesituation

wassimilarconcerning theproductionofpoetry,and the theatrewasalso in firmfe-

malegrasp.Itispainfullyobviousthatscholarsduringpastdecadeshadaverydistort-

edviewof theRomanticyearsas farasgenderrelationsareconcerned,orotherwise

the predominant historical reviewswould not have beenwritten to followmale au-

thorsandexcludewomenwriters(Curran,AlteredI186-187).StuartCurranexplains

thatwhenMaryRobinsondiedin1800,theliteraryscenesheworkedinwascontrolled

by female authors.AnnaBarbauld,HannahMore,AnnaSeward,Charlotte Smith, and

HelenMariaWilliams,tonameonlyafew,allpublishedseveralbooksthroughoutthe

1770sand1780s,whichwentthroughnumerouseditions,earningtheseauthorsfame

andalsomoney.Famousmalepoetsduring thosedecadeswhosenamesare remem-

beredtoday,suchasGoldsmithandBeattie,werenotablylessproductive(187).Addi-

tionally,eventhoughMaryRobinsonwasstillquiteyoungwhenshedied,mostofher

fellowfemalewritersnamedabovegrewoldanddidnotstopwritingwhentheRoman-

ticperiodended,butcontinuedtheirliterarysiegeatamale-dominatedpublishingin-

dustry.Giventhefactthatthesewomenpublishedtheirworksoverthecourseofsev-

eraldecades, theywerepossiblymoreproductivethananyof thecanonicalmaleRo-

10

manticpoets,ifoneexcludesLeighHunt.SincewomenwriterssuchasFeliciaHemans

andLetitiaLandoncontinuouslywrotethroughthechangeoftheRomantictotheVic-

torianperiod, it is fromtheirwriting"wecandiscernwhat isotherwisealmoststrik-

inglyabsentinthemaleRomanticuniverse,anactualtransitionintothecharacteristic

preoccupationsofVictorianverse"(188).Bothofthesewomenareallbutwellknown

today; however,while alive, theywere the first femalewriters to accumulatewealth

fromcreatingonlypoems(188).ThesamedirefateofoblivionappliestoJoannaBail-

lie,whosegiftasaplaywrightwascomparedtoShakespeare,andwhoishardlyever

mentionedorreadtoday(186).

AnissuethatmakesresearchingRomanticfemalepoetsdifficultisthatwhilerecordsof

lettersanddiariesoftheBigSixstillexisttoday,thesamecannotbesaidofmanywom-

enwriters,exceptmaybeJaneAusten.Whatmakesthedifferenceisthatthosecanoni-

calwriters"wereseenasbiographicalsubjectseitherfromtheveryfirst,liketheLake

PoetsandByron,or,as inthecaseofKeatsandShelley,verysoonaftertheirdeaths"

(Curran,AlteredI266).Contrarily, littleattentionhasbeengiventofemalepoets' let-

ters and other private writings after their deaths; even though those womenmight

havebeenexcessivelyfamouswhilealive,theirpopularityneverreachedthecult-like

followingthatsomeofthemaleauthors'did(266).

It is important tonote that the authors featured in this thesiswerenot all feminists

(sincethisconceptdidnotexistinRomantictimesthewayitdoestoday)orrevolution-

ists;intruth,manyofthembelongedtotheworkingclass,andsomewroteoutofsheer

necessity.Thesewomendidnotplantooverthrowthesystemorradicallyreinventart;

theywrotewithin the existing literary scene, adapted genres that suited their needs

andthusarticulatedtheiropinions,betheytraditionalornot.Someofthemmanaged

tobewidely read,othersearnedenough tomakea living, andagainotherswrote to

dealwith thehardships theyhad fallenonto (Ruwe312). Itwould thusbewrong to

thinkoftheauthorsfeaturedinthispaperasapoliticallyengagedgroup;onecouldof

coursearguethatartisalwayspolitical,butitisimportanttokeepinmindthatwom-

en'sreasonsforwritingwereprobablyjustasdiverseandplentifulasmen's.

11

Itmustalsoberememberedthatthepublishingbusiness,atleastintheeighteenthcen-

tury,wasfirmlyinthegraspofmen,whoalsolargelyproducedthetextstheypublished

foramaleaudience.Itwasnoteasyforawomantobepartofthebusiness.Aremarka-

blegroupthatwasactivewithintheliteraryindustryweretheBluestockings,aclubof

sorts for women of higher social background, whowere well connected throughout

Britain. Talented artists flocked to them, and in return they would receive support;

Barbauld'sdebutbookforexamplewaspublishedinthreeeditionswithinoneyeardue

totheassistanceshehadfromtheseeducatedwomen.Anotherpossibilitytosupporta

woman writer of little means was that of patronage, which was also widely spread

withintheRomanticage;also, justbeingallowedtodedicateabooktoawell-known

womancouldraiseabook'ssales.Femalesolidarity,thus,wasanimportantaspectof

women'swritingduringthatperiod.TheBluestockingsdidalsohavemenamongthose

supporting them (Curran,Record 266-267); the canonical six poets of the Romantic

period,however,didnotenthuseaboutthisfemalemovement(Hofkosh15-18).Anoth-

er source of support for female writers were, curiously, religious institutions; the

ChurchofEngland,despitetheirtraditionalvalues,helpedgiftedwomenwithoutmon-

eytopublishtheirworksandthusearnafewpounds.Nevertheless,patronagedidnot

alwaysmeanasimplerelationshipbetweenwriterandgiver,sometimesresultingina

restrictionoftheartist'sfreedom;asCurranputsit,"[t]hehandthatreachedouttoas-

sisttalenttorealizeitselfcouldalsobeusedtoslapdownoriginalityasbeingopposed

todivine truth"(Record268).HannahMore forexample isknownfor trying to influ-

enceAnnYearsley'spoetrythewaysheherself(andnotthepoetess)sawfit(267).

Furthermore, it is still a commonlyheldopinion thatmanywomenpublishedanony-

mously during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. However, there is

hardlyanyproofthatwomenheldbacktheirrealnameswhenpublishingpoetry;cer-

tainly,somefemalewritersofnoblebirthtookthatoptioninordertoavoidbeingthe

subject of gossip, or because their namewouldhave stopped the lower classes from

buyingtheirbooks,butthenamewassometimesaddedinalateredition.Accordingto

Feldman,thereisnoknowncaseofawomanpoetoriginatingfromtheworkingclass

publishinganonymously;indeed,theysometimesevenaddedtheirprofessiontomake

theirwritingmoreapproachable(Feldman279-280).Furthermore,menalsopublished

anonymously,almostasoftenaswomendid;hence,thishabitcannotbeassumedtobe

12

connected with gender issues (281-282). The idea that women needed to publish

anonymously or under amale pseudonym to bewidely read seems to be a concept

whichisincorrectlyassociatedwiththeRomanticperiod;thesecasesweremorewide-

ly spread during Victorian times (283). The shamefully small reception of Romantic

womenwriter'spoetrycanthusnotbeblamedonthempublishinganonymouslyand

scholarsnotknowingthattheauthorswerefemale-mostwomenproudlysignedtheir

namesundertheirpoems.

Itwas stated above thatwomenhad to fight theirway into the publishing business;

that,however,doesnotmeanthatbeingapublishedpoetessinthelateeighteenthcen-

turywasanearlyimpossiblecause.Infact,theRomanticperiodwasarathergoodera

forthefemaleauthor;Ruwewritesthatsheworkswith

the assumption that theRomantic erawas an extraordinary timeof opennessandexpansionforwomen.Theycouldrunhousesofgambling,campaignforpo-litical candidates, publish travel narratives of exotic countries, and writegroundbreakingworksoffeminism,science,andthearts.WomenasdiverseinpoliticalleaningsasHannahMoreandMaryWollstonecraftsharedafundamen-talbeliefthat,aswomenandcitizens,itwastheirdutytospeakpubliclyonna-tionalaswellasprivateanddomesticissues.(313)

Thus,itisimportantnottobebiasedtowardsthepastduetopossiblecommonbeliefs

ormisconceptions;womencould,despitetheirrestrictions,activelyparticipateinsoci-

ety.Theirpossibilities,however,stronglyvariedaccordingtotheirsurroundings;lifein

London, for example,wasmuchmore free and diverse than in tiny country villages.

Womenwere even able to literally claim their own spaces as they "furnished, land-

scaped,owned,andevenbuilt someof [their]housesand [...] grounds" (Scarth627).

Furthermore, especially the suburban landscapeofLondonprovidedamazingoppor-

tunities forwomen; properties situated there tended to be sparedof the lawprimo-

geniture (which stated thatwomen couldn't inherit, among other things, land), thus

allowing womenwithout brothers or those whose husbands had died to keep their

homes-a fact thatwouldsimplybeunthinkable inany JaneAustennovel,whichare

usuallysetinmoreruralareas(seeScheuermann).Additionally,womenwholivedfur-

therfromthetowncentrecommutedbetweenthecityandthesuburbsastheypleased,

andhostedpartieswithintheirtownhouses,justlikemen(629).

13

Notonlymenandwomen'sprofessionallives,butalsotheirprivatelivesdifferedhuge-

lyfromoneanother.Tracesofthosedifferencesinlifeexperiencecanbedetectedwith-

inwomen'spoetry, for example in their choiceof topic. StuartCurranmakesapoint

thatisofmostcrucialimportancetothisthesisbysayingthat,sincewomenwerecon-

strictedtoprivate,domesticspacessuchasthehouseortheshrubbery,"theparticulars

oftheseconfinedquartersaremadetheimpetusforverse"(AlteredI189-190).There-

fore, since theroomof inspiration forawoman'sworkmayhavebeenmuchsmaller

thanaman'sdailyworld,womennecessarilyneeded tobeextremelyperceptiveand

findwonderinthelittlethingsinlife.Asaconsequence,adistinctgenreofpoemswrit-

tenby femalewriters is that focusedon flowers. Certainly,menhave also composed

versesaboutflowers-oneonlyhastothinkofWordsworth'sdaffodils-butthosepo-

emsarenottobedirectlycomparedtothewomen'sverses.Thefemaleauthorsoften

usedthoseseeminglyinnocentpoemstoconveyopinionsandcommentonsocietyina

lessobviousway,usingsymbolismtodoso(190).Thisexplainswhythereareplentiful

poemsabout flowers tobe chosen from thatwere createdbywomenduring theRo-

manticage.

1.4.GenderedSpace

Aconceptthatisofspecialimportancetothisthesisisthatofgenderedspace.Inlitera-

ture,asBoltonpointsout,"landscape[...]canalsobereadasevidenceofgender,justas

who is allowed tomovewithin and beyond the landscape is sharply defined [...] by

moralandgenderconsiderations"(273).Somespacesinliteratureareconsideredtobe

"exemplaryspacesoffemininity[...]wheremalepresenceisneverpacifyingorstabilis-

ing" (Saglia407); inRomantic literature, thosewould include cottages,nunneries, or

palacessetinOrientalistspaces,becausethoseplacesgivewomenthefreedomtolive

quietly away from the potentialmisfortunes thatmight befall them in public spaces

(407-409).

Publicspacesareoftenassociatedwiththemalegender,whereaswomenusuallystay

withinmore private spaces, as Townsend states in her essay on gendered spaces in

Britishhomes(Townsend41).Itisofcoursedifficulttoexaminewhatwashappening

14

withinthedomesticsphereofthelateeighteenthandearlynineteenthcenturybecause

oftheveryprivacyofitsnature.Ontheotherhand,thehomeisespeciallyinteresting

duetoitsfunctionasthebuildingblockofsociety,ormaybe,morefittingly,becauseit

housessaidbuildingblock-thefamily(40-41).Townsendaddsthatthehomehasbeen

regardedasthecentreofawoman'slifesinceatleastthemid-nineteenthcentury,ifnot

longbeforethat.Theseopinionsarealsothereasonwhythehouseisconsideredafe-

malespace,while"thepublicsphere(paidwork,politics)"(41)isseentobetypically

male.Butahouse,itseems,isonlyalsoahomewhenthereisawomanwithinittolook

afterhusbandandchildren.Theimageofthehouse,accordingtotraditionalvalues,is

notcompletewithoutawoman,andsurelyhasnotbeenduringtheRomanticperiod,

either.Differentiatingbetweenwhatispublicandwhatisprivate,however,mightnot

provetobeallthatsimple;variouspartsofthehousemightbecharacterisedbydiffer-

entdegreesofseclusion.Thisconcernsstrangersentering thehouseaswellas those

livingwithin it; thepatriarchusually has a secluded space to himself and thusmore

privacy than his children or his wife, whose space is considered to be the kitchen,

whichcannotbeconsideredtobeprivate,andisalsoaplacethatwascreatedwiththe

purposeofwork inmind(42).Furthermore,asshallbeexplainedbelow, thekitchen

can,outofnecessity,beusedbyother familymembersaswell, therebyreducing the

potentiallyprivatespaceevenmoretoamereworkplace.Thus,theseparationbetween

workplaceandprivacyisnotgivenforawomanassheisexpectedtospendbothhours

ofworkandof leisureinthesameroom(43).Followingthisconcept,thekitchenhas

hadaspecificlocationwithinthehousesinceatleasttheVictorianage-ittendedtobe

positionedatthebackofthehousesothedistinctionbetweenthoseroomswhichwere

morepublicallyaccessibleandthosewhichwereindisputablyprivatewouldbeeasier

tomake(44).Despitethefactthatwomenwereatthecentreofthehome,whichisa

starkcontrasttotheirminorroleinthepublicsphere,theydidnotseemtoownanyof

the space that is considered theirs (44). Of course, especially inRomantic times, the

home did not belong to its female inhabitants; women could not hold property and

wherethereforedependentontheirhusbands(Scarth629).

Spainarguesthatthereisacorrelationbetweenthespatialseparationofthegenders

andtheirstatus;themorespacesareaccessibletowomen,thebettertheirstatuswith-

inthesocietytheyliveinwillbe.Excludingwomenfromeducationorpoliticsreinforc-

15

esthesuperiorstatusofthemanandpromotesgenderinequalitybyprohibitingwom-

en'saccesstowhattheauthorcalls"sociallyvaluedknowledge"(137).Thegenderseg-

regationisthusmeanttoprovidephysicalbordersinordertoaggravatewomen'sac-

cess toknowledge (137).Women,however,donotalwaysplayapassive role in this

processofgendersegregation,butareoftentimesactivelyworkingtoputanendtoit

(138);thiscansurelyalsobesaidofsomewomenwriterswhohadtoworktheirway

into themale-dominated publishing industry, asmentioned above. Spain also "iden-

tif[ies]women'sresponsibilitiesintheprivatesphereashavingnegativeconsequences

fortheirstatusinthepublicsphere"(138),whichislogical;sinceawomanshouldstay

insidethehouseasitisnohomewithouther,shewillalwaysbemisplacedinthepublic

sphereaslongasthosevaluesareupheld.

Evenmore so in past centuries than today, there are jobs that are considered to be

men's jobs andwomen's jobs; today, professions that are seen as female aremostly

socialones, suchas educating childrenand taking careof the sickandelderly (139).

Similarpremisesweregiveninthelateeighteenthandearlynineteenthcentury,judg-

ingfromthefactthatAnnaBarbauldworkedasateacher(Curran,AlteredI189-190);

Spain says about female teachersworking during the nineteenth century in theUSA

thatit"wasacceptable[...]becauseitcloselyduplicatedthedomesticspherebyplacing

womeninahomelikeenvironmentwithotherwomenandwithchildren"(145).There-

fore,notonlytheprivatelife,butalsotheprofessionallifeissubjecttogendersegrega-

tion,whichreinforcesstereotypesaswellasthedominationofthepatriarchalsystem.

Spainarguesthat"[i]nsofarasmenhaveaninitialadvantageandinsofaraswomenand

menareseparatedinplaceswherethey live, learn,andwork,women'sstatuswillbe

lowerthanmen'sbecausetheyhavelessaccesstoknowledge"(139).

SpaindrawsonthescholarEdwardT.Hall'sworkwhenshecallsspace"thesilentlan-

guage [...] and thehiddendimension shapinghumanaction" (qtd. inSpain139).Dis-

tinctionscanbemadebetweengeographicandarchitecturalseparation;whilethefor-

mercategoryisusedtodescribethefactthatthegendersarelocatedinseparatebuild-

ings,thelatteroneisusedwhenevertheseparatespacesexistwithinthesamehouse

(140).Onecanofcoursearguethatspatialseparationofdifferentspheres,professions

etc.isnotnecessarilyabadthing,andthatgendersegregationdoesnotautomatically

16

meanthatonegender,usuallywomen,areatadisadvantage.Infact,itisnotthemere

separationofthegendersthatpromotesalackofbalance,buttheinequalityasfaras

resourcesare concerned.These resourcesarenotnecessarilyof financialnature,but

maywellbemoreabstractentitiessuchasknowledge(140).Despitethefactthatthe

Romanticageknewthousandsoffemalereaders,girlsstillnormallyreceivedadiffer-

ent education from their male peers, hence being excluded from more prestigious

knowledge.Novels,ontheotherhand,whichwereeasilyavailabletowomenduetothe

riseinlibraries,weregenerallyviewedtobevulgarandnotaproperwaytopassone's

freetime(Hofkosh15-19).Thislowprestigeofthegenrewassurelyconnected,atleast

partly,tosaidfemaleaudience(Cox8-9).

Itbearsrepeatingthatspacesaswellas institutionsareconstructsandcantherefore

bechanged.Anditisobviousthatmuchhasimprovedforwomen(andmen!)sincethe

late eighteenth and early nineteenth century (141). An example for this would be

changeswithinarchitectureinthenineteenthcentury:theVictorianhouse,oftenbuilt

in theUnitedStatesandmodelledafter theEnglishoriginal, containedaparlourasa

typicallyfemalespace,andalibraryatthebackforthepatriarchtowork.Thoserooms

couldbe foundnext toeachother in the lastdecadesof thenineteenthcentury, thus

disregardingspatialseparationthatmighthavebeenimportantforthepreviousgener-

ation(143).

Asthesegregationofgenderisanextremelyintricateissue, itwouldbeinaccurateto

merely assume itsmanifestations in spatial relations (143). It is, however, useful to

investigatethespatialperspective,asacertaincorrelationbetweenthespacesaperson

canfreelymovewithinandtheirpositioninsocietycannotbedenied(147).

1.5.HistoricalAspectaccordingtoFlather

While the theoryofgenderedspacesseemsstraightforward, thereality isnotalways

quiteassimpleasascribingthekitchentoafamily'sfemalemembersandthelibraryto

themaleones.AmandaFlather,ascholardedicatedtothetopicofgenderandspacein

theearlymodernEnglishhome,statesthattheseparationmightnothavebeenasstrict

17

as it isassumed today.While theauthor includes theeighteenthcentury intoherac-

counts,notallpointsmadebyFlathercanbecertaintoalsoapplytotheRomanticdec-

ades,butshestillmakesrelevantremarksconsideringgenderandthehome,andher

research is thusworthbeingmentioned.Due to the fact that spacewasoften scarce,

especiallyinpoorerhouseholds,itwouldsimplynothavebeenfeasibletoexcludepeo-

plefromcertainroomsbecauseoftheirgender-itwassimplyamatterofpracticality

fortheinhabitantstoemploythegivenspaceasbestastheycould(Gender171-172).

The specialization of rooms was beginning to spread in the eighteenth century, but

manyfamiliesthatdidn’tbelongtothegentryorupperclassessimplycouldnotafford

it(176).

One of the spaces thatmight have been less gendered several centuries ago, despite

whathasbeenstatedabove,isthekitchen.Itwould,accordingtoFlather,bewrongto

simplyassumemenneverenteredakitchen;whileitistruethatwomenweremostly

responsibleforprovidingfood, itwasthejobofakitchenboytopreparetheovenor

bringwater,"showingthatageandplacecouldblurdistinctionsbetweenmaleandfe-

maleworkininterestingrespects"(174).Thesamewasalsosometimestrueforelderly

husbands,who,havingpassedtheirprimeof life,wouldhelptheirwives ifnecessary

(Flather,Space350).Furthermore,notonlylower-classwomenwhocouldnotafforda

cookwere expected to knowhow to preparemeals; conduct books stated that even

well-to-doladiesweresupposedtobeabletocook.Still,thefactthatwomenwerethe

onesdoingthecookingdidnotmakethekitchenapurely femalespace; itwasalsoa

social space,meaning that the various familymembers and servantswould use it to

completedifferentchoresthroughoutthewakinghours.Whilethesetasksmighthave

beengendered,thespacewaslessso.Interestingly,Flatherusescourtfilesashistorical

evidence,unearthing"[p]rosecutionsforpoison[which]recordmaleservants,appren-

tices,women,andmenusingthekitchenforavarietyofpurposesatdifferenttimesof

theday"(Flather,Gender176).Thissuggeststhatitwasnotuncommonformentoen-

teraspacethatisnowadaysthoughtofastypicallyfemale,andthatitmighthavebeen

moreofacommunalspacethanoriginallyassumed,atleastwithinpoorerhouseholds.

Thisisalsorelevanttothisthesisasseveralauthorswhicharefeaturedwerenotexact-

lywealthy(176).

18

Butnotonlyspaceswithinthehousemighthavebeenviewedintoostrictawayasfar

as gender is concerned, but also thoseoutside thehousemighthave falselybeenat-

tributedonlytomen.Flatherexplainsthat"astrictdivisionofworkandspacebetween

menandproductiveworkoutsidethehouse,ontheonehand,andwomenandrepro-

ductionandconsumptioninsidethehouse,ontheother,borelittlerelationtoreality"

(Space344).Womendidleavethehouseonnumerousoccasions;theywereforexam-

ple perfectly able to do their own shopping, and not only for pleasure. Shopping for

grocerieswas essentially a female task, especially in cities, as families there did not

havetheopportunitytogrowasignificantpartoftheirownfood,thewaythoseowning

theirownlanddid(348).Dependingonthequalityofthewatersources,washingwas

alsoanactivitythatmighthavetakenwomenoutside,tobedoneintheyardorinfront

ofthehousewheretheywouldenjoythecompanyofotherwomen,andchat(349).The

lightoutsidewasalsooftenbettersuitedfortaskslikespinning,whichthenalsooften

happenedwithingroups(353).Womencouldalsotravel,butduetothedangerswait-

ingontheroads,theydidsoingroupswheneverpossible;itseemsthatfemalesolidari-

ty and companionshipplayedan importantpart inwomen's everyday lives (355). In

ruralareas,womenalsohelpedwithanimalsorworkedonfieldsinordertosecurethe

harvest; this suggests that gender restrictions were somewhat neglected when they

stoodinthewayofpracticality(351).

Femaleworkforcewasalsoneededinthecities,andagaintheirworkwasnotthatofa

lesserman's,butentirelydifferentbranchesofoccupationwereheldbywomen.An-

otherpossibilitywasforhusbandandwifetoworktogether,suchasco-owningashop

wherethewomanwouldhandlethefinancialmattersandthemanthemanualwork.It

wasalsoentirelypossibleforthemantohavea jobthatdidnotrequirehimto leave

thehouse,whereasthewomanwouldgoouttoworkawayfromhome.Cities,however,

alsoposedabiggerthreattotheworkingwoman;groupsofyoungmeninurbanareas

who worked in all-male settings displayed a more vicious misogyny and were thus

morelikelytoassaultwomen(Flather,Space356-358).

While theabove-providedspatialdimensions seem to largelyadhere to the idea that

womenworkedinmoredomesticspacesthanmen,itis,aswasmentioned,important

toconsider individualcircumstancesaswellassocietalguidelines.Thissuggests that

19

thedivisionbetweenmaleandfemalespacesmighthavebeenlessstrictthansuspect-

edsofar;socialclass,livingconditions,andemploymentdeterminedafamily'sunique

gender relations possibly just asmuch as the patriarchal system did (Flather, Space

359).There simplywasnoone spatialmodel that fit allhouseholds - factors suchas

"time, place, occupation, and status, as well as gender [...] determined them" (344),

whichalsoquestionstheideaoftwodistinctlyseparatespheresofprivateandpublic

ormaleandfemalenature."[S]pacescanbegendered,evenwhentheyaresharedby

menorwomen, throughperception,experience,anduse" (346),as in theexampleof

the kitchen. Again, the way a room is experienced is mostly influenced by who has

power over it. This differentiated view of the way spaces can be gendered, the

"[r]ecognitionoftheinfluenceoftime,context,status,andageonexperience,imagina-

tion, and control of space encourages amore sophisticated and nuanced analysis of

genderedpowerrelationswithinspace"(346)thanwaspreviouslythestatusquo.

Itisnotthisthesis'stancethatallmeninthepastwereruthlesspatriarchssuppressing

theirwivesanddaughters.However,itcannotbedeniedthatwomen'sliveswerediffi-

cultduetotheinequalitiestheyfacedeveryday,suchastheinabilitytoownproperty

themselves.Thefactthatthegenderedspacesandtaskswithinthehouseholdseemed

tohavebeenlessclear-cutthanpreviouslyassumedshouldnotobscurereality.Women

weretheonesresponsibleforlookingaftertheirhomes,devotinganestimatedseven

hoursaday to this task,dependingof courseonsocioeconomic factors, thuskeeping

them in the house for a significant amount of time (Flather,Space 350). Thus,while

gender segregationmighthavebeen less strict thanpreviouslyassumed, itwouldbe

wrongtogiveintotheillusionthatwomenwereinanywaymen'sequal.

20

2.SpaceintheNarrative

2.1.NarrativeinPoetry-ABriefExposition

Thenarrativeaspectofpoemshasnotbeengivenmuchattention,withtheexceptionof

Homer'sepicpoetryandotherprivilegedtexts;however, thosepoemsarethenoften

consideredtobe"essentiallyprosefiction"(McHale,Narrative356).Thisdisregardis

allthemoreremarkablewhenconsideringthefactthatcountlesspoemsconveynarra-

tives;theymightnotallbeexcessiveinlengthorconsideredascrucialforliteraryhis-

toryliketheIliad,buttheystillexist.

However,whileMcHalehasstressedtheimportanceofthenarrativeaspect inpoetry

onseveraloccasions,thesamecannotbesaidofmanyothernarratologists.Zettelmann

states that in thecontextofnarratology,poetryusuallyconstitutes the"other"(232),

posing as the narrative's exact opposite and being claimed to be "a-temporal, non-

spatial, non-dynamic, non-specific, non-experiential, and anti-illusionist" (232). This

quotationinitselfwouldnegatethepurposeofthecurrentendeavour;however,since,

assubsequentchapterswillshow,spatialanalysisofpoetryisaperfectlypossibleun-

dertaking, itcanbeassumedthat thisstrictdistinctionbetweennarrativeandpoetry

mightnotbeentirelyaccurate.Zettelmannchallengesthisdichotomyaswell,explain-

inghow"weneedtoconcernourselveslesswiththesettingupofarigiddemarcation

betweenpoetryandnarrative, thanwith thequestionofhownarrativeelementsare

transformedandadaptedwhenusedinalyrictext"(249).

Furthermore,McHalestateshownarratology'sneglectforpoetryisrelatedtothefact

that"[s]omescholarsspecializeinnarrative;othersspecializeinpoetry;fewspecialize

inboth"(Beginning12).Thisstatusquoessentiallyneglectsthenarrativenatureofin-

numerablepoems,afactthatMcHalecalls"notsomuchanoversightasascandal"(12).

FollowingDuPlessis,hestatesthatwhilethedefiningtraitofanarrativeisitsnarrativi-

ty, the same cannot be said of the poem,which ismost strongly defined by its seg-

mentivity.However,gapsnecessarilyoccurinnarrativesaswell,astheyfeaturechap-

21

ter breaks, changes of perspective, changes of scene, etc. Thus, in poetry, the genre-

definingsegmentationmergeswiththesegmentationoftheplot(Beginning14-17).

Apoem'snarrativeaspectcantakeseveral forms;"[c]ontinuousnarrativepoems" in-

cludeepictextssuchastheOdyssey,"[q]uasi-narrativesequences"suchasShakespear-

eansonnets,"[i]mplicitnarrativesituationsoflyricpoems",aswellasnarrativeswhich

are integrated into "basically lyric poems" (356-357). For the last two centuries, the

thirdcategoryhasbeenthestatusquooftheidealpoem,andthelyricpoemhasdomi-

natedpoetry.Thismayalsohaveinfluencedtheomissionofnarrativeaspectsinpoetry

analysis (357). Even though, as the scholars quoted in this passage suggest, amove-

ment towards amore comprehensive narratology exists, little theory has been pub-

lishedthattreatspoetryasanarrativegenre.Itseemsthatthenarrativeaspectofpo-

ems,whileundeniable,hasnotyetreceivedtheattentionitdeserves.

2.2.LiteratureandtheAspectofTime

Theanalysisofspatialconditionsinnarrativetextsisarelativelyrecentprojectinnar-

rativetheory.Thismightbe,asBuchholzandJahnpointout,duetoliterature'sprefer-

enceof focussingontimeratherthanspace,andfurthermorebecausenarrativetexts

weresaidtoincludetheaspectofspaceonlysothatthenarratedeventswouldhavea

setting (Buchholz& Jahn551).Thisview is stillquitepersistentwithin literary criti-

cism;Zoranwritesinhisremarksonspaceinliteraturethat"[l]iteratureisbasicallyan

artoftime"(310),andNeumannstresseshownumerousnarrativeconceptsdefinethe

termnarrationasatemporallystructuredsequenceofevents,thuscompletelyleaving

out the category of space (96). Therefore, given all those voices stressing the im-

portanceoftimewithinthenarrative,itishardlysurprisingthatitstillsomewhatdom-

inatesnarratologytoday.

It iscurioustoseetimeandplacebeingtreatedsoseparatelywithin literature,espe-

ciallybecauseinthe'realworld',theyareoftenthoughttobecloselyinterlinked,and

asking'whenandwhere'isperceivedtobealegitimatecombinationofquestions.This

closerelationship,however, isnotgivenwithin thenarrative,asaspatialdescription

22

necessarilycausesthenarratedeventstopause.Excessivelylongdescriptionsmaythus

leadtodisruptionsinthetime-space-relationshipasitmightbedifficultforthereader

tore-immersethemselvesinthestoryafterpagesuponpagesofspatialdetails.Also,it

isthenatureoftimetobekineticwhilespaceisamorepermanentmatter,whichposes

anothercontrastbetweenthetwocategories(Bal142).Somemoretraditionalnarra-

tologists, such as Roland Barthes, also insist upon the distinction betweennarrative

anddescription within the text,which doubtlessly favours the former and treats the

latter as a less important addition (Herman266-267).Hoffmann similarlypointsout

thatwhiletheinvestigationofthenarrative'stimelinescanleadtointerestingdiscov-

eries, an analysis of the spaces used within the story tends to result in less insight

(Hoffmann1). It is also true that space isnot equally important for all genres;while

some stories portray events so universal that they could take place anywhere, text

typessuchastravelnarrativesdependontheirsettingtoalargeextent(Neumann97).

Therefore,itisunderstandablethatsomeanalysesfocuslessonapossiblygenericset-

tingandmoreontheunfoldingevents.

It cannotbedenied that it is first and foremost the events on a story's timeline that

build a narrative, not excessive depictions of scenery. Thus, a narrativemight work

perfectlywithoutevermentioninga single specified location, simplybecauseoneas-

sumesthattheeventsnarratedmusthavehappenedsomeplace(Buchholz&Jahn551).

Itisalsoimportanttomentionthat,whilefictionalspaceisindependentfromthereal

space the reader inhabits, the same cannotbe said for the aspect of time.The terms

narrated time and timeofnarration arequiteestablished in literary theory,and they

arealsoeasy toobserve.Within therelationshipbetweenthose twotime levels - the

onetakingplaceinthestoryandtheonewithinthereader'sreality-thereisplentyof

possibilityfor"specifictypesofdeviationfromthe'natural'structuringoftime(suchas

contraction,reversaloftemporalorder,etc.)"(Zoran311).Thisisofcoursenottruefor

space;neitherthereader'sownpositioninspace,northespacerequiredbytheactual

writtenwordsonthepagecanberelatedtothefictionalspacesdescribed.Eventhough

some texts, especially poems,might sometimes employ their layout to reinforce the

discussedthemes,thisisfarfromcommonandhencecannotbetakenintoaccount.As

a result of time's dominance in literary studies, few established concepts to analyse

spaceexist(Zoran310-311).

23

2.3.LiteratureandtheAspectofSpace

Despiteallthepointsmadeaboveabouttheimportanceoftimeinliterature,itwould

bewrongtoassumespatialdimensionstobeirrelevant.Balmakesanimportantpoint

bysayingthat"[i]ntheworldnarrativeconjuresup-aworldofmake-believe-things

canhappenbecausethatworldisspatial.Itgivesspacetoevents,sothateventscan,as

thephrasegoes,takeplace"(138).So, inaway, thestorycanonlyhappenbecause it

hasastagetohappenon.AndBalisnottheonlyauthortostresstheimportanceoffic-

tionalspace;asRonenpointsout,spacerepresentsavitalelementofthenarrativeas,

togetherwithentitiessuchas"story,character,timeandideology"(421),itbuildsthe

fictionalworldthestoryissetin.Spacethus"playsacrucial,notanoptionalorderiva-

tive,roleinstories"(Herman264).

Itshouldthereforenotbeassumedthatthespaceofthestoryisonlyabackground,a

necessaryevilthatauthorsincludebecausetheyhaveto.Ofcourse,providingscenery

fortheactiontounfoldwithinisonetaskthatspacefulfils,andiftheauthordoesnot

wanttowasteanabundanceofwordsonestablishinguniquescenery,noharmisdone.

Nevertheless,spacecanbeusedtoestablishmeaning,e.g.bybeingsymbolicofsome-

thing,ormaybeevenbeasvital to the storyas if itwerea characterof itsown (Bal

139).EspeciallywiththefocusRomanticpoetry,whichisafterallcrucialtothisthesis,

givestonature,itwouldbewrongtoassumethatspaceisnotimportantinliterature

(Fay10).

Furthermore, quite a fewdifferent literary genreswhich canboast popularity nowa-

days, such as dystopian fiction, high fantasy, or cyberpunk fiction, consciously stress

thespatialcomponentofthefictionaluniverse,thusmakingthesettingessentialtothe

story and creating a narrative that couldnot take place anywhere (Buchholz & Jahn

552).This,nonetheless, isnotexclusivelyacontemporaryphenomenon,asseenwith

Romanticpoetry'slovefornature.Therearealsootherliterarygenres,e.g.travelwrit-

ingorGothicnovels,whichdatebackto the literaryperiodthis thesis is focusingon,

whichattributeparticularcaretoestablishingspaces(Buchholz&Jahn552).Certainly,

novels,duetotheirscale,candevotemoredetailtocreatingspatialdescriptionsthan

theliteraryformofthepoem,whichthisthesisisconcernedwith.Nevertheless,analys-

24

ingminimalisticaccountsonspacecanbejustasinterestingasinvestigatingelaborate

descriptions;theselectivenatureofalyricaltextcanstillgiveimportanthintsconcern-

ingagenre'sorepoch'sinventoryoftypicalsituationsandsettings(Hoffmann3).

2.4.SpaceasaConstruct

Spaceisnotneutral,butisconstructedbysocietyandsuffusedwithvaluesandideolo-

gies.Inhisessayontopology,Mahlerexploreshowspaceitselfisjustasyntacticrealm

ofpossibilitybeforebeingfilledwithsemanticsandpragmatics.Forhim,itisthespace

thatinfluencestheobjectswithinit,nottheotherwayaround.Spaceisalsonotjusta

very large empty room, but rather a practically infinite number of vectors (18). The

humanpopulationonlyfillsatinypartofthatspace,andwearegroundedwithinitby

ourbodies,whichhelpusnavigatethroughtheworld.Wethuscreateourowntopolog-

ical conceptof theworld, centredonourselves;Bühler calls that theKörpertastbild -

distinctionssuchas'faraway','above'or'closeby'arealwaysdefinedbyourownrela-

tionshipwiththeobject(Mahler20).Whenreading,thisconceptistransferredtothe

fictionalspaceaswell,anditisthecharacter'sKörpertastbildweidentifywith.Thus,it

followsthateveryactofspeech isgrounded inspatialrelations.Andwhenregarding

idiomssuchas'nothingcouldbefurtherfromthetruth'or'inoveryourhead',itisob-

vious that thisego-centrismhas influencedourevery-day language (21).Mahleralso

stresseshownospaceisperse 'good'- justbecausephrasessuchas 'upandcoming'

existdoesnotmeanthatupperspacesarealwaysconnotedpositively.Thismakingof

meaningisbasedinculturemorethaninsomesortofuniversaltruth(23).

Theinvestigationoffictionalspaceisespeciallyuseful,asNeumannpointsout,when-

ever the focus of the analysis is on power relations, for examplewhen attempting a

postcolonial or feminist reading. Itmakes sense to relate the fictional spaces to real

spaces,especiallysinceliteraturedoesnotsimplyprovidethereaderwithknowledge

about the space, but in doing so conveys ideologies inherent in those spaces aswell

(102).

25

2.5.Space-AnAttemptedDefinition

In order to analyse the spatial aspect of poetry, a firm theoretical basis is needed. It

doesnotsuffice tosimply list theplacesandscenesmentioned in thechosenpoems,

especially since the term space evokesmuchmore than amere geographic location.

MiekeBalwrotethat"[t]ogetherwithcharacter,fewconceptsderivingfromthetheory

ofnarrativetextsareasself-evidentandhaveyetremainedsovagueastheconceptof

space." In fact, space is a term that is fairlydifficult todefine ina satisfyingmanner.

Buchholz and Jahnwrote in their encyclopaedia entry that "[a]t itsmost basic level,

narrativespaceistheenvironmentinwhichstory-internalcharactersmoveaboutand

live" (552). While this seems to be a relatively straightforward definition, the term

spaceitselfiswhatmakesthecurrentendeavoursodifficult.AsDanielBrewerpointed

outinhisessayonthedifferentkindsofspaces,

spaceisnotageometricentityoranabsoluteabstraction.Spaceisnotneutralorobjective;noris it fixed,transparent, innocentorindifferent.Instead, it iswill-fullyproduced,aproductresultingfromthetransformationofmatter,theappli-cation of knowledge, of technology, and of labor. Space is a social product,moreover,generatedbyasocialsubject,orjustaslikely,acollectiveone.Inei-thercasethatsubject'srealityresultsfromanddependsuponitsabilitytooccu-pyandmasterspace,whichitdoesoftenenoughinviolentfashion.(179-180)

This definition is by nomeans exhaustive; dictionaries devote plentiful pages to the

attemptofacomprehensivedescriptionofspace,asDavidsonmentionsinhisownthe-

oreticalobservationsonspaceinthenarrative(24).Theproblematicnatureofthisis-

sueismademorecomplicatedbythefactthatspacecanmeananythingfromthenoth-

ingnessbetweenstarstothedistancepeoplemightneedbetweenthemselvesandoth-

ers(Davidson24).Andwhilespacecanbeusedtonamevariousrelations,whataddi-

tionallymakes its definition sodifficult is the fact that it is never just one thing, but

consistsofmany levels.AsO'Toolepointsout,agarden isnot justagarden;perhaps

anypersonwithoutaparticularaffinitytowardsplantsmightbeabletopointoutthe

flowersgrowingthere,butsomeonewhohasstudiedbotanyormicrobiologywillsee

saidgardenfromanentirelydifferentperspective(137-138).Accordingtothisremark,

spaces can arouse different associationswithin different people due to variations in

knowledge,experienceetc.Thus,apartfromthefactthatnumeroustypesofspaceex-

26

ist,theycanalsobelabelleddifferently,dependingontheonlooker'spointofview,ed-

ucation,gender,opinionsetc.

However,Brewer'squoteaboveclearlyaddressesseveralpointsthatareoftheutmost

importancetothemannerinwhichspaceisbeinginvestigatedinthisthesis;spaceis

flexible,anditsborderscanchange.Aspacethatisclearlygenderedasmaledoesnot

havetoremainamalespace;manyplacesandprofessionswereinaccessibletowomen

twocenturiesago,andarenowperfectlynaturalforthemtoactin(seechapter1).In

additiontothisflexibility,spaceisalsoaproductofsocialinteraction,ofculturalcus-

toms(Brewer179-180).Thisistosaythatifaculturehasspecificneeds,thoseneeds

willbereflectedintheuseofspace.Somesocietieswillexpressthefactthattheyvalue

the sexes differently by creating separate buildings formen andwomen towork or

housein;ifasocietychampionstheideaofgenderequality,menandwomenwillnot

besegregated in thisway(Spain140).Space, therefore, isnotanunbiasedandunin-

volvedapriorientity(Davidson25),butcreatedbythesocialpowersatworkwithina

society.

The fact thatmany importantwritingsaboutnarratologyhaveyet todeliverasound

theoryonspatialanalysisdoesnotfacilitatetheendeavourofcreatingsatisfyingdefini-

tions;asHauptremarks,anydiscussionsaboutspacewillnecessarilyincludeasignifi-

cantamountofconfusionduetothefactthattherearenocleartermsforthedifferent

categoriesthatexist(69).WhileHauptherselfendorsesthetechnicaltermsetting(69),

Bal,ontheotherhand,distinguishesbetweenthetermsspace,place,andlocation,yet

doesnotprovideacomprehensivedefinitionforeitherofthem(133-134;220).

Sincethisthesis is inneedofadefiniteterminology,thecreationofaworkingdefini-

tionisindispensable.Asmentionedabove,BuchholzandJahnbegintheirattemptata

definitionofnarrativespacebystatingthat"[a]titsmostbasiclevel,narrativespaceis

theenvironment inwhichstory-internal charactersmoveaboutand live" (552).This

definition,however,istoonarrowforthepurposeathand.Sinceallspacesfeaturedin

theanalysedpoemsshallbetakenintoaccountforanalyticalpurposes,restrictingthe

focustothosespacesthestory'scharactersactuallyinteractwithmightbecounterpro-

ductive,as,forthegender-informednatureofthisthesis,theinabilityofcertaincharac-

27

terstoenterandinhabitspecific fictionalspacesis justasrelevant.Thus,thisproject

willworkwiththeassumptionthatfictionalspaceiscreatedbyallthespatialcluesgiv-

enwithina fictional text;whether thesespacesareactuallyaccessedby the featured

characters does not serve as a criterion. Expressed differently, fictional space is the

sumofall the locationsencountered inanarrative.Keeping inmind thecomplicated

nature of space, this definition might seem overly simplistic. However, the intricate

socialmatterswhichareatworkwithintheinvestigatedspaceswillbetakenintoac-

countduringtheanalysis, thusattemptingtodotheintricatesubject justice.Andthis

analysiscanonly functiononcetheobjectof inquiry isdetermined,which isnowthe

case.

2.6.AnalysingSpatialDimensions:Themacro-level

Ithasbeenmentionedabovethatwithinthefieldofliterarystudies,timehasbeenthe

dominantcategoryfordecades,ifnotlonger.This,however,isnotnecessarilythecase

anymore.Theso-calledspatial turn,whichculturalstudieshaveseenduring thepast

decades, cannot be called a paradigm shift with a single goal due to its multi-

disciplinarynature;nevertheless, therenow tends tobea strongpoliticalmotivation

behindtheinvestigationofspace.Davidsonpointsoutthatitisthepurposeofcultural

analysis"toaskquestionsaboutwhatweknowoftheworld,howweknowitandhow

we represent that knowing back to ourselves through revealing that which is con-

cealed,anddeconstructingnaturalizedprocessesofspatialization"(27)Scholarswork-

ingwithmoremodernapproachessuchasculturalstudies,feministstudies,andpost-

colonialstudieshaverealisedtheimportanceofspaceandhencealsoanalyseitintheir

scientificwork(Buchholz&Jahn554).

Thissubchapteristhereforeconcernedwithestablishingfourdifferenttheoreticalcon-

ceptsthataimtoanalysethewayspaceisorganisedinafictionaluniverse.

Therelativelyrecentpracticeoffocusingonspaceswithinliteraturemightsuggestthat

onlymoderntextsdeliverinterestingresultswhenbeinganalysedregardingtheirspa-

tialrelations.Itistruethatthefocusonspacegivesparticularlyvaluableinsightswhen

consideringcontemporarypoetrythathasbeencreatedinthecurrentageofglobalisa-

28

tion.However,Davidsonpointsoutthatacertainspace-consciousnesscanindeedalso

beascribedtosocietyasearlyastheearlymodernperiodduetotheadvancementsand

discoveriesmade (26); themere existence of the British Empire can for example be

supposedtohavecontributedtoacertainspatialawarenesswithinitseducatedinhab-

itants.Poemscreatedevenlater,suchasWordsworth'sTheWorldIsTooMuchWithUs,

showanundeniableconsciousnessofhuman'srelationshipwiththespacetheyinhabit

aswell as technological progress and criticism thereof as early as the two centuries

ago.Itwouldthereforebewrongtothinkthatatheoryfocusedonspacecouldnotbe

beneficialwhen investigating Romantic poetry. Furthermore, female authors such as

CharlotteSmithseemtohavebeenextremelyconsciousofspaceasplaces,bothrural

andurban,aredealtwithextensivelyinherwork(Scarth630),and,asthepoemsana-

lysedinsubsequentchapterswillshow,thesamewastrueforotherfemalewritersas

well.

2.6.1.Ronen'sApproachToSpace

ForherapproachtothecharacteristicsoffictionalspaceRonenadherestotheassump-

tionthat"spaceisasemanticconstruct"but"thecomponentsofafictionalspacecan-

notbeidentifiedwithspecifictextualexpressions"(Ronen421).Thismeansthatwhile

certainwordclassesmightbemorelikelytogivethereaderinformationaboutspatial

dimensions,suchasprepositions;spatialcluescanbegleanedbythereaderincount-

lessdifferentways.Thisgoestoshowthatinordertoextractallthedetailsaboutthe

settingfromatext,athoroughreadingisindispensable.

2.6.1.1.Frames

Ronen introducesthetermof the"frame",whichshedefinesas"a fictionalplace, the

actual or potential surrounding of fictional characters, objects and places" (421).

Wheneveranewframeisintroduced,theanalysiscanbefocusedonthewordingused.

Whileitistruethat,asmentionedabove,thedescriptionofspacedoesnotdependon

specific phrasing, theway it is introduced does influence its nature; does the action

happenin'aroom',oristheroomdescribedingreatandlavishdetail?Thechosenlevel

29

ofprecisioninfluencesthespacescreated,allowingtheauthortogiveitamorevague

ormoreconcretecharacter(421-423).

Anothertermcrucialtotheanalysisofspaceinfictionisthatofthesetting.Thesetting

istheplacewheretheplotactuallyhappens,"theactualimmediatesurroundingofan

object,acharacteroranevent"(423).Whileaframecouldjustbeaplacethatismen-

tionedinthetextandactuallynevervisited,thesettingprovidesthespacefortheac-

tion to unfold. Thismeans thatwhile frames could be introduced tomaybe create a

contrasttothecurrentsetting,itisperfectlyacceptableforthemtoneveractuallybe-

comeasetting.Anotherdifferencebetweenthetwoentitiesisthatoncethesettingis

established,andmayitonlybeminimallybystatingthattheactiontakesplaceine.g.'a

village', itdoesnotneedtobere-established;aslongasthereisnoexplicitchangeof

place, it simplyremains thesame.Frames,however,due to the fact that theyarenot

actuallyphysicallypresentbutonlyinthoughtsorconversations,doneedtobeverbal-

lyre-introduced.Thesetting,onecouldalsosay,isimportantduetoitshostingtheac-

tion,whiletheimportanceofanyotherframeisnotjustgivenbuthastobeproven.For

example,ifacharactertalksabouthavingbeentotheparkthepreviousday,thisshort

reference does notmake the frame relevant; if the character later on returns to the

samepark,therelevanceoftheframeisestablishedasthecharacterseemstohavea

habitofgoingthere.Framescanbetransformedintoasettingiftheactionisshiftedto

take place in them, but they can also remain simple frames and still be of some im-

portancetothestory.Thisisforexamplethecasewhenacharacterleavesthesetting

forsomeotherplace;theactionstayswhereitis,butthementionedframeisrelevant

due to the fact that it is soughtoutbyacharacter,all thewhilestayingwhat it is -a

frame(425).

Frames can differ in their relevance to the story. The most important category of

frames isof course thesetting,where thecurrentaction takesplace.Aso-calledsec-

ondaryframeisseparatedfromtheimmediatesettingbysomekindofborder,suchas

awall,butstillbelongsto"thesamespatialcontinuum"(426). Ife.g. theactiontakes

placeinaspecificroom,theotherroomsinthehousewillqualifyassecondaryframes;

theycaneasilybeaccessed, anddespite the fact that theydonot functionas setting,

theycaninfluencethesettingincertainways,forexampleifloudvoicesormusiccan

30

beheardfromthenextroom.Asimilarsecondaryframewouldbeagardenwhichcan

belookedatthroughawindow.Aninaccessibleframe,ontheotherhand,isunreacha-

bletothecharacters.Thisinaccessibilitydoesnotarisefromanyspatialdistanceasthe

inaccessible frame "forms part of the same spatial continuum as the setting" (426).

However,"itconsistsofclosedframeswhichcannotbeenteredoraboutwhichinfor-

mationisinaccessibletocharactersinanotherframe"(426).Itcaneasilybepresumed

thatmanyinstancesofsaidinaccessibilityof informationarecreatedthroughvarious

cultural rules, excludingmarginal groups fromcertain spaces,whichmeans that this

categorymightbeofparticularinterestwhenanalysingthespacesportrayedasinac-

cessibleinwomen'swritinglateron.

Another important category of frames is formed by the spatio-temporally distant

frames.Theseframesarenotpartofthesamecontinuumasthesetting.This,however,

canbechangedbyforexamplegoingbackintime,making,asRonenputsit,theinac-

cessibilityof thosespaces"provisional"(427).Ofcourse, jumpingwithinthetimeline

mightnotfiteverynarrative,butasimilareffectisachievedwhene.g.asecondplotis

introducedthattakespartinanothercountryorotherwisedifferentspatialcontinuum.

Those distant frames, despite the fact that they are actually quite far away from the

actualplot,canbejustasrelevanttotheplotase.g.secondaryframes.(427)

The last type of frame, according to Ronen, is the so-calledgeneralized space. These

spaces are not actually unique places, but introduced through rather vague descrip-

tions.InasentencesuchasHewasthetallestmanintheworld,'intheworld'isneither

a real setting nor a secondary frame. Due to its ambiguous description, generalized

spacefailstoprovideabackgroundfortheaction."[A]tthesametime,"Ronencontin-

uestoelaborate,"thegeneralizedspacecontainstheimmediatesettingrelevanttothe

particulartextualcontext"(428),makinggeneralizedspaceacuriouscaseof fictional

space.

2.6.1.2.TheLinguisticAspectofFrames

Sofar,onlythetypesofspaceshavebeentakenintoaccount,butnotsomuchhowthey

areconstructed,leavingoutotherpotentiallyinfluentialcategoriessuchasgrammar.If

31

thesentencesestablishingacertainspacearemodalized,thatspaceisnecessarilygiven

adifferent levelof credibility than thosedescribedbyusing the indicative.As the in-

formationintroducedinamodalizedcontextcannotbetakenquiteasseriously,Ronen

calls it "collateral information",which shedeclares tobe "either counterfactual, non-

factual,hypothetical,etc."(429).Anon-factualframecannotchangeitsnatureandsud-

denly become factual; a hypothetical frame, however, can become part of the actual

story space since its hypothetical character implies that it could, after all, be factual.

Counterfactualornon-factualframesstillprovidethereaderwithinformation,but,as

in real life, alternative facts do not resonatewith truth and are thus not compatible

withtheactualspacethestorytakesplacein(429).

Similarlyimportantwhenestablishingaframearethewordswhichareused(and,ina

way,alsothosewhicharenotused).Placesareofcourseincrediblyrichindetail;pages

upon pages could be devoted to thoroughly describing settings as small as a room,

maybeevenmorewhenintroducingmuchlargerframes.Therefore,authorsnecessari-

lyneedtoleavegapsintheirdescriptions,decidingwhethertofocusonaspectssuchas

thescope,thecolouration,orwhethertoincludeseveral,orevennoneofthesecriteria.

Thesemanticdecisionsawritermakesinfluencetheperceptionofthespaceimmense-

lyasespeciallynounsoftencarrynotonlytheirexplicitmeaningbutadditionallypro-

vokeavarietyofassociations;forexample,apoemfeaturingtheseacanstiraconnota-

tionofholidayinsomepeople,whileitmightbeaperfectlynormalpartofeverydaylife

forothers(430).

2.6.1.3.FramesandtheirInteriorLife

Crucialforthethesisathandisthefactthatframescanberegardedinrelationtothe

entities inhabiting them; these relationships mostly depend on communal customs.

Ronenmentions the "properties public and private" (431), which are of course im-

portant concepts in lateeighteenthandearlynineteenth-century society.Framescan

alsobeopenorclosed,dependingamongotherfactorsonthesocialpositionacharac-

ter canboast,which is alsoadichotomy that canbeofusewhenanalysingwomen's

writing.Whetheraframeisopenisdefinedbythepossibilitytomoveeitherintoorout

ofit.Itisalsopossibletoonlypartiallyaccessaframe,forexamplebylookingatit,but

32

not entering,making this assumeddichotomymore of a scale.Other possibly binary

pairs todefine frames includepersonal/impersonalandconventional/unique,always

dependingontheframe'sfunctionwithinthetext.Aframethatisconsideredpersonal

ischaracterisedbyfeaturingsomethingthatbelongstoacharacter,avisualproofthat

the space belongs to a specific person; this might be furniture or other objects the

character calls their own. Impersonal frames, on the other hand, lack thesepersonal

objects.Theothermentionedpair,uniqueandconventional,ismoredefinedbywhatis

happeninginsidetheframethanbytheframe'sstructure.Ifanordinaryeventhappens

withinitsusualframe,thesituationwillbejudgedtobeconventional;anexamplefor

thatwouldbeacharactersleepingintheirownbedroom.Ifaframeisusedinsucha

wayasopposesthegeneralassumptionsaboutitspurpose,thesceneiscalledunique

(432).

Ronensuggeststhesedichotomiestofurtheranalyseframes.However,authorssuchas

O'Toolehavepointedoutthatmerelyinvestigatingfictionalspacesbyassigningthem

tooneoftwo"binaryoptions"suchasenclosed/open"mayblurourperceptionofoth-

eraspectsofsemioticspace"(135).So insteadof justascribingaspacetooneoftwo

contrary categories, analysing the degree of a frame's openness, uniqueness etc., as

suggestedabove,mightprovideamorefruitfulandcomprehensiveoutcome.

Theimportanceofthesocialspherewhenanalysingspacecannotbestressedenough.

Space isnotanabsoluteconstruct; theexampleRonengives is that thephrasepublic

exposurecancometomeandifferentthings,dependingonwhatsettingitisusedinor

whatsocialclassacharacterbelongsto-thepubliccouldbethepopulationofasmall

town, the royal court, or even a whole nation. Ronen ends by saying that "fictional

spaceisnotformedbyasetofneutrallyrelatedplaces;rather,everyspatialconstruct

ischaracterizedinconstantrelations"(437).Frames,sheconcludes,canbe"character-

izedandrelatedtooneanotherthroughthepropertiestheyshareandfunctionsthey

fulfil"(437),givingthereaderanindicationofhowtousetheframeworksheprovides.

Framesarenottobeseenasisolated,butaspartsofabiggerunitthatrepresentsthe

spacesthatexistwithinthefictionaluniverse.

33

Ronen'sremarksonfictionalspaceofferausefulpatternforanalysingandcharacteris-

ingthedifferentspacesencounteredwithinanarrative.However,ascanbeseeninthe

subsequentanalyses,thevariouscategoriesofframesdonotalwaysperfectlydescribe

thefeaturedspaces.Therefore,otherapproacheswillbetakenintoaccountaswellin

ordertoguaranteeamorediverseanalysis.

2.6.1.4.Frame-AnAlternative

Balusesthetermframedifferently,sayingthat"thespaceinwhichthecharacterissit-

uated,orispreciselynotsituated,isregardedastheframe"(136).Forher,thequestion

what is inside aswell asoutside the frame is relevant, seeing as spaces can provide

safety (or not) for the characters being inside (or outside) (136). These properties,

suchasthesafetyaspacemightormightnotprovide,areofcoursenoabsoluteparam-

eters,andalsosubjecttochange.Furthermore,whatmightbedesirableforonecharac-

termight be a disastrous for another. "The inner space can, for instance, be experi-

encedasconfinement,while theouterspacerepresents liberationand,consequently,

security"(137).Thisisofspecialrelevancetothethesisathandasitmustnotbefor-

gottenthatcharactersmighthavedifferentaccessandalsodifferentassociationswith

certain spaces depending on their social class, gender, heritage etc. Bal also stresses

thatthebordersbetweenthosespaces-orframes-canbeextremelymeaningful;the

narrativehas,then,theopportunitytoadheretothose(likely)culturalboundaries,or

tryandmakeadifference.Theauthorthusmakesanotherpointthatishighlyrelevant

for this thesis - the fact that there are boundaries1 between spaces and theway the

characterswithin thenarrativemight react to them isalsoan interestingaspect that

shallbeinvestigatedwhenanalysingthepoemscomposedbyfemaleRomanticwriters

insubsequentchapters.

1TheconceptoftheboundarywasdecidedlyshapedbyJuricM.Lotman,whosespatialmodel values the boundary as a central structural feature of any fictional space; itsmostimportantcharacteristicisthatitcannotbecrossed(Renner357-358).http://www.kultursemiotik.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Renner_Grenze-und-Ereignis.pdf

34

2.6.2.Hoffmann'sDifferentTypesofSpace

Aratherdifferentbutstillinterestingmethodtolookatfictionalspacesisthatusedby

GerhardHoffmann.Despite the fact that thismodelwasoriginally created to investi-

gatenovels,itcontainsusefulideasforcategorisingthesettingsfoundwithinpoetryas

well.FollowingtheworkofStröker,Hoffmanndistinguishesbetweenthreebasictypes

ofspace,whichhecallsgestimmterRaum,Aktionsraum,andAnschauungsraum(possi-

blytranslatableastemperedortunedspace,actionspace,andperceptionspace;italics

notcontainedintheoriginaltext)(Hoffmann5).Hauptcriticisesthepre-structuralist

trianglethismodelisbasedonandfavoursclear-cutopposites;however,shestilluses

themodelherself(69).

Gestimmter Raum is used to classify a space that mostly contributes to the story

through its atmosphere. It is an expressive space that is insofar objective (ormaybe

rather inter-subjective)thatcharacterswhosepointofviewisnotcurrentlybeingfol-

lowed can understand and relate to the emotions experienced while being in said

space, suggesting that the atmosphere is truly created by the space itself and is not

merelypresentinthecharacter'smind(55).However,asHauptpointsout,atmosphere

canalsobecreatedbyone'sownassociations,thusmakingthewholeendeavourmore

subjectivethanobjective(70).Thisatmosphere isreinforcedthroughtheobjectsand

livingbeingscontainedwithin thespace (Hoffmann56) -achurchmighthostbotha

weddingandafuneral,butit isthedetailswithinthespacethatsetthemood(Haupt

70).GestimmterRaumcan,however,alsobeusedasaliterarydevicetomirrorachar-

acter'sinnerstate.HoffmannstressesthatthistypeofspaceisnotarestrictedtoRo-

manticwriting(hementionsnovelssuchasGoethe'sWerther),whichsuggeststhatitis

particularly frequently encountered in texts created during this period - a hint that

mightproveusefulwhenanalysingRomanticpoems(55).

TheAktionsraum isthenfocusedontheactingsubjectwithinthespace.Theobjectsit

containsarenotpresentbecausetheycreateacertainatmosphere,butratherbecause

theyareuseful, and the relationshipbetween theactingsubjectand thespace isone

characterisedbypracticality.(79)Hence,theprimeexampleforanAktionsraumwould

beaworkshop,whichisdefinedbyitsuse.Itisnotuncommonforthesespacestolack

35

athoroughdescription.Duetothefactthatitisratherrareforsuchaspacetofunction

as a symbol or setting for a dreamor hallucination, the objectivity (or, asHoffmann

prefers,inter-subjectivity),ismoredefinedintheAktionsraumthaninthegestimmter

Raum(80).Also,thistypeofspaceismuchmoredefinedbymovementthantheothers,

as, in order to interactwith the various objects, the character has to approach them

first(Haupt71).

Thethirdcategory,theAnschauungsraum,ischaracterisedbyitsdistancefromthesub-

ject.Itisanisolatedotherthatshiftsthefocusawayfromtheactingentityandtowards

itself,suchasapanoramathatinspiresaweandthedesiretobeexplored.Thedescrip-

tion,soastonotbecometooextensive,againneedstobeselective,asisalmostalways

thecasewithspatialdescriptions;theAnschauungsraumalsoneedstobeofimportance

tothenarrativeinsomewayandnotjustprovidetheoptiontofillhalfapagewithan

elaboratedescriptionofalandscapethatultimatelyhasnopurpose(92).Thistypeof

spacecanoriginate fromandalsochange intotheothertwotypes(gestimmterRaum

and Aktionsraum) as the characters familiarise themselves with their surroundings.

Especiallywhenaspaceinspiresanegativeemotionsuchasfear,itmightmotivatethe

protagonisttotrytoescape,andindoingsoutilisewhateverisathand,thuschanging

theAnschauungsraum intoanAktionsraum (93). If thegestimmterRaum issomewhat

objective,theAnschauungsraumisthemostobjectiveofthethreetypes(Haupt71).

InhercommentaryonHoffmann'smodel,Hauptstresseshowthismodel'smainpur-

poseisnottodrawclearlinesbetweenthedifferenttypesofRaum,buttoincorporate

subjectivity into the theoryof space andpoint outhowdifferent typesof perception

changethecreationoffictionalspace(71).Shealsoaimsatrelatingspacestoonean-

other in a spatial continuum, mentioning three different ways in which spaces can

combined:inanadditivemannerbysimplyintroducingonesettingafteranotherwith-

outanydirectcorrelation;causally,thusmirroringacharacter'sprogressortheiren-

deavour to cross the various boundaries space provides for them; and correlatively,

comparing and contrasting different types of space within the text (79). Following

Hoffmann, she points out the importance of the possible mobility or immobility of

characters,andthepotentialsymbolicalcontentofarchetypalspacesusedwithinthe

narrative(81-82).

36

Whiletheseconceptswerecreatedwiththeanalysisofnovelsinmind,Iwouldargue

thattheymayverywellprovetoaddenlighteningdetailstothespatialanalysisofpo-

ems. Especially Hoffmann's employment of his model when analysing Gothic novels

writtenduringtheRomanticdecades(58)suggeststhatwritersinthisperiodshoweda

certainspatialawareness.Anddespitethefactthatthegenrethisthesisconcernsitself

withisadifferentone,itiscertainlypossibleforamodelthatworksfornovelsfroma

certainepochtoalsobeofhelpwhenanalysingpoems.

2.6.3.Zoran'sApproachtoSpace

AnotherpracticalconceptconcerningspaceinfictionwascreatedbyGabrielZoran.He

arguesthat"[l]anguagecannotgive fullexpressionto thespatialexistenceofanyob-

ject"(313)(whichcouldsurelybeclaimedoftimeaswell-itseemsphantasmaltobe-

lievethateverysinglesecondcanbethoroughlydescribedbyusinglanguage).Also,he

goes on to claim that describing space is not an act that works independently from

time;whendescribinganobject,thelanguageuserhastogivetheinformationinacer-

tainorder, takingaway the simultaneityoneexperienceswhen lookingat something

(313).Thisistosaythatwhenoneseese.g.ahouse,allofit-thecolour,thesize,the

numberofwindows-canbeperceivedatthesametime,whereasinthecaseofaverbal

description, theauthorneeds todecidewhether tobegin theiraccountbycalling the

house'big'or'yellow'first,thuslackingtheafore-mentionedsimultaneity.

Space's interdependencewith time should, however, not lead to the impression that

spaceperse issomehownot importantas faras theplotofanarrative isconcerned.

Zoranarguesthat"[o]bviously,plotisnotusuallysubordinate,especiallyinrelationto

space,butwhateverthestatusorfunctionsofplotinthetext,itmustbeseenasmore

thansimplyastructureintime.Itincludesroutes,movement,directions,volume,sim-

ultaneity, etc., and thus is an active partner in the structuring of space in the text"

(Zoran314).

Inordertocomprehensivelyanalysethespatialdimensionswithinthenarrative,Zoran

divides them into separate levels.Henames thesedifferent stages the topographical,

37

the chronotopic, and the textual level.As canbededuced from thename, the textual

levelistheonemostdependentonlanguage,whereasonthetopographicallevel,"the

world isperceivedasexisting for itself"(315). It is importanttonotethat thereader

does not distinguish between these levels of reconstruction while reading; they are

eitheralternatedorperceivedsimultaneously.Inanyway,thereaderisnotconcerned

withidentifyingthosedifferentstages;aclosereadingisrequiredtoanalysethethree

differentlevels(315).

The levelof topographicalstructure formsthe"highest levelofreconstruction"(316)

asitcanbeunderstoodasautonomousfromanytimelineorothersuccessiveentities

guidingthenarrative.Onecouldcomparethisleveltoamapwhichguidesthereader

through the story as it contains any objects found in the text. Due to the already-

mentionednecessarilyfragmentarynatureoftextualdescriptionsofspace,suchamap

remainsincomplete,butstillprovidesausefultoolforthereader."Itencompassesthe

horizontalstructureoftheworld,relationshipssuchasinsideandoutside,farandnear,

center andperiphery, city andvillage, etc." (316).However, those fictionalmaps can

alsoincludevarious"modesofexistence"(316);inreallife,adreamdoesnotcountasa

space,butitdoesinaliterarytext.Theliterarycharactersinhabitingthefictionalspace

arewhatconnectsthetopographicallevelwiththestory,anditisimportanttoremem-

berthatdespitethefactthattheyarealsobodies inspace,charactersarenecessarily

handleddifferentlyfromobjects(317).

The term chronotopos, from which the second level's name derives, denotes "the

movement and the action of the narrative" (318) - an admittedly rather short and

vaguedefinition.Bakhtinwasthefirsttoapplythisterminaliterarycontext,usingit

"to signify the entire complex of space and time together, includingphysical objects,

events,psychology,history, etc." (318).Zorandeviates from its standardusebyonly

including"whatmaybedefinedbyanintegrationofspatialandtemporalcategoriesas

movementandchange"(318).Thus,thislevelisconcernedwiththeactionhappening

within space. The author also dividesmovements into two different categories, syn-

chronic and diachronic relations. The oppositesmotion and rest fall into the former

category;fordescribingthelatter,Zoranemploystheterms"directions,axes,powers"

(318). This means that even though the topographical level might suggest that free

38

movementwithinthefictionalspaceispossible,itschronotopicstructureisgoverned

by different rules. On this level, space has lost its neutrality and is defined bywhat

Zorancalls"fieldsofpowers"(319).Sinceitisthislevelthatacknowledgesthepower

struggledefiningsocialspaces,itcouldprovevaluablewhenanalysingthefemaleRo-

mantics'poemsinsubsequentchapters.

Thethirdlevel,theleveloftextualstructure,isconcernedwiththenarrative'stextual

format,whichisnecessarilysuperimposedbyitsverbalnature,butthislevelspecifical-

lyfocusesonthewaythespaceisarrangedwithinthenarrative(319).Thefactthatthe

spatial description is necessarily incomplete, the fundamental principle that this de-

scriptionhastobeconveyedinatemporalorder,andthelikewiseessentialaspectthat

each narrative follows a chosen perspective are the most important considerations

whendealingwiththislevel(320).Thefirstpointresultsinthedivisionofspaceinto

explicitly defined entities and thosewhich are not explicitly defined; for example, it

mightnotbeexplicitlymentionedthattheroomthecharacterjustenteredhasafloor,

but this blank is just filled automatically by the reader. Furthermore, the time line a

descriptionfollowsmayworkondifferentlevels,suchasfollowingamovingobjector

character,henceadoptingthechronotopic level,oremployingthetopographical level

and following a direction such as from the groundupwards, from the outside to the

insideetc.Itshouldbenotedthattheorderofinformationgiveninadescriptioninflu-

encesthewaythespaceisperceived;thetextcane.g.beginbyrelatinggeneralinfor-

mationwhile holding back specific details, or vice versa (321-322). Theperspectival

structureofthetext,however, ismostlydefinedbytherelationshipbetweenthehere

andthethere,existingbetweenthesettingandthefictionaluniverseontheonehand,

andwithinthefictionaluniversebetweenforegroundedandlessimportantentitieson

theother.Theserelationshipsarenotfixedandcanbealteredatanygiventime(322).

DeicticShiftTheoryisconcernedwiththephenomenonofhowsimpledeicticexpres-

sionssuchas'I','here'and'now'helpthereaderimmersethemselvesinthenarrative

andfind,figurativelyspeaking,theirwayaroundthefictionalworld(Galbraith20-23).

Themost important concepts fromZoran's article have been described above; other

usefultermsintroducedinhistextincludethetotalspace,whichconsistsoftheentire

worldpresentedwithinthenarrative,thespatialcomplex,whichisthespacethatisde

39

facto portrayed, and the spatial units, among them the field of vision,which together

createthetext'sspatialcomplex(322-332).Thesetermscouldverywellbeusedtocon-

trasttheextentofafictionalworldwiththesmallpartofitwhichacharacterhasac-

cess to; this, then, might prove useful when analysing the spaces female characters

haveaccesstoornot.

2.6.4.Ryan,theDescriptionofSpace,andtheMentalMap

Marie-LaureRyan'sremarksonspatialdimensionswithintheliterarynarrativeonthe

onehand focuson thewayspacesaredescribedwithin texts, andon theotherhand

address thehighly interesting issueof cognitivemapswhich readers constructwhile

unravellingthestorieslaidoutbeforethem.Sheassumesthat,inordertocomprehend

thenarrativebeingread,readersneedtomentallymapthespacespresentedinsome

formorother,orotherwisetheprotagonists'progresscouldnotbeunderstood(215).

Theauthorseizesontheafore-mentionedfactthattheverbaldescriptionofthespatial

relationsexistingwithinastoryisnecessarilysubjectedtoatemporalchronology,but

dedicatesmoreroom(punintended)tothisphenomenon.Sheexplainsthatthereare

twodifferentmethodsofintroducingspacetothereader;themap(orsurvey)andtour

(also called route). In case of the first strategy, space is most likely presented as if

looked upon from an observation point. The panorama is then systematically de-

scribed,possibly fromnorth tosouth, fromthemountaintop to thevalley,etc.Aper-

hapsmoretangibleanddynamicapproachisprovidedbyemployingthesecondmeth-

od,which introduces thespace fromthepointofviewofanentity situatedwithin it.

Thetourthereforefollowsthemovementsthecharactermakes,providingthedescrip-

tionofwhat theywouldperceivewhilemaking theirway through the fictional space

(218).

Furthermore, Ryan adds, an author can always choose between revealing all spatial

detailsatonce,andcontinuouslyaddingmoredetailstothefictionalworldasthestory

progresses.Whilethefirstoptionhandilyprovideseverythingthereistoknowatonce,

itmightstrainthereader'spowersofrecollection;thesecondpossibilityseemstobe

thepreferredone(219).Still,sincereadershavethedesiretofilltheblankspaceson

40

theirmentalmap,thelater-addedinformationmightjustbeconfusingtothem(much

likewhenfindingoutafterahundredpagesofreadingthatacharacteris,infact,blond,

andnotblack-haired, likeonehad imaginedthemtobe).Ryanputs itsimilarlywhen

she says that "[w]hen new information conflicts with the reader's mental model of

space, it iseasier toconcentrateonthevisualizationof thecurrentscene,and ignore

the discrepancy, than to reorganize thewholemap" (237). In order to facilitate the

readingprocess,Ryanthusargues,"itisimportanttoachieveaholisticrepresentation

ofthenarrativeworldasquicklyaspossible"(237).

Spaces can, additionally, bedescribed in a variety ofways.Ryan, in accordancewith

Tversky (1996), differentiates between three different possibilities: the viewer-

relative, absolute, and object-relative description. If something is described from a

viewer-relativepointofview,theobjectwillbeportrayedtobepositionedabove,be-

hind, etc. the character or the narrator. Contrarily, the absolute description employs

thefourcardinaldirectionstolocatetheobjectinquestionwithinthespatialcontinu-

um.Andlastly,theobject-relativenarrationwilltakethe'viewpoint'ofanobject;"thus

abenchcanbedescribedasbeinginfrontofthechurch,becauseachurchisanasym-

metricalbuilding,withanimplicitfront(theentrance)andback"(222).

AnotherimportantpointthatRyanmakesisthatareaderisabletounderstandanar-

rative evenwhen the spatial continuum it takes place in is rather simply portrayed

(235).Readersarestillabletocreateamentalmapofallthatisgoingon,albeitinaless

detailedandcomprehensivefashion(215).Agoodexampletoillustratethispointisthe

processofwatchingafilm;eventhoughthesettingsarepresentedingreatdetail,the

viewer isalmostneverable toreconstructhowonespacerelates toanotherbecause

scenes tend to be isolated through the cuts in between (235-236). This is a useful

comment,giventhefactthatwithinpoems,thespatialremarksalsonecessarilytendto

leavequiteafewblanks.Asimilarisolationtothatencounteredwhenwatchingamov-

iecanalsobefoundinplays.Thedifference,however,betweene.g.anovelandaplay

ormanyafilmisthatthenovel'sfocusisonitsprotagonists,andthespacestheyinhab-

it are created "outof them, in contrast to the stage settingof aplay,whichnormally

startsoutasafullyfurnishedbutunpopulatedspace,andgraduallyfillsupwithcharac-

ters"(236).Followingthisdistinction,itisextremelyhardtofitpoetryasagenreinto

41

either category as there are undoubtedly both poemswhich develop the space por-

trayedthroughthecharacterexperiencingitaswellasthosewhichfirstdeviseanat-

mosphericsettingandthenplacethecharacterswithinit.This,then,shallmarkanad-

ditionalwayofinvestigatingthewayprotagonistsandspatialdimensionsinteractwith

each otherwithin the chosen poems. But, to conclude this elaboration onRyan's re-

marks, regardlessof theway space ispresented, the reader is still inneedof amap,

whichisconstructedbasedonthestorylinetakingplace;whetheritisactuallyagraph-

icmaporratheramind-mapbasedonwordsdependsonthereaderandisnotneces-

sarilyrelevanttotheoutcome(233).Thus,thereaderessentiallyfollowsabottom-up

techniqueincreatingamentalimageofthespatialrelationswithinthenarrative(237).

2.7.TextualCharacteristics:Themicro-level

Afterinvestigatingdifferentapproacheswhichcanbeusedtoanalysefictionalspaces,

itisusefultobringtomindthetypicalfeaturesthatcharacterisethem.Whileofcourse

notallcharacteristicsfiteverysingletypeoffictionalspace, it isfascinatingtoscruti-

nisethevariouspossibilitiesandseefictionalspacesasmorethanamerebackground.

2.7.1.TheTreatmentof'RealPlaces'infiction

Itmightseemobvious,butfictionalspacesdonothavetobebasedonreality,whichis

againafactorthatnumerousliterarygenrescelebrate,suchasthoseincludingmagic.

Indeed,fictionalspacescanbothbecreatedfromscratchordependonrealplacesfor

theirdescription.Butevenwhenafictionalstoryissetina'realcity'suchasLondon,

thisdoesnotmeanthattheLondonwithinthenarrativeisreal;itisjustasfictional,a

literaryimagination,are-imaginingoftherealphysicalplace(Neumann97).Theliter-

aryspace,then,isnotnecessarily(orideally)acopyorpartoftherealworld,butcre-

atesitsownworld,afictionaluniversethatmay(butdoesnothaveto)beasplausible

asours(Mahler23).Itcould,however,increasethereader'simmersiontoreadabout

realplaces theymight evenhavevisited themselves. It is still important tonote that

thereisadifferencebetweenthereal-worldplaceandtheonethatisportrayedwithin

astory.

42

Thehintatrealplaces,then,alsochangesthewayafictionalspaceisperceived.Forthe

avidtraveller, thementioningofLondonmaycreatethe imageof thecity'sskyline in

theirhead,whileitwillcreateacompletelydifferentmentalconceptforsomeonewho

knowsnothingmoreaboutLondonexceptthat it isabigcity.Soontheonehand,by

notbeingfamiliarwiththerealplace,theunknowingreadermightmisssomecultural

knowledge that theauthorhad intended tobeconveyedsimplybyreferring to it.On

theotherhand,thereadercanfreelypicturewhatevertheywantandcreateamental

imagethatmightonlybecompromisedbyadditionalknowledgetheyareofferedata

laterpoint in the story (Bal139).WistrandelaboratesonRyan's conceptofminimal

departure, explaining how the author claims that readers'mental images of fictional

universesadhereascloselytotheirownrealityaspossible,onlydeviatingifthenarra-

tivedemandsit(Wistrand18).Whilethisconcepthasbeencriticised,itcannotbede-

niedthateveryreaderhasauniquebackground,andthusbringsdifferentknowledge

andexperiencesintothereadingprocess,whichcaninfluencetheirimagination.

2.7.2.Subjectivity,Semantics,andSenses

Furthermore,asmentionedabove,spacesinliteraturearemorethanamerebackdrop

to the action as they have their own semantics, and function as projection space for

moodsorexpressingculturalvaluesandnorms (Neumann98). Thedescriptionofa

space isneverneutral; theevaluations includedaremeant togive the reader certain

associationswiththesetting,tocreateadistinctatmosphere.Here,itisalsoimportant

toaskwhetherthesettingisdescribedfromanomniscientperspectiveorwhetheritis

through a character's eye that the reader experiences the space. The difference is of

course that a more objective description tends to resemble a static, panorama-like

overview,whereas the subjective perspective canmirror the protagonist's inner life,

theirimagination(99).

The description of a space encountered by a character is thus - necessarily - always

somewhatsubjective,becausethisdescriptionisgroundedinthecharacter's(ornarra-

tor's) sensual perception. Bal explains how the three senses of seeing, hearing, and

touchingareessentialtopresentingthespaceinamannerthatmakesiteasytopicture.

43

Sightisprobablythemostobviouscomponentasarguablymostdescriptionsrelyheav-

ilyonincludingvisualelements;givinganaccountofalandscapewithoutbeingableto

includeanythingthatmeetstheeyewouldlikelybeadifficultendeavour.However,one

shouldnot forget that sound, too, can shape theway the reader imagines the spaces

mentionedwithin the text. Soundshelp to create a senseofhow large a setting is; a

screaminthedistancegivesthefeelingofalargespace,whereasanoiseclosebylimits

the focusof the attention to a verynarrowspace.Touch, then, alsooften indicates a

relativelysmallsetting,butcanstillbehelpfultoestablishaspace,forexamplewhen

there is little light inthescene.Smellcansometimesbeusedtomakeaplaceunique

and recognisable to the characters,while taste hardly ever contributes to creating a

space (136).All in all, it is true formost texts that theestablishingof fictional space

heavily relieson thevisual aspect.Butone shouldnot, especially inpoetry, forget to

alsotakeacloserlookatthespatialcluesthatarenotofvisualnature.

2.7.3.PerspectiveandFocalization

Additionally,whenafictionalspace ispresented, thereaderautomaticallytriestore-

constructthenarrativesituation(Strasen111).Twoimportantquestionswhendeter-

miningthenarrativesituationarethatofmodeorthedegreeofmediation,andthatof

theperspective,orwhoseeyestheeventsareexperiencedthrough.Similarlyimportant

is the question whether the narrator is a character featured in the narrative (114).

Therearevariouswaystonarrateastoryandtoanalysenarration;forexample,Franz

K.Stanzel'sthreecategoriesoftheauthorialnarrativesituation,thefirst-personnarra-

tivesituation,andthe figuralnarrativesituationconstituteamodel thathasreceived

almostuniversalrecognitionandiseventaughtinschools(113).

GérardGenette'smodellikewisedistinguishesthreedifferentnarrativesituations,the

heterodiegetic,homodiegetic,andautodiegeticnarration.However,insteadofemploy-

ingtheterm'perspective',Genetteprefers'focalization',whichismoreconcernedwith

the information anarratorhas access to.Withhis theory, "Genette introduces a sys-

tematicdistinctionbysettingthequestion'whosees?'(identifyingasubjectoffocaliza-

tion)against thequestion 'whospeaks?' (identifying the subjectofnarration, i.e., the

narrator)" (Jahn 173). Jahn further clarifies the terminology by explaining that

44

"[f]ocalizationdenotes theperspectival restrictionandorientationofnarrative infor-

mation relative to somebody's (usually, a character's) perception, imagination,

knowledge,orpointofview"(173).Again,therearethreedifferentsubtypes:zerofo-

calization, internal focalization,andexternal focalization,describingwhetheranarra-

tor has more, exactly as much, or less information than the portrayed characters

(Strasen 120). However, there are also approaches that do not employ a three-part

subdivisionintocategories.AnsgarNünning,forexample,createdalistofbinariesac-

cordingtowhichanarrativesituationcanbeanalysed;examplesforthosepoleswould

bemale/femaleorreliable/unreliable(Strasen132).Anothermodelthatisseenasal-

most competingwith Genette's is that of Bal,who critiqued andmodified hismodel

(Jahn174).Thisprojectwill,despitetheavailablealternatives,workwiththeterminol-

ogysuggestedbyGenetteduetoitsuser-friendlynatureandwidespreadrecognition.

Thequestionofperspectiveisespeciallyinterestingwhenanalysingliteraturecreated

byamarginalisedgroup,suchaswomen.Thechosennarratorandpointofviewmay

influencethewayapoemisperceived,especiallysincereaderstendtoassignthenar-

rator thesamegender theauthorhas(Strasen132).Hence, thenarratorshallnotbe

overlooked,evenifitstracesmightseemnegligibleinashortpoem.

2.7.3.Space,itsContent,andtheMovementswithinit

Spaceisalsodefinedbyitscontent.Objects(andbodies!)takeupspace,andtheyalso

constituteamicro-spaceoftheirown.Hence,thepresenceorabsenceofentitiesmay

changea space; anempty roomwillbeperceiveddifferently froma room filledwith

objects,andthesame is true foraplazapackedwithorcompletelydevoidofpeople.

Therefore,whentakingacloserlookatspaces,itisvitalnottoignoretheobjectsand

bodieswithinit(Bal138).

Spaces do not only provide a setting; they also define the actions happeningwithin

themandsupplypossibilitiesforexperiencessuchasmovements.Whetheracharacter

canenteraroomorcrossbordersisagaininfluencedbyculturalorsocialhierarchies

andmayhaveemancipatingorconservativepotentialforthecharactersmovingwithin

thefictionalspace(Neumann100).Relatingtothetopicathand,apoeminwhichthe

45

femalecharactersremainwithindomesticspacesmayrecreatepatriarchalstructures,

whereasothertextsmightbreakwiththeseconventions,thusempoweringthefemale

characters to takematters into their ownhands.An additional possibility is uttering

criticism by verbally condemning the restrictive nature of societal rules. Whether a

charactercanmovefromonespacetoanotherthusconstitutesanimportantquestion,

especiallyforthisthesis,astheculturalboundarieswithinthelateeighteenthandearly

nineteenthcenturyrestrictedwomen'sfreedomconsiderably.However,thecharacters'

movementsthroughtheliteraryspacearegenuinelyimportantfortheplot,forexam-

ple when a quest is to take place, but also in narratives with less profound spatial

movements (Neumann100).This importanceofmovementgoes to show thatplot is

notonlyatemporallystructuredsequenceofevents,butconsistsalsoofspatialmove-

ments. Zoran stresses the significance of space by saying that plot "includes routes,

movements,directions,volume,simultaneityetc.,and thus isanactivepartner in the

structuringofspaceinthetext"(314).

2.8.Conclusion

Ashasbeenshown,therearequiteafewconceptsconcernedwithspaceinfictionand

howtoanalyseit,despitethefactthatitisstillnotaswellresearchedasitscounterpart

time. Naturally, most of these theoretical concepts focus on the spatial possibilities

facedwithinnarrative fiction,whichcansurelybeattributed to its length.Anovel is

simplyabletodevotemoreroomtospatialdescriptionthanashortlyricalpoem.How-

ever,manyof thepointsmadeaboveare still relevant for analysingpoetry; after all,

poemscontainspatialcluesandestablishframes,albeit lessexcessivelysoduetothe

generalshortnessofthetexttype.

Theseaccountsonfictionalspacearebynomeansexhaustive2.However,theyforma

basisforaself-createdsetofquestions,asortofchecklist,whichshallbeemployedin 2 David Herman lists several other approaches that informed the current theory onspace inhisbookStoryLogic, suchas theDeicticShiftTheory (whichhasbeenmen-tionedabove),thefigure-and-groundrelationbetweenobjectsandtheirbackgrounds,themodeloflandmarks,regions,andpaths,theanalysisofmotionverbsandtheWHATandWHEREsystems(270-284)

46

thesubsequentanalyses.Whilenotallconceptsmightproveequallyfruitfulforevery

poem, every single pointwill still be used for all the chosen poems, as, after all, the

recognitionthatapoemdoesnotfeatureseveralframes,differenttypesofRaumetc.is

stillagainofknowledge.

ChecklistforSpatialAnalysis

1. Thecharacteristicsofthespacesemployed:Whatkindsofspacesarefeaturedin

thepoem?Arethespacesbasedonreal,knownplaces,suchascities?Arethey

realisticinthesensethattheyadheretothelawsofphysicsandnature?

2. Thequestionofsensesandperspective:Whichsensesareengagedinthecrea-

tionofaspace?Whichperspectivesareemployedinnarratingthepoem?

3. Theissueofframes,followingRonen'sterminology:Whichframesarefeatured?

Whichcategoriesdotheybelongto?Whatlanguagemodesareusedincreating

them,whatspecialuseofvocabularycanbedetected?Are the framesaccessi-

ble/inaccessible, open/closed, personal/impersonal, or conventional/unique,

andtowhatdegree?

4. ThethreetypesofspaceaccordingtoHoffmann:whichcategoryofRaumdothe

encounteredspacesbelongto,andwhy?

5. The three textual levels as described by Zoran:what is noteworthy about the

textual,chronotopic,andtopographicallevels?

6. TheissueofthementalmapaccordingtoRyan:howarethespacesintroduced

(allatonce,asatourormap,isadditionalinformationaddedlateronetc.)?

Inadditiontothechecklist,theresearchquestionswillbediscussedwithregardtothe

individual poems. This combination should thus result in a thorough analysis of the

chosentexts.

47

3.PoetryAnalysis

3.1."TheWidow'sHome"(MaryRobinson)

3.1.1.BiographicalNotes

IfMaryRobinsonismentionedtoday, it ismostlyinreferencetoSamuelTaylorCole-

ridge,whoisconsideredtohavebeenhermentor,orbecauseofhernotorietyforhav-

ing several affairs (Hawley 52); amongher loverswas thePrince ofWales and later

kingGeorgeIV(72).Itisashamethatthiswomanshouldberememberedforthemen

inher life andnot "her achievement as apoet, novelist, playwright or feminist pam-

phleteer"(52).Robinsonwasarespectedliteraryfigureinhertime;sheworkedalong-

sideWordsworth,Coleridge,andSoutheyfortheliterarysectionoftheMorningPost,

composing90poemstobepublishedinthepaperin1800aloneinherfunctionaspo-

etryeditor(64-65).

However, her career had begunmuch earlier, and certainly without the help of the

then-toddler Coleridge, in 1775,when she published her first poetry book at age 17

(Hawley68;Curran,AlteredI187).Art,forRobinson,wasnotapastime,butawayto

survive;marriedasa teenager toahusbandwhospentmoremoney thanheowned,

shefoundherselfindebtors'prisonwithherbabydaughter.Thestagewasherwayof

escapingthesehorribleconditions,andtheyoungwomanbecameacelebratedactress

(200).Robinsonbecameapublicperson,knownas 'Perdita', in anagewhenwomen

wereessentiallyprivatebeings;shewasafashionicon,a"celebrity"(Byrne1-2).This

scandalous life,however,didnot lastasattheageof23,shewastakenillwithrheu-

matic fever and spent the rest of her days being physically handicapped. Extensive

staysincontinentalEuropedidnotimprovehercondition,althoughsheonlyreturned

toEnglandwhenwarwasdeclaredin1792.Shespenttherestofherdaysthere,con-

tinuouslywriting,butherlastyearswerepassedinamannerratherisolatedfromsoci-

ety, not tobe compared to the exuberantdaysof her youth. It is this loneliness that

Currannotestobeadominantthemewithinthepoemsshewroteduringthoseyears

(AlteredI,200).Thislonelinesscanalsobeexperiencedwhenreadingherpoem"The

48

Widow'sHome",whichwaspublishedintheyearofherdeathinavolumetitledLyrical

Tales(Byrne393;Pascoe207-209).

3.1.2.PlotandSpacesMentioned

Mary Robinson's poem The Widow's Home is separated into five stanzas of varying

length,andwhatmakes it soappealing for the thesisathand is its thoroughengage-

mentwiththelandscapethepoemissetin.Itisnotexactlyrichineventsasitportrays

thesituationofawarwidowandherchildastheytrytolivetheirliveswithouttheir

husbandand father.Thepoem, in fact,devotesmany lines toestablishing thesetting

and, ingreatdetail,comparesthefemaleresidentofthecot,thewidow,toheryoung

son.

Thefirststanzabeginsbysettingthescenetheactionofthepoemistotakeplacein.

Thereaderlearnsthatthereisalittlehouseinasmalldale,andthereisastreamflow-

ing by; nature seems to dominate the scene as there is also a plethora of vegetation

castingshadowsontothelittlecot.Sofar,thesceneseemspeaceful,andthelandscape

createsacalmandfriendlymood;thisimpressionisreinforcedbyline5,asthewhole

atmosphere"invitesthewearytravellertorest".Also,sofar,thecotisjustanotherob-

jectwithinthespaceofthedell;asofline6,however,thepoem'sfocusshiftstowards

it.Thelittlecottageiscalled"humble"(6),butthenextlinestressesthat"thesweetsof

joydomestic"(7)canbefoundinside.Thelittlehouse,itseems,can,despiteitssimplic-

ity,provea safehaven ifneedbe. It is thenmentioned that theworldoutside, a few

linesagosocheerfulwithabubblystreamandshadingleaves,provesafierceopponent

attimes,plaguingtheinhabitantswithbadweather,especiallyduringthewinter.Con-

versely,theverses11to14seemtoagainaimatestablishingnature'spositiveeffecton

humans;thewoodisa"shelt'ring"(11)one,andthevoiceswithinit,bethey"shrilland

wild" (12), are happy to bid everyone hello who passes. The remainder of the first

stanzafocusesfirstonthemountainsinthedistance,whichleadsthereadertospecu-

latewhetherthevalleyisreallyasmalloneorratherarelativelyopenspace,andthen

returnstothelittlecot,describingitmorethoroughlybyhintingatitsovergrownroof

thathousesbirds,thusgivingahomenotonlytohumans,butalsotoanimals.

Thenextstanza,tenlinesintotal,introducestheeponymouscharacterratherthanher

house,butevenso,thereareseveralcluesastowhatthehutlookslike.Asthetitleal-

49

ready conveyed, the youngwoman is awidow, even thoughneither shenorher son

seem yet to be aware of that fact. The youthful female protagonist spends her days

waitingforherlosthusbandtoreturn,andinordertomaketheirhomeawelcoming

one,shedecoratesitwithwildflowers,thusbringingatouchofnatureintothedomes-

tic sphere.This,however,onlyhappensonSaturdays, andshespends the restof the

weekwaiting for her lost love. It can therefore be concluded that the youngwidow

spendsherdays inside thehut; thepoemexplicitly states that she "wastes thehour-

glass"(25)indoingso.

Thethirdstanzaaimsatintroducingthewidow'syoungsontothereader,andcompar-

ing thenumberof linesaloneshows thatmanymorearedevoted toestablishing the

littleboy than tohismother.This,onecouldargue,couldhavesomething todowith

thelittleboy'sactivedailylife,whichismuchmorebusythanhismother's,whospends

herhourswaitingforherhusbandtoreturn.Oneofthefirstdetailslearnedabouther

son is thathischeeksaresunburned;unlikehismother,heseems tobeoutofdoors

frequently.Healso,aslines37to39state,climbstreesandswims,whichareoutdoor

activitieswhichonlyheseemstoindulgein.Fromthenonwards,thepoemfocuseson

thelittleboy,whoisnotyetnineyearsold,andfollowshimalongonhisadventures.He

climbsthehillsandscrutinisestheland,hescalestreestolookoutforhisfather,some-

timesuntilnightfall,andhegoesdowntotheseashore,preferablybeforethesunisup.

Following the boy's daily excursions, the reader is confrontedwith several settings;

manymore than thewidow's character ever sees. The striking element about these

expeditionstakenbythewidow'ssonisthathismotheris, infact,neverpresent,but

staysathomeintheirsmallcot,waitingforherhusband-andherson-tocomehome.

Andstill,despitethedesperationthewidowmustsurelyfeel,thepoeticpersona,which

isonlyintroducedinthelastpartofthepoem,insiststhatthetinycotwithits idyllic

surroundingsisfarmoredesirable"thantherichDome/OfgildedPalaces"(102-103),

praisingthe"peacedomestic"(85)and"ruralmerriment"(87)characterisingthecir-

cumstancesthewidowandhersonlivein.

50

3.1.3.TheoreticalAnalysis

3.1.3.1.CharacteristicsoftheFeaturedSpaces

Robinsoncontinuouslyusesspaceswhicharegroundedinrealityinthispoem;allthe

mentionedplaces-thevalley,thehut,theseashore-areperfectlyinaccordancewith

thewriter'sreality,andnosupernaturalelementsofanysortarefeatured.Still,thereis

noconcreteplacenamementioned;thus,theauthordoesnotrefertoanyknownreal

spaces,andcreatesafictionalworldwithoutamodel.Sincethepoemisnottoldfroma

character'sperspective,butnarratedbyalyricalIthatknowsaboutthewidow'sdead

husband'sgravewheneventhewidowdoesnotseemtoknowwhatexactlyhappened

toherspouse,thepoemistoldfromaperspectiveofzerofocalization.

3.1.3.2.SensesEmployedandPerspectiveUsed

Particularly inthebeginning,numerous linesaredevotedtoestablishingspatialrela-

tions,anditisremarkablethattheauthorstartsoutbyemployingnotthesenseofsight

todescribethescenery.Bystatingthatthestreamisa"brawling"(1)one,sheengages

thesenseofhearing.Infact,Robinsonusestheauditorysenseseveraltimes;thewind

isblasting,which canbeheardaswell as felt, and the "minstrelsyofNature" (12) is

"shrillandwild"(12)inits"carolling"(13).Bothriversaswellasbirdscouldhavebeen

describedbyreferringtotheirappearance;surely,asmallstreaminalonesomevalley

canboastabeautifulshade,andthebirds'feathersmightcatchthesunlight.However,

thespaceisdescribedwithafocusonthesoundsthatcanbeperceivedwithinit,and

theyareofnaturalorigin,nothuman-made.Certainly,theworldtodaycanbeclaimed

to be louder than anythingMaryRobinson ever experienced, but surely, the London

she livedandworked inwasnotexactlysilent,either,and it is interesting toseeher

describe thispeacefulsetting in termsof thesounds thancanbeheardwithin it.But

theauthordoesnotstopatseeingandhearing;shealsoemploystheolfactorysenseby

mentioningthe"healthfulfragrance"(19)intheair,which,asmentionedabove,isra-

therrarewithspatialdescriptions.Still,thevisualaspectsdominatethefirsttwostan-

zas,whichestablishthespace,buttheaddedaudiblebackdropaswellasthereference

to thepureaircomplement thevisuals.Thismixtureofsensescomestoahalt in the

51

thirdstanza,whichisnosurprise:the lonelywidowisoftentimesaloneinherhouse,

whichsurelyresultsinlittleaudiblestimulus.Theflowerssheusestodecorateherlit-

tlehomesmell"sweet"(31),butapartfromthat,thestanzaisfocusedontheimageof

theyoungwomanwaitingforherhusbandtoreturn.Littlementionofsoundscanbe

found in the remaining stanzas; line 83 and 84 hint that songs, if played, would be

"[e]choing along the valley", which further characterizes the setting, and when the

youngfather'sgraveisdescribed,lines95and96reportthat"thenightbreezemoans

melancholymusic".Butapart fromthose instances, thepoemfocusesmoreonvisual

aspectsofplaces,especiallywhenfollowingthemovementsofthelittleboy,whoseems

overwhelmedbyall thatheencountersoutsidehismother's cot, trying to seeevery-

thing"tillhiseyesachewiththedazzlingsplendour"(52).Theonlysounds,then,apart

fromthoseoriginatingfromnature,arethosecreatedbytheboyhimselfashesingsor

playsmusic,thusactivelyshapingthespacearoundhimself.

3.1.3.3.FrameTheoryAccordingtoRonen

Thequestionconcerningwhichframesareemployedwithinthispoemisarathercom-

plicatedonebecausetheactualsettingchangesseveraltimes.Inthebeginning,theset-

tingispracticallytheentiretyofthevalleythepoemtakesplacein.Thereaderisintro-

ducedtotheriver,thehut,thewoods,allofwhichformpartsofthesmallidyllicspace

thatisthedale.Fromthisperspective,thecotitselfisasecondaryframe;itcaneasily

beaccessed,iteven"invitesthewearytravellertorest"(5).Thecot,then,becomesthe

new setting as the poem focuses on the rather secluded space the widow inhabits.

Fromherperspectivenow,theoutsideworldischanged;thelittlevalleydoesnotseem

tobeasecondaryframeforher,butratheraninaccessibleone.Ontheonehand,she

canalwaysleaveherhouse,andsheseemstodosoatleastonceaweek,whichmakes

thechoiceofusingtheterminus'inaccessibleframe'notentirelyaccurate.However,for

therestofherweek,asfarasthereaderknows,thewidow"wastesthehourglass,wait-

ing"(25),andonecouldarguethatbecauseshedoesnotseemcapableof leavingthe

cottageshehaslivedinwithherhusbandmorefrequently,theoutsideworldbecomes

inaccessibletoher.

52

Thenextsettingisagainsituatedoutside,andthereaderfindsthewidow'ssonstand-

ingontopofahill,watchingforshipsincasehisfathershouldreturnhome.Thisisa

taskthathismothercouldsharein-andprobablyshould,giventheboy'sage-butshe

neverseemstojoinhim,whichagainhintsatherinabilitytoaccessthisframe.Herson,

however, seems to be completely free in hismovements; he even regularly climbs a

treethatisdescribedas"hislonewatch-tow'r"(58),thepossessivepronounsuggesting

thatthisspaceonlybelongstothelittleboy.

Anotherframethatbelongstothesamespatialcontinuumandisthusaccessibletothe

widow'ssonisthebeach,whereheplays,sometimesevenbeforedaybreak,withflot-

samandjetsam,singing.Thisismoreorlessthelast'proper'settingasthen,thelyrical

Itakesoverandlamentsthewidow'shusband'sdeath.Theyoungmanwasburiedin

an"unmark'drestingplace"(93),andthereaderdoesnotknowwherethegraveis;itis

likelyclosetothebattlefieldhediedon,foritiscalleda"poorSoldier'sgrave"(98),and

thusvirtuallyimpossibleforeitherwifeorsontovisit.Despitethefactthatthespaceis

describedbythelyricalI,itcanbearguedthatitisnotarealsettingasneitherofthe

charactersactuallysee it, andnorealactionhappens there.Since,however, thispas-

sageisstillrelevanttothepoemasawholeasitgivesawaythedeadfather'sfinalrest-

ingplace,itwouldbeappropriatetocallitaspatio-temporallydistantframe.

Theremaininglinesfocusontheconceptthat,eventhoughtheirlifeseemsverybleak,

thelyricalIseemstoperceivethewidow'slifeandherhumbledwellingtobe"farmore

exquisite"(104)thananypalace.Thepalacehereservesasacomparisonforahandful

of lines, and it is questionablewhether it deserves to be called a frame at all, but it

would,ifdeemedaframe,fallintothecategoryofinaccessibleframesforanumberof

reasons-thoseofspatial,butalsoofsocialnature.Still,itisimportanttothepoemas

theidealpresentedisnottheglamorouslifeincourt,butthelittlehutacommonfamily

livesin.

Thespaceswithinthispoemaremostlyestablishedbyusingthepasttenseindicative,

andcanthusbereadasfactualframes.Thesceneattheseashore(lines69-71)usesthe

futuretense,which,however,shouldprobablybereadasastylisticchoiceratherthana

reflectionontheframe'snature. It isalsoquiteobviousthatRobinsondoesnotdedi-

53

catethesameamountoflinestoestablishingthevariousspacesfeaturedinherpoem.

The valley itself is created in a careful, rather longdescription; of the 110 lines that

constructthepoem,thefirsttwentyareusedtolaythescenebyoutliningthelittlecot's

surroundings.Thecotitselfisbarelydescribedatall,atleastnotitsinterior;infact,all

spaces introduced after the landscape of the valley are only sketched rudimentarily,

withexceptionofthefather'sgrave,whichis,likethevalleyitself,partlycharacterised

byemployingthesenseofhearing.Ofcourse,thosefewlinesaboutthegravesightdo

notcomparetothedalehavingtwostanzasdevotedtoitsbeauty,butitisstillofgreat-

erdetail thanthe fewwordsaboutthebeach,whichonlytell thereaderthat there is

seaweed to be found there. Asmentioned above, the first frame is establishedmost

thoroughly,andthewordsusedindoingsopaintaveryidyllicpictureofthelittleval-

ley. Expressions like "humble dwelling" (6), "sweets of joy domestic" (7), the "shel-

t'ring"(11) forestandnature"carolling/Love-songs"(13-14)presentamostlytame

imageofnature.Thevalleyisalmostcharacterisedasif itwerealovinghomeforthe

twoinhabitants(knowntothereader),whichseemstobeaccurateasitisasafehaven

fortheyoungwidowandherson-sosafe,apparently, thattheyoungchildcannavi-

gateitsperipherywithoutamother'swatchfuleyeonhim.

Mostoftheframesmentionedinthispoemarerelativelypublic.Despitethesecluded

nature the valley seems to be characterised by, strangers could supposedly enter it;

afterall,thelittleparadise"withanoziercanopy/Invitesthewearytravellertorest"

(4-5).Even if thedale's locationpreventsmanyvisitors frommakingsocialcalls,and

despiteitscharacterisationasbeingsomewhatprivate,itisstillacceptableforoutsid-

erstoenter it.MostsettingsfeaturedinTheWidow'sHomecouldbecharacterisedas

publicspaces,exceptmaybethelittleboy's"lonewatch-tow'r"(58),andofcoursethe

widow'scottage.Theverynatureofitbeingahomemakesitnecessarilyprivate,and

thetextdoesnothintatanyvisitorsthewidowmightbereceivingonaregularbasis.

Therefore,itisbeappropriatetocallthecotaclosedspace,whereasthesettingsout-

sideareofamoreopennature.Thehutisfurthermoreapersonalspaceasitbelongsto

thewidowandissurelyfilledwithobjectsthatarehersaswell.Thus,itagainpresents

acontrasttotheoutsideworld,asthevalleyisnotapersonalspace,whichisnecessari-

lygiventhroughitspublicnature.Callingitanimpersonalspace,however,whichisthe

oppositeRonen suggests (432),doesnot seem tobeappropriate, either, asnature is

54

describedinarathersweetmanner,asifitsomehowwasanextensionofthelittlefam-

ily'shome.Furthermore,itcontainsthecot,whichbelongstothewidow,aswellasthe

boy's privatewatch tower. It seems thatwhile the valley itself is a public space, the

peoplelivinginithavelefttheirtraces.

FollowingBal'sideathatthebordersbetweenspacesareofsignificance,itismeaning-

fulinthiscontextthatthewidowrarelyseemstoleaveherhouse.Theonlymotivation

togooutsideseemstobetheprocurementofflowers.Thus,thehouse'sdoorseemsto

beathresholdthecharacterhasproblemstocross;thosedifficultiesarepossiblyself-

imposed-shemightseeitasherdutytostaywheresheis-or,whichisequallylikely,

her seclusionmay be a consequence of her grief. Conversely, her young son has no

problemswithgoingoutsideasoftenashepleases,probablybecausehedoesnotre-

memberhisfatherwellandthereforehaslessreasontomournhim.

3.1.3.4.RaumModelAccordingtoHoffmann

WhenapplyingHoffmann'smodelof thethreetypesofspaceto thispoem, it isquite

straightforward tosee that the first setting, thevalleyasawhole,would fall into the

categorygestimmterRaum;itsetsthemoodforthewholepoemandcreatesapeaceful

atmosphere.Surely,theelaboratedescriptionofthedalecouldremindthereaderofan

Anschauungsraum;however,tofallintothiscategory,thespacewouldneedtoappear

to be somewhat distant from the immediate action. Therefore, the great immediacy

createdbyincorporatingthesenseofhearingintothefirsttwostanzasisaclearindica-

tion for thevalley to functionas agestimmterRaum. Thenext space, thehut, canbe

readasanAktionsraumduetothefactthat it is the little family'shome,andtheyare

thuslikelytoconstantlyinteractwiththespace,beitonlybysittingandwaitingforthe

losthusband.Thesubsequentspaces-thehillsandthebeach-areonlyenteredbythe

littleboy, andbecausehe interactswith themby climbing treesor collecting jetsam,

theyarealsoAktionsräume.Thegrave,thelastspacementioned(becausethecompari-

sontothepalacewillnotbe),isagainadifficultcasetoanalyse.Ofthethreegivencate-

gories,thefirstone,gestimmterRaum,ispossiblythemostfittingone,asitsdescription

again focusesoncreatingacertainkindofatmosphere.Thus, thepoemseemstouse

the gestimmter Raum to set various moods while incorporating the Aktionsraum to

55

convey information about the characters and explain the circumstances they live in;

calling itaplotwouldbetoostrongaword,asthepoemshowsmoreofastatusquo

thanatemporalsequenceofevents.

3.1.3.5.TextualLevelsAccordingtoZoran

The topographical level of Robinson's poem is quite simple to recount; the reader

learns that thescene issetwithinasmallvalley that featuresastream,a forest,hills

(althoughthosecouldalsobethehillswhichthemselvesformthevalley)aswellasa

beach,whichmightbeasurprisetothereaderasitisonlyintroducedatalaterpointin

thepoem.Therealsoseemstobeamoor,ormaybethevalleyitselfisinitsentiretya

moor,butthereisnoexplanationgiven.Theonlydisturbancecausedbyhumansinthis

littleidyllisthecot,butitdoesseemtoincorporateitselfwellintothescenery;iteven

givessheltertobirdsontopofitspurposeofbeingafamilyhome.Theonlyplacethat

doesnotbelongtothisspatialcontinuumisthegravesite,anditisimpossibletorelate

it to thevalleysince there isnohintas towhere itcanbe found, thusdisturbing the

otherwise coherent landscape of the poem. All featured spaces are real within the

worldofthepoem;thepalacethehutisbeingcomparedtodoesnotactuallyexist,but

merely serves as a contrast todescribe the lovelinessof thedomestic sceneryat the

centreofthepoem.

Duetothelackofarealplot,feweventsareportrayedonthepoem'schronotopiclevel

-atleast,asfarasthesynchronicaspect,whichZorandefinesasmotionandrest(318),

is concerned. Most of the motion is conducted by the boy, who moves through the

spacesapparentlyashepleases.Theaspectofrest, then, falls tohismother,whothe

readeronlyencountersinclosedrooms,eventhoughitisknownthatsheweeklypicks

upflowerstobeautifyherhome.Boththefeaturedmovementsandrestsinthispoem

seem to correlate strongly with the diachronic level of "directions, actions, powers"

(318).Theboy is free toroamthevalleyalonewhile themotherspendsherdays in-

side; there isnowayofknowing,but it canbeguessed that thesituationwouldbea

differentoneifthechildwerefemale.Furthermore,eventhoughhergriefseemstobe

genuine,itispossiblethatthewidowstaysindoorsbecauseitistheproperbehaviour

forher, andshe is "virtuous" (24).Despite the fact that thevalley thepoem is set in

56

seems to be rather remote, there is no doubt that society's rules are still of conse-

quence.Whetheritishergrieforacertainculturalcodethatrestrictsthewidowfrom

goingoutsideforpleasure-itstillresultsinherremainingwithinthedomesticsphere

while hermale child is not subjected to this voluntary confinement. The poem also

paintsabrightfuturefortheboy,statingthatheisan"inheritorofHeav'n'sbestgifts"

(109),whilenosuchpositiveperspectiveisshownforthewidowinher"lowlyhome"

(108).Thiscanbereadtosignifythathersonwillsomedaysoonescapetheconfinesof

theirhome,whereashismother'sentire futurecouldverywellbespent inperpetual

grief.

Severalpointswhichareimportantonthetextuallevel,thethirdpartofZoran'sthree-

partpattern foranalysingspaces,havebeenalreadydealtwith,suchas thechoiceof

wordsindescribingthespaces. It is interesting,however,tofocusonthetemporality

thatdefinesthespatialdescription.Thefirstlandmarktobementionedinthevalley's

initialdescription is thestream,which isonlyafterwardscontextualisedbyclarifying

thatitissituatedina"lowdell"(2).Thenextobjecttobedescribedisthecot,whichis

curious;thepoemdoesnotseemtomovefromonespecificdetail toamoregeneral-

isedaccounton thescenery,butratherstartsoutby focussingon thestreamto then

givethelargersetting-thevalley-beforeagainreturningtotherathersmallpartthat

iscreatedbythecottage.Afewlinesarethendedicatedtothe"poorhumbledwelling"

(6)beforeestablishingthenaturesurrounding it; thepoemmovesontomentionthe

"distanthills"(15)onlytoreturntothecottageandfinallyenterit.Themovementand

temporality of the description do not follow one consistent sequence - they seem to

jumpbetweenthenaturesurroundingthehutandthehutitself.Thus,thedescription

doesnot,asZoransuggests(321-322),adheretoaspecificordersuchasmovingfrom

generaltomorespecificinformationorfromtheborderstothecentreofthevalley,but

moreor less switches fromestablishingnature todescribing thecot'splacewithin it

andback.Initsmotion-distancingitselffromthewidow'shomeonlytoswiftlyreturn

toit-thespatialdescriptionisalmostcomparabletothemovementsexecutedbythe

son;he,too,venturesoutsidethehomeandexploresthe"distanthills"(15)onlytore-

turnswiftlytohismother.Alreadyinthefirststanza,thereaderisabletounderstand

thedeictic relationshipbetweenhere and there;here is the cot, and there is the sur-

roundingvalley,thehills,thestream.Thischangesassoonasthesonventuresoutinto

57

thevalleyandtakesthereaderwithhim,butthecotstillformsasortofbasisforthe

poemtoalwaysreturnto.Theremainingspacesestablishedwithinthepoemarecreat-

edwithextremelyfewwords,andthus,analysingthemaccordingtothetemporalityof

theirdescriptionispracticallyfutile.

3.1.3.6.FictionalMapAccordingtoRyan

Thefirsttwostanzas,however,canalsobeinvestigatedbytakingRyan'sdeliberations

intoaccount.Asmentionedabove,thespatialdescriptionofthevalleydoesnotfollowa

certainsystem.Sincethesettingisnotintroducedthroughacharacter'sperception,the

description almost necessarily falls into the category of themap (Ryan 218), except

that thismap isnot filled systematically fromnorth to southor from thehills to the

beach,butratherrandomly.ThisgoeshandinhandwiththefactthatRobinsonchose

nottorevealallspatialdetailsatonce,buttoaddquitesubstantialinformationatalat-

erpoint.Thebeach,forexample,isonlyintroducedinline68,bywhichpointthevalley

mightbe soestablished in the reader'smind that theadditionof the seashoremight

disrupt themental image they had harbouredwhile reading the previous lines. It is

truethatthebeachmightliebehindthehillsthatformtheborderofthedale,butthat

informationisnotexplicitlygiven.Thispotentialdisruptioncouldhavebeenavoided,

as Ryan says, by aiming at giving a "holistic representation of the narrative world"

(237)earlyon.

CategorisingthespatialdescriptionaccordingtoRyan'stermsofviewer-relative,abso-

lute, andobject-relative version is not exactly easy; as thenarrator is not a featured

character,thespacesarenotsituatedinrelationtothem.However,nocardinaldirec-

tionsareusedforestablishingthespaceswithinthispoem,whichwouldmeanforthe

perspective to be absolute. Thus, it can be argued that the description is an object-

relativeone,sincethefocusofthelittlefictionaluniversefeaturedwithinthispoemis

thewidow's cot, both thematically and as far as the description of the valley is con-

cerned,andallactionoriginatesfromit.

Ryan'scommentthatreadersareabletofollownarrativeseventhoughtheymightnot

knowhowthosespacesaresituatedinrelationtooneanother(235-236)alsoapplies

58

tothispoem.Whilethebeachintroducedinline68mightbewildersomereaders,one

cansimplyassumeittobesomewherecloseenoughfortheboytowalkthereinashort

periodof time. Furthermore, unlike the first two stanzas,which first set the scenery

andthenintroducethecharacterslivingwithinit,thesubsequentsettingsarecreated

because the character moves outside the previously known space. This means that

whilegreatcareistakentoestablishthewidow'shome,thesameattentionisnotgiven

tothelandscapesurroundingtheboy;hemoves,andthusneedsspacetomoveinand

into.Thisconfirmsthesuspicionthatpoetrymightverywellcombinethetwodifferent

optionsofspatialcreationgivenbyRyan-thecharactercreatingthespaceversusthe

spacebeingfilledwithcharacters(236).

3.1.4.DiscussionwithRegardtotheResearchQuestions

Robinson'sTheWidow'sHomeshowstwoverydistinctsetsofspace-adomesticone

and a public one. Even though it is debatable exactly how public the valley and the

beachare,theyarestillarguablymuchlessprivatethanthecottage.Thecottageitself

constitutes the domestic contrast to nature. It provides a comfortable shelter from

roughweatherandharboursthe"joydomestic"(7).Thepoetessusesthosespacesas

settingsinherpoem;therearenodreamsequencesorsimilarlyunrealpassagesthat

includespatialrelationsexceptforashortcomparisonofthecottagetoapalace.Ona

purely topographical level, thismentionofapalace is insignificant;however, it isex-

tremelyrelevantonanideologicallevel.Despitealltherichesthatapalacemightcon-

tain,thenarratorinsiststhatthewidow'shomeis"farmoreexquisite"(104),andthe

widow'stearsareofmuchgreaterbeautythananygemstonesfoundinatreasury.The

hutisthusmorethanasimplesettingforapoem-italsoconveysanidealofdomestici-

ty. The widow's homemight be broken due to her husband's death, and her house

mightbesmall,butitisstillfilledwiththe"Softwhispersoffilialfondness"(47),and

despitehergrief,thewidowstill"trimsherlittlehut"(29)inthefashionofadevoted

housewife lest her husband should return.Nature is likewise almost constantly por-

trayed in a very positive light, an aspect that has been mentioned above to be im-

portanttomanyRomanticpoems.Thepoemthus,andbycomparingthesettingtothe

afore-mentionedpalace,clearlyfavoursthesimplecountrylifeoverthepotentialcor-

ruptionsrichescouldoffer.

59

Regardingthelanguageusedtoestablishthespaces,onecouldaddtothenotionsabout

grammarmentionedabovethatthevividimpressionsthatdominatethefirsttwostan-

zasarecreatedbyafrequentuseofadjectives;hardlyanynounremainswithoutaddi-

tionaldescription.Inestablishingthecot,aswasalreadyremarked,Robinsonpaintsa

verycomfortableandcosypictureofthedomesticspace,butnotbyexplicitlydescrib-

ingit;onesimplyhastotakethespeaker'swordforit.Theremightnotbemuchthat

meetstheeyeasthehut isdescribedtobea"poorhumbledwelling",but itstillpro-

videsaspacetoliveinforthelittlefamily.Natureisportrayedasbeautifulbutnotper-

petuallyfriendly,asisshownbythehintatwinteryweatherintheversesnineandten.

The reasonwhy this poem seemed so perfect to be subjected to analysis is that its

spacesaresoexplicitlygendered.Robinson'sfemalecharacter,thewidow,stayswithin

hercotforthewholelengthofthepoem,whilehersonfreelymovesbetweendomestic

and public spaces. This poem confirms the stance established earlier that the home

qualifiesasa femalespace,whereasoutofdoors isamalespace.Thereareonlytwo

living and acting characters, one of each gender, andwhile the female character re-

mainswithin'her'space,theboymayaccessbothspacesashepleases.Whatissocuri-

ous,andfromamodernperspectivemaybeevendisconcerting,isthatthefemalechar-

acterissomucholderthanthemalecharacter,and,inaddition,alsohisparent;howev-

er,gendersegregationstillseemstoapplytothem.

Bothmaleandfemalespacesarethusfeaturedinthepoem,themaleonesevenmore

so, one could argue, as theyhavemore linesdedicated to them.However,while this

poem explores male spaces as settings, it does not portray women's movements in

thosespaces.Onthecontrary,thepoemperfectlyfollowsthegendersegregationthat

scholarshavefordecadesassumedtohavebeenmen'sandwomen'srealityduringthe

lateeighteenthandearlynineteenthcentury.Thismightofcoursehavesomethingto

dowiththepoem'stopic;inthiscase,itisveryhardtosaywhetheritisgrieforpropri-

ety thatkeeps theyoungwoman indoors.Bothoptions canbeargued for; shemight

only remain inside the cot because of societal conventions,which then surelywould

causehertoworryforhersonallday.Anotherpossibilityisthatthesecludedlocation

ofthevalleymightallowhertogooutsideasnobodycouldwitnessit-inthiscase,itis

60

griefthatkeepsherinside.Itisnotpossibletolearnwhatmotivationsarebehindthe

character'sbehaviour,butitmakesthepoemallthemoreinteresting.

Itis,furthermore,intriguingtoseethatRobinsondoesnotcriticisethestateofaffairs

sheportraysinthepoem.Initsidealisationofthedomesticspace,thepoemcanbede-

scribed as rather conservative. Surely, her intentionmight have been to address the

fate thousands of women across Great Britain suffered during thewarwith France;

thereweredoubtlesslycountlessdomestictragediesliketheoneportrayedinthepo-

emhappeningthroughoutthecountry.Asmentionedabove,thedesperationexpressed

in the textmightalsobesomewhatautobiographical.Thispoemcanberead tooffer

comforttothoseaffectedbythewarthroughpersonal loss;themessagethatthereis

stillafuturefortheyoungergeneration,andthatalovinghomeismuchmorevaluable

thanalltherichesintheworldmighthavethepowertoliftone'sspirit.It isthusun-

derstandablethatRobinsondoesnotbreakwithtraditionandproprietytoletherwid-

owventureout intothevalleyinordertowatchoutforshipstogetherwithher little

son.

3.2."TheIndifferentShepherdesstoColin"(AnnYearsley)


IthasbeenmentionedinthechapteronRomanticfemaleauthors'lifeconditionsthat

writersoriginatingfromtheworkingclasswereoftenassociatedwiththeirprofession;

itwasthesameforAnnYearsley,whosealiaswas"TheMilkwomanofClifton"(Curran,

AlteredI197).MentoredbyHannahMoreandElizabethMontagu,shecanbecalled"an

exampleof theproletariangenius" (197).While shehadnoaccess to comprehensive

education,she, inherrelativelysimple language,possiblycopiesthe 'real languageof

men'moreaccuratelythanhermalecolleagueswhoreceivedhigherschooling;Curran

noticesthateventracesofafemaleversionofRomanticironycanbefoundinsomeof

herpoems(198).Bornin1752,shestartedpublishingpoetryinherthirtieswhileal-

readyamotherofsix.Untilherdeathin1806,shepublishedseveralvolumesofpoems

aswell asanovel andaplay, evenafter fallingoutwithMoreover financialmatters

(PoetryFoundationYearsley).

61


Thispoemwaschosenbecauseofitspastoralaspects;themaincharacterisashepherd

-afemaleone,curiously-andthewholepoemtakesplaceinarelativelyremotenatu-

ralsetting.Anotherinterestingaspectconcerningthispoemistheratherfiercefemale

characterwhose perspective it takes. Again, there is notmuch of a plot to be found

withinthe56linesthatmakeupthistextasit isessentiallyamonologueheldbythe

shepherdess,whotellshersuitorColinthatshedoesnotwanttohaveanythingtodo

with him. The poem consists of seven stanzas of eight lines each with an alternate

rhyme, and its rhythmmostly follows an iambic trimeter. Every stanza ends on the

word liberty,which immediatelyconveys thepoem's theme - theyoungwomandoes

notwanttoloseherindependencebygettinginvolvedwitha"Aswainsodullasthee"

(46).

Theshepherdess, thus,usessevenstanzas toexplain toColin thatshedoesnotwant

him to linger,butwouldpreferhim to leaveheralone.Whiledoingso, shegivesnu-

merous spatial clues, mostly concerning their surroundings, and while they seem

scarceatfirstglance,theydoprovideadescriptionoftheconversation'ssetting.

Inthefirststanza,theprotagonisttellsColinto"Gohome"(7),whichtellsthereader

thatColinsoughtherout inherownspace,whichwillbedescribedmorethoroughly

later inthepoem. Inthethirdstanza, theshepherdessproclaimsthatsheoftenplays

musicwhilesitting"onthemountain'sbrow"(19).She,thus,isacreatureofthemoun-

tains;herhomeisnotonlyasoftgreenplainorarollinghill,butalsoaharsherplace.

Thismakeshercharacterseemsomewhatfierceandfitsthedeterminedbehaviourshe

putsonwhiledealingwithherunwantedsuitor.Thefifthstanzagivesthemostexplicit

spatialcluesandshallthereforebequotedinitsentirety.

Yonwoodstheirfoliagewear,Bethoughawayornigh;ThewarblersoftheyearInstructmenottosigh:Mytearsne'errollthesteep,Norswelltherestlesssea,ExceptforthosewhosleepBereftofliberty.(33-40)

62

Thisstanzaincludesthehintthattheshepherdesslivesnearaforest,andis,additional-

ly,almostmagicallylinkedtonature,assheclaimstounderstandwhattheinsectsare

tellingher.This isnotnecessarily tobe taken literally,but ithintsathowstrongher

relationshipwith nature is. Thementioned "steep" (37) reinforces the setting as the

topof(oratleaston)amountainthatColinmusthaveclimbedtotalktotheshepherd-

ess,anditistobeassumedthatsaidmountaincannotbefarawayfromtheseaorsome

othersourceofwaterassheclaimsthathertearswillnotaffectthesealevelasColin's

losscaneasilybeendured.

Thelaststanzaestablishesagainthattheshepherdessenjoysto"strayo'errocksand

fields/Wherenativebeautiesshine"(49-50),andagainsheassuresColinthatshewill

indeednotcomewithhim,butstaywithinher"nativegrove"(55).Theexpressionthat

thosewoodsmightbe"native"(55)tohergivetheshepherdessavirtuallymythologi-

cal quality; she appears almost like adryad, lookingdownonto the sillymortalwho

thinkshecouldwinherbutwhoissoclearly"unworthy"(22).Butbeforetakingaclos-

er lookata femalecharacter roaminga classicalmale space, the space itself shallbe

analysed.



Throughoutthepoem,thecharactersdonotseemtomove,butremainwithinthesame

setting,which is themountainous areawhere the shepherdess guardsher sheep.No

nameisgiven,whichmeansthatthemountaincouldbeentirelyfictional,butthatdoes

notchangethecircumstancethattheworldpresentedkeepstothelawsofnature.No

magic or other supernatural elements are presented in the poem; indeed, the most

magicalelementistheshepherdessherself.Nothingimplicatesthattheeventsarenot

happeningwithin the fictional reality; they do not seem to be taking placewithin a

dreamoranyothernon-factualspace.Thepoemistoldfromtheshepherdess'perspec-

tiveandthusconstitutesacaseofinternalfocalization,asthepersonspeakingandsee-

ingareidentical.

63


The spatialdescriptionwithin thispoem isbareandminimalwhencompared to the

elaboratepassagesfeaturedinMaryRobinson'spoem.Aphrasesuchas"onthemoun-

tain'sbrow"(11)isenoughtoestablishthesetting,butthispoem,despitedealingwith

apastoral theme,wasnot created togiveverbosedescriptions.Thus, there ishardly

anysensualintegrationwheneverspatialelementsarebeingreferredto.Themention

of"Thewarblersoftheyear"(35)mightaddanauralstimulustothepoemastheread-

er can imagine the fliesbuzzing, and the seaalsowakesassociationsof the soundof

waves.Apartfromthefewnaturalsoundsthatarementioned,thereisalsothemusic

theshepherdessplayswhenshe"turned"her"lyre"(20).However,nootherverbsor

adjectivesexplicitlyintroducesoundstodescribethelandscapesurroundingtheshep-

herdessandColin.


Asalreadyhintedabove,onecannotspeakofachangeofsettingswithinthispoem.The

top of themountain is and remains the primary frame for the duration of the shep-

herdess' soliloquy; other places, such as Colin's home, the fields, or the sea, are also

mentioned,butdonotevolveintosettingsatalaterpoint.Thesetting,thus,isofcourse

a framethat isaccessibletobothcharacters; themountain is theshepherdess'home,

and Colin is also, for the time being, able tomovewithin this frame. He does seem,

however,tostraintheshepherdess'patience,sohemightnotbeallowedtoreturnin

thefuture,whichwouldmakethemountainaninaccessibleframetohim.Also,itisto

beassumedthatreachingthetopofthemountainmightconstituteaneffortforColin,

whichwouldmeanthathisownhomeisnotaneasilyaccessiblesecondaryframe,but

possiblyone that is spatiallydistanced from the setting.Hishome, even thoughonly

mentionedonce,canalsoberegardedasaframe.BothcharacterscouldaccessColin's

home,which ishisexplicitwish,expressedbywooing theshepherdess,but shedoes

notwant to access this space, expressingherdistaste for the "tyrantman" (31).The

"restlesssea" (38)seems tobenearenough thatspilled tearscouldpotentially influ-

enceitslevel,butsincethisphraseislikelyonlyametaphor,itshallnotberegardedas

aseparateframe.Theprotagonistalsomentionsthatshelikesto"strayo'errocksand

fields" (49), which constitute another accessible frame for both characters featured.

64

Whetherthephrase"nativegrove"(55)denotes"Yonwoods"(33) isnotclear,but it

mightverywellbe thecase.Thisgrove, then,constitutes theshepherdess'homeand

domesticspace,andwhileit isstillpartofthesamespatialcontinuum,toColin, itre-

mainsaninaccessibleframe,ashisbeloveddeclaresthatwithinit,shewillprotecther

freedom.

Just like inthepreviouspoem,theauthoronlyusesthe indicative inconnectionwith

the spaces she establishes; phrases such as "Yonwoods their foliagewear" (33) are

statements about the actual state of their surroundings and thus believable, and not

collateral,information.However,unlikethepreviouslyanalysedpoem,theauthordoes

soinlittledetail;ithasalreadybeenmentionedthatthispoemisratherfrugalasfaras

spatial descriptions are concerned. Yearsley's decision not to elaborate on the sur-

roundings,butbuild thembyusingonlyminorand fewspatialclues, issurelyacon-

sciousone.Shedoesnotextensively indulge in the idyllic illusionof country life that

manyotherpoetsengageinwhenwritingpastoralpoems,andhermaincharacterdoes

notidlyspendhertimeloungingonsoftgrass(poets.org).Thebarenessofthespatial

description,however,doesnotaffectthepoem'soveralleffect;itisstillperfectlypossi-

bletoimaginethesituationtheshepherdessfindsherselfin.Thus,thepoemrelieson

theassociationsthereadermakesandtoanextentalsoonthepopularityofthegenre.

Theframescanonceagainberathereasilydividedintothecategories'public'and'pri-

vate';despitethefactthatthemountainmightbearatherremoteplace,itisstill,toa

degree,public.Anexceptiontothisistheshepherdess'"nativegrove"(55),whichisher

homeandthusnecessarilyaprivatespace,eventhoughitmightnotconventionallybe

thoughtofasadomesticsphere.Thissemi-publicnaturegoeshand inhandwith the

degree of openness of a frame; the shepherdessmight not like Colin and tell him to

leaveheralone,butthemountainouslandscapeitselfisapublicsphere,andshecannot

keephimfromcomingback.Shecan,however,tellhimtoleaveher"nativegrove"(55)

andthusclosethisspacetohim.Bywantinghertobehisloverorpossiblywife,Colin

openshisownprivatespacetoher,whichshe,however,doesnotaccept.Therefore,it

isactually thewoman in thispoemwhohasmorechoicesconcerningthe framesshe

canenterasshedenieshersuitoraccesstoherownprivatespacewhileColindoesnot

reciprocate thedenial.Whileneither the landscape itself norColin's homequalify as

65

uniquespaces,theshepherdess'"nativegrove"(55)couldfallintothiscategoryasliv-

ingoutofdoorsisnotcommonpractise,atleastnotforthemajorityofthepopulation.


UsingHoffmann'sthree-partspatialanalysismodelonthispoemleadstoaratherdis-

tinct result. Even though stanza five shows aspects of thegestimmter Raum with its

hintsatfloraandfauna,itcanbearguedthatthemountainis,actually,moreofanAk-

tionsraum thanoneof theothertwopossibilities.Thefact thattheshepherdess lives,

strays"o'errocksandfields"(49),andworksthereshowsthatshenecessarilyinteracts

withthespaceonapermanentbasis,whichthusqualifiesthespaceasanAktionsraum.

Thesameistrueforher"nativegrove"(55),atleastfromtheshepherdess'perspective;

itcannotbeanAktionsraumforColinasheisnotallowedtoenteratall.However,Colin

canstillinteractwiththelandscapeitselfashishiketofindtheshepherdessproves.


Despitethescarcityofspatialclues,itisstillpossibleforthereadertofollowthetopo-

graphicallevelofthepoem.Thesettingisthemountainousarea,whichisindicatedby

thefactthattheshepherdessenjoysspendinghertime"onthemountain'sbrow"(11).

Thisareaistheshepherdess'workplace,andtheforestwhereshelivesisalsopartof

that same spatial continuum. Since she calls her suitor a "swain" (46), it is to be as-

sumedthathelivesonafarm,possiblynottoofaroffthemountaingiventhefactthat

hehadtolayeyesupontheshepherdessatsomepointtofallinlovewithher.Thispo-

em,thus,featuresarelativelysmalltopography,consistingmainlyofthemountainous

settingthetalkbetweentheprotagoniststakesplacein.

Thechronotopiclevelofthepoemisquiteinterestingas,contrarilytothepreviouspo-

em, it is thewomanwhohasmore liberty inhermovements.Colin is forbiddenfrom

staying in the shepherdess' company (a restraint he could admittedly ignore); the

youngwomanisfreetoroamnature.Itisverylikelythatsheismoreacquaintedwith

the landscape thanhe is, though, so shecouldsimplywalkawayand losehim in the

wild, especially sinceColin does not seem to be exceedingly smart, judging from the

66

description the shepherdess bestows onto him throughout the poem. So while both

characterscanmovethroughoutthespatialcontinuum,itcanbearguedthattheshep-

herdess is the characterwith the greatermobility due to her familiaritywithnature

andthefactthatColinwouldhaveherashisloverandwould,asaconsequence,likely

bewillingtotakehertohisownhome.Colinisalsoveryrestrictedintermsofthedi-

rectionshecango;hecanvisittheshepherdessinthewild,whereheisnotwanted,or

hecangohome.Heisnotallowedtoenterherprivatequarters,whichgiveshimlittle

choices as towhere to go. The shepherdess, however, enjoys hiking "o'er rocks and

fields"(49),andduetoherprofessionandheressentialfreedom,shecangowherever

shewants.Thispoem,thus,paintsaquiteunusualpictureofthepowermenandwom-

enholdovertheirrespectivespaces.

Again,thereisnotmuchtobesaidaboutthecreationofthefeaturedspacesonatextu-

allevel.Therearesolittlespatialcluesthatinvestigatingthetemporalitytheyaresub-

jected to does not prove to be very fruitful; after all, the phrase "on themountain's

brow"(19)onlygivesasinglespatialclue,andisthusnotexplicitlysubjecttoanytem-

porality.Thereareonlytwoinstancesinwhichthereismorethanonespatialcluein-

troducedatatime.Thefirstis"Yonwoodstheirfoliagewear/Bethoughawayornigh

/Thewarblersoftheyear"(33-35), ifonewantstocountthehintattheinsectsasa

spatialdetail.Thisisnotunreasonableasanimalsmovingwithinacertainspaceinflu-

encethisspace;inthiscase,theinsectscontributetothesetting'sambientnoise.Inthis

passage, the focusmoves fromthe forest, thebiggerobject, to thewarblers,andthus

from themore spatially relevant to the smaller entitieswithin the setting.Theother

passage combining twodescriptiveelements is thealreadyoften-quoted line "I stray

o'er rocks and fields" (49).With this line, it could either be the case that the focus

changesfromthesmallertothebiggeritem,orfromthe(possibly)rock-strewntopof

the mountain to the flat fields at its base, thus mirroring a descending movement.

While both readings are reasonable, they also both reassure the impression that, in

fact, the shepherdess is perfectly acquainted with her surroundings and knows the

landscapewell;shedoesnotevenneedmanywordstoexpressit.Also,onemustnot

forget that, since both characters are situated within the talked-about scenery, few

deictic elements arenecessary tounderstand the spatialdimensions; itwould sound

peculiarfortheshepherdesstoconstantlyexplaintoherinterlocutorthesurroundings

67

theyareimmediatelyconfrontedwith.Themissingspatialdescriptions,thus,couldbe

absent for the simple reason that their presencewouldmake thepoem less realistic

andalsodeferthereader'sattentionawayfromthemoreinterestingmatter,whichis

Colinbeingrejected.


The title alone notably helps the reader to contextualise and navigate the poem; a

shepherdess is likely tobemetoutside, tending to theanimalsentrusted tohercare,

andheradvicetoColininline7to"gohome"furtherstrengthensthesuspicionthatthe

twocharactersaresituatedwithinherusualwhereabouts,nothis.Fromthefirststanza

onwards, onlyevery second stanza, that is the stanzas three, five, and seven, include

additional hints concerning the setting. These clues, however, only enrich the given

picture,astheydonotaddconflictinginformation.Thus,thepoemfollowsratherthe

map-thanthetour-approachinintroducingthespace,asthereaderdoesnotfollowthe

shepherdess throughnature, but rather experiences the landscape fromher point of

viewasshemerelytalksabout it,makingtheperspectiveaviewer-relativeone.Even

though the poem only features a handful of frugally sketched spaces without much

mentioningtherelationshipbetweenthosespaces,itiseasyenoughtofollowtheflow

of the textandextendone'smentalmap; thementionof fields towards theenddoes

notcompromise,butenlargetheimaginedspace.


Whatmakesthispoemsointerestingisthatittakesanarguablymalespace,uncivilised

nature,andmakesawomanitscustodian.Thesettingthroughoutthepoemisamale

space;femalespacesarementionedbyalludingtotherespectivehomesofthecharac-

ters. However, those homesmerely exist in conversation and are never actually ac-

cessed,and,inaddition,theshepherdess'homeisalsosituatedwithinthenaturalland-

scape,which is, as already stated, a public and thusmale space. Themale character,

however,doesnotseemtohaveanypowerwithinnature;theshepherdesshasmadeit

herownandwillnotleaveitinordertobecomeaslavetothe"tyrantman"(31),which,

giventheagethepoemwaswrittenin,musthavebeenratherharsh.

68

Littleresearchintoliteraryhistoryisnecessarytodiscoverthatthispoemisinessence

agenderswapfromtraditionalpastoralpoems.Inhispoem"ThePassionateShepherd

ToHisLove",ChristopherMarlowewritesabouta shepherdwooingayoungwoman

sometwocenturiesbeforeYearsleycomposedherencounterbetweentheshepherdess

and Colin. Not long after Marlowe, Sir Walter Raleigh composed his poem "The

Nymph'sReplytotheShepherd",whichcouldverywellhaveinspiredtheshepherdess'

replytoColin,asthenymphalsorejectshersuitorinRaleigh'spoem.Yearsley,howev-

er,writes the shepherd, theonewhousuallypursueswomen, tobe female, and thus

somewhat changes thepower relationswithinherpoem. Inhervehementdeclineof

Colin'saffections,theshepherdess'monologuecouldbecalledan"anti-pastoral"poem,

atermthathasalsobeenattributedtoRaleigh'spoem(poets.org).Yearsley'scharacter,

however,ismuchmoreexplicitinherdistasteforbeingwooed;whileRaleigh'snymph

declareshowallhisdeclarationsoflove"inmenomeanscanmove/Tocometothee

andbe thy love" (17-18), the shepherdess tellsColin to "Gohome" (7), callshis love

"foolish"(2)anda"mistake"(1)aswellasColinhimself"servile"and"vain"(21),and

theonlyemotionshehasforhimexceptforannoyanceispity.

Again,thespacesintroducedaremostlyusedassettingsand, inthecaseofthehome

andthesea,alsosymbolically.Likewise,onecanreadnaturetostandfortheuntamed

freedomthefemaleprotagonistvaluessomuch.Butinthispoem,thespaceseemstobe

somewhatmore contested than in thepreviousone.Themountainous settingwhere

thetwocharactersfindthemselvesismoretheshepherdess'spacethanColin's;notall

ofitisherhome-sheexplicitlymentionsher"nativegrove"(55),butsheisdefinitely

morefamiliarwithnaturethanhersuitoris,andthus,herpresenceonthemountainis

arguablymore justifiable thanhis. The shepherdess' living there and also thepower

shehasover the landscape, it canbeargued,doesnotmake the space inherently fe-

male;rather,onecouldsaythatshehasconqueredthespace,establishedherselfinit,

andisnoweagertodefendherstancewithinit.Thespatialsettinginthispoemisthus

notmerelyasetting,butalsothebattlegroundofawoman'sfightforherfreedomfrom

societalrulesandtheruleofmen.

Ithasalreadybeenstatedthatthereisnotmuchtoinvestigateabouthowthelanguage

69

ofthispoemestablishesitsspaces,butthatinitselfisinterestingaswell.Yearsleydoes

notneedanabundanceofwordstocontextualiseherwriting,anditisnotthepurpose

of thepoemtopaintvivid imageryof idyllic landscapes,but tounderlinewithonlya

fewlinesthefreedomandpowerthatcanbeassociatedwiththeyoungwomanfollow-

ingherownrules,workingonherownandnotlettingherselfbeswayedbyaman.

Givenhowthepoemisentirelysetoutofdoors,itcanbestatedthatthespatialfocusis

onmalespacesinthese56linesofverse.However,thisdoesnotatallmeanthatthe

poemsomehowisinaccordancewiththegenderedspatialsegregationthatisassumed

tohaveshapedlargepartsoftheRomanticsociety.Themalespaceinthispoemis,in-

deed,beingclaimedanddefendedbyawomanwhowantstokeepittoherself,anditis

therefore not wrong to claim that this space, although viewed as male, is being re-

brandedbyitsfemaleoccupantinhervigourtoremainfreeandunmarriedwithinit.

3.3."TheStar"(Jane&AnnTaylor)


While fewfemaleRomanticpoetsarewidelyreadnowadays, JaneTaylor"is theonly

womanpoetinEnglandduringtheRomanticperiodtohavebeenhonoredwithatwen-

tieth-century selection" (Curran, Altered I 192).With her ironic style ofwriting, one

couldcompareTaylortoJaneAusten;however,herviewsofsocietyweremuchmore

comprehensiveandrealisticasshewasnotunfamiliarwithhardwork(192-193).Both

intheeventsportrayedandthelanguageusedwithinherwritings,Taylorshowedher

talent forobserving thecommonpeople;Curranargues that "Taylor's capacity to re-

vealtheinnerlifeasathingis,itcouldbeasserted,unrivaledinEnglishliteraturebe-

foreDickens"(195).Bornin1783andthustheyoungestofthefeaturedfemaleRoman-

tics in this thesis, sheoftenco-wroteher textswithhersisterAnn,and the twopub-

lishedseveralvolumesofpoetrytogether.Taylordiedin1824(PoetryFoundationTay-

lor).

70


Therathersobertitleof thispoemwouldnothavethereaderassumethat itactually

provided the lyrics for the popular children's songTwinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. This

factmight be confusing and elicit the valid question about itsworthwhen analysing

gender and spacewithin Romantic poetry. The poem, however, does give hints con-

cerning this topic, and should thereforenotbe excluded from this thesis; inspiring a

children'ssong,afterall,doesnotdiminishapoem'squality.

Thefirsttwoofthepoem'sfivestanzasarededicatedtoestablishingthewondrousob-

jectthatistheeponymousstar.Theauthorsadmitthattheyarenotfamiliarwithwhat

thestaractuallyis,andcontrasthis"littlelight"(7)tothesun.Onlyafterwards,instan-

za three, the reader learns the star's significance for the earthen population; nightly

travellerswouldbeunabletofindtheirwaywereitnotforthelightsourceinthenight

sky,andthenarratingpersonaadmitstoseeingthestarthroughtheircurtainsinstan-

zafour.Afterthisrevelation,stanzafiveonceagainfeaturesthe"trav'ller"(18)before

echoingthebeginningofthepoeminline19andfinallyendingthepoemwiththesame

fourwords it beganwith.While thisdescription appears rather short, and thepoem

itselfonlyconsistsoftwentyverses,oneshouldnotbemistakentothinkonecouldnot

learnsomethingaboutspaceandgenderfromit,asthisisdefinitelynotthecase.



Thepoemathandagainemploysonlyspacesthatcouldexistinreality,astheauthors

donotincludeanysupernaturalphenomena,eventhoughtothem,thestaritselfmight

appearsomewhatmagical.Therefore,eventhoughnohintsatrealplacesareincluded,

thepoem is realistic in its settings andplots. Thepoem's focus is on the star,which

constitutesaspecialcaseintermsofspatialanalysis,whichshallbeelaboratedonbe-

low.Theotherspaces,animprecisedomesticsettingandapublicspace,arelessdiffi-

culttocategorise.

71


Thispoem isexplicitly focusedon thevisualaspectofnature.Thespectatorsees the

star "twinkle" (1),andcompares it toadiamond(4)aswellas the"blazingsun" (5).

Thisthemecanbenoticedthroughouttheentirepoemasthetraveller"couldnotsee

whichwaytogo"(11)withoutthestar's lightwhich likesto"peep"(14)throughthe

spectator'swindow.Thestaritselfisalsoportrayedasaseeingentitythatnevercloses

itsownseeing"eye"(15).Eventhetraveller'sspace,"thedark"(9),ismerelycharacter-

isedbytheabsenceofvisuals.Whilethevisualcluesonfeaturedspacesarenotplenti-

ful,theyaretheonlycluesthereaderisgiven,astheothersensesarenotemployedat

all.Giventhefactthatthepoem'stopicisastar,thefocusonmetaphorsrelatedtothe

topicofvisionandlightarenotasurprisingchoiceofestablishingthespaces,however,

theutterabsenceofanyothersensesisstillslightlystunningasespeciallythedarkness

couldeasilybeattributed tobecoldor silent.Thus, stressing thesenseofvision isa

consciousdecision.

It is hard to assesswhether "the dark" (9) and the spectator's home are part of the

samespatialcontinuum,butifoneassumesthatheorsheseestravellerswalkingpast

throughtheirwindow,itmightverywellbe.Ifthatisthecase,andthespectatormerely

seesthetravellerpassingby,itcanalsobearguedthattheroomwiththecurtainsis,in

fact,theonlyrealsettingofthepoem.Itdoesn'tseem,however,asifeitherofthechar-

acterscouldleavetheirframeandcrosstheborderintotheotherframe.This,itcanbe

argued,couldverywellhavetodowiththecharacters'gender.Itshouldalsobeadded

that this insecurityaboutwhether the spectatoractively sees the travellerormerely

knowsabouthiswanderingbecauseof theirauthorialnaturemakes itdifficult tode-

terminewhich focalization defines this poem. However, since the narrating persona

seemstoknowthetraveller'spositionsowell, itcanbearguedthatthepoemconsti-

tutesacaseofzerofocalization.


Thispoemisparticularlyinterestingwhenlookingattheframesthatarefeaturedinit.

Themost important objectwithin this composition is of course the eponymous star,

whichexistswithinthe"deepbluesky"(13).Whatkindofframe,then,isthesky?Itis

72

ofcoursenecessarilyspatiallydistantfromthecurrentsetting,butitisalsoaninacces-

sibleframeandremainstobesoeveninthedayandageofspacetravel,whichmeans

thatitsstatusofbeinganinaccessibleframecannotbechangedwithoutinsertingele-

mentsofsciencefiction,whichmightprovebizarreinaRomanticpoem.Hence,thesky,

thoughalwaysvisibletothespeaker,remainsoutofreach.Thesecondspatialentityis

introduced bymentioning "the trav'ller in the dark" (9), who benefits from the star

sheddinglightontotheworldasotherwise"Hewouldnotseewhichwaytogo"(11).

Theseare,infact,allthespatialcluesthepoemprovideswithregardtothecharacterof

thetravellerandhispositioninspace.Therefore,sincethereislittleinformationgiven

todistinguishthetraveller'ssurroundings,his framecanbecalledgeneralizedspace;

afterall, "thedark" (9) isa fairlyunspecific term. It canstillworkasasettingas the

readermightsimply imaginesomedark,anonymousstretchofroadwitha lonesome

wandererwalkingalong it. Interestingly, the travelleraswellas thesunarebothex-

plicitlymale,asthepronoun'he' isusedforboth.Whilepoliticalcorrectnesswasun-

heardoftwocenturiesago,onecanstillconcludethatthetravelleris,infact,male.The

thirdspacethatisfeaturedinthepoemisonlyminimallyintroduced,butthereisstill

some room to interpret this spatial clue. The verse "And often throughmy curtains

peep"(14)notonly featuresthepersonawhoseperspectivethepoemfollows, italso

establishesadomesticroomheorshemightlivein.Thisroomis,atleastforthespec-

tator, perfectly accessible, and it is somewhatmore specific than the "dark" (9) the

travellerwandersthrough,whichmakesitanadequatesettingforafewlines.

The poem in question is another text that does not devote an excessive amount of

words to establishing spatial relations. Furthermore, the way these spaces are de-

scribed followsaratherconventionalpattern;calling thesky"Upabovetheworldso

high" (3) is not exceedingly uncommon. Similarly, stating about the traveller in the

darkthatwithoutthestarsthat"Hecouldnotseewhichwaytogo"(11)doesnotspeak

of stunningly creative choices. Surely, one can always argue that making new and

ground-breakingstylisticadvancesisnotwhattheauthorsaimedatwhenwritingthis

poem,andthat isnothingtheyshouldbeblamedfor.Butsincethisthesisaimsatex-

ploringthespatialdimensionswithinpoems,itisstillnoteworthythatthetextathand

isnotfocusedonelaboratelyestablishingitssettings.

73

Whendeterminingtheframes'propertiesmoreclosely,theskyisprobablynegligible;

after all, it seems futile to designate it a public space when it is inaccessible, even

thoughonlookersallaroundtheworldcanstillseeit.Therefore,onlythedarknessthe

travellerwanders throughand the spectator's livingquarters are relevant in this re-

gard."Thedark"(9),whichhaspreviouslybeencharacterisedasgeneralisedspace,can

becalledimpersonalasitisontheonehandsocompletelywithoutspecificity,andon

the other hand does permit the people wandering through it to remain somewhat

anonymousduetothelackofsight.Similarly,itcanbecalledconventional,asthereis

nothing unique about darkness itself. Furthermore, as it is a space out of doors that

(some)charactersmaywanderfreely,classifyingittobeapublicspaceisalsoreason-

able.However, the degree towhich it is public is not absolute; the traveller ismen-

tionedtobemale,whichmeansthatforwomen,thisspacemightnotbeappropriate.

Whencomparingthesethreecharacteristics-impersonal,conventional,public-tothe

secondaccessiblespaceathand,itbecomesclearthattheprivatequartersmentioned

inline14differsubstantiallyfrom"thedark"(9).Itisofcourseapersonalframe;"my

curtains" (14) isadistincthintat the fact that thenarratingpersonaowns the room

they are situated in. The privacy characterising such a space has already beenmen-

tioned,anditcanfurthermorebeaddedthattheframeisusedinaconventionalman-

nersincethereisnothinguniqueaboutlookingoutofawindow.Asstatedabove,the

framesareclosedtowardsthecharacterintheotherframe;thetravellerisnotableto

entertheprivaterooms,andneitheristhespectatorabletogooutside,possiblydueto

theirgender.


Despitethefactthat itcannotbeaccessed,onecouldargueforthenightskytobean

Anschauungsraum;itissituatedatasignificantdistancefromthenarratingentityand

inspiresawe.However,as it cannotbeaccessed,onlymarvelledat, it isquestionable

whetheritcanbesuccessfullyintegratedintoHoffmann'smodelatall.Theremaining

frames,however,canbeeasily identifiedasAktionsräume asbothcharacters interact

withthembyeitherwalkingorseeingthestarthroughthecurtains.

74


Thepoem'stopographicallevelisnoteasilyreconstructed;theonlyaspectthatisdefi-

nite is the fact thatbothcharactersareabletoglimpsethestar fromtheirrespective

positions.Whethertheunspecificdarkandthespectator'sroomareinanyrelationto

oneanothercannotbereconstructedfromreadingthepoem.Thepoem'stopographyis

thusnotonlyveryrestrictedintermsoffeaturedspaces,butalsounclearaboutwheth-

er those spaces are evenpartof the same spatial continuum. It canbe assumed that

they are, as the narrating persona knows about the nightly traveller; however, they

might just aswell bedistant fromone another.Hence, nodefinite descriptionof the

poem'stopographycanbegiven.

Again,thechronotopiclevelprovestocontainmoreexcitementthanthetopographical

one.Itisinterestingtoseethatoncemore,itisthemalecharacterthatmovesthrough-

outhisspace,whiletheother,potentiallyfemale(asshallbediscussedlateron)charac-

ter, isagainatrest inherframe.Whilethetravellercanfreelywalkdownthenightly

street,thenarratingentity,regardlessoftheirgender,tellsthereaderthatthosetravel-

lingthestreetsatnightaremale.Ithasbeenmentionedabovethattravellingwasdan-

gerousforwomen,atleastwhentheywerealone;thesameisapparentlynottruefor

men.Hence,thepowerdominatingthespatialrelationsinthispoemcanonceagainbe

claimedtobethepredominantsystemfavouringmen,asonlywomenarerestrictedin

theirfreedom.

Onatextuallevel,thepoemdoesnotprovideamultitudeofspatialclues.Itcanthusbe

arguedthattheauthorsmostlyrelyonthereadertobringtheirownassociationstothe

poem; travelling in "the dark" (9), as mentioned before, can be pictured in various

ways, and the reference to "curtains" (14) is enough to make a reader imagine the

roomthosecurtainscouldpotentiallybehangingin.Assaidbefore,theTaylorsisters

devotemanymorelinestodescribingtheeponymousstar,whichisspecifiedbyusing

bothmetaphorsandadjectives.Itwouldbefutiletolookforatemporalityinthespatial

descriptions;thetraveller'sspaceiscalled"thedark"inline9beforebeingmadehard-

lymorespecificbyaddingthathe"couldnotseewhichwaytogo"(11)if itwerenot

forthestar,whichismerelyawayofphrasingthestateofdarknessdifferently.Hence,

whatZorancallsthepoem'stextuallevelisnotexceedinglynoteworthy.

75


WhenconsideringRyan'sremarksaboutmentalmaps,thispoem'sunspecifictopogra-

phyisonceagainnoticeable.Ifonehadtochoosebetweenthemapandtourcategories,

thispoemwouldbeclaimedtofollowthesystemofthemap.However,sincethespaces

arenotput inanyrelationtooneanother,callingitamapwouldbeanexaggeration.

Again,thedescriptionisgiveninviewer-relativeway;however,thissolutiondoesnot

fit the poem perfectly due to the fact that the spectatormight only know about the

travellerandnotbeabletodirectlyviewhimfromtheirwindow,inwhichcasetheab-

solute scenariowouldbemore fitting todescribe theperspective.However, sinceno

cardinaldirectionsare included inthedescription,whichRyanexplicitlynotes inher

definitionoftheabsoluteperspective(222),itcanbearguedthat,ifthepoemneedsto

befittedintooneofthethreecategories,itshouldbetheviewer-relativeperspective.


Thispoem, interestingly, again seems toperfectlyportray thedivisionof spaces into

femaleanddomestic,andmaleandpublic.Thetravellerisexplicitlycalleda'he';after

all,travellingaloneatnightisnothingawomancoulddointheRomanticperioddueto

reasonsofproprietyandsafety(seeabove).Thetraveller'sonlyconcernisthelackof

light,whichisconvenientlysolvedbytheeponymousstar.

Thenarratingpersona,whoseemstoremainindoorsassuggestedbythemseeingthe

lightblinkingthroughtheircurtains, isnotexplicitlygendered.Nevertheless,thesug-

gestion of a female spectator is reasonable; not necessarily because of the authors'

gender,butdue to theway thepoem frames thenarratingentity.Theirbehaviourof

stayingindoorsandseeingthestarmerelythroughagapintheircurtainsformsastark

contrasttothemaletravellerwhoisallowedtofreelyroamthecountryside.Assuming

forthespectatortobefemale,itcanbeargued,isthusalegitimatebelief.Anothercru-

cialaspectthatmustnotbeforgottenisthefactthatthispoemwaswrittenforthepur-

poseofbeingreadtochildren(PoetryFoundationTaylor).Thus, itwould likelyhave

beenreadbyamotherorotherfemalecaretaker,orinadomesticsetting,furthercon-

trastingthenightlytravellerwiththestargazingpersonawhoseperspectivethepoem

follows.

76

Firstandforemost,thepoemisconcernedwithadmiringnature,withthestarposing

asanalmostotherworldlyobjecttobeworshipped.However,italsopresentstheread-

erwith the dichotomy of gendered spaces, regardless of whether one considers the

narratingpersona tobe female, as the interiorof thehouse is still adomestic space.

These two spaces, however, seemonly to be featured in order to illustrate just how

muchthe twinklingstar influenceshuman lives;whetherone is travellingatnightor

only looking out of thewindow, it is universally visible, regardless of one's position.

Onecouldevenhypothesisethatthepoemisaimedatconsolingthosewhocannot,for

reasonsofpropriety,walkoutsideatnightandenjoystargazingbysayingthatthelit-

tlestarinquestioncanalsobeglimpsedfromone'sownroom,whichisplausibleifone

considerstheintendedaudience.Butnevertheless,theincorporatedframesareallpo-

sitioned in relation to thestar, thusproviding lessofa setting fora story thansitua-

tionsinwhichthestar'sbeautycanbeadmired.

Analysingthelanguageusedtocreatethespacesfeaturedinthispoemis,asmentioned

above,abriefendeavour.Thispoemworkswithminimaldescriptionsandreliesonthe

reader'sassociations to fill thegaps.The fact that thespatialdescriptions lackadjec-

tivesor similardescriptiveelementsdoesnotharm theoverall effectof thepoem.A

mentalimageofa"trav'llerinthedark"(9)mightimmediatelyincludeanemptyroad

inaruralarea,andideaofwhatthistravellercouldlooklike.Similarly,thementionof

curtainsmay inspire imagesofcomfortablesittingrooms,cosy,dimly litbedrooms,a

woman standing at awindow and looking up at the sky. Themost sophisticated de-

scription,usingforexampleacomparisontodeterminethemattermoreclearly,isthat

ofthestar.Theearthlyspacesarebycomparisonneglected,andtheyseeminsignificant

nexttothestar,whichreinforcestheeffectofthepoem-thatthehumanonlookercan-

notgraspthenatureoftheextra-terrestrialobjecttheyseeilluminatethenightsky.

Forthispoem,itisdifficulttodeterminewhetherthefocusisonmaleorfemalespaces,

asneitherseemtobeofgreat importance to theoverall text.While the travellerand

thus thedarkness arementioned twice, claiminga total of three lines, the (possibly)

femalecharacterisonlymentionedinoneline;however,sincethatcharacterisalsothe

narrator-focalizer, it could be argued that the whole poem is being narrated by

77

them/herwhilestandingatthewindow,lookingupatthestar.Inthatcase,thefemale

spacewouldbe thedominant one. Judgingbydefinite linesmentioningmale and fe-

malespaces,however,thepoemfocusesontheformer.

Theinterestingaspectofthispoem,however,isnotwhichsphereisthedominantone;

thepoemisnotevenexplicitly focussingonthosespheres, justmentioningthemina

fewlines.Whatmakesthispoemremarkableispreciselybecauseit isnotfocusedon

thehumancharacters,thebriefglimpseitdoesgiveofmaleandfemalespacescanbe

assumedtobegenuine.Thepoem,presentingamalewayfarerandapossible female

characterwithinadomesticsetting,thusadherestotheexpectedgendersegregationof

the lateeighteenthandearlynineteenthcentury. It is thereforearatherconservative

poemas itpositionsthecharacters intheiranticipatedsurroundings.However, if the

characteradmiringthenightskyisindeedfemale,thefactthatshemarvelsatthemys-

teryofnatureprovidesadistinctlyRomantictonewhichisnormallyonlyreservedfor

maleauthors.

A crucial termwithin Romantic poetry, the sublime, which denotes "[n]ature at her

mostterrificandawe-inspiring"(Fay13),wasdeniedtothefemalepoetduetothefact

that"menwriterscontinuedtoportraywomenasincapableofrealthoughtorimagina-

tion" (14). Furthermore, itwasbelieved that this sublime stateof awe couldonlybe

achievedbyamalesubject'sconfrontationwithafemaleobject,whichthenwouldstir

emotionsinthewriter.Femaleauthorswerethusexcludedfromthishighestofexperi-

ences(13-14).Still,JaneandAnnTaylorwroteaboutthisfeelingofaweintheirpoem,

thewondertheyexperiencewhenlookingupatthenightsky.Thispoemisevidently

notequal inmastery to those textscreatedby theBigSixwhichare famous for their

engagement with the sublime, such asWordsworth's Prelude (13). I would argue it

doesnottrytobe,either;thepoembeingpublishedinabookofnurseryrhymessug-

gests the same.However, this simplepoemstillmanages to incorporate the awehu-

mansexperiencewhenconfrontedwith thevastnessofnature inawaythatchildren

canlikelyunderstand.

Withtheassumedaudienceofchildreninmind,itisnotsurprisingthatregardingthe

presentedgenderroles, thispoemisratherconservative,depictingthemaletraveller

78

tobeoutsideandapossibly female character inside.Asmentionedabove, thispoem

wasnotchosenforitsrichnessinspatialclues,butforitsalmostincidentaldepictionof

genderedspacesthatadherestotheideathatstillprevailsaboutgendersegregationin

thelateeighteenthandearlynineteenthcentury.

3.4."ToaLittleInvisibleBeingWhoisExpectedSoontoBecomeVisi-

ble"-AnnaLaetitiaBarbauld


AnnaLaetitiaBarbauldwasbornin1743(PoetryFoundationBarbauld);shewasone

of thoseRomantic authorswho lived long enough to be featured inVictorianpoetry

books as well (Curran, Altered I 188). Her involvement with the Bluestockings was

mentionedabove;asof1773,Barbauldpublishedmultipleeditionsofherfirstpoetry

volume,andshecontinuouslywrotethroughoutherlifeuntilherdeathin1825while

alsoworkingasateacher(187-189).Asanauthor,sheplayedwith"thedoubleidenti-

tyof'poet'and'woman',anidentitywhichinthe1790swasinevitablyfissured"(Cox

34).ThisdichotomyiscapturedbyCoxwhenshesaysthat"[a]sapoet,Barbauld[of-

fered]herselftoColeridgeasafellowpursuerof'eternaltruth';asawoman,she[was]

potentiallythetroubling'other'thatthepoet[had]torejectinordertoattainthatsame

truth"(34-35).Barbauldwasfurthermoreamongthosewomenwhoengagedincreat-

ingvisionarypoetics,which,asagenre,isusuallyascribedtohavelaindormantafter

MiltonuntilBlakecreatedhisownvisionarypoems(Watkins1-2).


Choosingthispoemmightbecontroversialduetothefocusonanentitythat isnota

spaceinthesenseofthosethathavebeenanalysedsofar:thefemalewomb.Thewom-

an's body, asmentioned in the theory chapter, becomes amicro space in this poem,

containingthechildtowhomthelinesareaddressed.Still,thisisanirresistibleoption

foragender-informedpaperonpoetryduetothefactthatthistopicissoexclusively

female,anditisinterestingtoseehowBarbauldcreatesthisseparatespaceinhabited

onlybytheunbornchild.

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Thispoemisdirectlyaddressedtoanunbornchild,andtheninestanzas,consistingof

four verses each, are meant to motivate the baby to hasten on its way to the 'real

world'. The speakerwonders howunsatisfactory thewait in thewombmust be and

goesontodescribethewondersofnaturethechildwillsoonbeabletoencounter.The

currentseasonseemstobespring,andthespeakeragainasksthechildtohurrysoit

canwitnessnature'sbeautyitself.Thepoemthenturnstodescribingthepreparations

thathavebeenmadesofarforthechild'sarrivalbeforethenfocussingonthemother.

Pregnancy isdescribedasaburdentoher,andbotheagerness tomeetherchildand

thewish tobe rid of thephysical strain areportrayed to be the causesof her impa-

tience. Then, the child is again addressed and asked tonot let itsmotherwaitmuch

longeraswellas temptedoncemorewith theprospectofbeingable toenjoynature

first-hand.Thelaststanzamentionsthatthespeakerwouldlovetobeabletodomagic

inordertohastenthechild'sbirth.



Inthispoem,asmentionedabove,thespeakeraddressesachildthathasnotyetbeen

born,statingthatitsmother,nurse,andmatronsareeagertomeetit,encouragingthe

childtohurry intotheworld.Thespeakeralsomentionsthe joysofnature inspring,

possiblythushopingtomotivatethe 'LittleInvisibleBeing'tomakehaste.Duetothe

fact that the narrating entity knows about the unborn child's situation aswell as its

mother'sstate,itcanbearguedthatagain,thispoemfeatureszerofocalization.

Twoverydifferenttypesofspacesarefeaturedinthispoem;thechild'simmediatesur-

roundingsformonesphere,theoutsideworldanother.Themother'srealitycanagain

bedividedintothedomesticsphereandnature,butforonce,itisnotthatcontrastthat

is thestarkestone inapoem; theonebetweenthewombandthemother'sreality is

evenmoredistinct.Thespacesfeaturedinthispoemarenotbasedonanyknownplac-

es,butstillrealistic inthesensethatnosupernaturalelementsarefeatured,whichis

alsoexplicitlystatedinthepoem;thespeakerwishesformagictoberealsothechild's

arrivalcouldbeprecipitated.

80


Concerningthesensesaddressedtoestablishthespacesfeaturedinthispoem,thereis

astarkcontrastbetweenhowthewombisdescribedcomparedtonature.Thewombis

referredtoasa"livingtomb"(20),asa"prison"(29),andthechildisdescribedtohave

practicallynosensorystimuli,tohaveits"Sensesfromobjectslocked"(6).Theneces-

saryprocessofgrowingisperceivedassomethingthe"littlecaptive"(29)needstobe

freedfrom.Pregnancyitselfisalsodescribedasatiresomeendeavour,asthespeaker

statesthatthepregnantmother"onlyaskstolayherburdendown"(17).Giventhepe-

riodthepoemwascreatedinandhowbothknowledgeaboutpregnanciesandmedical

carewerelimited, it ishardlysurprisingthatthemotherwantsnothingmorethanto

holdthechildin"hergladarms"(18).

Whilethewombisthusdescribedasanisolatedmicrospacewithintherealworld,the

characters'surroundingsarebuzzingwith lifeandactivity.Onceahumanhaspassed

"throughlife'smysteriousgate"(4),theyarebusytryingto"graspatalltheworldsthe

Almightywrought"(8);thereismuchtosee,asline9explains,andthe"genialseason's

warmth"(9)canbefelt.Thereareflowerstobeseen,and"Swarmsofnewlife"canbe

heard"exulting"(10).Stanzathreethuspaintsthepictureofamultisensoryworldthat

can be experienced through touching, seeing and hearing alike. If the child's current

stateiscomparedtolyinginacrypt,itisnotastonishingthatthespeakerwouldaskit

to"Launchonthelivingworld,andcometolight!"(30)Butalsothemoredomesticel-

ementsofthechild'sfuturesurroundingsarefilledwithsound,albeitamoresoothing

one;"thenursepreparesherlullingsongs"(13)towelcometheinfantintotheworld.

Thus,thedomesticsphereisnotportrayedtobeasvividandoverflowingwithlifeas

nature, but stillmore spirited than the apparent isolation the child currently experi-

ences.


Theframeanalysisforthispoemmightprovedifficultconcerningthemother'sreality;

however,oneframethatcanbedeterminedimmediatelyisthatofthewomb.These-

condframeisthenaturescenedescribedtohastenthechildonitsway;thequestionis,

though,ifthementionofthematron,nurse,andmotherareenoughtothinkofthemas

81

situatedintheirowndomestic frame.Iwouldarguethat includinganursepracticing

herlullabiesforanunbornchildkindlesmentalimagesofanursery,butthetextdoes

notexplicitlycreateadomesticspaceseparate fromthedelightsofnaturerecounted

previously.Themother'sreality, "the livingworld"(30),shall thusbeviewedascon-

sistingofonelargeframeasjuxtapositiontotheminiatureframeofthewomb.

Thewomb is a prime example for a closed frame; the only character that canmove

within it is theunbornchild,andonce thechildcrosses theborder into themother's

reality, it cannot return, either. Conversely, the extensive frame the child's family

moves within is not only the poem's setting, but it is also characterised by relative

freedom; there is nomention of any borders or restrictions the featured characters,

whoare, incidentally,allfemale,mustadhereto.Theonlyreasonwhythecharacters'

realityiscurrentlyclosedtothechildisbecauseithasyettogrowtobeviableonits

own.Whether the womb qualifies as an inaccessible frame to the setting's primary

frameisquestionable.Itistruethatthemotherisinfluencedbythechildinsofarthat

shemightfeelitsmovementsorexperiencecertainachesduetoherpregnancy,andthe

childmightinreturnwitnessmoreoftheoutsideworldthanthespeakermightthink

possible. However, remembering Ronen's definition of the inaccessible frame as one

"whichcannotbeenteredoraboutwhich information is inaccessible tocharacters in

another frame" (426), it is for theabove-mentioned reasons that thisdefinitiondoes

notentirely fit thespaceof thewomb. It is,however,neitherasecondary frame,nor

spatio-temporallydistant fromthesettingas it isamicrospacecontained ina larger

macrospacethatisdeterminedbybeingtemporarilyclosedbeforeallowingthechild

tomakethetransitionintothe"livingworld"(30).Thewombthusconstitutesarather

uniqueexample thatdoesnotneatly fit intoanyof the framecategoriesprovidedby

Ronen.However,thedescriptionthatitisatemporarilyclosedframethat,attheright

time,allowsasingleone-sidedcrossingofathreshold,shallsufficeforthepurposeat

hand.Comparedtothisratherspecificspaceofthewomb,thespaceinhabitedbythe

remainingcharactersappearstoberathergeneric;oneisalmosttemptedtoapplythe

termgeneralizedspacetoit.However,thespaceisdescribedintermsoftheblooming

naturethrivingandthewomenpreparingforthebirth,whichsuggeststhatwhileitis

notaauniquesetting,somethoughthasbeengiventoestablishingthespatialdimen-

sion.

82

Thequestionwhethertheframesareopenorclosedhasalreadybeenanswered,and

the degree of accessibility has been determined aswell. Regarding the dichotomyof

personaland impersonal, itcanbearguedthat thewombisapersonalspacedespite

the fact that the unborn child does not really own anythingwithin it; still, it can be

claimedthatthis isoneof themostpersonalspaces imaginable.Theother frame, the

outsideworld,ismuchmoreimpersonal;whilethesettinghousesnotonlynature,but

also humans, there is nomention of specific places or objects that belong to either

mother,nurse,ormatrons.Furthermore,whilethewombissurelyararespacetooc-

cur inRomantic poetry, the frame cannot be called unique, as the process unfolding

withinitfollowsexactlythepurposeoftheorganinquestion.Thesameistrueforthe

mother'sreality;theactionshappeningwithinit-flowersblooming,womenpreparing

for thearrivalofanew-born-arenotuncommon,especiallysincethespacewasnot

determinedanyfurther,thusmakingthisframeconventionalaswell.

Asfarasthelanguagemodesusedinestablishingthespacesareconcerned,theindica-

tiveprevails.However,theimperativeisalsoused,asthecoupletpraisingthebeautiful

flowersbeginswith"Andsee"(9-10)andendswithanexclamationmark.Theimpera-

tiveisalsofeaturedinthelines"Haste,littlecaptive,burstthyprisondoors!"(29)and

"Launchonthelivingworld,andspringtolight!"(30),twolinesthatcontrasttheglum

imageofthechild'ssurroundingsandthealmostdivinebrightnesstobeencountered

inthemother'sreality.


FollowingHoffmann'sconceptofRaum, itcanbearguedthatgestimmterRaumdomi-

natesthepoem.Therestrictedspaceofthewombfitsthisdescriptionwellasthereis

nothing for thechild to interactwith,hencebothAnschauungsraum andAktionsraum

bothdonotapplytothespaceinquestion.Furthermore,whiletheaccountgivenabout

thechild'ssurroundings isratherbrief, it stillmanages tocreateadistinctemotional

attitude towards thewombby stressing its restrainingnature, comparing it tobeing

buriedalive(25).Theotherframe,however,seeminglypassesfromonecategoryinto

another.Stanzatwoandthreestressthedesirablenatureoftheoutsideworldbyde-

scribingitsmarvelstotheunbornchild,andonecouldalmostcallthisanAnschauung-

83

sort,wereitnotforthefactthatthechildcannotseeit;itcanstill,however,beanAn-

schauungsorttobothspeakerandreader.Stanzafour,however,focusesontheremain-

ingcharacters, elaboratingon theactions thewomenarepartaking in toprepare for

thechild'sarrivalwithinthespacethey'resituatedin.Thepenultimatestanzathenre-

turns todescribing thedelightfulnatureof theoutsideworld, but as it is this stanza

thatemploystwoimperativestore-establishthepositiveimageofthemother'sreality,

theaspectofactionisstillpresentlyfeatured,whichsuggeststhatthesettingremains

anAktionsraumfromstanzafouronwardsthroughouttherestofthepoem.


While the topographical level of this poem is rather unspecific, it does includewhat

Ronen calls a different "mode of existence" (316) by featuring an unborn child. The

child'sperspectiveisnevertaken,butgiventhefactthatisnotyetpartoftheoutside

world,only indirectly,byexisting insidethemicrospacethat is itsmother'sbody, its

"modeofexistence"(316)isdefinitelyadifferentonefromthoseoftheothercharac-

tersmentionedinthepoem.Asmentionedabove,thepoem'stopographyisvague;the

focusisontheunbornchildandthereforealsoitsmother,buttherearenodetailsgiv-

enabouttheirpositioninspace,potentialboundariesthecharactersarerestrictedby,

or other specific information. Creating a map of the world portrayed in this poem

wouldthusbeincrediblydifficult.

On the chronotopic level, similarly, little is happening as the poem is defined by the

anticipationof the child'sbirth.Thus,more rest thanmotion is featured; the child is

incapableof interactingwith its surroundings,hence thecomparison tobeingburied

alive,andthemother'sfatigueisalsoexplicitlystatedbytheline"Sheonlyaskstolay

herburdendown"(21).Itistruethatthenurseispreparingtocareforthechild,but

bothhersingingandthematron'swaitingseemtobestaticactionsaswell.Thereare

alsonoexplicit"directions,axes,powers"(Zoran318)atworkinthispoemexceptfor

thelawsofnature.Despitealltheimpatiencethatresonatesthroughthelines,nobody

canhastentheprocessofthechild'sgrowth,andallthewomencandoisbeprepared

andwait. However, the fact that only female charactersmake an appearance in this

poem(ifoneneglectsthesexlessunbornchild,andifthe"younglings"inline10does

84

notrefertopossiblyhumanchildren,whichseemsimplausibleincollocationwiththe

verb"shoot")isimportantwhenconsideringthepowersatworkwithinit.Notasingle

manisfeaturedinthispoem,whichmightbelinkedtoitstopic.Nevertheless,thispiece

ofwriting thus creates an all-femalenarrative about the about childbirth, and in the

spacepresented,allthepowerisheldbywomenastherearenomenpresenttopre-

sideoverthem.Thus,Barbauldcreatestheimageofafemalespaceinhabitedandruled

bywomen.

Eventhoughthetextuallevelnecessarilyanticipatesanincompletespatialdescription

(Zoran320),descriptiveelementsareexceptionallyrareinthispoem.Whatisinterest-

ing is that thewomb isalwayscompared torestrictivespaces,butneveractuallyde-

scribed.Itisofcourseimpossibletoknowwhattheinsideofabodylookslikewithout

havingaccesstotheaccordingtechnology,butBarbaulddoesnoteventrytofindalter-

nativeimages,andinsteadcontinuestoemploythemetaphorofbeingcaged.Another

curiousaspectisthattheauthorstartsheraccountontheoutsideworldwitharefer-

ence to thewarmthof theseason,whichmight in turnpromptassociationsof sunny

springlandscapes.Thedescription,then,movesupwards,fromthe"roses"towardsthe

"Swarmsofnewlifeexultingfilltheair"(9-10),beforereturningtothemorepressing

issue of the child's desired arrival. While nature as a desirable residence is re-

establishedinstanzaeight,therearefewdetailsgiven,andthespaceisdescribedina

holisticmanner bymentioning nature's "thousands inlets of delight" (31). However,

despitethefactthatBarbauldforgoestheuseofcontinuousdescriptionofthespaces

featuredinherpoem,shestillmanagestoconveythefundamentalideaofthepolarity

betweentheprison-likewombontheoneandtheparadisiacalworldcreatedbyGodon

theotherhand.


ThescarcityofspatialdescriptioninBarbauld'spoemhasalreadybeenelaboratedon

above.These clues, in addition, donot facilitate the creationof amentalmap in any

way; it isobvious that themother-to-bemustbesomewhere, and thepraisednatural

landscapemustbesurroundingherorotherwise fairlyclose,but therearenodetails

givenonherhousing,hersocial situationoranyother information thatcouldenable

85

thereadertodeviseaholisticimageofthepoem'sfictionalspace.Neitheratournora

map approach is adopted to familiarise the readerwith theworld presented; if any-

thing, the poem employs a leap-technique to jump from one of the two contrasted

spaces to theother.Thepoembeginswithanaccounton thechild's situationbefore

focusingonthemother'srealityinstanzathree;instanzafive,however,thechild's"liv-

ingtomb"(20)isdescribedagainbyusingthisexactphrase,onlytobefollowedbythe

suggestionthatthe"maternalbreast"(21)wouldprovideamuchmorepreferableloca-

tion for it.This switchingmotionbetween the twoseparate spaces is repeated twice

morebymovingfromthefactthatthechildisstill"unknown"(22)toitsmothertothe

desiretohaveit"BaskinthefondnessofaMother'seye!",andbyurgingthechildto

"burstthyprisondoors"(29)soitcan"springtolight"(30).Thus,thepoemjuxtaposes

thetwodifferentspaces,elaboratingonthemalternately.Onemightcalltheactofdo-

ingsoamapapproach,however,themapisneverexpandedbyadditionalinformation,

andthespatialrelationsdoneverbecomequiteclear;thus,neitherofthetwooptions

Ryansuggestsfunctionsflawlesslywhenappliedtothepoemathand.Itisalsodifficult

tocallthedescriptionsviewer-relative;itistruethatthespeakertalksaboutwhatthey

(or like she) see,but theyaremostly recounting it to the child,whocannot seeany-

thing.Still,thiscategoryisthemostfittingofthethreeoptionsgivenbyRyan(222).


Thispoemconstitutesaninterestingcaseconsideringthespatialdimensionsfeatured,

as it does not contain any explicitlymale spaces. One could argue that the pregnant

woman'srealitymustofcoursecontainmen,attheveryleastthechild'sfather,butif

thosemendosharethewoman'sspace,theyaresimplyomitted.Thenarratingpersona

is again without gender, and it would be speculative to read them as female, even

thoughone ismaybe inclined todosodue to thescenespresented in thepoem.Rai-

sanenarguesthat"Barbauldfashionsherselfasafemalemidwifewhocouldinfluence

theoutcomeofher friend’schildbirth" (111)and thus thinks that thenarrator is the

authorherself,asshewrotethispoemforafriendwhowaswithchildin1799(111).

The fictional world presented by Barbauld does contain men, as otherwise, there

wouldnotapregnancy;however,theconfinementillustratedinthispoemseemstobe

86

anall-femalezone.Raisanenlikewisecommentsthatthepoemisempoweringtowards

womenas itportrays thecontrol theyhaveover thewholeprocessofdeliveringand

caringforchildren(111);thefactthatlookingafterchildreninthelateeighteenthcen-

turyisalsomentionedbyFlather(Space349).Theotherspace,thewomb,isaquintes-

sentiallyfemalespherebecauseofitsuniquelocationwithinawoman'sbody.Asmen-

tionedabove,thepoemcontraststhesetwospaces,suggestingtotheunbornchildthat

theoutsideworldismuchmoreexcitingthanitscurrentsurroundings.Thus,theyare

employedtocelebratethebeautyofnatureandlife,brandingpregnancyasanecessary

evilonthewaytoearthlydelights. It isremarkablethatBarbauld'swordingsuggests

theprenatalprocessofgrowingtobetediousorrestrictiveforthechild,asifone'stime

inthewombwereaninconvenienceonehadtoendurebeforeenjoyingthepleasuresof

theworld.Thisviewmightbeattributabletocontemporaryviewsonpregnancy,butit

isstillinterestingthattheauthorwouldcomparetheprocessofachild'sgrowthtoly-

ing inagrave.Anyway,thetwoseparatespherespresentedinthispoemarenotem-

ployedassettingsforplottotakeplacein,buttoreinforcethepivotalmessageofthe

joyaboutnewlife.This,itshouldbeadded,isaveryoptimistictakeonpregnancy,giv-

enthedangeritpotentiallymeantforwomeninthelateeighteenthcentury(Raisanen

112).

As mentioned above, the way the two spaces are described are very different. The

mother'srealityisaspherethatischaracterisedbyitsbrightness;"warmth"(9)canbe

felt,theroses"glow"(10),andthechildisaskedto"springtolight"(30).Thecontrast

to the "tomb" (20) and "prison" (29) the child is currently located in could not be

starker.Thislanguageissupposedlyusedtoconveyacertainlife-affirmingattitudethe

author has; it seems implausible thatBarbauld is in anyway opposed to the idea of

pregnancyitself,whichwouldexplaintherathernegativelanguageusedindescribing

it.Again,it islikelythattheauthormightonlybereferringtopopularopinionsabout

sexual reproduction. Furthermore, the joy and anticipation thenarrator nurtures for

thechild,tellingitto"haste"(29)and"speed"(34)reinforcetheimpressionthatit is

mereimpatiencethatcausesthemtowishtheycouldusemagictoacceleratethepro-

cess.

87

Thispoemshowsadefinitefocusonfemalespacesaswellasfemaleissues.Pregnancy

istheprimeexampleoftopicsthatpracticallydemandafemaleauthortowriteabout

duetothefactthatonlywomencanexperienceit-onecanonlyimaginewhatapreg-

nancy poem created byWordsworth or Keats would sound like. By writing a poem

aboutsuchatypicallyfemaleissue,Barbauldgivesroomtothetopicwithintheliterary

discourse.Comparedtotheotherpoemsanalysedabove,thispoemistheonlyonethat

focusessolelyonfemalecharactersanddoesnotactivelyfeatureamanofanyage.The

possibly romantic dichotomy of man and woman is completely omitted from Bar-

bauld'stext;however,shestillmanagestoproduceajoyousandhopefulpoembyfea-

turinga lovethat isofamoredomesticnature: thatofamother forherchild. Inthis

sense,thepoemisnotexactlymodernorprogressiveasitpromotesthedomesticjoyof

motherhood. Poems about pregnancy had been written before Barbauld's, however,

she "opposes [the] hegemonicmedical discourses and recuperates female authority"

(Raisanen111)overthetopic inherpoem. Itcanstillbearguedthatwritingapoem

aboutpregnancyduringa timewhenwomenwereridiculedby famousmaleauthors

such asByronwho thought themunable of producingmeaningful thoughts (Fay12)

surelytakescourage.Anditisthiscourage,theboldnesstocreateartwhileaddressing

atopicimportanttoone'smarginalisedgroup,thatremainsimpressiveevencenturies

afterthepoemwasfirstpublished.

88

4.DiscussionandFindings

4.1.Discussion

WhilethereisamultitudeofRomanticpoetrycreatedbywomenthatwouldbehighly

interestingtoanalyse,thecorpusforthisthesiswasrestrictedtofourpoems.However,

theefforttointegratefourauthorsaswellaspoemswithverydifferentsubjectmatters

shouldjustifythisdecision.Thepoemsdiscussedfeaturethetopicsofloveandloss,the

desiretobefree,amazementatthemiraclesofnatureaswellaspregnancyandchild-

birth.Possiblyapartfromthelastone,thesetopicsdonotstrikethereaderas'typically

female'.Similarly,bothdifferentmaleandfemalespacesarefeaturedintheinvestigat-

edtexts,eventhoughthereisadefinitetendencyofthenaturalworldposingaspublic

spacestobenoticed;this,however,shouldnotcomeasasurpriseinthecontextofRo-

manticpoetry(Fay13).

Ofthefourpoemsdiscussed,twofeatureafairlydistinctdichotomybetweenmaleand

female spaceswithbothmenandwomenremainingwithin their respective spheres;

thewidowinRobinson'spoemspendshertimeindoors,waitingforherlosthusband,

whilehersonroamsthevalley,andthemalewandererintheTaylorsisters'poemcon-

tinueshiswaythroughthedarknesswhilethe(possibly)femalespectatoronlyseesthe

starthroughagapinthecurtains.Thetworemainingpoems,ontheotherhand,display

amoreexplicitfocusonwomen;theshepherdesssendsColinawaysoshecancontinue

her independent life on themountain in accordancewith nature, and thewomen in

Barbauld's poem are busywith the task of preparing for childbirthwithout a single

malecharacterdisturbingthem.Thus,theformertwopoemsfeaturenotonlybothsex-

es, but also the gender segregation onemight assume to encounterwithin literature

written at a timewhen such segregationwas common practice. Yearsley's and Bar-

bauld'spoems,however,showwomenasactiveandunapologeticcharacters;theshep-

herdess dismisses Colin eloquently and also quite rudely, her exasperation obvious,

andthewomeninthelastpoemsimplydowhathastobedoneindependentlyofany

mantellingthemso.Thislastpoint,whilenotsurprisingwithregardtothetopic,still

givesroomtoafemaleissueinapoemwhilesimultaneouslyportrayingwomenasin

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control.Thus,asfaraswomen'sportrayalintheanalysedpoemsisconcerned,itcanbe

arguedthatbothtraditionalandmoreprogressivegenderrolesaredisplayedbymak-

ingfemaleprotagonistsappearasbothpassiveaswellasactivecharacters.

Themaleandfemalespacesfeaturedinthesepoemsarenotalwaysusedasmereset-

tingsforthenarratedevents;whilethismightbethecaseinRobinson'spoem,itwould

beincorrecttoreducethehutandthevalleytomeresettingsastheyalsocelebratethe

joyoffamilialloveandthepossiblybrightfuturefortheyoungboy.InYearsley'stext

about the shepherdess and Colin, the untamed nature the young woman surrounds

herselfwithisasymbolofherownfreedomwhichshallnotbetakenfromher;bybe-

comingawife,shewouldhavetomoveintoColin'shouseandthussimultaneouslylose

nature and freedom. The setting thereforemirrors her character and represents the

libertythat isstillherownasanunmarriedwoman.It isdebatablewhether itwould

havebeenproperforayoungwomantobeashepherdessandlivealoneonamoun-

tain,however,asmentionedabove,thispoemdrawsonintertextualrelations, includ-

ingapoemfeaturinganymph,whichcouldexplain theuntamednatureofYearsley's

shepherdess-shemightactuallybemoreofamagicalcreaturethanawoman.TheStar

isapoemthatissofocusedontheeponymousorbthatthefeaturedspacesprimarily

function to illustrate the star's ubiquitous light, showing how both men wandering

throughthedarkandthoseremainingindoorscanenjoyitsglow.Thus,thepoemstill

presentsmaleandfemalespaces,usingthemascontrasts,butultimately,itisthestar

that is the focusof the text,notgendersegregation.The lastpoemalsouses the fea-

turedspacesascontrasts,butinthiscase,itistocelebratethejoyofnewlifeversusthe

tediouswaitforthebirthtohappen.Thispoem,asmentionedabove,doesnotfeature

anymalecharacters,andthusitwouldbedifficulttotalkaboutmalespacesinthisre-

spect,butacertainfemaledominancecannotbedenied.Itcanthusbeconcludedthat

thepoemsinvestigatedinthisthesisdonotmerelyfeaturedifferentspacesinorderto

provideasetting for theeventsportrayed; theyareemployedto furthercharacterise

protagonists,symbolisefreedomordomesticlove,aswellasactingasfoilforthetopic

atthepoem'score.

Therefore, it canbesaid thatspacesare included to fulfildifferentpurposes,andare

notmerelyfeaturedasbackgrounds;thiscanalsobeillustratedbylookingathowoften

90

Aktionsräumearefeaturedwithinthesepoems,suggestingthatthecharacterspurpose-

fully interactwiththeirsurroundings.Bothmaleand femalespacesserveassettings,

butevenifmalespacesareportrayedasinaccessibletofemalecharacters,thesechar-

actersdonotseemtodreamaboutleavingtheirownspheres.ThewidowinRobinson's

poemyearns forherhusband's return, butnot for freedom, and the stargazer in the

Taylorsisters'composition ismorefocusedonhercuriosityaboutthenightskythan

onthepossibilityofgoingoutsideatnight.TheshepherdessinYearsley'spoemismore

concernedwithkeepingherspacetoherselfthanmakingatransitionintootherspaces,

and thewomen in Barbauld's poem are also preoccupiedwithwhat is happening in

theirsphereatthemoment.Thus,inthefourpoemsanalysedabove,femalecharacters

are not portrayed as unhappy with their positions as women within their fictional

world;noneofthepoemsfeaturesawomanyearningthetrespassupondistinctlymale

spaces.Therefore,ifapoemfeaturesanexplicitlymalespace,itisalmostalwayssolely

inhabitedbyamalecharacter,withtheexceptionoftheshepherdess'mountain,which

is a rather complicated spaceas it simultaneously is a landscapeandalso someone's

home.Insummaryitcanbeclaimed,therefore, thatbothmaleandfemalespacesare

employed to fulfil various purposes, and that this variety can even be encountered

within a canon as small as the one chosen for this thesis. It can consequently be as-

sumed that the fictional spaces included inwomen'sRomantic poetry in general are

featuredindifferent,meaningfulways,anddonotsimplyprovideabackgroundforthe

action.Furthermore,thewomenpoetsdonotseemtospecificallyexploremalespaces

inorder to theoriseaboutwhat itmustbe like tobeaman ina society that favours

men.Conversely,thefocusseemstobemostlyonfemalespaces,withthepoetsexplor-

ingthosespheresforthepotentialtheyhave,justlikeCurransuggested(AlteredI190).

Thediversitythatappliestotheuseoffictionalspaceswithinpoemswrittenbyfemale

authorsislikewisenoticeableintheextenttowhichspacesaredescribed.WhileRob-

insoncarefullyconstructsatmosphericimagesbyappealingtothevarioussenses,the

Taylorsistersallbutneglecttheearthenspacesbydedicatingmorelinestotheirmar-

vel at the featuredstar.Yearsleyalso refrains from including lengthypassagesabout

thelandscapetheshepherdessinhabits;minimaldescriptionsandreferencestoobjects

areallthecluesthereaderispresentedwith.Barbauld'sdescriptionsstronglybuildon

thedichotomyoflightanddarkness,butarelikewiseunspecific.ApartfromRobinson,

91

thewritersdonotseemtodeemitimportanttodedicateagreatmanylinestoworld

building;however,thereadercanstillcomprehendthespatialcircumstancesencoun-

teredintheirpoems.Thus,theauthorsvaryinhowpresentlytheyfeaturespatialcon-

ditionswithintheirpoetry.

However,allfourpoemsusetheirspatialdescriptionstoreinforcethetopicpresented;

thereisnoironicuseofinaccessiblespacesorexplicitcriticismaboutgendersegrega-

tiontobefoundinanyofthefourtexts,andtheyalsolackexplicitprotestagainstgen-

derroles.Thepoemthatmightbe themostpolitical isBarbauld'spositivestatement

aboutpregnancyandbirthasitcouldpossiblyimprovethereader'sopinionoftheis-

sue.This,however,doesnotmeanthatnoneofthefeaturedauthorswerenotpolitical

beings;therearepoemscreatedbythemthatexplicitlyaddresswomen'soppression.

Barbauld's poemThe Rights ofWomen is only one example for a passionate protest

against the discriminationwomen experienced on a daily basis. Nevertheless, itwas

not thepurposeof thepresentanalysis to investigateexplicitlypoliticalwritings,but

thosewhich implicitly reveal details aboutwomen's position in society. Political Ro-

manticpoemscreatedbywomen,suchasJanuary1795byMaryRobinsonortheafore-

mentioned pre-feminist statement by Anna Barbauld, however, are thrilling and im-

portantenoughtodeservetheirownin-depthanalysis.

Thequestionwhethertheinvestigatedpoemsshowadefinitefocusoneithermaleor

female spaces is not as easily answered as onewould like. Robinson's poem spends

moretimewithbothamalecharacterandhisloveofnaturethanwiththeeponymous

widow,thusfocusingmoreonthemalespacewhileatthesametimepraisingthedo-

mesticityof thewidow'shome.Whileboth spheres are thus featuredas important, I

wouldargue thatdue to the fact thatmorestanzasareconcernedwith following the

littleboy, thepoeminquestion is focusedonmalespacesmorethanon femaleones.

Yearsley'saccountoftheindifferentshepherdess,however,isnotaseasilycategorised;

whilepublicspacescanbeconsideredtobemalespaces,thefemaleprotagonistinthis

poemhasmade ahomeof nature anddefends it - andher freedom - fromhermale

suitor,tellinghimtoleave.Thus,itisdifficulttodeterminehowthisspaceisgendered,

andargumentscanbemadeforbothoptions.However,ultimately,Iwouldclaimthat

thisspaceistobeviewedasfemalebecauseawomanwhohaspoweroveritinhabitsit.

92

ThepoembyJaneandAnnTaylordevoteslittleroomtobothmaleandfemalespaces,

butbecausethetravellerisultimatelymoreoftenfeaturedthanthestar-gazingcharac-

terpeekingthroughtheir(her?)curtains,thispoemshallbeconsideredasfocusing,if

barelyso,onmalespaces.Barbauld'spoem,conversely,clearlyembracesthetopicof

childbirthandthusafemaleissue.Asstatedabove,takingcareofchildrenwasconsid-

eredawoman's jobinthelateeighteenthandearlynineteenthcentury,whichmakes

men'sabsencefromthepoemplausible.Thefactthatthewomeninthepoemarebusy

preparing for the child'sbirth also suggests adomestic setting, even though it isnot

explicitlystated.Therefore,Barbauld'scompositioncanbeclaimedtofocusonfemale

spaces, also because it concerns itselfwith one of the arguablymost female entities

possible-thewomb.

Thus,twoofthefourinvestigatedpoemscanbedescribedtofocusmoreonmalethan

onfemalespaces,whiletheremainingtwofeatureonlyfemalespaces.Itcantherefore

besaidthattheanalysedpoemsasawholefocusmoreonfemalethanonmalespaces;

not a single text omits the female sphere thewayBarbauld's excludes themaleper-

spective.Thepreviouslyheld (andpossiblysomewhatnaive)assumption that female

authorsmightfocustheirpoemsonmalespacesisthusnegatedforthepresentcanon;

itseemsthatintheirchoiceoftopics,womensticktotheirownmilieu,assuggestedby

Curran(AlteredI189-190),possiblytogivetheirday-to-dayrealityavoice.

The questionwhether this small canon reveals enough common tendencies tomake

generalassumptionsaboutfemaleRomantics'writingmustclearlybenegated.Allpo-

emsfeaturethetopicofnature,whichis,assuggestedbyFay,acharacteristicthatcan

beattributedtoRomanticwritingingeneral(12-13).Itissimilarlytrueforallthein-

vestigatedpoemsthattheyincludefemalespaces,butitsimplycannotbegeneralised

fromthissmallasamplethatpoemsbyfemaleauthorsautomaticallyfocusonfemale

charactersandspacesaswell,asseeninRobinson'spoem.Itwouldbejustaswrongto

assumethatwomendidnotwritepoliticalpoemssimplybecausenonearecontained

withinthecanonusedforthisproject.Womencreatedthousandsofpoemsduringthe

Romantic decades, and amuch larger corpuswould be needed tomake any general

assumptionsabouttheirart.However,thisanalysisofthevariouswaysfemalewriters

integrated the categoryof space into theirpoems illustrates, evenbyusinga sample

93

thissmall,thatamultitudeofinterestingpoetryexiststhathasyettoberecognisedfor

itsliterarypotential.

4.2.Conclusion

While several publications celebrated female Romantic writers during the past few

decades, thesepoetsarestillnot included inwhat isconsideredtheRomanticcanon.

However,thesewomenoccupyanalternative, lessprivilegedperspectiveontheperi-

od,battlingridiculefromtheirmalecolleaguesaswellasthehardshipsoftryingtoes-

tablishacareerinadeeplypatriarchalsociety,andcouldthusenrichourunderstand-

ingoftheRomanticeraimmensely.Untilthisday,littleliteraturedealingwiththepo-

emsincludedinthisthesisexists,which isoneof thereasonswhytheywerechosen.

Boththesepoemsandtheircreatorsdeservetoberememberedandread,justliketheir

malecolleagues.

Asimilarlylittle-researchedissueisthatofasatisfactorytheorytoanalysespatialdi-

mensionsinfiction,particularlyinnarrativepoems.Thechecklistemployedinorderto

analysethepoemsprovedtobeuseful,butduringtheanalysisthelimitationscreated

bythefactthattheconceptshadnotbeendevelopedtoinvestigatepoetrywerenotice-

able.Thus,acomprehensive toolcreatedspecifically for theanalysisofpoetrywould

surelyprovidemorepreciseresults.Asmentionedabove,however,theanalysisofnar-

rativepoetryitselfstillneedssignificantadvancement,anditistobedoubtedwhether

spatialanalysiswouldbeapriorityinthiscontext.

Ultimately,thisthesis'purposewastocombinelittle-knownpoetrycreatedbyfemale

writers with literary spatial analysis in order to investigate how women expressed

theirlackofspaceinthepublicspherewithintheirart.Itseemsthatwhilenotallfea-

turedwomenwritersusedtheirpoemstoexploremalespacesandthefreedomsthat

camewith them, all four authors gave their own gender space in their poetry, thus

makingamarginalisedgroupat leastpartly the focusofapieceofart. It ishightime

thatscholarsalsogavefemalewritersthespacetheydeservetoinhabitwithinliterary

history.This,incidentally,wasalsoabeliefheldbyAnnaBarbauld,assheexpressedin

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herpoemTheRightsofWomen,whichshallbequotedtoendthisaccountonRomantic

poetrycreatedbywomen:

Yes,injuredWoman!rise,assertthyright!Woman!toolongdegraded,scorned,opprest;OborntoruleinpartialLaw'sespite,Resumethynativeempireo'erthebreast!(1-4)

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Appendix:Abstract(inGerman)

WährenddieEpochederRomantikinderbritischenLiteraturgeschichteeinenbeson-

deren Stellenwert genießt, beschränkt sich der lyrische Kanon ausschließlich auf

männlicheAutoren.DieTatsache,dassFrauendieLiteraturszenegenausobeeinfluss-

ten,wirdoftübergangen.

ZieldervorliegendenArbeit istes,anhandvonvierGedichtenderDichterinnenMary

Robinson,AnnYearsley,JaneundAnnTaylorsowieAnnaLaetitiaBarbaulddieRaum-

strukturenindenjeweiligenTextenmitBerücksichtigungderGender-Restriktionenzu

analysieren.MithilfeeinesselbsterstelltenLeitfadenswerdendieRaumverhältnissein

denGedichtendahingehenduntersucht,obdieverschiedenenSchauplätzealsdefinitiv

männlich oder weiblich gegendert angesehen werden können, wie diese sprachlich

kreiertwerden,undobeindefinitiverFokusaufweiblichenodermännlichenOrtenin

denvonFrauenverfasstenTextenvorliegt.

WährendindenbetrachtetenGedichteneinFokusaufweiblicheOrtefestgestelltwer-

denkann,istderuntersuchteKanonkeineswegsgroßgenug,umaufgenerelleTenden-

zen indervonFrauenverfasstenLyrik zu schließen.Allerdings findet sichbereits in

einerderartkleinenStichprobevonTexteneineVielfaltvonVerwendungendesPara-

meters Ort sowie unterschiedliche Darstellungen der Bewegungsfreiheit der weibli-

chen Charaktere, was auf eine dementsprechende Diversität in derweiblichen Lyrik

des späten achtzehnten und frühen neunzehnten Jahrhunderts schließen lässt, der

auchkanonischmehrBeachtunggeschenktwerdensollte.

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