The Rights Of Women By Anna Barbauld - 967 Words

Anna Barbauld’s â€Å"The Rights of Women† (1792), is an intricate poem that was written with a distinct perspective that many female poets would have taken during the Romantics era. The poem begins with a very passive aggressive yet persuasive invitation to take action on the way women are perceived. Barbauld’s feministic voice is heard throughout the entirety of the poem as she is trying to empower women with her passionate words, yet by reading the last two stanzas we realizes she contradicts her concept on her own feministic beliefs and thoughts. Reexamining the poem reveals a sarcastic tone other than the devotee-like tone that we had assumed was being interpreted as. One can conclude that Anna Barbaulds poem is not about feminism but is†¦show more content†¦Barbauld’s internal struggles against the notions of equality is resonated through her sarcastic tone. Barbauld’s contradictions continue throughout the totality of the poem; She i mplies, â€Å"Try all that wit and art suggest to bend / Of thy imperial foe the stubborn knee;† (17-18). She advocates that women should use their cleverness and their slyness to dominate over men. Because of her other insinuations on her argument on equality, we can interpret that she proclaims this is the only way women will ever be equal to men. This conjecture is reinforced with the rest of the stanza which proclaims, â€Å"Make treacherous Man thy subject, not thy friend; / Thou mayst command, but never canst be free.† (19-20). Barbaud proposes that if women dominate over men, which is her opinion of what equality is, they will never be able to be friends with men because of the constant state of fear of men overthrowing women. Consequently, the last line summons her views with a dark and difficult conclusion, but she makes it very clear on what feminism represents and what it will conclude to in her own words. This stanza created a much more dramatic and dismal view to what her philosophy is towards equality than the first four stanzas that resonated with a call-to-arms tone. This could explain why Barbauld couldn’t decipher the difference between extremism and change, and why she felt as though peace would be the only solution to the fight between equalityShow MoreRelatedThe Rights Of Women By Anna Barbauld1354 Words   |  6 PagesAnna Barbauld and John Keats wrote poems in response to proto-feminist writings. Barbauld wrote â€Å"The rights of Women† in response to Mary Wollstonecraft s A Vindication of Rights of Woman. The Rights of Woman mocks gender equality while masked as an inspirational peroration for women. Additionally, â€Å"La Belle Dame Sans Merci† by Keats shows the potential danger in trusting women since the character in his poem was heartlessly betrayed by a woman. Power is an underlying theme in both texts and whileRead MoreThe Role Of Women Throughout Society : A Pacifist Vs. A Feminist756 Words à ‚  |  4 PagesEssay Number One: The Role of Women in society : A Pacifist vs. A Feminist Do you remember those word problems in math class that were about two people leaving two different points and ending up at the same place? This is like how Mary Wollstonecraft and Anna Letitia Barbauld went about the role of women within society. Anna Letitia Barbauld could be classified as a pacifist that believed in peace and peace for both sexes. 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