In Book II of Troilus and Criseyde, the character Pandarus states: "Women are born for servitude and penance, / and to be under the governance of men.” (Chaucer, line 286-7) Taken from an exchange between the young girl Criseyde and her uncle Pandarus, the passage says a lot about contemporary views on romance and how these views have been influenced by prevailing attitudes toward women. The highly ambiguous Germanic poem The Wife's Lament, although it considerably precedes Chaucer, documents the position of a submissive woman who experiences the exile of her husband, his relatives and her family. In consultation with Elaine M. Treharne's publication, Writing Gender and Genre in Medieval Literature: Approaches to Old and Middle English Texts, the poem breaks conventions with traditional literary representations of female figures. Treharne established a framework for "female romance" in Middle English poetry, a form of aesthetic expression that favored male heroes and chivalrous concepts of masculine identity. A woman, however, dictates The Wife's Lament and advocates for divorced or abandoned women a message of sorrow and suffering; this language is considered by researchers as the means of “lamenting”. In Carol Parrish Jamison's article, "Trafficking in Women in Germanic Literature: The Role of the Peace Pledge in Marital Exchanges," she provides historical context for the wife's unfortunate position as a marital commodity in political exchanges. In considering Jamison's argument, the speaker's voice may be isolated from her physical situation—which is barely disclosed in the poem—and the emphasis on her grieving language may suggest a dissatisfaction in her title. Perhaps a more appropriate title for the poem is "The Woman's Lament", since in the first lines she proclaims that her mission is to speak for herself and for her own sorrows, and in the last lines she cursed his male counterpart for his negligence. By interpreting the speaker’s “lament” as a “complaint,” the position of the enslaved woman changes; rather, the poem encourages a feminist reading that takes into account the precedence of female speech and writing. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Primarily, The Wife's Lament is understood as a frauenlie song, more literally, a "woman's song." The content describes the isolation and victimization of an anonymous protagonist following an exogamous relationship, a typical situation in the Anglo-Saxon heroic tradition. Interestingly, the “hero” is absent, which problematizes the genre of the poem and, therefore, a concrete interpretation of femininity. David Salter, whose essay “Born to Thraldom and Penance: Wives and Mothers in Middle English Romance” appears in Treharne's compilation, demonstrates the various gendered readings of early Middle English verse and the patriarchal approval that permeated these texts. Salter claims the opposite feminine position in texts like The Wife's Lament: "...if we accept that romance is indeed a feminine genre, we are nevertheless confronted with a kind of paradox, for what seems to confront us when we examine romance is a female genre with virtually no female heroines. » (Salter, 42) Salter's argument, although valid, is not compatible with The Wife's Lament, since the "heroine" is both speaker and protagonist of the poem; his voice can then be considered as a universal and encompassing articulation forthe repressed woman. Salter continues: “Although, to a large extent, Middle English romance tends to marginalize the female experience, it nevertheless recognizes the central role of women in shaping and developing the identity of the male hero. » (Salter, 43) In accordance with this statement, a role reversal is evident in the poem; the speaker, through her husband's harmful actions and the absence of his voice, is "cast" into the dominant character. The speaker's vocalization functions as an exception in the romantic genre, it is intrinsically "anti-romantic" since the woman's experience is not marginalized. Salter also comments on the role of female figures in poetry: "And it is particularly through their roles as wives and mothers that women in romances are able to accomplish this formation of masculine identity. » (Salter, 43) As the title indicates, the speaker's role was that of a wife, however, as the poem progresses, this label becomes unsatisfactory. In terms of the romantic genre, The Wife's Lament is considered unconventional due to the lack of a male presence, the predominance of the female voice and the absence of a plot that circulates around the "hero". Now that the poem has been contextualized as atypical for the Middle English romance genre, it is possible to conceive of the speaker's message as protest rather than sorrow or regret. Considering the opening lines, the poem begins with a statement: “I make this song about myself, deeply sad, about the journey of my own life. I am able to recount all the trials I have endured since I grew up, but new or old, never worse than now – never do I suffer the torment of my exile. ” (Mitchell, lines 1-5) The speaker, although preoccupied with painful feelings, adopts an assertive tone when she announces the poem as “her song.” She is “able to tell all the difficulties” on her own and does not need a male filter to tell her story. It is essentially the "journey of one's own life", and by establishing these circumstances of oppression and expressing one's victimhood, the poem or "song" is perhaps a mechanism of liberation. Jamison's article is helpful regarding the speaker's situation and the reason for her exile: "In order to bind men together and ensure peace, Germanic women of the highest rank sometimes served as pawns of peace. Usually the daughter of an important warrior or king, the Promise of Peace would be married to a high-status man who could be seen as a potential threat to those close to her in hopes of forming an alliance, or at least preventing a conflict. (Jamison, 14) It is likely that the situation Jamison postulates torments the speaker, as she suffers in exile, isolated from her husband and family. The concept of arranged marriage was potentially oppressive to women, as they became a necessary part of political exchanges; the speaker is aware of her confinement, and perhaps her song will allow her to overcome female inferiority. Jamison also considers the theme of human exchange: "...In a society that values ​​war, marrying women as a means of ensuring peace could turn out badly, in such cases underscoring the unfortunate plight of the woman as a object of masculine exchange. » (Jamison, 15) The woman, in Jamison's terms, is degraded to the level of a commodity that satisfies both parties in a political exchange. The speaker is aware of her role as a “commodity” and, in the act of speaking, she provides a feminine narrative of victimization; this influences his narrative as being hampered by anguish, but propelled by injustice and the need tofreedom. In examining the narrative, it is significant to consider that the author of The Wife's Lament was likely male. By reminding us of this, it does not hinder the poem's attitude and speculations about female oppression. Jamison ultimately connects the speaker's status to the historical context described above: "The narrator of The Wife's Lament seems to be a peacekeeper whose husband has left his native country, perhaps exiled for an undisclosed crime , or perhaps to rule his country. men in combat. ” (Jamison, 16) Jamison’s argument is consistent with the sorrow and longing that permeate his narrative: “First my lord left his people/for the crashing waves; I worried at dawn about where my leader of the men might be. (Mitchell, lines 6-8) The speaker's main concern here is the whereabouts of her husband, but, when she refers to him as the "leader of men", perhaps this signals a refusal of his leadership. on her or on women in general. The speaker does not seem distressed by her husband's return; on the contrary, the poem is saturated with painful language and neglects to expose any desire to regain the marital bond. Jamison comments on the purpose of the poem and characterizes it as a response to the process of marital exchange: "Early Germanic women had, in fact, a number of possible responses to marital exchange and could find ways to go well beyond of the role of object. , asserting their influence as mothers and diplomats by making or breaking king in their new husbands' homes. the role of the object”, considerably changes the connotation of the lamentable language used to convey it; instead, it would be more appropriate to refer to the language as that of “complaint.” The speaker is not aggressive in adopting a "diplomatic" role, but it is obvious that she is in favor of her husband carrying a burden identical to hers. As for the content of the story, it is just as important: if not more necessary for understanding the function of female speech in general. In speaking, the wife undertakes an act rarely permitted to women; the fact of writing a “song” of one's experience also allows the female figure to gain independence in political unions. Barrie Ruth Straus, in her essay "Women's Words as Weapons: Speech as Action in 'The Wife's Lament'", interprets the poem as a form of speech act. She states at the beginning: “The notion of illocutionary act is introduced to clarify the way in which the same proposition can be used differently: to make an assertion, ask a question, give an order, express a wish, and so on – in depending on the situation. » (Straus, 269) Straus' adoption of the "illocutionary act" to determine the purpose and meaning of the poem elevates the precedence of feminine language in Anglo-Saxon culture. it becomes clear that the speaker's intention goes beyond expressing simple sadness. Straus's argument can be characterized by the following passage: “The way the woman tells her story, that is, the way she uses words, reveals that she is not passively content. accept her fate, but instead take advantage of a form of action available to women of her time. “speaking out” and promoting a message of empowerment for women through her unfortunate passing. Returning to the first lines of the poem, Straus' proposition is also relevant: "The presence of a manifest and marked performative at the beginning of 'The Wife's Lament' therefore indicates the speaker's attempt to make her understand listeners his deliberate act of making an assertion. » (Straus, 272) However, most of the speaker's frustration and desire for independence appears in. 2012.