The Heroine by Eaton Stannard Barrett - Essay Example

Examine the topic Death in The Heroine by Eaton Stannard Barrett Generally, most people hesitate to accept death as a natural reality, but consider the same as an unexpected intruder within their private lives. On the other side, renowned writers view death from a different angle and consider it as a temporary escapade or as a permanent reality. This difference in perceiving death as a natural phenomenon is related to the difference in attitude towards life. Thesis statement: The close examination of the topic death and literary contextualization of the works named as The Heroine by Eaton Stannard Barrett and A mother to her waking infant by Joanna Baillie prove that Barrett’s work is symbolic of burlesque/comic novel genre and focuses upon the theme of death as a dream or temporary escapade from the material world, but Baillie’s work is symbolic of Romantic outlook on life and concentrates on the theme of death as permanent reality. The theme of death in The Heroine by Eaton Stannard Barrett In the work, the author makes use of the female protagonist (say, Cherry Wilkinson) to share his views on life and death beyond the general perception of the same as burdensome. To be specific, the theme of death is inherent in the subject matter of the work, but the author portrays it in a witty manner. Besides, this helps the readers to realize that death is an escapade from reality and the travel to the supernatural world. For instance, books related to fantasy genre helps the female protagonist to realize the essence of life. Besides, some may think that the novel belongs to the genre of Gothic fiction because the author allows the female protagonist to lead the readers towards a supernatural world, where the readers and she get acquainted with fictional characters from different works. In the novel, the female protagonist pointed out that, “With these sentiments, no wonder I should feel discontented at my present mode of life” (Barrett 1813, p.4). Here, the author does not reveal whether the female protagonist’s journey is real or imaginary. To be specific, the female protagonist meets a number of fictional characters from different literary works. But she is aware of the fact that the imaginary world is not permanent and she must return to the real world. This realization of truth or the secret behind death helps the female protagonist to return to normal life, where death is real, not fictitious. So, it is evident that the author does not inculcate the theme of death in the work. Instead, the readers are free to assume that the female protagonist’s attempt to escape from the materialistic real world is related to her inner urge to have temporary relief from her fear of death. The theme of death in A mother to her waking infant by Joanna Baillie On the other side, the poem named as A mother to her waking infant primarily deals with the feminine affection towards children, especially infants. One can see that the narrator (say, mother) in the poem is totally excited with her status as a mother because she knows that the wellbeing of her child is related to her responsible attitude towards her child. In the opening of the work, the mother describes her waking child in vivid words, but does not try to go deeper into the essence of human life. But the closing stanza in poem proves that the mother foresees her old age and expects that her child will become an adult and protect her. The mother in the poem expected that, “Wilt care for me and be my hold, When I am weak and old” (Baillie 1851, p.788). Within this scenario, the author inculcates the theme of death in life in the poem. For instance, the mother knows that is her own responsibility to look after her child. Apart from the novel, the narrator in the poem is aware of the fact that happiness is not permanent but momentary. Still, she does not complain because her life is fully dedicated to her child. One can see that expectations and hope on bright future helps human beings to consider life as a mixture of hardships and happiness. Within this scenario, the speaker in the poem does not try to ignore reality. Instead, she realizes that she cannot predict the future of her family. But, she decides to do anything to make her child happy because life is real and death is permanent. Similarities in the treatment of the theme of death in both the works One can see that both the works (say, The Heroine and A mother to her waking infant) make use of the secret of human life as the main theme. For instance, the female protagonist in The Heroine considers life as a game with full of imagination. Besides, she tries to go deep into the secrets through with window of imagination. Similarly, the speaker in the poem (say, A mother to her waking infant) knows that her child is the embodiment of happiness, and the symbol of life. She does not try to complain that life is a burden for her because she knows that she responsible to look after her child. Besides, both the authors (say, Barrett and Baillie) made use of the theme of death within their literary works. For instance, the novel deals with the female protagonist’s search to unveil death’s relation with imagination and real world. Within this scenario, search helps the female protagonist to realize that wandering within an imaginary world cannot help human beings to deal with harsh realities in life. So, she decides to return to normal life. Similarly, the speaker in the poem knows that she cannot change the future of her child, but expects that her child may look after her in future years. This realization helps her to perceive death as a permanent phenomenon. Key differences in the treatment of the theme of death in both the works Still, both the works are some differences in the treatment of the theme of death because the novel treats the theme of death as a temporary escapade from reality and the poem treats the same as a permanent reality or the integral part of human life as a whole. To be specific, the novel is symbolic of the writer’s philosophy on life. For instance, the novelist makes use of the female protagonist to convey his ideas on death. Within this scenario, the novelist treats the theme of death in a humorous mood. The author made clear that, “In the end Cherubina must face reality, admit her error, and marry properly” (Mancing 2004, p.63). But it is evident that the author makes use of humour to unmask the human fear related to death. On the other side, the poet does not try to deal with the theme of death from the point of view of a philosopher. Instead, she connects the theme of death with daily life events. For instance, the mother in the poem is aware of that her son will become an adult and she will become old. The mother is ready to accept reality, and does not try to go beyond the limits of her responsibilities. In short, these basic differences in treatment of the theme of death force the readers to consider that both the works make use of the same theme, but differs in treatment. Burlesque/comic novel genre v/s. Romanticism in both the works One can see that the The Heroine belongs to the genre of Burlesque/comic novel, and A mother to her waking infant belongs to the genre of Romanticism. To be specific, the novelist does not try to unmask the philosophical aspect of the theme of death because he is aware that humorous attitude towards life can be used in the work to satirize human fear on death. When human beings are totally obsessed with life, they fear death because it is impossible to withstand death. But if one deals with death with comic mood, it is easier to perceive the same as an integral part of life. Here, the author makes use of the female protagonist to prove that imagination can help an individual to have temporary escapade from reality, but permanent escapade from the same is impossible. On the other side, the poet makes use of the basic elements of Romanticism to prove that the readiness to accept reality can help human beings to consider ageing and death as integral part of life. The author made clear that, “Religion had always been an important factor in her life, and old age emphasized this; yet she vigorously questioned all aspects of doctrine” (Hartley 2013, p.29). To be specific, the poet makes use of the character of mother in the poem to convey the message that death is real. This realization helps the mother in the poem to deal with her life from a philosophical point of view. Besides, this difference in perception of the idea of death as a natural phenomenon inherent in life is one among the basic elements of Romanticism. Summing up, both the writers made use of the theme of death within their literary works, but their treatment of the same is different. To be specific, Barrett depended upon humour to share his ideas on human life with the readers. On the other side, Baillie inculcated the mother’s ideas on human life to share her romantic ideas on life. This basic different is enough to prove that different writers deal with the same theme in different ways because death is related to the secret of life as a whole. Still, the novel breaks the limits of traditional storytelling because it helps the readers to have temporary escapade from reality by allowing human minds to wander through a supernatural world, with full of fictitious characters. References Barrett, E.S. 1813. The Heroine: Or Adventures of a Fair Romance Reader. London: Henry Colburn. Baillie, J. 1851. The Dramatic and Poetical Works of Joanna Baillie; Complete in One Volume. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. Hartley, C. 2013. Historical Dictionary of British Women. Surrey: Routledge. Mancing, H. 2004. The Cervantes Encyclopedia: A-K. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group. Read More