Comparing Women In The Rights Of Women And La Belle Dame Sans

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The Representation of Women in “ The Rights of Women” by Barbauld and “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” by John Keats
Women in the romantic period were starting to develop a curiosity for equality. As a result, feminist writings, such as “A Vindication of Rights of Women” by Mary Wollstonecraft, began to be published occasionally. Subsequently, literature opposing feminist ideals also rose in popularity. “The rights of Women” by Anna Barbauld was written in response to Wollstonecraft's work and mocks gender equality while masked as an inspirational peroration for women. “La belle Dame Sans Merci” by John Keats is a poem that shows the potential danger in trusting women. While both texts explore the idea of women being fickle, “The Rights of Women” …show more content…

Barbauld’s poem offers the perspective that men are superior to women while Keats’s poem says that women have too much influence over men. Barbauld says that women are angels (Barbauld 6) which is an interesting comparison considering she has an entire poem mocking women. Saying the women are angels is a way of conveying the sweet and innocent stereotype of women. This image also reinforces the idea that women are meant to be caregivers. The speaker is suggesting that the rightful task of women is being a caregiver. This takes away from feminist arguments that women should have the same rights as men and as such should be able to work as whatever they would like to. Saying women are angels is an insult to feminism that is masked as a compliment to women. “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” does not deny the powerful impact women have on men. Instead, this poem cautions men against engaging with women because they hold the power to destroy men. The poem portrays women as mystifying; they are provocative and one can infer that sex, which is typically a byproduct of love, is used as a weapon leading to the lonely man’s presumed death. Barbauld’s poem suggests that women are inferior to men and are better suited as caregivers than anything else while Keats suggests that women have enough power with their sexuality since it has the power to destroy men. Both of these arguments suggest that any more power in the hands of women would be

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