Aphra Behn: The History of the Nun
While reading and interpreting the actions in Aphra Behn’s The History of the Nun, the role and stance of the woman was represented differently than we have looked at in other texts. The first quote that stood out to me was when she stated, “...but considering, she knew not how to conceal the Blood, should she cut his Throat, she resolves to Strangle him, or Smother him with a Pillow; that last Thought was no sooner borne, but put in Execution; and, as he soundly slept, she smother'd him without any Noise, or so much as his Strugling.” Isabelle had so much power at this point against a man, which we have not seen yet. She did not even hesitate to strangle him; she strangled him because she didn’t know how else to handle knowing that she had just remarried to Villenoy after already being married to Hanault. Even though it wasn’t her fault that she was either told or inferred that he had died in the war, she still seemed to feel bad and her go-to solution was to kill him. Although this “solution” probably wasn’t the best way to handle it, it shows how much more strength women had at this point in time than beforehand.
The second quote that stood out to me stated, “When the Day of Execution came, she appear'd on the Scaffold all in Mourning, but with a Meen so very Majestick and Charming, and a Face so surprizing Fair, where no Languishment or Fear appear'd, but all Chearful as a Bride, that she set all Hearts a flaming, even in that mortifying Minute of Preparation for Death.” I pulled this quote from one of the last paragraphs in the reading and it got my attention because even after knowing she killed her previous husband, as well as making her new husband throw the body off the bridge and go with him, people still looked up to her. Her crimes were not looked at as bad in the eyes of the people because they still believed she was beautiful. I think that this was considered as beauty because of her strength and power as a woman. As I discussed in the previous paragraph, this is very different from previous readings we have done from earlier in history because a woman would never even think about killing a man for something that could be solved in another way. They would be severely punished, or probably killed, for doing something so radical.
Behn, Aphra. The History of the Nun.
I like that you approach the topic of women's strength in this story instead of weakness. I agree that the majority of our readings so far have shown women in distress and oppression rather than taking matters into their own hands. I think that Isabella is definitely still suppressed by societal norms considering her two options were to get married or join a nunnery, but I agree that she shows a different style of leadership and responsibility for her own choices than many women of that time.
ReplyDeleteThe power, courage, and beauty that Isabella had most certainly played a huge part in helping shape up the success of this story. I also found it fascinating how she was not criticized as heavily for her crimes because of her beauty. There was a lot of imagery provided when describing the appearance of Isabella such as her hair and eyes. Considering she was just 13 also is crazy because if anyone heard of someone that age going through a situation like this, nobody would find it to be true. The two quotes you chose also feature a lot of strong vocabulary usage that provides a pop in the story. For instance, the first quote mentioning words like "blood", "throat", and "strangle" show how much power Isabella really did have which almost makes her appear as this mystical superhero in sense just because nearly everything about her was perfect. In addition, your 2nd quote shows how much people really look up to Isabella even though she's just 13. This text really makes Isabella to be viewed as an inspiration and role model of some sort just because of how she is as a person. The two quotes ultimately tie hand in hand with the first quote mentioning the immense amount of power she has and the second one mentioning how much people admire her power. I would say Isabella is truly a one of a kind character and your analysis on this blog definitely proved that. Awesome job!
ReplyDeleteI thought the way you analyzed the first quote was super interesting. Before I had interpreted it as Isabelle being drawn into a troublesome situation due to the fact that she was pressured into living a life that wasn't authentic towards herself. Now I see where you are coming from, describing Isabelle as a woman of power, as she took ahold of the situation and made a difficult decision on her own terms. Isabelle's lack of hesitation with her actions in this was apparent.
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