The
present paper concerns with the question of woman’s representation in Robert
Frost’s the death of the Hired man. Since the poem presents the woman character
as both submissive and decorative in one hand and rational and argumentative on
the other, it contributes to the construction of new woman who from within the periphery
of patriarchal framework, silently revolts against its inhumanity.
Robert Frost, as a regional poet,
celebrates in his poems the actual life lived by the people in New England and
New Hampshire. Often he paints the dismal and helpless picture of the common
folk living in the circle of industrial growth. His central themes are men and
women, humanity, loneliness, isolation, and nature. Frost’s poetry helps to
provide a link between the American poetry of the 19th century and that
of the 20th century. He began to experiment with poems of monologue
and dialogue, which critics have called his dramatic poems. His poetry is noted
for its plain language, dramatic and natural speech. Although he concentrates
on ordinary subject-matter, he evokes a wide renge of emotions, and his poems
often shift dramatically from ordinary to the philosophical discussions about life.
His poems have received numerous critical responses ever since its publication.
The editor Lohani et.al, in creative Delights comments “He is known for his
ironic tone, conversational manner and simple language”( ). Commenting about the style of language and
technique of his poetry Ferguson. et.al argue “ Like that of many great
national poets, his verse relies heavily on the language of the people. Many of
his poems take the form of ‘Dramatic Monologues’ or dialogues using and
transforming the New Englanders patterns of speech which he heard each day on
his farm”(The Norton Anthology Of Poetry,324).
To be specific, The Death of the Hired man is a typical poem of Frost in which an
ordinary exchange between a man and his wife turns into a philosophical
significant debate. Warren and Mary talk over the return of old Silas to their
farm. The wife wishes to have the old man stay, since he calls their farm home.
She uses all her soft, feminine tact to mollify Warren’s objections as he is a
practical minded man who values the man in terms of work. The wife represents
love, sympathy, and emotions where as Warren represents reason, practicality
and utilitarianism. Because of this polarization in beliefs the poem
significantly turns to be a philosophical discussion but at last, Warren is
softened over the course of the poem. Commenting on the inherent philosophy of
his texts, B. High argues, “In fact, we see a kind of philosophy in his poetry”
(An Outline of American Literature, 128).
By comparing The Death of the Hired Man and Home
Burial Neil Roberts writes: “At first sight, The Death of a Hired Man might seem to offer a radical contrast to
“Home Burial”, it is another dialogue between husband and wife, between the practical
man and the woman of feeling but rather than assail each other as they air
these differences, they build relationship as they talk” (373).
Norman Holland, in The Brain of Robert Frost comments:
Frost conceives
his poem, his thought really, in twos. He pairs man and wife, father and
mother, Republican and Democrat, hardness and nurturing, obligations and lack
of obligation” (Holland), In twos, which side wins? I expect it seems to most
readers that Mary has the best of the argument that her husband’s attitude
softens over the course of the man (373-374, qtd in A Companion to Twentieth
Century Poetry)
Similarly, talking about Frost’s
universe, Robert H. Swennes compares The
Death of the Hired Man and The
Generations of Men as “The Death of the
Hired Man and The
Generations of Man are the first
two poems suggesting the need for creative conversation between men and women
in Frost’s Universe” (Robert H. Swennes,
Man and Wife:The Dialogue of Contraries on Robert Frost’s Poetry,368 Photocopy)
Despite their wide ranging criticisms,
none of the critics, however analyze the role of woman projected in The Death of the Hired Man. Therefore
the present paper contends that Frost projects her as a rebellion figure that,
in this regard, Mary appears as what Chatterjee calls “a new woman”
Living within the framework of the traditional
society, she protests against the irrational and ill opinions of patriarchal
society. Analyzing the role of woman in the society, Partha Chatterjee states:
As it happened, the domain of the family and
the position of woman underwent considerable change in the world of the
nationalist middle class. It was undoubtedly a new patriarchy that was brought
into existence different from the ‘traditional’ order but also explicitly
claiming to be different from the ‘Western’ family. The ‘new woman’ was to be
modern, but she would also have to display the signs of national tradition and
therefore would be essentially different from the ‘Western’ woman.(150)
Mary displays the signs of tradition as
the poem opens with Mary
“musing on the lamp flame at the table,/
watching for Warren. When she heard his step, /she ran on tip-toe down the darkened
passage/ To meet him on his guard (324).
She does not seem to have anything else
to do but to wait for her husband and to receive him from the office. She is
within the house and thinks that it is her duty to welcome him in the evening. It seems that she is devoted to her duty. This
opening image shows her role in the relationship. She seems to be a traditional,
submissive woman who does not even wait a moment, after hearing his steps to
tell him the news. She runs “on tip toe down the darkened passage” (324). After
he had come in, she instinctively takes “the market things from Warren’s arms/
And set them on the porch” (324).
She does not want her husband taking the
market things himself. This silent exchange between Marry and Warren implies a
strong sense of her husband. She followed what a traditional woman does on the patriarchal
society. As she has brought the old man to her house out of sympathy and
minimum human sensibility, which her husband lacks, she is in hurry to tell her
husband about Silas. But as soon as they begin speaking, she says “Silas is
back” and “Be kind” an information with a plea. It shows her sympathetic
attitudes to Silas, though we don’t know anything about him. Their conversation
slowly unfolds the story of Silas. In the course of their conversation, being
irritated with the talk of Silas, Warren says:
“When
was I ever anything but kind to him? / But I’ll not have the fellow back.”(325)
He means to say
that he has always been kind to the man, but his idea of being ‘kind’ is
obviously different from that of Mary. It shows Warren is not pleased with
Marry as she has brought the man in the house. It is important to remember that
Warren is adamant in his opinion now but Mary starts explaining the reason why
she brought the old man. “But I’ll not have the fellow back’ he adds because he
had warned him not to leave the previous time. He believes that Silas is no
more useful to him as he says:
What good is he?
Who else will harbor him
At his age for
the little he can do?
What help he is
there’s no depending on.
Off he goes
always when I need him most
He thinks he
ought to earn a little pay,
Enough at least
to buy tobacco with,
So he won’t have
to beg and be beholden
“All right,” I
say, “I can’t afford to pay
Any fixed wages,
though I wish I could. (325)
Here Warren seems to be a practical man
who values the man in term of utilitarianism and rationality. What he most
objects is Silas’s recklessness as he is not responsible to himself either. Mary
is so sympathetic that she is worried about the man hearing her husband’s cruel
words and feeling insulted. She says: “Sh! Not so loud: he’ll hear you,”
But Warren says: “I want him to: he’ll
have to soon or late.”
Here, we can see that they contrast in their
views. Though both of them want to talk about him, Mary wants her husband to be
soft and kind hearted while dealing with the old man whereas Warren wants to be
as he is. He does not want to hide his negative attitudes to him as the old man
will know sooner or later. Both husband and wife have different views and
attitude but wife tries to explain the reason by appealing his emotion not the
rationality. She says that the man is
“worn out” and looked a “miserable sight”. She explains that she did not
recognize him in her first sight. Therefore, she has brought him but Warren is
not pleased with her decision. Mary
explains that they should welcome him as he has come there thinking it a home
and even defines Home as “home is the place where, when you have to go there,/
they have to take you in.”(327) but Warren defines the house in his own way and
disagree with her. In such way they have a long discussion between the
couple. They debate till they come to
the consensus. It’s a sign of a modern woman who takes part in discussion with
her husband and convinces in her opinions. She did not go against the norms of
the society. She appeals her husband to be guided with universal love and
sympathy which Frost wants to convey through this poem.
Mary persuades him to go and see by himself.
I haven’t been, Go, look, see for yourself.
But, Warren, please remember
how it is:
He’s come to help you ditch
the meadow.
He has a plan. You mustn’t
laugh at him.
He may not speak of it, and
then he may.
I’ll sit and see if that
small sailing cloud
Will hit or miss the moon. (328)
Here, Mary is changed. She no longer remains a
typical traditional woman. Now she not only can put her opinions clearly with
her husband but also can convince him with her logic and by appealing the
sympathy and love. She asks him to observe the man by himself so that his heart
could melt. She is confident that she had done properly and the husband should
come in her tract. The woman, who, in the beginning, was waiting to welcome the
husband, is now able to persuade him according to her beliefs. The man is
forced to be changed in his ideas. He, almost accepting her ideas, says: ‘I’d
not be in a hurry to say that’ (328)
The man who was rude and rigid has been melted
now. He can’t reject her ideas completely as she has spoken for the universal
love and sympathy. His ideas over her seem to be light and shallow. She
logically and emotionally wins the heart of her husband. At last, he goes to
see the old man,
“Warren returned-too soon, it seemed to her,
Slipped to her side, caught up her hand and waited.
‘Warren?’ she questioned.
‘Dead’ was all he answered.”
The poem ends with the death of the old man.
The long conversation of the couple was based on him. Therefore, his death
questions the significance of the long dispute but his death is inevitable not
to hurt the ego of Silas as Warren was not ready to welcome him whole heartily.
Mary has already brought the man inside the
house and wants to show him love and sympathy and expects the same from her
husband. Therefore, she convinces him that she is right and his ideology is wrong. She succeeds
to persuade him to come in her ideology yet she remains within the framework of
the patriarchal society.
Works
Cited
Calder,Alex, Robert Frost:North of
Boston. “Twentieth Century Poetry.Ed.NeilRobert.UK:Blackwell,2001.369-380.
Chatterjeee, Partha.Whose Imagined
Community? 215-225
Frost, Robert. “The Death of the Hired
man”The Norton Anthology of Poetry.Ed.Margret Ferguson et al.NewYork:Norton
,1996.324-328
High, Peter B.An Outline of American
Literature.Londonand NewYork:Longman,1986
Lohani,Shreedhar and Rameshwor
Adhikari,ed..Creative Delight.kathmandu:Ratna Pustak Bhandar.1997.
Swennes ,Robert H.”Man and Wife:The
Dialogue of Countries in Robert frost’s poetry.”American Literature32.2
(1998):363-372
Holland, Norman N.(1988),The Brain of Robert Frost. London. Rout
ledge.]
No comments:
Post a Comment