Frustrations, Agency, and Some 'Musings about Shakespeare

February 22, 2011
As a twenty first century women who often reads feminist theory and works, I find the first part of the novel very frustrating. The women possess a great weakness and willingness to submit to the will of others. Even though Zenobia was stuck and written in a time period where women weren’t necessarily treated with equality, she was still a powerful, thoughtful decisive character. I find much of The Wide, Wide World boring and heart breaking for its lack of a “Zenobian.” It is under my impression that the only “cause” or “conditions” the women in this book have complete loyalty to be Christianity. However, I will admit that I’m possibly giving the novel enough credit. There is something to be said about Ellen’s drive to keep busy and yearn for an education. When Miss Fortune challenges that women should not be bookworms, Ellen becomes very upset and protests (Warner 140). However Ellen only defends her mother, but not her personal right to learn how to read. Granted she is a child, and I may have too many expectations on her. Either way, the novel may have been a bit more interesting if Ellen had more agency. I predict that Ellen will possess a new “power” and outlook once her relationship with Alice is more developed. I’m hoping for some type of personal revelation, but this may not be the novel for that type of story. Right now this seems more like a story of just a girl suffering, rather than fighting against that suffrage.
One aspect I found especially intriguing and enjoyable were each chapter’s epigraph. They were perfectly chosen and set up the chapter beautifully. What I found the most interesting was that approximately nine of them were from Shakespeare. We spoke that this era highly valued the classics, but I didn’t realize just how much they were incorporate into art. The quote that I found worked the best was from Romeo and Juliet and served as the epigraph for Chapter 5. The line is delivered by Lord Capulet in response to Paris’ proposal of marriage to Juliet. The scene further discuss Juliet’s duty a woman to her family, and, despite her young age, the expectations that she will soon bare children and remain the dutiful quiet wife. The epigraph forced me to draw a comparison between Juliet and Ellen. I don’t think this is what the author intended due to leaving the play’s title out of the epigraph, but I could not help myself. The two heroines are initially very similar. They are expected to act in accordance with their father’s wishes and have a strong loyal bound to their mother or in Juliet’s case a mother figure (the nurse). However, Juliet willingly thinks for herself, is quite witty, and has a strong sense of agency. This is what Ellen is lacking and I hope earns more of throughout the novel. I would like to say that as much as I find this story frustrating and far too preachy, I really am enjoying reading it.