Post- world War II, Victorian Female, and Romantic Period Female Literature Comparison of Language

Anne Carson
Carson’s “The Glass Essay” is a fascinating poem about relationships and self exploration. Carson offers perspective on her relationship with her mother, father, and former lover. She also evaluates herself through self reflection and provides the reader with vivid imagery representing different facets of her persona cast in “nudes” like metaphorical art. Carson writes “Nude 1…alone on a hill…stands into...a hard wind slanting from the north. Long flaps and shreds of flesh rip off the woman’s body…leaving an exposed column of nerve and blood and muscle calling mutely through lipless mouth” (Carson, 2013, 218-225). Carson’s work creatively weaves modern language with snips of quotations of the past. Post modern poetry such as Carson’s often present narratives interrupted with prose or quotations providing a fragmented quality to the work (Niedecker, n.d.). The language of Carson’s personal inner dialogue sharply contrasts the Victorian formality of Bronte’s quotations from Wuthering Heights⁴.
Emily Bronte lived a very isolated life. Despite this reclusive lifestyle her famous novel “Wuthering Heights” provides interesting views of relationships and personal motivation. The tale is told through the perspective of two characters providing different insights into the tale. The story provides themes of love, jealousy, hate, and issues of social class evident in the Victorian period. The language of “Wuthering Heights” formal with descriptive qualities that reflect the prejudice of social classes, such as “Mr. Heathcliff forms a singular contrast to his abode and style of living. He is a dark-skinned gypsy in aspect, in dress and manners a gentleman, that is, as much a gentleman as many a country squire: rather slovenly” (Bronte, 1847, ch. 1). Future writers, such as Anne Carson, were influenced by great works of the past.
Mary Wollstonecraft
Mary Wollstonecraft’s life was plagued by poverty and cruelty. Wollstonecraft was a passionate woman who fought for many causes, such as the education of girls, feminism, and political equality. Her work “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman” was a plea to women encouraging them to realize their worth, stand up to those who oppressed them, and not accept the social expectations of submissiveness and feeble-mindedness that society placed on them. The language of the work reads like a well-crafted letter. It is a persuasive essay that provides Wollstonecraft’s perceptions of oppression and ideas to quell those problems. Despite the obvious reasoning for the work, her language is complex, such as “the pretty superlatives, dropping glibly from the tongue, vitiate the taste and create a kind of sickly delicacy that turns away from simple unadorned truth” (Wollstonecraft, 2006, p. 1461). Wollstonecraft’s piece marks the beginning of the outward feminist movement and helped pave the way for female writers.