Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Poetry in The Romance of the Forest
In volume one of The Romance of the Forest, Ann Radcliffe's use of poetry serves to express the restrained emotions and sentiments of her characters. Adeline, for example, constantly holds her tongue in front of La Motte and Madame La Motte when ever she feels she's suffered an indignation, mostly because she doesn't want to seem ungrateful towards them. It is only through her poetry that she can express her true feelings about her circumstances. Even when Madame La Motte is in the midst of her jealous fits, Radcliffe quotes Shakespeare's Othello and says, "Trifles, light as air, Are, to the jealous, confirmations strong as proof of Holy Writ". Through this quote the affects of Madame La Motte's jealously are better understood than they would have been using her own constrained perspective. Had Radcliffe decided to omit the passages of poetry, the novel would have been fully anxiety driven, not unlike The Castle of Otranto. It is because of the poetry that the reader can step out of the anxiety of the character's situation and get clear insights to how the characters really feel, not just how they feel at the moment.
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I also thought the same when reading the poetry. I find the poems as foreshadowing of what the chapter would be and how the story played out. Some poems played more of an importance for certain characters. Take for instance the first poem, It describes how La Motte escapes his troubles and lays the foundation of the first chapter. Same goes for chapter 2 poem, "How these antique towers and vacant courts, Chill the suspended soul! Till expectation,Wears the face of fear: and fear, half ready." It basically describes the abbey and their arrival to it, the fears of the darkness and emptiness.
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