Anna Rastatter

ENG 301M
Paper 1
3/7/2014
The Voice of Women in Old English Literature: The Wifes Lament
Often the focus of Anglo-Saxon literature is on the heroic relationship between the lord
and his retainer, between God and His believers. Most of the literary works focus on a maledriven society, and little is said for the women functioning within this time. In studying this
period, no convention exists for female active agents in this heroic age. The speakers powerful
language in The Wifes Lament provides evidence for the heroic Anglo-Saxon women. The poem
provides a glimpse into the unconventional reaction of a woman whose status is denied. By
utilizing a multidimensional voice, The Wifes Lament promotes the power of women operating
in a society that is not strictly male-dominated.
Written in the first person, the profound, yet inconspicuous language of the poem
provides a strong voice for the female speaker. This speaker is undeniably oppressed exiled to a
dark earthen cave. But as the poem progresses, the speaker demonstrates tenacity despite her
position. In titling this strange poem as a lament, it is implied that the speaker is mourning and
grieving the loss of both her husband and past life all while festering in exile. But there is
evidence in the speakers language to suggest that, while she is sorrowful, she is content with her
new situation. The wife possesses the ability to convey her story whichever way she prefers.
This gives her a strong identity that develops throughout the poem. By separating the poem into
three parts, the motivation of the wife can be better understood. It was stated best in the article
Womens Words as Weapons: Speech as Action in The Wifes Lament by Barrie Ruth Straus,

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And the narrator of The Wifes Lament does more than sit and weep; she also speaks (269). The
speaker establishes a powerful voice within her distressing situation both by what she says and
what she leaves unsaid in these three sections.
The first section of the poem serves to explain the speakers current state in exile. It
announce the theme of the poem in a conventional, exilic manner (Greenfield, 908). Lines 1-41,
disclose much about the wifes past life including her relationship to the man who disbanded her
as well as the high status she maintained. To begin, she initially describes her current state as
deeply sorrowing (1) as she is forced to suffer the torment (5). There is not much to be lost
in translation in the wifes description of her current, pitiful situation. Most critics use this first
section as their strongest evidence for the wife as a stereotypical passive agent (Straus, 272). But
it is undeniable that she is in current control of her story that empowers the wife.
Telling her story from her own point of view is a positive act for the speaker, the means
by which she attempts to control the way the events of her life will be seen. The way the
wife tells her story that is, the way she uses words reveals that she does not merely
passively accept her fate, but rather takes advantage of a form of action available to
women of her time (Straus, 270).
The speaker of the lament then transitions into a description of her past and shares the events that
led to her current state. Throughout these lines she reveals the level of respect she maintains for
her husband. She refers to him as my lord, my leader of men, and my most fitting man all
of which indicate she is subordinate to her husband. In using these terms the wife indicates her
husband is of the highest possible social stature. This, in turn, demonstrates that the wifes social
rank was also elevated (Niles, 1110). This information indicates that the wife experienced a rapid

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decline in status to her current state in exile. In lines 21-23, the wife divulges that she was
married to the man that forced her into exile through the vows she discusses. The true power the
husband asserts over her is made clear through this language, and the fact that he is the reason
she is forced into exile. But the wife now has the power to speak freely about her situation and
the events that led to her current status. She is now in control of her reaction.
The wife was banished from her previous status by her husband and his kinsmen. Her
husband, being a powerful man, exerts his power over her by first keeping her isolated and then
banishing her. The speaker illustrates his domination in the poem by designating her husband as
the leader of both herself and his people. But she is not passive in her oppression. The exile has
provided her with a level of freedom. It is in the state of liberation that she can utilize her
strongest asset her words. Jennifer Brookbanks provides an explanation for the wifes word
choice in her report The Participation of Women in the Anglo-Saxon World: Judith and The
Wifes Lament:
the poet of The Wifes Lament presents the female speaker as becoming able to
participate in heroic society and achieve independence. The poet portrays the speaker as
adhering to what her husband has commanded through her physical assent to his
directives, there I must sit. Yet after having physically obeyed him, the speaker is
portrayed as recognizing her ability to act against her husband and partake in the AngloSaxon duty to vengeance which was an imperative in heroic culture.
While she uses a slightly varied translation, her point is synonymous. The woman has
found freedom in her oppression. The aforementioned duty to vengeance manifests in the third
part of the poem, which will be later addressed.

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In terms of context within the times, it is important to note the implication of the wifes
lost marriage and severed social bonds. The wife speaks of being isolated from the beginning of
her marriage, having few loved ones or loyal friends (line 15-16). It would seem that the wife
was isolated from the beginning of her union. Through the designation of her husbands high
rank the speaker indicates she was of high status as well. Every member of Anglo-Saxon culture
was distinguished first and foremost by his or her social bonds within the kinship networks of the
community (Brookbanks, 584). The wife reveals that it was her husband, with the help of his
kinsmen that disbanded her from this comfortable life. By framing this denial of status in the first
part of the poem, the speaker gains validation for her later condemnation.
For this Anglo-Saxon woman, marriage provided a clear definition of her relationship. It
provided a more solidified standing within her surrounding community (Brookbanks, 584). The
speaker makes clear the union she had by saying, So often we swore / that only death could ever
divide us (21-22). The husbands act of breaking the union would have had serious implications
for the wifes regard within the community she is forcefully disbanded from. In his article, The
Problem of the Ending of The Wifes Lament, John Niles says:
The husbands crime should not be underestimated It is worth stressing that the
breakdown in the couples relationship is not merely the result of a lack of personal
affection. The problem is that the husband has failed in his chief duty to his wife, the duty
of mund-byrd or simply mund, protectionHe ought to have offered her the protection
that a person of his rank would naturally command. Instead, for unknown reasons he has
abandoned her, leaving her defenseless against hostile in-laws.The physical distress
that she suffers would have been compounded by shame, seeing that she is a member of
high aristocracy whose status has been insulted (1141-1143).

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The renunciation of this important status creates misfortune for the wife in exile, not just the loss
of her love. This poem is a tale about the wifes tribulations: the departure of her lord at the
beginning, her isolation in a new country, the way her kinsmen turn to their lord, her husband,
against her, and finally her current state of exile (Greenfield, 910). Her tenacity in the face of this
adversity is made clear in the second section of the poem in which she denounces the man and
his kinsmen who sent her into exile. Regardless of the wife being removed from her past honor,
she is still able to find strength in her state of desertion. It is this that makes the wife stand out as
a strong feminine voice in the heroically-driven Anglo-Saxon period.
To transition into the second part of the poem, it is through the language that the speaker
provides a different outlook for the views she maintains of her husband. Beginning at line 42 and
running until the second half of line 52, the speaker turns her focus to the man that wronged her.
The wife states: May the young man be sad-minded / with hard hear-thoughts, yet let him have /
a smiling face along with his heartache, / a crowd of constant sorrows (42-45). The wife is
casting a life of sorrow upon the husband. Stanley Greenfield considers the wifes language in
his article, The Wifes Lament Reconsidered:
My contention is that ll. 42 ff. represent the wifes wish (a milder form of a curse) that her
husband, because of his cruelty to her, may endure and exiles tribulations so that by
direct experience he may come to understand emotionally the misery and suffering he has
caused hershe loves her husband despite his act of cruelty. But in a perfectly natural
reaction to the untold anguish of mind and body he has inflicted upon her, she wishes that
he may know what it is to suffer unjustly and to pine for ones beloved (p. 908).

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In this section, the wife is able to choose the focus of the poem and subsequently
determine the outcome of the narrative (Brookbanks, 26). This is where she expresses her
evolving power within an oppressed exile. She says of her husband let him be outlawed / in a
far distant land (46-47). The speaker goes on to say My beloved will suffer / the cares of a
sorrowful mind; he will remember/ too often a happier home (50-52). She conveys strength
through her tone and language.
the poet of The Wifes Lament presents the inclusion of a female speaker in the
patriarchal heroic world. Although depicting her as expelled from society following male
abandonment, the poet portrays the speaker as reversing her subservience to her husband
and autonomously participating in the heroic duty of revenge through her powerful
speech, which leads to her empowerment (Brookbanks, 31).
The wifes empowerment is unique in that she gathers authority through her damning words. She
addresses the man who has cast her away with the help of his kinsmen in an intensely rhetorical
way. By using words like suffer, heartache, and sorrows the wife constructs a fervent tone.
As Niles puts is: the woman does not passively accept her fate. She is an active agent in the
drama of her life, first telling her story in her own words and then calling down a curse on the
head of the man (or heads of the people) who have been the cause of her suffering (1119).
While she speaks of her love for her husband, it is clear that she also desires misfortune for him.
By revealing her affection, but denouncing her lover, the speaker garners respect from the
audience.
The final lines of the poem convey the true courage of the speaker. Woe to the one / who
must suffer longing for a loved one (52-53). This conclusion exemplifies the power of the

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wifes language. It is the lesson learned as a result of her accumulated hardships. The rest of the
poem, from the description of her current situation, to the biddings of misfortune for her beloved,
all serve as buildup to this final conviction. The wife, in all of her sufferings, offers a message to
benefit those hearing her tale, as well as the love that wronged her. This ties together the point of
the wifes learnings.
Some critics consider the wife as submissive and genteel, using gnomic wisdom to look
forward to those who will suffer in the future as a result of dissolved love (Straus, 276). Other
critics, such as Niles, view the wife as vengeful and vindictive. Niles promotes the voice of the
wife as one perpetually cursing the head of the man that banished her. As Straus describes the
separate viewpoints of the poem:
The speaker tells the listener how things are, in the case of asserting, or how things will
be, in the case of predicting. In both cases the speaker chooses words to fit her vision of
the world. Furthermore, successfully uttering a prediction involves being fairly certain
that what is predicted will in fact come true. (276).
Straus makes it clear that the speaker is utilizing this strong tone with the hope that her
intentions will come true. For the wife, this is not a self-pitying vent session. She longs for the
curses to come true. She goes on to explain the wifes true strength in words:
Cursing, on the other hand, expresses the speakers wish or desire. The speaker who
curses tells the listener how she wants things to be; she is ordering the world to
correspond to her words Furthermore, it is perfectly consistent for the speaker to end
her story by wishing on others the unhappiness which she has described in such powerful
tones throughout the poem (276).

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The common convention of intentional ambiguity in Old English poetry presents other
possible interpretations of the poems. Poets relied on obscure subject matter to challenge readers.
The presented situation within poems often had no clear resolution. The Wifes Lament adheres to
this convention, in that the poem can be interpreted, even by current standards, as purposefully
elusive. For this reason, the author might have relied on vagueness, leaving the poem open for
disreputable interpretations. As Niles suggests, I would suggest that the unknown author of
The Wifes Lament may have been aware of how that poem flirts with a situation that many
readers, especially devout Christians and biological males, are likely to find disconcerting. The
author may have wished to defuse the poems explosive potential by leaving the door open to
different responses. (1146). Old English Poetry set a standard for literature to stimulate more
questions than answers.
In examining the poem, it should be noted that the wife does not once pine for the return
to her past position of marriage and high status. While she is forced to remain in a dark, gloomy
exile, she does not grovel for mercy from her lord and his kinsmen. Instead, she resorts to using
her words to remain empowered. This detail signifies the true independence of the wife. Coming
from high status, it was a great dishonor to be stripped of nobility, because status was essential to
the Anglo-Saxon period. On some level, the wife is satisfied enough in her current state of
banishment that she does not wish to return to her former position. While she expresses sadness
throughout the poem, the speaker conveys more important emotions. For example, she expresses
power in the curse that she directs at her former lover. She conveys strength in the way she does
not articulate a desire to return to her former status. For this reason, calling the poem a lament
seems to narrow the poem. The title, while partially justified, does not adequately represent the
wife.

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The wife, in all of her misfortune should not be regarded with pity. Instead, the power she
maintains should be recognized in her intimate self-disclosure. She cannot be viewed as a
passive spectator, simply recollecting the recent events she has been exposed to. Instead, the
speaker finds resilience in her words by way of telling her story from her point of view.
Additionally, the fact that the wife does not yearn for her former life shows her willfulness in her
current state of dark exile. Her story, if read closely, provides an anthropological look at a
tenacious woman. As Marilynn Desmond explains in her article The Voice of Exile: Feminist
Literary History and the Anonymous Anglo-Saxon Elegy, Indeed, the standard literary
histories for the Anglo-Saxon period do little to acknowledge the presence and tremendous
importance of women in Anglo-Saxon culture, as authors, characters, or voices. (575). The
speaker of The Wifes Lament provides a rare, strong voice for women. The poem is a glimpse
into the elevated oppression of women in the heroically-driven field of Old English literature.

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References
Brookbanks, Jennifer. "The Participation of Women in the Anglo-Saxon World: Judith and The
Wife's Lament." INNERVATE 1 (2008-2009): 25-32. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
Desmond, Marilynn. "The Voice of Exile: Feminist Literary History and the Anonymous AngloSaxon Elegy." Chicago Journals 16.3 (1990): 572-90. JSTOR.org. Web. 3 Mar. 2014.
Greenfield, Stanley B. "The Wife's Lament Reconsidered." PMLA 68.4 (1953): 90712.JSTOR.org. Web. 01 Mar. 2014.
Niles, John D. "The Problem of the Ending of the Wife's "Lament"" Speculum 78.4 (2003): 1107150. JSTOR.org. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.
Straus, Barrie R. "Women's Words as Weapons: Speech as Action in "The Wife's Lament""Texas
Studies in Literature and Language 23.2 (1981): 268-85. JSTOR.org. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
The Wifes Lament. Translated by Liuzza, R.M.