While reading about Dorothy Wordsworth, what stood out to me the most was her relationship with her brother. The text describes her and William as being very close. I think that is quite the understatement! It made me wonder how far their relationship truly went. The text lists out all the attributes which Dorothy offers her brother including “companion” and “encourager” which may seem more like a significant other then a wife. (1617) We also learn that when William courted and eventually marries their mutual childhood friend Mary, it was really more of a marriage between the three. When William and Mary had children, Dorothy was more then an aunt but a third parent to the kids. Having five siblings I understand how deep a relationship between siblings can be, however I feel that William and Dorothy cross this barrier of sibling love.
Another aspect of their relationship which I found interesting was how Dorothy always seemed to hide in her brothers shadows. Their relationship seems to me a little more one sided on her end. She seems to continually give to him and never desires much in return. It seems strange to me how she plays off her own writing talent in order to not challenge her brother’s success. It would be easy to assume that William might provoke this in Dorothy; however, that is not the case. William publishes some of his sister’s work and encourages her writing career. It struck me how she even identified herself only as Williams sister. She even tries to defend her writing as only to please William. In truth Dorothy has an extraordinary talent!
I especially enjoyed reading “The Grasmere Journals” which allowed readers to get an inner view of her daily life. These also helped depict her relationship with William. What I appreciated about Dorothy’s writing was how personal it was and how much of herself she revealed in all of her work. Her poem “Thoughts on my Sick-bed” was exceptionally moving and helped me to realize what she was feeling, and helped me to picture what she was imagining. The imagery Dorothy creates in her work is unmatchable! The following verse from the poem is one example of how she paints out a picture of what she sees with words:
“The violet betrayed by its noiseless breath,
The daffodil dancing in the breeze,
The caroling thrush on his naked perch
Towering above the budding trees”
Dorothy makes it easy for readers to enter her life and see her struggles. She allows her audience to understand the era. Her modesty in her writing interests me, because quite honestly I preferred her writings above her brother’s work.
3 comments:
Mary Beth,
Very interesting comments on and reactions to Dorothy Wordsworth. While I don't think there was ever any incestuous relationship between Dorothy and William, it was definitely closer than is the case for most siblings!
Your posting is most successful when you quote and discuss specific passages from the readings. It takes a little while, though, for you to get past the summaries and generalizations and to get to the quotations and analysis; try to get there sooner in subsequent postings.
Mary Beth,
I love the fact that you are daring enough to address the relationship of Dorothy and William! I am finding that people in our class are really owning the texts and the biographies and interpreting them through the lense of "right now."
This was my favorite part of what you had to say: The imagery Dorothy creates in her work is unmatchable! The following verse from the poem is one example of how she paints out a picture of what she sees with words:
“The violet betrayed by its
noiseless breath,
The daffodil dancing in the
breeze,
The caroling thrush on his
naked perch
Towering above the budding
trees”
Dorothy makes it easy for readers to enter her life and see her struggles. She allows her audience to understand the era. Her modesty in her writing interests me, because quite honestly I preferred her writings above her brother’s work.
Again, quite bold in saying that her writings are unmatchable! Who knows where Dorothy would be in the cannon of literature had she only had your boldness?
Kyle McNease
Mary Beth, I too like that you were brave enough to ask the question on the relationship. I too like the way that Dorothy was able to "paints out a picture of what she sees with words." I love the way that you worded that. I think that this was a gift she shared with William. I think it is great that he encouraged her so much. I do not think that there was any type of incestuous relationship, but agree that it would be odd for our time. I agree that she hid in his shadows, but think that it was her fault. I refuse to do things if I think my brother is better at them. He makes me look bad! I don't think the relationship was one sided in the same direction as you do because she was sick and he and his wife had to care for her for years. What did she really do for him?
Post a Comment