A Historical and Literary Reflection on the Struggle Between Church, Society, and Self
The Duality of Meaning in “The Wife’s Lament” and William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 144: Two loves I have of comfort and despair”
***Originally submitted 29 November 2019 to Dr Jaqueline Jenkins and Mr Patrick Powers, in part for credit, for ENGL 305: Literature Before 1700 at the University of Calgary***
***Not only is this essay subject to copyright, but any unauthorized use without citation is considered academic misconduct (plagiarism). You are welcome to consult this paper if you provide the appropriate citation(s)***
The verse from Isaiah 41:10, “Fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand” is one of the most definitive summations of the Catholic faith (The Holy Bible, New International Version 1984). The promise of the Catholic Church is salvation upon repentance or the self-acknowledgement of sin. Or in other words, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out” (Acts 3:19 The Holy Bible, New International Version 1984). Such promises ultimately converge into what Stillingfleet calls “the Church’s way of recanting what it preaches, so that man can remain man”. Upon historical analysis of the religious influence of authority and close reading of the following works, it becomes clear that explicating the speakers of “The Wife’s Lament” and “Sonnet 144: Two loves I have of comfort and despair” demonstrates the complex interrelationship between natural human desires and religious expectations. As these natural desires reflect society, it can be said more specifically that it becomes apparent the duality of meaning in these works allows for an effective representation of how the ideas of society and church clash throughout history. By understanding this fundamental conflict as a progression of both history and literature, we are offered greater insight into the climate these works were written in; thereby highlighting how the Catholic Church directly and negatively influenced society, and by extension literature, in England’s history.
To discuss this, the literal readings of each poem must first be acknowledged, before moving onto the more nuanced and ‘dual’ meanings of these works. It should first be noted that both poems act as a sort of elegiac ode for a lover. These musings are complimented by religious imagery and are seemingly self-pitying in nature. Largely speaking, these poems are dictated from the speaker’s intimate perspective, with a heavy emphasis on their emotive understanding of the action.
For example, “The Wife’s Lament” describes “a home without joy” (32) and how “that man’s kinsmen began to think in secret they would separate us” (11 – 12) as she laments over the departure of her lord – or husband. Yet the speaker opens by emphasizing her own emotions, as she “[makes] this song of myself” (1) and describes “my own life’s journey” (2). In doing so, the speaker focalizes the action of the poem as non-objective and is influenced by the “torment of [her] exile” (5). This ‘colouring’ of perspective is further evidenced in her reference to the “sad-minded” which – as per the footnote – describes the double-faced nature of the world and her cursed place within it (42). Therefore, the speaker here is lamenting not necessarily for her lover, but rather for herself, now that her lover has departed. The title then – despite being anachronistic – serves as a playful pun to arrive at its multiple meanings, both as the wife’s lament for self and the wife’s lament for her lover.
Similarly, “Sonnet 144: Two loves I have of comfort and despair” also portrays the speaker’s struggle in reconciling their love. Instead of distance, however, there is instead an element of unrequited love, as the speaker declares “worser spirit a woman coloured ill” (4) as his love is “wooing his purity with her foul pride” (8). The speaker describes his love in this manner as she is his “angel […] turn’d fiend” (9) when she is being “both [comfort and despair as a …] friend” (11). To that end, the sonnet references the comfort and despair of his love being his friend – the implication being that the two labels are mutually exclusive, and therefore reflective of a form of unrequited love. Within this sonnet, the speaker does not focalize the narrative from his perspective, but rather his diction is indicative of a spiteful nature. Adjectives such as “ill” (4), “evil” (5) and “devil” (6) are utilized in rapid succession to highlight the dissonance the speaker has between their love and the emotions their love evokes. Yet the speaker also describes how his “saint [becomes] a devil” (7) demonstrating he also acknowledges the imperfection of self. Together, the speaker similarly has a “sad-[mind]” towards the dual nature of the world and his curse of love (“The Wife’s Lament” 42).
Perhaps more intriguing is the nuance of religious allusions and symbolism throughout both poems, which offer contrary narrative action. “The Wife’s Lament” transforms from an elegy of love and self-pity into one of God, sin, and repentance. “Sonnet 144: Two loves I have of comfort and despair” undergoes a metamorphosis into a vengeful crusade against temptation and sin. In both these cases, the poem’s speakers diverge from discussing emotive responses from a personal perspective, instead, shifting into how their respective lovers have led them to sin, temptation, and – a figurative – oblivion.
“The Wife’s Lament” exhibits this through the speaker’s discussion of the “lord” (6) and the various ways the speaker progresses through the descent into “this earth-cave” (36) – a euphemism for hell. Although the “lord” simultaneously refers to both the lover and God, there is one vital line which further the religious interpretation of “lord” (6). The speaker declares that “My lord commanded me to live with him here” (15) which is annotated with the footnote “Or, ‘take up a dwelling in a grove’ or ‘live in a (pagan shrine)”. Through the reference to the pagan shrine, the altar set for prayer and witchcraft, there is a direct allusion to the scripture from Deuteronomy 12, 26 “You may [only come] to the place that the Lord will choose […] on the altar of the Lord your God.” Bearing this forward, the “longing seized me” (14) and her apparent “longings” (41) become confessions of temptation. Her lover’s “[concealment of] his mind, plotting murder/ with a smiling face” (20 – 21) is a depiction of bloodlust, in direct defiance of God and the ten commandments – thou shalt not kill. This lover is slandered further as he “often fiercely seized me” (33) in perturbed violence and implied temptation and sin. The mention of the “oak tree” (28 and 36) alludes to its symbol for strength, morale, resistance, and knowledge – yet is juxtaposed with the “earthen cave”, “barrow” (28) and “earth cave” (36). By placing the oak tree in hell, the embodiment of strength, morale, resistance, and knowledge is effectively shown to be corrupted and destroyed – the implication being that this is a direct or indirect result of her and her lover’s sins. To this, she repents as she “weeps for all my exiles” (38) – likely the exile from heaven and God’s garden – in her “sad-minded” (42) and “sorrowful mind” (51). Thus, she remarks that there is “woe to the one/ who must suffer longing for a loved one” (52 – 53) as it is pitifully sad that one must undergo such a fate of sinful temptation.
“Sonnet 144: Two loves I have of comfort and despair” is more overt in its religious allusions but offers nuance in the meaning of these descriptions. The speaker’s statements can be seen as a sort of frustration with his emotions, but also can be seen as a frustration with the dissonance between his temptations and his religious obligation. When the speaker declares that the “worser spirit a woman coloured ill” (4) he also declares that she is “[corrupting] my saint to be a devil” (7). She tempts his “better angel from [his] side” (6) and “wooing his purity with foul pride” (8). Therefore, the speaker describes how his love has led him to sinful temptation, how she acts as the devil’s agent, and how his angels struggle over the path to follow. Something he is unable to reconcile as he “[lives] in doubt, / Till [his] bad angel fire [his] good one out” (13 – 14). He does acknowledge he will be soon won “to hell” (6) and the overarching idea that he is both in comfort and despair highlights his acknowledgement of his sinful ways. In doing so, he recognizes the struggle before him and the dilemma that is posed, therefore leading him to declare in frustration how his love may be “a devil” (7).
Having established this, we must then contextualize these ideas with historical analysis to allow for an understanding of the climate which birthed these works. From this, we can gain an understanding of the trajectory of English history as a whole – literary and otherwise. In Early Modern England, religious authority frequently led to equivocated social construction in “perturbed philosophy and cognition” (Butler 135). According to Butler, Henry the VIII’s annulments with the Catholic Church and the following English Reformation were seemingly overdue on a trajectory of “historical abuses of power by the Church” (136). In particular, Butler summarizes the many ways in which the Church was – and continues to be – antiquated in its creed, directly conflicting with the “natural progression of humanity” (136). This came to a head with King Henry’s desire to depart from tradition, and how subsequently, the homeostatic relationship between church and man reached its threshold. This is evidenced in the duality of the poem’s arguments, and how the speakers can be both self-critical as well as self-pitying. “The Journey of a Book: Bartholomew the Englishman and the Properties of Things” offers similar thoughts on the church’s authority. Beyond the misogyny of the biblical division of man and woman, there is also the description of desire and temptation as sin – even within the confines of marriage. It is therefore that ideas such as “The Wife’s Lament” and the speaker’s loath and departure from God lead to authority as a means of property – of man over woman. This is reinforced by Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 144: Two loves I have of comfort and despair” which similarly places the blame of both unrequited love and sinful temptation on the woman – going so far as to insinuate the devil’s hand. The recurring duality then serves as a sobering idea, that restricts the ‘incorrect’ preaching of the church with a semblance of the ‘natural order of humanity’. To that end, “The Journey of a Book: Bartholomew the Englishman and the Properties of Things” states that there are harmful and negative mechanisms stretching from Medieval England through the present, and poses that salvation might only be offered by embracing God in supposed ‘bad faith’ (as a matter of speaking and not in reference to Camus). In other words, despite the struggle that is undertaken between human desire and religion, the ultimate payoff of promised salvation – regardless of its validity – can serve as a redeeming and satisfying answer to all doubts and woes of man and woman alike. Therefore, it is in this manner that the “The Journey of a Book: Bartholomew the Englishman and the Properties of Things” argues religion was and should continue to be embraced. It is from this understanding that the context of British and English religion impacts literature – that literary works, religion, philosophy and other such disciplines fundamentally revolve around the central human question of morality. “The Wife’s Lament” and “Sonnet 144: Two loves I have of comfort and despair” therefore represent a snapshot of history’s reflective understandings of morality and the continual struggle between church, society, and self.
When contrasting the literal and nuanced figurative meanings of “The Wife’s Lament” and “Sonnet 144: Two loves I have of comfort and despair” it becomes evident there is a duality of ideas in each work. This duality is enriched by the religious allusions and symbolism found throughout each poem, ultimately offering insight into English history. The manifestation of this insight is the relationship and the ensuing conflict between natural human emotions and religious conceptions. As the duality represents this conflict, it is clear the imposing figure of the Catholic Church has had a lasting impact on English history and is further evidenced in English literature.
By understanding this complex interrelationship, we can gain insight into how literature is a physical and metaphysical relic of history. Taking this forward with further study, this insight can also offer questions to historical understandings of religion, society, and identity. These questions must be answered with a variety of anthropological, philosophical, theological and historical perspectives, but will remain incomplete without literary insight (Stilingfleet). It is, for this reason that understanding this relationship is vital to understanding the largest questions of all: the definitions, purpose, and downfalls of church, society, and self.
Works Cited
Black, Joseph, et al. The Broadview Anthology of British Literature One-Volume Compact Edition. Broadview Press, 2015, pp. 593.
Butler, Todd Wayne. “Equivocation, Cognition, and Political Authority in Early Modern England.” Texas Studies in Literature and Language, vol. 54, no. 1, 2012, pp. 132–154.
The Holy Bible, New International Version. Grand Rapids: Zondervan House, 1984. Print.
“‘Properties’, Salvation and Social Order in Late-Medieval England.” The Journey of a Book: Bartholomew the Englishman and the Properties of Things, ANU E Press, Canberra, 2007, p. 77.
Shakespeare, William. “Sonnet 144: Two loves I have of comfort and despair.” The Broadview Anthology of British Literature One-Volume Compact Edition. Black, Joseph, et al. Broadview Press, 2015, pp. 593.
Stillingfleet, Edward. A Vindication of the Answer to Some Late Papers Concerning the Unity and Authority of the Catholic Church, and the Reformation of the Church of England. Printed for Richard Chiswell ..., 1687
“The Wife’s Lament.” Arts UWaterloo. Excerpt from The Exeter Book translated by R.M. Liuzza. The University of Waterloo. arts.uwaterloo.ca/~rtierney/TheWifesLament.pdf
