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TREATMENT OF WOMEN IN SECOND CLASS CITIZEN

The novel deals with gender discrimination in a chauvinist society, Nigeria. Culturally and traditionally, women are relegated to the background. This is because in a patriarchal society they are seen as objects. They can only be seen but nit heard. This, therefore, results in some males treating them negatively. However, women have positive attributes. The female characters in the novel are treated rather dishonourably. Particular reference can be made to  Adah, who is the female protagonist, works as a librarian assistant and is breadwinner whether she desires or not. She is abused by her husband. Francis beats her at the slightest provocation that attracts the attention of the Nobles and also Mr Okafor who followed her home to beg her husband when she left home after a beating. Adah provides for her family and cares for her children while Francis does nothing. Ma, Adah’s mother, who is blamed for Adah’s well executed sneaking into the classroom. Ma is given a bowl of Garri to drink. Ma is also given in marriage to Pa's younger brother after he dies. Trudy, who is a child minder and cares for Adah’s children in the UK is taken advantage of by Francis. Trudy and Francis has sexual relationship together. Western education is only preserve for males. So Adah always takes Boy, her younger brother to school at Ladi-Lak but she never goes to school herself because her parents wont send her. It is believed that education is not ment for girls. Adah initiates to start schooling as she stole into Mr Cole’s class, their neighbour when her Ma is engrossed in talk with her visitor. Submission  of wives to their husbands even extending this to their families. Development of wives onto siblings of  their late husbands.  Adah sponsors and takes care of both Francis’ education in the UK and his family (2 sisters-in-law and parents-in-law) in Nigeria. This decision is taken by Pa, Francis’ father. Adah solely takes care of her marital home (bears the children maintenance and Francis’ school expenses. Adah’s mother is physically and emotionally abused by the police for child (Adah) neglect. Adah is emotionally, psychologically and physically abused by Francis in the UK; Adah’s marriage certificate, her passport, and the children’s birth certificates are burnt by Francis. This happens after Adah moves out of their apartment when she could no longer bear Francis manly behaviours after the burnt of her manuscript. Francis us dragged to court for stalking and burns the marriage certificate, her passport and the children birth certificate to hide evidence in court. Adah resists tradition as Francis exerts it through seeking birth control. She secretly forges his signature on the family planning form in order for the medical officers to attend to her. Even then the cultural obligation still works against the female gender. 

ADAH’S GROWTH IN CONFIDENCE AND DETERMINATION IN PURSUIT OF HER DREAMS.

The novel explores the theme of gender discrimination and its negative effects on women. In the novel, a young woman. Adah, struggles against various forms of discrimination in her male-dominated society. Adah is an ordinary Igbo girl growing up in Nigeria. Her father dies when she is still young: her dream of pursuing education nearly shattered. She finds support from her paternal uncle to continue. She is denied education simply because she is a girl. She “enrolls” herself in school. This happens after she wanders away from her mother and goes into Mr Cole's class,  her neighbour. Ma is punished for child neglect by the police and she was later enrolled in Ladi-Lak Institute after the stunt she pulled. She accepts to marry Francis at a very early age and becomes a mother in her teens. She works to support her husband and children. She aspires to travel abroad in the hope of a better life. She is inspired by the warm welcome given to Lawyer Nweze after his return from the UK. She consents to Francis leaving alone to study abroad. She sponsors Francis to the UK to study accounting and later joins him with her two children. She experiences  a very hostile weather,  drastically different from the bright and sunny weather back home. Francis is lazy and abusive towards her. She finds a job and works to support her husband’ schooling and her children. She experiences racial discrimination. This is revealed in her search for accommodation as they were rejected for being blacks.She receives intolerance from other Nigerians of different ethnic background. Firstly for securing a white man's job instead of factory jobs meant for Second Class citizens like her. And secondly for refusing to give her children away to foster parents. Adah is an Igbo who is not put down when Francis burns her manuscript. She stands up to Francis over his affair with Trudy and his sexual harassment of other women in their rented apartment.  Already saddled with 4 children, she decides to practice birth control but was met with stiff resistance from Francis who beats her when he finds out she is trying to control her birth. She decides to be a writer. She learns very early in life that with determination she can survive on her own. Adah’s growth in confidence (searches for accommodation). She never gives up on her dreams. Against all odds, she has moved her family to the UK.  When she realizes that her marriage is proving to be a stumbling block in her life, she leaves Francis and decides on divorce. 

THE IMPORTANCE OF SETTING IN THE WUTHERING HEIGHTS

 The theme of love and revenge is played out in the relationship between Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. Examination of the settings reveals traditional links between the push and pull of the theme. The setting of an event or place may be described as ‘location’. Other types of setting can be described in literary terminology, such as time-setting.  The setting in these locations gives an opportunity to the writer to compare and contrast symbolically producing a powerful plot built on suspense. The description of  Wuthering Heights gives the location a symbolic setting. Wuthering Heights ‘being a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather’.

 The inhabitants have fiery passions and are mostly violent in nature expressing strong and passionate feelings for one another both in love and in hate. It is isolated in that it is on top of a hill and surrounded by moorland, the nearest house. Thrushcross Grange, is four miles away from Wuthering Heights and the route is so precarious that numerous characters get lost when walking between the two in treacherous weather.  Thrushcross Grange described as ‘a splendid place carpeted with cuisine’ unlike Wuthering Heights, it has light, which is a metaphor for the more inviting, more pleasant atmosphere. The residents are calm even in hate, and well behaved. Wuthering Heights has Influences on its characters. The inhabitants are stormy and wild. For instance,  Hindley beats Heathcliff, the adopted, ‘dark-skinned gypsy’ as a revenge. Hindley Earnshaw hits Heathcliff with an iron weight. Heathcliff’s violent behaviour results from Hindley’s overbearing treatment. Heathcliff becomes fond of drunken rags and he derives joy from the sight of Hindley coming home drunk. Hindley acts with wild passion, oftentimes, resulting in violence. 

 Thrushcross Grange setting also has its influence on its characters. Just as the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights parallel their home, so too do the inhabitants of Thrushcross Grange. They are calm, leisurely and refined, Edgar and Isabella Linton both grew up at Thrushcross Grange as calm and reposed children. Catherine is forced to stay at Thrushcross Grange when Skuller, the Linton’s dog bites her. This serenity of the place transforms her into a much calmer aid and more mannerly person. After Catherine’s death, Edgar cares for young Cathy and educates her. 

The time Setting of the novel is set in the nineteenth century in the middle of the Industrial Revolution. Events related to the revolution took place in distant places but the major characters are affected, even if indirectly, Heathcliff is picked up in Liverpool, a city which, as a result of the Industrial Revolution, is so busy that people no longer care for each other. The Industrial Revolution could also account for Heathcliff’s sudden riches. The setting of Wuthering Heights has its Significances. The winds which blow across the moors during the storms may represent the conflicts which occur so often in Wuthering Heights between the characters, e.g. Heathcliff and Catherine and also Hindley and Heathcliff. The settings lend themselves to the supematural aspects of a Gothic novel (Catherine’s appearance at Lockwood’s window). They create a sense of horror and act as a sanctuary, The setting is instrumental to the readers understanding of the character by conveying their attitudes and emotions which are tied to different places throughout the novel. (v) Bronte uses setting to establish contrast, and the wild moors act as a barrier differentiating the two. 

THE NARRATIVE DEVICES IN WUTHERING HEIGHTS

Narrative device is the writing technique an author can use to present his story. It comprises of tone, point of view contrast irony (dramatic and situational) fore shadowing multi-narrator technique, non-chronological plotting, symbolism etc. 

The following narrative techniques used are: 

Point of view — the principal characters Mr. Lockwood, the tenant and Nelly Dean are: First person narrators because they are also involved in the event. It’s also used omniscient narration point of view. 

Use of contrast - These abound e.g. the fireless grate at Thrushcross Grange is contrasted with racing fire at Wuthering Heights in terms of location, Wuthering Heights is located on a hill while Thrushcross Grange is situated in a valley a distance of four miles apart. There is contrast in the socio economic status of the master/mistresses of the two manor houses e.g Mr & Mrs Linton’s are wealthier and more comfortable than Mr & Mrs Earnshaw Catherine and Healthchff see through the corridor of Thrushcross Grange and a vision of life and luxury. There is contrast in the personality of Catherine and Isabella, Healthcliff and Edgar, Linton Herocliff and Hareton, W. Heights character are seen as offsprings of storm while those in Thrushcross Grange are seen as offspring of calm. Other contrasts are the difference between Good and Evil, Love and Obsession of the characters. 

Foreshadowing - Heathcliff’s seizure of Hindley's colt in their teens foreshadows the eventual seizure of his father's property. The deprivation of Hlindley’s fatherly love results in his frustration and alcoholism, The variation in Cathy’s love relationship with Linton and Earnshaw foreshadows her unhappy life thereafter, 

A Dramatic Irony - Heathcliff eavesdropping Catherine/Nelly Dean’s conversation, the audience knows she would never marry Healthcliff whom she is considered too low ‘beneath’ her grade. Isabella's love for Heathcliff. 

Symbolism - The titles "Wuthenng Heights,” Thrushcross Grange, the Moors are all symbolic of the evils in the society, The mother too is symbolic. The gothic nature in the novel symbolizes the past dark side of man and emotions. 6. Use of flashback - The whole story is an example of flashback. It makes reference to the period between 1501 - 1803 when Lockwood rent the apartment and now the focus in the novel. 

5. Epistolaric method - The letter written to Nelly Dean by Isabella’s show that her marriage to Heathcliff is a great error - showing the mind of Isabella to realism of love. 

Other devices are Irony, dreams, multiple narrators, etc.

 WAEC AND NECO QUESTIONS: THE ROLE RACE PLAYED IN THE LIVING STANDARD OF THE OFILIS AND COMPARISON OF ADAH AND FRANCIS IN SECOND CLASS CITIZEN

 THE ROLE RACE PLAYED TO DAMPEN THE LIVING STANDARD OF THE OFILIS 

The Ofilis are Ada’s family members i.e. Pa, Ma, Boy and Adah. The role race plays can be seen through Ada’s stay in England. Adah ‘Ofilis’ expectations in life are high and she pursues them through all odds. Born at the time when male children are held in high esteem, her birth is not recorded and her education is not taken seriously. She is a disappointment to both her parents and her society. She arrives at a time everyone was expecting a boy. With determination Adah gets through primary and secondary education after which she marries and gets a well paid job as a Librarian in the American Consulate. Her zeal to travel to United Kingdom is engineered by the rousing welcome given to lawyer Nweze on his return from the UK. “But she made a secret vow to herself that she would go to United Kingdom one day” p17. Adah also want to be referred to as ‘been to'.  She sells the idea to her husband, Francis who goes there first to study accounting and he is later joined by Adah and their two children Titi and Vicky that she has in Nigeria. 

The role race played is so pronounced in United Kingdom that immigrants especially blacks are underrated. Francis tells Adah on her arrival in England ‘you may be living like an elite but the day you land in England, you are a second-class citizen’. p43. Racism limits the blacks. For example, places like high-brow restaurants on Finchley Road are not places for blacks p63. 

For a black to secure accommodation, it is a herculean task. When Adah is disgusted by the accommodation of Francis, he tells her “this is the best I can do. You see accommodation is very short in London especially for black people... We are all blacks, all coloured, and the only houses we can get are horrors like these” p41. Blacks are also expected to foster their children p50. Adah faces a lot of criticism and hatred for making her children live in the same apartment with her. This is also a major reason why they were evicted from their house and rendered to seek fresh accommodation.  Most black women in England work in factories which is considered suitable for housewives especially black. Adah however decides not to bring herself so low but seeks job as a librarian which she gets after some time. In England, Adah gets to know that blacks are inferior and that “her colour was something she was supposed to be ashamed of” p76.

When Francis and Adah have to leave their first accommodation, they contend with serous discrimination before they get another one because they are black. In some places where there are vacant rooms, “nearly all the notices had sorry no coloured” on them p76. Their search for accommodation at Hewley Street is a great embarrassment to their being. 

The land lady never thought them to be the black because Adah closes her noise to talk on phone. And they also chose to go see the Landlady at night so that their colour would blend with the night. On citing them, the woman loses her voice that “at first, Adah thought the woman was about to have an epileptic seizure” p84. When she eventually regains her voice, she tells them that the rooms have been taken and points them to some of waste land across the road where no houses exist. This is an outright rejection because they are black. 

When Vicky, Adah’s child becomes sick as a result of bed-bug bite on Christmas day, the white doctor called upon fails to come to attend to Vicky mainly because he is a black child. It is a Chinese doctor who is also considered a second class that attends to him P149. 

In England, Titi, Adah’s first child is noticed to be verbally numbed because of fear of being beaten with belt by her father if she attempts to speak Yoruba which she is fluent in. Titi tells her friend who teases her in Yoruba “Don’t talk to me, my dad will cane me with belt if I speak in Yoruba”. Here again, any other language apart from English makes somebody a second class citizen. 

Emecheta’s depiction of race in the novel is seen even amongst Nigerian immigrants abroad. Yoruba and Ibo people acquire sceptical and stereotyped ideas toward one another. (75) 

COMPARISON OF ADAH AND FRANCIS

In Second Class Citizen, the theme of marriage and the struggle for survival in a male dominated society is paramount in the novel. In Adah’s society, girls and women alike do not count. They were married off as willed. They could only be seen not heard. This theme plays in the relationship between Ada and Francis in their marriage as the couple differs on things that binds them together. 

 Ada and Francis are both of Igbo descent and are brought up in Lagos. They both travel abroad. Adah  is Boy’s sister Ada is the daughter of Pa and Ma. . She educates herself despite intimidating constraints. Adah forces herself to school as she stole into Mr Cole's class, her neighbour and this act caused her mother,  Ma to be punished for child negligence. She therefore joins Boy, her brother to attend Ladi-Lak institute. She never relented in pursuing education even after Pa dies and Ma is given away to any man. She stays with her maternal family and is only allowed to continue her education because they believe that the more she is educated the higher her bride price. She stole her Uncle Vincent money to pay for her scholarship form and got into Methodist Girls High School. She gets job at the American Library Consulate and marries Francis early. Francis is a young man aspiring to become an accountant. He and Ada marry rather early. He proceeds to the UK to pursue his accounting ambition with the support of his wife. 

 Adah proves to be hardworking while Francis in downright lazy. Adah secures job as a Librarian in the UK even when other blacks think she should only take up factory job. Francis does nothing but claims to be studying only to fail his exams over and over  again. Adah is sensitive and affectionate but her husband is rather opportunistic, insensitive and selfish. Adah takes care of the family’s expenses including Francis through her salary.  Adah is committed to the marriage, while Francis cares little about his wife and children. Francis refusal to look after the children while Adah is away at work makes Adah finds a minder. She takes her children to Trudy, the baby minder and takes them back home after work while Francis does nothing.

Francis plays the male chauvinist while Ada resists the oppression of male domination. Francis believes the man is the head of his wife. He believes the wife must be brought under the control of her husband. Francis burns the manuscript of Adah's story because he considers the story not worthy of her to be written. He kills Adah's “Brain child”. Adah moves out of the out with her children into a rented apartment. Francis attempts to force Adah back to him but she stood her ground. Adah respects the institution of marriage while Francis does not seem to comprehend the union of husband and wife. 

 While Francis regards marriage as all sex, Ada favours some control over and moderation in sex in the marriage. After the birth of Bubu, Adah goes for birth control measures. She forges Francis signature to apply for capping birth control measures. Francis gets to know of this and he beats her. She becomes pregnant again and gives birth to Dada. Adah sees children as gifts that should be cared for, protected and brought up in a disciplined mental and psychological regulation. She sees child upbringing as a mandatory parental responsibility that cannot be waived, relinquished or passed on to third parties. 

She is bent on getting a conducive accommodation that can help her nurse and raise the children. Francis is unconcerned about all these. Adah wants the best for her children while Francis does not care about them. 

 CHARACTER, ROLE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF LOCKWOOD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF WUTHERING HEIGHTS: WAEC AND NECO QUESTIONS

The novel deals with the upheavals within an upper middle class English society due to internal and external forces. These generate sub-themes like marriage, revenge, property ownership, superstition, love, betrayal.

The story of two families told from the point view of  second narrators. That is, Neally Dean and Mr Lockwood. The Lintons which include Mr and Mrs Linton, Edgar Linton and Isabella Linton live in Thrushcross grange while The Earnshaws which include Mr and Mrs Earnshaw, Catherine Earnshaw, Hindley Earnshaw and Heathcliff live in Wuthering Heights. Chaotic situations settle in the Earnshaw family after Mr Earnshaw brought home Heathcliff, a seven year old boy  from one of his business trips to Liverpool. Hindley despises Heathcliff because his father showered on Heathcliff the love and attention meant for him. This hatred made Him maltreat him later in life after the death of Mr Earnshaw as he took control of Wuthering Heights. This also altered the love that had existed between Heathcliff and Catherine in his absence.

The last straw that broke the camel's back was Catherine spending of few weeks at Thrushcross Grange after she was biting by a dog on the night she and Heathcliff went there on a mischievous adventure. She fell in love with Edgar Linton during her stay at Thrushcross grange and eventually gets married to him. Heathcliff who had left Wuthering after he overheard Catherine's conversation with Nelly Dean on her decision to marry Edgar over him came back after three years educated and rich and also to revenge all the wrong that has been done to him. Heathcliff eventually took control of Wuthering Heights from Hindley, marries Isabella Linton to get back at Edgar Linton for marrying his childhood love, Catherine. Heathcliff later leaves the marriage and does not care about his son, Heathcliff Linton whom Isabella had in London before she dies. Heathcliff does not also send Hareton, Hindley and Frances son to school just to get revenge.

Catherine Earnshaw gives birth to Cathy Linton and dies. Her death caused serious health issue to Edgar. Heathcliff's desire to become the owner of  Thrushcross Grange, what is due to Cathy Linton after Edgar- her father’s -death made him arranged a marriage between Cathy Linton and his son, Heathcliff Linton whom Isabella bore for him. But soon after their marriage, Heathcliff Linton dies. Cathy Linton reconciles with Hareton after the former mistaken him for a servant due to his shamble dressing and his inability to read and write. She tutors him how to read and write and they eventually get married. Both Hareton and Cathy Linton moved out of Wuthering Heights to Thrushcross Grange after the death of Heathcliff.

CHARACTER OF LOCKWOOD

Lockwood is a young London wealthy gentleman who comes to the Gimmerton countryside of England to spend a year at Thrushcross Grange. He rents a place of relaxation for himself at the old Linton estate. Thrushcross Grange from Heathcliff as a result of his adventurous nature. 

Lockwood is Heathcliff’s tenant at Thrushcross Grange. Heathcliff put up Thrushcross Grange for rent after the death of Edgar Linton and while Cathy Linton was living at Wuthering Heights after her marriage with Heathcliff Linton Lockwood is a narrator. He is a commentator, who provides a perspective of the narration. He is in Wuthering Heights to introduce himself to his landlord (Heathcliff) Lockwood is the narrator of the story of Wuthering Heights. The novel consists of his diary entries during a period of Heathcliff tenant and the records of the story he hears from Nelly Dean about all the character. He is a commentator, who provides a perspective of the narration, Lockwood is portrayed as a naive narrator, who is prone to making vain and amusing mistakes. He mistakes Cathy for Mrs Heathcliff even though it is clear to him that there was too great disparity between the ages of the parties to make it likely that they are man and wile. Lockwood is little more than a passive listener, confined to his bed with a cold for most of the novel, yet his impartial facade unsuccessfully hides his admiration for the second Catherine pg.5 He is conventional and outgoing. He is more sociable than Heathcliff who is reserve as he tries to compare his own attribute to Heathcliff. 

He is noisy, persistent in seeking the knowledge to eccentric character of his landlord. He is an accomplice well travelled bachelor who enjoys the company of happy ladies, but never makes commitment. Mr Lockwood’s character does not experience much change over the course of the text.  He spends the night at Wuthering Heights. On his second visit to his Landlord at Wuthering Heights, Lockwood could not return to Thrushcross Grange due to heavy snowfall that have cover his way back home. He pleads with Zillah, the servant at Wuthering Heights for a place to pass the night. Zillah leads him to the room that has been forbidden for everyone. He had an encounter with the ghost of Catherine in the room.

In the morning, Lockwood narrates his conversation with the ghost of Catherine and ran all the way home trembling. Heathcliff did not take Lockwood sleeping in Cathering room lightly. He is tormented once again over the loss of Catherine Earnshaw which is considered  unnatural. Heathcliff pines for Catherine. Heathcliff is violent in matters concerning Catherine. 

ROLES OF LOCKWOOD

Wuthering Heights He introduces himself to Heathcliff, as his new tenant, and expresses the hope that he Lockwood is a young gentleman who is the second hand narrator of the story of has not caused his landlord any inconvenience through his persistent soliciting to occupy Thrushcross Grange. . He makes two visits to his landlord. His purpose of first visit is to introduce himself and have an acquaintance with the landlord Heathcliff who lives at Wuthering Heights. 

The visit shows the unfriendly nature of both Wuthering Heights and its occupants. He is unfairly treated during his first visit and did not get to see his Landlord. He is not welcomed into Wuthering Heights. He is accused of stealing a Lantern by Joseph. His encounter with Catherin ghost in her old room gives him a terrifying experience about Wuthering Heights.

The second visit is based on his promise to visit Heathcliff on the next day. When Heathcliff arrives, he reproves Lockwood for walking in snowstorm to come and visit him just because of his promise to visit him since he is not ready to give him any guide to accompany him back to Thrushcross Grange. Lockwood insisted to spend the night at Wuthering Heights inspite of the hostile attitudes of the landlord and the inmates, Through Nelly Dean, Lockwood provides a key to unlock the details about Heathcliff and how he has become the owner of Thrushcross Grange. He learns of the circumstances of Heathcliff’s violent, vengeful nature and death. 

He takes much interest in the fittings and furniture with view, and his eyes on old guns and other kinds of arms makes him considers the house and it occupants as 

being at odds. through his comments, enquires, and reflection on judgements that we are introduced to the character, their histories and actions. 

SIGNIFICANCE OF LOCKWOOD’S VISITS TO WUTHERING HEIGHT

The visit introduces the reader to the power play or conflict in the household of Wuthering Heights. Lockwood visits Wuthering Heights at a time Cathy Linton had been forced to marry Heathcliff Linton and  live in Wuthering Heights. Cathy had just lost his father and what is due to her is under Heathcliff's possession. A time Cathy is having a rough time with Hareton who had sworn not to talk to her again after she mistook him for a servant. 

Lockwood’s visit to Wuthering Heights also shows that Heathcliff has control over Cathy and he disdains Hareton with a passion. He controls Cathy and rebukes her for being stubborn but would never hit her because he sees her in Catherine. Cathy's inheritance is in Heathcliff’s possession having forced her to marry his son who dies shortly after the marriage. His dislike for Hareton is borne out of revenge. Hareton's father, Hindley Earnshaw maltreats Hearhcliff when he returns from London with his wife, Frances after the death of his father and to take over the control of Wuthering Heights. He makes Heathcliff work as a servant even though he was adopted by his father. Heathcliff therefore refuses to send Hareton to school as the guardian after the death of Hindley.

Lockwood's visit also portrayed Hareton  as being aggressive and uncouth because of his sensibility to his ‘ Status. Hareton becomes extremely angry after being called a servant. 

Lockwood was utterly disturbed in Wuthering Heights with the offensive behaviour of the inmates of the house. His relationship with Heathcliff and the occupants is suggestive of the unfriendliness. He is uncomfortable at Wuthering Heights for hostile atmosphere pervading the house. 

Lockwood narration provides vital information about Wuthering Heights. Useful historical information about Wuthering house is given. For instance, ‘1500’ and Hareton Earnshaw suggests was built and its owner respectively. 

Lockwood passing of the night on the weird dwelling that Wuthering Heights " represents. The dwelling reveals its gothic atmosphere. Lockwood’s cold disposition, foreshadows the unfriendliness, violent of Wuthering ° Heights. 

His weak attempt to win Catherine so as to protect his male ego is an expression of the male chauvinism tendency common then. The experience of Lockwood in late Catherine’s room where he is to pass the night revealed the character of late Catherine as not only as avid reader but a very attentive writer. 

 THEORY OF FEMINISM AND SECOND CLASS CITIZEN AS A FEMINIST NOVEL 

THEORY OF FEMINISM

Feminism can be defined as a shared contemplation and advocacy of equality between men and women. feminism, the belief in social, economic, and political equality of the sexes. Although largely originating in the West, feminism is manifested worldwide and is represented by various institutions committed to activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests.

The feminist theory sees its purpose in challenging the assessment of positions and experiences of women, as well as society and social interaction by male bias. It supports women’s rights as well as linked issues. Furthermore it criticises unequal social relations. The understanding of particular social behaviour, the awareness of male dominance and the observation of a situation through various angles and viewpoints have been achievements of the feminist theory.

The feminist perception is moreover divided into a variety of different approaches like the liberal and radical feminism.

Feminist theory considers the lived experience of any person/people, not just women, with an emphasis on oppression.  While there may not be a consensus on where feminist theory fits as a theory or paradigm, disruption of oppression is a core tenant of feminist work. As hooks (2000) states, “Simply put, feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression. 

Feminist theories that focus on gender inequality recognize that women's location in and experience of social situations are not only different but also unequal to men's.

Liberal feminists argue that women have the same capacity as men for moral reasoning and agency, but that patriarchy, particularly the sexist division of labour, has historically denied women the opportunity to express and practice this reasoning.

These dynamics serve to shove women into the private sphere of the household and to exclude them from full participation in public life. Liberal feminists point out that gender inequality exists for women in a heterosexual marriage and that women do not benefit from being married.

Indeed, these feminist theorists claim, married women have higher levels of stress than unmarried women and married men. Therefore, the sexual division of labour in both the public and private spheres needs to be altered for women to achieve equality in marriage 

Radical feminists argue that being a woman is a positive thing in and of itself, but that this is not acknowledged in patriarchal societies where women are oppressed. They identify physical violence as being at the base of patriarchy, but they think that patriarchy can be defeated if women recognize their own value and strength, establish a sisterhood of trust with other women, confront oppression critically, and form female-based separatist networks in the private and public spheres.

Throughout most of Western history, women were confined to the domestic sphere, while public life was reserved for men. In medieval Europe, women were denied the right to own property, to study, or to participate in public life. At the end of the 19th century in France, they were still compelled to cover their heads in public, and, in parts of Germany, a husband still had the right to sell his wife. Even as late as the early 20th century, women could neither vote nor hold elective office in Europe and in most of the United States (where several territories and states granted women’s suffrage long before the federal government did so). Women were prevented from conducting business without a male representative, be it father, brother, husband, legal agent, or even son. Married women could not exercise control over their own children without the permission of their husbands. Moreover, women had little or no access to education and were barred from most professions. In some parts of the world, such restrictions on women continue today.

Feminist theories first emerged as early as 1794 in publications such as A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft, "The Changing Woman”  "Ain't I a Woman”  "Speech after Arrest for Illegal Voting”  and so on. "The Changing Woman" is a Navajo Myth that gave credit to a woman who, in the end, populated the world In 1851, Sojourner Truth addressed women's rights issues through her publication, "Ain't I a Woman". Sojourner Truth addressed the issue of women having limited rights due to men's flawed perception of women. Truth argued that if a woman of colour can perform tasks that were supposedly limited to men, then any woman of any colour could perform those same tasks. After her arrest for illegally voting, Susan B. Anthony gave a speech within court in which she addressed the issues of language within the constitution documented in her publication, "Speech after Arrest for Illegal voting" in 1872. Anthony questioned the authoritative principles of the constitution and its male-gendered language. She raised the question of why women are accountable to be punished under law but they cannot use the law for their own protection (women could not vote, own property, nor maintain custody of themselves in marriage). She also critiqued the constitution for its male-gendered language and questioned why women should have to abide by laws that do not specify women.

Feminist literary criticism is literary criticism informed by feminist theories or politics. Its history has been varied, from classic works of female authors such as George Eliot, Virginia Woolf, and Margaret Fuller to recent theoretical work in women's studies and gender studies by "third-wave"  

In the most general terms, feminist literary criticism before the 1970s was concerned with the politics of women's authorship and the representation of women's condition within literature Since the arrival of more complex conceptions of gender and subjectivity, feminist literary criticism has taken a variety of new routes. It has considered gender in the terms of Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis, as part of the deconstruction of existing power relations

SECOND CLASS CITIZEN AS A FEMINIST NOVEL

African society is characterized by widespread male supremacy. Patriarchy is a key topic when talking about feminism and gender issues, Feminism symbolizes the struggle for participation of women in a world literally dominated by men. 

Adah Ofili, the protagonist is the centre of discussion in the novel. Buchi Emecheta creates Adah as a feminist character. Female children are less relevant and of low value in Ibuza, therefore, they are not given equal opportunities as their male counterparts. Adah's younger brother, Boy is enrolled in Ladi-Lak institute while her parents does not care sending her to school. She had to fight her way through to school after pulling up a show in which got her mother, Ma punished. 

It is noted from the beginning of the novel that Adah “arrived when everyone was expecting and predicting a boy” (p17). Therefore, Adah becomes a disappointment to her society. In Adah's society, a female is considered a child while a male is like four children put together. This shows how the society places more premium on the male than on the female

Her parents failed to record her birth date because she is believed to be a disappointment to her immediate family and to her tribe. Similarly, Adah’s family is disappointed at the birth of Titi because “after a long and painful ordeal, she had come home to Francis bearing a girl. Everybody looked at her with “is that all?” look. (p116). The birth of Vicky, her second child serves as a compensation for disappointing her people in the first place 

However, Adah who is not moved by any form of gender bias, inequality and societal belief, braces the odds to challenge the status quo. As the story unfolds, Adah is excluded from education due to her sex. As for the girl, “a year or two would do as long as she can write her name and count”(p9). However, the expectation that “the longer she stays at school, the bigger the dowry the future husband will pay for her (SC. 1994, 2) cannot go unnoticed.” Adah stole into Mr Cole's class, her neighbour while Ma was busy chatting with her friend and she was warmly received. While she is in the class, Ma, had been arrested for child neglect and forced to drink a bowl of garri as punishment. This single act of Adah earned her the right to education as her brother, Boy.

When Pa dies, Adah still struggles to acquire education. She goes to live with Uncle Vincent who punishes her sorely for losing two shillings which she actually used to pay for the entrance form. Adah is allowed to continue with her education after the death of Pa, her father and after Ma goes to marry Pa’s brother because of the believe that the more she stays in school, the higher her bride price. The plan for Adah is to marry her off as soon as she knows how to read and write. She determines to further her education into Methodist Girls' High School through scholarship in which she has to tell lie that she has lost Vincent Money in order to pay for the scholarship entrance form. Meanwhile Boy, her younger brother is already a pupil at Ladi Lak institute, one of the most expensive schools in Lagos. 

In marriage, Adah discovers that Francis is an “African through and through” (p30). To Francis, “he was the mace, and he was rigid to tell her what she was going to do” (p30). In contrast to contemporary feminism, Adah’s feminist mindset first viewed marriage as escaping destitution. The home she aspires to have is not one there would be trouble.. but a good, quiet and peaceful air. Her father in law subtly shifts the family responsibilities to Adah even the training of Francis sisters. She fend for Francis family after she has sponsored him abroad to study accounting. She pays the school fees of Francis' siblings while working as a Librarian at the American Consulate.

When Adah joins her husband in the United Kingdom, she refuses to work as a factory worker as others did. She secures a white collar job that elevates her to an enviable status with her landlady and co tenants. She feeds her children and  Francis with her earnings as Francis refuses to get a job despite repeatedly failing his examinations. She gets a minder for her children when Francis says he could not look over them. 

In Britain, after the birth of Bubu, Francis did not show up at the hospital. Adah wore her hospital gown for days and no greeting cards for her from her husband having seen all other women in her maternity ward showered with so much care. 

But when she gave birth to Dada she provides herself all she needs to be happy like buying twenty greeting  cards and addressing them to herself to be presented to her while in hospital.  

 Francis steady sexual violence on Adah makes her resolve not to get pregnant for him again  and therefore goes for family planning which Francis finds out and beats her into submission.

Francis had illicit affair with Trudy, the baby minder and also sexually harassed other female co-tenants that the women put it into writing and mailed it to Adah's Library address which everyone eventually got to read about. 

Later, when her husband’s selfishness, apathy and coldness toward her grown increasingly pronounced in Britain, their marriage deteriorates. This is after series of fights that the Nobles had to settle. Her loneliness and frustration are ordered in this situation. In this respect, when Okpara, a stranger, comes to console her at the park and then accompany her home, Adah does not care because “her mind was crying for someone to listen to her, to understand her” (p157). 

‘ Adah who is also the breadwinner of the family, does not want to refer to her husband as “Sir” or treat him as a master. She is no longer afraid of him. Francis regrets bringing Adah to London and letting her mix with middle class English women. “They African Woman” soon know their right, (p70). 

To crown it all, Adah shows her feminist hot headedness by dissolving her marriage with Francis, taking custody of her children in a hired two-bedroom apartment. Adah’s determination to fulfil her dream of being a writer is frustrated by Francis burning her manuscript. (p. 185). This single act by Francis is the last straw that breaks the camel’s back. With the dissolution of the marriage, Adah prepares to assimilate into British culture while retaining her freedom and blackness. 

THE JOURNEY OF THE MAGI By Thomas Stearns Eliot 

‘A cold coming we had of it, Just the worst time of the year 

For a journey, and such a long journey: 

The ways deep and the weather sharp, 

The very dead of winter.’ 

And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory, 

Lying down in the melting snow. 

There were times we regretted 

The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces, 

And the silken girls bringing sherbet. 

Then the camel men cursing and grumbling and running away, and wanting their liquor and women, 

And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters, 

And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly 

And the villages dirty and charging high prices: 

A hard time we had of it. 

At the end we preferred to travel all night, 

Sleeping in snatches, 

With the voices singing in our ears, saying 

That this was all folly. 

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley, 

Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation; 

With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness, 

And three trees on the low sky, 

And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow. 

Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel, Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of siiver

And feet kicking the empty wine-skins. 

But there was no information, and so we continued 

And arriving at evening, not a moment too soon 

Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory. 

All this was a long time ago, I remember, 

And I would do it again, but set down 

This set down 

This: were we led all that way for 

Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly, 

We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death, 

But had thought they were different; this Birth was 

Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death. 

We returned to our places, these Kingdoms, 

But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation, 

With an alien people clutching their gods. 

I should be glad of another death. 

ABOUT THE POET

Thomas Stearns Eliot 26 September 1888 – 4 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor. Considered one of the 20th century's major poets, he is a central figure in English-language Modernist poetry.

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, to a prominent Boston Brahmin family, he moved to England in 1914 at the age of 25 and went on to settle, work, and marry there. He became a British citizen in 1927 at the age of 39, subsequently renouncing his American citizenship. 

Eliot first attracted widespread attention for his poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" in 1915, which, at the time of its publication, was considered outlandish. It was followed by "The Waste Land" (1922), "The Hollow Men" (1925), "Ash Wednesday" (1930), and Four Quartets (1943) He was also known for seven plays, particularly Murder in the Cathedral (1935) and The Cocktail Party (1949). He was awarded the 1948 Nobel Prize in Literature, "for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry". 

Thomas Sterns Elliot

BACKGROUND TO THE POEM

T.S. Eliot wrote this poem in 1927

1927 was the year in which T.S Eliot gained both British Citizenship and conversion to the Anglican Church. Thus the poem was inspired by Eliot’s spiritual life in the Church as well as other significant events in his life. T.S. Eliot took the poem’s opening lines from a sermon delivered by one Bishop Lancelot Andrews in 1622 – more than 300 years before.

SETTING OF THE POEM 

The poem has its setting in the different places, from where the Magi left for Bethlehem in Palestine, which was destination. The journey of the Magi its link to the Bible, where the three men (the Magi) travelled to see Jesus (the Messiah) who was born Bethlehem of Judea. 

SUMMARY OF THE POEM 

T.S. Eliot's ‘Journey of the Magi’ is a narrative account of the three wise men from the East in the Christian Bible. It recounts the hazardous effects encountered by the wise men (Magi) in search of the new born baby, Jesus.

The poem begins with the speaker listing out all of the troubles he and his men faced on their way to the manger in which Christ was born. The weather was freezing and there was hardly any food or shelter. Every time they came to a town they were turned away. Even the camels were suffering. 

In the second stanza, the men get to where they were going and find it to be simply, “satisfactory.” The manager has no great presence but that doesn’t mean the experience wasn’t important. 

The true impact of the journey and meeting comes after the men have returned home. They are no longer the people they were before they set off. The speaker states that he longs for a second death through which he is able to join God

Stanza 1 - These first five lines enclosed in quotation marks were culled from a Christmas Sermon by Lancelot Andrews, the Bishop of Winchester, in 1622, whom Eliot admired his writings and sermons. The poem is a dramatic monologue, as the journey is being narrated by one of the participants. The first stanza uncovers the early travails of the Magi. The weather is not conducive; there is cold. The journey is undertaken during the winter. The poetic persona says it is the worst time of the year. It is so unfortunate that they have to undertake the journey at this time. 

In the first stanza of this piece the speaker, who is one of the traveling Magi, starts the poem by giving a broad overview of the journey he and the other Magi embarked on. It was not a pleasant trip. They had a “cold coming…of it.” The men were forced to deal with terrible weather that made everything harder. The speaker reflects on the days of travel as having occurred in the “worst time of the year / For a journey. Due to the fact that they could not choose when they travelled, they had to face these conditions.  

Due to their unpleasant experiences, their camels become uncooperative; The men were not the only ones who suffered at this time, their camels, which were made to walk through the landscape bearing the men and their supplies were “galled, sore-footed, refractory.” They eventually ended up “Lying down in the melting snow.” It is interesting that the poet chose to begin this piece, which is about the birth of Christ, in such a way. It does away with the image of majestic beings riding in to visit the child, instead, they are painted as deeply human. They suffered just as anyone would traversing the countryside. The speaker even states at one point that “There were times we regretted,” or missed, “The summer palaces…the terraces…And the silken girls bringing sherbet.” These were all elements of their home which were familiar to them and without which they were made to travel. 

The following lines, which are crafted in an ever-worsening list, describe a litany of problems the men faced. There were the “camel men” who were often “cursing and grumbling.” At points, they even ran away from the camps seeking out “liquor (alcoholic drinks) and women  (and brothels (prostitutes) just to calm their nerves amidst the suffering. This shows their lifestyle of hedonism in the past. The campsites were often cold as the fires went out, and there were no “shelters” to keep the men and animals dry. 

It is already night. The city is already reclining. The people of that city are hostile and unfriendly. The villages, though grubby (dirty), charge them high prices for accommodation and other immediate needs. The men had a “hard time…of it.” By the time they got to the end of their journey, they had learned to prefer traveling at night. This way they could avoid the worst that the landscape, and the cities it held, had to offer. The stanza ends by stating their regrets for the journey. ’With the voices singing in our ears, saying/ That this was all folly.’ 

In the second stanza, a few changes come over the party of travellers. They sigh a bit of relief as they get to a temperate valley. This place seems to be more hospitable than the previous city they pass through. There is brighter weather here and a finer topography. The smelling vegetation depicts fertility and fecundity. The running stream depicts the flow of life; the three trees on the low sky signify the crucifixion of Jesus with two thieves on both sides and the trinity of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; an old white horse foreshadows Jesus' war during Armageddon (the end of the World). They do not get further guidance and information on their journey, They inquired at this tavern, looking for information about Christ and they received none. The men continue to travel and “arrive at evening.” The speaker states, not a moment too soon. Everyone was close to their final breaking point having faced hunger, terribly cold weather, shelterless nights, and inhospitable towns. but they continue.

 At the inn (a hotel or motel) they see six hands dicing for pieces of silver, symbolizing the soldiers who share Jesus' garment and the betrayal of Jesus by Judas for thirty pieces of silver. And at evening, they finally get to the place. He says that the pace they finally came to was “satisfactory,” nothing more. This could be a reference more to the physicality of the place rather than the momentous nature of the occasion, but either way, it is a strikingly drab and depressing way to describe the moment

Stanza 3 – In the third stanza, the speaker halts his description of the journey and moves on to describe how he feels about the entire experience now. Here, the poetic persona lets the readers know as he does in the opening of the poem, that this journey was embarked upon, a long time ago. It is clear he has terrible memories of the trip. He begins by saying it was “a long time ago” but that he would “do it again.” It was, at least in his mind, a journey worth undertaking. It is at this point in the poem the speaker directs a question to his listener to whom he is telling the story. He asks “...were we led all the way for Birth or Death?” He asks whether the birth of Christ is actually 'Birth or Death’. It is obvious that it is birth, since they can see the new born Jesus. 

He knows that there “certainly” was a “Birth.” This is the case as there was “evidence and no doubt,” but what of the death? In the next lines, he equates birth and death. This particular birth was so painful to the Magi and their companions that it was “like Death, our death.” 

On the other hand, this birth also comes with death. For example, when King Herod hears that a Saviour (Messiah) is born in his kingdom, he orders the killing of all infants, so that Jesus can be killed in the process. Also, Jesus comes to save the world from sin. He wants people to die to sin, and resurrect with Him in righteousness (baptism). Jesus comes to kill the old dispensation (idolatry). 

After the trip was over they “returned to [their] places, these Kingdoms.” When they arrived there and attempted to settle back into the lives they once knew and loved, they were “no longer at ease.” Everything had changed for them. The men did not feel comfortable in this world in which “alien people [were] clutching their gods,” when they had seen the true God. The return of the Magi to their Kingdom is to preach the good news of salvation and make his people relinquish their gods and embrace the true Saviour. Though, he takes a lot of risks (pains and troubles) to see the Messiah, he desires to repeat such a horrendous journey.

The poem concludes with the speaker stating that he would be glad to die another death. Perhaps this one could bring him to his final rest alongside God. 

THEMES 

Life is a journey - Eliot's “Journey of the Magi’ is a reflection of man's journey on the earth, from birth to death. There are obstacles to cross. It takes determination for people to overcome life's challenges and achieve their goals. The Magi experience a lot of obstacles and Challenges. Their camel men who exhibit frailty and carnality, give up along the line. Even their camels get tired and refuse to gallop. Seeing what lies ahead of them, they do not give up until they see the Messiah. There Is satisfaction. They achieve thelr goal. 

Regret - Regret often comes when there is suffering. Human nature abhors any form of discomfort. It takes determination to live above regret when one wants to achieve one's goals in life. The first stanza of the poem presents a lot of obstacles on the way of the voyagers. They are overwhelmed and they actually regret. The camel men are not too spiritual. They are only interested in the mundane things; so, they show Irreversible regret. But the Magi are more spiritual. They overcome the obstacles; they show their regret in the first place, but continue. The end is satisfaction. No wonder Jesus says, “Whoever puts his hands on the plough and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God.” 

Salvation - The birth of Jesus brings salvation to the entire universe. The supremacy of God is shown when King Herod, upon hearing about the birth of Jesus, orders the killing of all infants. Jesus is spared in spite of this evil plot. The devil often targets people with great destinies, to bring them down. Jesus comes to save the world from sin. The poetic persona acknowledges that Jesus comes with salvation (new dispensation); so, he calls their idolatry, an 'old dispensation’. He promises to preach the gospel of salvation to his people, though he says that is an arduous task. “We returned to our places, these Kingdoms, /But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,”. The people still seem to hold on to their ‘gods’.

The Theme of Spiritual Rebirth and Renewal - The poem explores the process of the inner struggles and physical challenges that one has to go through in order to achieve spiritual rebirth.

For the persona, there can be no renewal and strengthening of one’s faith without going through this painful process. But like everything worthwhile, the end justifies the means.

The Theme of Change - Change only happens when the old order gives way to the new. And this transformation hardly takes place without struggle and pain. This applies in all facets of man’s existence. For the narrator, the spiritual transformation he and the others have experienced is worth the effort.

The Theme of the Effects of Historical Events on Society - Journey of the Magi goes beyond the level of the individual. Apart from being an exploration of the individual’s spiritual journey in search of renewal of faith, it also addresses the profound effects of historical events on whole societies and cultures.

One such effect is the change in the identity of a people anytime an event of great importance occurs.

Thus, the birth of the Christ child not only changed the lives of these three wise men. It also resulted in an irrevocable change in the cultures and religions of societies across the world.

FIGURES OF SPEECH / POETIC DEVICES

Language - The diction by the poet is easy for an average reader to decipher. Mood/Tone - The mood of the poet is that of mourning, mixed with Joy. The tone is that of regrets, mixed with satisfaction. 

Simile - “Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.” 

Metaphor - The poet takes the biblical story of the journey to Bethlehem by the three wise men at the birth of Christ Jesus and uses it to explore his personal spiritual journey toward an acknowledgement and renewal of faith.

Contrast - The structure of the poem, Journey of the Magi, is built around the literary device known as contrast.

For instance, the deep feeling of satisfaction that the Magi experienced at the end of the last stanza was unlike the pains and tortures they initially went through in the first stanza.

Irony -  It is ironical that the camel men who are chaperones (escorts) to the Magi easily give up. Their eyes are blind to the benefits (salvation) which Jesus brings. Jesus also dies on the cross to save mankind and he suffers too. Their journey is a holy one, but they start longing for alcohol and women along the way. It is an irony that dirty villages charge high prices. The villagers capitalize on the helpless situation of the Magi, so they charge exorbitant prices. It is an irony that the birth of Jesus Christ also comes with death. Also, It is ironic that in spite of the risks and pains associated with the journey, the poetic persona wishes he went again. 

Antithesis - “Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly, /I had seen birth and death,”. The word “Birth” contrasts with “Death”. “I should be glad of another death.” The word ‘glad' contrasts with ‘death’ 

Litotes — This is an ironical understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary. Example: °... not a moment too soon”, “Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.” 

Personification -

And the night-fires going out, 

And the lack of shelters, And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly 

Synecdoche 

“Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,” (‘six hands’ here represent six people.) 

“And feet kicking the empty wine-skins” (‘feet’ here represent people.) Repetition - ‘time’ ‘Birth' and ‘Death’ are being repeated for the purpose of emphasis. 

Anaphora - This is the repetition of words at the beginning of two or more consecutive lines of poetry. Example: 

And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters, 

And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly And the villages dirty and charging high prices: 

Alliteration - This is a poetic device that involves the repetition of an initial consonant sound — “cold coming” “ways...weather camel...cursing wanting ... women

“dawn... down” 

Assonance

Cursing and grumbling

Running away and wanting

Repetition - An example of repetition in Journey and the Magi is the use of “and the” several times in the first stanza. Its effect is to emphasize the theme of suffering as an integral part of the journey of faith

Pun - “And three trees .../ ...but set down/ This set down” 

Allusions: {. Biblical allusion: The 'magi' is a Biblical allusion. It is a reference to the three wise or ‘three kings' who travelled to Bethlehem in the land of Judea, to see Jesus. The experience is narrated by the Magus, one of the Magi. Refer to the explanation on Stanza 2 under “Summary of the poem”, to see the various allusions to the Bible. Literary allusion: These first five lines enclosed in quotation marks allude to the opening lines of a Christmas Sermon by Lancelot Andrews, the Bishop of Winchester, in 1622: 

‘A cold coming we had of it, 

Just the worst time of the year 

For a journey, and such a long journey: 

The ways deep and the weather sharp, 

The very dead of winter.’ 

Paradox

I should be glad of another death

This is the very last line in the poem. It underlines the profoundly satisfying effect of this spiritual rebirth on the persona.

So satisfying it is that, if need be, he would gladly go through the difficult journey all over again.

Structure - The poem is written in three stanzas of unequal lines. It is without end rhyme or regular rhythm; hence written in free verse

BINSEY POPLARS - Gerard Manly Hopkins

ABOUT THE POET 

Gerard Manley Hopkins, (born July 28, 1844, Stratford, Essex, England and died June 8, 1889, Dublin) He was an English poet and Jesuit priest, one of the most individual of Victorian writers. His work was not published in collected form until 1918, but it influenced many leading 20th-century poets. Hopkins won the poetry prize at the Highgate grammar school and in 1863 was awarded a grant to study at Balliol College, Oxford, where he continued writing poetry while studying classics. 

He was appointed professor of Greek literature at University College, Dublin, in 1884. Hopkins was a devout Jesuit, who wrote about nature as a way to show God’s greatness, through the wonder of creation. His bold advances in poetry were often unappreciated by his Victorian contemporaries, and it was only in the early twentieth century that his genius was recognized. Hopkins died in 1889, aged only forty-four. He died of typhoid fever and was buried in the Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin. Gerard Manley Hopkins 

Gerard Manley Hopkins

 BACKGROUND TO THE POEM

 

Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote ‘Binsey Poplars’ in 1879, in response to the feeling of a double row of aspen trees. During the Industrial Revolution swathes of the countryside were destroyed to create railways, and Hopkins was dismayed to discover that the wood from these very trees was used to make brake pads for a local train company, whom he held responsible for carving up much local farmland. 

The poem was inspired by the felling of a row of poplar trees near the village of Binsey, northwest of Oxford, England, and overlooking Port Meadow on the bank of the River Thames. The replacements for these trees, running from Binsey north to Godstow, lasted until 2004, when replanting began again. Binsey Poplars is a lament Hopkins wrote after revisiting a river scene in 1879, close to where he had studied when at Oxford fourteen years earlier. He was shocked to find that a row of aspen trees had been felled, the wood being used for the boom industry of the time, the railways. 

Hopkins was clearly saddened by this, in his eyes, environmental vandalism. It was a sacrilege, an affront to his God, and he set about venting his emotions in a short yet poignant poem. Published in 1918 the poem is full of sprung rhythm, a metric invention Hopkins developed which he thought was closer to common speech and also held more musical energy. There's no doubting his love for and study of phonetics. Hopkins delved deep into the different sounds words make, the quality of the syllable and the weight of the word in the line. S

SETTING OF THE POEM 

The poem “Binsey Poplars” is set in nineteenth century Britain, precisely during the Victorian era. It was both a prosperous and chaotic time for the people of Great Britain. 

The Victorian era was a period where industrialization had just started evolving. The poem is specifically set on the bank of a river that was enclosed by trees. The poetic persona therefore bemoans the felling of trees, seeing it as an ill-treatment of Nature. 

 SUMMARY OF THE POEM

 

The poem relates to the felling of a row of aspen trees or a long line of tall trees along the River Thames, in Oxford, England. The ecological problems associated with deforestation are visible in the lamentation of the poet. The poet mourns the cutting of his “aspens dear,” trees whose delicate beauty resided not only in their appearance, but in the way they created “airy cages” to tame the sunlight. 

These lovely trees, Hopkins laments, have all been “felled.” He compares them to an army of soldiers obliterated. He remembers mournfully the way they their “sandalled” shadows played along the winding bank where river and meadow met. Hopkins grieves over the wholesale destruction of the natural world, which takes place because people fail to realize the implications of their actions. To “delve or hew” (dig, as in mining, or chop down trees) is to treat the earth too harshly, for “country” is something “so tender” that the least damage can change it irrevocably. 

The poet offers as an analogy the pricking of an eyeball, an organ whose mechanisms are subtle and powerful, though the tissues are infinitely delicate: to prick it even slightly changes it completely from what it was to something unrecognizable (and useless). 

Indeed, even an action that is meant to be beneficial can affect the landscape in this way, Hopkins says. The earth held beauties before our time that “after-comers” will have no idea of, since they are now lost forever. It takes so little (only “ten or twelve strokes”) to “unselve” the landscape, or alter it so completely that it is no longer itself. S

Stanza 1 - Here the poem opens with the poetic persona addressing the trees as ‘airy cages'. This gives the pictures of the trees’ intertwined leaves — covered branches, and makes the bright sun more subdued (quelled). It sometimes blocks the sunlight completely. The poet is stirred by the mutilated landscape as he displays a personal bereavement and mourning. He says for emphasis, “All felled, felled, are all felled;”. “Felled “ here means hewed or cut down. 

He compares them with an army of soldiers wiped off at once. He remembers in sorrow, the way trees 'sandalled' shadows dangling along the wind bank where river and meadow met. He compares the lines of trees to a rank of soldiers. The image caught in military points to the fact that the industrial development of the rural area is akin to warfare against the nature and beauty embedded there in leaping. My aspens dear, whose airy cages quelled , Quelled or quenched in leaves the leaping sun All felled, felled, are all felled; Of a fresh and following folded rank Not spared, not one The poet’s love of the aspens is instantly obvious as he addresses them as ‘My aspens dear’. 

He immediately paints a strong visual image of the effect the aspens create as they lean over to meet each other over the width of the river. The metaphor of the ‘airy cages’ helps the reader to visualise the sunlight dancing through the leaves and reflecting on the water. It is impossible for the reader to rush reading or speaking these words aloud, again making us slow down and appreciate the scene. This beautiful picture is followed by the monosyllabic line “Felled, felled, are all felled’. The meter here could be identified as spondaic, where every syllable in a line is stressed. This metrical unit is effective in showing his distress at such wanton destruction. 

He likens them to a line of soldiers summarily executed when he uses the word ‘rank’ in the line below, and the use of personification following line: ‘Not spared, not one’ reinforces this idea. Hopkins was famous for his variations on meter and made-up words, and the following lines are a prime example of this: That dandaled a sandalled Shadow that swam or sank On meadow and river and wind-wandering Weed-winding bank. Again, this long alliterative sentence is impossible to rush and conjures the image of one idling by the river, taking in the beauty of nature, perhaps dipping a toe in the gentle current. This is nature at its most benevolent, and thus its destruction is all the crueler. The soft sibilance of ‘shadow that swam or sank’ lends a mellifluous quality which makes us imagine the reflections dancing on the water. He teases out the long ‘a’ sounds and the end rhyme of ‘rank’, ‘sank’ and ‘bank’ adding more musical sounds to complete the stanza. 

Stanza 2 - This last stanza starts with an exclamation of sorrow. He exclaims 'O' if we (human being beings) realize the ecological problems associated with the cutting down of nature, we would have avoided it. He exposes the ignorance of people who engage in deforestation. “When we delve or hew —/ Hack and rack the growing green!" “Since country is so tender/ To touch, her being slender,/That, like this sleek and seeing ball/ But a prick will make no eye at all,”. There is a comparison here between the damaged eyes and the nature that had be been destroyed. The analogy is with the seeing eye which can destroyed with one just one prick, then the light Is lost. The nature is fragile and sensitive and any damage done it, makes It lose its beauty. The poet concludes that, once we destroy the nature by digging it up (like the aspen trees), the upcoming generation (after-comers) will lose track of nature's beauty. The beauty of nature would have been gone, before they grow up. It might only take ten or twelve “strokes of havoc” (the blows of an axe) to “unselve” (damage) the natural beauty. 

He bemoans the fact that the trees created to radiate beauty and for a sweet, special (‘especial’) scene are no more in the country side. O if we but knew what we do When we delve or hew- Hack and rack the growing green! The second stanza of ‘Binsey Poplars’ begins with the apostrophe ‘O’ which instantly summons the readers’ attention. It also mimics Christ on the cross as he calls to God his father, “Forgive them for they know not what they do’. This again shows the strength of emotion Hopkins feels at the loss of these trees, and reflects his strong religious convictions. 

His tone turns to one of anger in the harsh consonance of ‘Hack and rack the growing green!’ The cacophonous internal rhyme of ‘Hack and rack’ stand out sharply from the long vowel sounds of ‘growing green’. He has cleverly used the verb ‘growing’ to emphasize that these trees were living organisms, brutally slain. His use of the exclamation mark here highlights his disgust. Since country is so tender To touch, her being só slender, That, like this sleek and seeing ball But a prick will make no eye at all, The poet has used the techniques of harsh language and repetition to make his point but just in case the reader has somehow missed the intensity of his feelings, he creates the lasting image of an eyeball being pricked, almost causing the reader to wince. Hopkins believed that Christians had a duty and responsibility to care for and protect God’s earth. He thus creates this powerful metaphor of the earth and her delicate infrastructure as ‘a sleek and knowing ball’. By destroying the earth, we are destroying a little of ourselves, and our relationship with God. He refers to nature in the feminine; the pronoun ‘her’ elicits further sympathy from the reader. 

The words ‘tender’ and ‘slender’ conjure up an image of a beautiful young woman, and make the earth sound even more fragile and delicate. He suggests that we, as humans, are incapable of seeing the bigger picture. We may think that we are making advances in technology, but if we are sacrificing the earth in the process it is all in vain. It suggests a lack of care and foresight for those in the future who will never know of this beauty. It is significant that he repeats the words ‘hew and delve’ from earlier in the stanza. 

They have an onomatopoeic quality which suggest digging into the earth and making indelible changes. Where we, even when me mean To mend her we end her, When we hew or delve, After-comers cannot guess the beauty been. Ten or twelve, only ten or twelve Strokes of havoc únselve It pains the poet greatly that it takes such a short time for humans to destroy what has taken a life-time to grow and flourish. The trees have grown in accordance with nature and created this beautiful scene, but are so quickly obliterated. The word ‘havoc’ suggests chaos and a lack of control, for ultimately we humans diminish our own spiritual growth by these actions. 

The sweet especial scene, Rural scene, rural scene, Sweet especial rural scene. The repetitive three final lines create a wistful tone, as though the poet’s rage has subsided to a quiet sadness. They take on the tone of a prayer or incantation as he drifts into a reverie, remembering this ‘Sweet especial rural scene.’ Ultimately the poet wants his readers to treat the earth with respect and awe. For in causing damage to nature, he feels we cause a disconnect with our own true selves

 THEMES 

 The orderliness of nature - The thematic preoccupation of this poem is trees, which is part and parcel of nature. The poem reveals the orderliness in nature. If one takes a look at the natural things abounding in existence and the natural laws guiding them, one will notice a rare resemblance of order and harmony in place. The sun rises and sets at specific times; the rain has a season; trees yield fruits at their seasons. If one goes to the forest, the way trees are arranged and the serene ambience shows as if they were done by a given ‘being’ for his pleasure. Tampering with such an organized setting is what the poet mourns. "Since country is so tender/ To touch, her being so slender, /That, like this sleek and seeing ball”. 

Destruction of nature - The poet mourns deforestation because of its adverse consequences. He laments after revisiting the River Thames side and discovered that a row of aspen trees had been destroyed or felled. He sees this as a sacrilege and an insult to God, so, he alludes to what Jesus said when He was being crucified, that God should forgive those who crucified Him, for they didn't know what they did. 

The poet asserts, “O if we but knew what we do”. This shows the ignorance of those who contribute to deforestation, as regards its negative 

consequences. 

The benefits of nature to man - The poetic persona wails because of the benefits of afforestation (presence of trees). He is preoccupied with the relationship between man and his environment. Human beings cannot live in isolation from the environment. Imagine if there were no grasses or trees. The ‘airy cages’ of the trees keep the sun away from the earth and allow the breeze to pass freely, and so fresh. Trees provide shades to both animals and man. Nature is therefore of benefits to man, and should be preserved. 

The Manifestation of God in Nature - Hopkins used poetry to express his religious devotion, drawing his images from the natural world. He found nature inspiring and developed his theories of inscape and instress to explore the manifestation of God in every living thing. According to these theories, the recognition of an object’s unique identity, which was bestowed upon that object by God, brings us closer to Christ. Similarly, the beauty of the natural world—and our appreciation of that beauty—helps us worship God. 

Many poems, including “Hurrahing in Harvest” and “The Windhover,” begin with the speaker praising an aspect of nature, which then leads the speaker into a consideration of an aspect of God or Christ. For instance, in “The Starlight Night,” the speaker urges readers to notice the marvels of the night sky and compares the sky to a structure, which houses Christ, his mother, and the saints. The stars’ link to Christianity makes them more beautiful. 

The Regenerative Power of Nature - Hopkins’s early poetry praises nature, particularly nature’s unique ability to regenerate and rejuvenate. Throughout his travels in England and Ireland, Hopkins witnessed the detrimental effects of industrialization on the environment, including pollution, urbanization, and diminished rural landscapes. While he lamented these effects, he also believed in nature’s power of regeneration, which comes from God. In “God’s Grandeur,” the speaker notes the wellspring that runs through nature and through humans. 

While Hopkins never doubted the presence of God in nature, he became increasingly depressed by late nineteenth-century life and began to doubt nature’s ability to withstand human destruction. His later poems, the so-called terrible sonnets, focus on images of death, including the harvest and vultures picking at prey. Rather than depict the glory of nature’s rebirth, these poems depict the deaths that must occur in order for the cycle of nature to continue. “Thou Art Indeed Just, Lord” (1889) uses parched roots as a metaphor for despair: the speaker begs Christ to help him because Christ’s love will rejuvenate him, just as water helps rejuvenate dying foliage 

 FIGURES OF SPEECH AND POETIC DEVICES 

Language - The diction used by the poet is a bit complicated and archaic. There are words like unselve (ruin), especial(special), dandled (dangled), sandalled (sandal), felled (cut down). This might make the poem a bit difficult for an average reader to decipher. 

 Mood/Tone - The mood of the poet is that of anger and disillusionment. The tone of the poem is mournful. 

Simile- That, like this sleek and seeing ball”

Personification - “Since country is so tender/ To touch, her being so slender”. Country is given human quality of “tender”. Also, the persona pronoun “her” is being used for ‘country’. ... the leaping sun”: Sun \s given human action of leaping (movement). Also in ‘My aspens dear,.’, the poet addresses aspens affectionately as if it was human. 

Antithesis - ‘To mend her we end her,'. “Mend” contrasts with “end" 

Oxymoron - '... airy cages ... ': The word ‘airy', the presence of ventilation contrasts with ‘cages’ which is like restriction or bondage. 

Imagery - The use of ‘airy cages suggest an environment or landscape that is well ventilated and cool, due to the presence of many trees. The use of ‘All felled'; "hew’'; "hack'; and '...end her’ present the picture of destruction as the trees are being chopped (cut) with loud noise when they hit the ground."... growing green’ gives the picture of the blossoms of the trees before they are felled. '... seeing ball’ is ah imagery of eye ball and emphasizes the usefulness of the eyes just like the trees. Also, '...sweet especial scene’ tries to appeal to our taste, suggesting the benefit of trees to the environment. 

Synecdoche - “Aspens” or '’Binsey poplars” refer to only species of the popular plant, but it is used to refer to the entire Nature (different trees) being hewed or cut down. The felling of only one tree can have a significant effect on the whole ones left behind. “An injury to one is an injury to all” M

Metonymy -'... the growing green' refers to the beautiful and tender trees, and vegetation being hewed. Repetition - ‘sweet especial scene' is being repeated to emphasize how awesome those aspen trees are; ‘ten or twelve' is being repeated to show the action of an axe in destroying the trees (nature). 'Felled' is being repeated three times in line 3 to indicate the poet's personal sadness over the destruction of the trees. Also, the repetition of ‘quelled' emphasizes how the ‘airy cages’ (the branches of the trees) subdued the light from the sparkling sun. 

Alliteration - This is a poetic device that involves the repetition of an initial consonant sound, in order to add musicality — ‘All felled, felled, are all felled;” “...fresh and following folded rank" “Shadow that swam or sank” “... the growing green”... wind-wandering weed-winding bank.” A

Assonance — This the repetition of vowel sounds, in order to add musicality to lines of poetry —*Quelled or quenched” “felled, felled, are all felled” “Shadow that swam or sank” “Hack and rack” M

Metaphor - The branches of the trees are described as "airy cages”. This shows how trees create a cool and calm ambience through the air they retain. Nature is described as ‘country’, which mean countryside(serenity and landscape). The feminine pronoun “her” used for country (countryside) symbolizes fecundity (fertility) and beauty that makes the countryside.

Enjambment - It is when an idea in a line of poetry flows into the next line or lines before a complete thought is achieved. This also known as run-on-lines. The poet uses enjambment extensively throughout the poem: 

 My aspens dear, whose airy cages quelled, Quelled or quenched in leaves the leaping sun, All felled, felled, are all felled; In the stanza above, line 1 flows into 2; and line 2 flows into 3. 

Structure ~ ‘Binsey Poplars’ is set out in two stanzas and follows an innovative technique devised by Hopkins himself, known as ‘sprung rhythm’, a form of meter he derived from the rhythms heard in everyday speech and songs. In sprung rhythm, the stress is usually on the first syllable and several unstressed syllables could follow. He also makes extensive use of internal rhyme and compound adjectives which lend the poem a certain urgency that effectively conveys his sadness and shock that his beloved trees have been chopped down.