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Anna Barbauld
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Before this class, I had never even heard of Anna Barbauld, which is a shame because I found her writing to be very intriguing once I read her works. I would like to simply discuss the aspects of her writing that I found most interesting and continue the conversation we held in class about Barbauld�??s philosophy and depiction of men and women. I enjoyed �??The Mouse�??s Petition�?� most because it made me think of many other helpless creatures in literature, even other mice specifically. Barbauld�??s sympathy for the mouse and willingness to write from the perspective of a tiny creature displays her intelligence in writing from varying unique perspectives.
Even though it has been years since I read it, The Tale of Despereaux came to mind after reading �??The Mouse�??s Petition.�?� Despereaux is a children�??s novel recounting the quest of an intelligent mouse as he tries to save a human princess. Similar to Barbauld�??s mouse, Despereaux has immense self-awareness and compassion even though he is a simple rodent. Barbauld�??s mouse understands the dangers he will face at the hands of Dr. Priestly and Despereaux understands the dangers of exploring a world much bigger than himself. The Mouse and the Motorcycle, another children�??s novel, also came to mind as a comparison to �??The Mouse�??s Petition.�?� The mouse in that novel is also intelligent and becomes the companion of a young hotel guest. Books focusing on mice seem to be few and far between (no, I am not including Of Mice and Men. Eww.) but there seems to be a pattern for the innocent, small mice to become great heroes with intelligence and self-awareness beyond the scope of normal rodents. I am not sure if mice are always meant to be portrayed in such a fashion, but I thought it was interesting that the few mouse-centered books of which I knew granted the mice similar personalities. I enjoy the contrast of a small and helpless mouse receiving independent and intelligent qualities, with the mental capacity offsetting the physical form. If children read books such as The Mouse and the Motorcycle or The Tale of Despereaux, their imaginations will encourage them to find sentient mice to be heroes, embarking on journeys much bigger than themselves. This dynamic may inspire small children to believe that even though they are small, they are capable of doing big things. Perhaps I am embarking down a pointless rabbit hole, but it was interesting nonetheless.
On a completely different note, Barbauld�??s stance on women�??s rights and duties provided a period-specific, logical argument for the duties and dignity of women. In class, many students seemed to want to dismiss Barbauld�??s ideas immediately, but I believe it is critical to view Barbauld�??s opinions through an 18th century lens. I fully agree with Barbauld�??s assertion that women deserve respect and honor as humans. Every human deserves such respect and I would hope that concept was fathomable in the 18th century. Of course, women now have the right to vote (and suggesting otherwise in the 21st century would likely lead to a feminist stampede), but Barbauld�??s belief that women did not need to vote is not ill-founded, given her circumstances. If her reasoning for having a disinterest in voting stemmed from wanting to maintain a feminine identity, I can understand voting being viewed as a male activity, especially if women had no need to engage in politics. Their duties revolved around the household and had little need to extend into the world of politicians. Barbauld seemingly believed that not voting was inherently feminine and helped maintain women�??s identities as separate from those of men. In �??The Rights of Woman,�?� �??To a Little Invisible Being,�?� and �??Washing-Day,�?� Barbauld celebrates the experiences completely unique to women. Therefore, while her ideas are now outdated (and I certainly enjoy suffrage), her reasoning should not be criticized, given the logic and thought put into such beliefs.
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