Angel in the House - Coventry Patmore

Analysis of ‘Angel in the House’

In the Victorian age, women were supposed to act and dress in a certain manner in order to get a husband or to please the husband. The woman has only a certain number of chores that she was supposed to handle.  From childhood to adulthood, she was to perfect that art of ‘pleasing a man’. Everything revolved around the man and a woman was supposed to offer selfless service to him. Coventry Patmore’s poem, “The Angel in the House”, portrays the perfect wife of the Victorian age.  

Coventry Patmore

The poet begins with ‘Man must be pleased’(Angel in the House, pg 293) , this being shown as a fact conveys that it is a right of a man to be “pleased”. In those times it was obvious that a man had to be pleased in whatever way possible. Thus by using passive voice the poet portrays the importance of a “man” by eliminating the doer of the action, which is “pleasing” the man. This statement is followed by ‘but him to please is woman’s pleasure’ (Angel in the House, pg 293) the poet asserts the fact that a woman needs to please a man because a man needs to be pleased. The repetition of the word ‘please’ asserts the importance of the need of a man to be kept happy by his wife. However; this phrase seems to have a sarcastic tone to the fact that a woman should always please the man no matter the consequences. Patmore writes, ‘Down the gulf of his condoled necessities.’(Angel in the House, pg 293). Here, “down the gulf” is a metaphor for the enormous size of his necessities. Also shows the way the woman goes out of the way in order to keep her husband content.

The next phrase, ‘how often flings for noughts’(Angel in the House, pg 293), shows how the wife also wants to enjoy her life. Women were hardly allowed to be ‘free’ in their own way and show their identity. Patmore writes, ‘yokes her heart to an icicle or whim.(Angel in the House, pg 293) Here the wife attaches herself to the icicle, which symbolizes the husband. The author shows the husband as an icicle as he is someone who is cold and almost emotionless towards his wife. The next two lines ‘whose impatient word provokes another, not from her, but him’(Angel in the House,pg 293), shows the way the husband orders the wife around and does not allow the wife to come out of the monotony of her life. The ‘impatient word’ almost shows that the wife is caged into such a life. ‘While she too gentle even to force’ and ‘with pardon in her pitying eyes’, parallel the title itself as a woman is portrayed as the Angel.(Angel in the House, pg 293). 

Portrays the Angel in the House

In the next two lines the poet explains the unrequited love of a man for a woman. The phrases ‘by shame oppressed’ and ‘seems to think the sin was hers’ (Angel in the House, pg 294) shows how the wife herself is oppressed because she is always supposed to forgive her husband but she isn’t forgiven even if the ‘sin’ wasn’t hers. Also in those days if the wife went against the husband and stood up for something, that action was known to be a sin. The poet directly personifies the unrequited love  here,‘Whilst is love has any life. Or any eye to see her charms ’ (Angel in the House, pg 294) . His love has already withered away as he has become an icicle thus the love does not have an ‘eye’ to see the love that she so selflessly casts on him. The personification of love as something that does not have an ‘eye’ gives a deeper effect about the fact that the husband completely ignores his wife. The reader understands the way the wife is more of an invisible angel in the house. Even though the wife knows that she is invisible she is still ‘devoted with love that cannot tire… she loves alone’(Angel in the House, pg 294). The poet uses the word ‘cannot’ instead of ‘will not’, to show that the wife is almost not allowed to stop ‘loving’ and ‘pleasing’ her husband. The wife is always supposed to be selfless in her actions. The poet ends it with ‘Through passionate duty love springs higher, as grass grows taller round a stone’(Angel in the House, pg 294) ; providing a simile between her love and the grass shows that she prospers around something that is extremely still. The whole poem makes the reader have sympathy for the wife; however, in the end the reader instead of sympathizing understands the wife more. She does not need sympathy but needs the freedom that she deserves.

 The poet by calling the woman an Angel shows the fact that the man was portrayed as God. This way the poet portrays the domestic work that a woman has to do and got no appreciation for it. Also more than appreciation the woman is bound to just those boundaries of work. This interpretation is shown throughout the poem by the poet. The rule “Man must be pleased”, parallels with the fact that angels must also please the Lord. The characteristics of the perfect woman also match with the characteristics of an angel. The woman is a being that is “gentle”, has “pardon in her pitying eyes” and is “dearly devoted”. The angel and the woman also “casts her best”, while the man gives the final judgment. However, the difference between God and man is that God forgives. The man punishes the wife if he is not pleased.  

In modern times, there has been improvement as women have the opportunity to work. However, the rule is still the same “Man must be pleased”. A woman still plans her life around society’s expectations of her. There is not much difference in the amount of freedom a woman receives. In many countries, many women are still treated the same way the woman is treated in the poem. There is still a very orthodox view of women and their strengths. In conclusion, the fact that the poem was written by a man shows that times in the Victorian Ages were changing. However, that change had a very long way to go and still does. And by writing this poem the author exposes the reality of the life that women had to live during the Victorian Age.

Citations:

1. Patmore,Coventry, "Angel in the House". In The Secret Agent. Toronto, Ontario: Broadview Press,2009.