Header image  
(1793 - 1835)  
 
 

Literature and Art Go
Hand-in-Hand:

Felicia Hemans’
“Brigand Leader and His Wife”
and
“Evening Prayer”

Can the interpretation of a poetic work go beyond merely the black letters printed on a white page?  Can the meaning of an etching or painting transcend only what is seen on the canvas or other medium?  Artists, both literary and visual, in the Romantic Period, found a beneficial partnership in joining the two forms of expression.  With the rising popularity of annuals during the Romantic Period, Felicia Hemans emerged as one of the female poets who found success in giving an etching a “voice.”  Given this undeniable fact that the written art and the etched art should go hand-in-hand, the use of yet another popular form of art – the world of the web – seems best suited to present explications of two of Hemans’ poems, “Brigand Leader and His Wife” and “Evening Prayer.”  The digital format will allow readers to navigate through the text and etchings as it explores the ways in which these art forms continued to define a woman’s place in society.

 


Portraits of Felicia Hemans

 
         
Digital Project Created by Lisa Kim
SJSU, Spring 2006
ENGL 232 - Dr. Katherine D. Harris