Cite some of her ideas, her claims or advice that may have contributed to her desire to be published after death.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu: Turkish Embassy Letters
The letters that are featured in the Longman Anthology written by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu are taken from two manuscript books that LMWM intended to publish posthumously. After reading her letters and taken note of her writing style that reflects on other cultures, what do you think her intention was in doing this? Was there a reason that she didn't want to be alive when her publication was made available to the public?
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3 comments:
It is possible that as strongly as Lady Mary makes her arguments, she just as vehemently acknowledges her place in society as a woman during that time period. She may have intended for her work to be published posthumously so she did not see the reactions to her writings or she could have wanted her work to be remembered yet in more of a philosophical way as opposed to a writer or author. She also may have done so just to distance herself from the world in which she found herself so rejecting and rejected from. On page 2708, she writes "I know of no European court where the ladies would have behaved themselves in so polite a manner to a stranger." By criticizing the society of England she is criticizing the century long customs and ways of a country and by having her work kept under wraps she could be possibly hiding from having her opinions public knowledge. To be honest, I do not really see why she would do so other than to keep her sentiments unknown, but it is possible that she may want to experience her life and have others muse about it later so she can continue on in exploration. Either answer is plausible, but I am still uncertain and am interested in what others have to say about it in class.
I agree with Jill that part of the motivation for Lady Montagu to have her letters published posthumously was her critique of British society. In addition to the excerpt Jill quoted, Lady Montagu writes, in reference to infidelity, that the Turkish women behave "just as 'tis with you" (2710). She writes plainly of the affairs Turkish women engage in, and notes that the Christians in England are just as adulterous. Possibly to save her reputation, she did not want to publish this commentary on Turkish and British relationships until after she had died.
I agree with both these comments. I believe that Lady Montagu did want to "save face". She writes: "They are queens of their slaves, which the husband has no permission so much as to look upon, except it be an old woman or two that his lady chooses" (p. 2711). She is saying that in this foreign land, the women have a much different point of view about their husbands and other women being together. She also says, "I look upon the Turkish women as the only free people in the Empire" (p. 2711). Like Jill said above, this could be viewed as a criticism (that term is used lightly) of the English and their customs.
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