Love and Possession

Love is a topic discussed by many, or in fact, most authors of any time. The 17th century is no exception to this. The poems, plays, stories, and novels of the time deal with love in very different respects. Where Donne, in his poems, idolizes the passion and sexuality of love and lust, Radcliffe, in A Sicilian Romance, treats love as a careful and romantic notion full of connotations of power and dominance. This collision of love and lust as well as the power structure involved in such things, sets a tone for the lifestyle and interior workings of this emotion and sentiment in the time.
Radcliffe approaches love in her novel as the sort of fancy and folly of the young. The married marchioness uses love and lust to her advantage. She is a sly and intemperate woman who follows the passions of her affairs merely for their sake of control and for the satisfaction it affords her in relation to her vanity. She and the Duke are of the same thought. They both use love and beauty, as well as marriage, for their own ends. They desire it only for what it affords them. The marchioness becomes enamored with Hippolitus. Her jealous rage over his interest in Julia ends in tragedy. Her only feelings for him after are pity, none of the passion she contrived to feel previously continue. She does not mourn or grieve his passing or her own part in the action. This is easily seen with the passage, “she meant only to sacrifice a rival to her love, she found she had given up its object to revenge” (Radcliffe, 70). In her efforts to enact her jealous revenge upon the younger rival, she instead kills off the object of her adoration. This indicates her desire only for love as a means of suiting herself. It does not speak at all of anything that the lover in question would gain from it.
In contrast, Donne presents love as a passionate, giving state in which both persons involved are equally satisfied. He treats his Mistress with adoration, admires her beauty, compares her to the heavens, and offers the sort of tender affection which Julia herself had imagined. This is a stark contrast to the power workings of Radcliffe. Love, in Donne, is giving, rather than taking. Power does not seem to have a place in “To His Mistress Going to Bed”. His is “a fairer world encompassing” (Donne, line 6). While Donne’s poetry has imperatives like, “Unlace yourself” (line 9), it is also paired with compliments and statements of devout adoration. While Donne claims his lover as “my kingdom” and “my mine of precious stones” (lines 28-29), his ownership does not imply the innate power and dominance of the aristocratic men of Radcliffe.
Possession is more the intent of Radcliffe’s villains than love. The Duke “delighted in simple undisguised tyranny” (57). His dominance and power over the women in his life has nothing to do with love for them, only with possession over them. He desires the beauty of Julia only to possess it. Her beauty is something which he can attain in order to make his estate better. He does not desire her as Hippolitus does. Hippolitus loves with the same sentimental manner as Donne. He entreats Julia to be his lover, not from a desire to own her or control her, but in order that he might be with her. He says, “Lead me to her, that I may now speak the sentiments which swell my heart” (51). His love, or infatuation, with her is for more than just her beauty and form. The same could not rightly be said of the Duke, whose character assures us does not allow for such tenderness or passions.
In A Sicilian Romance, the author is making the suggestion that you cannot force love. When Julia is informed of the intention of the Duke to marry her, she is displeased, despite the fact that the match would increase her father’s estate and reputation as well as her own. Her father says. “When wealth, honor, and distinction, are laid at my feet… (she) says she cannot love” (56). He is not interested in her heart or to whom she may have entreated it, only in the acquisition of more power and prestige. He is not even concerned for her own estate or person, only for his love. This lack of paternal love for his daughter is indicative of the rest of his nature, which allows no room for any sort of affection other than the twisted relationship he has with his second wife. Julia, however, is very interested in all the things her father is not. She is young and in love with Hippolitus, who loves her readily in return. She takes it upon herself to flee the nuptial agreement and wed for love. Obviously, this does not end well and the Marquis regains the power again. Still, however, she manages to escape. This escape is important to note as well. Her maid servant helps her. “She obtained from her lover, a servant in the castle, that assistance which gave (her) liberty” (106). Without that relationship and the sentiments involved, she could not have escaped as she did.
Oddly enough, she eventually finds her way to a convent where love is not possible. In joining the convent, she gives up the option of finding love or expressing it. By giving herself to the convent to escape her father and the Duke, she gives up, at once, any possibility of finding a new love. Convents are, by nature, chaste. Her seclusion there is a reprieve from the harsh wedding to the Duke as well as to the memories of the lover which she has so recently lost. By removing her to a place of repose and seclusion, Radcliffe removes her also from his world of love and power and control. The reader assumes that she will be kept from harm there. However, even the place of chastity and religious piety is in question when the Superior is tempted to release Julia to her would-be captors. This gives the indication that the power and control of the outside world are not excluded from the convent and that this dominance is inescapable.
Where both Radcliffe and Donne agree is on the topic of requited love. When both persons involved are of the same mind state, the love described is beautiful, tender, and, most importantly, equal. Donne does not refer to another sort, so it is impossible to understand if the power struggles of the aristocracy are present in the other classes from his work. He does, however, place the man in the position of teacher or tutor. He also compares the exploration of her body to that of exploring America. The British were in control of America and owned it, for all intents and purposes. This slight comparison adds another subtle layer to that picture of control and possession in relation to affairs of love. This small assertion of the power of men over women is continuous throughout both artists’ work. It is particularly evident in Radcliffe, as is evident from the aforementioned circumstances. Donne’s poems have a more subtle undertone of that dominance of men over women. Both authors seem to assert that the only power women have over men is with their affections. The marchioness controls her husband with a “dextrous adaptation of her powers” (Radcliffe, 70). She is able to control him by using her feminine wiles and charms. It is evident through out the book that while he is the domineering master, she is also in control, though less so. When she appropriates the rooms for herself, she wins at first. Later, however, she is forced to give up most of her newly acquired rooms to the girls at the command of the Marquis. He still holds control over her, though she herself at times controls him. However, while men hold the dominance over women, women still can exert some control over their lovers or husbands. Donne asks for permission here, “License my roving hands, and let them go” (line 25). He must have at least her consent. This struggle for power is evident in Radcliffe’s novel, though it is not so blatant in Donne, where he attempts to write love poetry. Even within that constrain, however, is still an indication if the common belief of men being the ones in control.
The Marchioness is interesting to note in her own right, on account of her affairs. While she is married, and appears to be able to exert some control over her domineering husband, she engages in affairs. She lusts after Hippolitus and is dismayed when he rejects her advances. After that, she is caught by the Madam while in the midst of her affair. It can be inferred, then, that love is not present in the marriage of the Marquis and the Marchioness. The Marquis is unaware of the intrigues in which his wife is involved. When Madam discovers the infidelity, quite by accident, she decides to keep the secret and not divulge it. The marchioness is tormented by “incessant fear of discovery” on account of her guilt and seeks to remove the Madam from the castle to keep the secret from coming out. Radcliffe takes pains to show the contrast between the two women. Madam has enough virtue to keep a secret from the Marquis in order that his peace not be disturbed. The Marchioness is unvirtuous and lusty, and could not believe that such goodness exists. The power in this situation switches from being in the hands of the Marchioness to Madam de Menon. The Marchioness is so used to the power being in her own hands, that she feels she must dislodge Madam de Menon from her home of many years. The Madam is clearly the more effeminate of the two for “she determined to be silent on that subject which would have instantly transferred the triumph from her adversary to herself” (102). This makes it quite clear that she is not used to having that power and even less accustomed to wielding it. The marchioness, skilled in deceit and in power, therefore wins as the Madam departs the castle.
Having thus examined the intentions of the characters involved and types of love and power which are present, it becomes necessary now to look again at the institute of marriage. It can be assumed, from the novel, that forced marriages and secret elopement were quite common. When the Duke is following Julia, he unknowingly is following a separate set of lovers. When these two are caught, they are released. Aside from the parents of the runaways, no one seems to care who they marry. The same thing occurs when Julia is mistaken for the other young girl. She is bound and kept for the Marquis to arrive. When it comes out that she is not the daughter being sought for, she is also not punished for rebelling against the wishes of their father. Both girls, when caught, are permitted to leave and afforded apologies, even, for the trouble. It is evident from the lack of reprimand that arranged marriages with unfavorable matches were quite common and accepted.
From this examination of love and possession, several factors rise. Firstly, that love and lust were treated differently. Affairs are accepted during marriages without love, but marriage to one you love is rarely granted. Secondly, power and possession often take the place of love. In the Marquis and Duke, there is no paternal love, only a desire to exert control over those in their power. Lastly, whether in love or possession, power must exist and the men usually hold that power over their women. Donne presents a pretty and romantic notion of love and sex. He gives forth sentiments of beauty, love, and adoration to his mistress. He is still in control of said lover, commanding her to undress and then taking the role of instructor. Power and possession are more common than love, but love is the more moving force. In the novel of Radcliffe and in the poetry of Donne, love is upheld as a virtue, it is the romantic notion which is to be sought and protected. Power and possession are the forces which shape and form love and at times, exterminate it.