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Impacts of Mental Health & the Struggles of Being a Female Writer in "The Spleen"

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Impacts of Mental Health & the Struggles of Being a Female Writer in "The Spleen"

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Anne Finch’s, “The Spleen” is a vulnerable poem in which Finch is exploring her relationship and struggles with mental health. This poem is incredibly contemporary; for, at the time, not many had the vocabulary to speak on such a misunderstood and ambiguous issue. At the time, depression was referred to as “the spleen” and was largely viewed as a female disease. It was not widely accepted to speak on these experiences, and yet, Anne Finch was able to put into words the deep feelings so many women were facing. Finch writes, “On sleep intruding do’st thy Shadows spread,/Thy gloomy Terrors round the silent Bed,/And crowd with boding Dreams the melancholy Head”. In these lines, Finch uses vivid language to convey how the spleen is infiltrating one’s sleep, leading to unsettling thoughts and dreams. The speaker’s mind becomes a battleground for these dark feelings, even when they try to rest in the silence of their bed.

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Love, Desire, & Emotions in "The Spleen" 

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Love, Desire, & Emotions in "The Spleen" 

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In this poem, the speaker is describing how the spleen impacts every aspect of their life, including their love life. Finch writes, “‘Till Lordly Man, born to imperial Sway,/Compounds for Peace, to make his Right away/And Woman arm’d with Spleen do’s servilely obey”. Here, Finch is describing how the speaker is enslaved both to the disease and to her husband. The speaker has a deeply intimate relationship with the spleen and that relationship is impacting her relationship to her husband. Additionally, Finch speaks to the fact that the speaker feels they do not have control in either relationship.

Finch highlights the feelings of desire differently from most poets at the time. In this poem, Finch speaks to the desire for relief and the desire for greater self-understanding. The last stanza of the poem reveals that the speaker turns to other vices in order to appease “the patron” and also her husband. Finch writes, “The son of Bacchus pleads thy power,/As to the Glass he still repairs/Pretends but to remove thy Cares;”. These lines reveal how the speaker is turning to drinking wine in order to appease “the patron”. The wine is numbing the uncontrollable feelings. While this may not directly relate to romantic love, it does reflect a desire for relief and comfort, which is a universal human desire. Additionally, the act of directly addressing the spleen, something that was seldom talked about, can be seen as an expression of the speaker’s desire for self-understanding. Throughout the poem, there is a desire to better understand one’s emotions.

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Finch speaks to how depression can overtake every aspect of one’s life. For the speaker, the disease has deeply impacted their career as a writer. Finch writes, “I feel my verse decay, and my cramped Numbers fail/Through thy black Jaundies I all objects see,/As dark and terrible as thee;”. In these lines, Finch is describing how depression is coloring her whole human experience. During the 18th century, women had little agency over their careers and decisions in general. For a woman struggling with depression, the disease takes over any semblance of agency. The struggle for control over one’s emotional state is a key element of agency. The very fact that the speaker is addressing the “spleen” implies a desire to assert agency over their own emotional well-being. The poem portrays the desire for relief and self-understanding in the face of dark, emotional challenges.

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Impacts on Mental Health & the Struggles of Being a Female Writer in "Written, originally extempore..." 

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Impacts on Mental Health & the Struggles of Being a Female Writer in "Written, originally extempore..." 

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Through this work, Hands is able to reveal the reality of being a woman in the 18th century. Similarly Finch, Hands speaks to the emotions of women. Through the metaphor of “mad cow”, Hands is able to explain how women were viewed as too emotional or hysterical. Just like Elizabeth Carter’s poem, this work was written extemporaneously. This speaks to both of the women’s education and ability to write, quickly, on their feet. All of these skills were deeply valued by poets in the 18th century.

Hands uses the term “mad” to describe the heifer’s rampage through the town. Hands writes, “She spurns the ground with madness as she flies,/And cloud of dust, like autumn mists, arise”. These deeply descriptive and imagery filled lines reveal the chaos and hysteria of the cow. However, upon further reading, it can be dissected that Hands is describing female rage. The poem then turns to describe how the villagers attempt to put a halt to this chaos. This is relevant to a woman of emotion being stifled and even viewed as unattractive because of their emotional state.

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Love, Desire, and Emotions in, "Written, originally extempore.."

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Love, Desire, and Emotions in, "Written, originally extempore.."

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Elizabeth Hands uses this poem in order to the frenzied behavior and the tragic outcome of such behavior. Both Hands and Falconar speak to the desire and feelings of women being stifled. Hands writes, “At last the beast, unable to withstand/Such force united, leapt into a pond: The water quickly cool’d her madden’d rage/No more she’ll fright our village, I presage”. These lines show that the heifer was calmed down through cool water. However, it can relate to how a woman’s feelings and emotions are invalidated. Her feelings of anger are written as hysteria and she is ultimately shut down and stifled, just like the speaker’s ambition in “On Ambition” is stifled.

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Agency in "Written, originally extempore..."

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Agency in "Written, originally extempore..."

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Elizabeth Hands speaks to the lack of agency that women had over their own emotions in her work. The poem is filled with imagery and places the reader in the center of this village as the mad heifer is running through. The line, “Then bellow loud: the villagers alarm’d” highlight the female rage that Hands is alluding to. The woman is on a rampage and the whole village is focused on trying to show how women lacked agency, even in their own emotions. Emotional women were viewed as unattractive and this is revealed throughout the poem. Anne Finch speaks to this lack of agency in her poem. However, for Finch the lack of agency is due to the speaker’s depressive state, rather than an outside influence like Hands is referring to. Ultimately, these women were creating the space for female emotions to be validated.

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Impacts of Mental Health & the Struggles of Being a Female Writer in "Written Extempore on the Sea-Shore"

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Impacts of Mental Health & the Struggles of Being a Female Writer in "Written Extempore on the Sea-Shore"

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Similar to Anne Finch, Elizabeth Carter’s “Written Extempore on the Sea-Shore” explores the impacts of mental health, specifically on women. Carter writes, “Thou restless fluctuating Deep,/Expressive of the human Mind/In thy for ever varying Form,/My own inconstant Self I find”. These lines express how depression comes in waves and that the speaker is struggling to find consistency. The speaker desperately wishes to maintain one mood or feeling, but the spleen is making her feel as though she is in the ocean and all feelings are coming in waves. Finch expresses similar feelings in the first stanza of “The Spleen” by highlighting the different forms depression can take. Finch opens with, “What art thou, Spleen, which every thing dost ape?”. This opening question gives Finch the space to flesh out all of the symptoms and impacts of depression throughout the poem. Carter also aims to express just how depression is impacting the speaker, but does so by personifying the ocean with the symptoms of depression. Both Finch and Carter and writing vulnerably in order to express to the general public how “the spleen” is impacting them and so many others like them.

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Love, Desire, and Emotion in, "Written Extempore on the Sea-Shore"

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Love, Desire, and Emotion in, "Written Extempore on the Sea-Shore"

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Elizabeth Carter’s poem is not explicitly about love and desire, however these themes can be found indirectly in the emotional landscape of the poem. From the beginning of the poem, Carter is conflating the ocean with the inconsistent feelings of the speaker. Carter writes, “Blest Emblem of that equal State,/Which I this Moment feel within:” which explains the speaker’s deep desire to be able to maintain one mood. Throughout this poem, the sea serves as a metaphor for the human mind as well as waves that emotional states come in. There is a desire for consistency and for tranquility, rather than a desire for love.

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Agency in "Written Extempore on the Sea-Shore"

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Agency in "Written Extempore on the Sea-Shore"

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Agency over their own choices and feelings was something that many women in the 18th century were searching for. Elizabeth Carter is able to highlight this experience through this poem by showing how the “spleen” overtakes every aspect of the speaker’s life. Carter writes, “And ev’ry Joy that Friendship gives/Shall fade beneath the Gloom of Spleen”. These lines reveal how the disease impacts every aspect of her life, including her relationships. Carter highlights how friendships are supposed to offer a glimmer of hope in a depressive state, but for the speaker, the depression is able to overshadow that joy.

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Impacts of Mental Health & the Struggles of Being a Female Writer in "On Ambition"

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Impacts of Mental Health & the Struggles of Being a Female Writer in "On Ambition"

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In “On Ambition” Harriet Falconar highlights the struggles of being a female writer in the 18th century. At the time, writing was viewed as a vanity, especially for women. Ambitious women were looked down upon. Falconar writes, “Mistaken mortal, leave this humble vale,/Forsake these bow’rs of indolence and ease,/For those, whose sweetness scents th’ ambrosial gale,/Where fancy forms then thousand scenes to please;/Then mount my car, (th’ exulting goddess cries,)/With me explore the regions of the skies”. This is an example of the dialogue that is taking place between the speaker and the goddesses. The goddesses are asking the speaker to leave behind their state of ambition in order to take part in a more modest way of living. The imagery in these lines is reflective of the goddess’s view that one must be saved from ambition by virtue.

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Love, Desire, and Emotions in "On Ambition"

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Love, Desire, and Emotions in "On Ambition"

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During this time, women who wrote about love and desire were viewed as sexually promiscuous. While “On Ambition” does not directly speak about love and desire, it speaks to how being a woman of ambition was looked down upon and how that would impact relationships. Falconar writes, “At her sublime approach, the fair disguise,/That flutt'ring, fond, Ambition long had wore,/Fell from her form;away th' enchantress flies;/And, in an instant, was beheld no more:/A stonishment and terror fill'd my breast,/When thus my better guide these words addrest”. These lines are describing a positive and virtuous influence, and contrasting it with the negative aspects of ambition. Falconar is describing ambition as seductive, misguiding women away from their domestic duties. While this poem does not directly speak to love, it can be related because a woman of ambition was not seen as a woman who would make a good wife. At the time, an immodest woman would not be the first choice for a wife. This poem reveals that a  woman’s ambition needs to be stifled so that women can complete their domestic duties.

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Through “On Ambition”, Harriet Falconar is explaining the struggles and expectations of being a woman in the 18th century. Through dialogue between the speaker and the goddess, Falconar is able to express the limitations and expectations that are placed on women of that time. During this time period, women were expected to focus on domestic duties and this traditional view point limited their ability to pursue ambitions outside of the home. Additionally, female writers were viewed as immodest simply for being writers. Their work was constantly being judged alongside their male counterparts. Falconar speaks directly to how women were being stifled by writing, “My name is Virtue, and the child of heav’n/I came to save thee from Ambition’s snare,/To teach poor, erring, mortals I was giv’n/To guide their steps with diligence and care./To guide their steps with diligence and care./This said, the radiant goddess took her flight,/Her beauties vanish’d in the shades of night”. These lines reveal that the goddess feels as though the speaker must be saved from ambition by virtue. Women did not have agency to any effect in this time. This poem is evident of the thinking of the time. Women of ambition were aimed to be stifled back into the prospective domestic spheres. This poem highlights this idea and how that is impacting women of the 18th century.