I just feel terrible for her position. In class we talked about her and some people mentioned they were annoyed at her character because she will not do anything to defend her situation, but I just feel bad for her.
She is a woman who lived at a time where she could not have done anything. She was at her husbands bid. That is just how it was. She could not choose to go visit him at court unless he summoned her. She could not go against his orders. It was just not done. I think Gregory's Amy was already too bold for her time to say all the things she had said to Robert. She yelled at him, she spoke ill of the queen, and she told him of her true religion. Robert was shocked when she said these things because it was not a normal thing for a woman to say.
Amy was also blinded with her love for him. I think we've seen our friends do stupid things and done them ourselves because we could not control our logic over our emotions. This woman is in love with Robert stronger than any other love described in this book. She even starts to go crazy in the end, when after Robert tells her he wants a divorce to marry the Queen, she tells William Hyde that Robert is a great husband and everything is hunky-dory. She is physically ill from her mental ache, and its been proven that great stress can make a person physically ill.
Basically, I feel sorry for her. I honestly don't think there is anything she could have done to make her situation good. Robert was unstoppable in his quest for the top, and upon getting up there, she had no way to bring him back down. The only thing she could have done to make her life better was a divorce and settlement so that she could live in peace from his mistreatment and one day get over him. But she could not do that, of course, because of her religion and her pride.
Over and Out
YES!!!!!!! I totally feel the same way! Back then, a woman was to keep the house in order, give an heir to the family name, and respect her husband above EVERYTHING! Now at the end, when Robert wanted a divorce, she could have just given in... However, like you said, in her religion it was a sin. The priest who hears all the rumors and is unsure how to help Amy even tells her that she cannot divorce him... no matter what pain it may erase by just letting go.
ReplyDeleteSo really she is stuck. She loves someone who no longer wants her. Just as you said, Aleks, she is blinded by that love. She knows she lost him, yet everyday she prays to forgive him and even the Queen! She hopes that he'll love her once more... Which is how she dies, thinking he has finally come back to her.
Amy was just a woman in love. I think near the end, as she began to get physically and mentally ill, she knew it was over but it felt so much better to deny it. Even though her religion wouldn't allow a divorce, I think secretly she knew that if she gave into it then it meant it was really over. She had that last tie to him. Whether he loved her or not, he was still hers through marriage...