Women Dependent on Men's Affection in Hemans

In Corinne at the Capitol, Properzia Rossi, and The Indian Woman's Death Song Felicia Hemans explores the idea of women who are unable to live without the affections of a beloved man. In Corinne at the Capitol,  Corinne is in the midst of what should be a triumphant moment, being honored in the same vein as Petrarch, but yet sadness is already creeping in. The poem ends with the sentiment "Oh! Art thou not / Happy in that glorious lot? - / Happier, happier far than than thou, / With the laurel on thy brow, / She that makes the humblest hearth / Lovely but to one on earth!" The poem states that Corinne's personal success is outweighed by her failure to secure the attentions of the man she loves, and to make the humblest home appealing to him. The consequence of this failure is played out in more depth in Properzia Rossi, where the goal is that "he may yet, / Feeling sad mastery there, perchance regret / Thine unrequited gift." It is taken farthest in "Indian Woman's Death Song"  where the woman spurned by her husband kills not only herslef but her infant daughter to speare her a similar fate. What perplexed me about Hemans' dedication to this topic was its seeming contrast with her life, as a personally successful poet. She achieved the sort of success that Corinne attained but seemingly was more satisfied with her result, given the information in her biography.