below is a practice essay for Burial Rites, my teacher takes about 2 weeks to mark practise essays! so feedback before the exam would be much appreciated. Feel free to give it a rough mark out of 10 as well.
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In Burial Rites, both the setting and its people are presented as harsh and unforgiving
In her book Burial Rites, Hannah Kent explores 19th Century Icelandic culture and the brutal reality of it through the life of Agnes Magnúsdottir. Kent presents the jarring and ruthless society through investigating the role that superstition has on the people, as well as the antiquated stance on gender roles that are riveted in the culture. Kent portrays these emotions through the landscape to emphasise why Icelandic society and its people come across this way.
Through Agnes’ experiences, Hannah Kent attempts to portray the difficulties women faced in 19th Century Icelandic culture. From a young age Agnes “had the learning whipped out of [her]” by her father who didn’t approve of an education. This may have been a blessing in disguise as her “excellent intellect” made her be accused of being a “witch”. Agnes’ relationship with Natan perfectly illustrates the dynamic between the two genders in Iceland during that time. Agnes was manipulated by Natan which was met with violence if she protested and being accused a “nag” and “sprawled into the snow”. The general consensus in Iceland was that “a thinking woman can’t be trusted” while Sigga who is “dumb and pretty” is able to have her case appealed. Kent also used the symbol of the rock that Agnes’ mother gave her to represent her being silenced. The rock weighed down her tongue in her mouth representing the little voice she had. From Agnes’ perspective, Kent is able to give some insight into the reality of 19th Century Iceland.
Kent also investigates the role of superstition in Icelandic culture and the effect it has to the people and how they are portrayed. Throughout the book it is made apparent of the fear for the unknown that the people of Iceland attempt to explain through superstition. From Margrèt looking for “marks of evil” on Agnes’ body and always keeps a fire burning so the “devil couldn’t get in” to the folklore that Natan was actually named “Satan” demonstrate the strong presence of superstition. This would have played a major role in forming the merciless society that attributes anything out of the ordinary to be “demonic”. Kent also uses prophetic dreams to demonstrate the role they had in offering guidance. Agnes’ has dreams of “crawling in the snow” and “walking barefoot across a lava field” with Tóti. These dreams allowed Kent to demonstrate the impact of superstition while maintaining authentic and realistic.
Throughout the novel, Kent aligns the landscape with certain characters emotions to heighten how the Icelandic culture is presented. Agnes’ loneliness is emphasised as “the wind passes right through [her]” as if she isn’t even there. She is controlled by fate, like the “cold sea air, grasping me about the throat”, while also being a “puppet of the wind” as her words are constantly manipulated. The harsh landscape also acts as a prison; Agnes was left unguarded but still trapped at Kornsá due to the fact that she would die if she ran away. Unlike the people, the setting and landscape of Iceland also brings other emotions instead of just harshness. The landscape and weather provide Agnes with pure bliss on harvest day feeling “drunk with summer and sunlight”. Kent not only uses the environment of Iceland to reflect character’s emotions but also uses it to portray the isolation that is ever so present in Iceland which plays a major role in how the people live day to day in such an unforgiving environment.
Throughout the book Burial Rites, Hannah Kent investigates the different contributing factors that lead to the people of Iceland being presented as harsh and merciless. Kent showcased the role of gender, intelligence and superstitions and delved into the impact these had on shaping 19th Century Icelandic culture as well as the fate of Agnes Magnúsdottir. Through Agnes’ story, Kent was able to shed light onto the difficulties faced by Agnes by uncovering, through her interpretation, what 19th Century Icelandic society was like.
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