Burial Rites shows that Agnes authored her own fate.I don't have that much feedback here (no time), but hopefully what I say can still be a little bit helpful! 
Set against the bleak Icelandic landscape, Kent’s “Burial Rites” explores the life of condemned women, Agnes Magnusdottir. By allowing Agnes to have a voice – readers are able to understand her death as a product of not only her own choices but the society in which she lived in. A society in which powerful men with status are favoured and prejudice is pervasive
stick to one tense (either consistently present or consistently past). Thus, Kent seeks to shed light on how Agnes’s death sentence cannot be blamed on Agnes herself but is also due to her unforgiving society that punishes those who are underprivileged.
So do you think that Agnes is at all responsible for her fate? If so, you need to say so more clearly in the intro – like finish off on a really clear contention at the end, like ‘Although to some extent Agnes’ choices [be more specific about what choices] create her doom, ultimately it is her unforgiving society that… blah blha.’
Maybe you could take a ‘deeper’ angle that says that her society is what leads to her choices and they interrelate…Agnes’s passionate love for Natan blinds her from any sense of reason and logic which leads to make foolish decisions that contribute to her death. By depicting passion and lust as both empowering and disempowering emotions, Kent conveys love as a double – edged sword. Although Agnes initially finds a sense of worthiness because of Natan’s attention towards her, she later expresses her love as a “hunger so deep, so capable of driving [her] into the night”, thus highlighting how her love for Natan has completely enveloped all her senses, making her incapable in forming the right decisions. Time and time again, Agnes forgives Natan or chooses not to face up to his deceitful and manipulative ways. When Natan lies to Agnes that she would be “housemistress” and yet “there was Sigga”, Agnes chooses to believe his words that indeed “[he] would not lie to [her]”. Further, when Natan purposely sleeps with Sigga in the presence of Agnes, she experiences great grief and sorrow – “rage flooded through [her]” and she “screwed [her] fingernails into the flesh of [her] arm”
which highlights how Agnes is willing to self-inflict pain and torment herself for such a man
this sentence feels like it’s going off topic a bit – it’s not talking about her fate, really. Perhaps if Agnes was not so caught up in her love with Natan and realised that indeed Natan is conniving and duplicitous in nature, she would have made the reasonable decision to leave him, thus changing her fate. Agnes’s attempt to forgive Natan for sleeping with Sigga further emphasies her malicious and unhealthy love for him, as she is depicted as a desperate woman unable to see the danger that lies ahead of her. Thus, it is through the many moments in which Agnes commits herself again and again to Natan despite his mistreatments of her that exemplifies how Agnes’s overwhelming love for him leads her to making the wrong choices which ultimately leads her to her own death.
Can you explain a bit more clearly about how these choices lead to her death? You’ve said a few times that by ignoring his failings she dies, but can you explain how this actually works? Step me through it! Therefore, although to some extent, Kent shows Agnes to have authored her own choices, by highlighting the toxic nature of gossip in society Kent is able to create a more ambiguous character doomed by more than just her decisions and authorship. That last sentence was a bit strange – it didn’t discuss anything from this paragraph at all, right? Instead, finish off saying that Kent shows that her poor choices partly author her fate, and then introduce the other in the next paragraph. Don’t dive into new/different ideas than you’ve discussed on your last sentence.The deeply prejudiced society that is quick to stereotype Agnes contributes to her impending death as she is seen as the unequivocally evil woman. By highlighting the toxicity of such a society and the consequences they bring to people, Kent condemns Agnes’s society for falsely characterising her and others in general
I’d put this later – you haven’t yet shown the toxicity of society and the consequences; after you’ve explained that, then you can discuss this. Agnes claims that “how other people think of you determine(s) who you are.” This highlights the preconceptions of society and how Agnes herself has become a victim of it.
that’s an awesome quote, and I’m sure you can get more out of it! How do other people and their thoughts ‘determine’ who you are? In what way does this actually work? That people will see a “witch caught in the web of her own fateful weaving” and not her, further reveals how society’s branding of Agnes as a “murderess”, has restricted her from proving people wrong. This is because in the eyes of everybody else she is already a dead woman. Further, Kent implements historical documents all throughout her novel to reinforce how history has defined Agnes as “condemned”, as someone who “stabbed and thrashed” her victims and not someone who committed a mercy kill. The use of primary sources further emphasises how society and historical documents display the absolute truth, supposedly. By doing so, it leaves Agnes no chance in providing an alternative story, leaving a tunnel visioned view that she committed the crime out of evil nature and thus everyone driving Agnes to her death, thinking that the death penalty is a suitable punishment. It is
due to Agnes’s inability to transcend the malicious nature of her society that she is unable to prove herself to be more than just a “murderess”, besides the Jonsson family and Toti, thereby leading society to endorse the view that Agnes should be fated to die.
I think you could organise the flow of this paragraph better: like –
1. Society views Agnes like >this<
2. Because of how society runs, this is inflexible and unchangeable and she doesn’t have a choice.
3. This then influences her fate.
4. Thus Kent delivers >this< message.
… or whatever order you choose; but rather than a seemingly somewhat ‘random’ order of this event and this event and this event, if you could group it into a really clear flow in your brain, it might flow better on paper too.
By the way, I’m exaggerating here – this really isn’t bad! I’m just being… extra-critical, sorry.Agnes’s patriarchal society strips Agnes of her voice and ultimately forces her to her own death. Kent demonstrates the over-arching patriarchal society that punishes the underprivileged through her characterisation of Blondal. During the trial, Agnes claims “they [Blondal and other male officials]
note that you could start the quote a bit later (i.e. after the ‘they’) and then you wouldn’t have the trouble with square brackets and it’d look prettier plucked at [her] words like birds” suggesting Agnes’s oppression in such a society
could be good to discuss the birds motif/symbol (yes, use this metalanguage!) – presents them as birds of prey and her as a helpless dying victim or something, totally powerless (I’ve only skimmed the book once so I’m sure there’s much more you can draw out of this). Further, Blondal’s adamant stance on executing Agnes lies in his underlying desire to prove his power and competence as an “opportunity for [his] community to witness the consequences for a grave misdemeanour.”
that’s a decent point, but how is it relevant? It doesn’t actually address the topic or even your topic sentence That Sigga is pardoned, yet Agnes is condemned further illustrates the power of men such as Blondal and how Agnes is unable to escape her predicament, as she is no match for a society where males with status are on top of the pyramid. When Blondal recounts the murder to Toti, he repeatedly uses the phrase “I am of the opinion” whilst portraying Agnes as the master mind who manipulated Sigga and Fridrick into the murders of Natan and Petur. Here, the word “opinion” connotes a sense that Blondal himself is unsure of the facts however it is his word that is law
that was great analysis because it got deep into the words in the text – excellent 
– thus Agnes is unable to escape Blondal’s authority and condemnation of her to death. By portraying Blondal as a man so vested in his power and authority, Kent condemns the patriarchal society and highlights the tenuous grip that Agnes has over her own life.
it’d be great to go into more depth on Kent’s messages – how does she use this (i.e. the fact that Agnes’ actions don’t control her fate, and she’s totally helpless) to comment on the social structures of the time? Try being a bit more specific and going into a bit more detail than just ‘condemns the society’. Why does she condemn them? What specifically does she show about them?In essence, whilst Kent allows Agnes to have moments to author her own fate, it is ultimately a combination of her society as well as her unrelenting passion and love for Natan that leads her to her own execution
is that (her love) her own fault? Not something you’d discuss in the conclusion, but probably a good thing to have discussed earlier. By depicting Agnes’s death being a consequence of both her emotions and society, Kent successfully encapsulates the ambiguous nature of Agnes. Yet by highlighting the devastating effects of such a male dominated and prejudiced society, Kent ultimately disapproves of such a society as being disempowering and unjust.
Nice endingDon't have time to sum up, so could you go through and write yourself a summary of my comments and what specifically you can improve on? P.S. I didn't mention much of the stuff you did well, but I can tell you that you did a lot well and it's quite a solid effort.I feel you could've gone a bit deeper into thinking of slightly different ideas:
- her earlier life choices (not just her choices related to Natan) and how they impacted on her final fate
- is Agnes to blame for any of her actions anyway? Why/why not? Prove it from the text...
- what impact did other individuals have, not just the overall social structure and Blondal?
- what
is Agnes' fate? Is there something more to it than just her execution?
- could Agnes have done anything different that would have avoided this death? (you did address this in your first paragraph, but are there other ways too?)
- was she doomed from birth because of her social position?
- did the society influence how she later acted?
Can't think of much more, but hope it sparks some ideas. You want to be asking questions, asking questions, asking questions about the topics (especially 'is it true in all cases' and trying to think of other, less common events or characters).
Sorry for the super-rushed job! All the best with your exam, bvb09
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