I would really appreciate any comments or corrections from anyone familiar with Burial Rites.
I am an EAL student so apologies for any grammar mistakes or unclear expressions.
Prompt - In what ways, and how successfully, does Agnes maintain her dignity until her execution?
In the 2013 speculative biography Burial Rites, Hannah Kent explores the life of a condemned woman in the months leading to her execution. Set in an unfamiliar landscape of the nineteenth century Iceland, the reader is exposed to a patriarchal society, where Agnes Magnusdottir, a lifelong servant and now also a criminal, is disempowered by the authorities, her relations and even those unrelated to her. However, as Agnes freely recounts about her past and gains some understanding from those willing to lend their ears to listen to her, some characters are seen to overlook her position as a criminal and to instead be respectful to her as an individual.
The simple act of “piercing a knife” through a human automatically places Agnes in the very bottom of the society, and makes her the least wanted person in the whole country. With her imprisonment, Agnes immediately loses the right to access the basic human needs. She is not allowed to even clean herself, and is left unwashed and in the same clothes for weeks, until she herself feels like “a monstrous creature.” However wanting to simply shower, she is forbidden from doing so, and with her shame at being so powerless, and her disgust of her own body, Agnes could not “bear to look about me[her].” The authorities wish her to be in such a “wretched[ness]” state physically, and emotionally too leaves her feeling abandoned and worthless, far from being wanted. At her numerous attempts to “explain what really happened”, they do give Agnes chances to speak up. But, they “taken[took]” and “plucked” at her stories, too clearly conveying that her speech is not worth for them to comprehend. They were too inhumane, selfish and cruel that they “altered the stories until it wasn’t my[her] own,” to design the stories in so the stories satisfy in how the authorities wish to present them. As the District Commissioner, Blondal is convinced that Agnes is “reticent, secretive and guilty,” as her position in the society and the fact that she has killed a person is enough to to know the sort of person she is. He represents the wide population who firmly believe in what has always been told and completely refuse to accept new ideas. In doing so, Hannah Kent does not necessarily seek sympathy from the reader. But, she does endeavour to demonstrate how a woman from the lower class is stripped off every little possession of hers, when she commits a crime, and seeks empathy from the reader about Agnes’ position.
However, as a companionless servant born into a family of “bad reputation”, Agnes is never truly loved by anyone nor receives attention. Left alone by herself at the tender age of six, Agnes constantly moves from houses to houses, doing domestic works until she is forced to search elsewhere. “Hav[ing] no family,” Agnes clings onto whoever is kind enough to accept her to their house, and works with “utmost diligence,” but even when she does meet with her biological father, she is turned away dismissively, and is left alone yet again with nothing but “some money.” Agnes is neglected from the Icelandic society because her mother slept with the “wrong man.” In a small and hierarchical society, the gossips and the image of an individual stays with people’s minds with little progress and update. Her joyful time with Natan Ketilsson, when Agnes for the first time in her life felt that she “was enough,” passes away quickly. Upon presenting Agnes wondering about Natan’s arrival, day after day receiving no notice of his whereabouts, Hannah Kent reveals how Agnes’s attention she received from Natan was very brief, and how, despite her best attempts, was unwelcome and ignored by her country. Agnes is portrayed as an isolated servant who has no experience of truly being cared by her relation, friends nor neighbours.
Despite being neglected from the majority of the population, Agnes does gain some acknowledgement and acceptance from Reverend Toti and Margret. Once resolved to be Agnes’ comforter, Toti decides that the best way to approach her is “gent[ly]” with “friend[liness].” He lets her talk freely to him, provoking her with short, open ended questions and listens intently without any criticisms or interruptions. He endeavours to do the best he can to give her “comfort and hope,” which guides the reader to see the “murderess” in a new light, that even when the whole country is awaits for her execution, there is someone who sees her as a human and wishes her to at least be “comfort[able]” in her last few months. The effectiveness of his approach was enough to break the “invisible membrane” between Agnes and Toti. Whilst Toti’s perception of Agnes is primarily the same throughout his period as her “spiritual guide,” Margret’s emerging understanding of Agnes influences her approval of the “servant.” Seeing her contribution to harvest and housework, her innocence at not stealing any object at the house, her involvement in the labour of Roslin and her honesty and humanity she conveys through her quiet yet obedient presence, Margret allows herself to correct the true image of Agnes. This is even apparent by the way her perception of Agnes goes from being a “murderess,” to a “servant,” and then to “my[her] girl” on the very last day of her life. She has come to relate to her so much that she starts to see her as a family member, her “girl” and even similar to her in that they are both “dying women.” Thus, Toti and Margret, despite as aware of Agnes’ bad reputation as anyone else in the country, are demonstrated to be open to comprehending her true personality and to give an ear to pay some degree of respect towards her as a woman.
In essence, Burial Rites exemplifies the impact of the social standing the committance of a crime on Agnes Magnusdottir through her relationship with several characters such as the District Commissioner Blondal, her love Natan and Toti and Margret who are open to new understand of her.
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