A critical analysis of Brontë’s The Prisoner, employing feminist criticism and problematizing the practise of literary criticism. (Because I'm a sucker for her work) 


Emily Brontë wrote The Prisoner as either a literal or figurative poem; critics explore their individual interpretations, and that of others, in order to find the intentional fallacy of the author. Through these interpretations we can access what is believed to be the subconscious of the poet, using psychoanalysis and historical context of both Emily Brontë’s past and the era in which she lived. However, the reader will always contextualise the poem unintentionally, making it profoundly difficult to unearth Brontë’s true intentions and bringing to the poem and essence of themselves. It could be that she did not intend anything other than a literal approach to The Prisoner, or that it is a direct reflection on the treatment of women in Victorian England, and of patriarchy. Similarly, it is possible that she wrote it as a literal poem, unaware that she was subconsciously expressing her inner anguish and metaphorical imprisonment.

As a literal approach to Brontë’s The Prisoner, it is clear that she speaks of incarceration, and a fierce dignity that prevents the imprisoned from weakening under the ‘desolate despair’ of their confines; lines such as, ‘Yet I would lose no sting, would wish no torture less’ underline this notion of hope, and of strength. The poem, addressing limitation, or rather the constraints of reality, and the agonising need for freedom, expresses ecstasy in the idea of self-strength and hope which the character yearns for. It could be that the prisoner is slipping into a state of delirium, whether from pain or time or ‘year after year in gloom’, which would push anyone to the brinks of insanity, through which they find solace in their own mind where reality fails them ‘My outward sense is gone, my inward essence feels’. In this case, ‘Hope’ could be representative of the prisoner’s imagination, where the idea of their eventual freedom is strong enough to withstand the pain of imprisonment. There is a sense of scale within the poem, ‘measuring the gulf’ to signify the prisoner’s leap between struggling against captivity and allowing desire to consume them, which is followed by ‘It stoops and dares the final bound’ highlighting the dawning of ‘the Invisible’ and the strength of Brontë’s prisoner.

The Prisoner, in a different light, can be seen as a figurative exploration of the position of women in Victorian society, by which the prisoner becomes a woman entrenched in a century of constraint and repression. In this era, women had to lead duplicitous lives; facades and concealment meant that they could hide behind false identities that secured their reputation and status within society, and within their home. Their true temperament was to remain a secret untold. Emily Brontë’s The Prisoner could speak of this restraint, ‘The soul to feel the flesh, and the flesh to feel the chain’, and of repressed female aspiration; limitations on the potential of women, and of dreams. The lilt of Brontë’s poem exposes the disparity of desire and rationality, expressed through lines such as ‘a soundless calm descends; the struggle of distress, and fierce impatience ends’, which could address the notion of freeing yourself from social, or patriarchal, and domestic restraint. Moreover, ‘When the pulse begins to throb, the brain to think again’ suggests that the liberation of allowing yourself to feel, think, and finally breathe without the pressures of conformity ‘year after year in gloom, and desolate despair’, will be in a clarity worth the consequence. Brontë’s poem reflects on the clarity gained through unburdening ones self from social expectation, disregarding the ‘importance’ of reputable status and allowing raw emotion to conquer rationality, ‘my outward sense is gone, my inward essence feels’. The ‘prisoner’, in this case, is clearly symbolic of women, while the prison is representative of Victorian society; the poet creates a character that is enclosed not only in a physical incarceration, but also within the confines of her own mind, in order to show the vulnerability of women in Brontë’s time. 

While this idea is plausible, it is needless to say that our individual interpretations bring elements to the poem that Brontë may not have been aware of herself; The Prisoner might have been intended as literal rather than  figurative, a deeply concealed and neglected anguish. Similarly, Brontë may have insinuated an entirely different approach, where ‘A messenger of Hope comes every night to me... He comes with western wings’ is actually symbolic of religious hope, or ‘that kill me with desire’ of an affair. Symbolism, and in fact meaning, is given through the reader, who contextualises it by incorporating their own idea of historical and cultural understanding to the poem; any aspect of the poem that we, as individuals, can relate to on a conscious or subliminal level, automatically alters our perspective of its meaning; we relate and reminisce over it, producing memories of times we have felt similar pain, or love, and so on, whilst at the same time inducing historical references that we associate with the poet, or the poet’s era. Our perspective, so altered, means that the author’s intentional fallacy is difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish. ‘A messenger of Hope’, could represent the prisoner’s dreams and aspirations, a woman’s chance of freedom in a patriarchal society, or a person, thought or object that induces optimism. These theories oppose each other; ‘He comes with western winds, with that clear dusk of heaven that brings the thickest stars’, in a feminist light - as a metaphor for women overcoming the repression of society and men, ‘Still let my tyrants know’ – is contradicted by the use of ‘He’ representing the ‘Hope’ and liberty, which suggests the poem takes on a highly religious tone.  We use these interpretations in order to access the mind of the poet; a key to their subconscious thought.

With Brontë’s history in mind, her childhood and the influence of her sisters, it is easy to see why criticism of The Prisoner is often in light of feminism, as a reflection on Victorian women cannot be disregarded completely as her intended meaning. Likewise, the poem could speak of repression in its most general form, so that it speaks to anyone who can relate to the feeling of being repressed, and the unyielding refusal to give in. Though, without empirical evidence, the significance of Emily Brontë’s poem, and that of all her work, will remain an obscurity critics can only hope to unveil; we are left to tread blindly into the storms of an incredible imaginative scope.