A Helpmeet for Him - "Charm, O Woman! Be not afraid..."

• In 'A Helpmeet for Him', the quote "Charm, O woman! Be not afraid! His shadow by day, his moon by night", the use of Apostrophe (Direct Address to "Woman") mimics the tone of a biblical or liturgical command, positioning the speaker as a kind of spiritual guide or divine intermediary - This aligns with Tractarian ideals, where poetry functions as a moral tool, reinforcing woman’s ordained role within a Christian hierarchy - The apostrophe gives the impression of holy instruction rather than personal reflection, diminishing female autonomy beneath divine authority
• In 'A Helpmeet for Him', the quote "Charm, O woman! Be not afraid! His shadow by day, his moon by night", the use of Apostrophe (Direct Address to "Woman") seems to uplift her, but actually reinforces her subservience to man through reassurance - The apostrophe softens patriarchal expectation, couching it in the language of care rather than coercion - In doing so, it subtly perpetuates gendered hierarchies while disguising them as emotional support
• In 'A Helpmeet for Him', the quote "Charm, O woman! Be not afraid! His shadow by day, his moon by night", the use of Apostrophe (Direct Address to "Woman") may be ventriloquising the dominant male or theological voice, speaking to woman in a tone that echoes societal authority - However, this apostrophe could simultaneously be read as exposing the artificiality of that voice - raising questions about why woman must be commanded to "charm" or reassured not to fear - Thus, it introduces the possibility of heteroglossia: the coexistence of doctrinal power and the resistance it provokes
• In 'A Helpmeet for Him', the quote "Charm, O woman! Be not afraid! His shadow by day, his moon by night", the use of Apostrophe (Direct Address to "Woman") and the need to tell woman not to be afraid implies that fear is justified - a subtle admission that her role may not be as glorious or stable as suggested - The apostrophe reveals the cracks in the system it seeks to uphold, allowing a proto-feminist doubt to infiltrate an otherwise devotional structure - Woman’s agency is invoked rhetorically, but the urgency of the address betrays the anxiety behind the command
• In 'A Helpmeet for Him', the quote "Charm, O woman! Be not afraid! His shadow by day, his moon by night", the use of Apostrophe (Direct Address to "Woman") which functions as a performative speech act, commanding woman into her assigned identity within the verse itself - Her role is not just described but actively summoned into being, as if the poem seeks to control her through poetic language - This creates a power dynamic where speech becomes a tool of both aesthetic beauty and structural domination
• In 'A Helpmeet for Him', the quote "Charm, O woman! Be not afraid! His shadow by day, his moon by night", the use of Imperative Commands functions as a soothing command, reaffirming the woman’s divinely sanctioned duty while positioning fear as inappropriate or faithless - It evokes the tone of angelic or biblical reassurance, echoing Tractarian ideology that idealises submission as spiritual fulfilment - By placing the woman within a divine order, the command both consoles and confines her
• In 'A Helpmeet for Him', the quote "Charm, O woman! Be not afraid! His shadow by day, his moon by night", the use of Imperative Commands enforces a very specific and limiting behavioural expectation - It implies that woman must present a pleasing exterior regardless of inner turmoil - her value reduced to comfort and reflection - In this sense, the imperative conceals patriarchal subjugation beneath a tone of tender persuasion
• In 'A Helpmeet for Him', the quote "Charm, O woman! Be not afraid! His shadow by day, his moon by night", the use of Imperative Commands to instruct rather than describe, the poem subtly suggests that woman’s role is not natural but constructed and performed - she must be told to "charm" - This exposes the instability of the role being idealised, inviting proto-feminist readings that see woman’s identity as externally imposed rather than inherently embraced - The very act of command betrays a need to assert control over something potentially resistant
• In 'A Helpmeet for Him', the quote "Charm, O woman! Be not afraid! His shadow by day, his moon by night", the use of Imperative Commands adopts the language of emotional reassurance, but also reveals an underlying awareness of the burdens woman bears - The use of the imperative here becomes a kind of coercive comfort, where emotional suppression is demanded in the name of devotion and obedience - It highlights how patriarchal systems often compel women to repress their fears for the sake of appearing virtuous and unwavering
• In 'A Helpmeet for Him', the quote "Charm, O woman! Be not afraid! His shadow by day, his moon by night", the use of Imperative Commands mirrors the formal, commanding language of scripture or sermon, reinforcing the poem’s devotional tone - It elevates woman’s submission into a sacred act, transforming obedience into a form of worship - Yet this sanctification of compliance also raises questions about how language is used to regulate and sanctify gendered power structures
• In 'A Helpmeet for Him', the quote "Charm, O woman! Be not afraid! His shadow by day, his moon by night", the use of Dual Metaphor of the Moon evokes its monthly waxing and waning, which has long been associated with the menstrual cycle and, by extension, the embodied nature of female experience - By casting woman as “his moon by night,” Rossetti may be subtly acknowledging the rhythms of female biology, even while spiritually idealising them - This biological allusion, in proto-feminist terms, could suggest that woman’s identity is shaped not only by divine purpose but by natural, bodily realities that complicate the role she’s expected to play
• In 'A Helpmeet for Him', the quote "Charm, O woman! Be not afraid! His shadow by day, his moon by night", the use of Dual Metaphor of the Moon’s shifting form - from full to crescent to invisible - could symbolise the internal emotional flux or instability of womanhood that lies beneath the stable façade of domestic virtue - Rossetti’s use of the moon metaphor, under this lens, hints that the female subject is not fixed but continually adapting, possibly even concealing elements of herself to maintain her expected role
• In 'A Helpmeet for Him', the quote "Charm, O woman! Be not afraid! His shadow by day, his moon by night", the use of Dual Metaphor and Selene is the goddess of the moon who rides across the sky illuminating the night - she is revered for her ethereal beauty, but also bound by her devotion to Endymion, a mortal man - Rossetti may be invoking this mythic feminine archetype to portray woman as a celestial but dependent figure - radiant, yet defined in relation to the masculine - This mythologization of woman’s role reinforces Tractarian ideals of spiritual femininity, yet also embeds a tension: the divine is still in service to the human (man)
• In 'A Helpmeet for Him', the quote "Charm, O woman! Be not afraid! His shadow by day, his moon by night", the use of Dual Metaphor and unlike the sun, which radiates its own light, the moon only reflects the light of the sun - an apt metaphor for woman’s traditionally perceived role as dependent upon man for purpose and visibility - Rossetti’s metaphor renders woman as a celestial mirror, existing not in her own right, but in response to another’s presence - The beauty of the image is thus tinged with passivity, reinforcing how Victorian ideology romanticised female submission
• In 'A Helpmeet for Him', the quote "Charm, O woman! Be not afraid! His shadow by day, his moon by night", the use of Dual Metaphor and the parallel images of shadow and moon suggest that woman’s presence, though quiet or secondary, is constant - she is always there, watching, assisting, reflecting - This constancy elevates her as the spiritual guardian of man, but also implies a lack of independent identity or purpose beyond her service - The metaphor may be devotional on the surface, but it subtly foregrounds the erasure of female individuality in the name of constancy and loyalty