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Walter Von Deer Vegetative- Medieval Feminist Throughout his texts, Walter Von Deer Vegetative had a much more feminine approach than others of his times period. Instead of looking at women just as objects, which one can possess or own, he tried to put himself in the shoes of a woman, so to say, and see things from their point of view. “Under The Linden” and “Blissfully He Lay” are just two examples of texts where he tells a story from a woman’s point of view. One could argue that in some ways, Walter Von Deer Vegetative could be considered to be a divided feminist.
Throughout his poems, there is a strong recurring theme of men abandoning their mistresses in forbidden relationships. Walter uses his poetry to depict how different women in this situation would have felt, and might cope with the tragedy of unrequited love. Throughout “Under The Linden,” Walter Von Deer Vegetative expresses how strong a love can be, from a woman’s point of view. The woman in the poem does not care whether or not the two of them get caught really, because she is so happy just to be with him, lying underneath the tree.
She knows that “If anyone guesses/that we were together/lad surely die” (Under The Linden II 28-30), yet she does not care. As she meets with this man in private, she risks her life for her forbidden love. Walter depicts women to be faithful and trustworthy, even in the most secret cases. One could argue that since the woman is sneaking around to see this man, she is a deceitful person. On the contrary, she is so passionate about this man that she is willing to go to great lengths just to see him, making her faithful to her forbidden lover.
To depict a woman in this manner was not common for Walter’s time and some would say he was crazy for writing the things he did, in the manner in which he did. However, Walter did not listen to those around him, but instead wrote exactly how he felt, which was that women needed to be respected more than people of that time respected them. In the poem, “Blissfully He Lay,” a reader can once again note that Walter is writing from a female’s perspective, about a forbidden lover. The woman in the poem is told, “It’s better for us both that should now depart,” (Blissfully
He Lay 11) by her lover. It is evident that the two are not supposed to be seeing each other, otherwise they would not have to be meeting in secret places and then shortly after, depart. But why was this such a pattern throughout Walter’s works? It seems as though there is an underlying message that he tries to portray to the reader. In both “Under The Linden,” and “Blissfully He Lay,” Walter Von Deer Vegetative produces a repeating patter of the man in the forbidden relationship leaving the woman.
In “Under The Linden,” this idea doesn’t seem o bad because the woman seems to be left happily, with the birds singing, but in “Blissfully He Lay,” there seems to be a feeling of sorrow and grief as “he left the pretty lady weeping bitter tears” (Blissfully He Lay 1 43). One could argue that Walter is trying to convey to the audience that no matter the situation, whenever there is forbidden love, the man will always leave. Whether the woman is distressed, heart-broken, happy, relieved, or crushed when he does so, does not matter to him.
For a man simply does not care about his secret mistress. As long as he gets what he wants from her, which in almost all cases is sex, he needs nothing else. He will feel no emotional attachment to her, even if she is madly in love with him. The man might tell the woman how much he cares about her and needs her in his life, but this is all just a ploy to get sex from her, because he knows that she must feel loved in order to give him the most sacred thing a person can give. However, in the end, the man always leaves the woman, alone, with no one beside her, often feeling used, as she should.
A woman should feel used in a situation where she secretly meets up with a an, who is probably married, has sex with him, is told by him how he cares for her so much, and then simply leaves her all alone so that he can go back to his real life- Most likely his wife and children. However, in “Under The index,” one could interpret that the woman feels happy even though she IS left alone in the woods, with no one around, and nothing to do other than to think of her actions. The behavior of this woman could be viewed as strange or wrong, but one could argue that this behavior makes her strong and independent.
Women like the one from “Under The Linden” are arguably the season that Walter had such a passion for writing from a woman’s perspective. It is rare to find a woman who, despite of whether her actions are right or wrong, knows what she wants, goes after it, and doesn’t regret any part of it for a second. Some might say that this woman is disgraceful in the sense that she must know that this man has a wife, which is why they must only meet in secret, but she is simply independent, looking out for no one but herself.
She does not care if the man has a family or not, whether people find out about her secret relationship or not, or what people think of re for that matter. She knows that if anyone did find out she would surely be killed, but she has come to terms with that and does not let that stop her from getting what she wants. In a sense, though, she never really will get what she wants and whether she understands that or not does not really matter, because she is content. When it comes to forbidden relationships like that of”legend The Linden” and “Blissfully He Lay,” the recurring theme of the man leaving the woman is evident.
Walter depicts to the reader how some women, like the one from Under The Linden,” are independent and will be able to cope with being an option instead of a priority, for lack of better words, while others, like the one from “Blissfully He Lay,” will be devastated, unable to move on with their life without their forbidden man. Regardless of how these women handle the loss of their forbidden man, nothing will change the fact that in the end, these women are victims of unrequited love, and will evidently be left, with no one to even talk to about their secret love, except for maybe the birds in the trees.