[English] Text Response - Burial Rites

[n.a]

'Despite its inevitability, readers are surprised by the brutal ending of Burial Rites.

'Burial Rites', authored by Hannah Kent, is the complex, tragic and stirring speculative biography of Agnes Magnusdottir, the last woman to be executed in Iceland. Set against the unforgiving landscape of Iceland and its harsh 19th century society, the novel is a melancholy exploration of life and death, and is steeped in the desolation that is characteristic of such themes. Although death is prevalent throughout the novel, its characters and landscape, it is the ultimate death that awaits Agnes that pervades the reader's consciousness. Agnes' death is apparently inevitable from the onset of the novel, illustrated not only through the storyline itself, but is further emphasized through the narrative techniques that Kent employs. Nevertheless, it is also apparent that the construction of the storyline is such that it demands sympathy and emotional involvement from the reader, perhaps to the extent of hope that Agnes will be vindicated. It is the intransigent nature of her fate despite the ambiguity of her crime that lends such brutality to the denouement of the novel, and ultimately leaves the reader surprised despite the inevitability of such a fate.

References to death and Agnes' fate are frequent throughout the novel as an emphasis of the brutal ending that awaits Agnes. Her fate is established from the commencement of the novel, with Agnes startlingly stating that "they said [she] must die...they said that [she] stole the breath from men and now they must steal [hers]." Readers are, therefore, already positioned to infer that the narrative revolves around an "already dead woman...destined for the grave." This, coupled with the author's use of primary official documents at the beginning of each chapter pertaining to Agnes' indictment and her "sentence to be beheaded", clearly substantiate the ineluctable nature of her fate from the very beginning of the novel. In addition to this, Kent utilises other narrative techniques to further accentuate the "sombre expectation of death" that is ubiquitous in the novel. An example of this is the use of a lamb being preyed upon as a motif to symbolize Agnes as a victim of looming death, often accompanied by references to ravens as a symbol of fate. There are descriptions of a "lamb circled by ravens" and the comparisons of the ill treatment of Agnes as akin to keeping her "bound like a lamb ripe for slaughter", as well as Agnes' recollection of the instance when she saw Fridrik kicking an "already dead" sheep, followed by the appearance of ravens that "descend(ed) upon the sheep" and "plunged their beak(s) into the innards." In adapting these techniques, Kent ensures that all events in the novel are constantly silhouetted against the anticipation of imminent death.

Nevertheless, as readers venture further into the novel and learn more of Agnes' story, they come to the understanding that the nature of her crime is steeped in more ambiguity than was assumed. This gives rise to the unsettling realization that perhaps she may have been falsely "condemned to die", leading readers to hope that she may be acquitted in the end. This terrible realization that readers come to is a result of the events of her life as divulged to the reader, Reverend Toti and the Kornsa family by Agnes. She claims that during her trial at Hvammur, she was not allowed to "say what happened in [her] own way" and that "everything [she] said was taken from [her] and altered until the story wasn't [her] own." This prompts the assumption that the true events of the murders wasn't judged at the trial, and that the prejudices held against her resulted in her unfair condemnation. Agnes further purports that people have always "thought that [she] was too clever by half" and "too knowing to get caught into this by accident" and that it is "exactly why they don't pity [her]". Furthermore, when Reverend Toti meets with Dagga to discover more of Agnes' past, she elucidates society's opinion of Agnes as a "bastard pauper with a conniving spirit like you'd never see in a proper maid" and that she had a "sharp tongue and loose skirts". These presumptions that people hold of her place Agnes at the unforgiving and judgmental feet of society, and consequently, the social censure and ostracisation that ensues is an unjust one. Agnes confirms this by expressing that "how other people think of you determines who you are" in Iceland's harsh society and that they "claim to know [her] through the things [she has] done and not by sitting down and listening to [her] speak for [her]self". Hence, when Kent provides Agnes with a voice to narrate her story to Toti, the Kornsa family and the reader, they come to the dreadful conclusion that indeed, "actions lie" and Agnes is doomed not due to her guilt but because she "never stood a chance in the beginning". In coming to this understanding, readers find themselves hoping that justice will absolve Agnes on the basis of the ambiguity of her crime, leaving them surprised at the intransigently brutal conclusion to Agnes' life.

It is not only the reader's or other characters' evolved judgement of Agnes's situation, but also the development of Agnes herself that position the reader to feel an increasing sense of hope that her ultimate fate may be avoided after all. Throughout the first half of the novel, Agnes is portrayed as someone who has "determined to close [her]self to the world" in preparation of her nearing death. She is disconnected from the world because she has "no one left to love" and is frustrated that she has to wait out her death at Kornsa, expressing that it is the "waiting that cripples". She feels no attachment to her "unloved" life, and wonders why they do "not kill [her] now and be done with it". This sentiment of hers is one born out of the suffering she has endured and her friendlessness and loneliness in the world. However, she soon finds herself almost "part of the family" at Kornsa, and she is able to believe that she could be "their servant". The Kornsa family also start to accept her, as indicated by the increasing trust that Margret places on Agnes, for instance, when she allows Agnes to deliver Roslin's baby. Agnes defies her own self-imposed rules of complete detachment from the world and begins to experience the familiarity of her old life, even eventually declaring in desperation that she doesn't "want to be remembered, [she] want(s) to be here (in Kornsa)". As readers accompany Agnes on this tragic emotional journey through the first person narrative style adapted by Kent, they allow themselves to hope that the brutal fate written for her would somehow evade her. After all, it is easier to accept the death of an individual who desires it, than it is to come to terms with the untimely death of someone who has grown to love the life they lead.

It is perhaps logical to conclude that a historical novel based on the last woman to be executed in Iceland would leave no room for surprises at the ultimate death of its protagonist. Kent, however, manages to elicit an emotional attachment towards Agnes in the readers, causing them to sympathise with her plight and the injustices that she endures. It is this sympathy that ultimately clouds the reader's judgement on the indubitably established certainty of her fate, leaving readers hoping until the last word that Agnes may eventually receive the justice she truly deserves.


It would be lovely if I could also get a realistic score out of 10. Thank you in advance! 

[n.a]

Bumping, because I'd really love a response ASAP guys!

[mayonnaise]

'Despite its inevitability, readers are surprised by the brutal ending of Burial Rites.

'Burial Rites', authored by Hannah Kent, is the complex, tragic and stirring speculative biography of Agnes Magnusdottir, the last woman to be executed in Iceland. Set against the unforgiving landscape of Iceland and its harsh 19th century society, the novel is a melancholy exploration of life and death, and is steeped in the desolation that is characteristic of such themes. (I feel like this sentence isn't really needed, although it does nicely set out the scene )  Although death is prevalent throughout the novel, its characters and landscape, it is the ultimate death (What does ultimate death mean? How is one death more 'ultimate' than another? Just curious about choice of words in this case ) that awaits Agnes that pervades the reader's consciousness. Agnes' death is apparently inevitable from the onset of the novel, illustrated not only through the storyline itself, but is (also)  further emphasized through the narrative techniques that Kent employs. Nevertheless, it is also apparent (You repeated this word )  that the construction of the storyline is such that it demands sympathy and emotional involvement from the reader, perhaps to the extent of hope that Agnes will be vindicated. ( You could cut this sentence down because you just mentioned the construction of the storyline in the previous sentence. )  It is the intransigent nature of her fate despite the ambiguity of her crime that lends such brutality to the denouement of the novel, and ultimately leaves the reader surprised despite the inevitability of such a fate. ( V long introduction. Not exactly bad, but it doesn't earn many more points to have a long introduction and also takes more time to write when you could be focussing on other stuff instead. There's a lot of extraneous words not needed in here. Good coverage of the topic though )

References to death and Agnes' fate are frequent throughout the novel as an emphasis of the brutal ending that awaits Agnes. Her fate is established from the commencement of the novel, with Agnes startlingly stating that "they said [she] must die...they said that [she] stole the breath from men and now they must steal [hers]." (Don't include more of a quote than you need to, unless you're going to analyse the extra bits)  Readers are, therefore, already positioned to infer that the narrative revolves around an "already dead woman...destined for the grave." This, coupled with the author's use of primary official documents at the beginning of each chapter pertaining to Agnes' indictment and her "sentence to be beheaded" ( tbh also don't need this quote. If you include them, it's better to have some analysis of them as well. This would be a good point to talk about the brutality of death via beheading ) , clearly substantiate the ineluctable nature of her fate from the very beginning of the novel. In addition to this, Kent utilises other narrative techniques to further accentuate the "sombre expectation of death" that is ubiquitous in the novel. An example of this is the use of a lamb being preyed upon as a motif to symbolize Agnes as a victim of looming death, often accompanied by references to ravens as a symbol of fate. There are descriptions of a "lamb circled by ravens" and the comparisons of the ill treatment of Agnes as akin to keeping her "bound like a lamb ripe for slaughter", as well as Agnes' recollection of the instance when she saw Fridrik kicking an "already dead" sheep, followed by the appearance of ravens that "descend(ed) upon the sheep" and "plunged their beak(s) into the innards." ( Wayyyy too many quotes in a bunch here. Just sounds you're listing a bunch of examples where sheeps and ravens appear in the book, but what is the significance of likening Agnes to a lamb? What does it mean for Fridrik to kick an 'already dead' sheep? I know these quotes are in the book, but I want you to tell me something interesting about them :DD )  In adapting these techniques, Kent ensures that all events in the novel are constantly silhouetted against the anticipation of imminent death. (V true point. But overall this paragraph feels a bit shallow. If I were to summarise it, it would just tell me
- The start of the book mentions that Agnes is going to die
- Historical documents mention that Agnes is going to die
- There is a lot of death imagery in this novel

Which definitely relates to the 'inevitability' of the prompt, but it doesn't deal with the 'readers' part of it. e.g. Although Agnes' execution is made clear to readers, the brutality of the act is initially downplayed by Kent as it is treated as something normal in this society where all inhabitants are surrounded by the threat of death already. I dunno I just made that up xD but you need some kind of 'contention' for each of your paragraphs to really show more insight into your understanding of the novel.
) 

Sorry I only gave feedback for the intro and one paragraph because it was so long xD
But yeah I think it would be good to work on the things suggested. I'm only a student though so my advice might not be the most helpful

Just focus more on ANALYSIS rather than lots of evidence because that's where the points are

[n.a]

Sorry I only gave feedback for the intro and one paragraph because it was so long xD
But yeah I think it would be good to work on the things suggested. I'm only a student though so my advice might not be the most helpful

Just focus more on ANALYSIS rather than lots of evidence because that's where the points are

Hey, thank you so much! That's really solid feedback, I'll definitely take it on board!

Thanks again! 😊