The Suppression of the Other and Self-Enlightenment in William Wordsworth's Resolution and Independence

My response to William Wordsworth's Resolution and Independence focuses upon the precept that Wordsworth's narrator uses the tale of the Leech Gatherer as a means to achieve 'resolution' to his own internal crisis. This is highlighted by, in my opinion, the narrator not so much paying attention to the Leech Gatherer's tale, yet instead his pre-occupation with what he wants to interpret from the tale in order to satisfy his needs. I further argue that in doing so Wordsworth's poem constructs the Leech Gatherer as the 'other', and that his 'otherness' is suppressed by converting him into a mere instrument by which the narrator attains enlightenment.

Although my reading of the poem is heavily focused on the encounter between the narrator and the Leech Gatherer, this doesn't occur until the eighth stanza. The poem starts with the narrator out for a stroll, feeling "as happy as a boy" marveling at the offerings of nature in the sunshine following a "roaring in the wind all night." What struck me from these opening stanzas was the rhyming pattern used throughout the poem. Set in 'rhyme royal' I found the meter both inviting and accessible, which made for an entertaining read from the outset.

However from this pleasant beginning, quite suddenly and apparently inexplicably during the fourth stanza, the narrator undergoes a violent mood swing: 'As high as we have mounted in delight/In our dejection do we sink so low;/ To me that morning did it happen so.' This sudden change left me quite disorientated and perplexed as to cause of his depression. After re-reading the passage and considering it in the context of the entire poem I felt that this mood swing was the reader's first indication of the narrator's status as a poet. This notion of a poet's perspective remained at the foreground of my reading and I felt constantly reminded that the narrator's subsequent quest for resolution and enlightenment came from the perspective of a poet, not merely an individual. My view of the narrator within this context was not an entirely positive one, as in addition to seeming over-analytical and emotionally fragile - 'Perplexed and longing to be comforted' - I felt he came across as condescending toward the Leach-Gatherer; as if he came from a position of higher moral ground by virtue of his occupation as a poet.

Within this context, an observation I found significant was that Wordsworth's narrator seemed in constant fear of losing his creative powers, just as the Leech Gatherer had lost his youth and strength; 'By our own spirits we are deified: we Poets in our youth begin in gladness; But thereof come in the end despondency and madness.' My interpretation of this was that Wordsworth is commenting upon the loss of creative power as a poet ages. What I found troubling about this was the likening of the poetic imagination to a divine spirit: the notion that there exists a power to create that exalts poets' spirits above that of ordinary men. I felt that by referring to 'despondency' and 'madness' Wordsworth was referring to the loss not of a skill, but of a divine spirit. This to me seemed a little contrived and in turn highlighted my reading that Wordsworth's narrator was not engaging with the Leech Gatherer on a level of mutual respect, yet was using the 'other' to serve as an instrument with which to satisfy his own needs.

Simon Malpas argues that Resolution and Independence explores the notion of the self being healed through an empathy with the suffering of the other, and that this is "an old and familiar story." I would argue that the narrator is too caught up in his own thoughts and self-reflection to be able to empathise with the Leech Gatherer. My preferred reading is that Wordsworth's narrator takes what he can from the Leech Gatherer's tale and almost probes him for answers in order to resolve a personal crisis, as opposed to connecting and showing empathy toward this man's suffering. I feel this reading finds support via the manner in which their conversation is conducted, and in particular the narrator's inadvertence to what the Leech Gatherer is saying. After asking, in the fourteenth stanza, "what occupation do you there pursue?", the Leech Gatherer gives a reply, at some length, to the simple query. However only three stanzas later, the narrator asks the same question again, with no apparent recognition of the preceding conversation: 'My question eagerly did I renew, "How is it that you live, and what is it you do?" This dialogue I found puzzling from both the perspective of the narrator and the Leech Gatherer. For example why does the inattentive narrator not mitigate his socially unacceptable reiteration of a previously fulfilled request for information? Also, why does the Leech Gatherer take no offence to the narrator's obvious inattention to his response? This observation is supported by Austin who examines the poem in light of its dialogue and focuses upon what he refers to as 'the narrator's clear breach of conversational protocol.'

A potential answer that I considered in light of these questions incorporated the notion of poverty and the class difference between the two characters. While I took the narrator's re-questioning to be condescending, this must be considered in terms of the class system existing at the time Wordsworth wrote the poem. Lloyd comments that there was a 'tenacious belief in inherited status' and the notion that one was born into a certain class and it was there they would remain. Thus, taking the narrator's approach to the Leech Gatherer out of any modern-day, egalitarian views I may have in relation to class status, the comments of the narrator and his inattentive inquisition of the impoverished Leech Gatherer seems less offensive in the context of early nineteenth century England.

During reading some secondary material I stumbled upon a parodic re-writing of Wordsworth's poem by Lewis Carroll who replaces the Leech Gatherer with an aged man; 'I cried "Come, tell me how you live!"/And thumped him on the head.' Carroll's comic yet violent parody struck me on a personal level as it agreed with the essence of my reading of the Wordsworth original - it exposes the inattention of the narrator in Resolution and Independence to the Leech-Gatherer's tale. Steven Knapp supports this view and describes it well when he characterises the narrator's relationship with the Leech Gatherer by the narrator's "mysterious inability to concentrate on what he himself wants to interpret as a providential answer to his needs."

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