Eighteen Hundred and Eleven

In the poem "Eighteen Hundred and Eleven" by Anna Barbauld the relationship between Great Britain and the United States is thoroughly explored. Barbauld believes that Britain's authority throughout the world is diminishing, and in order to convey this sentiment to her audience she incorporates conventional gender roles and a weird sense of timelessness.

Look at that, timelessness and femininity

By associating certain countries with either specific masculine or feminine traits, an author can drastically manipulate the perception of their audience. In the case of Barbauld's poem, Great Britain is consistently described with feminine features. This can be seen from the very beginning: "To the stern call still Britain bends her ear," clear through to the end: "on London Art bestows Her summer ices and her winter rose." Furthermore, in comparison to her description of the burgeoning United States, Great Britain is illustrated as a country whose years of prosperity are in the past; "The golden tide of Commerce leaves thy shore." Yet rather than resent the United States for its own deteriorating status, Barbauld describes Britain with a characteristically maternal outlook. From Barbauld's point of view, the relationship between Britain and the United States is similar to the bittersweet sentiments that accompany every mother when they watch their child leave home and develop into their own person. This relationship is shown most clearly in the poem towards the end, when Barbauld describes the "Spirit o'er the peopled earth." In this analogy, the "spirit," which is notably masculine, represents the potential and opportunity that can be found in the Americas. Typical of most developing children, the spirit grows to resent his predecessors, namely Great Britain and the European nations that helped spawn the American colonies.

Because a picture of George Washington never is always relevant

It is with this newly felt scorn that much of the rest of Barbauld's poem begins to make sense. On the surface, it almost seems as if Barbauld is randomly bringing up the history of the human race. Her inclusion of everything from the ancient Egyptians to renaissance painters makes it easy to lose sight of why she's bringing up all of these past events in the first place. With regards to the Americans, the purpose of this poem is meant to serve as a reminder, to never forget their origins. In conjunction with that, to the people still living in Great Britain, this poem could kind of be seen as a morale booster, kind of like "yea life is kinda shitty now, but remember all that great stuff we did?"

Discussion Questions:
1) In what other ways did Barbauld utilize gender roles or other themes?
2) Do you think it's okay to use gender roles to manipulate the perception of the audience?

Links:
https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-243479399/the-colonial-subtext-of-anna-letitia-barbauld-s-eighteen