A common trope in the literature of the day, as found in other Exeter Book poems like "The Wanderer," "The Wife's Lament" takes on the lighthearted theme of exile. Okay, so maybe it's not so lighthearted. In fact, it's a deep, dark cave—literally in this poem. It is revealed to us early on that exile, or in Old English, "wræcca," is the cause of the speaker's sorrow. And as the driving metaphor in "The Wife's Lament," we come to discover both the psychic and physical extent of the speaker's exile.
Questions About Exile
- What literary devices does the author use to capture ideas of both literal and figurative exile within the text?
- Who do you think exiles the speaker, and why did they do so?
- What is similar, or different, about the places in which the wife and husband are exiled?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
Two ways to travel— the speaker arrives in her sorrowful state through psychological, as well as physical, exile.
The speaker's heartbreak results more from her loss of community than anything her husband specifically did.