We spent the lesson planning what we could write in the exam question 'To what extent do you agree that the women in Cousin Kate are heroic?' We made lists of why Cousin Kate and the speaker are heroic and not heroic.
Heroic
We said the speaker is heroic because she acknowledges her mistakes with 'my shame, my pride' and 'shameless shameful life.' Also, you could say that Cousin Kate is heroic because she stayed pure and virtuous, it is just the speaker that portrayed Kate as horrible. The speaker is heroic, as she challenges the stereotypical 'fallen woman,' as she builds herself back up rather than just falling to pieces. The speaker also stays strong in the face of injustice, as it wasn't her fault, it was the Lords.
Not Heroic
The speaker cannot move on from her 'bad experience' and constantly ridicules Kate about the fact that she cannot have children. Kate also marries the Lord even though she doesn't love him and just does it for materialistic purposes - 'your love was writ in sand.' The whole poem is patriarchal, as men control everything (the Lord is the reason the speaker is not pure and partially the reason what splits up the relationship between Kate and the speaker.) Lastly, Kate doesn't speak up for her cousin in any way and just lets the speaker become an outcast from the village and doesn't do anything about it.
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