The Lady Defined

            According to the Oxford English Dictionary the word “lady” is derived from the old English word “hlæfdíge,” “hlæf” meaning loaf and “díge” meaning to knead. This etymology implies that the lady was considered a domestic figure whose main responsibility was to manage the home and perform various domestic tasks, a bread kneader. However, this definition of the lady is troublesome, as it does not represent the authority and power that a lady possessed in old English times. In fact, calling a lady a bread kneader is misrepresentative of the original old English idea of the lady. The lady was a female personification, not of a husband or  a gentleman, but a lord which assumes much more power than a simple bread kneader. The etymology of this word seems to complicate rather than elucidate what the meaning of a lady actually is so I have decided to go through cultural descriptions of ladies in the form of music to attempt to find a common theme or characteristic that exists within the lady and attempt to connect the lady that is presented in these descriptions  with Henry Jame’s Isabel Archer who, according to Henry James, is the portrait of a lady.

            These songs may shed some light on what it means to be a lady and what a lady actually is. The first song is “Lady 95” by Styx and the second song is “Lady Jane” by The Rolling Stones.

These two ballads reveal an interesting take on the idea of the lady as they both portray the lady as someone who they admire and who provides them with a sense of love, safety, and security. The lady takes on a much more significant role than just a domestic figure or a bread kneader as the entomology suggests. Another interesting characteristic of these two songs is how they both portray the lady as possessing power over the man who is surprisingly comfortable and accepting of this as he acts as her “servant.” Both songs also convey the lady as a provider of endless love and comfort that causes the man to then become possessive of her as they both repeatedly refer to the lady as their own. In “Lady 95,” the speaker says, “Your hands build me up when I’m sinking / Just touch me and my troubles all fade” conveying how the lady, in addition to love, provides a sense of security and support that the speaker relies on in moments of weakness. In “Lady Jane,” similar sentiments are relayed towards the lady in the last line as the speaker states “Life is secure with Lady Jane.”  This idea of a warm, providing lady causes the men to feel secure and attached and eventually possessive. This illustration of possession over the lady seems to be representative of the relationship between Isabel Archer and Casper Goodwood as Goodwood acts controlling and dominating towards Archer as a result of his lustful emotions towards her. Goodwood loves Archer to the point of obsession and even asks her to marry him so he can, like the speakers in “Lady 95” and “Lady Jane,” call her his own lady. Archer, unlike the ladies portrayed in these songs, will not stand for this and rejects any chance at marriage with Goodwood as she does not want to risk her independence and chance to travel and experience life on her own terms without the burdens of caring for a husband. Isabel reveals her dislike of Goodwood’s possessive qualities as he kisses her, “She felt each thing in his hard manhood that had least pleased her, each aggressive fact of his face, his figure, his presence, justified of its intense identity and made one with this act of possession.” This revelation shows how Goodwood’s expression of love towards Archer only serves as an expression of his possessive nature. Archer did not welcome this kiss and it only made her feel more distant and detached from Goodwood as his controlling nature suffocates her and compromises her ability be free in mind and experience. This theme of possession seems to carry throughout the image of Isabel and the ladies of “Lady 95” and “Lady Jane” as all seem to be possessed or one desires to possess them. This leads me to wonder whether possession is a common theme of the definition of being a lady. Is the idea of being possessed a common theme in the definition of the lady? In a more modern song we see this possession of the lady again in Lenny Kravitz’s hit song “Lady.” Kravitz presents a strikingly similar image of the lady that was presented in the previous songs.

            Kravitz’s image of the lady is again loving and comforting like those presented in “Lady 95” and “Lady Jane” but he also continues this notion of possession as he sings, “'Cause she makes me feel good / Like a real woman should / Yeah / She's so mine.”  Although these men seem to think they are possessing the lady by referring to her as “my lady” and “mine” they seem to ignore the fact that they are so obsessed with their respective ladies that in reality it is the lady who possesses them. The lady, in these songs and in James’ prose, holds all the power as the men fawn and obsess over her. This reflects another facet of Caspar Goodwood and Isabel Archer’s relationship as Archer feels overpowered by Goodwood’s obsessive advances, but it is really Archer who is overpowering Goodwood and holds authority over him as he, in his blind lust for her, is completely powerless and subservient to her wishes even if they are against his own. Archer’s power is displayed when she rejects Goodwood’s proposal and instead asks him to leave her for an period of time so she can experience life on her own terms. Goodwood, although hesitant, obeys her wishes in hopes that she will come back ready to marry him.

            Each of these views of the lady provides a complicated and often inconsistent image of power and submission. In the songs “Lady 95,” “Lady Jane,”  and “Lady” the lady is subservient to the man and provides him with comfort, security, and love but at the same time she quietly dominates him as he is so enamored he would do anything for her. At the same time, the men in these songs believe that they possess the lady while it seems to me that the lady is the possessor as she provides the love which she could easily take away causing the man to break apart. The images of ladies as simultaneously being possessed and the possessors of power relates with the relationship between Caspar Goodwood and Isabel Archer as Caspar consistently appears to be simultaneously possessive of Archer and possessed by her nature. The lady it seems, it not a simple bread kneader, but a complicated and multifaceted example of power and possession.