Essays on Burial Rites

Introduction Both texts explore the causal effects and relationship between individuals’ agency and their respective societal constraints by focusing on the oppressive social norms and the character development of individuals produced from the vicissitudes that emerge from their condemning, judgmental societies. In order to challenge…

Set against the bleak Icelandic landscape, Kent’s “Burial Rites” explores the life of condemned women, Agnes Magnusdottir. By allowing Agnes to have a voice – readers are able to understand her death as a product of not only her own choices but the society in…

The inclusion of Agnes’ first person narration positions us to feel more sympathy for her.’ To what extent do you agree? Hannah Kent’s speculative biography ‘Burial Rites’, tells the tragic story behind Agnes Magnusdottir’s final months of life. Throughout her novel, Kent presents a critical…