Helen

The Context for “Helen” by Hilda Doolittle

Before diving into the summary of “Helen,” it is important to provide some context to understand the poem fully. The Helen referenced by the title and who the poem discusses is Helen of Troy, known as the most beautiful woman in all of Greece. Helen is betrothed and married to King Menelaus of Sparta. Paris, Prince of Troy, seduces Helen and brings her to Troy. This sparks the Trojan War, which lasts 10 years. The most famous record of the Trojan War is Homer’s Iliad.

Text of "Helen" by Hilda Doolittle

“Helen” by Hilda Doolittle Summary

“Helen” is divided into three stanzas of increasing length—5, 6, and 7 lines. The first stanza details how all of Greece hates Helen. She is described as having a white face and white hands, her skin shining like olives.

The second stanza again repeats that all of Greece hates when she smiles—when she is happy. As she remembers both the good and bad, the people of Greece wishes her nothing but unhappiness.

In the third stanza, it becomes clear what the people of Greece wish for Helen. Despite her being the daughter of love, and despite her immense physical beauty, the people of Greece could only love her if she were dead, “laid,/white ash amid funereal cypresses.” (17-18).

“Helen” by Hilda Doolittle Meaning

While only spanning 18 lines and sparsely worded, Doolittle packs meaning into her poem “Helen.” While describing the hate that all of Greece feels for Helen for leaving Sparta and becoming Helen of Troy, very little is said about Helen’s personality or thoughts. Instead, Doolittle only describes her body, what the people of Greece can see. They hate her beauty and they hate her for what they see as her abandoning them and causing the Trojan war.

By focusing on the hate that Greece feels toward Helen, however, Doolittle is making a statement on how people place blame. In different retellings of the Trojan War, Paris is alternately described as kidnapping, abducting, or eloping with Helen. It is deliberately ambiguous as to whether her removal from Troy was with or without her consent. Despite this fact, all of Greece “hates” (1) and “reviles” (6) Helen, not Paris. The blame is placed solely on her, for being beautiful. Nothing is said of Paris and his abduction of Helen, but instead, the cause of the war and subsequent deaths is the beautiful woman.

“Helen” by Hilda Doolittle Analysis

Doolittle imbued “Helen” with many different literary devices and themes such as beauty and hatred.

Fig. 2 - Painting of Helen of Troy by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the subject of Doolittle's poem and the woman considered to be the most beautiful in all of Greece.

Rhyme

Doolittle uses rhyme throughout the poem to lend it an almost musical tone. Much like how she uses mythology thematically throughout the poem, the use of rhyme lends a fairytale-esque feel to the poem. The rhyme scheme of the first stanza is AABCC, the second stanza is AABCDB, and the third stanza is ABCDDE.

Alliteration

Similar to her use of rhyme, Doolittle employs alliteration throughout the poem. She writes: “when it grows white and wan” (9), referring to Helen’s face. The alliteration draws the reader’s attention to this line, and Helen’s face—going from smiling in line 7 to white and wan in line 9—reflects her treatment by the people of Greece. She cannot even smile or be happy without the vitriolic hatred of the people of Greece, and, perhaps thanks to this treatment, her smile turns to an expression of sadness or discomfort.

Allusion

While the entire poem alludes to the story of Helen of Troy, the line “God’s daughter, born of love” (13) is an allusion to Helen’s parentage; in the stories of her life, she is the daughter of the god Zeus. This allusion is also ironic, as Doolittle notes that she was born of love but in life experiences the hate of the Greek people. She was born of love but only could receive love if she was dead.

Irony

Doolittle makes use of irony throughout the poem in the way Helen is described and in her resulting treatment. Doolittle exclusively describes Helen and her famous beauty with words that would normally inspire appreciation—the "lustre" of her skin, her "beauty," the fact that she is "God's daughter, born of love"—each of these would make the reader believe that Helen is appreciated and loved for these aspects of her beautiful physical appearance. Ironically, it is these very beautiful features of Helen that inspire the hatred of Greece and are exploited by the patriarchal structures in which she lives.

Themes in “Helen” by Hilda Doolittle

Doolittle uses themes of beauty, misogyny, and mythology to explore the classical myths we learn and the patriarchal norms that dominate them.

Misogyny

Doolittle’s poem deals with misogynistic societal norms toward women. Helen is hated because the Greek people blame her for the Trojan War. Despite the fact that Paris is often described as having abducted Helen, it is her irresistible beauty and her abduction that causes the war. No mention is made of Paris, the one who does the abducting, as all of their hate is reserved for the woman they see at fault.

The people of Greece wish for her unhappiness. The only way that they could ever truly love Helen is if she is dead, turned to dust. Doolittle uses the classical myth of Helen to showcase the misogynistic characteristics of society and how it views women.

Furthermore, Helen is only described physically. All Greece hates her physical beauty and has no regard for her thoughts, opinions, or actions. Rather, the statuesque portrayal of Helen in Doolittle's poem—"still eyes," (2) like they are made of stone—serves to undercut the one-dimensional way that society treats women. No thought is spared for the personality or thoughts of Helen as a woman, but she is valued and discarded solely based on her physical appearance.

Mythology

The theme of classical mythology is shown through the subject of the poem—Helen of Troy. Even as Doolittle sets the poem in the present day with “All Greece hates” (1) and “All Greece reviles” (6) rather than hated and reviled, she shows how these classical myths both inform and reflect our present day. By saying that "all" of Greece hates and reviles Helen, Doolittle shows the extent to which patriarchal norms that devalue women exist in society—both ancient and modern. All of Greece—the country, the institutions, in addition to the people—perpetuates this hate. This can be drawn out to the modern world in which these same institutions and cultural norms exist; Doolittle draws attention to the continuities between Ancient Greece and our modern world.

The people of Greece in Doolittle’s poem still hate Helen of Troy as the people contemporaneous to her life did. Doolittle exposes how the misogynistic cultural norms of the ancient world persist into the modern-day. The hatred of a woman for the actions of the men around her persists, and the inability to love her when she speaks for herself is reflective both of the people in Helen’s time and in our world today. Classical mythology is used to illuminate these perpetuating patriarchal myths.