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How does Byron's "She Walks in Beauty" portray women and feminism?

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Byron's "She Walks in Beauty" portrays a woman with an emphasis on inner beauty and moral virtue rather than physical allure. The poem appreciates her serenity and kindness, suggesting a subtle beauty. Feminist interpretations vary: positively, it highlights character over objectification; negatively, it assigns passive and childlike virtues, which could be seen as disempowering compared to strong, intelligent traits. The poem thus reflects both appreciation and limitations in its portrayal of women.

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In Lord George Gordon Byron's poem "She Walks in Beauty," a narrator is describing a woman walking. The woman of the poem is probably Mrs. Wilmot, his cousin and Robert Wilmot’s wife. Although we normally think of Byron, both due to his personal life and his "Don Juan" attitude, as a rake, this poem is quite chaste, and is an appreciation, to a great degree, of inner beauty and moral virtue. Her beauty is described as subtle rather than gaudy. What makes her face beautiful is that it is a place where:

Where thoughts serenely sweet express,
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

In other words, she is not being described as beautiful because she is wearing a skimpy outfit or twerking, but because she is kind and serene, possessed of an inner beauty and virtue that makes her outward expression calm and peaceful.

Feminist approaches to this poem could be positive, appreciating the way the woman is seen in terms of her character rather than just being reduced to the object of a sexual gaze. A negative feminist critique would emphasize that the virtues attributed to the woman are childlike, passive, and disempowering, described by such terms as "soft," "calm," and "innocent" rather than strong, successful and intelligent.

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