Ana Hoxha
2025 Scholarship Award Recipient
Garden School, Jackson Heights NY
Ana Hoxha’s essay analyzes Burns’ Last May A Braw Wooer, focusing on the tension between love and social stability in marriage. She explores Jean, the poem’s central figure, who initially resists her suitor but reconsiders when he offers wealth and social protection. Hoxha argues that Burns exposes the illusion of female choice, showing how societal and gender norms dictate outcomes. Jean’s shift from indifference to pursuit when her cousin Bess enters the picture illustrates women’s limited agency in 18th-century society. The essay concludes that the poem critiques outdated expectations of women while acknowledging their persistence today
Given the choice, would you rather seek love or stability in marriage? Is it wrong for a woman to choose one over the other? This is the sort of dilemma Robert Burns explores in his 1799 poem “Last May A Braw Wooer”. Burns argues that marriage is hollow, that in a time with strict societal expectations that emphasize the importance of marriage, it is better for one to choose safety than true love.
The opening stanzas introduce the speaker, Jean, a single woman in Victorian Scotland who, despite social pressures towards marriage, seems uninterested in potential suitors. Unmarried women in this time period had little power and value in society, being married was not just a want but rather a shield protecting one from economic and social ruin, meaning that her being single is a crucial part to her character. She is being bothered by a potential suitor that recently came to town and has professed his undying love for her. She, on the other hand, can not stand him, telling the wooer “...There was naething I hated like men”. A lie, and not a very good one. In no circumstance does Jean hate men, it is this particular one that just won’t get off her back. Not buying it, he offers her “a weel-socket mailen, himsel for the laird, and marriage aff-hand…”. This man is well off, he has his own farm and could take care of her easily. Jean then says to herself “But I thought I might hae waur offers.” This is when the dilemma arises: she clearly has nothing but hate for this man but his material wealth is well above average. An opportunity like this doesn’t come around everyday, and she isn’t getting any younger. Getting married as soon as possible to a particularly wealthy man will only solidify her importance in society.
This dilemma is immediately cast aside in stanza four when Jean hears her suitor has eyes for another woman: her cousin Bess. Not only that, but Burns describes her cousin as “black,” meaning this woman is estranged from Jean, almost like the black sheep in her family. At this point, Jean hasn’t exactly told this man off completely, she is still considering his offer in the back of her mind. But, her playing hard to get has seemed to turn him off and his wandering eyes moved elsewhere. This is the big moment of realization for Jean, it’s not her that has the choice between marrying him or not. She really had no say in the matter, he is the one that must choose. And now, he has eyes for another woman who, unlike Jean, is willing to marry him. This suitor is not looking for love in these women but rather just one more step in meeting societal expectations. This illusion of choice turns the entire plot of the song upside down. She is being influenced by gender norms outside of her control. For being a woman that was so sure of herself and her feelings, was she ever truly in control? The situation was never about him loving her or vice versa, it was about him choosing her.
Jean now makes her decisions. An opportunity to live comfortably could be taken away from her and she wants to fight for it. She says “But owre my left shouther I gae him a blink, lest neebours might say I was saucy”. Now, it is her trying to woo him. This man hasn’t done much to get to know her personally, and she’s only ever interacted with him in a cold way, so this “vulgar” look may be the only way to gain back his attention. She finally has his attention once again and to seal the deal she makes comments about her cousin's bad hearing and shapeless feet right in front of him so now he really will choose her. The poem ends with the two planning on marrying as soon as possible.
Although the song's main theme focuses on societal expectations when it comes to marriage, it displays lots of stereotypes against women that would have been common in the 18th century and arguably still exist. The first one Burns writes is how much women value material things. Jean pays no attention to the suitor until he offers her his farm and tells her about his standing in society. Additionally, it also perpetuates the stereotype that women don’t want something until it is almost taken away from them. It’s only when Bess is introduced to the suitor does Jean fight back. This poem still rings true with stereotypes of women today: women are expected to be flattered by romantic attention they never asked for and are seen as assets a man should have. Therefore, “Last May A Braw Wooer” exposes the expectations that women should be passive and willing to get married to any man offering them their time of day. It’s a timeless concept that makes less of a woman's agency, but Burns uses the suitor to prove how outdated these societal norms really are without truly humiliating women for choosing stability over love.