Explore and Analyse Auden’s Narrative Methods in Miss Gee

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“Explore and analyse Auden’s narrative methods in Miss Gee” Auden uses a variety of narrative methods to explore and analyse the story in Miss Gee. The poem was written in 1937, when women were expected to be good wives and mothers and have household duties. This is opposite of Miss Gee’s lifestyle because she is very prim and prudish, she also tends to avoid all temptations. This would make people suspicious of her at this time because she is not sticking with the usual duties of a woman. The poem is about our perceptions of others because when you are reading the poem, you begin to mock Miss Gee’s life choices and appearance and then this is reinforced at the end of the poem when she is treated disrespectfully by the doctors and students. Auden uses a range of language that is extremely effective in revealing the story of Miss Gee. For example, in stanza three he uses the word, “serge” to explain the clothes that she is wearing which makes the reader feel she is trying to make herself look unflattering as “serge” is a heavy material that is thick and rigid. Auden also creates an interesting image of Miss Gee as he makes her appeal dull and unappealing as he describes the clothes she is wearing as “dark grey” which makes her appear as colourless and boring. He continuously makes her seem unappealing throughout the poem. He describes her physical features as “narrow” and “sloping” and mentions how she has “no bust” which is making her appear unhappy and ugly, and it is also emphasising the fact that she lacks sex appeal. Auden also uses simple colloquial language and vocabulary as it reflects her simple and basic existence in “Clevedon Terrace”. Through Auden’s portrayal of her, the reader automatically forms a critical opinion because he makes it seem her lifestyle is very dull and boring because “she did a lot of knitting” which makes her appear to the
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