Margaret Atwood's Siren Song- Feminist Approach

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The Feminist Approach in Margaret Atwood’s “Siren Song” In Margaret Atwood's “Siren Song”, the feminist analysis is applied in various ways. This poem describes how a woman very cleverly takes advantage of the negative perception that man has compelled on a woman, by using a mental approach to prey on the man’s ego in order to destroy them. It reflects the sexual excitement of man towards woman, thus revealing the prevailing qualities of womanhood that validate the wrong perception of men being greater than women. Atwood integrates the feminist analysis in the “Siren Song” while also making a reference to Greek myths to prove a solid point about the weakness and idiocy of men. The speaker is one of the three sirens, which in this poem points to Greek mythology. In the mythology, the three sirens that lived on an island were known to be half bird, half woman creatures whose songs were so appealing, that men could not resist following the music to their islands, only to find themselves destroyed. Atwood uses the feminist analysis in this “Siren Song” to expose the importance of women’s power and integrity from a female’s point of view. The speaker in this poem detests her job as a siren, insisting that she is helpless and discontented with her life. “I don’t enjoy it here, squatting on this island” (13-14). However she baits her prey until she gets them at a point of no escape. The fact that the siren attracts this sailor by toying with his ego simply implies how manipulating a woman can become to a mere man. This feminist analysis acknowledges the different degrees of social power that are granted to and implemented by men and women. Generally speaking, most men become less and less defensive with women simply because women are viewed as weak and harmless to men. However this poem creates a dominant image for women through the siren. Men are usually physically

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