One of the reasons for this critical designation as a poet of failed relationships is poems about failed relationships, like "Daddy." This symbolic poem epitomizes the failed relationships in Plath's life and certainly contributes to her representation as a poet of failed relationships. This is perhaps the most honest reason why she is considered a poet of failed relationships, it happens to be the truth. However, people would not have been so aware of her relationships had they not known about her suicide, and then further prodded into her life. Here are a couple other reasons to consider.
A common worldwide value that Harwood rejects as the normality in life with her poems. Harwood battles against the traditions that she believes support this downgrading by continually returning to the issue. In “Home of Mercy” there is a line in the poem. Here I believe she is talking about the Magdalene Asylums. It was a place of slave labor laundries from the 18th to the late-20th centuries to house "fallen women", a term used to imply female sexual promiscuity.
Last year, in my senior A.P. Composition and Literature class, we focused on a lot of fictional literature dealing with the same kind of societal issues. The Awakening by Kate Chopin as well as Daisy Miller by Henry James were both novels that showcase the oppression of women and evils of social hierarchy. These novels display the limitations and expectations that society pins onto women. Other novels I read include The Dead by James Joyce and Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy, both of which addressed the theme of materialism and wealth as factors to being regarded highly in society, and how this way of functioning in society leads people away from living a true and happy life.
Both poets use both color as well as natural imagery in order to depict the emotions of these women throughout the length of the poems. In Plath’s ‘Spinster’, the protagonist in the poem realizes that she does not desire to share her life with this man because it may result in her losing control over her own life, Duffy’s ‘Havisham’ is a reimagining of Dickens’ infamous spinster, and ‘Mrs. Midas’ is a poem written from the viewpoint of the wife of the mythological King Midas, who had a wish granted which caused everything he touched to turn to gold. The use of color within the poems “Spinster” and “Havisham” are portrayal of the feeling of the speaker at the given moment in the poem The use of color within the poems “Spinster” and “Havisham” are a portrayal of the feeling of the speaker at the given moment in the poem. It can be noted that brighter, vibrant colors, appear at the beginning at the poem, and begin to deteriorate into bleaker, darker colors as the poem progresses, along with the speaking voices emotions.
A Lesson in Mastering Loss Elizabeth Bishop’s poem “One Art” is about loss. In it she mentions many of the small losses in life that we may experience but she is clearly talking about losing a love. Who she is speaking to in this poem is unclear but there is evidence to show that she and she alone is her own audience for this poem. She expresses denial, anger, blame, regret, humor and in the end she exclaims “Write it!”, which looks to be directed from the speaker to herself, either way it can be construed as acceptance. In the poem she goes through increasingly bigger losses that she quickly dismisses in a sarcastic manner until she reaches the loss of her lover.
Cousin Kate by Christina Rossetti The Poem ‘Cousin Kate’ by Christina Rossetti, tells the story of a young woman from the Victorian period who has fallen for a wealthy lord and had is child out of wedlock. The young woman then watches as the lord marries her Cousin Kate. The poem tells us that women of this time have many expectations in life, but are governed by men who give them no real freedom. I feel in this poem Rossetti is saying that women can only truly be happy if they break away from social expectations. Rossetti shows us she resents men and the power they have over women and also the weakness and few liberties that women have in this period.
The diction the Diction and structure 1 HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON Analyzing a Poem writer uses leaves the perpetrators nameless. Furthermore, Parker structures her subjects according to importance. She writes about a rose first, then a bird, and finally a deserted girl. Each time the idea of feeling toward the subject is more tragic Effect of devices on theme and more meaningful. The diction and structure used in “Solace” connect the theme in that without them, the poem would not have the impact that it sends out to the reader.
Marie de France does this to criticize and combat the societal expectations and inherent inequalities in Norman England. The poem begins by Marie immediately introducing and defending herself as a writer. She declares that in her culture, People should praise anyone who wins admiring comments for herself but anywhere there is a man or a woman of great worth, people who envy their good fortune often say evil things about them. (5-10) This introduction reflects the negativity her society has against female writers. Where Marie de France comes from, many people disagree with women having power through literature.
Robert Ades English 1B Professor Scott 9/21/12 A Work for Artifice For the interpreting poetry essay, the poem which stood out the most is “A Work of Artifice,” by Marge Piercy because of her use of metaphors and imagery on how society can influence and control the population’s behavior, mainly woman. In this poem by Piercy, there is no specific speaker because the poem is told in a third person omniscient point of view. However, it is obvious that Piercy is this omniscient narrator and much of her literature is about the oppression of women. In her poem, she uses the bonsai tree as a metaphor for women. Using terms regarding to gardening, she tells the story of how society stunts the natural growth of the female population by stereotyping them while they are young.
She portrays the reality of women in society. On the other hand, Ibsen represents Anne Marie, the nurse, as the one who accepts the role society has placed upon her within contest. She portrays the expectation of women in society. In addition, it was very hard for women to get a divorce since they would lose everything they had and many rights. Because of this, divorces were rare at that time.