When someone imagines a poem, the stereotypical love poem or one about the beauty of nature may come to mind first. Possibly, the reflection on one’s life or a personification of death. A poem critiquing the status quo of society likely is not very high upon that list. However, despite this, poems like “The Trapper’s Boast”, “Fearful Women”, or “Masks” demonstrate how poetry is capable of discussing complex, invocative topics in a way meant to incite revolutionary change. Furthermore, poems are capable of doing so in a way that is not easily matched by many other forms of art because poetry is granted inexhaustible length and depth, truthful passion, and valuable clarity in a way that is more easily consumable by the masses. Poetry may be one …show more content…
The criminalized, yet beautiful Helen of Troy is “to blame” for an entire war because “wars for turf/ and profit don't sound glamorous enough (Lines 4, 5-6). She became such a figurehead that admitting what the Trojan War was about anything else stripped practically any reason to continue the fight. Joan of Arc -- a revolutionary woman granted sainthood status -- mentioned later in the poem is “burnt to a cinder”, while “Darby's Joan…” -- or a comfortably passive, elderly, British woman -- [is] content with church and Kinder” (Line 21-22). Carolyn Kizer shows how powerful, iconic women within Western women were persecuted for their existence while the serial rapist Zeus and cowardly Adam, who refused to support Eve or seek understanding, are still revered and respected for theirs. “Mythologize your women!” Kizer declares, “None escape” (Line 7). Kizer addresses how no woman -- regardless of beauty, intelligence, or valor -- is free from the harmful societal expectations of them, even today. Women are still expected to be passively kind, moderately intelligent, and -- hopefully -- not intimidatingly attractive or else no one could ever love or accept them. Kizer shows how a poet can manipulate any classic story into a piece of art, and in this …show more content…
Poetry allows a passion -- either reserved or fiery -- that is able to communicate the types of powerful emotions necessary to incite the desire for change guided by a social commentary. A good poem is capable of describing events -- like a slave trapper looking for his next victim or two people in need of someone like them -- that a painting or song lacks the freedom to do. A poem is not bound by existing only in words. Silverstein’s “Masks” demonstrates this. Even for a poem that lacks a visual aid, like “Fearful Women” and “The Trapper’s Boast”, the poems create a significant progression of images in the mind of the reader. Poets carefully lay out the sequence of images and events that leads the reader to reach the conclusion already made by the writer. Additionally, the clarity poetry has -- granted by its capacity for great depth -- while working as a social commentary is a huge benefit that would be lost by pure artistic interpretation. There is not much room for debate about what a poem like “Fearful Women” is about, Kizer does not paint an admirative view of the long running portrayals of men or women. This is due to the ability Kizer has to detail, in length, these views and provide clear, widely-known examples. Such a thing would not be done so interestingly in an essay or book, nor be
In the first section of Odyssey, mortal women are presented to us as controlled by the stereotypes and expectations of the culture of the day, and it is only within that context that we can consider the examples Homer provides of women to be admired or despised. He provides us with clear contrasts, between Penelope and Eurycleia on the one hand, and Helen and Clytemnaestra on the other.
Poetry is defined by William Faulkner as “some moving, passionate moment of the human condition distilled to its absolute essence” (Ford, 527). Many literary pieces look at human nature and how human’s reaction during those situations, so while the environment may change the human part does not. When we really look underneath a stories surroundings and exam the underlying human pieces they are the same in literary pieces written years ago compared to human kind today. The “Narrative Legerdemain: Evoking Sarty’s Future in ‘Barn Burning’” discusses the human internal battle of good versus evil (Ford, 528). “Tennessee Williams and the Two Streetcars” by Daniel Thomieres describes the human battle of wanting to live life to its fullest, but also staying within the limitations set by society. “’Don’t Turn Back’: Langston Hughes, Barack Obama, and Martin Luther King, Jr.” by W. Jason Miller examines how Langston Hughes poem can be used to motivate people to keep “climbing.”
...ation of the women. The victorious Greek army in the Women of Troy does not seem to have any moral compunction in using the women as slaves or their concubines. In this process, they not only insult the citizens of the city of Troy but dehumanize the womanhood itself.
This essay explores the role of women in Homer's Odyssey, James Joyce's Ulysses (1922) and Derrick Walcott's Omeros (1990), epics written in very different historical periods. Common to all three epics are women as the transforming figure in a man's life, both in the capacity of a harlot and as wife.
In her poem entitled “The Poet with His Face in His Hands,” Mary Oliver utilizes the voice of her work’s speaker to dismiss and belittle those poets who focus on their own misery in their writings. Although the poem models itself a scolding, Oliver wrote the work as a poem with the purpose of delivering an argument against the usage of depressing, personal subject matters for poetry. Oliver’s intention is to dissuade her fellow poets from promoting misery and personal mistakes in their works, and she accomplishes this task through her speaker’s diction and tone, the imagery, setting, and mood created within the content of the poem itself, and the incorporation of such persuasive structures as enjambment and juxtaposition to bolster the poem’s
Poetry’s role is evaluated according to what extent it mirrors, shapes and is reshaped by historical events. In the mid-19th century, some critics viewed poetry as “an expression of the poet’s personality, a manifestation of the poet’s intuition and of the social and historical context which shaped him” ( Preminger, Warnke, Hardison 511). Analysis of the historical, social, political and cultural events at a certain time helps the reader fully grasp a given work. The historical approach is necessary in order for given allusions to be situated in their social, political and cultural background. In order to escape intentional fallacy, a poet should relate his work to universal
In the 1930s, who would have perpetrated violent acts against women in the name of sexual gratification yet still hold expectations that women take care of them? By making men in general the placeholder for “you” in the poem, it creates a much stronger and universal statement about the sexual inequality women face. She relates to women who have had “a god for [a] guest” yet it seems ironic because she is criticising the way these women have been treated (10). It could be argued, instead, that it is not that she sees men as gods, but that it is the way they see themselves. Zeus was a god who ruled Olympus and felt entitled to any woman he wanted, immortal or otherwise.
Poetry and Drama. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 9nd ed. New York: Longman, 2005. Pgs 389-392
In “The Anniad,” an epic poem from Gwendolyn Brooks’ collection Annie Allen, Brooks puts the reader into the mind of a young woman—probably Annie—awaiting her sexual “awakening.” Through the motifs of gender representation and sexuality, Brooks portrays Annie in an unusually complex way. The reader sees her as an insecure young woman, but also as a temptress and seductress. These descriptions are also troubled by the fact that she is initially depicted as a virgin. This multilateral characterization is a departure from other works in which women are presented within a limited “box,” so to speak, yet, at the same time, Annie seems to be a combination of different stereotypes about women.
Homer’s Iliad is undoubtedly focused on its male characters: Achilles, primarily, but also Hector and Agamemnon. Nevertheless, it seems that the most crucial characters in the epic are female. Homer uses the characters of Thetis, Andromache, and Helen as a basis for comparison to the male characters. Homer wants his audience to see and understand the folly of his male characters in choosing war over peace, aggression over kindness, and honor over family. While the behavior of these characters clearly speaks for itself, the contrasting attitudes and behaviors of the female characters proffer an alternative; in comparison, the reader can hardly fail to concur with Homer’s message that war, aggression, and honor are misplaced and self-defeating values.
Ferguson, Margaret W. , Mary Jo Salter, and Jon Stallworthy. The Norton Anthology Of Poetry. shorter fifth edition. New York, New York: W W Norton & Co Inc, 2005. print.
Women were often subjects of intense focus in ancient literary works. In Sarah Pomeroy’s introduction of her text Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves, she writes, “Women pervade nearly every genre of classical literature, yet often the bias of the author distorts the information” (x). It is evident in literature that the social roles of women were more restricted than the roles of men. And since the majority of early literature was written by men, misogyny tends to taint much of it. The female characters are usually given negative traits of deception, temptation, selfishness, and seduction. Women were controlled, contained, and exploited. In early literature, women are seen as objects of possession, forces deadly to men, cunning, passive, shameful, and often less honorable than men. Literature reflects the societal beliefs and attitudes of an era and the consistency of these beliefs and attitudes toward women and the roles women play has endured through the centuries in literature. Women begin at a disadvantage according to these societal definitions. In a world run by competing men, women were viewed as property—prizes of contests, booty of battle and the more power men had over these possessions the more prestigious the man. When reading ancient literature one finds that women are often not only prizes, but they were responsible for luring or seducing men into damnation by using their feminine traits.
In Chapter 8, Taylor defines and outlines the change from pre-modern to modern societies. Previously, our world was ordered independently of us. Individuals looked for their identities by means of their social standing or religion. However, “modern freedom and autonomy center us on ourselves, and the ideal of authenticity requires that we discover and articulate our own identity” (Taylor 81). This change goes back to the end of the 18th century and is evident in art and poetry. In modern society, our feelings are coming from within. Our human feelings are our nature, which is deeply personal. Yet, Taylor reminds his readers that in modern poetry there is an
The poem “Iliad,” by Homer, is known for its violence between men during a war, but under that violence, is the different type of women who play a significant role in the poem (Homer 189). This poem’s narrative seems to show a male dominated world between the Greek commanders. This male dominated world cannot happen on its own, thus the different background roles of women are needed in order to make sense of all this rage. As the University of Michigan article How Do Women Make Their Way Into This Cycle states, “They are seen as the objects of both lust and domesticity, yet they are also used to excuse war, cause conflict, and display the power of men” (www.umich.edu). The focus in this poem steers towards the rage between the men, but this rage most of the time is inspired and initiated by a woman. The women of Iliad play a significant role in the poem such as war prizes, male hero partners, and women gods.
Women are designated scapegoats of societies throughout history. Women are blamed for using seduction to trick men or are used as prizes for men to fight over; consequently, this allows men to begin wars or arguments over a single woman. In the case of the Trojan War, as depicted through Homer’s Iliad, women are the outright reason for encouraging and causing the greatest heroes to fight for nothing. The Trojan War begins with the abduction of Helen (McAllister 8), which is described through previous mythology where Aphrodite awards her to Paris for judging that Aphrodite is the most beautiful goddess, thus beginning the cycle that women are made prizes. Even in other cultures the idea that women cause conflict is a prominent aspect of beginning wars such as in King Arthur when Uther