Strong and outstanding Political and Feminist poet, Adrienne Cecile Rich, captivated her audience with her true and soft words. She is a prime example of uncovering hidden struggles for more than one community and responsible for delivering so many eye-opening pages to read. The most stable way to describe her tremendous gravitational pull would be to quote the woman herself, “Art means nothing if it simply decorates the dinner table of the power which holds it hostage”. She is a creative individual
The Poetry of Adrienne Rich Adrienne Rich was born in Baltimore, Maryland in the year of 1929. Rich grew up in a household as she describes it as ” …white, middle-class, full of books, and with a father who encouraged her to write” (Daniel). Her father Arnold Rich was a doctor and a pathology professor and her mother, Helen Jones Rich , was a pianist and a composer. “Adrienne Rich recalls her growing-up years clearly dominated by the intellectual presence and demands of the male in the family, her
Tigers by Adrienne Rich Who is Aunt Jennifer? Does she even exist? I had to ask myself these questions before even going further into the poem. The answers opened the door to a deeper meaning behind Aunt Jennifer's Tigers. Based on Adrienne Rich's background I believe Aunt Jennifer did exist. However, Aunt Jennifer was not Rich's aunt. Aunt Jennifer represented women all over the world, particularly women in American, who were caught under the oppressive hand of a patriarchal society. Adrienne Rich
Rich, Adrienne. Midnight Salvage: Poems 1995-1998. NY: W.W. Norton & Co., 1999. A Physical Conversation Adrienne Rich writes a long conversation, in A Long Conversation, with multiple and fluid dialogues. Interpretations of these dialogues are rich, thick and endless. Her dialogues include a conversation between past and present times, between past and present theories, between great minds and regular people, between the subject and creation of art and its place in time, and the conversation
education. Two arguments which present interesting views on higher education are bell hook’s “Keeping Close to Home'; and Adrienne Rich’s “What Does a Woman Need to Know?'; Hooks views higher education with a concern for the underprivileged, whereas Rich views it with a concern for women. Of the two works, I personally do not agree with Rich’s argument. Bell hooks views higher education to be a time in which we find ourselves and learn more about who we are. This concept
beyond the control of strong mothers and become individuals. Adrienne Rich in her book Of Woman Born calls this splitting from the mother, "matraphobia" (Rich, 235), and later notes: "The mother stands for the victim in ourselves, the unfree woman, the martyr. Our personalities seem dangerously to blur and overlap with our mothers; and, in a desperate attempt to know where mother ends and daughter begins we perform radical surgery." (Rich, 236) Tan shows us two characters in her novel who consciously
is how necessary it is when one wants to become a self-actualized individual. Education also plays an important role in getting a job in todays world and leading a self fulfilled life. Authors such as Bell hooks, Mike Rose, Jon Spayde, and Adrienne Rich all see education through the eyes of the excluded and emphasize the importance of education and what its really worth. I believe that education helps us achieve what we want to do but its actually up to each and every one of us to carry through
The varying interpretations include everything ranging from Leapor as promoting lesbianism, to simply promoting good female friendships. Adrienne Rich termed this range of womanly bonds the “lesbian continuum,” and explains it as the inclusive realm between “consciously desired genital sexual experience with another woman,” and “the sharing of a rich inner life, the bonding against male tyranny, the giving and receiving of practical and political support” (51). The question remains: where
Adrienne Rich was a very critically acclaimed and widely read poet of her era. Ms. Rich was a rebellious pioneer in expressing her viewpoints through her poetry in what was considered highly taboo topics of her time, such as, politics, lesbianism, and feminism. Adrienne Rich was born on May 16, 1929 in Baltimore, Maryland. Her father was renowned pathologist at John Hopkins University, Dr. Arnold Rich, and her mother Helen Elizabeth Rich, was a concert pianist and composer. Adrienne began writing
Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers By Adrienne Rich Aunt Jennifer’s tigers stride across a screen Bright topaz denizens of a world of green. They do not fear the men beneath the tree; They pace in sleek chivalric certainty. Aunt Jennifer’s fingers fluttering through her wool Find even the ivory needle hard to pull. The massive weight of uncle’s wedding band Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s hand. When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by The tigers in the
A Closer Look at “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” The poem “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” by Adrienne Rich was written in 1950. At first glance, it appears to be a feminist piece whose sole purpose is to point out the ways in which a particular woman (Aunt Jennifer) is oppressed. However when a closer look is given, there is much more to this piece. When the poem is read line by line, much more meaning can be gleaned from it. “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers prance across a screen,” the screen would seem to be a tapestry
Edna as a Metaphorical Lesbian in Chopin’s The Awakening Elizabeth LeBlanc places The Awakening in an interesting context in her essay “The Metaphorical Lesbian,” as gender criticism must, for Chopin wrote the novel at the end of the 19th century, when homosexuality as an identity emerged culturally, at least in terms of the gay male identity, as proffered by Oscar Wilde across the Atlantic. Lesbianism, too, started to make its debut on the cultural stage, particularly in literature. However
In the poem “Living in Sin” written by Adrienne Rich, Adrienne begins the poem with the perception of having a perfect relationship in which everything great will majestically fall into place for her. She has the fantasy that there is no work and/or effort to be put forth into a perfect relationship when she soon realizes is false. “Living in Sin” tells the story of a young woman who is unhappy with her life as well as her husband because of the fact that she feels she is nothing but a maid rather
middle-class American society. Betty Friedan's influential The Feminine Mystique, published in 1965, indicted the deadly boredom of the suburban home, while later works such as Adrienne Rich's Of Woman Born, articulated with devastating incisiveness the oppressive qualities of the contemporary institution of motherhood. According to Rich, the intense joys of mothering children were embedded in a patriarchal structure that created agonizing conflicts for any woman who saw herself as more than merely a nurturer
Emily Dickinson and Adrienne Rich The modernist period, stretching from the late 19th century to approximately 1960, is a very distinct phase in the progression of American literature, employing the use of novel literary techniques which stray away from the traditional literary styles observed in the time preceding the period. Modernist writers explore new styles themes, and content in their compositions, encompassing issues ranging from race (Kate Chopin) to gender (H.D.) to sexuality (James
In “Women and Honor: Some Notes on Lying”, Adrienne Rich specifically talks about why women lie, the reason lying began, and also what happens to not only the person being lied to but also the person telling the lie. Rich uses examples to show what happens to a person when they lie, what is the cause for someone to begin lying and also compares a women’s need to lie to many different things. Adrienne Rich’s main point is that all women lie to portray an image about themselves. The author’s secondary
Martin Luther King Junior once stated that, “our lives begin to end the day we become silent.” This was a huge staple in the African American community previous to the 1960s. Does the fault solely lay on the fact that African Americans were so in fear of their life and the life of their loved ones to speak up? After all this was the time of murdering those who were believed to be looking at a Caucasian in any shape or form. It was also a time for murdering those who even considered making a social
Believing in Adrienne Rich 's Storm Warnings When it comes to analyzing a poem, it is of the utmost importance to remember that any piece of work of literature is nothing else, but the reflection of the author 's personal thoughts and convictions. Furthermore, poetry is far more intimate than other types of literary work, and it represents a relatively short message. More intimate and individually important type of literal work, as it represents a relatively short message on a particular issue
disappointing information that was fed to me while I was growing up, but this drives me to become the best that I can to be so I do not become the average statistic. Adrienne Rich writes an essay where she talks about the importance of claiming an education. Now, I’m sixteen so this would be a good time in my life to start claiming my education. Rich is the author of an essay called “Claiming an Education” where she uses the words “claiming” and “receiving” very carefully. In the essay she talks about the
today's society. As I read articles on education I was able to find two authors that shared my views about education in today's society: Adrienne Rich and Jon Spayde. In the article "What Does a Woman Need to Know?" by Adrienne Rich, Rich delivers a commencement address to female college graduates about the condition of women's education. As a writer and teacher, Rich states that "there is no women's college today which is providing young women with the education they need for survival as whole persons