Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
What is the importance of character development in literature
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
PATHEDY OF MANNERS
Although we all strive to obtain the best in life, we quickly learn that there is much more to life than just filling an empty void with luxuries. This is the prime theme in the narrative poem titled "Pathedy of Manners" by Ellen Kay. Kay uses strong imagery to describe this woman's superb lifestyle and the change of winds that occur as time passes. The woman in this story appears to be everyone's envy, however we quickly learn that perception is not always reality. Material things simply cannot fulfill and empty void of one's life.
The poem begins with the author describing this perfect woman. As she goes on to say in line one, "At twenty she was brilliant and adored." The soft choice of words Kay choose create an instant connection between the reader and the woman. We are instantly engrossed in this woman, and sure enough adore her as well. The poem continues to describe her social status. From "Phi Beta Kappa" in line three and "men whose interest was their sole reward" in line four, we are instantly drawn with an image of this girl. We can conclude that this woman is young, successful, beautiful woman that is popular amongst everybody. She is the apple of everyone's desire. The author creates this girl to be that of one of the most intelligent, attractive girls the author (as well as the reader) has ever seen. As the reader, we can tell that she is from a very affluent background. This is implied in the lines "She learned the cultured jargon of those bred To antique crystal and authentic pearls." From the almost archaic setting to the famous people mentioned, the time period this takes place can be seen as around the early 1900's. In the line "And when she might have thought, conversed instead" is ...
... middle of paper ...
... from the many things she regrets. She does not want to feel regret for giving up all the opportunity she had, however she cannot ever achieve that again. The author continues on with "Her meanings lost in manners, she will walk Alone in brilliant circles to the end." The woman has lost her education, her beauty, her skills, talent, and glory. She is left alone. She has lost herself.
The author tells us that there is no telling the story of something without knowing the inside. Stories on the outside may not indeed be the reality that is within. The tone and imagery of this poem had a great importance in sending this message to her readers. The glory and doom of this woman would not be able to obtain without its intimate tones ranging from flaunting to embarrassment depiction's of this woman's melancholy. Her glory rose and fell as shortly as her inner spirit did.
The initial two lines of this poem present the recollections that the primary individual storyteller will be transferring. The speaker, when she ponders the importance of her life, "… what I'm like, underneath (1)" she considers her initial two
The readers are apt to feel confused in the contrasting ways the woman in this poem has been depicted. The lady described in the poem leads to contrasting lives during the day and night. She is a normal girl in her Cadillac in the day while in her pink Mustang she is a prostitute driving on highways in the night. In the poem the imagery of body recurs frequently as “moving in the dust” and “every time she is touched”. The reference to woman’s body could possibly be the metaphor for the derogatory ways women’s labor, especially the physical labor is represented. The contrast between day and night possibly highlights the two contrasting ways the women are represented in society.
From the combination of enjambed and end-stopped lines, the reader almost physically feels the emphasis on certain lines, but also feels confusion where a line does not end. Although the poem lacks a rhyme scheme, lines like “…not long after the disaster / as our train was passing Astor” and “…my eyes and ears…I couldn't think or hear,” display internal rhyme. The tone of the narrator changes multiple times throughout the poem. It begins with a seemingly sad train ride, but quickly escalates when “a girl came flying down the aisle.” During the grand entrance, imagery helps show the importance of the girl and how her visit took place in a short period of time. After the girl’s entrance, the narrator describes the girl as a “spector,” or ghost-like figure in a calm, but confused tone. The turning point of the poem occurs when the girl “stopped for me [the narrator]” and then “we [the girl and the narrator] dove under the river.” The narrator speaks in a fast, hectic tone because the girl “squeez[ed] till the birds began to stir” and causes her to not “think or hear / or breathe or see.” Then, the tone dramatically changes, and becomes calm when the narrator says, “so silently I thanked her,” showing the moment of
Sometimes all one needs to create a better condition is putting in a little effort. However, as the poem implies, it is easier to do nothing for staying in a comfort zone is better than achieving a better condition. She complains of the heat in the room because the sun for sunlight pours through the open living-room windows. All she needs to do is get up and close the windows, but she won't do it either. She also reveals the futility of trying to get out of the meaningless routine that people adopt. In an attempt to be proactive, she thinks about the essence of living and is almost convinced that routine is the nature of life. She thinks for a long time and thinks again but ironically, the same routine chores distract her yet again. She goes to buying a hairbrush, parking, and slamming doors. At the end, she gives up on finding the essence of living; she wants to do things like she has always done
The speaker begins the poem an ethereal tone masking the violent nature of her subject matter. The poem is set in the Elysian Fields, a paradise where the souls of the heroic and virtuous were sent (cite). Through her use of the words “dreamed”, “sweet women”, “blossoms” and
This duality is concealed within a character because the darkness(truth) conflicts with the light(dreams/hopes) when we hold onto our desire to unite ourselves with our true lover. The author reveals that the light of the “sunset” represents the strength, by illuminating that days are going by, but the true lover still sticks to their strength. The author portrays darkness through the “death” of the“lilacs” representing the inevitable truth that one has to face when holding onto their desire to meet their true love. Parker illustrates that one whose “eyes are deep with yearning”, will persist to their strength until their determination does not overcome the obstacles preventing one from accessing true love, embracing love as a natural and beautiful thing. “Deep” represents her strength and “yearning” is symbolic of her desire to meet her husband. “Yearning” adds a sense of beauty and “deep” illuminates a depth to her strength and how it can overpower obstacles in her life. The author blends “deep” with “yearning” to enhance and illustrate that when we hold a desire we have to deepen our strength and embrace it to achieve what we aspire. The image of “an old, old, gate” where “the lady wait[s]” emphasizes the idea that her husband’s death is “old”; it occurred many years ago, but
We don’t know if the speaker is male or female. But, the language of the speaker is very direct and sometimes we are getting facts that are horrible. This attitude of the speaker about Helen gives you the understanding and feel for what they think about her and why. The poem speaks about the hatred of a beautiful woman. Throughout the poem, Helen's beauty makes her into a victim of desire. She is talked about by her appearance and beauty. It can be inferred that the speaker is speaking for woman who are subject to objectification. She is reaching out to innocent women and stating that it is wrong to place blame upon their appearance, something that women have no control over. The In To Helen the speaker we know is a male. He is in love with Helen he’s also educated on classical allusions, in each stanza he has some references to Greek mythology, and the classical references parallel to danger or love gone wrong. He mentions her beauty, face, hair, and uses similes to compare her to a
In the end, the journey the speaker embarked on throughout the poem was one of learning, especially as the reader was taken through the evolution of the speakers thoughts, demonstrated by the tone, and experienced the images that were seen in the speaker’s nightmare of the personified fear. As the journey commenced, the reader learned how the speaker dealt with the terrors and fears that were accompanied by some experience in the speaker’s life, and optimistically the reader learned just how they themselves deal with the consequences and troubles that are a result of the various situations they face in their
Although the little girl doesn’t listen to the mother the first time she eventually listens in the end. For example, in stanzas 1-4, the little girl asks if she can go to the Freedom March not once, but twice even after her mother had already denied her the first time. These stanzas show how the daughter is a little disobedient at first, but then is able to respect her mother’s wishes. In stanzas 5 and 6, as the little girl is getting ready the mother is happy and smiling because she knows that her little girl is going to be safe, or so she thinks. By these stanzas the reader is able to tell how happy the mother was because she thought her daughter would be safe by listening to her and not going to the March. The last two stanzas, 7 and 8, show that the mother senses something is wrong, she runs to the church to find nothing, but her daughter’s shoe. At this moment she realizes that her baby is gone. These stanzas symbolize that even though her daughter listened to her she still wasn’t safe and is now dead. The Shoe symbolizes the loss the mother is going through and her loss of hope as well. This poem shows how elastic the bond between the daughter and her mother is because the daughter respected her mother’s wish by not going to the March and although the daughter is now dead her mother will always have her in her heart. By her having her
The influential roles of women in the story also have important effects on the whole poem. It is them that press the senses of love, family care, devotion, and other ethical attitudes on the progression of the story. In this poem the Poet has created a sort of “catalogue of women” in which he accurately creates and disting...
The daughter alludes to an idea that her mother was also judged harshly and made to feel ashamed. By the daughters ability to see through her mothers flaws and recognize that she was as wounded as the child was, there is sense of freedom for both when the daughter find her true self. Line such as “your nightmare of weakness,” and I learned from you to define myself through your denials,” present the idea that the mother was never able to defeat those that held her captive or she denied her chance to break free. The daughter moments of personal epiphany is a victory with the mother because it breaks a chain of self-loathing or hatred. There is pride and love for the women they truly were and is to be celebrated for mother and daughter.
The poem's speaker mistreated,gloomy and being isolated. She is a person who loss and assimilation if not loose your self. “That this
“Everything, including herself, seemed unbearable to her. She wished she could fly away like a bird and make herself young again somewhere in the vast purity of space.
This, in fact, is an example of “dynamic decomposition” of which the speaker claims she understands nothing. The ironic contradiction of form and content underlines the contradiction between the women’s presentation of her outer self and that of her inner self. The poem concludes with the line “’Let us go home she is tired and wants to go to bed.’” which is a statement made by the man. Hence, it “appears to give the last word to the men” but, in reality, it mirrors the poem’s opening lines and emphasises the role the woman assumes on the outside as well as her inner awareness and criticism. This echoes Loy’s proclamation in her “Feminist Manifesto” in which she states that women should “[l]eave off looking to men to find out what [they] are not [but] seek within [themselves] to find out what [they] are”. Therefore, the poem presents a “new woman” confined in the traditional social order but resisting it as she is aware and critical of
What is being rude? Being rude according to its definition is being offensively impolite or ill-mannered. In todays society, whether its at home, in school, at the store, at work, or even on social media, the act of being rude is on the rise significantly.