Poetry Analysis – It’s A Woman’s World Essay, Research Paper
It s a Woman s World Our way of life So when the king s head has hardly changed (30) gored its basket — since a wheel first grim harvest — whetted a knife. we were gristing breadLine(5) Well, maybe flame or getting the recipe burns more greedily for a good soup and wheels are steadier (35) to appetize but we re the same our gossip. who milestone And it s still the same:(10) our lives By night our windows with oversights moth our children living by the lights (40) to the flame of the loaf left of hearth not history. by the cash register, And still no page(15) the washing powder scores the low music paid for the wrapped, of our outrage. the wash left wet. (45) But appearances Like most historic peoples still reassure: we are defined That woman there,(20) by what we forget, craned to the starry mystery by what we never will be: is merely getting a breath star-gazers, (50) of evening air, fire-eaters. while this one here — It s our alibi her mouth (25) for all time a burning plume — that as far as history goes she s no fire-eater, we were never (55) just my frosty neighbour on the scene of the crime. coming home. – Eavan Boland (1982) Since the beginning of time, women have faced an uphillbattle for equality with the patriarchal societies. However,during the nineteenth century, many reforms have occurred toraise women to equality with men. More women attend college thanever before resulting in a greater number of female executives. Men are taking up many of the former womanly duties such ascleaning and children rearing. Young girls are taught they canbe anything they want to be. Yet, the contemporary poet EavanBoland does not view the world with such optimism in her poem It s a Woman s World. Through the use of poetic form,allusions, and fire imagery, Boland reveals here complex view ofthe woman s world as an oppression imposed by patriarchalsociety. Upon first examination of the poem, the form of the stanzasreveals the monotony of Boland s view of female history through present-day. Each stanza, fourteen in all, is four lines withsentences split between the stanzas. This can symbolicallyrepresent the unchanging role of women throughout history. Thissymbolism is explained in the first stanza: Our way of life /has hardly changed / since a wheel first / whetted a knife (1-4). Just as the female role in society hasn t changed,neither does the poem s form despite split sentences. Thesesplit sentences also illustrate the speaker s viewpoint — as thesentences continue through several stanzas, so too does the roleof women continue through differing time periods. For example,the second sentence beginning with line 5 runs through fourstanzas before ending in line 17 while the scene changes frompre-historic times to the modern-day supermarket. As previously referred to, various historical time periods
are represented through the allusions Boland uses to convey theperpetual role of women. The poem begins with the invention ofthe wheel during pre-historic times: since a wheel first /whetted a knife (3-4). As the poem progresses, the time periodchanges to more recent times: cash register, washing powder (14-15). One final allusion is that of a beheaded king (29-30). This allusion most likely refers to the execution of Louis XVI onthe guillotine during the French Revolution. These allusions alldemonstrate that while history was being made, the woman s rolewas at home cooking, cleaning, and gossiping: we were gristing bread or getting the recipe for a good soup to appetize our gossip. (32-36)The hypocrisy is quite apparent in these allusions — while menwere fighting for social freedom and equality, they denied womenthe very things they were fighting for. Finally, Boland uses fire imagery to define the role ofwomen through three key images — constancy, perpetuation, anddeprivation. In line 5, fire is seen as becoming more greed[y] which can be interpreted as being stronger, hotter, and largerdue to improved methods of burning. While fire has improved fromthe small pre-historic fires, the role of women has not: butwe re the same (8). Similarly, the hearth fire can be seen as aperpetuation of women s role as the children sit around thehearth and learn the role of women through the example they see– their mother. Finally, and most importantly, Boland uses fireto convey the deprivation of women caused by their role insociety. This conveyance comes through the term fire-eater which can be defined as one who consumes mental and spiritualenergies (Webster s Dictionary with interpretation). Basically,a fire-eater is one who is allowed to expand one s mind. AsBoland explains:we [women] are definedby what we forget, by what we never will be:star-gazers,fire-eaters. (19-23)By this statement, Borland shows the deprivation of women as itreaches far beyond such trivial matters of household duties tothe very core of humanity – dreams, goals, and the ability toexpand one s mind. While Boland primarily condemns thepatriarchy, she also uses the fire imagery to condemn thecollaboration of many women who allow this oppression to occur. This final condemnation of collaborators presents an old womanwho has resigned herself to the role society has given her. The burning plume (53) symbolizes how society places a blazingtoken of honor upon her for her acceptance of her role whilethrough her acceptance, she betrays all of womankind. Through her use of poetic form, allusions, and fire imagery,Eavan Boland conveys her complex conception of the woman sworld and condemnation upon a society that allows such perpetualoppression. While it is quite apparent that strides are beingmade towards equality, we must all be very hesitant to acceptappearances alone as Boland warns: But appearances / stillreassure (45-46). Instead, we must look deeper into ourselvesand determine what role we shall play. Will we be the honoredneighbor accepting all that society gives or will we score thelow music of our outrage (43-44)?