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Gwen Harwood’s poetry is incredibly powerful due to its ability to question the interpersonal conventions of its period, positioning the reader to see items in new ways. During the 1960’s, a say of feminism swept throughout Australian society, challenging the dominant patriarchal ideologies of that time period. Gwen Harwood’s poems ‘Burning Sappho’ and ‘Suburban Sonnet’ are two texts that challenge the dominant image of the cheerful, gentle, nevertheless ultimately submissive, obedient, compliant, acquiescent, docile housewife.
Instead, ‘Burning Sappho’ is powerful in constructing the mother while violent to reject the restraints put on her simply by society, although Suburban Sonnet addresses the mental effects of the girl gender’s confinement to the mother’s and home-based sphere. Harwood employs a variety of dialect and strength devices to be able to criticise the stereotypical repressed roles of the female gender. Thus Harwood encourages the current reader to perceive Aussie social structures differently thus reject the inequitable function of women in modern society.
Composition is used in several of Harwood’s poems to challenge the dominant perception of the content, caring mother. In ‘Suburban sonnet, ‘ the composition is (obviously) the sonnet, two 4 line stanzas followed by a six-line stanza. This options are deliberate as the traditional romanticised love poem jars up against the reality offered in the composition. Similarly, ‘Burning Sappho’ difficulties the major stereotypes of that time period however , rather than sonnet, the poem’s composition is also strongly related the poem’s criticisms, therefore revealing a duality inside the mother’s actions and interior thoughts.
The whole day, the mother is constantly interrupted by her supposed ‘duties’ and ‘roles. ‘ “Scandals and Pregnancies mediates the women (a kind friend) talk, nevertheless the subject from the conversation reveals a typecast of unoriginal gossip, consequently positioning someone to understand their discussion as lacking substance. As opposed to this stereotype however , the persona’s thoughts are deeply personal and challenging towards the reader. Stunning imagery of your “monster grin(ning) and stick(ing) her kid with hooks conflicts with all the stereotype with the loving mother.
Instead, the alliteration of “pours prussic acid shows sharp diction to emphasise the concept of violence in regards to the mother. As a result, the reader is positioned to reassess the image in the caring, delicate mother, instead seeing the resulting emotionally repressed girls as a direct reaction to the constraints positioned on her gender. Language and imagery takes on a dramatic role in portraying interactions and feelings/thoughts of the character.
Whilst in ‘Burning Sappho, ‘ the mother’s attitude towards duties is described as impassive (“the child is given, the dishes will be washed, the clothes are ironed and shown, ), vocabulary is put to use within ‘Suburban Sonnet’ to construct the mom’s mental state and situation as dire. “Zest and Take pleasure in drain out with soapy water. The use of two personal, passionate adjectives and the depiction of them staying physically defeat by water and soap directly hyperlink the mother’s loss of emotions and fiery emotion for the household jobs and obligations.
For example , the lady “scours crusted milk, as a part of her role while mother and housewife while the reader is positioned to deny this need as a result of the huge impact with her quality of life (“Veins ache). The literal picture of a dead mouse button symbolises the mother’s scenario as the ‘soft corpse’ directly signifies the mother, that is, emotionally dead due to the entrapment by world.
The reader lies to fully sympathise with the mother in her repressed position and thus issue the unoriginal contented mom figure that is compartmentalised for the domestic ball of Patriarchal society. Equally poems claim that their pressured social tasks of women because mothers and housewives arrive at the cost of career possibilities and personal dreams. Music and writing, particularly, are significant, as Harwood believed that they played an integral part in emotions and peacefulness of the head. She techniques a catch though it might matter to no one not whether the lady plays very well or not. The fugue in musical conditions is a part of repetitive composing that is utilised by Harwood to recommend a form of boredom and recurrence. As well as this kind of, the negative alliteration in the words, “No, not and now could be linked to the repression of the mother’s ability to perform the piano. The character is represented as a great pianist inside the poem, highlighting Harwood’s own skills around the instrument.
Nevertheless , due to her femininity, the persona is unable to pursue her career. In the same way, in “Burning Sappho, the repetition of the identity writing (“I pick up my personal pen and commence to write) across the four stanzas emphasises the mother’s need for innovative and emotional release. The construction of the children in equally poems is also instrumental in representing the social requirement of the home mom, rather than worker. In “Suburban Sonnet, imagery collusive with the children such as “Chattering and then screaming is very nerve-racking and bad.
In contrast, the diction and language in “Burning Sappho is stunning to the reader as the poem not simply depicts a very difficult child in contrast to the stereotypical harmless construction, nevertheless the mother’s marriage with her is fragmented ” “Something like hate forks among my kid and myself. Clear negative diction is used to challenge these types of stereotypes of the mother/child romance, therefore challenging the views of world, which specify that women must look after their children rather than follow a career.
By making use of poetic structure and dialect in “Burning Sappho and “Suburban Sonnet, Gwen Harwood difficulties established patriarchal ideas in regards to the domestic world of women while housewives and mothers. Her powerful voice and rhetoric is key with her argument and therefore I i am positioned to readdress my perception of such particular teams in culture, sympathising with the restriction of gender roles and therefore difficult the further implementation of them on Australian Society.
