The poem An Introduction is written by Kamala Das who is famous for her Confessional Poetry. She was married to an old man at a very young age. The words, "he drew a youth of sixteen into the Bedroom and closed the door" clearly show that her husband had no love with her but used her a an object toRead more
The poem An Introduction is written by Kamala Das who is famous for her Confessional Poetry. She was married to an old man at a very young age. The words, “he drew a youth of sixteen into the Bedroom and closed the door” clearly show that her husband had no love with her but used her a an object to satisfy his lust. “The weight of breasts and womb crushed” her because her husband was only interested in her body and not her.
In the beginning, the poet says that she does not know politics and throughout the history, she has heard the names those in power, which are men. Here the poet is indirectly saying that there is no representation of women and only men rule.
Women are objects in a patriarchal society. To justify this claim, the poet raises a rhetoric question, “I am human, don’t You see?” According to her, she was quite young but she was told that she has grown up and was married off without her consent. The poet believes that though her body grew, he was still a child. On the other hand, her husband was quite old and had no love for her. He would go to the room and after satisfy his lust. He never bothered to make the poet feel loved.
In addition, the poet says that she tried to hide her womanliness by dressing like men and cutting her hair. However she was criticised by the society which did moral policing. This signifies that she, as a woman is bound it live according to the rules formed by patriarchal society. Thus the poem is a stringent criticism of the patriarchal society.
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The poem Of Mothers, Among Other Things is about motherhood. From the very beginning, the poet seems to be talking about his mother. In the poem, the poet describes how his mother struggled a lot for the sake of their children. The poet describes the three phases of his mother's life - her youth, heRead more
The poem Of Mothers, Among Other Things is about motherhood. From the very beginning, the poet seems to be talking about his mother. In the poem, the poet describes how his mother struggled a lot for the sake of their children.
The poet describes the three phases of his mother’s life – her youth, her middle and and her old age. In each phase of her life, she had to face hardships. In the first part, the phrase “I see my mother run back from rain” shows her sacrifices for her children.
In the second part, the poet tells that she was crippled in the garden by mouse trap, again a part of her struggled life. In the final part, we see how she kept working even when she has no energy.
So the whole poem is about motherhood. Through this poem, the poet tells us that we should not consider mother as an ordinary commodity. The poet seems to be regretting in the final part and so does every person who has talked harshly to his mother in the past.
Read summary of this poem.
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