2022 LC Exam Question:
To what extent do you agree or disagree that Adrienne Rich makes effective use of a diverse range of imagery and an engaging style to explore structures and values in society which she considers to be negative or destructive? Develop your response with reference to the poems by Adrienne Rich on your Leaving Certificate English course.
I agree that Adrienne Rich makes effective use of a diverse range of imagery and an engaging style to explore structures that she believes are destructive and negative in society. In this essay, I will use the following poems to back up my opinions: Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers (AJT) Uncle Speaks in the Drawing Room (Uncle) Living in Sin and Power.
The first poem that I will discuss is AJT, which rails against the patriarchal nature of marriage and its effects on women. There is a range of diverse imagery in this poem created through the contrast between Aunt Jennifer and the tigers, which she creates in her tapestry. The tigers are described as energetic and fearless and ‘do not fear the men beneath the tree.’
This image is contrasted with the image of Aunt Jennifer in the second stanza, who finds, ‘even the ivory needle hard to pull.’ This contrast between the fearless tigers and the frightened Aunt Jennifer highlights the oppressive nature of her marriage. This idea is further reinforced by the line, ‘the massive weight of uncle’s wedding band sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s hand.’ The imagery here makes it very clear to the reader that this woman is scared of her husband’s power in this marriage.
The fact that Rich did not have an Aunt called Jennifer highlights how she uses this poem as a statement about her views on the oppressive nature of marriage and how it is designed to keep women down. In the final stanza she says that even in death her aunt’s hand will be ‘still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by.’ This illustrates her view that marriage is a destructive and negative force in society where women have no power. When we consider how fathers ‘gave’ their daughters ‘away’ and how a father’s permission was sought before marriage, we can see that she feels that marriage was a tool of the patriarchy to ensure control over women.
Rich uses the symbolic Uncle again in Uncle Speaks in the Drawing Room and in this poem, she is criticising the class structures of society and how the wealthy maintain their positions of power through the generations. The speaker in the poem tells us that he has seen, ‘the mob of late standing sullen in the square/ At window, balcony and gate.’ The imagery here is very clever as it highlights the divide between the sullen mob below and the wealthy speaker who stands above them, guarded by a gate. Rich clearly illustrates the divide in society that she feels is destructive.
The second verse shows that the speaker is not worried about the antics of these people as he suggests that ‘these are follies that subside.’ However, he does admit that they make him consider how it can lead to people like him fearing for their ‘crystal vase and chandelier,’ The imagery of these opulent items coupled with the anecdote about his grandsire’s ‘ruby-bowl,’ shows the vast wealth and material goods that are to be found in the homes of the uber wealthy.
Rich illustrates her disdain for the class structures in society by highlighting the speaker’s attitude to ensuring that there will be no changes to the status quo. He says, ‘let us bear in mind how these treasures handed down from a calmer age passed on are in the keeping of our kind.’ The reference to ‘our kind’ tells us that he believes that they are better than the common people and that the privileges they have are their birthright. The pompous and arrogant tone that Rich purposefully uses is designed to anger the reader and question the structures of society that we know are destructive but turn a blind eye to. It is interesting that in these two poems, the rhyming scheme and structure of the poems is rigid and conforming to traditional norms. Is this a representation of the strict structures that society lived by that she is railing against?
The nature of the patriarchy and its destructive forces is also expressed in the poem Living in Sin, which tells the story of a young woman who is ‘living in sin’ with her boyfriend in a studio apartment. The term ‘living in sin’ was used to describe couples who were not married but living together. The poem is told through the eyes of the young woman, who had great expectations of what life would be like in the apartment as she thought ‘the studio would keep itself; no dust upon the furniture of love.’ However, it soon becomes clear that this is not the case as she feels bad for wishing that the windows were ‘relieved of grime.’ Rich uses a range of clever and unique imagery to highlight the state of the apartment as daylight arrives. She is woken by the milkman’s ‘tramp’ and we are told that the sunlight reveals ‘the scraps of last night’s cheese and three sepulchral bottles.’ The reference to the beetle as an envoy from another village illustrates the state of the apartment.
The speaker’s attitude towards the dirt and grime is contrasted cleverly with the man, who awakens much later ‘with a yawn,’ tries to play the keyboard but ‘declares it out of tune.’ He then shrugs at the mirror ‘rubbed his beard’ and ‘went out for cigarettes.’ His casual and uncaring attitude are in stark contrast to the young woman, who ‘is jeered by the minor demons,’ and forces herself to tidy up. The image of the ‘coffee-pot,’ boiling over on the stove is symbolic of the woman’s patience wearing thin with the man and their current situation. We are told that by evening ‘she was back in love again, though not so wholly,’ showing that the situation is beginning to take its toll and that despite breaking traditional convention by living together, she has ended up doing the traditional role of ‘the wife,’ cleaning up after the man.
This poem highlights the destructive nature of gender inequality and traditional gender roles. The man clearly expects the young woman to clean and tidy, while he takes no care of himself or the apartment. Despite not being married, the young woman falls into the role of cleaner and housewife and Rich feels that young women should not have to shoulder the burden of looking after men. She obviously believes that it is unfair and that there should be equality between the sexes. Ironically, this poem has no clear rhyming scheme or traditional structure but it seems that the speaker is finding it difficult to move away from the antiquated structures of society.
The last poem that I will be discussing is Power, which highlights the price that women pay for getting the power that they crave. There is a stark contrast between this poem and the first two poems discussed in this essay, as it is written as a stream of consciousness with no clear structure. The poem begins by describing things buried in the earth before moving on to discussing Marie Curie who discovered both polonium and radium, which are found in the earth. Unlike the other poems, where power is the preserve of rich men, here we reflect on the the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, showing how women can achieve success in their chosen fields.
However, it is also a reflection of the price that women have to pay for trying to seek power. The clear imagery in the line, ‘her body bombarded for years by the element she had purified,’ signifies the brutal attack on her body by the radiation she had discovered. ‘The cracked and suppurating skin of her finger-ends till she could no longer hold a test-tube or a pencil,’ highlights the pain and misery she inflicted on herself to achieve what she did. The fact that she could no longer hold the items that were so important to her success is a deeply upsetting thought. The last line of the poem is, ‘her wounds came from the same source as her power.’ This is an evocative image that conveys the complexity of power and the double edged sword that Marie Curie fought with. In order to gain the recognition and success that she did, she sacrificed her life and everything she held dear.
The imagery used in the poem allows Rich to contemplate the price of power and how it is much harder for a woman to harness power without paying too high a price. We see similar situations in the modern world in politics and business, where women must sacrifice family time, children or even marriage to gain success and recognition, but this is not true for their male counterparts. Rich realises that women can get power but that it comes at a cost, as discovered by Marie Curie, who is still the only woman to have won the Nobel Prize twice. This is another example of Rich’s disdain for the destructive structures in society that force women to choose between power and happiness.
It is my belief that Rich used her poetry as a vehicle to highlight the destructive nature of gender inequality and class divisions in a unique way using a range of diverse imagery that captures the hearts and minds of her readers.