Symbols in Poetry
This kind of re-interpretation is most evident in Yeats poem The Second Coming. Yeats combines Christs prediction of the Second coming St. Johns description of the beast of the Apocalypse in Revelations. Whereas Bethlehem is traditionally associated with the innocence of infancy motherhood, Yeats adds horror to the picture by substituting the image of Christ with a rough beast that Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born (Yeats) (Jeffares 200). As a symbolist, Yeats draws largely on magic, occult theory his own interpretation of history. Yeats believed in the cyclic nature of history, like he explains in his theory of the gyres, which represent the two eras as intersecting cones. He believed that as one gyre widens over a period of two thousand years the other narrows and the process reverses after the next two thousand years, thus forming a cyclical pattern. He explains this theory in his poem A Vision. Over here, he portrays the second coming as a period of anarchy chaos as opposed to the coming of Christ, which apparently brought salvation to the earth. Since the poem talks of the decline of Western civilization as we know it, we can infer that the beast is perhaps a symbol for the violence brought about by incidents like the Irish Civil War, the Russian Revolution, World War I or Communism. In fact, he expresses his concerns about Marxism in a letter he wrote to George Russell in April 1919 (Jeffares 204). According to me, Yeats writes this poem as an outsider to Christianity. He compares the coming of the beast and the anarchy to the birth of Christ because where Christianity was supposed to bring salvation, it caused corruption brought the Holy Wars so he wonders what this new beast would bring. Yeats is cleverly playing upon the traditional idea of religion Christianity by combining his knowledge of the occult history, probably to shake people out of their current existence and to help them see that a materialistic life could lead to anarchy and violence. He uses this kind of symbolism to create a gory and disturbing picture of what the end of Christianity will bring by blemishing the face of faith, he makes an extremely bold statement.
Once again, traditional notions of beauty classical myth are challenged in H.Ds Helen. H.D challenges the idea of Hellenism in art under the claims that Greece despised Helen and blamed her for the fall of Troy but after she died, they glorified her as the epitome of Classical Beauty. The description of Helen is very picturesque, as if it was a shot from a movie. She uses the terms pale, white wan to describe Helen (Doolittle). H.D also challenges the legend that the Trojan War was a result of Helens beauty alone. Instead of portraying Helen as a symbol of beauty, H.D describes her as a symbol of hatred and betrayal until the end. The poem can be read as a feminist text in the sense that Helen was blamed for the downfall of Troy but in reality, it was the men that chose to act. Feminist critic Laura Mulvey claims that if a woman instills a man with love, fear or fury, she may inspire him to act according to his emotion but that does not make her an active part in the action. Thus, Helens beauty merely instigated the war but the men played out the real action therefore Greece (taking into consideration both Greek men women) cannot blame Helen alone for the war. According to feminist critics, Helens beauty sexuality was what empowered her it could not be controlled and because the men could not control that, they turned to literature to enforce their hold over the matter (Swan 1-2). H.D, however, presents a unique approach to beauty. Not only does she make the claim that true beauty is realized only once it is dead, but she talks about Helens beauty in small, human things such as cool feet or slender knees which the people of Greece could appreciate only after it had been turned to ashes. There is a clever play on the word laid, which clearly indicates sexual overtones but she quickly clarifies it to signify death in the following line, which says white ash amid funeral cypresses (Doolittle). Most of the poem focuses on Helens outward appearance and nothing is said about her personality. H.D poem is a contrast to Edgar Allan Poes To Helen. The idea of Helen being solely responsible for the downfall of Troy is reminiscent of the fall of man because of Eve and both the Bible the legend of Troy can be subjected to feminist criticism. H.D was a product of the Hellenistic way of thought but this poem is far removed from the traditional Hellenistic beliefs. Where Hellenism looks to Classical Greece as an inspiration of beauty, H.Ds Helen portrays Greece Helen of Troy to be hateful wan respectively. For Doolittle, Hellenism always seems contextualized by war and seems intrinsically linked to brought into definition by wars (Gregory 3). Ultimately, H.D plays on the idea that ultimate beauty is a curse and emphasizes the idea beauty in the fact that beauty must die in order to be immortalized.
Another poem with feminist overtones is Anne Sextons Cinderella. Sexton re-tells the Grimm Bothers fairytale in a gruesome crass way, attempting to make it as realistic as possible. Sextons narrator emerges as a victim, without power. She is dependant on the mercy competence of outside forces usually men or a powerful parent (Tanenhaus 106). In Sextons poem, Cinderella is depicted as the poor, unfortunate yet deserving girl who has no control over her own life and her dead mother who is now a dove looks out for her provides her with everything she needs. She even fights Cinderellas battles for her and pecks out the eyes of her step-sisters. Actual fairytales are all sugar and spice but it seems as though Sexton feel that if shes creating a fantasy, why not go all the way and create an ideal world just as she would have it. In her biography, we learn that Sexton was abused as a child and she was a psychologically disturbed person who was in and out of mental hospitals and psychoanalysis. She took to writing as an escape from her life an outlet for her emotions. She was obsessed with fairytales but realized that they could not come true and therefore, when she wrote Transformations in 1971, she re-told all her favorite fairytales in a more realistic manner. She acknowledges that fairytales in their unrealistic depiction of experience, tempt us to grieve for what we do not cannot have (Tanenaus 108). This comes though in the following lines
Cinderella and the princelived, they say, happily ever after,like two dolls in a museum casenever bothered by diapers or dust,never arguing over the timing of an egg,never telling the same story twice,never getting a middle-aged spread,their darling smiles pasted on for eternity.Regular Bobbsey Twins.
In her last stanza, she writes that Cinderella and the prince lived happily ever after like two dolls in a museum case, never worrying about the timing of an egg, something about diapers and dust, never gaining a middle-aged spread, with their darling smiles pasted on for eternity. In these lines, she is referring to the stories mentioned at the beginning of the poems the things that those characters will never do because they live happily ever after. Unfortunately, all those things theyll leave behind are an integral part of everydays reality and if those things are eliminated from life, then you only end up living like show pieces in a museum which is not really living at all and therefore, she presents a dim view of fairytales and their false promises. Its almost as if she is drawing a parallel between fairytales and the American Dream by making references to people like Al Jolson the Bobbsey Twins. Such a reference would indicate that chasing the American Dream would be as good as attempting to live in a fairytale. The image of tragedy that Sexton represents in this poem is the tragedy of reality and its hardships, which are far removed from fairytale. She also emphasizes the helplessness of women their willingness to do anything for men, even at the cost of their own self-respect. This is evident in the fact that the stepsisters amputate parts of their foot in order to fit into the shoe just so that the prince would have them. The images of blood create a very grotesque atmosphere, thus making the reality of the fairytale not very desirable at all. She plays on the concepts of fairytales and the quintessential prince charming that will come someday and rescue the woman from her sluggish life. Fairytales such as these leave women feeling displaced from reality and keeping them content with what they have rather than working towards more because they have been made to believe that someday, someone magical will come and free them from their destiny. Also, where as in fairytales the ball was a glorified and auspicious event, Sexton diminishes its worth by calling it a marriage market once again revealing feminist overtones in the idea that women were being traded like commodities under the pretext of marriage. Her cynicism dark humor make the poem a pleasurable read.
In Conclusion, all three artists use different methods their own unique style to touch upon sensitive issues that present a flipside to common knowledge. Be it religion, classical beauty or the fairytale we grew up on, everything can be viewed objectively and in a unique manner each symbol can be used to embody the individual artists stand point.
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