Feminism: Heaney and Dickinson
Feminist literary criticism emerges from the feminist movement that arose in the United States during the 1960s. As a literary theory, feminism became dominant during the 1970s. In general, feminist theory focuses on how language is used in literature in order to describe and delineate the role of the woman and her position in society. As such, feminist theory lends itself well to the interpretation of poems such as "I cannot live with you" by Emily Dickinson, and "Punishment" by Seamus Heaney.
Dickinson's poem echoes her self-selected seclusion from society at large. Seen from a feminist point-of-view, this seclusion is chosen as the only option against complete dominance and personality annihilation in a world dominated by men. As such, the poem also describes her impossible love. Dickinson does not deny the existence of her love. But she does deny that such a love can be allowed in her world if she is to realize her true potential as a woman, and not as a housewife. This is delineated by the progression of her poem (Academy of American Poets). For Dickinson, love is as impossible as the life taken for granted by most members of society. Because society compromises the value of the woman, it is allowed the life of domesticity and life. The speaker however remains forever beyond this because she chooses self-realization instead.
In Heaney's "Punishment," feminism can be seen from the male viewpoint, as it were. The corpse of a bog girl, an adulteress, educates the narrator regarding issues of gender and politics. The narrator, far from the conventional male reaction of disgust, instead becomes infatuated with her. It is as if he is the male representative of the feminist viewpoint; that women offer value and education rather than objects of sex or symbols of domesticity. The intimacy between the speakers involve no blame. Instead of man and woman, they are equals, in strong contrast with the society that would condemn them both for their actions and their association.
Sources
Academy of American Poets. A Close Reading of "I Cannot Live With You." 2007. http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/310
Tagle, Stephen. The Bog Girl Re-sexualized: An Analysis of Seamus Heaney's "Punishment." 13 April, 2005. http://www.stanford.edu/~stagle/ESSAYS/SPR%20ENG160%20E01%20Punishment.htm
Seamus Heaney Few writers can boast such an impressive volume of work as Seamus Heaney has produced in the last thirty years: nineteen books of poetry, nine poetry pamphlets, two books of selected poems, one-book length verse translation, three collection of essays, one play, and two anthologies of poetry. And few writers in their lifet6ime achieve the kind of popularity and reputation that Seamus Heaney has" http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0231119275/ref=sib_rdr_ex/103-2?%5Fencoding=UTF8&p=S008#reader-link Seamus Heaney is one of
Seamus Heaney's poem "Digging" and Peter Meinke's poem "Advice to My Son" both address the idea of family and how it is essential for connections between members of the family to be strong. Even with this, they both deal with the matter from different perspectives. In addition to the obvious fact that one concentrates on showing a son's feeling toward his father and grandfather while the other involves a father's
And indeed life was like the churning and stinking of the butter-making process. "Brains turned crystals full of clean deal churns"; this is the poet saying that living and thinking was a process like making butter; you have to have something of substance to begin with, then you have to make sure it is "clean" and finally, it is complete. Poetic form "is both the ship and the anchor," Heaney stated
Annotated BibliographyAlexander, Stephanie. \\\"They \\\'smelt of rot\\\': Abjection and Infection in Seamus Heaney�s EarlyWork.\\\" Estudios Irlandeses, Issue 18, 2023, pp. 11-24.In this scholarly article, Stephanie Alexander examines the early pastoral poetry of Seamus Heaney through the lens of Julia Kristeva�s notion of the abject. The article focuses on several themes, such as darkness, fear, and fertility. Alexander�s main argument is that Heaney�s poetry and the landscapes he presents are complex
Digging" by Seamus Heaney and "Father and Son" by Stanley Kunitz Comparative analysis of the poems "Digging" by Seamus Heaney and "Father and Son" by Stanley Kunitz showed that though both poems had used similar themes in discussing the father and son relationships of the two authors with their respective fathers, the utilization of poetic elements such as tone and diction, symbolism, and denotation and connotation greatly differed. In discussing the
Going further with the analysis, it could be stated that the Irish get answers to their dilemmas from their own cultural identity (which is nourished by the best values). The previous idea of Ireland being eternal is supported by the view according to which its history stretches to immemorial times: "Every layer they strip/Seems camped on before./The bogholes might be Atlantic seepage./The wet centre is bottomless" (Heaney, 25-28). The fact
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now