Feminist Criticism:
Feminist
Criticism is the application of feminist principles on a literary text
highlighting the social construction of women and the role of the women
highlighted in the text.
Interpretation
of the poem:
The
poem starts by highlighting misogyny:
the hatred towards women that dominated the writings of many great names. The
women from the start were presented like “dust”. One can say that the women
(not being male), were considered as “others”.
The second stanza highlights the social construction of women as “a sassy lady” or in extremity as a devil incarnate.
Another extreme is highlighted in the fourth stanza in which the social
construction of women as “broken, bowed head, lowered eyes, and weak
creature” is highlighted. The women from the start were either
presented as devils as highlighted in the second stanza or as weak dim-witted
creatures. This stereotyping of women has existed since
men began writing and is dominant till now.
The
feminists believe that the ideological construction of
women as meek and submissive entities should be avoided which is also
highlighted by the poet/ poetess. The poetess highlights this misogyny by
questioning the society that “shoots me (women) with (their) words”. The
society which cute women with their eyes, kill them with their hate.
Another
notion pointed out by the poetess is the objectification of
women. The women are treated as dancing dolls as hinted by the poetess. One of
the most significant aspects of feminist criticism is the use of
chronological phases of feminism incorporated by the poetess
in structuring the poem. The chronological phases include the feminine phase,
the feminist phase, and the female phase. The first phase i.e. the feminine
phase deals with the sufferings of women from the patriarchy and the
male dominance which suggests the need for a feminist phase dealing
with the need for female discourse. After which finally comes the female
phase suggesting the rise of the women “I rise” while
fully accepting themselves.
In
conclusion, one may say that upon closely analyzing the text one can feel the
need for female discourse that
highlights the psyche of the women as well as the cultural
role that they had been given till now.
