Musings and Longings
She sat quietly. She looked calm. She was all drenched.
The park was empty. It was raining heavily. The leaves were all wet.
The sudden rain was livening after the long summer.
A bird had just flown back to the nest atop that big tree.
She was happy that no one could see her tears. She wanted to look calm.
She was happy that no one could know she was broken from inside.
She thought of the baby. She thought of her life. She wanted to cry her heart out.
But, that would make her look weak. Although alone, she wanted to look strong.
She is now a killer. She didn’t want to. But she did. He wanted her to.
She is now a killer. Would she kill herself too? She thought. She thought again.
This was not love. This was not marriage. This was not what she had wanted for herself.
She felt afraid. She would be beaten. She would be despised by all.
Things were normal again. She would make coffee like every night for him.
Only today, she would mix the coffee with tears, revenge, pain and humiliation.
Things would be back to normal. Tomorrow would be a better day.
Response and Analysis
This poem echoes the central theme of the readings that the course has offered to the students. It is very much conspicuous that just like Kate Chopin’s seminal literary work, The Awakening, or Henrik Isben’s popular play, A Doll’s House, this piece of popular culture too deals with the thematic content of patriarchy and its surmounting influence on the women. The poem expresses how this lady endeavors to keep her calm despite being broken from within. The narrative of the poem uses imagery and symbolism to bring out the mental state of the lady in context. It is clear that she is subjugated by her partner whom she had married out of her love. The poem goes on to portray how she was pressurized against her will to abort her child. She is still in the trauma and psychological stress of killing her child whom she loved so much. She had to bow down in front of the dominance of her husband. She pines for her dead child on one hand, and wishes to look strong on the other. This shows the fact that she is fight with her inner self and trying to be strong in the face of such a huge loss.
One can very well draw the parallel with the texts of the course that have been mentioned. In Chopin’s work, The Awakening, one sees how the character of Edna has to face the pressures and subjugation of the patriarchal society. The narrative shows how Edna has to face the societal practices and is subordinated for being a woman. The story is a vehement expression of the disparity that is existent in the society while the women folk are on the receiving end. Indeed, in the poem, Musings and Longings, the unnamed lady too is under the massive influence of the patriarchal society as she has come to accept the male dominance. Somewhere down the line, the love has been replaced by the power hierarchy in the relationship and the dominance expressed by the unnamed lady’s husband. In fact, if one considers the famous play, A Doll’s House, it would become clearer how both the female characters in the play and the poem in context are victims of the subordination at the hands of their husbands. They are treated as inferior beings and are not respected by their spouses.
Just as Nora finally dares to break free from the marital bondage by leaving her kids and husband, the unnamed lady of the poem thinks about poisoning her husband. She wants to revolt against the institutionalized dominance by the male counterpart of the relationship. That she wishes to poison her husband is indicated in the poem and not told directly. The longing for emancipation from the cruelty of patriarchy echoes through all the three literary works in context. While Kate Chopin delves into the expression of the inner spirit of Edna in the text, Isben shows the gradual transformation of Nora. Here, in this poem, one finds how she muses and finally reaches the state where she is determined to take a major step to achieve her freedom and take revenge. The third person narrator of the poem in context presents an objective account of the lady. The narrator also delves deep into the core of her heart to portray her pain and trauma. The readers should endeavor to notice the markers of the oppression that she is subjected to by her husband so as to understand the desperation on her part to find emancipation from the relationship. There is description of the abuse that she faces in the marital bond. Thus, this piece of popular culture reflects the dynamics of relationship and explores the concept of love and inner emotions of the individual in a world that is challenged with the ignominy of the women folks of the society as also portrayed in the works by Kate Chopin and Henrik Isben.
Works Cited
Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. Dover Thrift. ISBN: 9780486277868
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll’s House. Adapted by Frank McGuinness. Dramatists Play Service,
Inc. ISBN: 9780822216360
