Only in the last stanza is there a 180-degree flip, where the beginning and middle of the stanzas have a depressing tone, but the ending changes when society comments on her beauty in the casket. The tone shifts from the middle to end of each stanza, because it goes from speaking about happy things about the girl, to saying that she isn't good enough. She then ends the first three stanzas stating something about how society believes that she still isn't good enough because of her legs and nose. Throughout this poem, Piercy uses a more light-hearted tone to contrast against the very serious topic about which she is writing how women - specifically teenage girls - are not the slightest bit hesitant about changing who they are to fit how society believes they should look. The first three stanzas begin speaking about how the young woman is beautiful, and lists the qualities that make her a unique, individual, and beautiful person. Once the main character reaches puberty, however, the tone changes to one that is relentlessly cruel, stating that the protagonist has fat legs and a large nose. The tone begins light-hearted, making the audience reminisce about their own childhood, when they used to play with the child-sized versions of adult tools stoves, irons, babies, and lipstick. This poem highlights not only how much words can hurt others, but how much society can effect and ruin someone's life. With the undertaker's cosmetics painted on,
Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said:Ībundant sexual drive and manual dexterity. She passed the time she spent sick as a child with a rheumatic fever by reading, and she has written many novels, poetry collections, and other collected works.Īnd wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy.
It’s a waste of time trying to please those around us.Bio: Marge Piercy (1936) is an American poet born in Detroit, Michigan, to a family deeply affected by the Great Depression. If we lived our life trying to achieve a perfect appearance, we would spend a lifetime trying. Society has so will always have a negative comment to say about us.
It was when i was growing up that i realized that there is no such thing as a perfect face or body. As a girl i can relate to the poem in multiple ways.Īs a child i believed that in order to be beautiful i had to look like the girls on magazines or a barbie doll. Exhorted to come on healthy, exercise, diet, smile and wheedle ” (lines 12-13) Society influenced her decisions when it came to her physical appearance. The pressure that society has put on the girl is shown through the use of a metaphor. “So she cut off her nose and legs and offered them up” (lines 16-17) The girl didn’t really cut her legs and nose off, i think she just went through some kind of surgery. Through the use of figurative language Piercy is able to emphasize the pressure girls are exposed to.
Most of the times girls based their life on achieving a perfect look, they spend a great amount of money on plastic surgeries, and trying to change themselves. We Will Write a Custom Essay about An Analysis of the Poem Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy Essay