Gender Roles of Women in Twentieth Century Literature...

The poem â€Å"Daystar† by Rita Dove is about a woman who is a busy mother that is tired of the burdensome duties of motherhood because it makes her feel confined to her situation in life. Alternatively, the poem â€Å"Barbie Doll† by Marge Piercy is a satirical poem that is about a girl who is intelligent and physically capable, but the characteristic that society places value on is her physical appearance. The poems â€Å"Daystar† and â€Å"Barbie Doll† are both representative of the gender roles and expectations of women in the twentieth century, the time that these poems were published, to be mothers and housewives. In the poem â€Å"Daystar†, it focuses on that women are expected to fulfill their place in society by becoming wives and mothers, which can†¦show more content†¦In the lines, â€Å"Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate says/ You have a great big nose and fat legs† (lines 5-6), the poet talks about when the girl went through puberty, a time when low self-esteem is common, a classmate said something that made her doubt her physical appearance, lowering her self-esteem and placing focus on her looks. The poet uses the lines, â€Å"She was healthy, tested intelligent/ possessed strong arms and back/ abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity/ She went to and fro apologizing/ Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs† (lines 7-11) to emphasize that, even though the girl had several good qualities, what was important from a societal standpoint was whether or not she was physically attractive. In the twentieth century, much emphasis was placed on women acting lady-like and being the picture of physical perfection. Both â€Å"Daystar† and â€Å"Barbie Doll† are both poems that represent what society expected of women in the twentieth century. The endings of both of the poems mention either literally or satirically that women want something different than what society expects of t hem, even though they gave in. The ending ofShow MoreRelatedUniversity Of Oxford English Professor, Dr. Stuart Lee1318 Words   |  6 PagesStuart Lee argues that the First World War was one of the seminal moments of the twentieth century in which literate soldiers, plunged into inhuman conditions, reacted to their surroundings in poems. Lee’s statement identifies the role played by First World War poetry played in not only commemorating the Great War but also allowing scholars to gain an insight into the brutalities of the conflict through this literature available. 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