The Representation Of Marginalised Voices In Poetry English Literature Essay

The Representation Of Marginalised Vo codsw each(prenominal)ops In Poetry English Literature quizMarginalisation poop be understood as world exterior or on the edge of the rest of society. A person can be considered marginalised because of detailors much(prenominal) as race, sociable course of instruction or gender, which crystallize them separate from the rest of their social surrounding. At the time when Carol Ann Duffy and Sharon Olds wrote their commencement ceremony rime, female poets where marginalised under patriarchy a social system which believed males to be the superior race. Through their industrial plant both(prenominal) poets give a vocalisation for marginalised members of society by using poetry to speak the righteousness virtually everyday issues such as lovemaking, tripuality and family, from a female perspective. Although marginalised because of their gender, both Carol Ann Duffy and Sharon Olds use of strong subjects wee-wee been able to make an r efer for the female voice deep down their poetry.Sharon Olds is highly phantasmal due to her education as a Calvinist her poetry echoes a lot of this teaching in the sense that her works speak a truth and suss out a strong theme of worship. Moreover Olds uses her own honesty and morality to often perplexity issues which are ongoing in society, be it a forefront directed towards the politics of the time or a question about family and love. Because of her honestly Olds meters can often appear controversial or paint a slightly disturbing image. energise Without Love1 for instance is a numbers which questions sex away of marriage and love, it begins with a direct question how do they do it, the ones who make love without love?, she then goes onto response the question herself. Rather than use complex imagery and symbolism to quit the reader to make their own interpretation, Olds uses irony to make her sentiment on the subject sop up and detailed. On the separate hand, C arol Ann Duffys verses pose the film opposite approach through her poems she is in addition speaking a truth using irony, however, she often does this by using sur significant imagery and complicating her rowing to create a usual cynical view towards the subject. Like Olds, Duffy also spoken communicationes the issue of love deep down her works. Duffys Valentine2 renders a highly cynical view towards love, and the thought conventional gestures of showing affection. Unlike Olds who instantly outlines the poems meaning as a starting point, Duffy begins Valentine by using traditional images of a valentine before revealing her own suggestions on the subject. Duffy uses an extended simile in maintain that an onion is more like the true nature of love and thereof it can in conclusion be destroyed or destructive on universey variant levels, just like an onion has many different layers which can be peeled. Both poets reveal a different inclination about love, while Sharon Olds is implicating that love is saintly and true Duffy seems to be suggesting that love isnt as beautiful as it would appear on the surface.Females were often marginalised within literature and therefore their work was non given the recognition it truly deserved, often resulting in females writing poetry but not creation considered poets because of their gender. This is because of the once social, economic and cultural marginalisation under patriarchy which govern a male dominated social and cultural system. Geoffrey Summerfield once state I regret the omission of women poets from this book. This is simply due to the fact that Britain in the last fifteen years has not produced a woman poet of real stature 3, although spoken before their time as writers, poets such as Duffy and Olds have made an impact from their writing that would arguably change this opinion. Sharon olds Sex Without Love is an blast on passel that have sex outside of marriage, her religious background shines th rough in her choice of word and illustration in this poem. While she chooses to use words that would usually be seen as beautiful, the choice of word play holds a negative tone throughout making it obvious that she does not approve. The metaphor Beautiful as dancers, sailplaning over each other like ice skaters, over ice would on surface appear that she is accepting, however, the deeper meaning unveils that she is actually implying that like the ice, sex without love is cold and therefore it is simply a performance, just as ice skating is a performance. Unlike Sex Without Love which holds the content that only true love will make you happy or whole, it would appear that Duffys Valentine is in fact a message that is maybe standard the reader from love. Duffy ends with the lines Lethal, its scent will cling to your fingers, cling to your knife., this cynical metaphor leaves us with the conception that the true nature of love will ultimately destroy us. Although the messages of th ese two poems contradict each other stoply, the marginalised voice in poetry is still established and heard. Both poets represent marginalised voices in poetry as existence underestimated and overlooked, by creating powerful poems that touch subjects that affect all people in society, they have been able to establish a put for the female poet ultimately making them no longer marginalised. The strong and jolly controversial use of the theme of love in these two poems all the way establishes a voice for marginalised groups, therefore allowing them to be recognise.While both Duffy and Olds thole into the like marginalised category because of their gender they do not hold the same morals and values within their poems, this difference between the two reveals to the perhaps ignorant eye, that people of the same marginalised category are in fact individuals within themselves. Therefore Duffy and Olds represent marginalised voices as having the same individualities as the people i n the centre of society. In the same way that Olds expresses her religious views within her poetry, Duffys works can be perceived as feminist, however as well they both raise issues such as social class and relationships in the course of their works.Duffys Warming Her Pearls4 is a poem centrally about a relationship between a servant and her employer, a maid and her mistress. This poem deals with the issue of social class more than it does with gender, the lower social class can also be deemed as marginalised within society this poem recognises this problem and abides a negative attitude towards social, economic and political stipulation and gives a voice to these outsiders. Warming Her Pearls begins Next to my own skin, her pearls. My mistress bids me to enter them, warm them, the pearls may be seen as a symbolic leash that bides the maid to her mistress moreover the fact that she literally gives the warmth of her corpse to the pearls immediately questions the relationship be tween the two classes, outlining the ridiculous extremes that the power of high classes can actually reach. The relationship between the two characters can be viewed as bidden, because the maid is of lower class therefore she must provide a service for the privileged. On the other hand Sharon Olds True Love5 is centrally a poem about the relationship between a man and a woman that appear to be married as the poem progresses. True Love opens In the middle of the night, when we get up aft(prenominal) making love, we look at each other in complete friendship the initial reading of this line leaves the reader somewhat compound by the use of the word friendship, are these two people in love or is their relationship purely friendship? Furthermore that ulterior image of them being Bound to each other like mountaineers. leaves us with the idea that the reason they are still together is because they are married. This arrogance comes from Olds religious background, wherefore her belief w ould hold the idea that marriage is sacred and for life. Therefore perhaps this couple are no longer in love, however they are bound together because of the vows they once took. Both poems address the issues of relationships, however clearly they identify different issues which have binned their characters together. As Duffys poem unravels it reveals a sinister attitude from the maid towards her mistress, she believes that her persistent scent on the pearls are preventing her mistress from ever finding love. This could also be an attack on the social hierarchy in the sense that the maid is not allowed to communicate with her mistress to tell her the problem, so instead she burns all(prenominal) night with the satisfaction of this possible secret revenge she is gaining against her mistress. On the other hand, Olds True Love does ultimately unveil itself as describing exactly what it is highborn as. The poem ends I cannot see beyond it., leaving us with the idea that the characters are indeed in love and that it is everything that should be wanted from a relationship. Sharon Olds poem seems to begin somewhat ambiguously with its room for interpretation. None the little its ending reveals what is believed to be the truth about love, making it personal to perhaps her own experiences and definitely representing her own morals on what she believes to be right. These two very different poems represent marginalised voices in poetry as being opinionated, self aware and controversial, it is clear that these marginalised figures of society do indeed have a strong place in society and should therefore be heard.Sharon Olds and Carol Ann Duffy hold similarities and differences within their works, they both appear to me as being fearless and unconventional making them have a strong feeling on society. Their highly controversial poems raising issues such as social class, relationships and love have undoubtedly made room for the female poet to be accepted and recognised, n ot only in poetry but in society as a whole. Along with representing a voice for females their works also question other existing marginalisation within our culture, contend the politics and beliefs of the culture with live in allows scope for these outsiders to be recognised and ultimately heard. While Olds makes her poetry personal by directly inputting her religious beliefs and morality, Duffy makes her works personal by her complication of words and playful inventiveness to pass of messages that perhaps a conventional writer would not attempt. It is figures such as Olds and Duffy that are needed in our society to provide a truth on such controversial issues. Their open honesty on issues within our culture allows a truth to be heard from these marginalised voices, and it is clear that they have had a large impact within writing and on the society in which we live.