The Art and Architecture of Women:
Throughout history, women have often been portrayed in art as objects to be admired for their beauty and charm, but rarely to be acknowledged as artists themselves. Historically, the role of women was as mother and wife, a demanding charge that left little room for other pursuits. In "The Lady of Shalott" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers" by Adrienne Riche and "The Three Emilys" by Margaret Livesay, the contrasting images of freedom and constraint contribute to the theme of women struggling for recognition in an oppressive world. All the poems explore the idea of art as a publication of self, that is, an expression of the artist as an individual amidst a society where women are often defined entirely by their gender. All the poems place women in a tragic position, torn between the loneliness of artistic vision and a society that will only accept them in the strict domestic role. "The Three Emilys" and "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers" were written in the 1950s, an era in which, despite increasing rights and liberalities being established, a woman's place was still very much in the home. "The Lady of Shalott," written in 1842, reflects many of the Victorian ideals about a woman's place in the world. The Lady herself repre
Like the weaving in "The Lady of Shalott," Aunt Jennifer's needlework is a very feminine task, delineating her role not as an artist, but as an obedient wife. Positional imagery is used effectively in all three poems. Looking down to Camelot, the "mirror crack[s] from side to side" (115), symbolizing how her past image of the world has been shattered by her need to experience life directly; having seen the "light," the Lady cannot return to the cave. As in "The Lady of Shalott," the woman's art is an upholding force, sustaining her amidst the bleak imprisonment of her marriage. sents many of the qualities associated with proper femininity: she is obedient, virginal, humble, and dedicated to her womanly task of weaving, an art form more often associated with decoration than with true artistic merit. She exists as a "mother in a frame" (21), defined not as an individual but by her position in society. The Lady of Shalott is both physically and psychologically isolated from the rest of the world, demonstrating the loneliness of a life dedicated utterly to art. Writing her name is very much a publication of self: her final art is her sacrifice to be remembered not as a lovely, vague "fairy" but as a real individual, defined not by her position but by herself. By signing her name on the boat, the Lady of Shalott asserts herself as an artist, much like a painter signing a work of art. The Lady's infatuation with Sir Lancelot, coinciding with the blooming of the water lily, is a very pubescent realization. Lancelot's declaration that she "has a lovely face" (170) is a tragic underassessment and presents a typically patriarchal view of women: he sees her merely for her superficial beauty, not as an artist but as an object of art. Though in death Aunt Jennifer is still physically "ringed with ordeals she was mastered by," (11) her art outlives her; the tigers "go on prancing, proud and unafraid," (12) as symbols of her true inner self. Using colour imagery, Riche describes the tigers as "Bright topaz denizens of a world of green" ("Aunt Jennifer's Tigers" 2). The tragedy of the female artist is the need for sacrifice, caught between lonely artistic vision and the secure but confining traditional role for women within patriarchal society. The reference to blood in the lines "my arteries / Flow the immemorial way / Towards the child, the man" (22-24), highlights how a woman's place in society is often predetermined, defining her as wife and mother and nothing more.
Common topics in this essay:
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Jennifer's Tigers,
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Acceptance Essays
