In the Park
How is change of the persona / individual at the centre of 'In The Park' communicated in the narrative and through the language?'In the Park' uses a sonnet format which is economical while allowing for a great impact by allowing it to be succinct. Having said that the poem as a whole has been written from the point of view of an observer, and therefore sounds very detached, almost as though the poem is a commentary of a play. This has been done to allow the responder to feel objective about the woman, and all the characters in the play. This shows that the composer is able to feel objective about themselves, and allows the responder to feel less like they are being shown a fabrication of someone's life, they become convinced they are given insight into a real woman's existence. This is the essence of the poem. The first line is designed specifically to set the scene, without any detail, but with a clear overall picture of what is really important. 'She sits in the park', begins with wider scope of the overall scene, 'Her clothes are out of date', zooms in on what will be the only object of concern for the responder, the woman and her feelings. The fact her clothes are out of date, but she is . . .
"', appears as though a thought bubble in a cartoon. still out in public wearing them, combined with the fact we have been drawn attention to this, suggest that she no longer has the energy to follow fashion, and has lost the pride to be seen that way. It's unrealistic because, to emphasise that the woman finds the situation as unrealistic the responder, but she knows she has to come to terms with it. ", while being ironic, could also be the man expressing his faith things will get better for her, and in this way it may become a prophecy for her. 'his neat head' shows that compared to her he is doing a better job of looking after himself, and she feels inferior because of the way he feels, but it also contains an element of mockery, mocking how her untidyness is the basis for entire judgements he is making on her present condition. 'she loved once' says he is not the kids father, while inferring that she longs for the life she once had with him, which must have been a long time ago. 'sits' reveals to us we are seeing her from an observers point of view because people aren't aware of the fact they are sitting, it would simply be 'while staring at her feet'. This emphasises how the encounter has changed her, made her feel unhappy, even ashamed, with herself, whereas before she had no frame of reference to base how happy she should be on. She has completely changed from her position of denial combined with false acceptance, to one of self-obsessed, bitterness towards the world, however this time with an active role. 'rehearsing / the children's names and birthdays', rehearsing, which is possibly the composer admitting it has been written as a play, implies mundane and mechanical. This adds to the detached, see-all observer nature of the poem, without detracting from the empathy we are feeling for the woman. Her life is going through the motions without ever feeling fulfilled. Her false joy is juxtaposed against the previous stanza, bicker has become chatter, whine has become thrive, and most likely as a result of her falsehood casual nod quickly turns into departing smile.
Common topics in this essay:
Joel Heenan, flickering light, staring feet', responder feel, 'in park', feel objective, |
Acceptance Essays
