Gwen harwood
Often in Gwen Harwood’s poems, women are portrayed as victims of the social circumstances of the 1950s. But Harwood sometimes chooses to take a different view and instead has the women either fight against the male dominant character, choosing to be more than just the mans possession or be an independent women who has ambitions and determination to be successful and not necessarily just be a mother. By placing the man as the dominant sex that provides for the family, and the women as the housewives and mothers, she gives the reader a view of how people were in the 1950s, and then adds a twist of the women dismissing this conformist behaviour to express her opinion of such issues. In the poem “Professor Eisenbart’s Evening” Eisenbarts mistress is seen as a doting lover, who does nothing of importance all day, just the usual, mundane things. Eisenbart is portrayed as the intelligent provider, out all day and when he is ready expects every need to be satisfied. But when Eisenbart is deprived of his satisfaction, his mistress teases him and claims to not believe him; therefore Eisenbart loses his sense of control over the relationship. In “An Impromptu for Ann Jennings”, women are portrayed as ambitions and although they a
re still are mothers; they still had the determination to do other things which went against all the female stereotypes of such times. Through both these poems Gwen Harwood challenges the construction of gender that the society of the 1950s made women and men conform to. Both “Professor Eisenbart’s Evening” and “An Impromptu for Ann Jennings” challenges the stereotypes of the 1950s. Women did not have any form of power or voice but Harwood through her poems gives them just that. She allows for women to be the ones on position of power and lets them be the intellectual ones. In “Professor Eisenbart’s Evening”, his mistress is the one with control as she does not just sit and put up with his banter but teases him and does not let him bother her. In “An Impromptu for Ann Jennings”, the female personas have control over their own lives and they are seen to be the “Caesars” who without them their children and lives would not be as first-class.
Some topics in this essay:
Jack Ripper,
Gwen Harwood,
Ann Jennings”,
Gwen Harwood’s,
Professor Eisenbart,
Evening” Eisenbarts,
Jennings” Harwood,
Spock Wittgenstein”,
Eisenbart’s Evening”,
ann jennings”,
“an impromptu,
impromptu ann,
“an impromptu ann,
Impromptu Ann,
impromptu ann jennings”,
“professor eisenbart’s evening”,
“professor eisenbart’s,
eisenbart’s evening”,
eisenbarts mistress,
stay home,
gwen harwood,
dominant character,
female stereotypes,
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Approximate Word count = 1000
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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