Analysis of Peter Quince at the Clavier by Wallace Stevens
Peter Quince at the Clavier is a modernist piece of poetic art. Divided into four parts it tells the story of the deflowering of Susanna. Part on has virgin Susanna lying in her bathtub. The second part features her first interactions of intimate proportions. She is accosted and at the end deflowered. The third part is her immediate reaction to her deflowering. The final part is a reflection of what has occurred. The poem reflects many things about the modernist period, and Wallace Stevens the individual. In Peter Quince at the Clavier, Wallace Stevens uses music, and gender relationships as his themes and reveals his own relationship inadequacies.