Poem: Louise Bogan's "Women"

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes Louise Bogan's poem, "Women", and explains that Bogan uses the motif of wilderness in the poem to state that women have no freedom. The paper also points out that sexual imagery permeates the poem because Bogan also is commenting on sexual freedom. Stanza by stanza, the paper interprets the poem stressing that the tone of "Women" is overtly bitter and bordering on nihilistic.

From the Paper:

"Sexual imagery becomes more phallic in subsequent stanzas. In the third stanza, the narrator refers to "stiffening" and then in the fourth, to "clean wood" and to "love." However, sexuality is not the core theme of "Women," which underscores ennui and depression as primary lenses through which women encounter the world. Returning to the theme of freedom, the poet starts the third stanza with a line about journeys and how women "wait" when they should embark."

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