The woman in Woman work is not well off. We know this as she says ‘Star shine, Moon glow, you’re all that I can call my own.’ This implies that she does not own materialistic possessions. It could also imply that she does not even own her own time, as it is always taken up by doing the household chores.
The structure of the first verse uses no punctuation. This speeds the first verse up, to reflect her life, and all she has to do. The use of concrete nouns in the first verse also suggests all she has to do.
The woman in Woman Work could be angry with her situation. She says ‘Storm, blow me from here’ This could reflect her anger and aggression at her situation, as storms are ferocious.
We know that she wants to get away. She says ‘Blow me from here’ This implies she wants to get away, and is unhappy. It can also imply that she feels trapped, and feels oppressed, as she can not leave.
The last four verses of the poem are much slower. This could reflect what she would ideally like her life to be like.
Nature is used in the last four verses to show….
The picture of womanhood conveyed in Woman Work is a very negative one. Woman is oppressed, and man is more domineering. We get no mention of a man helping out in the housework, and the woman has a great responsibility placed on to her. The woman in Woman Work is unhappy, feels she has no control over her life; her life is monotonous and unhappy. She is trapped in this cycle and feels she can not escape.
Overheard in County Sligo is a poem with similarities and differences to Woman Work. Overheard in County Sligo is written by Gillian Clarke. Gillian Clarke is a welsh poet who felt many women in the past suffered as a result of societal pressure. Her poem is about a woman who is not happy with her life but feels compelled to act the way she is expected to as a woman.
The poem ‘Overheard in County Sligo’ starts off peacefully and calmly. It says ‘with a field of cows and a yard of hens and six white geese on the pond’. These lines give us an image of an idyllic and fulfilled life that this woman is living, while the reality of her life is much harsher. This image we are given does not show the woman’s inner emotions and feelings and emotions on her life, but just show the way society would see her life.
In comparison to ‘Woman Work’, ‘Overheard in County Sligo’ starts off much differently to ‘Woman Work’. ‘Woman Work’ starts off by giving us a large list of chores the woman needs to do, which show the reality and harshness of her life, while ‘Overheard in County Sligo’ starts off in a way where we are given an image of an idyllic, pleasant and stress free life.
The woman in ‘Overheard in County Sligo’ says ‘I live at the back of beyond. This line may imply that she is isolated from companionship, and is lonely. Similarly, in ‘Woman Work’, we are given no mention of her having a social life or companions, but for different reasons to the woman in ‘Overheard in County Sligo’. While the woman in ‘Overheard in County Sligo’ may be lonely because she lives in an isolated place, the woman in ‘Woman Work’ has no time for a social life, and could, also, be lonely, like the woman in ‘Overheard in County Sligo’.
We learn that the woman could have freedom, but has not taken it. The poem says ‘The road runs down the open gate and freedom’s there for the taking’. These lines imply that she is not free, as she says ‘freedoms there for the taking’. She obviously feels that she can not take her freedom, as though something is stopping her.
In comparison to ‘Woman Work’, the woman in ‘Overheard in County Sligo’ has the chance to be free. The woman in ‘Woman Work’ is trapped and has no way out of her way of life. She is almost like a slave, and does not have the option of having freedom, like the woman in ‘Overheard in County Sligo’. From this view point, they are totally different.
We learn that the woman in Overheard in County Sligo did not expect her life to turn out in this way. She says ‘I had thought to work on the Abbey Stage;. The word thought is significant as it shows she has not fulfilled her dreams, and could therefore be unhappy because of this. In comparison to ‘Overheard in County Sligo’, the woman in ‘Woman Work’ most probably expected her life to turn out this way, as we are not given any indication of any other dreams, hopes or ambitions she may have in her life. Her life is all about doing chores, and she does not have the time to think about her ambitions, unlike the woman in ‘Overheard in County Sligo’.
We know that she is unhappy. She says ‘I ought to feel I’m a happy woman’. What is significant in this line is that she uses the ‘ought’. She uses this word as through society’s eyes, her life is idyllic, and she would be seen as ungrateful for not being satisfied with her life. This line shows she is not a happy woman.
Similarly, the woman in ‘Woman Work’ is also unhappy. She says’ Storm, blow me from here’, which implies that she is unhappy, and wants to leave. Although they are unhappy for different reasons (the woman in ‘Woman Work’ is overworked, while the woman in ‘Overheard in County Sligo’ feels she has not fulfilled her ambitions) they are both unhappy with their lives as women, and are not satisfied with the way they are living.
We learn about the woman’s ambitions in ‘Overheard in County Sligo’. She says ‘I had thought to work on the Abbey Stage’. The most important word in this line is the ‘thought’. This word implies that she had wanted to work on the Abbey stage but she hasn’t achieved her dreams, and may be feeling unfulfilled. She wants fame, and recognition, which may indicate that she is not given much attention. She may feel that her work as a housewife is not appreciated by men, or society, and wants to do something that she will be recognized for.
In comparison to the woman in ‘Overheard in County Sligo’, the woman in ‘Woman Work’ has no time for ambitions or dreams. She lives in a very harsh and gruelling lifestyle, and does not have the luxury of freedom being an option, like the woman in ‘Overheard in County Sligo’
The next verse gives us a contrast of the woman’s reality in ‘Overheard in County Sligo’. It is a contrast from the previous verse as what she is doing with her life is totally different to how she wanted it to be. She says ‘But I turn to fold the breakfast cloth’. This verse gives us an idea of how her life is now, and we now understand why she is unhappy.
The woman in Overheard in County Sligo may feel slightly disillusioned with herself. She says ‘And to find my face in the glass’. This may suggest she feels lost, and doesn’t see the person she wants to be.
In the next verse, she goes on to say ‘I ought to feel I’m a happy woman’. She thinks she ought to feel a happy woman because in society’s eyes she has the idyllic and perfect life; she is a married woman, with a large house, and is rich.
At the start of the poem, the woman in Overheard in County Sligo’ mentioned living at the back of beyond. In the last verse, she says ‘I live at the back of beyond’. She has changed the ‘at’ to ‘in’ , which is very significant as it implies that she Is not going to leave and is going to carry on living her life unhappily.
Overheard in County Sligo is written in a traditional, four-line verse, with the 2nd and 4th lines rhyming to reflect the traditional role of woman at home. It stays at the same speed all through the poem, and keeps the steady rhythm.
In both poems there is no mention of their husbands helping out with the housework, which may suggest that these poems were written in times when women were traditionally expected to stay at home, and look after the house.
The tone in both poems are very pessimistic, and I feel it is no coincidence that they are both poems about women. Men in the past were more domineering, and women were not recognized for the hard work they did in the home. This is why the majority of women were unhappy with their lives, as they did not feel appreciated for the work they did.
Overall, both poems show similarities and differences. While Woman Work is about a woman who has bo way out of working, and house-keeping, while ‘Overheard in County Sligo’ is about a woman who is unhappy with her life, and could have freedon, if she wanted, but feels pressure from society to keep her life the way it is. The similarity between both the women in these poems is, even though one is rich and one is poor, they are both women who are unhappy, oppressed, and feel trapped by their lives.
I think that even though the woman in ‘Overheard in County Sligo’ is richer, and may be more well-off than the woman in ‘Woman Work’, they are both unfortunate and have the same amount of pressure on them. I like both poems, but I prefer ‘Woman Work’ as I like the use of language and imagery in the last four verses. I like the lines ‘Fall softly dewdrops and cover me with white’ I think using nature at the end of the poem makes the poem better, as it emphasises all the lack of materialistic things she owns, and nature is all she has. I think the use of vocabulary is very good, and Maya Angelou has made the majority of the last four verses very peaceful.
On the other hand, I like that ‘Overheard in County Sligo starts off with an overview of a woman, who, on the surface, has the perfect life, while she is secretly living in misery.
