When I first read A Work of Artifice, it didn’t play any part on my emotions. It wasn’t until reading it again later, when this piece angered me in a way. It seems very simple, with a simple structure and simple diction, but the deeper meaning behind the words brings out a power in this poem not reflected in any physical way.
The beginning of the poem centers a small tree that had potential to grow, but a gardener, though he carefully tended to it, kept the tree from reaching its full potential. Bonsai trees, rooted in Asia, symbolize the women in Asia: “with living creatures, one must begin early to dwarf their growth: the bound feet…” Chinese women’s feet were broken and bound to keep them petite. This act raises the question of what could the potential be of these “potted” women?
The poem also has a sense of questioning the potential of America or European women as well: they leave their hair in curlers. Being written in 1936, the bonsai tree could also symbolize the “potting” of American women as the women’s rights movements were coming to a close in the ‘20’s As far as women have come today, how much further could we be if we hadn’t been “pruned” by our gardeners from the beginning?
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