I read this poem and related it to Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter. I interpreted this poem slightly different that you did. For instance, you don’t agree that the Siren is using her distress as a smokescreen and that she might need help. I believe that Siren doesn’t need help at all. Firstly, in the Atwood literature I’ve been exposed to, she creates weak women, but then through the course of the novel, they become stronger. For instance in The Blind Assassin, the main character Iris marries Richard and is in a loveless marriage. Her main purpose is to produce a child. She is a weak character because she does everything that her husband wants her to, but then she decides to leave him. I think that Atwood looks down on weak women; and that she writes one of your novels to expose the downfall of passivity. So logically it does not make sense to create a woman who cannot solve her own problem, especially with Atwood’s feminist view. Also, Atwood does not approve of the ways of the Siren. She is just, plain evil. She purposefully leads men to their death and she’s bored with it!
I read this poem and related it to Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter. I interpreted this poem slightly different that you did. For instance, you don’t agree that the Siren is using her distress as a smokescreen and that she might need help. I believe that Siren doesn’t need help at all. Firstly, in the Atwood literature I’ve been exposed to, she creates weak women, but then through the course of the novel, they become stronger. For instance in The Blind Assassin, the main character Iris marries Richard and is in a loveless marriage. Her main purpose is to produce a child. She is a weak character because she does everything that her husband wants her to, but then she decides to leave him. I think that Atwood looks down on weak women; and that she writes one of your novels to expose the downfall of passivity. So logically it does not make sense to create a woman who cannot solve her own problem, especially with Atwood’s feminist view.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Atwood does not approve of the ways of the Siren. She is just, plain evil. She purposefully leads men to their death and she’s bored with it!