Adrienne Rich Research Paper

Adrienne Rich, born in 1929 in Baltimore, Maryland, died in 2012, was an influential poet and essayist, as well as feminist and political activist. Rich was the eldest of two daughters, and was largely influenced by her parents. Her father, Arnold Rice Rich was the Chairman of Pathology at Johns Hopkins, and always encouraged Adrienne to read and write her own poetry as much as possible. Her early influences include Arnold, Blake, Keats, and Tennyson. Her mother was a concert pianist and composer, another influence on her artistic abilities. Her parents wanted to raise a prodigy, and Rich worked hard to achieve this (Doc 1). She went to college at Radcliffe College, focusing on poetry and writing craft. College was one of the first major experiences in her life that involved gender inequality, in …show more content…
Rich discussed her lesbianism as a political issue as well as a person issue. She was now able to fully express herself, writing one of her more famous collections, Twenty-One Love Poems, in 1977. This new style is apparent in the rest of her writing after this period, and it was a very honest style of writing. Rich used her sexuality and her writing to speak up about sexuality, and addressed people to inform them, actually being one of the first to talk so publicly about lesbianism. She was very influential in the movement for sexual equality, and quickly became a leader. In the early 2000s, Rich again became an activist speaking out against the war in Iraq, especially through her poetry. She continued to speak out as a social activist, and was named an icon in LGBT history in 2006 by the Equality Forum. Adrienne Rich died in March 2012, having published her last collection the year before. She left her mark on history by using her poetry and big opinions to speak out as a social activist, in anti-war and sexual equality matters. Her work reflects her views, and will continue to be influential, far beyond her