Theme Of Tiara By Mark Doty

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Mark Doty’s way of starting a poem is to talk about death and it has clearly caught the audience’s eye. “Tiara” is a poem about an alcoholic gay man who dies of AIDS in hospice. Doty doesn’t use any rhythm or rhyme, but with his use of allusions and symbolism, “Tiara” is an easy to understand poem with a high significance that gets the audience in and the tears flowing. “Tiara” is the type of poem to show the complexity of the AIDS epidemic in a simple and graceful way that affects the reader within a certain amount of line. Though it may be difficult at first to completely understand the subject matter, Doty’s use of ambiguity helps set a tone for the reader; it allows the reader to perceive the poem from a different stance compared to others. …show more content…
With the several allusions to very feminine things, the reader can assume that this man is gay. Doty used the allusion of “paper tiara / book of princess paper dolls / love royalty, sashes” (lines 1-3). As a reader, it can be inferred from the beginning that Peter died being the person he wanted to be, no restrictions in place. It’s assumed that Peter was perfectly fine with his appearance, but it’s assumed that he’s in a place that he can be free and not judged. This assumption goes with the theme of coming to terms with oneself in some …show more content…
Going deep into the technical aspects of this poem, Doty uses the poetic devices of imagery and emotions. Imagery and allusions are very prominent throughout this poem as well as tone. Tone is a main device to help share emotion. In stanza 5 (line 13-15), “You know he’s always late / he’s still fixing his makeup” is a good example of his friends remembering the person that Peter was and remembering the good. Eventually his friends go into his dark past, saying that it’s his fault for his death. Using the tone of being remorseful to the tone of anger is used well by Doty to make the reader feel bad for the

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