Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll”, is a poem that delves around the controversial themes that are put on to focus about the popular toy called “Barbie”, becoming very popular in the 1950’s, this doll has been a spark of controversy on body image, something this poem delves into for its central theme. The poem shows this through irony and symbolism in delivering its theme to the reader, the speaker goes through the experience, and the author creates a didactic poem that angrily shows the reader the sad consequences of the ideal that surrounds the Barbie doll.
Piercy’s poem brings to light the idea of the Barbie Doll, just like the title stands for a symbolic meaning of women, being expected to continuously strive for a Barbie doll-like figure, and …show more content…
Marge Piercy uses this poem to deliver an experience of the brutal view that surrounds women everyday, the tone is one of morbid sadness and the poet uses a heavy dose of sarcasm to do so. Piercy typically uses a free verse in her poetry that typically revolves around bigger cultural and societal concerns , this can be especially seen in her poem “Barbie Doll”, using the first stanza to describe a feeling of innocence when the “girl child” first comes into the world only in the end to be plated up just like the dolls she was given to play with at a young age. The entirety of the speaker’s life is filled with wanting to be something she wasn't and apologizing for something she couldn't help that was someone else’s standard of …show more content…
This contrast makes the poem very apparent in its purpose, which is point a light on the assigned gender in society, and the amount of approval given to those outside of the main character in order to gain approval, and only once she was “displayed on silk” with a plastic nose, as said in “Doesn’t she look pretty? /Everyone said. Consummation at last. /To every woman a happy ending.” (lines 23-25) The irony of this situation, is that with all the happiness that is now brought to be a considered perfect ending, that it through restorative makeup and putty nose that she is finally considered pretty and that is finally able to achieve happiness that her mission is completed, but it is only done through a dark pain that was suicide, which makes the poem all the potent because of its theme of nothing is ever perfect and no one can ever achieve
Piercy’s poem brings to light the idea of the Barbie Doll, just like the title stands for a symbolic meaning of women, being expected to continuously strive for a Barbie doll-like figure, and …show more content…
Marge Piercy uses this poem to deliver an experience of the brutal view that surrounds women everyday, the tone is one of morbid sadness and the poet uses a heavy dose of sarcasm to do so. Piercy typically uses a free verse in her poetry that typically revolves around bigger cultural and societal concerns , this can be especially seen in her poem “Barbie Doll”, using the first stanza to describe a feeling of innocence when the “girl child” first comes into the world only in the end to be plated up just like the dolls she was given to play with at a young age. The entirety of the speaker’s life is filled with wanting to be something she wasn't and apologizing for something she couldn't help that was someone else’s standard of …show more content…
This contrast makes the poem very apparent in its purpose, which is point a light on the assigned gender in society, and the amount of approval given to those outside of the main character in order to gain approval, and only once she was “displayed on silk” with a plastic nose, as said in “Doesn’t she look pretty? /Everyone said. Consummation at last. /To every woman a happy ending.” (lines 23-25) The irony of this situation, is that with all the happiness that is now brought to be a considered perfect ending, that it through restorative makeup and putty nose that she is finally considered pretty and that is finally able to achieve happiness that her mission is completed, but it is only done through a dark pain that was suicide, which makes the poem all the potent because of its theme of nothing is ever perfect and no one can ever achieve