Female Supremacy: Beholding Women in Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass With regards to the wide variety of subjects Walt Whitman depicted in his poems, ranging from political and social injustice, nationalism, mysticism or lauding the beauties of nature to human sexuality and admiration of womanhood, it is no surprise that Whitman, often called the poet of democracy, earned the attention of a vast number of eminent essayists, poets and literary critics. Although he has been celebrated as “the first white aboriginal,” Whitman himself claimed that Leaves of Grass, his only, several times revised poetry collection which he was writing his entire life, was “essentially a woman’s book.” Considering the fact that a woman in the 19th century United
Whitman accepted this perspective, but simultaneously he transformed it from a common feature into an extraordinary one worth strong appreciation. According to Myrth Jimmie Killingsworth, “[Whitman] shared the views of many of the social radicals of his day, in particular the notion that the female is superior to the male because of her maternal capacity.” This implies that a man may be of a stronger physical constitution and in a political charge, yet he needs a woman to procreate; that maternity renders women indispensable for human survival. Whitman in “I Sing the Body Electric” celebrates this “privilege” and describes women as the originators of both the physical and spiritual aspect of men and
The fact that the woman is not being treated only as with a subject of male lust represents a significant development and partially can be regarded as a step towards the female emancipation and equalizing with men in more general scales. While all the previously mentioned forms of Whitman’s view on women are observable mainly from a specific part of a certain poem, the attempts indicating equality between the sexes are present throughout the whole poetry collection. Almost every time Whitman refers to a man, he involves a woman too. The poem “I Sing the Body Electric” serves as an eloquent example of the two constantly appearing side by side, which is perceivable for instance in the line “[the body] of the male is perfect, and that of the female is perfect.” Later in the same poem Whitman accents the calm allure of the balance between the genders:
There is something in staying close to men and
American Bards: Walt Whitman and Other Unlikely Candidates for National Poet. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 2010. Print.
Nature to both Whitman and Farrell appears to be the most accepting and suitable environment for equality. According to Farrell, nature is “our most blessed gift” (Assignment). Humans should appreciate nature for “nature did right” (Assignment) in its establishment of a proper and equal world. Whitman similarly admires nature as he glorifies the setting and inhabitants of nature. He goes on to say that ...
Walt Whitman is one of America’s most popular and most influential poets. The first edition of Whitman’s well-known Leaves of Grass first appeared in July of the poet’s thirty-sixth year. A subsequent edition of Leaves of Grass (of which there were many) incorporated a collection of Whitman’s poems that had been offered readers in 1865. The sequence added for the 1867 edition was Drum-Taps, which poetically recounts the author’s experiences of the American Civil War.
Walt Whitman’s hard childhood influenced his work greatly, he was an uneducated man but he managed to become one of the most known poets. Whitman changed poetry through his work and is now often called the father of free verse. Especially through Leaves of Grass he expressed his feelings and sexuality to world and was proud of it. He had a different view at life, his hard childhood, and his sexuality that almost no one understood made him introduce a new universal theme to the world. Almost all critics agree that Walt Whitman was one of the most influential and innovative poet. Karl Shapiro says it best, “The movement of his verses is the sweeping movement of great currents of living people with general government and state”.
The work “Leaves of grass” was written by Walt Whitman, an American poet of the 19th century. Whitman titled his work with this suggestive name for the reason that he loved simple people; and as the humble people, leaves of grass are the most simple and healthy among the living things. The poetry book “Song of Myself”, included in the work “Leaves of grass”, is contrary to what its name suggests, a song inspired by humanity, of which each one is part.
Whitman 's various examples seem to be meant to cover many professions and both genders. The lines of Whitman 's poem are long and full of
“I Sing the Body Electric” is one of twelve poems that comprised the 1855 first edition of Walt Whitman’s self-published masterpiece, Leaves of Grass. Like other poems, especially “Song of Myself,” it is a celebration of life. It is hard to believe this classic was written during the Civil War era. A time historically riddled with slavery and injustice, of mass death and discord, as well as the expansion of industrialization, the movement out west and population growth. This 19th century classic defines an age-old problem. In brief, the human body is too often disrespected, abused, underappreciated, or taken for granted. According to Whitman, "If anything is sacred the human body is sacred," (Routledge, section 8), and “if the body were not the soul, what is the soul?” (Routledge, section 1). An analysis of “I Sing the Body Electric” assists us in recognizing our eternal state of existence and well-being; a state only conceived through a unified consciousness of the human body and soul. In it Whitman poetically expresses his appreciation and respect for the intricate, spiritual unification between the human body and the soul.
The homosexual themes displayed in Walt Whitman’s works, especially in his most famous collection of poems Leaves of Grass, raise the question of his own sexuality. Many of his poems depicted affection and sexuality in a simple, personal manner, causing nineteenth century Americans to view them as pornographic and obscene. Based on this poetry, Whitman is usually assumed to be homosexual, or at least bisexual. However, this assumption does not account for major influences of his writing such as the shift from transcendentalism to realism and the American Civil War. After considering these factors, it can be concluded that Whitman’s poems were not intended to set apart a few homosexual men, but to bring all men and women together. Walt Whitman’s poems of spiritual love and physical togetherness of both genders emphasized exalted friendships and are indicative of his omnisexuality, or lack of a complete sexual preference, rather than his alleged homosexuality.
Walt Whitman had many ideas of how America was not living up to what the founding fathers had hoped to have achieved in their democracy a century before in succeeding from England. Whitman thought that the government was beginning to resemble what the founding fathers had fought and multitudes of soldiers died to escape from. In contrast to what the government had been returning to, Americans as a whole were finding their identity as a very young nation and were proud to call themselves Americans. Whitman was progressive when it came to his ideas on women and industry and it showed in the book Democratic Vistas.
(A critique of Walt Whitman’s themes and ideas in Song of Myself 6, 46, 47)
Whitman is giving a more graphic example of how sex is a natural thing. By comparing the act of reproduction to death he shows just how natural of an act sex is. Everything that is born will eventually die. He feels that the natural curiosities of the human sexual appetites should not be denied or not discussed because of social standards. Not only is sex a "miracle" that is a part of him, but also nature and the universe, and each individual part should be celebrated.
Her poetry legacy approximates nearly 2,000 poems. Many of them include a radical philosophy, which requires sensitive perception from the reader. Typically, the poem “She Rose to His Requirement” contains an indignant point of view of gender inequality. In the 19th century, women were inferior to men, and they did not have many rights as men did. Married women were restricted to domestic employments. They were the shadow of their husbands. This prejudice was normal in Dickinson’s time period, but she refused to follow this convention. She owns a feminist ideology of a modern woman, so to her, limiting women’s ability is against nature. Therefore, the poem is her voice for the desire of gender equality for women, and for wives.
Walt Whitman is arguably America’s most influential poet in history. Born Walter Whitman in May 31st, 1819 to Walter Whitman and Louisa van Velsor, he was immediately nicknamed ‘Walt’ to distinguish him from his father. He came to life in West Hills on the famous Long Island, the second of nine children that grew up in Brooklyn. He came to be fondly known as ‘the Bard of Democracy’, mainly because that was a main message in his work. He is also celebrated as ‘the father of the free verse’. He was a liberal thinker and was vehemently against slavery, although later on he was against the abolitionists because, according to him, they were anti-democracy. He managed to marry transcendentalism with realism in his works. His occupation was a printer school teacher and editor.
He crossed the boundaries of the poetry literature and gave a poetry worth of our democracy that contributed to an immense variety of people, nationalities, races. Whitman’s self-published Leaves of Grass was inspired in part by his travels through the American frontier and by his admiration for Ralph Waldo Emerson (Poetry Foundation). He always believed in everyone being treated equally and bringing an end to slavery and racism. Through his poetry, Whitman tried to bring every people in America together by showing them what happiness, love, unison, and real knowledge looked. His poetry and its revolution changed the world of American literature
Whitman's Poem "Out of the Cradle, Endlessly Rocking," is not, at first glance, an obvious love poem. Most readers would probably consider this a tragic poem about death and love lost. In spite of the fact that the poem is about intrinsically sorrowful events, or perhaps because of it, Whitman is able to capture a very unique and poignant portrayal of love. There are three major perspectives to examine how Whitman develops the theme of love in Out of the Cradle, and by examining each reoccurring theme in the poem separately, we can come to a more complete understanding of how they work together to communicate Whitman's message about love.