Margaret Atwood was born on November 18, 1939 in Ottawa, Canada. She is known as a poet, novelist, story writer, essayist, and environmental activist. Her books have received critical acclaim in the United States, Europe, and her native Canada, and she has received numerous literary awards, including the Booker Prize, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and the Governor General’s Award, twice. Atwood’s critical popularity is matched by her popularity with readers; her books are regularly bestsellers. Some of Atwood’s award winning poetry, short stories and novels includes The Circle Game (1966), The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), Snowbird (1981), The Blind Assassin (2000), The Tent (2006) and more. Suffering is common for the female characters in Atwood’s poems, although they are never passive victims. In the clever and humorous poem “Siren Song”, Margaret Atwood uses the speaker, allusion, and repetition to convey the true meaning of the poem, which is that women have the ability to manipulate and flatter a man to get whatever they desire. The speaker of the poem is one of the three Sirens. Atwood depicts the siren as this beautiful, irresistible woman who is not content with continuously singing the same “song”. The Siren creates false vulnerability in order to make it seem as if she is in distress. The purpose of this is to lure men and make them believe that they are different and that only they can save her. “Help me! / Only you, only you can, / you are unique” (22-24). The siren is used as a symbol to show one of the typical stereotypes of woman in today’s society. The stereotype shown is that woman tend to make themselves seem helpless by playing the role of the “damsel in distress”. In describing her curse, the siren wails about her “pic... ... middle of paper ... ...e speaker’s “true” feelings about her existence, that it is merely an imprisonment, due to unwanted beauty. Yet, the speaker then states “…come closer…,” and suddenly the reader knows that her lament was only an extension of her deadly craft. The last line: “It is a boring song but it works every time,” is satirical in nature and is somewhat hilarious. It shows the speaker shrugging off her actions, a distinct comment made by Atwood about the negative opinion of women. Works Cited Atwood, Margaret. “Siren Song” Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 4th ed. New York: Longman, 2012. 467. Print "Siren Song by Margaret Atwood." Enotes.com. Enotes.com, n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. Website "Margaret Atwood: The Poetry Foundation." Poetryfoundation.org. The Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2013.
Furthermore,the Sirens are portrayed as underprivileged. In the siren song it declares,”This song is a cry
The readers are apt to feel confused in the contrasting ways the woman in this poem has been depicted. The lady described in the poem leads to contrasting lives during the day and night. She is a normal girl in her Cadillac in the day while in her pink Mustang she is a prostitute driving on highways in the night. In the poem the imagery of body recurs frequently as “moving in the dust” and “every time she is touched”. The reference to woman’s body could possibly be the metaphor for the derogatory ways women’s labor, especially the physical labor is represented. The contrast between day and night possibly highlights the two contrasting ways the women are represented in society.
Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2012. Print.
"AP Lit." : "Siren Song" by Margaret Atwood along with Analysis. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.
American Literature. 6th Edition. Vol. A. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 2003. 783-791
Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. Backpack literature: an introduction to fiction, poetry, drama, and writing. Fourth ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2011. Print.
Kennedy, X J., and Dana Gioia. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Sixth ed. New York: Harper Collins College Publishers, 1995. Print.
Baym, Nina, and Robert S. Levine, eds. The Norton Anthology: American Literature. 8th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2012. Print.
Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. Literature: an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007. Print.
Feminism as we know it began in the mid 1960's as the Women's Liberation Movement. Among its chief tenants is the idea of women's empowerment, the idea that women are capable of doing and should be allowed to do anything men can do. Feminists believe that neither sex is naturally superior. They stand behind the idea that women are inherently just as strong and intelligent as the so-called stronger sex. Many writers have taken up the cause of feminism in their work. One of the most well known writers to deal with feminist themes is Margaret Atwood. Her work is clearly influenced by the movement and many literary critics, as well as Atwood herself, have identified her as a feminist writer. However, one of Atwood's most successful books, The Handmaid's Tale, stands in stark contrast to the ideas of feminism. In fact, the female characters in the novel are portrayed in such a way that they directly conflict with the idea of women's empowerment.
Lee, Edward Bok El Santo Americano. Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing 4th Ed.
...sed society with religious overtones throughout the poem, as though religion and God are placing pressure on her. The is a very deep poem that can be taken in may ways depending on the readers stature yet one thing is certain; this poem speaks on Woman’s Identity.
Kennedy, X.J. and Dana Gioia, eds. Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. 4th ed. NewJersey: Pearson, 2012. Print.
What if there is something so irresistible that all resolve is lost? The Sirens are a group of women who sing a song so captivating that ships are constantly lured to their island. They are often rendered as birds with the head of a woman. In Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus and his men must pass the island of the Sirens in order to return to Ithaca, their homeland. In order to prevent his men from jumping overboard towards the enchanting song, Odysseus plugs his men’s ears with wax, and then he is tied down and listens to the song. The song compels Odysseus head towards the island, but his obedient men ignore his hysterical cries. Another portrayal of the Sirens is in a poem by Margaret Atwood entitled “Siren Song.” The poem lures the reader in by making them feel pity for the speaker, who turns out to be a Siren. These two pieces of literature can be compared using poetic devices like tone, point of view, and imagery.
Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. Literature: an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007. Print.