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Atwood's "This is a Photograph of Me"

In Atwood’s “This is a Photograph of Me”, the speaker is almost begging to be searched for and almost mocking the reader that looks. In an old distorted photograph, no figure below the water will ever be found. Interpreting this poem in light of the woman poet’s torn identity, the speaker is a drowned ‘Society’s Woman’ gone poet. The poet is pointing out in the background fragments of her domestic life (the house), and is indeed drowning in a typically feminine archetype, water, which distorts the speaker. The speaker goes on to tell us that of her marginality as an artist in telling us that one cannot tell where or how big or small she is (even though she is the center), leaving the reader to realize she will never be recognized.
Though not as upfront as Atwood, Levertov presents a similar picture of polarity in he...

Posted by: Carmen hershman

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