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  • Essay / Gender and Nature in Alice Oswald's Daisy

    In "Daisy," Alice Oswald uses the evolving imagery of a narrator considering his actions towards a daisy to symbolize the gentleness and conformity socially linked to femininity - and the gradually aggressive tone of the poem reflects her desire to reject these feminine ideals. Nevertheless, the constant attention to the image of a flower allows us to depict the natural world as a magnificent force. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay In “Daisy,” Oswald uses the extended metaphor of a “daisy” to symbolize social perceptions of femininity that are rejected by the narrator. The poem opens with the imperative "I will not meet this quiet child" to immediately establish the poet's discordance with the social expectations of women to remain voiceless, the poet's decision to open up through the personal pronoun " I” immediately defining the narrator’s sense of self, and the monologue form can be seen as further rejecting these stereotypes by actively establishing an independent female voice. In the final enjambment in which the character states her desire to "make a pretty necklace out of her green bones", the diction choice "pretty necklace" creates a satirical tone to mock the audience's perception that women are obsessed by fashionable accessories, and the adjective "green" perhaps suggests that the daisy, and therefore by extension, the feminine stereotype, is unhealthy and therefore imperfect, an idea made all the more imperative by the movement towards iambic pentameter. Indeed, the declarative "I will not" is rephrased throughout the first half of the poem in order to establish the character's resilience towards those who expect him to conform to the mold of femininity, and perhaps the most interesting example reads: “I won’t.” to lie small enough under her halo/to feel her washed flourishes. The diction choice "halo" is particularly compelling as it dramatizes the character's lack of respect with the belief that women should remain pure and somewhat saintly, and with the adjective "whitened" - through connotations of housework - the clause can also be seen as rejecting the stereotype that women are primarily housewives and caregivers at home. Despite this, the poet's decision to name the poem "Daisy", which could refer to both the flower and a female given name, may unfortunately suggest that women can never escape the social expectations imposed on them, and yet the narrator's determination to do just that contains more compelling suggestions that she will be able to define her own identity: the poet writes that she is "more / gentler / than me", and the personal pronouns "she" and " "I" are separated into opposite ends of syntax to represent the distance between the character and social perceptions of her feminine identity, with the alliterated "m" further establishing a distinctive, extroverted tone to the character's voice, contrasting with the calm "m" » to which she refuses to comply. à.Nevertheless, the poem's rich imagery allows it to be read as a testimony to the beauty of nature. Indeed, the personification of the flower through the personal pronoun "she", throughout the poem, coupled with Oswald's placement of the flower's name – "Marguerite" – as a title elevates the flower, and by extension nature, to a high degree of power and prestige, which is enriched by descriptions such as the narrator's assertion that she will not "let light whispers discover her kindness". Here, the neologism.