'Eat me' by Patience Agbabi
Mindula Illeperuma
Feminism&Society
Writer's Techniques
- Imagery
- Alliteration
- Semantic Field of water
- Possessive language
- Imperative "EAT ME"
- Plosives, repetition of "b" mimetic of her big size
- Anaphora "too fat"repetition - she has heard it too many times, almost unnecessary: it shouldn't be a label.
- Phonological features "wobble" "judder"
- Asyndetic listing
- "There was nothing left in the house to eat" mainly monosyllabic, a declarative statement to end.
Structure
- Ten tercet stanzas - regimented structure
- Assonance between last word of first and third lines of each stanza
- Tercets - odd number: symbolizes an odd relationship between the woman and feeder. Suggests the expectations that society has are odd.
- Many end-stopped lines: routine and consistency. Final three stanzas also complete with caesuras; symbolizes the man's death
- Feminism looks to view men and women as equal: "I was his Jacuzzi...to watch me swell like forbidden fruit"
- "his flesh, my flesh"
- The imagery used to describe a female's body is grotesque and disturbing, suggests the feelings of the poet toward the expectations society has set for women.
- "desert island after shipwreck"
- "beached whale" -women are trapped, not comfortable in their surroundings.
- "eyes bulging with greed"- men look to devour women, the only emotions they have are greed
Gender
Comparisons...
- The Deliverer
- Look we have coming to Dover!
- "icing" is sweet and sweetness is associated with a woman.
- "white"- - purity, innocence
- "emotional shield" - addresses the insecurities women have based on their appearance and weight.
- "He was my cook" - the cook is in charge of the final product, suggests her life is shaped by the will of the man in her life.
- "soft girls, girls I can burrow inside" - soft suggests weakness, females usually regarded as the weaker gender.
Power
- Male power over a woman
- Female power over her body
- "EAT ME. And I ate, did what I was told"
- "I was his Jacuzzi. But he was my cook"
- "his breadfruit. His desert island..."
- "too fat" - amplified
- "I allowed him to stroke my globe of a cheek"
- "his" becomes "I" we see the power being transferred to the woman.
- Poem only looks at issues women face with their bodies, perhaps addressing stereotypes embedded in society.
Context & Author
- Born in 1965 in London
- Identifies as a feminist
- Described as an "audacious dramatic monologue
- Signifies the pressure put on women by society and the media to meet body standards
- Female power- ownership of their own body
- Male dominance
- Reciprocity in a relationship
Introduction
- Written by Patience Agbabi
- Looks at the idea of a 'feeder role'
- 'Eat me' - the title is an imperative
- Key themes include: 'Power', 'Gender' and 'Feminism and expectations of society'
- Portrays the way in which a man can eat away at a woman, or how women have suffered as a result of patriarchy.