A Work of Artifice by Marge Piercy
- Artifice is defined as, “clever or cunning devices or expedients, used to trick or deceive others.” The title of the poem refers to a plan of deception and trickery. Artifice sounds like a "work of art" and refers to the work of the gardener as he creates the masterpiece that is the tree. He carves her existence with his cunning tools to reveal her true "beauty".
Analysis 2
But a gardener
carefully pruned it.
It is nine inches high.
Every day as he
whittles back the branches
the gardener croons,
It is your nature
to be small and cozy,
domestic and weak;
how lucky, little tree,
to have a pot to grow in.
Analysis 1
But a gardener
carefully tends to the small, young tree.
It is tiny at nine inches tall.
As he carves the branches,
he sings that it is the tree’s nature
to be small and cozy, domestic and weak.
The tree is lucky to have a home,
a place of security, to grow in.
The bonsai tree
in the attractive pot
could have grown eighty feet tall
on the side of a mountain
till split by lightning.
Tone: Sarcastic
Piercy's personal opinions are evident through her poem. She does not agree with the way women are treated in society and condemns the expectations they suffer, yet she stylizes the flow of her language to comment on the issue with an indirect scorn. Her use of diction contributes to the sarcastic tone of the poem. The words "attractive", "croons", "lucky", and "love" have a positive connotation but are meant to voice the mindset of society, rather than the mindset of the author. Society believes that the woman should fulfill the roles that the author is disdaining. By expressing her point of view through sarcasm, Piercy captures the attention of her audience and effectively exposes the inequality of women.
Shift: Colon and List
“With living creatures one must begin very early to dwarf their growth: the bound feet, the crippled brain, the hair in curlers, the hands you love to touch.” Piercy closes the poem by shifting to a colon followed by a formatted list. The list mimics the instructions one must take in order to hinder the growth of living beings. The use of a list is a systematic procedure to create a true depiction of femininity within a woman while also stripping her of her freedom. It is precise and does not regard the sensitivity or emotion of the woman, which is contradictory to the author’s point of view. By using a list to close the poem, Piercy declares her final message to the reader; women are dehumanized by demeaning expectation.
The small, young tree
in the welcoming pot
had the potential to grow and develop
until it was killed by lightning.
Theme:
Women are oppressed and dehumanized in the way they are manipulated and deceived by the expectations of society. Women are to be carved as superficial creatures of beauty and perfection. Their thoughts must be silenced and their freedom must be extinguished.
Analysis 3
With living creatures
one must begin very early
to dwarf their growth:
the bound feet,
the crippled brain,
the hair in curlers,
the hands you
love to touch.
We must work to stunt growth early
in the life of living beings.
You must bind their feet to preserve their daintiness.
You must cripple their brain to silence their thoughts and emotions, to keep them from achieving knowledge and intelligence.
You must curl their hair to create an appealing image of youth.
The hands you love to touch because they are the true testament of femininity.
The bonsai tree
in the attractive pot
could have grown eighty feet tall
on the side of a mountain
till split by lightning.
But a gardener
carefully pruned it.
It is nine inches high.
Every day as he
whittles back the branches
the gardener croons,
It is your nature
to be small and cozy,
domestic and weak;
how lucky, little tree,
to have a pot to grow in.
With living creatures
one must begin very early
to dwarf their growth:
the bound feet,
the crippled brain,
the hair in curlers,
the hands you
love to touch.
Diction
"But a gardener
carefully pruned it.
It is nine inches high."
- “pruned” conveys the gardeners manipulative action on the tree.
- The gardener will prune the tree until he has molded it to his liking.
"The bonsai tree
in the attractive pot
could have grown eighty feet tall
on the side of a mountain
till split by lightning."
"Every day as he
whittles back the branches
the gardener croons,"
the bound feet,
the crippled brain,
the hair in curlers,
the hands you
love to touch.
- “split” conveys injury.
- The harshness of the word indicates a force that causes death
- The tree is split by lightning
- The tree is killed by lightning
- The weak bonsai is killed before it has the chance to grow to its potential.
- The word “crippled” takes the idea of oppression further.
- Not only is the tree prohibited from growth, but she is altered, injured, and incapacitated in order to fulfill the expectation or the will of an outside being.
- Her strength is shattered and her nature is neglected.
"It is your nature
to be small and cozy,
domestic and weak;
how lucky, little tree,
to have a pot to grow in."
- “lucky” is directed towards the life of the tree.
- The tree is lucky to be the way she is. She is blessed to have a gardener grooming and taming her growth.
- Without the gardener, she would suffer freedom.
- The author uses the word “lucky” to point to the sarcastic tone of the poem.
- “croons” to describe the way that the gardener executes his work.
- Each day, the gardener sings while he carves the tree.
- It is not a chore to him, but an activity of enjoyment.
- He is joyous and celebrates the beauty of his work.
- Croons is like a happy song the gardener is happy doing his job.
"With living creatures
one must begin very early
to dwarf their growth:"
- "Small and cozy” and “domestic and weak” are words that also describe the being of the tree.
- The tree is expected to be humble in standing. In its small and weak stature, the tree can be admired.
- It is not a threat, but one that can be easily overcome.
- “Domestic” refers to a further expectation of the tree to be resolved to a separate sphere of society.
- “Domestic” also allows the interpretation of the tree as female; as a woman barred to the confines of the home.
- “dwarf” refers to a hindrance of growth.
- The author conveys that the tree must be restricted from her evolution early in life to achieve effectiveness.
- The weakness of the tree must be promoted.
- She cannot be nourished to flourish in her own nature.
"the bound feet,
the crippled brain,
the hair in curlers,
the hands you
love to touch."
"Every day as he
whittles back the branches
the gardener croons,"
- “Bound” also indicates oppression.
- The tree cannot be allowed to grow.
- Rather she must be suppressed and her abilities contained.
- “whittles” conveys the action of the gardener on the tree.
- whittles means to carve away little by little
- The gardener becomes dominant and exercises his will over the tree.
- The tree is his art, to design and carve.
- He “whittles back the branches” to reveal his own vision of the tree.
Literary Elements
The Tree
The Pot
(Metaphor)
(Symbolism)
The pot symbolizes the confined residence of the tree. The pot holds the soil and the nourishment of the tree. The tree must be fertilized to grow and gains its nutrients from the pot that it is planted in. The pot is the tree’s foundation, where her roots are planted. The word “attractive” that precedes the word “pot” indicates that the pot is the home of the tree, a place to feel comfortable and secure. The pot is aesthetically pleasing, and the tree should mimic such physical attractiveness. A woman is expected to be attractive and the influence of her home molds her to conform to a physically appealing image.
Hair in Curlers
(Imagery)
The tree is a metaphor that extends throughout the entirety of the poem. Piercy’s use of the tree creates the image of growth, height, potential, and majesty. Piercy conveys that the tree’s potential is destroyed by outside forces: lightning destroys the tree and the gardener whittles away her unique attributes and freedom. Piercy uses the metaphor of the tree to symbolize the nature of a woman. The author emphasizes the height of the tree to indicate woman’s potential and also emphasizes her lack of height to indicate her loss of freedom at the hands of societal expectation
The Gardener
(Symbolism)
Hair in curlers emulates an image of youth. Little, laughing girls play as their hair bounces in innocent ringlets. They are blissful, yet they are ignorant. Piercy uses this imagery to convey this as a tragedy. Girls are targeted from a young age and taught to conform to the “norm” of society. Hair in curlers suggests another alteration of appearance, not only outwardly, but inwardly. Girls and women must exude a childish innocence and playful sensitivity in order to be attractive to the outside world.
The gardener is also a symbol of society’s attempt to hamper the independence of women. The gardener tends to the tree, carefully carving and cautiously tampering with her branches to better her existence and is a contrast to the symbolism offered by lightening. It seems that the author has "saved" the tree from her demise, yet the gardener’s act is a work of deception and artifice. His work is not for the betterment of the tree and he does not promote her progression. Instead, he seeks to transform her into a vision that he has created, regardless of what she chooses or wishes to be. Because the tree is not a human, she cannot speak for herself. She is eternally silent, a victim at the manipulative hands of the gardener. He believes that she is lucky to be defined as “domestic” and “weak” and he molds her to fit this description. He believes that this is her true nature. The woman is dehumanized.
Hands
Bound Feet
(Symbolism)
(Imagery)
The hands symbolize femininity and truth. Piercy ends the poem with the phrase, “the hands you love to touch.” Hands are soft, delicate, and appealing. Soft hands indicate a preservation of youth and reveal the true nature and content of a woman. They represent her loyalty. Her hands are expected to be cared for, refined, and elegant. Rough hands represent aggression, faithlessness, and masculinity. A woman’s hands are never dirty. A woman with delicate hands is a woman that is pure and perfect.
Women suffer for the sake of beauty. Since the time of ancient China, women would bind their feet - a process that included breaking the toes of young girls and binding them to keep them tiny - in order to preserve a beautiful characteristic. Small feet were thought to represent royalty and elegance. The image of bound feet that Piercy implements suggests another attempt by society to incapacitate the freedom of women. Women are expected to conform their bodies, despite pain, to fulfill a certain image. The growth of the foot is prevented by binding, like the growth of the tree is prevented by lightning and gardeners, and like the growth of women is prevented by the expectation of society that is meant to keep women in their rightful place - as weak and domestic.
Lightning
(Symbolism)
Crippled Brain
(Imagery)
Lightning symbolizes the ominous expectation of society. The lightning “splits” the tree, ultimately killing her. The lightning effectively extinguishes the growth of the tree before it has the chance to fulfill her utmost potential. It is as if the tree is a threat to the lightning, climbing higher and higher towards the sky. The lightning must kill her before she has a chance to compete with his dominance. Piercy conveys the role of the woman as the tree, her freedom murdered by the expectation and fear of society.
The crippled brain also develops an image of oppression. Not only is the woman’s body subject to transformation and manipulation, but her mind is also at risk. Her mind is disabled, brainwashed, and maimed by outside influences. She is made to believe that she should conform to the “norm” of society, that the role she must fulfill is the one given to her rather than one she has the ability to choose for herself. Once the brain is depressed by such misguided beliefs, the true freedom of the individual is lost.