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Introduction Paragraph:
The poem In The Park by Gwen Harwood reflects on a woman whos lost
in life, trying to adhere to societal values and conventions by taking care
of her children but without a true relationship with them. The poem is
written in a sonnet form; therefore, accentuating the lost love that she
once had in her life. Poetic techniques in the poem include, visual
imagery, personification, persona and diction which all point towards the
challenged gender stereotypes presented in the poem.The poem starts
off with the lines She sits in the park. Her clothes are out of date, which
comments on her mental and physical state as a mother of three children.
This line gives an insight of the tough and vigorous life she must be living,
which can also be related to the entire population of mothers. In The Park
also explicitly impacts the reader as they are given an insight of the
isolated, powerless and lonely nature of being a mother in the 1950s. The
lines Two children whine and bicker, tug her skirt, tells us that the
woman is not happy about the presence of her children a round her,
rather outlining the annoying, devilish behavior of her offsprings. The
theme of gender stereotypes is stated in the poem and can be envisaged
through the actions of the main character towards the people close to her.
It was a common ideology of the time, that women would be a loving
mother automatically as it was their duty, but Gwen Harwood challenges
this stereotype showing that a woman does not have to abide by those
conventions to live a happy life. Therefore, through reading the poem In
The Park, we are given a insight of the common expectations and moral
values of women had to live up to during the 1980s.