Judith Wright's Context and Poetry

By Selchie, High School Student

Understanding the cultural context of a poet helps us to truly appreciate their work.

An essay hosted at LiteratureClassics.com

Judith Wright’s Context and Poetry

A knowledge of the poet’s cultural and biographical context enhances our understanding of poetry.

Literature is influenced by the context of the author. When reading the poetry of Judith Wright, it is beneficial to have an understanding of her biographical and cultural context, in order to gain full appreciation of Wright’s work. Two poems heavily influenced by context are, “To Another Housewife” and “Naked Girl and Mirror”. These were both published in 1966, in The Other Half. The poems foreground many issues, but are mostly concerned with the role of women in Australia.

Wright was born at Thalgaroch station in News South Wales, in 1915. She had two brothers, and her mother died when Wright was twelve years old. The station gave her a lot of freedom in its isolation, though it was very male dominated. As a child, she was free, but as a woman, she would become trapped in a generalised role. Wright realised later how lonely her mother must have been at the station, receiving little recognition or support from those around her. Wright found it almost impossible to be a “good, normal little girl with an interest in domestic matters” which may have caused her mother to feel even more isolated. On the station, Wright also witnessed the suffering of existence, the “duality of life and death” and the avoidance of unpleasant subjects, including sex. This Irony of life puzzled her, and influenced her poetry in later life.

“To Another Housewife” examines the lack of recognition awarded to women, especially those in a family situation. The poem has a conversational tone, as the persona is speaking to a close childhood friend. The persona is anonymous, as is the friend. They seem to see their identity reflected in their “daughters, sons, and hungry men”. They are, it seems, just “another housewife.” The women are referred to almost as objects, rather than people, using terms such as “girls” and “housewife”.

Their responsibility to their families has interfered with their own wishes. As children, the “greensick girls” made a pact “to touch no meat forever more.” Now, the persona emphasises the irony of their situation, attributing it to their station in life.
“How many cuts of choice and prime /
our housewife hands have dressed since then.”
In order to fit into their role as women, as mothers and as wives, they have been “duty bound” to ignore their idealism of the past. Their expression of self has been swallowed by their identity as housewives. Their once “childish hands” are now “love and blood imbrued.” They are torn between duty to their families and their duty to their own identity.

“To Another Housewife” was influenced by Wright’s childhood on the station. Her mother came from a lively family, and found the home at the station “gloomy and uninviting.” It is likely that her mother often felt that she was little more than a “housewife,” under great pressure to cook, clean and work for her family, with very little recognition. She received little support from those around her. Wright suspected that her own birth may have been preceded by miscarriages, though her mother “like most women, was silent on such matters.” The pressures of life that her mother experienced were rarely recognised by those around her.

During the Second World War, Wright may have had some insight into her mother’s life, when she returned home to support her father while her brothers were away in the army. The experience can be linked to the last Stanza of “To Another Housewife.” As the family sits down to eat in the comfort of their home, they are vaguely aware of the threats of the world around them. The comfort and plenty of the family is the ironic backdrop for the “turned-down radio” and its news of “murder, famine, pious wars…” Wright would have heard of the hardships of the war in Europe and the Pacific. She would have thought of her brothers who were fighting, and the dangers they were facing. However, like the “housewife” persona, she could do nothing to protect her loved ones from the threat. Later, Wright would marry and have her own daughter. Her new family would also influence her writing.

The persona of “Naked Girl and Mirror” is an anonymous girl who is experiencing the changes of puberty. She fears this change, as she believes that it will leave her a prisoner of other people’s expectations, and that she will not be able to find her own role in life. It will also set her challenges that she may not be able to face. The girl is revealing her body and her soul to the mirror, but she will not claim the reflection as her own. The poem begins with the phrase “This is not I.” The incorrect grammar emphasises the girl’s confusion. The persona feels detached, isolated and “betrayed” by the “lovely, hateful naked girl.” She fears that her time of freedom on her “own currents” has finished, and that she is “trapped at last in that soft face.”

The persona fears that she has lost her identity, that she has been,
“Shut out here / from my own self, by
its new body’s grace.”
She fears that she will now be judged by her body and her gender, and not be able to be appreciated for her “own self.” She is aware that “this girl” in the mirror begs her to “know or claim” the new body, and its challenges. The persona resists at first, crying “Let me go – let me be gone.” She is afraid that she may not be able to fulfil the image people expect of her.

The persona is aware that her new body is not complete. She says, “you are half of some other…he will be your home.” The challenge to love may be one that she may fail, as she knows that her love “may never come.” She is afraid of being overlooked, of dying a spinster. She wonders “why should I tend you?” Why should she try to live up to an expectation of herself, if she is likely to fail?

However, the persona still realises that she has little hope of escaping the trap of womanhood. She speaks to the reflection, “I must serve you; I will obey.” It is a tragic end to a doomed battle. However, she seems to see that the future may not be as terrible as she thinks. “Some day we may love”, some day she may accept the change. The persona is well aware that she may “miss [the body’s] going”, that she will regret her loss of her youthful body, as she grows older. However, she still refuses to acknowledge the body as her own. She will not accept the challenge of womanhood as her own, saying,
“Your lovers shall learn better, and bitterly too, /
if their arrogance dares to think that I am part of you.”
She will meet the challenges set before her, but she still wishes to be true to her self. That is a challenge she will set herself.

Wright’s child-body, like the persona’s, “served [her] need to laugh and to run.” Wright had few childhood friends, but she spent a great deal of time outside, exploring and loving the Australian landscape. The isolated station gave her a great deal of freedom and adventure. However, in such a male-dominated environment, she would have recognised the challenges the women faced, and the little respect they received. Wright had little knowledge of sex when she was growing up, so it can probably be assumed that her knowledge of puberty was also lacking. It would have seemed the end of her freedom. She would have feared the future, and its challenges of love and life, just as the persona did. When Wright wrote the poem, however, she was married with one daughter. By this time, she could see the positive side of such change, and probably felt that her dreams were becoming fulfilled.

The role of women in Australia is interesting. In many ways, our population can be described as hostile to change. That is, we are content to let stereotypes lie, if only for our peace of mind. Over the years, women have gained the right to vote, and have been liberated from a purely housewife image. Women can attend universities and learn trades.

Yet, all too often, it still seems that for many women, a choice must be made, career or family. In the same way, the persona of “To Another Housewife” is torn between her childhood idealism, and her “duty” as a “housewife.” Women are put under enormous pressure to be the best wives, mothers, shoppers, workers and friends, to match the magazine image of a glossy life. The persona of “Naked Girl and Mirror” was afraid of failing the expectations set out for her, and of being trapped in a stereotype.

In Australia, women are still seen as the ‘weaker sex.’ Women’s sports receive little coverage, the ‘glass ceiling’ still exists in most companies, and the word ‘girl’ is still used as an insult. “To Another Housewife” and “Naked Girl and Mirror” discuss many challenges faced by women, to escape stereotypes, to be treated as individuals, to have an identity outside of their “duty” to their family or career. Judith Wright published these poems in 1966, during the decade of ‘female liberation.’ However, the poems still relate to women of Australia today.




Bibliography

Wright, J. (1999). Half a Life Time. Australia: Text Publishing.

Wright, J. (1990). A Human Pattern: Selected Poems. Australia: Angus & Robertson.