An Analysis of Margaret Atwoods Siren Song Essay examples -- Siren So

An Analysis of Margaret Atwoods Siren SongThroughout her many years as a poet, Margaret Atwood has dealt with a potpourri of subjects within the spectrum of race dynamics and the way men and women behave in romantic association. In much of her poetry, Atwood has addressed the topics of female subjugation in correlation with male domination, single dynamics, and even female domination over males within the invisible boundaries of romantic relationships. With every poem written, Atwoods method for conveying the message of the poem has remained cryptic. She uses a variety of poetic devices - sometimes layered quite thickly - to communicate those themes dealing with human emotion. In the poem, Siren Song, Margaret Atwood employs such devices as imagery and tone to record and comment on the role of the dominating siren that some women choose to play in their relationships. Siren Song opens with the feel that the reader has just walked into a story being told by the vocaliser. It even seems to give the effect of literally walking a few moments late into a storytelling session. In this particular session, the speaker seems to be a woman portraying herself as a siren of ancient Greek lore. In literature, these mythological beings are most frequently expound as creatures with the face of a woman and the feathered body of a bird, cursed to comprise as such by the goddess Demeter. They were cursed for having stood by during the puss of Demeters daughter Persephone, when Hades whisked her away to the underworld. The sirens supposedly lived on a series of rocky islands and, with the irresistible charm of their songs, they lured mariners to their destruction on the rocks surrounding the islands. The ima... ... with them without denying herself the right to exist on her own terms. She does non fear her own nature, and she is not afraid to play the dominant role. Being a siren, though, means never truly acquiring close to anyone - victims do not last long - and so, o n some level, her words must be double-edged. She may not be afraid and she may not regret the so-called deaths of these men, but she does seem to regret the death of something else. Perhaps this something else is her own heart, now seemingly incapable of normal sentiment. This siren may not only be a portrait of a specific female role in romantic relationships, but she may also be a form of commentary on that role. The siren may also be seen as a depiction of the loneliness that stems from toying with the human heart. With her song, she provides a warning to the readers about the fate that follows such games.