Revision is a type of evolution. For Adrienne Richs life and poems this is true. Three of her poems, Aunt Jennifers Tigers, Snapshots of a Daughter-In-Law, and Planetarium were written at different spans of her life. Each poem is reflective of the era of its conception. The poems evolve as Richs education and culture change. Revision allows her to understand where she started, where she is now, and allows for a vision of the future. It is the evolution of a writer, her education, and culture.
The first poem I want to look at by Rich is Aunt Jennifers Tigers (1951). According to Rich, this is a poem where she intentionally uses language and a formal style to detach herself. Rich says that she distances herself by using a fictious character of another generation. She wrote in the conventional way of that time because she feared the response of the males in and outside her life; at the same time she speaks of Aunt Jennifer as a woman who conforms to society and thus to a man. …Im startled because beneath the conscious craft are glimpses of the split I even then experienced between the girl who wrote poems, who defined herself in writing poems, and the girl who was to define herself by her relationships with men (p. 608).
Rich was still in college when she wrote this poem. Education like an institution oppressed her creativity. Paulo Freires banking concept was more than likely the teaching style. The student was seen as a bank awaiting deposits of information. One way, the professors way, was the right and only way. Formality and convention was the mainstay of writing presented to her. Without examples of other forms of writing Rich, wrote the best way she knew how.
In 1951, when this poem was written, it was probably inconceivable to think a woman should do anything other than raise children. Rich being a writer during this era was probably already pushing the envelope so to speak. An unconventional woman was in new territory, which probably evoked fear in her. A passage from the poem illustrates this They (the tigers) do not fear the men beneath the tree;/ they pace in sleek chivalric certainty (3-4). Rich longs to be as the tigers arefearless and certain, uninhibited.
The second poem, Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law (1958-1960), shows a transition in Richs life. According to Rich, her writing became less universal and feminine (p. 611). Although, Rich says she still distances herself from her work by using she instead of I (p. 611-612). In this poem, the split that Rich refers to in this essay is evident. The woman in the poem thinks that she is going crazy. She resists the urge to rebel by physically punishing herself. I interpret this as the woman being numb, she has endured enough pain that she is used to it. since nothing hurts her anymore, except/ each mornings grit blowing into her eyes (2.11-12). Every morning Rich awoke to her unfulfilled dreams; she experienced the days as a dead woman.
Daily life began to be Richs educator. She learned to question herself, her way of writing, her existence. She expanded her ability to think critically, to question the standards of her reality.
Something else to consider is when this poem was written. During this time America was beginning to rebel against the norms of society. In what Paulo Freire would call a transformation through critical thought, the country began to question what culture dictated. Richs change in writing style reflects this conflict.
Planetarium, the third poem, was written around 1968. Rich comes face-to-face with herself. According to Rich, she and the narrator of the poem become one (p. 613). In the poem, Rich admits that she struggles with what society says and what actions she will take.
I am an instrument in the shape
of a woman trying to translate pulsations
into images for the relief of the body
and the reconstruction of the mind (42-45).
This poem exemplifies not only in language, but also in style, non-conformity. There are gaps in between words in a line. This space is to denote a pause instead of a comma because the comma is considered conventional and formal. Rich learned life was not formal-always governed by rules. Education taught her formality, but she taught herself a way to connect form and subject.
When this poem was written it was acceptable to be unorthodox. The time enabled Rich to free her from the bondage of restraint. She was able to use the pronoun I because there was less stigmatism associated with being a female writer.
All three of these poems are reflective of American history through personal examples. Rich uses her life as an illustration to what women were thinking and feeling at the time. She more than likely did not realize the reflection during the writing process. It is at a later date that she reviews her work and can clearly see the influences of life in her writing. Rich feels that by looking at these pieces she has looked at the past and given herself a new perspective which to write from. Education, culture, and relationships kept her from her full potential. Rich puts it best when she says,
We need to know the writing of the past, and know it differently than we ever known it; not to pass on tradition but to break its hold over us have To revise is to evolve, and evolution is transformation.
