Heartbreak

-
Mina Loy wrote a poem that many women during WWI could relate to. This poem not only talks about the strain the war had on relationships, but also how women were expected to take over the work that the men did to keep things running. Another major point in this poem is about how many women had to change their lives to fit into a different routine during WWI. The poem is called Songs to Joannes and it seemed to be more of a complex read.

 During WWI men were drafted into the war, meaning they had to leave their loved ones behind. Any man who was healthy enough over the age of eighteen was eligible to be in the draft. Back during WWI it was more common to get married at a younger age so many of the men entering the war were married. This meant that millions of men had to say goodbye to their wives to go fight for The United States in the war. Causing heartbreaks all over the country when a loved one had to leave, or were killed while fighting for the country. In the poem Mina Loy wrote:

“We might have lived together
In the lights of the Arno
Or gone apple stealing under the sea
Or played
Hide and seek in love and cob-webs
And a lullaby on a tin-pan”

I felt like this piece from the poem really showed how some women thought when they received bad news, they started thinking of the future they were supposed to have with him. But, would not be able to. This war totally changed women's lives, the majority of women were stay at home mothers. But, due to WWI they were forced to enter the workforce to replace the men. Their routines were thrown off, and they were introduced to their new normal. As a soon to be history teacher I feel like it is very important to talk about what the women also gave up due to WWI, and the sacrifices they also made along with the men.


This website gives more insight on the labor women did, and other roles they had to take over due to the war.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sad Women

-
Image
While reading various British texts this week I noticed a repeating sense of seriousness in most all of them. I found that “Mariana” and “Tears, Idle Tears” both written by Alfred Lord Tennyson had the same pattern throughout the text.  Both of these texts ended each paragraph with the same phrase. This could be a way readers can tell that some British texts are written by Alfred Lord Tennyson. Another similarity was the way that both of the texts dealt with death. Death was a very common theme shown in both texts. In “Mariana” the woman wished for death since she was so unhappy. And in the text “Tears, Idle Tears” it is about how someone is missing a loved one who passed away. I found this text to be relatable since I have had a loved one pass away. “Days that are no more” is repeated at the end of each paragraph in this text, and this is something most people can relate to if they lost someone. Nothing will ever be the same, and spending time with that certain loved one can no l
Read more

Who Runs the World? Girls

-
Image
James Joyce the author of the novel Ulysses had a strong passion for women in this novel. Although I only read the last paragraph of the novel it was still obvious to readers of the sense of strong, independent women characters in the novel. Molly the main character, has many similar characteristics to many women in our world today. She seems to be insecure in her relationship, she constantly is worried that he might not love her. But, she is mostly worried about why there is no sexual connection between the two. Molly, and her lover had a physical connection at one point, but she felt like she lost that connection after a day of making love.  I believe many young girls could relate to this part of the novel. Since Molly was fighting for his love, and wanted some answers for why there were no longer any sexual feelings. In our world today many young girls are losing their virginities at even younger ages now. Before they are mentally prepared to do so. This is creating a proble
Read more

Unaccepting Parents

-
Image
My favorite text that I read this week was called My Son the Fanatic which is a play on words just in the title alone.  The story is about a father, Parvez, and his son, Ali. Parvez is a cab driver in an English city which allows him to branch out and meet people. He tends to meet prostitutes while driving, who led Parvez to believe Ali is doing drugs. Parvez was deeply wrong on what was going on with Ali, but decided to drown himself in alcohol which led him to beat Ali within the same night.  Once Parvez found out the truth that Ali became very religious in a certain type of Islam religion, which was not the western way like his father wanted Ali to be. Ali decides to grow out a beard, and prays five times a day to really adopt his new religion. While his father is eating pork, and living more of a scandalous life. That was something Parvez enjoyed the most about being in England that he could do as he pleased. This text is a very different text in many different ways. For exa
Read more