The Sick Rose and Barbie Doll

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The Sick Rose and Barbie Doll
Introduction
“The Sick Rose” is a poem by William Blake, which discusses sexual awakening through literary devices such as metaphors and symbolism. The rose is mostly associated with the female gender because of its beauty. It also symbolizes love. The poet uses the rose to make the audience realize that he is addressing a woman. The term “sick” suggests that the rose, which is the woman, lacks some sort of beauty. The poem “Barbie Doll” by Margie Piercy is a poem that reveals the societal expectations placed on American young girls. It reveals the life of a young girl who has a normal childhood life that involves playing with dolls and false makeup. The girl’s life changes when a classmate makes a negative comment about her legs and nose. The analysis of the poems “The Sick Rose” and “Barbie Doll” reveals the similarities and differences between the two pieces.
The poems use different plots to reveals the same theme. In “The Sick Rose” the poet reveals the life of an already destroyed female while in “Barbie Doll”, the poet begins by informing the audience about the life of the girl before her life was destroyed. In “Barbie Doll’ the girl was not aware of her flaws until her classmate made the negative comments. This is when she realized that her nose and legs were not the same as that of the Barbie doll. In “The Sick Rose”, the readers have to relate the beauty of the rose to that of the woman to get a clear picture of how the woman’s life used to be before the worm took refuge. The woman had no advisors who made her know how to regain her beauty back. This is because the beauty in this poem cannot be regained once it is lost. The beauty of the young girl could be gained through aspects such as exercise and diet. Both use the third person narrative technique.
Both poems aim at revealing societal issues affecting women. “The Sick Rose” reveals the life of a woman in an immoral society while “Barbie Doll” reveals the ideal view of a woman in the American society. The poem “The Sick Rose” reveals a society where women engage in unhealthy sexual relationships. The poet uses the rose to reveal the beauty of women before they fall into temptations. The title of the poem shows that the rose has lost its beauty. The worm helps to clarify this aspect. Worms usually stay in substances that have decayed. The presence of the worm in the rose makes the rose lose its beauty. The poet uses the worm to reveal that the woman loses her inner beauty. Worms usually attack the inner parts of a substance. In most cases, they.............