Phenomenal Woman: a Journey Through Time - Term Paper Example

Term Paper, Literature INTRODUCTION Maya Angelou’s “Phenomenal Woman” is an anthology of poems, which she had composed throughout a particular passage of time. Published in the year 1995, the anthology captivates shades of womanhood and very precisely, celebrates it. There are multitudes of themes and intricate issues captivated within the matrix upon which the four poems have been conceived and put together in the collection, which reflects Angelou’s life and work appositely throughout. Sandra L. West, while writing a biography of Angelou, remarkably notes that “The inner strength, self-worth, and acknowledged sexuality of a black sisterhood are extremely important to Angelou. For example, the female narrator of the poem “Phenomenal Woman” (1994), symbolizing all black women, feels gorgeous and blessed with her natural attributes. As one who has made it through and continues to make it through life’s challenges, Angelou, as woman and as poet, is fascinated with the art of survival, especially the domestic survival of women of those women whom the society deems “ugly” but who, all the same, walk “pretty”…This poem has become national and international poetic anthem for self-actualization, positive self-image, and liberated, courageous womanhood” (Cucinella, 14-15). Thus, one can find a strong feministic metaphysics, as central to the theme of the poems contained within the book. Yet, there are lots more to explore in the book, which surpasses the mundane periphery of body and race under the shadow of black sisterhood and transports the book into a paradigm that is relevant irrespective of nationality, color, language and gender. It is here that the exploration through the pages of the “Phenomenal Woman” gives a thought process, integral to the philosophy of self actualization and loving and celebration the self. PHENOMENAL WOMAN: A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME At the outset, the poems present within “Phenomenal Woman” seem universal. The poems are, of course, universal and so subtly presented that their theme seems surpassing time, space, culture and place. However, an in-depth analysis of the poems shall launch the inquisitive mind into a plethora of personal elements covertly presented within. The collection or anthology comprises the poems “Phenomenal Woman”, “Still I Rise”, “Weekend Glory” and “Our Grandmothers”. All these poems, after the first reading, decipher a feeling of universal womanhood; but at the heart of the poems, one can find a fine strong hint of Angelou’s life, which gets conveyed to the readers once they go through the biography of the author. If one goes through the book, “Maya Angelou” by Vicki Cox and Miles Shapiro, one can find that during her childhood, Angelou was not satisfied with herself. It was after her realization of her actual self that she began celebrating being black. Her celebration of womanhood made her utter, “I’m so glad I’m a black woman, because if I was anything else, I’d be so jealous” (Cox and Shapiro, 100). Her happiness with her body, with her color and most importantly, herself is evoked by the lines: “It’s in the reach of my arms, The span of my hips, The stride of my step, The curl of my lips. I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me.” (Angelou, 3) The poems in “Phenomenal Woman” perfectly narrate her time. Maya Angelou is not merely a talent, but she is also the champion of writing autobiographies. She understands the sentiments, the sensibilities of the age and most importantly, the need to present thoughts in a balanced way, which should never make it an overt for all presentation of the time to which, the person belongs. This particular capacity, Angelou exercises in her poetic creations as well. She presented time in her works related to living within a particular phase in history into which, the African American community shall fit in with or against the white society. It also presents the ways Angelou has lived in both the situations. A perfect presentation and balanced presentation of her time finds profound expression in her poem, “Our Grandmothers”. If one goes through the poem, “Still I Rise”, from the close contour, one can find the closing lines of the poem, inextricably presented with the with the elements that shows transition from past into present and the presentation of a history of a community where Angelou belonged. Illustratively, the theme of the time presented within the poem is neither overtly nor presented in a subverted way as the lines read: “Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise.” (Angelou, 9) Angelou’s poems are very much central to the theme of woman and her body. The way her body is delineated, marginalized and often coded and decoded to the inhibitions, taboos and fantasies of the society finds elaborate space within the works of Angelou. Sometimes, overtly feministic in nature, metaphysical as well, the collection of the poems in “Phenomenal Woman” deviates a bit from her general feministic concerns. However, neither of the poems in the collection fails to actually celebrate womanhood in their own unique way. It finds a pleasure in being a woman and gives a sense of pride and satisfaction for being a woman with whatever bodily limitations one has. Her biography entitled, “Maya Angelou” by Vicki Cox and Miles Shapiro, unveils an appropriate description of Angelou’s instincts towards women of the world. As illustrated in the book, Angelou once addressed, ““To all women of the world, those of color and those are not”, she says, “To be a woman is to take responsibility for you. To be a woman is to work hard, to count on you, to owe nothing. It is to hold the reins of your life in your own hands”” (Cox and Shapiro, 101). Her spirit of self actualization and self realization or love for one’s own identity of being woman might raise the tension and difference in gender discourse, where critics might find the poems of Angelou overtly feministic in nature. Nevertheless, the spirit of the poems by Angelou does not seek the identity of a woman for the sake of dehumanizing and deluding the identity of the other sex. Neither does it ponders nor surges into a race of establishing the superiority of the genders. It is quite complete within its own small space where the love of being self satisfied and celebration of being a complete woman gets some passionate expressions. In her poem, “Phenomenal Woman”, Angelou thus writes: “Now you understand Just why my head’s not bowed. I don’t shout or jump about Or have to talk a real loud. When you see me passing, I ought to make you proud. I say, It’s in the click of my heels, The bend of my hair, The palm of my hand, The need for my care. ‘Cause I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal Woman. That’s me.” (Angelou, 5) Hence, one can find a humble submission towards the celebration of the self. Certainly, celebrating womanhood in the collections of poems in “Phenomenal Woman” is not about only exploring the feministic discourse related to the body of the woman, but it concentrates on the virtues, which can make a woman perfect, different and complete. Angelou’s work presents the theme of black sisterhood, the oppression and tyranny inflicted upon the African Americans, the misfits of the community, its struggle to make a proper space in the white dominant society and its tale of a struggle of generations to establish its own identity, which finds a discursive expression within the works of Angelou. The poems contained within the anthology, “Phenomenal Woman” is also not an exception to this theme. Her poem, “Still I Rise”, finds the subtle expression of the oppression and the pang of being marginalized outwardly, when Angelou writes: “Out of the huts of history’s shame I rise Up from a past that’s rooted in pain I rise I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.” (Angelou, 9) CONCLUSION Maya Angelou’s work is seminal. It thematically presents a discourse presented in myriad shades of life. It portrays the saga of being marginalized and discovers its pain, but none of her works present a negative approach towards life. The ever vibrant Angelou breaks the shackles of being inferior, colored or marginalized - both ethnically and gender wise. Through the sharp insights she has, she surpasses the periphery of mundane tales of oppression and discovers the ways one can transcend all the barriers of inferiority and transport oneself into a realm where sublimity, salvation and satisfaction are gentle to the life and gives it a meaning worth celebrating. Works Cited Angelou, Maya. Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems Celebrating Women. Toronto: Random House Publishing Group, 2011. Print. Cox, Vicki and Miles Shapiro. Maya Angelou. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2009. Print. Cucinella, Catherine. Contemporary American Women Poets: An A-to-Z Guide. United States of America: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002. Print. Read More