What’s That Smell in the Kitchen?
Marge Piercy, which is an feminist American poet whom was born in Detroit in 1936 , she published many short stories , essays and also poems. Most of her literacy work pertained to women and the problems women faced in modern times. Piercy wrote “ What’s That Smell in the Kitchen?” This poem reaches out to all WOMEN. This was written during the feminist movement in 1976. Although women has gained suffrage which happened in the 1920s , they wanted to gain more respect from men.
I agree with Marge Piercy depiction of modern housewives, because she describes the wives as being tired, she is feeling like their lives are being worn out like old clothes. In the poem “ What’s That Smell in the Kitchen” , Piercy starts it off by telling the readers “ All over America women are burning dinners”(1291). This symbolizes how she is mentioning that all women are facing
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Burning the food is a way of showing the husbands that they are over the tedious job of cooking a dinner. She is comparing dinner to war because burning dinner is not successful but war is. Cooking for her husband she wouldn’t be successful but going to war would give her relief, helping her gain success knowing that this would be the only way for her to get her point across because cooking dinner just isn’t enough. The smell of the burning dinner is a sign of indignation against the husbands because of the way they have been treating them and making them feel like they only should be in the kitchen slaving just for them that is , without any sign of appreciation. Piercy’s is showing how the housewives have reached their breaking point and have had about enough of their husbands. Piercy ends this poem with burning dinner is not incompetence but war , because she wants the husbands to feel their rage and anger and show them how its other roles a woman can fulfill besides the basic