Marge Piercy's A Work Of Artifice

“A Work of Artifice,” by the American poet Marge Piercy, is a short poem, which upon closer inspection, reveals a world of meaning. The poem recounts how the bonsai tree, with the potential to grow to a height of 80 feet, is instead meticulously and diligently pruned so that it appears miniature and little more than nine feet tall. Piercy uses the bonsai tree to symbolize the average American woman. Written in 1936, it would make sense that this poem be in reference to the American woman, at a time when women were still working to assimilate into the American workforce and into their new role in the country. The poem bemoans the ways in which the potential of people in general, but of women in particular, can be hindered by their superiors. The gardener is used to represent the American man, who oppresses the American woman and prevents her from becoming all that she could be. Whereas bonsai trees are normally impressive examples of the beauty and majesty of nature, this poem demonstrates that pruning involves disparagement and diminishment. Something that may have been grand by its own power is instead superficially manicured and depreciated. The poem indicates that this is very similar to what happens to women.

But instead, the word “artifice” is used, suggesting craftiness and deception. The satire is imbedded in certain verses such as, “It is your nature / to be small and cozy, / domestic and weak; / how lucky, little tree, / to have a pot to grow in.” In this, Piercy imitates the voice of the autocratic male: telling the woman how she should be grateful for the advantage she does have- his protection. It depicts the belittlement of her, in calling her domestic and weak. It defines the confinement she faces, to be small and