The Inequality Of Women In Maya Angelou's Poetry

For years, poets have written about how women are unfairly treated, and there are no other poets that talk more about the inequality of women than Edgar Allan Poe and Maya Angelou. Also from these poets, people can understand why and how each poet depicted women.The poem “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou and the poem “Annabel Lee” by Edgar A. Poe depict women differently. In Angelou’s poems, she depicts women as human beings who have been unfairly and mistreated people and believes that all women should stand up for their rights. Angelou gained inspiration to write like this because she was born into a time period where gender and race segregation was present. While being brought up there, she was unfairly treated by people leading her to depict

An example of a metaphor is In the quote, “You may trod me in the very dirt but still, like dust, I’ll rise.” In this quote, Angelou means that although you may put her in filth and dirt, she still will not care what you think or have to say, and will still rise back up again. This quote is about the people who oppress women and mistreat them. This quote uses a metaphor when it says, “but still, like dust, I’ll rise.” This quote explains that even if she is left to dust, she will still rise back up again.Angelou uses a metaphor here, as she is left to the smallest remnants of dirt, she will still stand up and fight against the oppressors. It also shows that she doesn’t care if her reputation is destroyed by the oppressing people, as they would trod her in the dirt. So, this shows that she feels more empowered. Angelou also uses another metaphor in the quote, “I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, welling and swelling I bear in the tide.” In this quote, Angelou uses the metaphor of the ocean by explaining how she feels as if she is a “black ocean, leaping and wide” This quote explains how she has had a rough time by comparing herself to a stormy and big ocean. The ocean is also very big as it is “wide” meaning there are hints of loneliness sitting in the narrator. Not only this, but this gives the reader an insight into what tone has been set in the poem. The

Poe, the literary feature of symbolism is used to showcase how he depicted women. We can see symbolism in the poem when the narrator says, “That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of Annabel Lee.” In this quote, Annabel Lee is a symbol for several reasons. Firstly, she is the topic of the entire poem as it had been completely based on her. She was described as young and beautiful. Even though Poe tells us this, we cannot know how she really is. For this reason, she is a symbol of impossible pure beauty and love. Poe also uses symbolism in the poem when it says, “To shut her up in a sepulchre In this kingdom by the sea.” A sepulchre is a tomb for the dead, so when the narrator talks about shutting Annabel Lee in a sepulchre, the reader knows that he has finally accepted the fact that she is dead yet he will continue to lie to himself that Annabel is still alive. The sepulchre symbolizes all the horror the narrator is going through without directly talking about it. It also symbolizes the cold truth of what has happened. Both quotes from this poem compare Annabel Lee. This shows us that she is something that the narrator really wants, showing us once again that she is like an angel or