{"id":146,"date":"2022-08-04T13:49:19","date_gmt":"2022-08-04T17:49:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.upei.ca\/artsreview-xi\/?post_type=chapter&p=146"},"modified":"2022-08-05T09:35:41","modified_gmt":"2022-08-05T13:35:41","slug":"the-woolf-at-my-door","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.upei.ca\/artsreview-xi\/chapter\/the-woolf-at-my-door\/","title":{"raw":"The Woolf at My Door","rendered":"The Woolf at My Door"},"content":{"raw":"Abstract: <\/strong>This paper explores the work of two twentieth century Canadian poets through a queer lens. Where Gwendolyn MacEwen\u2019s \u201cMemoirs of a Mad Cook\u201d uses cooking as a metaphor to discuss the fear of intimacy, Bronwen Wallace\u2019s \u201cA Simple Poem for Virginia Woolf\u201d draws attention to the ways in which societal expectations and responsibilities limit women\u2019s opportunities for personal fulfillment. Together, the two poems are interpreted as providing commentary on the effects that heteropatriarchy and compulsory heterosexuality have on the lives of queer women. In particular, Wallace\u2019s poem addresses the societal preoccupation with the nuclear family, a construct that has historically excluded queer women. MacEwen parallels such feelings of exclusion and isolation in her poem, \u201cMemoirs of a Mad Cook,\u201d where the speaker deals with her desire for authenticity in intimate relationships despite her inability to achieve it. In relation to the experience of queer women, both pieces speak to the pressure to subdue authentic desire and instead conform to traditionally feminine notions of love and attraction.\r\n\r\n\u201cMemoirs of a Mad Cook\u201d by Gwendolyn MacEwen conjures up feelings of anxiety and inadequacy based around some essential sense of lacking connection to others. Early in the poem, the speaker expresses a sense of isolation from their peers, as though they are excluded from a \u201csecret society which meets \/ in dark cafeterias to pass on the art \/ from one member to another\u201d (MacEwen 3-5). These emotions are relatable across the human experience, and when paired with Bronwen Wallace\u2019s \u201cA Simple Poem for Virginia Woolf,\u201d can be read as pertaining to the experiences of a queer woman. When assessed together, these poems illustrate a range of the difficult emotions queer women have faced for generations.\r\n\r\nWallace\u2019s poem deals with the ever-present expectations of heteropatriarchy. These ideals teach people to view a woman\u2019s family life as a measure of success, just as much as they would view a man\u2019s career as reflective of his success. This prompts the speaker in the poem to wonder upon seeing a successful woman, \u201cif she\u2019s still married \/ or has a lover at least,\u201d or if she has children, \u201cand if she didn\u2019t if she\u2019d chosen \/ not to\u201d (Wallace 41-42; 46-47). In much of Europe and North America, this preoccupation with a woman\u2019s family life stems greatly from a cultural focus on the heteropatriarchal values of the nuclear family. Where same-sex marriage was not legalized in Canada until 2005, the social narrative and concern with the nuclear family at the time that \u201cA Simple Poem for Virginia Woolf\u201d was written would have largely excluded the possibility of same-sex parents.\r\n\r\nThe poem highlights many of the struggles women face while pursuing a career and addresses how inseparable one\u2019s womanhood is from any other aspect of her life. In addition to the expectation for women to take on family and household responsibilities, Wallace also draws attention to the fact that women\u2019s relationships outside<\/em> of the nuclear family are often disregarded. The heteropatriarchy values a woman\u2019s usefulness as a wife and a mother, but still places far too little value on relationships that function simply for the woman\u2019s pleasure and fulfillment, rather than for others\u2019 convenience. The speaker\u2019s frustration with this reality is expressed in the description of her emotions during a time when her close friend is hospitalized:\r\n\r\nmy best friend was sick in intensive care\r\n\r\nand I went down to see her\r\n\r\nbut they wouldn\u2019t let me in\r\n\r\nbecause I wasn\u2019t her husband\r\n\r\nor her father her mother\r\n\r\nI wasn\u2019t family\r\n\r\nI was just her friend\r\n\r\nand the friendship of women\r\n\r\nwasn\u2019t mentioned\r\n\r\nin hospital policy\r\n\r\n[...] I went out and kicked\r\n\r\na dent in the fender of my car\r\n\r\nand sat there crying because\r\n\r\nif she died I wouldn\u2019t be able\r\n\r\nto tell her how much I loved her\u00a0 (Wallace 52-66)\r\n\r\nIn particular, this section of the poem is emotionally evocative, and Wallace\u2019s account of not being allowed in the hospital brings us back to that sense of exclusion that is so present in MacEwen\u2019s poem.\r\n\r\nOne facet of the experiences of women which, in the past, has been excluded from the ideal of the nuclear family is the experience of queer women. That sense of exclusion becomes even more obvious when we recall that Virginia Woolf herself was queer and that this aspect of her life was not referenced in \u201cA Simple Poem for Virginia Woolf.\u201d This is not necessarily a fault of Wallace\u2019s, as the poem is mostly about the narrator\u2019s life, and the poem is not told from Woolf\u2019s point of view. After all, Wallace does make a point of expressing her exasperation at how little consideration is given to women\u2019s relationships outside of the nuclear family. Indeed, Virginia Woolf\u2019s intimate romantic relationship with Vita Sackville-West lasted for many years and was certainly outside the realm of the nuclear family. While women\u2019s friendships undeniably deserve recognition, the need for recognition of lesbian relationships cannot be understated. Even today, after so much progress has been made in terms of LGBTQ+ rights, queer history is still erased and underrepresented in popular media. The absence of Woolf\u2019s queerness from a poem that is named after and dedicated to her does stir up many of the sentiments of exclusion and isolation found in MacEwen\u2019s \u201cMemoirs of a Mad Cook.\u201d\r\n\r\nA close reading of the title itself provides plenty of information for MacEwen\u2019s case. Food is widely associated with growth and fertility, where fruits\u2014and tomatoes, in particular\u2014are often symbolic of love and sensuality. Based on this symbolism, the term \u201ccook\u201d can be interpreted to mean someone involved in sexual activity. The specification of a \u201cmad\u201d cook is significant to this reading, considering that homosexuality was classified as a mental illness in North America until the late twentieth century. Thus, MacEwen\u2019s poem can be read as the thoughts of a queer person struggling to perform heterosexuality in the interest of self-preservation. The speaker in \u201cMemoirs of a Mad Cook\u201d imagines cooking for someone to be a deeply intimate experience, and expresses an intense concern about whether she is \u201chandling a tomato wrong\u201d (MacEwen 13). This can be read as anxiety about the performance of heterosexuality and the hope that no one will recognize her performance as disingenuous. The warning given by the speaker that \u201cif anyone watches me I\u2019ll scream\u201d demonstrates the self-consciousness that comes from trying to hide something so significant about oneself (12).\r\n\r\nThe speaker\u2019s intense fear and anxiety in MacEwen\u2019s poem that \u201csomething is eating away at me \/ with splendid teeth<\/em>\u201d is a familiar feeling for those who keep a central part of their identity a secret, even from their closest companions (15-16). It is difficult to feel a close connection if one cannot be completely honest with others. MacEwen\u2019s final stanza demonstrates this feeling of isolation in its description of the speaker\u2019s inability to offer her friends the essential substance they are seeking, whether that be honesty or vulnerability:\r\n

Everyone seems to grow thin with me<\/p>\r\n

and their eyes grow black as hunter\u2019s eyes<\/p>\r\n

and search my face for sustenance.<\/p>\r\n

All my friends are dying of hunger,<\/p>\r\n

there is some basic dish I cannot offer\u00a0 (20-24)<\/p>\r\n

The poem concludes with the melancholic admission that the speaker\u2019s lover is the most neglected of all and is \u201calmost as lean \/ as the splendid wolf I must keep always \/ at my door\u201d (25-27). The sense of obligation in these final words recalls the reality and enforcement of heteropatriarchal assumptions. The experience of compulsory heterosexuality can lead lesbians to pursue relationships with men even though those are not the relationships they want. Just as MacEwen\u2019s speaker is obligated to keep the wolf always at their door, queer women for generations have found no choice but to silence an essential part of themselves and stay in heterosexual marriages to avoid the many prejudices they might otherwise face.<\/p>\r\nThe combination of these two poems by Wallace and MacEwen prompts the investigative reader to reconsider society\u2019s attitude toward queer women. The poignant language in these poems will hopefully encourage audiences to think critically about the way they see queer women portrayed in popular media and to develop more compassion for the emotional struggle which often accompanies the queer experience.\r\n\r\n \r\n

Works Cited\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\r\nMacEwen, Gwendolyn. \u201cMemoirs of a Mad Cook.\u201d 70 Canadian Poets<\/em>. 5th ed., edited by Gary Geddes, Oxford UP, 2014, pp. 133-134.\r\n\r\nWallace, Bronwen. \u201cA Simple Poem for Virginia Woolf.\u201d 70 Canadian Poets<\/em>. 5th ed., edited by Gary Geddes, Oxford UP, 2014, pp. 356-358.\r\n\r\n ","rendered":"

Abstract: <\/strong>This paper explores the work of two twentieth century Canadian poets through a queer lens. Where Gwendolyn MacEwen\u2019s \u201cMemoirs of a Mad Cook\u201d uses cooking as a metaphor to discuss the fear of intimacy, Bronwen Wallace\u2019s \u201cA Simple Poem for Virginia Woolf\u201d draws attention to the ways in which societal expectations and responsibilities limit women\u2019s opportunities for personal fulfillment. Together, the two poems are interpreted as providing commentary on the effects that heteropatriarchy and compulsory heterosexuality have on the lives of queer women. In particular, Wallace\u2019s poem addresses the societal preoccupation with the nuclear family, a construct that has historically excluded queer women. MacEwen parallels such feelings of exclusion and isolation in her poem, \u201cMemoirs of a Mad Cook,\u201d where the speaker deals with her desire for authenticity in intimate relationships despite her inability to achieve it. In relation to the experience of queer women, both pieces speak to the pressure to subdue authentic desire and instead conform to traditionally feminine notions of love and attraction.<\/p>\n

\u201cMemoirs of a Mad Cook\u201d by Gwendolyn MacEwen conjures up feelings of anxiety and inadequacy based around some essential sense of lacking connection to others. Early in the poem, the speaker expresses a sense of isolation from their peers, as though they are excluded from a \u201csecret society which meets \/ in dark cafeterias to pass on the art \/ from one member to another\u201d (MacEwen 3-5). These emotions are relatable across the human experience, and when paired with Bronwen Wallace\u2019s \u201cA Simple Poem for Virginia Woolf,\u201d can be read as pertaining to the experiences of a queer woman. When assessed together, these poems illustrate a range of the difficult emotions queer women have faced for generations.<\/p>\n

Wallace\u2019s poem deals with the ever-present expectations of heteropatriarchy. These ideals teach people to view a woman\u2019s family life as a measure of success, just as much as they would view a man\u2019s career as reflective of his success. This prompts the speaker in the poem to wonder upon seeing a successful woman, \u201cif she\u2019s still married \/ or has a lover at least,\u201d or if she has children, \u201cand if she didn\u2019t if she\u2019d chosen \/ not to\u201d (Wallace 41-42; 46-47). In much of Europe and North America, this preoccupation with a woman\u2019s family life stems greatly from a cultural focus on the heteropatriarchal values of the nuclear family. Where same-sex marriage was not legalized in Canada until 2005, the social narrative and concern with the nuclear family at the time that \u201cA Simple Poem for Virginia Woolf\u201d was written would have largely excluded the possibility of same-sex parents.<\/p>\n

The poem highlights many of the struggles women face while pursuing a career and addresses how inseparable one\u2019s womanhood is from any other aspect of her life. In addition to the expectation for women to take on family and household responsibilities, Wallace also draws attention to the fact that women\u2019s relationships outside<\/em> of the nuclear family are often disregarded. The heteropatriarchy values a woman\u2019s usefulness as a wife and a mother, but still places far too little value on relationships that function simply for the woman\u2019s pleasure and fulfillment, rather than for others\u2019 convenience. The speaker\u2019s frustration with this reality is expressed in the description of her emotions during a time when her close friend is hospitalized:<\/p>\n

my best friend was sick in intensive care<\/p>\n

and I went down to see her<\/p>\n

but they wouldn\u2019t let me in<\/p>\n

because I wasn\u2019t her husband<\/p>\n

or her father her mother<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t family<\/p>\n

I was just her friend<\/p>\n

and the friendship of women<\/p>\n

wasn\u2019t mentioned<\/p>\n

in hospital policy<\/p>\n

[…] I went out and kicked<\/p>\n

a dent in the fender of my car<\/p>\n

and sat there crying because<\/p>\n

if she died I wouldn\u2019t be able<\/p>\n

to tell her how much I loved her\u00a0 (Wallace 52-66)<\/p>\n

In particular, this section of the poem is emotionally evocative, and Wallace\u2019s account of not being allowed in the hospital brings us back to that sense of exclusion that is so present in MacEwen\u2019s poem.<\/p>\n

One facet of the experiences of women which, in the past, has been excluded from the ideal of the nuclear family is the experience of queer women. That sense of exclusion becomes even more obvious when we recall that Virginia Woolf herself was queer and that this aspect of her life was not referenced in \u201cA Simple Poem for Virginia Woolf.\u201d This is not necessarily a fault of Wallace\u2019s, as the poem is mostly about the narrator\u2019s life, and the poem is not told from Woolf\u2019s point of view. After all, Wallace does make a point of expressing her exasperation at how little consideration is given to women\u2019s relationships outside of the nuclear family. Indeed, Virginia Woolf\u2019s intimate romantic relationship with Vita Sackville-West lasted for many years and was certainly outside the realm of the nuclear family. While women\u2019s friendships undeniably deserve recognition, the need for recognition of lesbian relationships cannot be understated. Even today, after so much progress has been made in terms of LGBTQ+ rights, queer history is still erased and underrepresented in popular media. The absence of Woolf\u2019s queerness from a poem that is named after and dedicated to her does stir up many of the sentiments of exclusion and isolation found in MacEwen\u2019s \u201cMemoirs of a Mad Cook.\u201d<\/p>\n

A close reading of the title itself provides plenty of information for MacEwen\u2019s case. Food is widely associated with growth and fertility, where fruits\u2014and tomatoes, in particular\u2014are often symbolic of love and sensuality. Based on this symbolism, the term \u201ccook\u201d can be interpreted to mean someone involved in sexual activity. The specification of a \u201cmad\u201d cook is significant to this reading, considering that homosexuality was classified as a mental illness in North America until the late twentieth century. Thus, MacEwen\u2019s poem can be read as the thoughts of a queer person struggling to perform heterosexuality in the interest of self-preservation. The speaker in \u201cMemoirs of a Mad Cook\u201d imagines cooking for someone to be a deeply intimate experience, and expresses an intense concern about whether she is \u201chandling a tomato wrong\u201d (MacEwen 13). This can be read as anxiety about the performance of heterosexuality and the hope that no one will recognize her performance as disingenuous. The warning given by the speaker that \u201cif anyone watches me I\u2019ll scream\u201d demonstrates the self-consciousness that comes from trying to hide something so significant about oneself (12).<\/p>\n

The speaker\u2019s intense fear and anxiety in MacEwen\u2019s poem that \u201csomething is eating away at me \/ with splendid teeth<\/em>\u201d is a familiar feeling for those who keep a central part of their identity a secret, even from their closest companions (15-16). It is difficult to feel a close connection if one cannot be completely honest with others. MacEwen\u2019s final stanza demonstrates this feeling of isolation in its description of the speaker\u2019s inability to offer her friends the essential substance they are seeking, whether that be honesty or vulnerability:<\/p>\n

Everyone seems to grow thin with me<\/p>\n

and their eyes grow black as hunter\u2019s eyes<\/p>\n

and search my face for sustenance.<\/p>\n

All my friends are dying of hunger,<\/p>\n

there is some basic dish I cannot offer\u00a0 (20-24)<\/p>\n

The poem concludes with the melancholic admission that the speaker\u2019s lover is the most neglected of all and is \u201calmost as lean \/ as the splendid wolf I must keep always \/ at my door\u201d (25-27). The sense of obligation in these final words recalls the reality and enforcement of heteropatriarchal assumptions. The experience of compulsory heterosexuality can lead lesbians to pursue relationships with men even though those are not the relationships they want. Just as MacEwen\u2019s speaker is obligated to keep the wolf always at their door, queer women for generations have found no choice but to silence an essential part of themselves and stay in heterosexual marriages to avoid the many prejudices they might otherwise face.<\/p>\n

The combination of these two poems by Wallace and MacEwen prompts the investigative reader to reconsider society\u2019s attitude toward queer women. The poignant language in these poems will hopefully encourage audiences to think critically about the way they see queer women portrayed in popular media and to develop more compassion for the emotional struggle which often accompanies the queer experience.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Works Cited\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

MacEwen, Gwendolyn. \u201cMemoirs of a Mad Cook.\u201d 70 Canadian Poets<\/em>. 5th ed., edited by Gary Geddes, Oxford UP, 2014, pp. 133-134.<\/p>\n

Wallace, Bronwen. \u201cA Simple Poem for Virginia Woolf.\u201d 70 Canadian Poets<\/em>. 5th ed., edited by Gary Geddes, Oxford UP, 2014, pp. 356-358.<\/p>\n

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