PORTRAYAL OF FEMALE OPPRESSION IN THE SELECTED POEMS OF PLATH, ANGELOU AND KAUR

Abstract

Feminism is a mass movement that includes women of all groups to eradicate all types of female oppression that are prevailing in patriarchal societies. Feminists raise their voice in favor of women rights and support gender equality. In this context, this study probes the experiences and oppressions of women who belong to different age, race, and region. For this purpose, the researcher has compared and contrasted the portrayal of the oppression(s) of women through the poetry of Plath, Angelou, and Kaur. To conduct the analysis, different chunks have been chosen from the selected poems of Plath, Angelou, and Kaur. Four chunks have been chosen from Plath’s “Daddy” (1965) and four chunks from “Mushrooms” (1959), four chunks have been selected from Angelou’s “Still I Rise” (1978), and two chunks from “Phenomenal Woman” (1978), and one chunk is selected from Kaur’s “Freedom of speech” (2014), and one chunk from “To fathers with daughters” (2014). The data has been chosen through purposive sampling technique and the researcher has analyzed the selected data through content analysis. The theories of Beauvoir (1949/1953) and hooks (1981) have been used as theoretical framework in this research. After conducting the analysis of the selected narratives, the findings reveal the similarities as well as differences in the portrayal of the oppression(s) of women that have depicted in the selective narratives of selected poets belong to different time period, race and region.