Edna St. Vincent Millays Sonnet I, Being Born a Woman and Distressed E

Edna St. Vincent Millays sonnet I, organism Born a charr and Distressed Edna St. Vincent Millays sonnet, I, Being Born a Woman and Distressed, serves as an excellent example of a multi-faceted piece. From one angle, it is simply a Petrarchan sonnet, written with a slight sportswoman on rhyme scheme but that variation, taken deeper, reveals new layers of meaning. Added to Millays choice of meter and end-stop, along with a background of Millays person, this sonnet seems not so simple after all. Millay, though she married in 1923, was known to have extramarital affairs, purportedly with both women and men. (wikipedia.com) In the scope of this particular sonnet, such seems revealing indeed for it seems the speaker of the sonnet is involve in some sort of affair. Or perhaps Millays sonnet is addressed to her husband, for it was published in 1923 however, that seems un seeming, since the sonnet frames a rejection of her lover. More likely, I see it as a final goodbye to her lov er earlier marriage, for she finds this frenzy insufficient reason to continue seeing him (or her). Though Millay had an pass around marriage that is, she and her husband consented to each others affairs she likely did not want to begin her marriage with two lovers. The 1920s was a booming period, and Millay fit in perfectly with her independent demeanor. Women had gotten the right to choose in 1920, and this, I estimate, furthered Millays interest in independence, and perhaps ca employ her to think about the traditional roles of women. The typical image of a damsel in distress fit her poorly hers was a more forthright existence. On the outside, however, she was a woman, and was thus restrained by her own appearance more ... ...er skills. This reflects in her poetry particularly I, Being Born a Woman and Distressed. Millay took an established form, and altered it to fit her meaning even taking its accredited purpose into consideration to create an ironic sonnet tha t broke with the norm. aft(prenominal) an analysis of both the technical and social features of this sonnet, its hidden meanings and subtle sensation become readily apparent.Works Cited The Norton Anthology of Poetry, Fifth Edition. Margaret Ferguson, Mary Jo Salter, & Jon Stallworthy. Copyright 2005, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. Edna St. Vincent Millay. Wikipedia. 21 October 2005. Non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. 31 October 2005. Gale, Robert L. Edna St. Vincent Millays Life. Modern American Poetry. Accessed 31 October 2005. (This source was used solely to confirm the information on Wikipedia.)