Eunice De Souza has been known and the introduced as the uncompromising, no-nonsense and fiercely independent woman poet who was gifted with a celebratory flair of bold articulation. She constantly explores gender in her works which is quite insightful, since there is a certain observed trajectory in her poems itself. The specific poem ‘Advice to Women’ has been taken up due to the enthusiasm which the title itself induces with it being ‘women-centric’. Confessional poetry is the poetry of personal or ‘I’ and thus it springs from the personal life of the poet. ‘Advice to Women’, I believe, contains multiple expressions with distinct characteristics; as if, each word is arising out of the different circumstances or say lives, which the poet has herself lived, and, in this capacity, the poem has a confessional voice. On the first look at the text (poem), it seems that the poem itself and maybe even the Advice isn’t particularly a long one; twelve lines to be precise. The brevity here can be suggestive of the nature of the advice which has to be given to the women i.e. it being a simple yet a strong one. The stern nature of the advice is also felt due to its hard-hitting, staccato (effect) lines.
The first line declares the instruction for women to “Keep cats” in order to deal with the “otherness of lovers” which is told in the coming line. Here the assumption is that lovers (who are men) sustain the nature of otherness like the cats. Otherness or indifference can be equalled to selfishness and neglect which is faced by the women. This assumption, in some capacity, does urge the reader to believe that the voice (the author) herself must have been familiar with this neglect. Further, the poem comments about the nature of the cat and equates it with that of the lover. It can be observed that ‘the Other’ here becomes the man or the lover for whom the women have to adopt such measures. As one delves further into the poem, its suggestive irony is ruthless and the tone unapologetic. Now the reader gets to know that the poem is seemingly an Advice but actually full of Irony. This sharp irony, however, doesn’t even remotely indicate the absence of meaning but rather accentuates the intensity. By advising the women to keep cats and pointing out their characteristics; indirectly, the poet is also suggesting the women to become indifferent like the cats. She is suggesting them to become independent like them. The creature is known to be wishful, fierce and untroubled by outer forces. In a similar way, the poetic voice suggests how the woman must also carry the “devil-may-care” attitude; for, the neglect and otherness of men are felt due to the stringent dependency. Due to the conventional patriarchal setting wherein the women are born, they are consistently seen as a liability, an “Other” and thus insufficient subjects contrasting to the self-sufficient male figure. This setup further enhances the feeling of “otherness” felt by women and so, such dependency is questioned and the self-loyal or self-love attitude promoted. The themes of loss, alienation, identity crisis and the like are prevalent in the poetry.
The confessional in the poem takes the shape of the social with each passing line. In their Essay, “Confessional Poetry of Eunice De Souza and Sylvia Plath: A study in comparison”, Anju Bala Sharma and Tanu Gupta further comment on this idea- “When they came to describe their mental anguish and acute manic depressions, they assume a representative female voice. But very soon they came to realize that these experiences were not individual but universal.” De Souza, through this representative female voice, shows that a woman is in a constant state of a dilemma since initially she is expected to act out her ‘roles and responsibilities’ which include providing pleasure, happiness through duty as a daughter, a lover, a wife, a mother and so on. However, in lieu of it, she (the woman) learns that her efforts were meant to go in vain. From the very beginning till the end (“…will teach you to die alone), she is expected to be as ‘efficient’ as a male child, as bold as the ‘man’. Her poetry acts upon such strong gendered biases. With the constant intense questioning (of the biases) and representation, she is perhaps trying to re-establish and remove the previously rooted patriarchal system which acts as a guidance note for a female’s life. The poem to an extent feels like a bitter-sweet banter about a cat suggesting the love-hate relationship with the lover, however, it also carries underneath-a sublime sheet of anger and of course, complaint. There is a constant undercurrent of frustration and tension to this sheet which deprives the poet to acquire the yearning peace and comfort. It seems like the poet is voicing her agonies since she is aware that the comfort would come at the price of her inner and suppressed desires. And so, in addition, the poem and its ironic voice is also haughtily dramatic and carries a transparent choice of words. As mentioned previously, the advice is simple. Thus, it is the brevity and simplicity which makes it a pleasurable read-aloud piece i.e. also more personal and confessional.
Traditionally, the poetic devices were first put to use to create the mood, set the tone and the like. Here, since the voice itself is confessional, no unnecessary grace is garnished. De Souza’s poetry mainly relies on sound, the rhythm of lines, on tone and the (natural) accenting. It feels as if the poet is talking to us and in fact, inviting us, and also celebrating everybody including the misfits. The catholic poet seems to be performing a confession, not in speech form in front of a priest but through her floating yet heavy words on the paper. These words are ironic understatements rising out of a self-conscious positioning as a woman as well as the lover. Her confessional mode carries a revelation of the insecurities in her mind. An increasing awareness made them raise their voice against inequality and oppression. To further note the confessional tone in the poem, The Imagism has to be further realized. Here, the image of the cat is very well utilized in the poem since it is re-imagined in proper action; for instance, when the poet mentions- “Cats return to their litter trays, when they need to;” In her Essay- “Experiments in Form, Eunice De Souza’s Poetry”, Minakshi Kaushik talks more about such imagism. She mentions, “De Souza’s poems embody the idea that the innovative use of form can sometimes induce unexpected perspectives. Imagism is used by her to imply other unsaid things about life as well as poetry. She is thus able to engage in self-criticism without sounding overly sentimental.” Further, the economy of imagism to shed excessive ornamentation is talked about.
De Souza uses it to comment upon the practice of writing poetry. Such use does not suggest her distrust of language or an attempt to rely purely on a formal arrangement of words as it did for the traditionalists. Contrary to the traditional poets, De Souza’s new generation of women poets have emerged as — unafraid, motivated of feminist ideologies. The conflict in their minds between feminist learning and tradition-bound roles has left them bewildered and perplexed. In their Essay, “Confessional Poetry of Eunice De Souza and Sylvia Plath: A study in comparison”, Anju Bala Sharma and Tanu Gupta also talk about the female emancipation which is made possible through the mode of confessionalism- “Both of them found themselves caught between the conflict of tradition-bound self and the self-looking for the freedom. They reveal an acute awareness of the tragic fate which comes with the feeling of being born as a woman.” Thus, it is also the dissatisfaction of the given world that push their inner desires towards the need of a transformation. Eunice De Souza not only provides but stands by women through her poetry in order to give a reaction for the laid foundation of the inner anger, suppression, suffering, pain, oppression, humiliation and gender indiscrimination. Her fierce pen takes everything under scrutiny and lashes out harsh criticism since it is the social strain that marks the poetry of De Souza. This lashing against the inequality of women both physically and mentally becomes confessional since she uses her shared experience to represent it.
The nature of confession has impressed in it the possibility of providing some relief, which can be assumed here for Eunice as well. Nonetheless, it became her pen which provided and even ultimately taught her the art of survival. Such relief is the best reasoning to put forward for confessional voice. This voice, the imagism and the overt rhyme scheme and the enhanced collective self-consciousness of the poem refrains from it being felt as off-beat to the reader (here, a woman)- the same experience might not be said for a man due to the lacking gender consciousness. And well, that’s a confession.
-Narita
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