Woman Work Critical Summary

Woman Work Critical Summary: This heartfelt poem is written by Maya Angelou. The very words “woman work” seem strange and a deviation from routine because a woman, generally a housewife, is considered to be free having nothing to do. It is a general perception that house wives are always free to gossip and hang about. The poetess has another view point. Maya Angelou tells us about the sacrifices made by a housewife; she leads a tiresome and monotonous life for her family. This poem is a direct comparison with the poem leisure where humans have no time to enjoy the beauty of nature.

The poetess enumerates daily routines of a housewife to prove her case.

She has to mop the floor. She has to clean the house. She has to bathe and dry the kids. She has to prepare the children for school. She has to buy food. She has to cook for her family. She has to weed the garden. She is fed up with this boring life. She has no source to enjoy life.

She calls nature, a mother, to console her with white “icy kisses”, sunshine and rain. She yearns for change but at the same time cannot leave her responsibilities. The poetess has briefly communicated the self-earn chains of slavery of the household drudgery for a housewife whom we generally consider a chit-chatter.

The theme is that we ought not only to share the burden of women but also learn to respect their work as a full time job. The entire of life of a housewife is based on sacrifices which she makes for her family. She even suppresses her natural desires for the sake of her family and children and bids good bye to the very nature and its beauty we all love.

More Summaries to the Woman Work Critical Summary:

  1. Leisure Full Text.
  2. Tartary
  3. New Year Resolutions
  4. Woman Work
  5. Rebel
  6. The Huntsman
  7. All the Worlds a Stage
  8. Solitary Reaper – Summary
  9. Solitary Reaper Text
  10. One Art
  11. Departure and Arrival – Summary
  12. Departure and Arrival – Text
  13. After Apple Picking – Summary
  14. After Apple Picking – Themes
  15. After Apple Picking – Text
  16. Lights Out
  17. Because I Could not Stop for Death
  18. Hawks Monologue
  19. When I have Fears
  20. Kubla Khan

References:

  1. Poetry
  2. BA English Notes
  3. BA English Syllabus
  4. Text of the poem Woman Work Critical Summary

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