Historical Context
Economics and Politics in the 1980s
Although Sharon Olds' collection The Gold Cell was published in 1987, the poems within were penned in the early 1980s. This period was characterized by significant global events such as the Iraq-Iran war, the Western countries' boycott of the Moscow Olympics, and the assassination of Egypt's President Anwar al-Sadat. In the United States, Ronald Reagan won the presidency, while the TV show Dallas dominated ratings, and Sally Ride made history as the first American woman in space aboard the Challenger shuttle.
During this era, numerous social conflicts were prevalent in American society. High unemployment rates and escalating inflation left even those with jobs feeling financially strained. The nation experienced increased division along lines of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and economic status. The economic prosperity of the 1980s predominantly benefited well-educated white men, while women and minorities saw setbacks in their pursuit of financial success.
On the surface, Reagan's America seemed predominantly white, male, and Christian, but beneath this facade, the country was undergoing significant transformations. Immigration surged, altering the nation's ethnic composition and heightening demands for education and healthcare. The push for enhanced social services clashed with the call for reduced federal taxes. Tax reductions, paired with massive military spending, dismantled numerous social programs, sparking a severe recession and a budget deficit that would take over two decades to resolve. Unemployment rates soared to about 10 percent, the highest since before World War II, while poverty levels, especially among children, climbed, and the AIDS epidemic escalated.
The Social World
The 1980s introduced substantial shifts in America's social landscape. Sandra Day O’Connor became the first woman to serve as a justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. By the early 1980s, approximately half of all women were employed outside the home, although few reached the heights of success that O’Connor achieved. Most women were in low-wage, entry-level jobs, often earning so little that they needed multiple jobs to support their families.
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) aimed to secure equal rights and particularly equal pay for women when Congress approved it in 1972. However, by 1982, it failed to become law due to insufficient state ratifications. Despite this defeat, the ERA’s principles significantly influenced American society. The amendment's failure to pass sparked a broader reconsideration of traditional gender roles. One of the first norms questioned was the practice of girls enrolling in home economics classes while boys took shop classes. It seemed logical that both genders could benefit from learning skills like cooking and building or repairing small items. The feminist movement began by challenging such conventional norms, leading to gradual but hard-won changes. The progress made by feminists inspired other groups, such as African Americans and environmentalists, to adopt similar strategies. They recognized that well-organized protests, especially those that attracted media attention, could drive societal change. Ultimately, the early 1980s emerged as a time of significant social transformation.
Literary Style
Analogy
Analogy is a frequently used element in poetry, highlighting a resemblance between things that seem different at first glance. For instance, Olds employs the initial depiction of the college gates as a metaphorical commentary on her parents. The speaker details each gate separately to highlight differences and potential incompatibility. The father's gate is made of ochre sandstone topped with red tiles, while the mother's gate is crafted from wrought iron and bricks. These architectural elements symbolize the differences between the parents, serving as an analogy for their transition from college to marriage. Olds's use of analogy is quite nuanced, requiring readers to examine the poem closely to grasp all the references.
Catharsis
Catharsis involves the...
(This entire section contains 625 words.)
Unlock this Study Guide Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
release or purging of unwanted emotions, often achieved through poetry or drama. In Olds’s poem, the speaker uses the poem to process the pain and sorrow stemming from her parents' troubled marriage. Initially, she imagines traveling back to a time before their marriage to prevent the wedding. She recounts her parents' unhappiness and the destructive nature of their union, along with its adverse effects on their children. By the poem’s end, however, the speaker accepts a past she cannot alter, finding that narrating the events serves as a form of catharsis. Instead of stopping the marriage, she chooses to write about it, using language and expression as a way to alleviate the pain, even if she cannot change the past events themselves.
Imagery
Imagery involves using figurative or expressive language to depict objects, actions, or ideas. The connections between images can convey significant meanings in a poem. In Olds’s poem, for example, the speaker describes her father in a way that reflects his character, presenting an unflattering portrayal. He is described as “arrogant handsome blind.” Each term evokes a distinct image: Arrogant suggests self-importance or an inflated sense of pride. Handsome might imply attractiveness or visual appeal, but it can also mean striking in appearance, as in large. Blind hints at an inability to see, but it might also indicate an unwillingness to acknowledge reality or a capacity to ignore known truths. These three words combine to form a more comprehensive image of the speaker’s father than the words alone would suggest.
Lyric Poetry
Lyric poetry encompasses poems that are deeply connected with emotions, imagination, and a melody-like quality, often linked to a single speaker. Due to its personal and emotional nature, lyric poetry is inherently subjective. It is also the most prevalent type of poetry, sharing characteristics with many other poetic forms. Olds’s poem effectively utilizes both imagination and emotion, presenting solely the speaker’s perspective, making it highly subjective. The reader hears the story of the speaker’s parents through their child’s pain-filled and grief-stricken voice, without the parents' voices.
Narrative Poem
A narrative poem is a poem that conveys a story. In Olds’s poem, the speaker imagines traveling back to a time before her parents' marriage. The poem details the parents' unhappiness, the suffering of their children, and the havoc their marriage caused for everyone involved. The narrative concludes with the speaker realizing she cannot alter the past, but she can recount her parents' story, potentially finding healing through this act.
Parallelism
Parallelism involves the repetition of style or words within a poem. This literary technique is used to convey several ideas of equal significance in a similar way. For instance, Olds employs parallelism to depict her parents: “her hungry pretty blank face turning to me” is mirrored by “his arrogant handsome blind face turning to me.” Another example is found in lines 17 through 19, with the repeated phrase “you are going to.” Parallelism draws the reader’s attention to these lines, highlighting them as crucial elements of the poem.
Compare and Contrast
1980s: This era kicks off with the "perfect" union of an English princess and prince. The wedding of Lady Diana Spencer and Charles, the Prince of Wales, symbolizes the fairy-tale marriage many women still desire, despite the feminist movement that emerged at the end of the previous decade. The enchanting allure of the event is evident as 700 million viewers tune in to watch the ceremony on television.
Today: Within fifteen years, the marriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales ends in divorce. Tragically, a year later, Diana dies in a car accident. The divorced Prince of Wales becomes a single father to two sons. In the United States, the number of single-parent households is also on the rise, frequently due to divorce, which occurs in about fifty percent of all marriages.
1980s: Steven Spielberg's ET: The Extra-Terrestrial exemplifies a surge of new films enhanced by sophisticated special effects, often generated by computers. However, a key aspect of this film is its portrayal of divorce. The children who befriend ET live with a single parent. The film's immense popularity keeps it the top-grossing movie for eleven years.
Today: Films remain a significant part of American culture. Advancements in computer technology continue to elevate special effects, with each new release surpassing its predecessors in complexity. ET: The Extra-Terrestrial is re-released with updated special effects to commemorate its twentieth anniversary.
1980s: In 1982, Chicago sees the introduction of the first cellular phones for public use, priced at $3000 with a $150 monthly service fee. New transmitters expand mobile phone accessibility to more regions.
Today: Statistics indicate that half of all households now own and use a cell phone. Lower costs and increased competition among providers have contributed to the rising number of users.
1980s: Ronald Reagan, a former Hollywood actor, serves as the U.S. President for most of this decade. Reagan leverages his acting skills, including his effective use of television and film, to communicate his ideas. His presidency reflects America's fascination with movie stars and a willingness to prioritize charisma over experience.
Today: The public's interest in Hollywood and celebrities persists. Although no actor has been elected to the presidency since Reagan, media coverage and celebrity influence play a crucial role in the electoral process. This trend suggests a certain superficiality among the American public, focusing more on the presentation than the substance of political messages.
Media Adaptations
Sharon Olds: The Lannon Literary Series is available on VHS. This 1991 production runs for sixty minutes and features Olds reading from The Dead and the Living and The Gold Cell, in addition to some unpublished works. The video also includes an interview with Olds conducted by Lewis MacAdams.
The Power of the Word, hosted by Bill Moyers, is a six-part series from Public Broadcasting released in 1989, with a total duration of 360 minutes. It showcases interviews with numerous contemporary poets, including Sharon Olds. This series is also available on VHS.
The Best of NPR: Writers on Writing is a ninety-minute audiocassette featuring contemporary authors, including Sharon Olds, discussing their creative processes.
Poets in Person (1991) is a fourteen-part audio series that highlights over a dozen contemporary American poets discussing their work and the inspiration behind some of their favorite poems. Sharon Olds shares insights on transforming real-life experiences into poetry. Each cassette in the series is thirty minutes long.
In Their Own Voices: A Century of Recorded Poetry (1996) is a four-CD boxed set where poets read their own compositions. The collection includes many historical recordings, some dating back to the nineteenth century, along with readings by contemporary poets. Sharon Olds contributes with her poem “Wonder.”
Bibliography and Further Reading
Sources
Anonymous, “Three Poets on Poetry: Carolyn Forche, Sharon Olds & Alicia Ostriker,” in Poetry Society of America Newsletter, Vol. 31, Fall 1989, pp. 1, 4–8.
Brown-Davidson, Terri, “The Belabored Scene, The Subtlest Detail: How Craft Affects Heat in the Poetry of Sharon Olds and Sandra McPherson,” in Hollins Critic, Vol. 29, No. 1, February 1992, pp. 1–10.
Harris, Peter, “Four Salvers Salvaging: New Work by Voigt, Olds, Dove, and McHugh,” in Virginia Quarterly Review, Vol. 64, No. 2, Spring 1988, pp. 262–76.
McEwen, Christian, “Soul Substance,” in Nation, Vol. 244, No. 14, April 11, 1987, pp. 472–75.
Olds, Sharon, The Gold Cell, Alfred A. Knopf, 1987, pp. 33, 43.
Spalding, Esta, “The Earthly Matter: A Conversation with Sharon Olds,” in Brick, Vol. 67, Spring 2001, pp. 85–92.
Further Reading
Dacey, Philip, and David Jauss, eds., Strong Measures: Contemporary American Poetry in Traditional Forms, Addison-Wesley, 1986. This collection offers readers a wide array of poems showcasing various traditional poetic forms.
Mullaney, Janet Palmer, ed., Truthtellers of the Times: Interviews with Contemporary Women Poets, University of Michigan Press, 1998. The book features interviews with fourteen modern poets. Although Sharon Olds is not included, it provides insight into the creative realms of her contemporaries.
Pinsky, Robert, The Sounds of Poetry: A Brief Guide, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1999. This accessible guide explains how to read and appreciate poetry, covering elements like line, syntax, meter, rhyme, and the poetic craft.
Schaller, Michael, Reckoning with Reagan: America and Its President in the 1980s, Oxford University Press, 1984. This book provides an extensive examination of Reagan's era, focusing on his political strategies, economic policies, social dynamics, and international relations of the 1980s.
Slansky, Paul, The Clothes Have No Emperor: A Chronicle of the American Eighties, Fireside, 1989. Slansky offers a humorous perspective on the 1980s, providing a sharp critique of Reagan's presidency, while remaining largely nonpartisan.
Strand, Mark, and Eavan Boland, eds., The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms, W. W. Norton & Company, 2001. This is an exceptional resource for understanding poetry, offering guidance on poetic form and including an anthology of poems that exemplify the discussed concepts.
