'Mushrooms' by Sylvia Plath
...ely ignored and exploited. The opening of the poem emphasises the sense of a ‘quiet’ revolution occurring – one from within society rather than an assault from without. The pulsing rhythm of the poem, rigidly controlled by Plath and resistant to alternative phrasing due to the rather heavy-handed use of internal rhyme (Overnight, very/ Whitely, discreetly,/ Very quietly) gives the poem a militaristic, almost sinister feel. The poem marches rhythmically but does so quietly, the hissing sibilance of the third stanza giving a sense of being crept up on in silence. This is continued in the fourth stanza where the ‘soft fists insist’ on their irresistible approach. This fist image is complex but very powerful. It carries with it the portrayal of the female as the ‘velvet glove’ rather than the iron fist – no less forceful or persuasive but approaching a situation from a perspective unlike the outwardly aggressive patriarchal structures that dominate society. The image is also able to read as an expression of the female form, which is unable to be constricted or contained within existing boundaries of social convention and insists on breaking away from traditional domestic imagery of needles and bedding. Not only does the ‘soft fist’ push away feminised objects but it also is able to displace symbols of masculine control – the paving is shoved aside by the ‘hammers’ that open up the fundamental flaws or ‘crannies’ in patriarchal power structures. Traditionally the female has been ‘silenced’ in patriarchal society and forced to be self-effacing and ‘bland-mannered’. Plath refers to the female role of living and existing in a world of ‘shadow’ without making demands of the society, accepting a role of passivity and domestic servitude. The reference to domestic objects, ‘We are shelves, we are/ Tables’ clearly positions the role of the female as a being a domestic object, able to be used when required but ignored the rest of the time. The imposition of meekness as a desirable female attribute is linked...