Leigh RR2

After considering the possible relationships that could have been interpreted in “A Work Of Artifice,” I noticed many connections and interesting details that touched on the patriarchal attitude about female identity. The most obvious comparison is of the woman to the bonsai tree. Piercy mentions the trees potential to grow freer and stronger, but acknowledges the limitations that are put on her growth by the “gardener,” which appears to be the male’s influence. When Piercy says the lines: “…domestic and weak; how lucky, little tree, to have a pot to grow in…” I sense a bit of sarcasm. I think Piercy is touching on the idea that women are supposed to feel grateful and fulfilled to be under the “safety” of a man. The pot, in this example, could be seen as a mold that many women feel they must fit into in order to carry out her role. At the same time, this pot represents the plants inability to expand past a certain point, despite her efforts to grow further. When Piercy says that living creatures must begin to “dwarth their growth” at a very young age, she seems to be hinting that females begin to feel pressure to start fitting gender expectations early in life; that the standards created by men are in stilled in a girl’s mindset before she is old enough to think for herself.