A WORK OF ARTIFICE, summary, explanations and question answers

A WORK OF ARTIFICE

At a Glance

• The small bonsai could have been a tall tree if it had not been pruned by the gardener and kept in an attractive pot.
• The gardener regularly trims its branches to ensure its safety in a pot. 
• From the beginning, living creatures need to be pruned and kept beautiful.
• Like a bonsai tree, the growth of a woman is restricted by the norms of patriarchy. 
• Detailed Summary of A Work of Artifice

·       “A Work of Artifice” by Marge Piercy uses the image of a bonsai tree to critique societal pressures that restrict and control individuals, particularly women.

·       The poem opens with a striking contrast: a bonsai whose growth is restricted to a beautiful pot, versus its natural potential to reach a great height. This immediately sets the stage for the poem’s central theme – the limitations placed on individuals by societal expectations.

·       The gardener’s careful pruning symbolizes the controlling forces that shape people’s lives. The gardener tells the tree that its “nature” is to be “small and cozy.” This manipulation reflects how societal expectations can distort our perception of ourselves and our potential. The poem further criticizes these limitations through references to societal practices that restrict women, like “bound feet” and “crippled brain.”  The pressure placed on women to conform to (obey/follow) a certain standard of beauty is also highlighted, suggesting a focus on appearance over a woman’s full potential.  

·       Poem:
The bonsai tree
in the attractive pot
could have grown eighty feet tall
on the side of a mountain
till split by lightning.

 

·       Word Meaning:
Artifice : clever trick
Bonsai –  A miniature tree grown in a container, carefully shaped and pruned to maintain its small size.
Split : tear /break apart
Lightning- a powerful electrical discharge in the atmosphere

 

·       Explanation:
The miniature tree is planted in an attractive pot. The tree could have grown up to eighty-feet-tall if it had been planted in nature (along a mountainside). The full-grown tree would have been so strong that it could only be damaged by lightning. 

 

·       Poem:
But a gardener
carefully pruned it.
It is nine inches high.
Every day as he
whittles back the branches
the gardener croons,

Word Meaning:
Pruned – cut off to make something smaller
Whittle – reduce something in size, amount, or extent by a gradual series of steps.
Croons – Sings in a soft, low voice.

Explanation:
But instead of letting the tree grow tall as per its nature, a gardener carefully trims the plant so that the height of the plant is about nine inches only. Every day, while trimming the branches of the tree, the gardener sings softly.

Poem:
It is your nature
to be small and cozy,
domestic and weak;
how lucky, little tree,
to have a pot to grow in.

Word Meaning:
Cozy – comfortable

Explanation

The gardener sings that nature has made the tree small and weak so that it can be grown indoors and that the tree is lucky and fortunate to have a pot in which it can grow. 

Poem:
With living creatures
one must begin very early
to dwarf their growth:

Word Meaning:
Dwarf – stunt

Explanation:
Restrictions must be imposed on living beings in their early stages to stop them from growing to their full potential.
This stanza broadens the poem’s metaphor beyond just the bonsai tree. It suggests that the act of restricting and controlling growth is applied widely to living things, not just plants. This could refer to humans or animals trained for specific purposes or any living being on this planet. 

Poem:
the bound feet,
the crippled brain,
the hair in curlers,
the hands you
love to touch. 

Word Meaning:
Bound – held together
Crippled brain – suggestive of stunted mental growth
Curlers – a kind of roller to make hair curly

Explanation:

Like a tree, a woman from a very young age is kept in control. Here, the poet gives examples of how their growth is hampered by binding their feet, brainwashing them and putting their hair in curlers. 

In the last line, the poet likely scolds the gardener for destroying what he loves to touch.

Trivia – “Bound feet” is a historical reference to a practice in China where young girls’ feet were bound to restrict their growth.

• Bound feet:

This refers to the ancient Chinese practice of foot binding, where young girls' feet were tightly bound to alter their shape, considered a sign of beauty and status. It symbolizes the extreme lengths to which societies have gone to conform to beauty standards, often causing pain and suffering. 

• Crippled brain:

This phrase highlights the intellectual suppression of women, suggesting that their natural intellect is not valued or encouraged. It implies that women are expected to conform to societal expectations rather than think critically or independently. 

• Hair in curlers:

This refers to the effort women put into maintaining their appearance according to societal norms. It symbolizes the time and energy women dedicate to conforming to superficial beauty standards. 

• Hands you love to touch:

This seemingly positive phrase is juxtaposed with the previous negative descriptions, creating irony. It suggests that even though women may be physically altered and intellectually suppressed to meet societal expectations, they are still desired and loved for their physical attributes. This highlights the societal focus on superficial beauty and the emotional toll it can take on women. 

Ultimately, the poem uses these symbols to critique the societal pressures that confine women and limit their potential, while also acknowledging the human desire for love and connection. 

 Poetic Devices in  A Work of Artifice

Metaphor

A metaphor is a figure of speech that is used to make a comparison without using words “like” and “as”. 

A bonsai tree is a metaphor for women, who face inequality, discrimination and oppression. The poet uses this to express that women have vast potential to grow and accomplish large things but fail to do so as a result of the manipulations and suppression. 

 

Personification

A figure of speech in which abstract ideas are invested with personality, and both inanimate and abstract ideas are endowed with the attributes of living beings. The poet gives human attributes to the bonsai by using words such as ” “brain”, and “hair”.

 

Apostrophe

Apostrophe is a figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses someone (or something) that is not present or cannot respond in reality. The poet makes use of an apostrophe as the gardener addresses both women and the tree. By doing so, Piercy emphasises the way society directly or indirectly prevents women from reaching their full potential.  She uses the lines:

“the bound feet,
the crippled brain,
the hair in curlers,
the hands you
love to touch.”

 

Symbolism

Symbolism is the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities.

 

• Bonsai tree: Represents the individual restricted by societal expectations.
• Gardener: Represents societal forces that control and shape individuals.
• Pot: Represents the limitations placed on the individual’s potential.
• Bound feet, crippled brain, hair in curlers: These symbolize specific societal practices that restrict individual growth, particularly for women.

Irony 

The gardener’s words, “It is your nature to be small and cozy…how lucky, little tree,” are laced with irony. He justifies the limitations as the tree’s natural state, while the reader understands it’s an imposed condition.

Allusion

The allusions i.e., the reference to other works or culture, to allude to the restrictions imposed on women to curb their growth and potential.

“bound feet” in an allusion to the pre-revolutionary Chinese practice of binding women’s feet as small feet were considered as a symbol of beauty

Passage 1

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

The bonsai tree

in the attractive pot

could have grown eighty feet tall

on the side of a mountain

till split by lightning.

But a gardener

carefully pruned it.

It is nine inches high.

(i) What kind of tree is a bonsai? What does it stand for in the poem?

Ans. A bonsai is a miniature tree grown in a container. In the poem, it stands for an individual whose potential is restricted by societal expectations.

(ii) Where could it have grown fully? What has stunted its growth?

Ans. The bonsai could have grown fully on the side of a mountain. Its growth is stunted by the gardener’s careful pruning.

(iii) Who does the gardener stand for in the poem? Why does it not let the ‘bonsai tree’ grow to its full potential?

Ans. The gardener symbolizes the forces that control and shape individuals. The gardener wants to restrict its growth. 

(iv) Why does the gardener want the bonsai to remain small and weak? What is its implication in the poem?

Ans. The gardener wants the bonsai to remain small and weak to limit its growth. The implication is that society might benefit from keeping individuals submissive and under control.

(v) What is the main idea projected in the poem?

Ans. The main idea of the poem is limitations imposed on individuals.

Passage 2

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Every day as he

whittles back the branches

the gardener croons,

It is your nature

to be small and cozy,

domestic and weak;

 

(i) What is the function of the ‘gardener’? Which function of the ‘gardener’ referred to in the poem is in reality regressive and harmful? How?

Ans. The gardener’s function is to care for and shape the bonsai tree. However, this care becomes restrictive by constantly trimming the branches, preventing the tree from reaching its full potential.

(ii) In what tone does the gardener speak? What picture do you form of the ‘gardener’ in your mind as ‘he’ speaks to the bonsai tree?

Ans. The gardener speaks in a soothing tone, which suggests he might be trying to appear gentle and comforting. This creates a sense of hypocrisy because his actions contradict his soothing words. We get a picture that the gardener must love his plant but still restricts its growth.

(iii) In what way is the gardener wrong?

Ans. The gardener is wrong because he assumes the bonsai’s nature is to be small and cozy.

(iv) What do the last two lines suggest?

Ans. The lines “domestic and weak” further emphasize the limitations placed on the bonsai. Domestic implies confinement to a limited space, while weak suggests a loss of power and potential.

(v) What does the word ‘croons’ mean? What does it imply?

Ans. “Croons” means to sing in a soft, low voice. It implies that the gardener might be trying to mask his controlling actions with a gentle outer attitude. It creates a sense of false comfort because the bonsai’s freedom is being restricted despite the soothing voice.

Passage 3

how lucky, little tree,

to have a pot to grow in.

With living creatures

one must begin very early

to dwarf their growth:

(i) Who is the speaker? Who is being addressed?

Ans. The speaker is the gardener, the one who controls and shapes the bonsai tree. The one being addressed is the bonsai tree but metaphorically represents living beings, specially women.

 

(ii) What does the ‘pot’ mean in the metaphorical context of the poem? Give its relevance to the development of women.

Ans. The pot symbolizes the confinement of individuals by society, particularly women. In the context of women’s development, the pot represents the confined space in which they are expected to live and function as per societal norms. 

(iii) What do males do to stunt the growth of women?

Ans. The males stunt the growth of women by enforcing gender roles, limiting education,

discouraging of independence etc. 

(iv) Bring out the significance of the last two lines.

Ans. The last lines signify that in order to curb the individuals and stunt their growth, restrictions must be imposed early on in their lives.

(v) What stereotypical role do women play in life? How are they tricked to perform it?

Ans. Women are expected to be domestic, they should be focused on home and nurturing. They are tricked into performing this role by enforcing it from a young age.

Passage 4

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

the bound feet,

the crippled brain,

the hair in curlers,

the hands you

love to touch.

(i) Which shift in context is brought out with these lines?

Ans. The lines from the above extract introduce a shift from the metaphor of the bonsai to the societal limitations placed on women.

(ii) In which context are women’s ‘feet’ bound? Why?

Ans. The historical practice of foot binding in some cultures, particularly China, was an extremely painful practice. Young girls’ feet were broken and bound to restrict their growth, creating the desired appearance of small feet. This practice restricted women’s mobility

(iii) Why are women made to look attractive?

Ans. Women are made to look attractive as societal pressure often dictates that women prioritize their physical appearance to be considered desirable. This focus can overshadow other aspects of a woman’s potential and value.

(iii) The last two lines are ironic. How?

Ans. The irony lies in the contradiction between a crippled brain and hands you love to touch.

It suggests that while a woman’s mind might be limited by societal expectations, her physical beauty is still emphasized. This highlights the objectification of women and the focus on appearance over intellectual capacity.

(v) What does the poet seem to lament? What does she expect of women?

Ans. The poet seems to lament the many ways women are controlled and restricted. This includes physical limitations (bound feet), intellectual limitations (crippled brain), and societal pressures on appearance (hair in curlers). The poem suggests that women should be free to develop their full potential.

 Courtesy: SuccessCDs and Google AI