AQA A Level English Literature Poems of the Decade essay. I got 3 A*s at A-Level, 11A*/9/8 at GCSE, and I am currently studying History at the University of Cambridge. This essay is a close, detailed, and analytical comparison of Eat Me and Chainsaw Versus the Pampas Grass. It reaches all the top ...
Comparison of Eat Me and Chainsaw Versus the Pampas Grass
‘Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper’ - The Taming of the Shrew: Act V, Scene ii
Shakespeare’s play touches upon similar themes to both ‘Eat Me’ and ‘Chainsaw Versus the Pampas Grass’; views on
gender, power ranging from the masculine to natural, alongside greed and eventually resistance.
Both poems present critical views of gender. Armitage uses the extended metaphor of a chainsaw to represent toxic
masculinity; the tool ‘grinding its teeth in a plastic sleeve’ deploys anthropomorphism which makes it seem angry and sexually
frustrated. The present participle ‘grinding’ has sexual connotations and shows the immediacy of the impulses; the ‘plastic sleeve’
may represent a condom, which shows sexual frustration in two ways as the chainsaw could be physically trapped, or is enacting the
cliché that men are always ready for sex. The phrases ‘a quarter-pint’ and ‘instant rage’ have the stereotyped negative image of a
man getting drunk after the pub and becoming violent. The pampas grass is contrasted as tactile imagery - ‘feathers and plumes’ -
renders it delicate and feminine, but also superficial as it plays upon the negative stereotype of women only caring about ‘jewellery
or hair’. Similarly, Agbabi deploys cacophony and anaphora in ‘too fat’ to perhaps criticise the female narrator as it is clear that she
understands her situation, but is too weak-willed to resolve it until she hits ‘thirty-nine’ stones in weight. Men are presented as
being overly controlling through the tightly controlled stanza and line length, like in Robert Browning’s ‘My Last Duchess’.
However, unlike Armitage, Agbabi is not entirely critical of gender; the poem is written in a female dramatic monologue with
persuasive devices such as the rhetorical question ‘how could I not roll over’, which help create pity for this gender.
Both poets explore the breakdown of masculine power. The imperative in the title ‘Eat Me’ hints at power as it implies that
one person is giving orders while another is oppressed. At first glance, the semantic field of Robinsonade colonial imagery such as
‘his desert island’ seems to show men in power. The possessive pronoun ‘his’ objectifies the female narrator, rendering her into an
‘island’ to be conquered by male explorers. Alternatively, Agabi may actually be exploring the breakdown of masculine power as
this metaphor of a drowning sailor implies that he is dependent on women for security; the verb ‘drowned’ at the end of the poem
reflects how masculine power can be overcome by women. Similarly, Armitage explores the gradual breakdown of masculine
power in the poem, starting from the title; ‘Chainsaw Versus the Pampas Grass’ has immediate connotations of a battle between two
opponents. Interestingly, he also uses colonialist imagery; pampas grass is South American, and the metaphor ‘gunned the trigger’
describes the chainsaw, which could allude to how Spanish conquerors invaded with guns. Shortening stanza lengths visually show
how the chainsaw is losing power in the poem and show the pampas grass is gaining it; ‘a new crown’ is significant as it has
connotations of royalty and contrasts with ‘ludicrous feathers’ in the fourth stanza. Perhaps Armitage is making the point that
feminine power can overcome masculine oppression; yet unlike the death in ‘Eat Me’, there is no definite conclusion which could
suggest how the power of both genders fluctuates.
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