Eat Me - Patience Agbabi Flashcards
What are the main themes of the poem?
control/submission, abuse, male gaze, women as being objects of desire which empowers themW
What is the technique used on the first line: “When I hit thirty”
PUN - dual meaning of weight and age
What is the significance of the use of plosives in the fourth stanze? “bigger”, “better”, “big”, “burrow”
hints at aggression, a sense of forcefulness and suggests control and abuse
What technique: “hips judder like a juddernaut”
Simile - emphatic, alludes to her power
Why is the fourth stanza written in italics?
To represent the voice of a man and show his view of her
“watch me swell like forbidden fruit” analyse
SIMILE and RELIGIOUS IMAGERY - links her to Eve, so she represents sinfulness, perhaps gluttony specifically, and temptation, but she is also the cause
“I was a tidal wave of flesh” analyse
ENJAMBMENT after the line suggests her to be overpowering. Use of NATURAL IMAGERY
In the seventh stanza, there is repetition of “too” at the beginning of lines. What is this called and what is it’s effect?
Anaphora - suggests she is helpless at the mercy of the male gaze
What is the significance of the first line of the eighth stanza? “The day I hit thirty-nine, I allowed him to stroke//my globe of a cheek.”
There is a SOFT VOLTA here because she specifies that she “allowed” him, suggesting a shift in power dynamics – she is now in control, contrasting the earlier “I did what I was told””
“his eyes bulging with greed.” analyse
DARK IRONY - his desires killed him
“There was nothing else left in the house to eat.” analyse
DARK IRONY - shock value, she ate him, he created this fatty who ended up eating him
What is the structure of the poem?
Three-line stanzas aka tercets - strict structure suggests control
What rhyme scheme does the poem use?
The poem uses an ABA rhyme scheme
