Surname 1

Name

Tutor

Course

Date

Literary analysis of Dorothy Parker’s “Song of Perfect Propriety”

Dorothy Parker’s poem titled “Song of Perfect Propriety” is a fantasy poem about gender

inequality.  The poem is written in ballad style, meaning that it tells a story as opposed to being

lyrical or emotional. It features interchanging tetrameter and trimeter sections. The poet varies

the ballad form by combining the typical lyrical ballad stanza of four lines rhyming abab into

four octets. This poem has iambic syllable stress. Dorothy Parker integrates different literary

elements like dramatic monologue, irony, metaphors, metonymy, conceit and repetition to

denounce gender imbalances and sexist biases that belittled women in “Song of Perfect

Propriety.”

“Song of Perfect Propriety” is in the form of dramatic monologue is a form of poetry.

The poem is dramatic in the sense that it has a theatrical quality. The implication is that the poem

is intended to be read aloud to an audience. To suggest that the poem is a dramatic monologue

implies that it contains only the thoughts of one speaker, with no dialogue from other characters.

It is similar to having a single person standing alone on a stage and addressing an audience. One

is of course, a member of that audience, but the poem usually implies that the speaker is

primarily referring to a single individual (s). Poets compose poems like this to express their point

of view through the expressions of a character. Parker in this case, uses dramatic monologue to
 Surname 2

denounce gender imbalances and sexist biases that belittle women as evidenced by her sarcastic

term “little women.”

The poem is suffused with excessive irony, as Parker claims to be a “little” woman

“writing little verse”—an act of “perfect propriety.” These amusing yet ironic jabs at her gender

fault the supposed complicity with the predominant male-controlled ideology of her time.

However, her desires and illustrations are seldom those of an “honorable” young woman. Matter

of fact, they exemplify a profound dissatisfaction with the era's gender inequalities and

subservient women's roles (Lines 15-16 and 31-32).

Parker uses metaphors to show the speaker’s frustrations with gender imbalance. The

female speaker states that she wants to be a “roaring Bucaneer” who travels the seas, drinks,

murders, takes captives and slaves (Line 2). She aspires to be a woman that determines her fate

and also others’ fates. Significantly, she would like to “stroll beyond the ancient bounds, and tap

at fastened gates,” that is, move into areas normally reserved for men through their lived

experiences or imagination. This speakers’ desires, whether real or metaphorical stand in stark

contrast with her passive reality. She sums up her situation in the four lines at the end of the

second and fourth stanzas. In these lines, Parker relates metaphorically, what she would like to

be doing, if she weren't “writing (singing) little songs (verse) as little ladies do" (Lines 15-16 and

31-32).

Parker incorporates metonymy in “Song of Perfect Propriety.” Metonymy is a figure of

speech in which a related word or phrase is used in place of the actual word. The substitution is

frequently based on a material, causal, or conceptual relationship between things. In  “Song of
 Surname 3

Perfect Propriety,” the speaker expresses a desire to be a "roaring buccaneer," which translates as

a pirate. She also refers to "rogue" crews as "blackguards" (Lines 2 and 14).

Nazanin or conceit features prominently in the “Song of Perfect Propriety.” Nezanin is

the comparison of unrelated things. A conceit is a complex, intellectual or far-fetched metaphor.

In a conceit, the poet compares two objects which, outwardly, seem to be totally unrelated. For

example, Parker declares that she would “tap at fastened gates and hear the prettiest of sounds”

(Lines 26 and 27).She challenges the reader to see gender inequality in a whole different light by

using this highly creative form of conceit to reveal the status of women as enslaved beings.

Dorothy Parker also integrates hyperbole in the poem “Song of Perfect Propriety.” Hyperbole is

an assertion or expression that is deliberately overemphasized or inflated to add meaning without

the goal of being necessarily true. Parker integrates it into the poem to build irony in

the outspoken, pirate-themed depiction of strong women contemptuous of "writing little verse, as

little ladies do" (Lines 15-16 and 31-32).

Another stylistic device evident in the “Song of Perfect Propriety” is onomatopoeia.

Onomatopoeia is a term that mimics the natural sounds of an item. It generates a sound effect

that is similar to the object being described, making the explanation more vivid and interesting.

She says she would hear the “clink of shattered fates.” The term clink not only mimics the sharp

ringing sound of metal but also alludes to prison cell bars (the enslavement of women by

patriarchy).

Parker also uses repetition in the poem. Repetition in poetry refers to the act of reiterating

words, expressions, lines, or couplets. Repetition is used to accentuate a feeling or concept,

create rhythm, and/or create a sense of urgency. Parker repeats the phrase “Oh I should” and “I’d
 Surname 4

like” to encourage women to stand up against domesticity and repressive submission to male

authority.

In “Song of Perfect Propriety,” Dorothy Parker uses literary elements such as dramatic

monologue, irony, metaphors, metonymy, conceit, and repetition to condemn gender imbalances

and sexist prejudices that degrade women.

Work Cited

Parker, Dorothy. Song of Perfect Propriety