Gwen Harwood

Gwen Hardwood to a large extent takes marginalised groups such as women and privileges their experiences by giving them a voice through poetry. Both Suburban Sonnet and In the Park, express the frustrations of women who feel trapped by motherhood and by being placed in the traditional role of women (wife, nurturer etc). Gwen Harwood’s poetry is written in a 1950s context, when a woman’s concerns would not have been expressed. It was …

…not as a duty. Gwen Harwood addresses issues such as motherhood and domestic life, lost love and loss of individuality in these poems. Many poetic techniques have been employed to put forward these issues to the reader and to create urgency about the moment. These include, the sonnet form, phrase length and language. Suburban Sonnet and In the Park by Gwen Harwood act politically by significantly privileging the experiences and express the concerns of women.