The Victory: An Analysis

Anne Stevenson is trying to portray a mother's feelings of pain and anguish of giving birth to a child in the poem The Victory: "I thought you were my victory / though you cut me like a knife" (Lines 1-2). Although she must endure such pain, it is also exciting for the mother to bring new life into the world, which in fact feels like a "victory" to a new parent. However, throughout the poem, the …

…mother in the poem seems to feel cheated in giving birth to a male child of the man who in some way responsible for her condition. Why does she have to love him? Why does she have to suffer childbirth in order to bring more men into the world? (Or daughters who will suffer as well.) Is this how he has won? The Victory asks these questions. However, they cannot be answered. BY: Mika Mokko