- Introduction
This woman is Forugh Farrokhzad. An Iranian woman born in Tehran, She became “…Iran’s most famous poetess…”, and how “…No other secular nonconformist woman had such a powerful impact as Farrokhzad on Iranian women’s history” (Women and politics in Iran, 189). Through her all her versions of work of art, we will see how she combated and discuss about those who didn’t have all their rights. Such as, The Captive, The Sin, the Wind up Doll, The Wedding Band, and The House is Black, O-Jeweled-Studded land, and To Ali His Mother Said One Day. I am researching Forugh Farrokhzad‘s work of arts, her poems and her documentary. So that my audience can understand what the Women of Iran was subjected too and why they need to fight and voice out their inequality. So my audience can understand How did Forugh Farrokhzad work of arts discuss about sexuality, family life, motherhood, the poor, the disregarded and of course feminism, and what did she do to connect to her audience, to make her audience understand and empathize with these sects of people who have been undermined and discarded? In other words, what made Forugh Farrokhzad one of the most famous poetess and have so much of an effect on Iranian women history?
- Taboo and Publicity
The phrase any publicity is good publicity can be easily proven when discussing Forugh Farrokhzad. Farrokhzad pioneered a new theme in poetry that wasn’t seen before, grabbing the attention and interest of her reader. Other than other poets before her time, she discusses women’s desires, about emotional and physical intimacy, their wants and dreams. She ended the depiction of the ‘happy wife’ and showed the group of Iran who wasn’t aware, the dark truth.
In her poem, The Wind up Doll, Farrokhzad, “vividly outlines the middle class, Iranian woman’s potentially lifeless statues as wife” (A lonely women, pg. 99). Of course she did state that not all wives felt that way, or accusing the husbands for putting their wives in these roles, but Forugh Farrokhzad the idea of a Wind up Doll can happen, that it all ready happens, and that it takes only one person for it to occur. She repeats in her poem “One can,” as she describes ways wives allow their husband to make them a windup dolls be disregarding their desires, and how males do push their wives into that role, by not caring about their wives’ desires.
In other poems, like The Sin, was very scandalous which brought forward negative attention, but it’s one of the reasons she became who she was, unafraid to discuss what has never truly been discussed. Many gossiped about her, and said that she lacks ethics and morals, but like I said before, any publicity is good publicity, it brought her attention, and I assured she used it for her benefit.
She used the fact that a form of her work, the honesty and lack of “ethics and morals” to bring spotlight to her work. She was one of the few poets who wasn’t afraid to discuss those hard questions, and that’s what made her great. When there is no one like you, then there is no one to compare to you, leaving your work to be unique. Her poems wasn’t like any other poems in Iran, which pushed people to read her work, the tough question she ask, how she doesn’t beat around the bush and care for “ethics and morals”. That’s the type of techniques Farrokhzad uses, so her reader has no choice but to read her poems, and enjoy the refreshing feel of honesty and straightforward other poets fail to have.
- The World
Jasmin Darznick when discussing why Forugh Farrokhzad was one of the best was because, “Read her poems and you’ll find not only Iran but America”. And I not only agree, but you can find any country or cultures in amidst the words of Farrokhzad’s poems. Even though the problems she discussed in her poems were for the Iranian women, her works could be read by anyone, and connect to anyone. And that is why her work was the best, it didn’t speak to one group, she allowed anyone to be her audience.
Her poems usually explained a story or scenario, that he readers can easily play roles in or see themselves in those characters, for example The Captive is a poem about a girl looking for love. Her poems, unlike others poets, focus only on secular themes not religion. Which is another reason for me to say what made Farrokhzad work so great, people in the same religion share different beliefs or ideaologies. Farrokhzad didn’t waste time to discuss or use religion most to all Iranian believes in to defend and describe her points in her poem. But using a secular based poems, stops the reader from arguing or disagreeing the Farrokhzad on religious beliefs, and actuall recieve the message she is talking about. That’s why Farrokhzad works still has an effect after many years or different societies because of her understanding to not waste time on topics can lead to debacle, but let the reader simply read a story. A story, that clearly states that women are in desperate need of equality , or how men or evil, or how women are second class citizens. Farrokhzad’s works of arts was stories about mothers, daughters, sisters and aunts who is looking for love or getting married, being a wife, and many more stories, that bring the reader in and tells a story with an underline message. Farrokhzad understood most one want to be told what to do, but people love to hear a story.
Her way to express her own beliefs and her ideas are the same way some dog owners give their dogs pills, wrapping the pill around cheese, and the dog happily and ignorantly consumes the pill. The cheese being her beautiful story, and the pill being her message.
Various poets or writers discuss feminism, or women sexuality in almost the same way she expresses it, from Emily Dickinson to Chimanda Ngozi Adichie. And for her other themes her poems she discussed such as people who disregarded and pushed away from society, many poets follow her same theme, such as Federic Garcia Lorca. Federic Garcia Lorca wrote against the many errors of his government, pre-Spanish civil war. Many of his poems discussed the Gypsies. A group who disregarded and pushed away such as those who had Leprosy. And just like Farrokhzad, he would show that the Gypsies were people with hopes, dreams, and family, live everyone else.La guitarra discusses a cultural aspect of gypsies who loved to play the guitar, and the poem discussed how the mourning of lost love and family, just like how in farrokhzad she showed how those in the leprosy colony, love and mourn, because as both poets are expressing is that these people are human.
It doesn’t what decade or location her poems can resonate to everyone.
- The Spotlight
It may seem at first that females are the main attention in most of Forugh Farrokhzad’s poems. Females is the base of who she is discussing, fighting for, and creating awareness for. And yet, Sholeh Wolpé argues that Forugh Farrokhzad, “made men her poetic subjects”. I found this to be an intriguing statement, but when you read her poems you see that males play a pivoting role. That whatever the man did, or didn’t do, had an effect on the female.
In the wedding band, the male wasn’t faithful, or in the Captive, it was about a young woman looking for love, but what was the main topic of the forty-four poems, was how the men appeared to be and how the men saw this young woman. Forugh Farrokhzad didn’t just place her attention on the female but it seems she placed more attention onto the men, and it even goes as far as the perspectives to be masculine (Four interviews, pg. 78). Her reasons, to strengthen her case, or to bring forth a new wave of feminism poetry? Either way, it was an innovative way to reach her audience as well as tell a story worth reading.
However, how I perceive it isn’t that males get the most main attention, but I do agree that males do have such a pivoting role on many females characters. However, I think that male characters hold an imperative role-less character. A character that has a major effect on the other characters in a story. The best way to explain an imperative role-less character is in a Iranian movie, The Separation. In the Separation, discusses a women who want to divorce her husband, so their daughter can go out of the country for a better education, but her husband doesn’t leave his sick father. Nevertheless, in the beginning of the money, the couple is facing the camera and placing their arguments. The camera is the judge, with no face, no description, he just speaks, but the judge is an imperative role-less character, but even in this movie I cannot argue that the judge is the most important or main character. It pushed the audience to be the judge, to judge what was being said, as the character was talking directly to them. That’s how I see Farrokhzad attention on males in her poetry, to have importance but she wants the male audience to be a force to be the character she wants them to be, or to be forced to be self aware of themselves, are they character in Farrokhzad’s poem or somewhat or not at all? Making males a main character isn’t get any message across, but attract the male audience. However, forcing the male audience to become self aware of their actions, to question themselves and the imperative role-less character the male has in the poem, is much more effective to Farrokhzad goal. Even when discussing Feminism, the influence of males are sewn into the meaning.
- Diverse Mediums
Not everyone has the ability or love to stomach poetry. Or can take in the words Forugh Farrokhzad wrote and grasp what she was saying. Even though I don’t find her poetry complicated doesn’t mean someone else might not have a hard time understanding what Farrokhzad was discussing in her poems. Forugh Farrokhzad was amazing as a poet but she dived into another medium to not only write about a group that has been literally disregarded by society but show everyone who they were, what they did, how they looked, etc.
In the documentary, the house is Black, displayed a leprosy colony, of adults, children and families, living. Throughout the documentary, Farrokhzad would recite her poem while the video showed mundane acts of those in Leprosy Colony, kids playing, a wedding, people talking, kids at school etc. She was displaying the normality that occurs in the leprosy colony, is the same thing that occurs outside of it. This documentary, not only shook social grounds and beliefs but a political one as well. The House is Black, received many awards but it showed how versatile Forugh Farrokhzad was in her work of arts. And how she understood her audience, to be able to captivate them and make them understand what she’s trying to say.
- Conclusion
What made Forugh Farrokhzad so great? The real question is why do I consider Farrokhzad work great? What techniques did she use to make feel as if her work was great? How was her words able to attract and grab Iran? How did she connect to her audience? After reading my paper, you have had a better understanding of the work of arts Forugh Farrokhzad wrote, the person she is to go against the norms of writing and creating her own, and how touched the hearts of those who have seen her work.
Furthermore, with this dissection of Farrokhzad, I hoped you had a detailed understanding on what her works spoke about, on what her works spoke for, and on what her works spoke to, and how she was able to be the greatest poetess of Iran has ever had.
Bibliography:
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Farrokhzad, Forugh, director. The House Is Black. 1962.
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