Question

how does the poem bangle sellers repel a modern woman?

Answer 1

Written by the prominent Indian poet and politician Sarojini Naidu, ‘The Bangle Sellers‘ is a poem exploring the life of Indian women, the Indian culture and traditions revolving around women. In most of her poems, Sarojini Naidu writes on the theme of Indian culture and people. Her poems are focused on Indian settings and this poem makes no exception. In its Indianness, the poem resembles another poem of hers, In the Bazaars of Hyderabad.

The poem revolves around bangles, which is an important ornament for ’embellishment’ of women in Indian Society. In the poem, the bangle sellers are at the temple fair and they shout out to the people passing by to have a look at their bangles. They urge them to buy bangles for their daughters and wives.

Form and language of the poem

The entire poem has a structure where each stanza focuses on a particular theme. The first stanza depicts the merchants touting at the temple fair to attract the attention of the people passing by. The consequent stanzas focus on bangles of various colours the seller have for women of all different ages.

The poem The Bangle Sellers has a simple rhyme scheme of aabbcc for each stanza. With mostly octasyllabic lines the poem has no distinctive metre, but one has an apprehension of the same due to the use of easy language and a general fluidity of words. Use of clever similes has made it a beauty.

Answer 2

A modern women will be repelled by the patriachal nations inherent in the poem, i.e., gender discrimination and insubordination between man and women in the social and religious set up.