Advice to Women by Eunice de Souza

 

About the poet: Eunice de Souza (1940 – 2017) was an Indian poet, literary and feminist critic and novelist. She was one of the leading literary critics of  late 20th century, who was born in 1940 and raised in Pune, in a Catholic family in Goa. Her mentionable books of poetry are Women in Dutch painting (1988), Ways of Belonging (1990), Nine Indian Women Poets (1997), These My Words (2012), and Learn From The Almond Leaf (2016). She also wrote two novels, Dangerlok (2001), and Dev & SImran (2003). She was the editor of a number of anthologies on poetry, folktales, and literary criticism.  Eunice de Souza is widely acknowledged as one of the best Indian feminist poets in Indian English writing. Eunice De Souza believes that women, they are liable for their own maltreatment and she has been very specific about how woman should behave to avoid it.  

Eunice de Souza’s “Advice to Women” guides women to learn the art of being stoic in relationships. De Souza’s adroit use of an extended metaphor where she urges women to learn the art of haughty detachment from a cat adds a certain uniqueness to the poem.

Summary of the poem:

The poem commences with the poet’s advice to keep a cat in order to learn the particular   behaviour to which a cat is accustomed to. This is possibly the only way to survive the indifferent attitude of a male partner toward his woman. The nonchalance of a woman’s significant other, which has been referred to as ‘otherness’, is not similar to negligence. Like the cats return to the litter tray due to their biological requirements, women should follow the same example. Cats don’t aggressively attack people when they are offended by someone. Therefore, a woman should not resort to aggression to attract man’s attention toward the fact that his indifference and coldness is causing distress to her. The poet further advises women to learn the ‘stare of perpetual surprise’ of a cat, even if there is nothing to arouse curiosity or amazement. After mastering the art of haughty detachment like a cat, a woman will eventually learn to live alone as well as die alone.

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