Group+3

Group 3:

Essay:

In “Siren Song”, Margaret Atwood uses point of view to express feminist ideas. By having the poem being told to a man (a sailor) from the perspective of a woman (the siren), Atwood is better able to incorporate her views into the piece. Doing so allows Atwood to criticize female stereotypes of both the Ancient Greece in which the poem takes place and those of the 1970s, when this poem was written.

One stereotype that Atwood challenges using point of view is the ancient idea of women as dangerous seductresses. The poem itself is told from the point of view of the siren, who speaks using unexpectedly bland diction like, “boring,” and “works every time,” and, “bird suit.” This is surprising to the reader because the sirens are traditionally portrayed as mystical, enchanting, and fatal; therefore, it is off-putting to see such unremarkable language used. By assigning such diction to her speaker, Margaret Atwood uses point of view to demystify the siren and portray her as a relateable individual as opposed to a dangerous mythical creature. Furthermore, as the siren describes the way in which men, “leap overboard in squadrons,” when they hear the, “irresistible” sirens’ song, it becomes clear that the song represents traditional ideas of female sexuality. The siren “calls for help,” like the stereotypical “damsel in distress.” We discover, by the end of the poem, that the siren considers this a, “boring” song and thinks that luring men has become a tiresome game. She appears trapped, which is ironic considering that she is half-bird, an animal typically associated with flight and freedom. Throughout history, the siren has represented a dangerous seductress and served as warning against the supposed danger of female sexuality. In the “Siren Song,” Margaret Atwood taps into this ancient female stereotype and shows how it “traps” women in a cycle of mindless charades, as if on an island like the sirens that represent them.

Atwood also uses point of view to dispel the 1970s "conventional wisdom" about women. Hearing the poem from the perspective of the Siren strengthens the feminist messages that are prevalent throughout this poem. It is made clear that she does not enjoy doing nothing else but trying to attract men, a contrast to the idea that women are content in purely domestic roles. Just as the Siren doesn’t enjoy “squatting on this island looking picturesque and mythical”, many women in the 1970s longed to do more than the cooking and cleaning that long were the expected roles of women. The reader’s point of view is that of a sailor being lured by the Siren. Like many men of the 1970s believed that women were intellectually inferior to men, the sailor does not think it possible for the Siren to fool him. Ironically, by building up his male ego and claiming that he is “unique” (l. 24), the Siren is able to deceive him and lure him to his doom. The reader, who has the perspective of the sailor, is able to better understand this deceit. By continuing to read the poem, it is if the reader is slowly falling into the trap of the Siren, with the deception becoming evident only at the end. Being unexpectedly tricked by the Siren, the reader is almost obligated to consider Atwood’s ideas and to question society’s stereotypes of women.

The Siren Song, though simple, is immeasurably meaningful. As the siren tells her story, she tells the story of women everywhere in the global struggle to gain equality. Atwood is revolutionary in her efforts to debunk female stereotypes and use literature to gain political change. Stereotypes, as we know from history, arise from ignorance. By giving characters like the siren a voice, the ignorance, and the stereotypes along with them, may be dispelled. Though she draws on ancient myths, her views and opinions are ahead of our time, and her work will continue to be powerful for decades to come.