Analysis Of Edna St. Vincent Millay's An Ancient Gesture

Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “An Ancient Gesture” describes hardships of both men and women, while showing women’s hardships aren’t as appreciated. The poem tells of Penelope’s story and how she waits for Odysseus’s return. Her twenty-year wait for her husband would be an extreme hardship for anyone in the same position. While most people would think Odysseus, who also went through extreme hardships, had empathy for Penelope, he just didn’t understand the pain she had endured for twenty years. Odysseus misunderstood and cried, as a courteous act. In “An Ancient Gesture” Millay uses imagery, symbolism, and characterization to convey the idea that both men and women experience pain through hardships, but men’s struggles are glorified, while women’s