In the Waiting Room Analysis
An analysis of “In the Waiting Room” from Elizabeth Bishop
There are few poets in 20th century, who portrayed their life in their poems as prolifically and thoroughly detailed as Elizabeth Bishop. Nevertheless, she became a prominent figure only in the end of the 20th century, and would be acknowledged by many critics as one of the greatest American poets just after her death. Her poetry would certainly be “placed” in the era of many categories such as postmodernism, post colonialism and so on. She never wanted to be considered as a lesbian or even a feminist poet, even though Bishop vehemently favoured feminism. What made Bishop a prolific poet, is the different fluctuation stages of her life and her ability to draw objective images from them. Since at a very early age, Elizabeth Bishop experienced her father’s death, and later on, as a result, her mother’s mental illness. After her mother was confined in a psychiatric hospital, Bishop was taken by her grandparents to live in Nova Scotia; a period she attributed in her writings. Later on, she was adopted by her paternal family and moved to Worcester, Massachusetts. However, during her stay in Worcester, Bishop felt lonely and never quite enjoyed the life there. This disliked lifestyle was accompanied with chronic asthma, which followed her for the rest of life. After a while, she was sent to Vasscar College to finish her graduate degree. The years that she spent there were more than significant to her career, as she met Marianne Moore, a Pulitzer Prize winner. Moore encouraged and invigorated Bishop’s affection for poetry. The two established a relationship that often is considered as a mother-daughter paradigm and it lasted until Moore’s death. Moreover, because of her inheritance, she had an independent income, which she used mostly to travel. One of the most notable travels she took was in Brazil, where she met a girl, who with, later on, she established a relationship. This relationship aggravated in its
There are few poets in 20th century, who portrayed their life in their poems as prolifically and thoroughly detailed as Elizabeth Bishop. Nevertheless, she became a prominent figure only in the end of the 20th century, and would be acknowledged by many critics as one of the greatest American poets just after her death. Her poetry would certainly be “placed” in the era of many categories such as postmodernism, post colonialism and so on. She never wanted to be considered as a lesbian or even a feminist poet, even though Bishop vehemently favoured feminism. What made Bishop a prolific poet, is the different fluctuation stages of her life and her ability to draw objective images from them. Since at a very early age, Elizabeth Bishop experienced her father’s death, and later on, as a result, her mother’s mental illness. After her mother was confined in a psychiatric hospital, Bishop was taken by her grandparents to live in Nova Scotia; a period she attributed in her writings. Later on, she was adopted by her paternal family and moved to Worcester, Massachusetts. However, during her stay in Worcester, Bishop felt lonely and never quite enjoyed the life there. This disliked lifestyle was accompanied with chronic asthma, which followed her for the rest of life. After a while, she was sent to Vasscar College to finish her graduate degree. The years that she spent there were more than significant to her career, as she met Marianne Moore, a Pulitzer Prize winner. Moore encouraged and invigorated Bishop’s affection for poetry. The two established a relationship that often is considered as a mother-daughter paradigm and it lasted until Moore’s death. Moreover, because of her inheritance, she had an independent income, which she used mostly to travel. One of the most notable travels she took was in Brazil, where she met a girl, who with, later on, she established a relationship. This relationship aggravated in its