— Anonymous
The piece I chose to write about is “Song of Myself, XI” a poem by Walt Whitman. I am writing about this piece in the comfort of my own room, sitting at my desk. I believe this will allow me to give a free-flowing, concentrated opinion on the work as I see it, with no distractions in place. Unlike other texts we’ve encountered in class, this one stood out to me as it connects with present-day life. Whitman’s themes and ideas he wrote about were not typical for the time of his literature. In this poem we observe a twist, as social and gender constraints established by society are momentarily pushed aside.
Walt Whitman is known to write about love and freedom- really expressing oneself, and Song of Myself, XI embodies these themes. Whitman writes about a woman, who is wealthy, having strong urges as she gazes upon a group of naked men from the comfort of her house: “She hides handsome and richly drest aft the blinds of the window” (Section 11, line 5). She allows her urges to take over, as she becomes the 29th bather, joining the men by the water. Interestingly, since we, the reader, are also watching her, I would argue that we are the 30th bather.
I think this piece is an important “Great Work” because it was very progressive for its time. The norm in literature used to be men secretly watching naked women, usually wealthy as well, but Whitman flips the situation, representing a concept equally possible but much less spoken about at the time of this piece (late 1800s). This free-thinking idea of allowing oneself to do as they please, without the worry of others is very popular today, but was frowned upon and thus never depicted in literature during the time of Whitman’s writing.
Now, in 2020, I think it is safe to say that we as a society are much more accepting and demanding of equality- albeit still not 100% equal, women are finally becoming comfortable with claiming their sexuality. It is pieces such as Whitmans “Song of Myself, XI” that started this discussion of moving away from stereotypes and defining the underrepresented. This quality of going beyond the norm and choosing to write about something less popular is a mark of what I believe should be labeled a “Great Work”, especially one that speaks on values which are still important and fought for today. This text exemplifies what I see every day in the world around me, with the rise of equality and freedom of self-expression, which holds great value to me because of the struggles I see around my friend group. People who underrepresented because they are not heterosexual, of color, and those who do not identify with what gender they were assigned have not had, until recently, much recognition or a platform to speak regarding their self-expression. I would like to think authors such as Whitman began this century-long discussion and revolution, allowing my friends, among many, to more freely express themselves, even if they do not fit the “norm”.
