Transcendental Attitude

At a young age, mid-twentieth-century poet Adrienne Rich was exposed to her father 's extensive library; thus, she became highly developed and educated throughout her tender years before and during her time spent in college. Her intellect, spirit for a purposeful life, and potential were highly cultivated. After marrying, Rich bore three children and found herself trapped in traditional female duties that stunted her creativity. In 1966, Rich and her family moved to New York where she became a civil rights activist and a radical feminist. A few years later, Rich and her husband separated and she spent much of her time working for the feminist wave of the 70s. Rich openly announced herself as a lesbian in 1976 (Davidson). Rich’s poem “Transcendental

From the perspective of psychology, Rich’s poem offers psychiatrists, literary critics and philosophers insight into the great contradictions female roles have; in many ways it is an anthem for self-understanding and coming to terms with the realities of life, especially as the reader witnesses the “young deer in meadows,” which symbolizes innocence, vs. “the triggers fingered by drunken gunmen” who will slaughter them. “Since Rich penned the poem more than thirty-five years ago, it has captured the imagination of academics, students, literary critics, and lovers of poetry all around the world” (Maddux 9). To validate that statement, Rich constantly raises inportant, difficult questions about cultural uses of poetry and the ideology of poetic and critical tradition (Davidson 306).

The poem begins with the narrator describing a road trip she has taken through the countryside, “This August evening I’ve been driving / over backroads fringed with queen anne’s lace” (Rich, 1388). She notices the multitude of deer and how the hunters will soon be upon them. In the next stanza, the narrator stands in a doorway, taking in the nature before