The Dolls
The Dolls - meaning Summary
Dolls Witness Human Shame
Yeats stages a domestic scene through dolls' voices to probe shame, judgment and human embarrassment. Younger dolls react to a cradle with indignation; the oldest doll loudly condemns the parents for bringing a "noisy and filthy thing." The human couple respond with whispered consolation and denial. The poem compresses social reproach and private discomfort, suggesting how communal values and personal shame are voiced and suppressed.
Read Complete AnalysesA doll in the doll-maker's house Looks at the cradle and bawls: 'That is an insult to us.' But the oldest of all the dolls, Who had seen, being kept for show, Generations of his sort, Out-screams the whole shelf: 'Although There's not a man can report Evil of this place, The man and the woman bring Hither, to our disgrace, A noisy and filthy thing.' Hearing him groan and stretch The doll-maker's wife is aware Her husband has heard the wretch, And crouched by the arm of his chair, She murmurs into his ear, Head upon shoulder leant: 'My dear, my dear, O dear, It was an accident.'
Feel free to be first to leave comment.