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Jayna Palumbo

Dr. Stanley van der Ziel

Irish Literature

16 June 2022

Question Six: Women Representation in Irish Literature

Women play particular roles in a vast amount of Irish Literature pieces. However, some

female representation may not be the best, which feeds in to the concept of the male gaze and

rooted misogyny which is greatly explored in feminist critique. In which, Irish writers such as

Seamus Heaney through his poems of Punishments and The Bog Queen are grounded with the

male gaze and misogyny, along with how women are embodied which will be examined and

observed.

When engaging with any feminist critique, it is vital to note that feminist critique must be

moldable. In other words, feminist critique must be valued in which for the time it was written.

An analogy is think of feminist critique as lenses on glasses, each is adjusted to different time

periods where it makes the most sense. For an example, scholars would not use a 2022 approach

to feminism when evaluating representation in the Bible, it would not fit and scholars would

struggle to make a suitable statement. Rather, a scholar would have to value and factor questions

of feminism during the time in which it was written. With that being stated, what was feminism

conforming in the 1900s in Ireland? Well, the first wave of feminism began in the early 19000

stating that “The first decade of the 20th century saw the beginnings of involvement by Irish

women on a wide range of issues – campaigning for women’s education, forming organisations

to fight for women’s suffrage, encouraging women into trade unions, and organising for and

against home rule for Ireland” (“1900s - A Century Of Women”). In the first wave, Irish women

looked to conquer a seat at the table for conditions such as education and suffrage. It is also
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crucial to note that Irish women played a critical role in the 1916 Easter Rising where Irish

feminist, Hannah Sheehy Skeffington, tells the public in 1917 that “it is the only instance I know

of in history when men fighting for freedom voluntarily included women” (Walshe). In the 1970s

in which the decade of when Heaney published North: Poems [1975], feminist historians write

that “In 1970s Ireland, women were still legally obliged to give up their jobs on marriage and

accept lower rates of pay for doing the same work as men if they worked in the public service.

They had to cross the border and break the law if they wanted to buy contraception” (“RTÉ

Archives | Society | Women in Irish Society”). Engaging with Irish feminist history gives

researchers a background where possibly male writers such as Heaney could experience and

reflect the women in their writing gives scholars a better lense of feminist critique.

Firstly, Seamus Heaney represented women as sexual and reproductive roles which can

be explored in his two poems titled Punishment and The Bog Queen. When taking a look at the

first poem mentioned, Punishment, which is written about the infamous bog bodies discovered

by archaeologists, there is strong objectifying and strong presence of the male gaze of the bog

woman’s body. In the early stanzas of the poem, Heaney describes the female bog as “the wind

on her naked front./ It blows her nipples/ to amber beads, /it shakes the frail ringing/ of her ribs”

(Heaney). In the lone first stanzas there is a token point of the male gaze with the emphasis of the

bog woman’s breast and ribs. Where, the representation of this bog woman is sexual and

romantized. Another element of the poem to be noted is how Heaney compares the woman to

nature-like things such as “her shaved head/ like stubble of black corn,” (Heaney). This is

pinnacle to feminist critique where Olivia Gränglid, feminist scholar, writes that “Ecofeminism

expands on the discussion of gender roles by comparing how women are associated with the

material, like nature, while men are associated with the rational and nonmaterial” (Gränglid 5).
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This does push the notion of Heaney’s representation of women as, for lack of better terms,

degrading as they are compared to nature rather than rational which men are usually compared

too. The third item to dissect in Heaney’s Punishment where it is written that “her noose a ring/

to store/ the memories of love./ Little adulteress,/ before they punished you/ you were

flaxen-haired,/ undernourished, and your/ tar-black face was beautiful” (Heaney). Here again,

Heaney emphasizes the beauty and body of the woman mummy, which proves more of the

notion of the male gaze. In continuation, there is much degradation relating to writing the woman

as an ‘adultress’. What it is imperative to reflect on in the poem Punishment is that Heaney

represents the woman as only her feminine features, nothing more.

Secondly, when exploring and interpreting Heaney’s poem of The Bog Queen, scholars

can draw these points again. The Bog Queen which is written in the first person of the bog

mummy dramatizes the decay of the body. The first line of the poem “I lay waiting” (Heaney)

holds an interesting concept of relating to sexual intercource, again, the degration of the female

characters in relation to sex and her body. This can also be proved again where the poem tells

that the women ‘I lay waiting/…Bruised berries under my nails,/…in the crock of the

pelvis./…retted on my breasts'/…at my thighs–” (Heaney). Repeatedly, scholars see the male

gaze at work when Heaney emphasizes the woman’s body and especially the parts of the body

that are heavily sexualized under this masculine gaze. Feminist criticizer, Hilary Weaver,

explains that communicating the idea that her value as an object of sexual desire is more

significant than any other role…the idea that as a woman the narrator is possessed by a

patriarchal society. Her role has been defined by her body, which, due to its slow decay, is now

of little value to society” (Weaver). Heaney represents this woman as degrading being, for the

woman presented in the poem is yet again: only her body and sexual being.
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To draw multiple truths from Seamus Heaney’s poems of The Punishment and The Bog

Woman, one of them being Heaney’s writings are rooted in deep misogyny and a strong male

gaze. Scholars can find these through the emphasis idolizing the womans’ bodies, especially in

relation to the overly ‘sexualized’ parts of the women including: the breasts, hips, and facial

beauty. The male gaze is a reflection of how men present woman and with this researchers can

draw a conclusion that Heaney saw woman as only sexual beings. A second conclusion that can

be drawn is that Heaney is a product of the patriarchy which dominated Irish culture during his

times of writing, with referring to woman as only their body parts, Heaney saw them as their

body parts, rather personhood which can be displayed, again, with the overemphasis of the body

rather than the personification of the rationality of the woman. With that, the question is answers

of how women are represented in Seamus Heaney’s writing: degrading. This can be a reflection

of Irish culture during the time when feminist set to fight for their civil rights, yet, the male

patriarchy degrades them to only their body parts. In sum, the representation of women is poor

and rooted in deep misogyny that could be traced back through Irish history for decades.
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Works Cited

Gränglid, Olivia. “Misogyny in the Marshlands: Female Characterization in Seamus Heaney’s

“Bog Queen” and “Punishment.”” Högskolan Kristianstad, 2021,

https://researchportal.hkr.se/ws/portalfiles/portal/40131704/FULLTEXT01.pdf.

Heaney, Seamus. The Bog Queen. North: Poems, 1975.

Heaney, Seamus. Punishment. North: Poems, 1975.

“1900s - A Century Of Women.” A Century of Women,

https://www.acenturyofwomen.com/1900s/.

“RTÉ Archives | Society | Women in Irish Society.” RTE, 2022,

https://www.rte.ie/archives/exhibitions/1666-women-and-society/.

Walshe, Sadhbh. “Opinion | The Sisterhood of the Easter Rising.” The New York Times, 16

March 2016,

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/17/opinion/the-sisterhood-of-the-easter-rising.html.

Weaver, Hilary. “A Feminist Critique: The Value of a Body.” Artifacts Journal, vol. 1, no. 8,

2013. University of Missorui,

https://artifactsjournal.missouri.edu/2013/05/a-feminist-critique-the-value-of-a-body/#:~:t

ext=Through%20a%20feminist%20lens%2C%20Heaney's,sexual%20desire%20and%20r

eproductive%20capabilities.