A Minor Role by U.A.

Fanthorpe

‘A Minor Role’ by U.A. Fanthorpe is a reflection on the role the

poet has been forced to play within society due to her illness.
There is a fine line between the life the poet wants and the one
she has, and this is explored through the constantly changing
narrative directions of the poem. Fanthorpe challenges the reader
to reflect on their own life, on the role they play, and how they
present themselves to society.

Although the tone of the poem is overly sarcastic, there are

flashes of an innate desire to live and to thrive. Fanthorpe seems
to be caught in a purgatory of wanting more and finding out how
to live as she is.

The tone Fanthorpe evokes could be read as bitter, she is envious

of those who have the ‘star part’ while she has to read the
‘unobtrusive’. The desire for something different, even just a
‘simpler illness’ illustrates Fanthorpe’s frustration. The poem is
about wanting to change who you are in society, how you project
yourself into the world and how you are received.

A large amount of the semantics from the poem comes from the
field of the theatre. This relates to the idea of identity as a
performance. Considering the inter-textual reference to
Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It’, in which Jacques says ‘All the
world’s a stage’. The performance of life is one everyone is
involved with, ‘all the men and women merely players’ they have
their exits and their entrances.’ Fanthorpe forces the reader to
question the performance of identity.
Structure of A Minor Role

‘A Minor Role is split into 6 unequal stanzas, with major

irregularity in line length and stanza shape. There is no rhyme
scheme, and lines are often enjambed to increase the flow of the
poem. The truncated lines, sometimes enjambed and sometimes
broken into pieces with caesuras bring a chaotic rhythm to the
poem. It seems as if Fanthrope is freely speaking the poem, with
the strange and unmelodic poem a reflection of her thought
process.

The differing stanza lengths could be a reflection of the differing

roles that one can play in society.

Analysis of A Minor Role

Stanza One

Lines 1-4

I’m best observed on stage,

Propping a spear, or making endless
Exits and entrances with my servant’s
patter, Yes, sir. O no, sir. If I get

‘A Minor Role begins with the first personal pronoun, focusing the
attention directly on the poet. The beginning is an idea for the
poet, with her desire for the ‘star part’ being realized through her
instant directing of the audience to herself. This idea of being
central is further explored with the state of being ‘observed’. The
poet enjoys the attention of the reader and this central concept of
being seen on the ‘stage’ illuminates most of the poem. This idea
of ‘stage’ also begins to set the central extended metaphor of the
poem, with the idea of performing a ‘part’ in society being
imitated through the poet on the stage.
The use of ‘exits and entrances’, as mentioned above, could be a
reference to Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It’, in which the concept
of identity as a performance is also explored. Nevertheless, the
reliance on the semantics of the stage punctuates Fanthorpe’s
idea equally. The first stanza is very visual, and the imagery of
the stage projects a certain view of the poet. This stanza is
polysemic, on one hand, it can be read as an actual performance,
perhaps with the poet reminiscing on a past stage performance.
Yet, the images could also be interpreted as a reference to the
poet playing a role in society.

Furthermore, this idea of ‘endless[ness]’ in the first stanza further

relates to the cyclic nature of life and the continual push to
perform identity. This isn’t a problem reduced directly to the
poet, it is an ‘endless’ force that is applicable to everyone in
society. It does not begin or end with the ‘exits and entrances’,
but exists in the space between. Here, the poet is arguing that
this idea of performance will never change, this is simply the way
society is.

Lines 5-6

These midget moments wrong, the monstrous fabric

Shrinks to unwanted sniggers.

The ‘monstrous fabric’ is a reference to the fabrications one has

to make to fit into a certain role in society. Due to the
stereotypical ideas of how something should be, the poet argues
that one must fabricate one identity to match this. Fanthorpe
finds this idea ‘monstrous’, with the adjective detailing her
disgust, yet she does nothing about it, continues to play her
chosen role ‘endless[ly]’.
This idea of the cruel nature of society is pinpointed within the
last line of the first stanza, the ‘unwanted sniggers’ echoing
through the poet’s head as she ends the first section of ‘A Minor
Role’.

Stanza Two

But my heart’s in the unobtrusive,

The waiting-room roles: driving to hospitals,
(…)
Dates; getting on terms with receptionists;
Sustaining the background music of civility.

This stanza focuses more on the reality of the poet’s life. She is
sick, with her life reduced to the ‘unobtrusive’ role of a hospital
patient. The first three images in the stanza are related directly to
the hospital, ‘waiting-room’, ‘driving to hospitals, parking at
hospitals’. The monotony of the poet’s life is palpable after being
the heightened central focus of the first stanza.

She even categorizes herself as ‘background music’, with the

demeaning shame she feels at having been assigned a ‘waiting-
room role’ palpable.

Stanza Three

At home in the street you may see me

(…)
For well-meant intrusiveness.

Stanza three of ‘A Minor Role’ much reflects the initial ideas of

monotony evoked in stanza 2. There is a certain desire to avoid
contact, a wish to be left alone. The ‘walking fast’ is a contrast to
the slow pace of stanza 2. Yet, the action is one of self-isolation,
actually achieving the opposite to what the burst of energy would
indicate.

The repetition of ‘getting on, getting better’ works in ways. The

first is that the double gerund ‘getting’ shows the quick passing
of time. The movement reflects the movement of time, how it is
slipping away from her. Moreover, the prepared response displays
how the poet has planned out her social interaction before it even
happens. It seems that she goes through the
same conversation so many times that now she is ready to auto-
pilot through any social interaction she encounters. She has been
reduced from the main part to one of four words: ‘getting on,
getting better’.

The ‘well-meant intrusiveness’ is a direct contrast to the

‘unobtrusive’ of stanza two. Whereas she once was ‘best observed
on stage’, she has shrunk with her illness into ‘unobtrusive[ness’.
Where she once thrived off being ‘observed’, social interaction
now seems ‘intrusive’. The change the illness has brought upon
the poet is tragic. She longs for a different role, but this is the one
she is destined to perform.

Stanza Four

At home,
Thinking ahead: Bed? A good idea!
(Bed solves a lot); answer the phone,
(…)
Somewhere else. Consultant’s holiday. Saying Thank you,
For anything to everyone
Not the star part.

The repeated beginning of this stanza, ‘At home’ firmly cements

the monotony of the poet’s life – it revolves around two locations,
the hospital, and her home. The poet’s life has been grounder,
her ‘stage’ now fading into ‘home’.

Throughout this stanza, the poet frequently asks questions and

answers them herself. This again feeds into the tone of loneliness
that the poem projects. The only person with who the poet can
speak is herself, ‘Bed? A good idea!’

Stanza Five

And who would want it? I jettison the spear,

(…)
It would have been better to die*. No it wouldn’t!

Stanza five of A Minor Role’ has an element of grandeur like that

of the first, with the intertextual reference to the ‘Chorus’ from
‘Oedipus Rex’. In Greek Tragedy, the Chorus is composed of the
eldest and wisest members of the community, with their dialogue
normally discussing the complexities of the political situation
and plot that drives the play. By linking her own life to this grand
concept, the poet regains an element of the glory of her former
stature.

Furthermore, the final line exemplifies this rally against her

depressive nature. She exclaims ‘No it wouldn’t!’, battling against
and overcoming the proceeding ‘it would have been better to die’.
The division between these two statements, enforced by
the caesura after die can be taken as a representation of the
division in the poet’s character. On one hand, she wants to live,
to be the ‘star part’ and to thrive, yet there is this part of her that
longs to end it all. Although bleak, the poet sees why she must
continue to live, a flash of happiness in an otherwise melancholic
poem.
Stanza Six

I am here to make you believe in life.

*Chorus: from Oedipus Rex, trans. EF Watling

The final stanza reduces its message into one simple line,
communicating with the audience directly. If Fanthorpe, with a
crippling illness that subdues her completely in life, can
continue, so can the reader. The balance of ‘I’ and ‘you’ within
the final line also encompasses this reaching out to the reader,
with the connection established being a waveform of connection
with a poem of isolation.