Poem Fair and Unfair

Cassandra

Louise Bogan was an American poet whose work "Cassandra" analyzes the impact that a curse has on the titular character. Born in Maine in 1897, Bogan led a tumultuous life that was often shrouded in secrecy and one in which she frequently battled personal demons. Through her poetry, Bogan analyzed and deconstructed the issues that haunted her. "Cassandra" is based on the Greek myth of Cassandra and the curse Apollo put on her when she rejected his advances and maintained that she wanted to stay a virgin. As a result, Apollo transformed the gift of foresight he had bestowed upon her because she was beautiful into a curse by having her predictions shrugged off by anyone that would hear them. Through the use of allusion, tone, and dualities, Bogan not only illustrates Cassandra's curse and personal struggle, but simultaneously comments on the prevailing social inequalities between men and women.

In "Cassandra," the narrator is Cassandra, the mythological figure who has been cursed by the sun god, Apollo. Bogan relies on allusion to demonstrate the psychological harm Cassandra experiences at the hand of her tormentor. Although there is no specified audience, Bogan uses the poem to convey the frustrations Cassandra must have felt to anyone that is willing to listen, which is a paradox as Cassandra was cursed to have people not listen to her. In order for the audience to fully understand Cassandra's dilemma, they must first understand the allusion Bogan utilizes in the poem. Cassandra becomes the unwilling victim of a god who only seeks to satisfy his own desire. This trope can be seen in other mythological tales including the rape of Alcmene by Zeus, who tricked her into having sex with him by disguising himself as her husband, Amphitryon, with whom she also slept with that same night; Alcmene would later give birth to Herakles, whose father was Zeus, and Iphicles, whose father was Amphitryon ("Alcmene (Alcemena)"). The unbalanced dynamic between gods and mortals in Greek mythology helps to emphasize the helplessness felt by women, including Cassandra, and how there was nothing they could do to remedy the situation.

In the poem, a tone of powerlessness permeates Cassandra's lament as she vents her frustrations about her inability to do anything about her predictions of the future. A sense of frustration is coupled with Cassandra's powerlessness Cassandra notes the futility of her actions and states, "To me, one silly task is like another." Cassandra is establishing that she cannot differentiate between anything that she does and that everything results in the same thing, being ignored by others. While Bogan uses allusion in writing the poem and assumes the reader knows the story of Cassandra, Cassandra makes it a point to detail why she is cursed. She claims, "I bare the shambling tricks of lust and pride," a reference to Apollo's curse that she regards as a trick (Bogan). Bogan intends the word "bare" to be interpreted in two ways. If one takes the word as it is written in the poem, to "bare the shambling tricks of lust and pride" means that Cassandra is the embodiment of Apollo's tricks. On the other hand, if one reads the word as "bear," it can be interpreted to mean that Cassandra is burdened by Apollo's tricks. Duality can also be Cassandra stands by her initial resolve to remain a virgin by stating, "This flesh will never give a child its mother" (Bogan). This resolve can be interpreted in two ways. The first upholds Cassandra's resolve to remain a virgin, while the second can be interpreted to mean that because of her curse, and her implied banishment, no man looks at her. It is at this point that the tone of the poem also shifts. Powerlessness transforms into anger, which like her predictions, cannot be contained. Cassandra states that her predictions "[tear] through [her] breast, [her] side/And madness chooses out [her] voice again" (Bogan). Instead of paying attention to Cassandra, people automatically disregard her and take her ramblings to be those of a madwoman. Cassandra reinforces the contention that no man looks upon her, or pays attention to her, because of her visions, which she cannot control. Cassandra's abandonment is also echoed in her lament. She cries, "I am the chosen no hand saves:/The shrieking heaven lifted over men,/Not the dumb earth, wherein they set their graves" (Bogan). Cassandra asserts that she is alone, yet regardless of how far removed society wants her to be, she has the power to save them -- "the shrieking heaven" is a reference to the prophecies she receives, which are made even more deafening by the fact that no one will listen. A sense of frustration is coupled with Cassandra's powerlessness. In the poem, Cassandra's frustration stems from her powerlessness. While Cassandra has accepted that her cries fall on deaf ears and her predictions are dismissed as the ramblings of a madwoman, she becomes frustrated at their continued dismissal of her.

In a way, Cassandra parallels Bogan's personal sentiments about her life. Bogan, like Cassandra, is a victim of sexual betrayal, however, Bogan's betrayal is rooted in her mother. Bogan's mother, Mary Helen Murphy Shields, is known to have engaged in several extramarital affairs, which she made no effort to hide (Hirsch). It can be argued that Bogan, like Cassandra, began to view sex as a curse. Cassandra's refusal to give up her virginity led to her being punished by Apollo, while Mary's infidelity could be interpreted as a personal and psychological blow to Bogan, which influenced how she perceived the relationships between love and sex. In "Cassandra," it can be surmised that Bogan considers personal desires, including the polar concepts of promiscuity and abstinence, to be the cause for grief, mythologically and personally.