Requiem: musical form, history, and cultural significance

Death and suffering through a woman's perspective: feminism in "Requiem" by Anna Akhmatova

Anna Akhmatova, famous Russian poet during Josef Stalin's regime in Russia, provides her own interpretation of life in her country during the said period in the literary work entitled, "Requiem." First published in 1963, "Requiem" chronicles the lives of Russians primarily through the voice of a woman. Through her narrative, readers witness the prevalence of death and suffering that the woman had to go through, an individual who experiences far greater suffering than her imprisoned son and husband. While she expresses her grief for the suffering of her loved-ones, Akhmatova also conveys through the woman's voice how, in the midst of civil unrest and chaos happening around her, she is the real victim of death and suffering, for she is made to experience all the hardships that Russia went through under Stalin's rule.

It is thus becomes evident that the themes of death and suffering in "Requiem" are addressed through the feminist language -- the language of women, wherein unexpressed emotions are conveyed through the clear and direct language of Akhmatova. In this paper, a woman's perspective of chaos and conflict are given central focus, discussed and analyzed based on the themes of death and suffering and how, through the feminist perspective, the voice of "Requiem" also symbolically speaks for Russia. The thesis of this poem analysis is two-fold, arguing that (1) death and suffering is depicted through expression of feelings of emotion and (2) a feminist's analysis of Russia's history has effectively conveyed the first theme's manifestation in "Requiem." These theses are discussed and analyzed with references to the Akhmatova's political and socio-historical depiction of Stalinist Russia during the 1960s in "Requiem."

The first thesis discusses in detail how Akhmatova considers a woman's suffering a far greater atrocity than the death and suffering of Russia's sons and husbands combined. Discussing the theme of suffering, the poet uses vivid descriptions of how the tyranny of Stalin led to the conduct and commitment of inhumane means of torture and suffering for innocent individuals suspected of opposing him. In part II of the prelude to the poem, Akhmatova expresses her concern for women's suffering, who have witnessed more deaths and sufferings than the males that they are trying to protect. In the poem, she asserts that, "...A yellow moon looks quietly on...The moon sees a woman lying at home Her son is in jail, her husband is dead Say a prayer for her instead."

Reflecting on this passage, the poet reinforces her belief that there is no individual more victimized in Russian society but the women. The situation she finds herself in, wherein her son is imprisoned and her husband is dead, creates the environment of emotional suffering and forbearance, traits that puts women in the most glorious light for Akhmatova. It is thus because of her forbearance and martyrdom that she utters the line, "say a prayer for her instead," an expression of empathy for Russian women.

Another example of suffering in "Requiem" is the effective imagery that the poet uses in illustrating the reality that Russians faced under Stalin's tyrannical rule. In part 8 of the poem, aptly entitled, "To Death," Akhmatova enumerate the various ways in which suffering is conducted in the chaotic state of Russian society:

Assume whatever shape you wish. Burst in Like a shell of noxious gas. Creep up on me

Like a practised bandit with a heavy weapon.

Poison me, if you want, with a typhoid exhalation,

or, with a simple tale prepared by you

And known by all to the point of nausea), take me

Before the commander of the blue caps and let me glimpse

The house administrator's terrified white face

Suffering and death are made possible through gassing, being gunned down, poisoning, or inflicting a deadly disease. These are enumerated to elicit feelings of fear, terror, and hopelessness, emotions that the voice also feels. But Akhmatova goes beyond this kind of interpretation: as expressed in the poem, the woman states that she will be able to withstand all these forms of suffering, for this is not equal with the kind of suffering that cannot be depicted accurately by the poem's language and words. This part of the poem brings into lucidity the poet's interpretation and understanding of what suffering means for women, which is more emotional rather than physical.

Death is also a vital element in the poem, primarily because this is a dreaded reality that humanity cannot endure in spite of the sufferings that society had experienced through the years. However, in "Requiem," death is depicted as a welcome 'escape' to the reality that the voice experiences in her life. Synonymous with the idea of death is succumbing to insanity or madness, another option in which the voice can also 'escape' the hard realities she can no longer accept and witness as she lives. The opening lines of "To Death" demonstrate the first assertion about the acceptability of death by the woman: "[y]ou will come anyway -- so why not now? I wait for you; things have become too hard. I have turned out the lights and opened the door for you, so simple and so wonderful..." The voice's desire for death also made it possible for her to consider as an option her potential downfall to insanity, as explicated in the following effective lines in "Requiem": "Madness with its wings Has covered half my soul... That's when I understood While listening to my alien delirium That I must hand the victory to it." In essence, the darkness of Akhmatova's poem reflects the darkness of the soul of the voice and souls of all Russians, who are in one with the voice in expressing their hopelessness about their sorry plight and unfortunate lives in their chaotic society.

From these depictions of death and suffering in "Requiem," it becomes evident that the utilization of the voice of a woman, who is also a mother and wife, in the poem establishes Akhmatova's attempt to illustrate the poem as a feminist and socio-historical chronicle of Russian society during the 1960s. Underneath the darkness of the message and characterization of the voice in the poem is the manifestation of the strength of women in Russian society, whose fight against tyranny and injustice is reflected in their humanistic illustration of their lives to the world (through the poem).