Herbert's "The Collar" and Piercy's "Barbie Doll": A Comparative Analysis
This paper offers a comparative analysis of George Herbert's poem "The Collar" and Marge Piercy's poem "Barbie Doll," examining how both works critique valued social ideals of modern Western society. Herbert's poem is read as a portrait of one individual's struggle against the demanding expectations of devout Christian life, culminating in a moment of divine revelation. Piercy's poem is analyzed as a critique of Western society's impossible beauty standards for women, tracing one girl's conditioning, frustration, and ultimate death. Together, the two poems illuminate how social and religious ideals can become oppressive forces, and how individuals respond — or fail to respond — to those pressures.
- Introduction: Two Poems, Two Critiques: Both poems critique Western social and religious ideals
- Herbert's 'The Collar': Faith, Duty, and Resentment: Speaker struggles under burdensome Christian obligations
- Piercy's 'Barbie Doll': Conditioning and Impossible Ideals: Girl conditioned then broken by society's beauty standards
- Endings and Resolutions: Revelation Versus Tragedy: Spiritual revelation contrasted with fatal social failure
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper establishes a clear parallel structure, moving through both poems in tandem to reinforce the thematic comparison between religious and social critique.
- Textual evidence is integrated naturally, with direct quotations from both poems used to support each analytical claim.
- The conclusion highlights a meaningful contrast in outcomes — revelation versus tragedy — and draws a pointed observation about social justice, giving the essay a strong closing argument.
Key academic technique demonstrated
This paper demonstrates comparative close reading: the writer identifies a shared theme across two poems from different eras and traditions, then analyzes each text individually before drawing conclusions about what the comparison reveals. The use of parallel structure — presenting Herbert's poem, then Piercy's, then their contrasting endings — models a clean and readable comparative essay format.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a framing thesis connecting both poems to Western social critique. It then devotes one paragraph each to the central struggle depicted in Herbert's and Piercy's poems, supported by quoted lines. A third movement addresses both poems' endings side by side, contrasting the speaker's spiritual resolution in Herbert with the girl's fatal outcome in Piercy. The final observation about the absence of social justice gives the essay a critical edge beyond simple summary.
Introduction: Two Poems, Two Critiques
Both George Herbert's poem "The Collar" and Marge Piercy's poem "Barbie Doll" offer critiques of certain valued social ideals of modern Western society. Herbert's poem critiques aspects of Christianity, the West's predominant religion, while Piercy's poem criticizes Western society's views and expectations regarding women.
Herbert's 'The Collar': Faith, Duty, and Resentment
Herbert's poem portrays one individual's struggle to fulfill the many duties and expectations required of him as a devout Christian. The speaker repeatedly voices his frustration at these seemingly endless demands. This is apparent from the poem's very first line, in which he decries, "I struck the board, and cry'd, No more." Throughout the poem, he presents himself as a kind of slave whose hard work is never acknowledged by his master — a man worn down by obligations he cannot escape and gratitude he cannot feel.
Piercy's 'Barbie Doll': Conditioning and Impossible Ideals
Similarly, Marge Piercy's poem concerns one individual's struggle to live up to society's high ideals regarding womanhood, as embodied by the Barbie doll. Piercy symbolically describes how young girls are conditioned from an early age to internalize these ideals, being "presented dolls that did pee-pee" as well as "wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy." The poem uses heartrending language to trace one girl's constant attempts — and eventual failure — to meet society's impossible standards. After being "advised to play coy... exercise, diet, smile and wheedle," the girl's "good nature wore out like a fan belt," a striking image of exhaustion and dehumanization. The Barbie doll itself serves as a powerful symbol of the unattainable physical and social ideal imposed on young women.
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