known for her writing :blurring the boundaries between 'peforemance 'poet and 'page 'poet
many other boundaries , including racial and sexual
born in London in 1965 ( Nigerian but fostered by a white English family in Wales)
she has a fasination for traditional poetic forms and the use of personae to explore her themes
1 of 8
Title ' Eat ME'
Intertexuality : Alice in Wonderand ( goes back to dramatic monologue in this famous book, where Alice eats a cake that has 'eat me' written on it in smarties and gets bigger
invitation to eat
poem explores relationship between overweight women and a feeder who are stuck in a dysfunctional relationship
he may have a fettish
the poem is not purely a sexual one but also speaks of the physical and emotional dependancy of the eater on the feeder
the feeder may be insecure / feeding the women in the poem is an emotional crutch for man
2 of 8
'When I hit thirty , he brought me a cake' - first
may be a reference to her age or weight
it is therefore a little ambigous
this opening line introduces to us the subject of the poem
next line 'threee layers of icing, home-made.'
he made it himself
he is celebrating her wieght game, like it is an achievement - the reader may find the poem/ his attitude shocking
'a candle for each stone in weight.'
the first line is no longer ambigious - the reader now knows it is a referance to weight - the women weights 30 stone
3 of 8
Second Verse ' the icing was white but the letters
white symbolises innocence, but pink symbolises feminimity e.g 'girly '
'they said 'Eat me' - controlling
readers had to ask if women is complisit or the victim of a form of abuse at the hands of a controlling partner
'And I ate it, did what I was told.
Didn't even taste it' - this line conveys to the reader that eating is not about pleasure for the women
the women is dismissive about the enjoyment of food
there is a shocking attitude towards consumption in the poem
4 of 8
Third Verse 'Then he asked me to get up an walk'
Verse 3
verse is full of vowel sounds
which are almost overwhelming
onomatopoeia , assonance , repeatition
'round the bed so he could watch by broad
belly wobble ,hips judder like a juggernaut.
Verse 4
' THe bigger the better ,he'd say,' - change to his voice
'i like ( new line) big girls, osft girls , girls i can burrow inside'
repetition of girls
he is controlling, note he uses the word 'girls ' instead of women
he is overbearing, and his partner is hidden away and dependant upon him ( unhealthy relationship)
he substains her
5 of 8
Verse 5 'I was his Jacuzzi'
like Jacuzzi- she is fixed in one place- her vitality is explored in this line
she is his temptation
Jacuzzi- bubbling movement
'he was my cook' - he substains her
'my only pleasure was the rush of fast food,' -she gets no pleasure out of the relationship
'watch me swell like forbidden fruit .' - story of Adam and Eve from the Bible ( in this story most of the blame is placed on Eve for tempting Adam - like the snake to disobey God)
this poem explores gender politics
'His breadfruit. His desert-island after shipwreak.' - the poet , who is black ,explores racism in her poems, here the referance may be to colonial power as he ( the man/feeder ) has overtaken the women
Verse again leaves reader wondering, who is at fault ?
6 of 8
Verse 6 and 7 'too fat to leave ...'
repetition of 'too fat to..' - she laments her loss of freedom e.g she is no longer mobile ,she is unable to go out due to her weight
does this make reader feel sorry for her ?
Verse 7
'The day I hit thirty-nine..' - another referance to her increased weight
'I allowed him to stroke ( next line ) my globe of a cheek' - another referance to world
also gives reader a sense of something unimaginably big
The poet is using dark humour to portray how serious the situtation has become
'He said , Open wide, poured olive oil down my throat.'
Line conveys how controlling the man in this relationship is
and also again the shocking attitude to consumption e.g pouring olive oil down someones throat
7 of 8
Ending ( Verse 8 and 9) ' Soon you'll be forty..'
Verse 8
referance to increasing weight
feeder is delighted by her progressing weight gain
' I drowned his dying sentence out'
if reader is shocked by attitude to consumption within poem, they are even more shocked by the attitude to death
( women in poem has suffocated or 'drowned ' man to death)
Verse 9
'his eyes bulging with greed.' gluttony /consumption until end
' Final line : 'There was nothing else left in the house to eat.' ambigious ending
dark humour ( through literal interpretation e.g she is about to eat him)
or that by end the conlonial authoriity has ben overwhelmed by the nation who get their independance
or another metophorical interpretation , that his controlling nature and her consumption have removed her identity which she has reclaimed at the end of the poem
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