Eat Me Flashcards
(6 cards)
1
Q
overview
A
2
Q
form
A
- free verse= lacks a regular rhyme scheme or consistent meter
= mirrors the chaotic, uncontrolled feelings surrounding the speaker’s experience - lack of formal constraints reinforces the emotional rawness and immediacy= creating a confessional tone akin to a monologue or diary entry
- poem is composed of 8 stanzas of varying lengths
= reflects speaker’s fluctuating psychological state - enjambment throughout generates a breathless, conversational rhythm= propelling the reader through the poem’s painful narrative wo pause, mimicking the relentless nature of the speaker’s internal struggle
3
Q
imagery
A
- opens w the stark, almost clinical image of a birthday cake symbolising both celebration and burden
= “three layers of icing,” emphasising excess, and “a candle for each stone in weight,”
= immediately links the speaker’s body size to a quantified measure of self-worth and societal judgment - ironic inscription on the cake, “eat me,” evokes dual meanings
= direct command reflecting submission to the controlling partner OR it evokes sexual objectification and commodification, reminiscent of the phrase’s use in literature as an invitation laced with power dynamics
= speaker’s detached response “didn’t even taste it”= suggests disassociation and a numbing to the controlling environment - food imagery pervades the poem
= speaker is “his Jacuzzi,” “his breadfruit,” “his desert island after shipwreck,” and “a tidal wave of flesh”
= metaphors communicate possession and objectification as speaker becomes a landscape or commodity, something to be consumed, enjoyed, or controlled, rather than a person with autonomy - juxtaposition of comfort and confinement is striking
= a Jacuzzi, typically place of warmth and relaxation, becomes a metaphor for physical engulfment, while the “beached whale on a king-size bed” evokes immobility and abandonment
= images emphasise the paradox of physical presence= simultaneously desired and trapped - tone throughout is both intimate and brutal, as the speaker reveals her body’s transformation and the partner’s obsession: “I like / big girls, soft girls… with multiple chins, masses of cellulite.”
= listing uses anaphora (“girls”) and sensory detail (“soft,” “multiple chins”) to underline how the partner’s desire is less about the person and more about a fetishised physical ideal - enjambment between lines, such as “His flesh, my flesh flowed. / He said, Open wide…”
= creates fluidity that mimics the physical merging and tension between the speaker and the partner= enhancing the visceral immediacy
4
Q
tone
A
- speaker’s voice is confessional and resigned, yet not entirely wo agency = repetition of “too fat to…” near the end builds a powerful cumulative effect
= highlights social stigma and personal limitations imposed by the relationship and by society’s standards
= phrase “too fat to be called chubby, cuddly, big-built” isolates the speaker in a liminal space of body perception excluded from even gentler, kinder descriptors
= intensifying her alienation - strong underlying tension between submission and resistance
= speaker complies w the partner’s demands but maintains a detached, critical awareness of the damaging power dynamic
= “rush of fast food” as “my only pleasure” contrasts with the partner’s voyeuristic enjoyment
= showcasing the divide between bodily autonomy and objectification - confessional tone reflects a personal narrative but also resonates with wider societal issues around female embodiment and autonomy
- tone fluctuates between sensuality and menace
= capturing complex emotions around intimacy and control
= speaker’s voice is detached yet vivid, describing moments of physical merging with clear-eyed awareness of the darker undertones of domination and consumption - strong undercurrent of existential struggle
= intersection of desire, mortality, and bodily decay
= poem’s intimate yet disturbing tone unsettles the reader, prompting reflection on the fragility and volatility of human relationships
5
Q
themes
A
- Body and Identity
= poem explores how the speaker’s body becomes a site of control and objectification, entangled with identity and self-worth
= weight isn’t just physical but symbolic of emotional and psychological constraints - Power and Control
= the partner’s gaze and desires dominate, turning the speaker’s body into an object for consumption and spectacle
= poem exposes how love and desire can morph into control and fetishisation - Isolation and Alienation
= speaker’s increasing size isolates her physically, emotionally, socially = she is trapped “too fat to leave,” embodying both literal and metaphorical entrapment - Consumption and Pleasure
= food operates as both a source of comfort and a tool of control
= illustrating complex relationships with desire, satisfaction, and self-destruction
6
Q
control
A
- “I allowed him to stroke / my globe of a cheek.”
= metaphor “globe of a cheek” evokes not only physical largeness but also a world in itself
= suggesting speaker’s body is a vast, encompassing space
= verb “allowed” indicates a reluctant or conditional consent, hinting at power imbalance - “His flesh, my flesh flowed” uses metaphorical fusion to describe the physical and emotional mingling
= blurring boundaries between self and other, love and consumption
= fluid imagery is underscored by “poured olive oil down my throat,”
= symbol w dual connotations: olive oil is nourishing and sacred in many cultures, but here it suggests forced ingestion or submission
= intensifying the sense of control and violation - “Soon you’ll be forty… he whispered,”
= reminder of aging and mortality
= speaker’s response, “how / could I not roll over on top,” suggests both submission and agency
= complicating the dynamic
= imagery “he drowned / in my flesh I drowned his dying sentence out”
= reverses trad power roles
= speaker’s body overwhelms and silences the partner= reflecting themes of power reversal and bodily sovereignty
