Poems as a Form of Rebelling Patriarchy

Olive Allen Biller's Poem "Her China Cup".

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In Olive Allen Billers second diary, this poem demonstrates her ability to privately rebel against patriarchal norms that silenced women in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. At this time, men were the breadwinners of the family, and women were to do the housework and take care of the family. This poem emulates the feelings of a woman that may have been sold to a man for marriage or other unspecified reasons and articulates her struggle to remain poised in a situation where she is being silenced. This makes one think that Allen Biller’s purpose behind writing this poem was to defy the patriarchal system and that the significance of the China Cup is a woman’s pride and purpose in the means of protecting it.

There are many instances where Allen Biller has demonstrated a defiance of patriarchal norms in the poem. Firstly, Allen Biller writes the poem based on the act of a woman being sold to a man. Allen Biller writes, “for POUNDSTOCK’s restoration sold, to Dodo’s Uncle Harold” (Allen Biller). Poundstock is an ancient village in the North coast of England, near Trebarfoot, the vacationing spot of the Allen Biller family (Cornwall Guide). Thus, Olive Allen Biller could have based this poem off of a situation that she witnessed on her vacations to Trebarfoot and wrote the poem to demonstrate the unjust actions of a woman being forced to marry a man to take care of him while he works. Secondly, Allen Biller writes of how the woman is protective of her China Cup which makes one wonder if the China Cup could be the pride or identity that she is protective over. In her second stanza Allen Biller wrote, “no one could touch it, or she’d scold, with passion fierce and uncontrolled” (Allen Biller). In this line, Allen Biller represents the importance of a woman to protect herself when living in a society where women are constrained to strict gender roles. Perhaps what she is trying to say is that a woman must protect and internalize parts of her identity because it was a woman’s role to take care of the house and her husband and it was difficult to challenge that. Thus, to stay strong, women would have to protect their desires and joys in life so that no one could punish her for wanting more than what her gender role already set out for her. Lastly, in the poem Allen Biller talks about how the woman is careful of her China Cup. In her last stanza, Allen Biller wrote, “with both hands she would lift and hold her China Cup” (Allen Biller). This phrase stands out because the act of picking up the China Cup with both hands emphasizes the need for a woman to be careful and protective of herself. In order to protect herself in a society that revolves around a man, a woman must be careful to keep composure in order to avoid being ridiculed for defying the patriarchal system. Through these three phrases, Olive Allen Biller rebels against the patriarchal system that she was born into by poetically and metaphorically symbolizing a woman trapped by an arranged marriage.

In conclusion, Allen Biller wrote a poem that actively shows a women’s suppression in a societal system that revolves around a man. The China Cup symbolizes the woman’s internal being and her need to protect her pride, joys and identity in order to fit into a patriarchal system where her job is to care for a family and a husband. Thus, this poem is a reflection of Olive Allen Biller’s ability to rebel against the patriarchal society that she was born into using her artistic strengths as a woman writer in the 19th century.

Works Cited

Biller, Olive Allen. “Olive Allen Biller Fonds.” Textual Records. 1890-1950. Trebarfoot Vol. 2 (1895 to 1898). Olive Allen Biller Fonds. UBC Rare Books and Special Collections.

“Poundstock.” Cornwall Guide, 10 Sept. 2016, www.cornwalls.co.uk/poundstock.