Adrienne Rich
The Uncle Speaks in the Drawing Room
The Uncle Speaks in the Drawing Room by Adrienne Rich
I have seen the mob of late
Standing sullen in the square,
Gazing with a sullen stare
At window, balcony and gate.
Some have talked in bitter tones,
Some have held and fingered stones.
These are follies that subside.
Let us consider, none the less,
Certain frailties of glass
Which, it cannot be denied,
Lead in times like these to fear
For crystal vase and chandelier.
Not that the missiles will be cast;
None as yet dare lift an arm.
But the scene recalls a storm
When our grandsire stood aghast
To see his antique ruby bowl
Shivered in a thunder-roll.
Let us only bear in mind
How these treasures handed down
From a calmer age passed on
Are in the keeping of our kind.
We stand between the dead glass-blowers
And murmurings of missile throwers.
I have seen the mob of late
Standing sullen in the square,
Gazing with a sullen stare
At window, balcony and gate.
The uncle talks of impending social and political
unrest. His position of privilege and authority seems
to be under threat and he addresses the issue. We
are reminded of the fact that Rich and her husband
were involved in social activism. The uncle is
reluctant to accept any of these changes, so as he
describes the events, he presents them in a negative
light. He describes the group of people as a “mob”,
as opposed to a crowd or a group of protesters. This
is a derogatory term. Rich uses repetition of the
word “sullen”, which is a word with negative
connotations. This implies that the uncle has little
time for these people. He considers them a mob
even though all they are doing is standing in the
square. The people seem to be standing and staring
at the people in a position of power, including the
uncle who is on the inside looking out at the restless
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Adrienne Rich
The Uncle Speaks in the Drawing Room
Some have talked in bitter tones,
Some have held and fingered stones.
These are follies that subside.
Let us consider, none the less,
Certain frailties of glass
Which, it cannot be denied,
Lead in times like these to fear
For crystal vase and chandelier.
Not that the missiles will be cast;
None as yet dare lift an arm.
But the scene recalls a storm
When our grandsire stood aghast
To see his antique ruby bowl
Shivered in a thunder-roll.
Let us only bear in mind
How these treasures handed down
From a calmer age passed on
Are in the keeping of our kind.
We stand between the dead glass-blowers
And murmurings of missile throwers.
people. The crowd is described as talking in bitter
tones, again a term with negative connotations.
They are not angry, but bitter. The crowd would
appear to be contemplating violent action, but as of
yet have not engaged in such actions.
The uncle tries to dismiss these actions as the
mistakes of the lower orders of society. The use of
the word “follies” is significant - it subtly
characterises the uncle as upper class. In becomes
clear that the flippant dismissal of the protesters
seems to be a bit of a façade. While dismissing any
notion of trouble, he is also conceding that
precautions need to be taken and in the next few
lines details how some material possessions could
be damaged if there is unrest. The material
possessions mentioned are possible symbols of
wealth and status in society. Perhaps Rich is being
quite clever here - she may be suggesting that their
power is as fragile as the glass they are trying to
protect. The uncle’s priorities reveal how
materialistic this class is. He is very mindful of the
fact that there is glass in the houses that can be
broken. The objects mentioned, such as crystal vases
and chandeliers, are objects of the rich.
The uncle displays more arrogance in the
face of the social unrest. There is a certain
bravado/machismo in his speech as he tries to rally
and dismiss yet again the notion of a threat. One
senses, however, that these are merely empty words
on the part of the uncle. His fears come to the
surface once more, belying his bravado and
underscoring the threat that really exists. The focus
again falls on material possessions and family
objects that are the symbols of power. There is a
subtle hint here of some unrest in the past. The
uncle refers to it as a storm, and one wonders
whether it is a physical storm or a social and political
storm he is referring to.
Once more the uncle tries to rally and falls
back on the traditional notion tradition as a means
of protecting power and privilege. He states that it is
his and his class’s responsibility to keep the torch lit
for the upper class. However, it seems to be little
more than empty rhetoric and is a weak argument
for preserving privilege. They are the last line of
defence between their great ancestors and the
unruly mob that will destroy them.
http://engzone.weebly.com/the-uncle-speaks-in-the-drawing-room.html
Adrienne Rich
The Uncle Speaks in the Drawing Room
Common Ground: Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers / The Uncle Speaks in the Drawing Room
Style of writing
 Formal traditional approach
 Stanza structures
 Rhyming scheme
 Both poems written early in writing career
Approach to poem
 Both are political statements
 AJT: A little more personal and public
 Uncle: more overtly political
 Named aunt Jennifer - personal
 The uncle - impersonal - realm of public
 Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers clearly discusses feminist issues
 Uncle - more general political issues, but still underlying feminist agenda less explicitly
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