Literary Analysis Essay on For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide

Introduction

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide by Shange Ntozake uses the infrequent panache of choreopoem which is extremely operative when used by an experienced and skillful poet like Ntozake. She uses both rhyming librettos and a drama like an arrangement to enthrall the bibliophile. Ntozake passes a very strong message in her work which involves the way black women are mistreated and their audacity during the trials. By using both an inimitable style and spellbinding content, Ntozake relays a dispatch of hopefulness and egotism to her colleague colored women in her work. The unique style that Ntozake uses is constructed as a poem to be acted on stage in resemblance to a masque. It is made in a way that it flows on the stage the same way it does on paper (GradeSaver par. 1). The choreopoem uses a blend of song, play, dance and poesy which are performed by seven women. The play has since 1975 become the reference for obscure feminist literature and play. Ntozake's use choreopoem in her work makes her themes of race, self-actualization, music and dance, feminine acquaintance, the longing to be respected, estrangement and lonesomeness and passage of rites to come out clearly in addition to making her writing unique.

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The most interesting part about the play is how the author relays her themes artistically. Many authors applaud Ntozake for her unique way of condemning the oppression practiced in society and encouraging developing ladies. She uses color to differentiate her characters in the play and not names. As the women engage with each other, they address the problems they face in their surroundings which include being raped, abortions, internal ferocity, aging, sensuality, paucity, subjugation, segregation, self-comprehension. The general arch of the choreopoem develops from desolation and desire to logic of civic and optimism that develops from acceptance feminine culture and mounting a robust nous of personality (GradeSaver par. 2). Ntozake piles bits of songs all through the presentation. The author uses the term "colored" to make the writing simpler to understand even for illiterate people. The writer's panache is distinctive plus she habitually applies patois linguistic, exclusive construction, as well as unconventional punctuation to stress accent. Ntozake desired to present her writing in a mode that impersonated the way actual females communicate hence lure her bookworms' attention to the understanding of interpretation and heeding.

Although whiter characters are absent in Ntozake's work, she clearly shows that race has an essential part in the creation of her characters' individualities. The title of the work in itself indicates that Ntozake's motivation for coming up with this kind of work was to embolden black women to clinch to their individualities. The chief characters in this piece of work are all black females and the identity of their race and sex touches the perceptions via which the spectators' experiences of all the numerous tales (Brantley par. 2). By using the narrations from the ladies which involves struggles and development, Ntozake addresses the problem associated with race in the Americas minus appearing preachy. The females in the drama give narrations that characterize every stage of life and womankind. The women rejoice first affection, visions for the forthcoming and voluptuous wakening. They also rejoice after completing secondary school as well as the loss of one's virginity. As the play goes on, the females circumnavigate through several challenges that they encounter in their quixotic affiliations, the wherewithal that is brought up by womanly attachments, as well as the motion to an understanding of personal space in the globe (Schoolworkhelper par. 2).

The subject of estrangement and lonesomeness is brought up in that the females in the play are resolutely deep-seated in modern-day America. The women's perception is significant and though they are merely demarcated by the color of the clothing, they have similar individual narrations concerning sequestration and being marginalized. From their narrations it is seen that these women feel alone even when they are among crowds, unfolding packed metropolises full of ogling menfolk, the risk of home mistreatment as well as suffusing nous of unkindness, xenophobia, and insignificance. Concerning their personal lives, the majority of the females are overwhelmingly separated from their paramours, associates, and sometimes even themselves. Eventually, they discover that to be contented in affection, there is a need to accept oneself as well as depend on fellow females for support (Franklin, par. 3).

As the choreopoem progresses, the women slowly get to know how to express their wants to men. The women are depicted as longing for adoration from men. Every woman wishes for somebody who makes her feel exceptional and gives her support. As fledgling females, they compromise themselves in the hunt of friendship and encounter disappointing men who do not meet what they wanted. Their distresses are similar to those experienced by the majority of males and females who have walked the path of excruciating relationships. Ntozake seizures the raw soreness of unreciprocated love, as well as mislaid and broken love.

For Colored Girls... also addresses womanly attachment. Even though the majority of the poems are performed by individual females, there exists a robust connotation of brethren and solidarity, particularly because no single woman has a name in the poem. Occasionally, the women engage in narrating the story together as well as contributing lyrics and characters. The women participate in dances and music together and serve as chorale when one of them is talking. Sometimes, such as in "Pyramid", they fall for the same man and surface from despair with the ability to sustain their bonding. As the play comes to an end, the women reiterate commonality as they come together in triumphant merriments of themselves (Brantley par. 3).

Dance and music are presented as surplus subjects in the poem. Most of the time characters habitually designate the significance of music and dance in expressing oneself. Sometimes the stage directions require that one or more ladies come up on stage and perform dances and tunes. Such ingenious lingoes are channels for the females' sensations, anticipations, as well as qualms. By using dance and music, ladies have dependable, subjective and purgative as well as self-defining proficiencies. While participating in music and dances, the women are usually on the loose from their problems.

The choreopoem also makes a point in the realization of self-actualization. The women in the play begin while in their adolescence where there barely understand themselves. As they develop, the battle to consent their racial alignment, sex and their space in the globe. The women do blunders during their earlier relationships since they have grown frantic for love, yet they act as if they do not warrant it. The challenges the women face make them outgrow ignorance and confusion and in turn, develop self-consciousness and self-actualization. Moreover, they make them rejoice in their corporeal exterior, their womanly friendships, their scabs, their accomplishments, and their association to a more authoritative and celestial thing (GradeSaver par. 2).

Shange writes this choreopoem based on her own experiences in life. She suffered despair, aloneness, plus a deep nous of disarticulation following her botched nuptial then began to contemplate her personality as a colored female staying in America at the start of 1970. Writing became her approach of expressing her matters involving race, womankind as well as individuality. For colored girls who considered suicide arose from the 21 poems, she wrote while staying in San Francisco (GradeSaver par. 4). While introducing her second periodical of this choreopoem, Ntozake stated that her work introduced young ladies to other people and globes. She says that her poem introduced ladies to escapade, compassion, and brutality. She believes that when a person is facing cruelty, she thinks she is the only one, but after sharing one's experiences with others, she discovers that she is not solo and this strengthens her to push forward. Some authors who critic the poem claim that Ntozake is unfair to the black men (GradeSaver par. 5). However, in my opinion, the poem is fair since the key point it meant to achieve was to address the challenges black women faced.

The use of choreopoem in this piece of work has made it significant in outlaying the themes that Ntozake wanted to give out. This work is exceptional since Ntozake writes it from personal experience. Ntozake gives a view of other women of her race and the way they expected things to work out for them. Everyone dreamt of a decent future and a good relationship. However, the steps that these young black girls took towards their dreams were always shattered either by the white people or deceitful lovers. Ntozake is very passionate in her writing that this enthralls everyone reading the work. She wants people to see the oppression that black women got during that period and develop a sense of respect for women. She achieves her aim by using a combination of the appealing panache and emotive content in her work. Although some authors criticize her work that it demeans black men, the choreopoem achieves its role of bringing to light the struggles of black girls as they developed. The poem addresses various themes including self-actualization, cruelty, womanhood as well as love.

Works Cited

Brantly Ben. 'For Colored Girls' Review: Ntozake Shange's Women Endure. The New York Times. (Oct 22, 2019). Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/22/theater/for-colored-girls-review-ntozake-shange.html

Franklin J. Marc. A First Look at Ntozake Shange's For Colored Girls...Off-Broadway. (Oct 11, 2019). Retrieved from www.playbill.com/article/a-first-look-at-ntozake-shanges-for-colored-girls-off-broadway

GradeSaver. For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.gradesaver.com/for-colored-girls-who-have-considered-suicide-when-the-rainbow-is-enuf

Schoolworkhelper. Ntozake Shange's For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf: Style and Theme. (2019). Retrieved from https://schoolworkhelper.net/ntozake-shanges-for-colored-girls-who-have-considered-suicide-when-the-rainbow-is-enuf-style-theme/