A critical analysis on William Carlos Williams' use of literary technique. This paper was written as required for my high school senior paper. Requirements being: research paper, must be a critical analysis on either a novel or poem[s], must be at least six pages long.
A copy of The Red Wheelbarrow can be found
here.
A copy of Portrait of a Lady can be found
here.
Comments/Critique encouraged.
Analysis on William Carlos Williams' Use of Literary Technique
Affected by his friends, influenced by cultural styles such as Dadaism and Surrealism, and inspired by the creations of various artists ranging from Marcel Duchamp to Pieter Brueghel, William Carlos Williams developed a writing style that differed greatly from the typical standard of his time. Originally an Imagist and eventually developing into a Modernist, William Carlos Williams wrote poetry in a style knowingly contrary to the British manner. Williams thus became a poet with a simple yet intricately advanced style that was and still is infrequently seen. Through Imagism, Williams combined poetry with art creating pieces that provided a visual environment rather than being centered on the aspiration to be pleasing to the ear. To achieve this, Williams employed techniques used in the creation of both literary and visual art.
One of the most effective techniques that Williams makes use of is perspective. In “The Red Wheelbarrow,” the location is critical to the whole of the poem. We are back in the neighborhood of Rutherford, or perhaps any rural location. Chickens and wheelbarrows are found in proximity in many parts of the world, though they would not be found in the middle of Greenwich Village. (Ahearn) The location sets the scene in some sort of rural locality such as a farm or ranch. Because it is such a short poem, the extent to which we know of the background allows for a more thorough perception of the situation by the expanse of the imagination. Though the temporal period is vague, like the general location of the scene, it is apparent that this specific farm is one of a recent hundred years, showing that the poem is concerning a relatively modern time period. This having been shown, one can now certainly imagine the scene: a rustic setting with, quite possibly, fences, rusty farm equipment, decaying buildings, grass everywhere, a chicken and a wheelbarrow. Though the scene that is formed in one reader’s mind may not be the same as the scene in another reader’s mind as a natural consequence of ambiguity, the imagery of the scene is displayed quite effectively through Williams’ use setting, both physical and temporal. Thus, as Peter Baker says, “If one were to leave the importance of perception unnoticed, one would inevitably be baffled by some of Williams' more famous poems.” Baker claims that “Williams is saying that perception is necessary to life and that the poem itself can lead to a fuller understanding of one's experience. As [Williams] says in ‘Asphodel, That Greeny Flower,’ ‘It is difficult to get the news from poems yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there.’”
But perspective is not manifested only through the use of location. Williams uses point of view as well to impact the reader’s mental scene of the poem. “Look at the poem in terms of a screenplay,” (Blythe and Sweet) when shooting a screenplay, the screenwriter often has the motion picture change perspective multiple times so as to pronounce certain characteristics of the piece more thoroughly. In “The Red Wheelbarrow” the reader “[is] forced to change [his or her] perspective twice from [his or her] initial perception.” (Blythe and Sweet) Like many imagistic poems, "The Red Wheelbarrow" concentrates on a single image. Williams here, though, is more interested in the importance of perspective on that image than the actual image itself. Thus, he subtly forces readers to switch perspective as an exercise to illustrate the importance of point of view. (Blythe and Sweet) In addition to perspective, Williams makes use of both sensual and simplistic imagery to create the scene. In “Portrait of a Lady,” Williams presents to a conversation between a lover and his loved. Carl Smeller writes that “The poet's attempts at composition are interrupted, not by some obstreperous facet of his inner self, but by the voice of the woman whom he is in the process of anatomizing.” That being said, Williams, rather than being stereotypical, takes a “strikingly original if a little peculiar” (Smeller) approach and compares her thighs to apple trees. Though this may seem a strange metaphor, Smeller claims that Williams responds “to [the] query ‘Which sky?’ with an allusion to a well-known painting, [in order to show] that he is in fact still operating from within the confines of conventional, stereotypical representations of women's bodies.” Williams extends this metaphor through the comparison of her knees to “white summer days” and her ankles to “grass flickering upon the shore.” In the case of “The Red Wheelbarrow,” Williams uses imagery that is simple as well as visually sensual. Stanley Archer writes that “interpretation of ‘The Red Wheelbarrow’ must rely heavily on its visual imagery. There is the vague, casual beginning, ‘so much depends,’ then the images of the wheelbarrow and the white chickens.” This is to say, since “so much depends” on the image, that the imagery is a vital aspect of the poem. However, that is not even the full extent of the imagery; there is also the metaphorical portrayal of which these images of the scene are displayed. Rather than being static and lackluster, Williams portrays “the wheelbarrow immediately after the rain, when the bright sun has created the wheelbarrow's shiny surface and has made the chickens immaculately white” (Archer). The metaphor of the wheelbarrow being glazed thus gives temporal perspective to the poem being that “the metaphor ‘glazed’ captures time in the poem. In a moment, the wheelbarrow will be dry, its sheen gone; yet the hardness suggested by the metaphor is not irrelevant” (Archer).
Nevertheless, imagery can not only add a perspective to the poem but it can create a tone as well. Tone is generally seen as the change of pitch to create stresses upon various words in the poem to affect the disposition of the poem but not only can it be used as thus but tone can also be used, like in the visual art sense, to focus on the manipulation of colors of the piece. “The opening lines set the tone for the rest of the poem. Since the poem is composed of one sentence broken up at various intervals, it is truthful to say that ‘so much depends upon’ each line of the poem” (Exploring Poetry). Consequently, the line breaks make up the poem, through dissection of “the image of the wheelbarrow, [Williams] also transform[s] the common definition of a poem” (Exploring Poetry). This breaking up of the poem allows for an easier recognition of the imagery referenced within the piece. As well as developing the tone of the paper by dissolution of the line breaks, Williams further breaks down the image by separating each line as well. In “The Red Wheelbarrow,” “the image of the wheelbarrow is introduced starkly. The vivid word ‘red’ lights up the scene. Notice that the monosyllable words in line 3 elongates the line, putting an unusual pause between the word ‘wheel’ and ‘barrow’” (Exploring Poetry). This partitioning of the line, like the dissolution of the line breaks, allows for a more thorough acceptance of the poem, allowing for a more complete image of the scene. With the pause during this second line of the poem, one can definitely see the wheelbarrow and in its simplicity, allows for a more thorough perception of the scene. In the next line of the poem, Williams furthers the creation of the image by adding unto this image of the red wheelbarrow in our mind even more detail. “Here the word ‘glazed’ evokes another painterly image. Just as the reader is beginning to notice the wheelbarrow through a closer perspective, the rain transforms it as well, giving it a newer, fresher look. This new vision of the image is what Williams is aiming for” (Exploring Poetry). An example of the adaptability of the imagery can be seen in Stanley Archer’s view of the scene. In his perception, “dark clouds still cover a portion of the sky, often giving [it] an eerie yellow—or blue—green tone to the landscape, a tone seen in the paintings of El Greco.” Though this representation of the scene may not be the same for each reader, it can be demonstrative of the fluidity of the poem caused by the tone. In the last line of the poem, Williams adds to the scene “another color, ‘white’ [that] is used to contrast the earlier ‘red,’ [causing] the unusual view of the ordinary wheelbarrow [to be] complete” (Exploring Poetry).
Influenced by the philosophy of “no ideas but in things,” Williams creates poetry in a method that objectifies ideas in concrete imagery. As such, in using simple images, in “The Red Wheelbarrow” Williams enables himself to “[transform] the common definition of a poem. With careful word choice, attention to language, and unusual stanza breaks Williams [turns] an ordinary sentence into poetry” (Exploring Poetry).
But what ties all these properties of literary and visual art together? Perhaps the most important aspect of William Carlos Williams’ poetry is that of color. Just as a painting wouldn’t be the same without color, Williams’ poetry would be very much lacking if it didn’t contain the brilliant employment of color. In “The Red Wheelbarrow,” Williams uses the “sharp contrast” of the red wheelbarrow being “flaming and angular” to the “cool, white, softly round chickens” in order to create the emotion of the poem (Marzán). Williams once said “There is no subject; it's what you put on the canvas and how you put it on that makes the difference. Poems aren't made of thoughts — they’re made of words, pigments put on ...” (Costello). In saying this, Williams is describing his method of creation. Rather than writing simply for the sake of writing, Williams creates in a method that will convey an image unto the reader.
Additionally, not only did William Carlos Williams employ many of the same techniques found in the creation of visual art to his writing style but he also made use of writing about various pieces of visual art in order to further develop his style. For instance, one artist that he was particularly compelled to was Brueghel. As Bonnie Costello says, It isn't difficult to see why Williams was attracted to Brueghel. Not only the painter's choice of low -life subjects but also his detached, comprehensive view of them, recalls the poet's work. On a more formal level, the emphasis on activity, the rich variety of color and shape, and the distinctness of design in these canvases would certainly have appealed to Williams. (Costello) Seeing the similarities in style between Williams and Brueghel, it is quite apparent that Williams, through his appreciation of Brueghel’s art, was thus influenced to respect it through writing. “Williams is clearly trying to achieve in words the effects Brueghel achieved in paint. But much more strongly than before, the poet is aware of the differences between the two mediums and is developing the particular advantages of poetry. Unlike painting, poetry can speak of what is not there” (Costello). Though written and visual art have their evident differences, it can be seen that through the crediting of Brueghel’s art through Williams’ poetry, Williams is inadvertently influenced by Brueghel’s style. Having found direction through Brueghel and other “old masters of painting,” Williams was “provided models of the artist's life, sincerity of his vision, [and] rigor of his design. Williams saw these artists solving, in their own ways, the same problems that concerned him. And as if to testify to his respectful autonomy, he often borrowed their subject matter, or even made their work his subject” (Costello).
Though Williams’ style was no doubt affected, influenced, and inspired by his friends, cultural styles, and various artists, in the end Williams style is his own. Having an original, simple, creative style, Williams, inspired by these art figures and styles, created a new style destined to inspire many others like him who would in turn make use of Williams’ style to develop their own styles. Though written and visual art differ and will continue to differ greatly in many areas, those areas in which they are similar will also continue to intertwine and develop while at the same time, allowing the artists to develop along with them.
- Matt
Good job Matt. 
Yah, I got an A on it. Thanks for the reply. :O 
