Poetry · Chapter
One of the Unfair Sex explained
A satirical poem about a woman who stands serenely at a ticket window, oblivious to the growing crowd behind her.
What happens
A satirical poem about a woman who stands serenely at a ticket window, oblivious to the growing crowd behind her. The scene escalates into a chaotic mob that eventually dies of old age waiting, while the woman remains frozen in place, and the trains no longer stop at the station.
Themes in this chapter
Political Satire
The poem mocks the ineffectiveness of legislation and the absurdity of the crowd's patience, suggesting a critique of societal and political inertia.
Deception and Self-Deception
The woman's serene demeanor and the crowd's dissembled love highlight the gap between outward appearances and inner frustrations.
Characters to notice
- Unknown
The narrator describes the scene of the woman at the ticket window.
Key passages
“She stood at the ticket-seller’s Serenely removing her glove, While hundreds of strugglers and yellers, And some that were good at a shove, Were clustered behind her like bats in a cave and dissembling their love.”
A woman calmly takes off her glove at the ticket counter, while a large, impatient crowd behind her pretends to be polite.
The contrast between her serenity and the crowd's concealed anger sets up the poem's satirical tone.
“She stands there to-day—legislation Has failed to remove her. The trains No longer pull up at that station; And over the ghastly remains Of the army that waited and died of old age fall the snows and the rains.”
The woman is still standing there, laws couldn't move her, but the trains don't stop anymore, and the crowd that waited has died of old age, now covered by weather.
The absurd conclusion emphasizes the futility of the situation and the passage of time.