Analysis Of The Poem Bellocq Ophelia By Natasha Trethewey

Bellocq’s Ophelia, by Natasha Trethewey is a collection of poems highlighting the complexities of being a black female sex worker in the early 20th century. The work is inspired by the image of a young prostitute in New Orleans originally taken by photographer E.J. Bellocq. Trethewey s protagonist is Ophelia, and the poems serve as letters depicting her experience while working in the brothel. Thematically, the poems center largely around objectification .Countess P---’s Advice for New Girls and August 1911 are examples of how Tretheway uses language, tone, and structure to reflect Ophelia’s internal feelings of oppression while being both racially and sexually objectified. Countess P’s Advice for New Girls essentially introduces the ideals and principles of the business but states you are the business. The environment of the poem takes place in Countess P’s brothel. Countess P the speaker of the poem, a Madame, demonstrates to Ophelia this ideology with an authoritarian tone.â€Å"For our customers you must learn to be watched. Empty your thoughts think if you do, only of your swelling purse.† The element of identity and performativity is highlighted with the author’s intricate use of imagery and similes in this poem. The poem’s begins with imagery, Countess P states to Ophelia â€Å"Look, this is a high- class house polished mahogany..†(11) meaning this brothel is filled with luxury and the women she employs will reflect this ideology of magnificence and objectification. â€Å"The