Early in the Morning

Li-Young Lee’s work has been widely considered through a feminist perspective and “Early in the Morning” is often a central poem of note. Though the literary tradition has varied in its stances and objectives, a primary feature of feminist criticism is to explore how women are represented in literary texts from various points-of-view. Feminists challenge patriarchy, or the systemic acceptance of male societal dominance, through explorations of how a text either upholds or subverts patriarchal structures. In the case of “Early in the Morning,” there are some who argue that Lee upholds patriarchal standards within the poem. They suggest that the mother figure remains silent, and therefore passive, while the father figure is able to speak. Arguments for the objectification of the mother’s hair imply that she remains sexualized and only noteworthy because of her capacity to fulfill male desire.

However, others have turned to the poem to articulate how it subverts those same standards. Unlike the father, the mother remains active throughout the poem—she combs her own hair before she prepares breakfast—while the father remains passive and watchful. The tone also suggests that the mother does not occupy a submissive position. The speaker honors the labor required of breakfast-making by paying attention to its preparation. He reveals the details of the mother/father relationship matter-of-factly, and does not use language that values one parent over the other. Rather, the mother and the father are equally valued and become empowered as a couple in the final line: “when they untie [the curtains] in the evening” (Line 26). By using the pronoun “they,” both the mother and the father occupy equal agency in the decision to close the curtains at nightfall. Instead of trapped domesticity, this language and imagery suggests a shared space that belongs to the two of them as a couple, where they can enjoy themselves after the day’s work is done and relax into the comfort that only comes when you’ve known and lived with someone for many years.

Though the perspective of the poem is male-centered, the pathos of the poem invokes a feeling of mutual respect. Therefore, many critics consider Li-Young Lee a contemporary standard of pro-feminist poetics.