23 pages • 46-minute read
Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law
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Background
Socio-Historical Context
Penned in the 1960s, “Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law” was written at a time when the rise of the women’s liberation movement and second wave feminism in the United States. The 19th and 20th century saw the first wave of feminism, which focused on acquiring equality in legal rights for women—specifically voting rights, the heart of which was formed by the women’s suffrage movement. Second-wave feminism, however, looked not just at ensuring equal legal rights for women, but also equal opportunity and the ability to exercise personal freedom. It addressed all aspects of a woman’s life: from her place in and the effect upon her of politics, to her work, family, and even her sexuality.
The rise of second-wave feminism was fueled by events and circumstances following World War II. The war warranted a burst in invention, particularly in technology, and post-WWII, this translated into household equipment simplifying homemaking. Further, there was growth in the social sector and demand for jobs requiring a host of abilities not restricted to physical strength. However, while the environment was primed with opportunities for women to enter the work force and more significantly contribute, outdated cultural attitudes about a woman’s work and her place being at home prevailed.
French writer and philosopher Simone de Beauvoir’s publication of The Second Sex in 1949 first put forth the idea that the expectations of women were more social and historical than biological construct. Beauvoir’s articulation of the distinction between sex and gender, and how the ideas associated with the latter are based in stereotype rather than fact, was revolutionary. It allowed women to see they were capable of choice and achievement on a similar level as men.
This led to a churning of similar ideas in the United States as well; in fact, in the same year Rich published the collection in which “Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law” appears, Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique also hit the shelves. Among other things, Friedan’s book put forth the idea that domestication had “deadened” women, and they were socially conditioned to not too deeply look into their stagnation or seek anything beyond. One sees similar ideas as these reflected in Rich’s poem: The description of how the only thing that pains the woman in Section Two is the “morning’s grit” (Line 25) in her eyes; the subversion of Diderot’s argument that the death of a woman at 15 is caused by entering an oppressive and patriarchal world by way of marriage; and the assertion that the low expectations set of women should be seen not as comforting, but as a “blight” (Line 92). Rich’s poem thus, can be seen as a product of its times—exploring and addressing then-prevalent ideas, arguments, and issues.
Authorial Context
Rich’s experience of being a woman primarily informs the structure and themes of not just “Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law,” but the entire, eponymous collection to which the poem belongs. The poems in the collection present a woman’s way of seeing and existing within a world of which men define the parameters and hold the most power. A change from her preceding writing, “Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law” is a far more personal work. It is born from Rich’s own experiences of being a wife and mother, and the tensions that these identities offered for her because she was a woman in the 1950s. In a 1982 essay, Rich said, "The experience of motherhood was eventually to radicalize me.” (See: Further Reading & Resources)
Simultaneously, or consequently, Rich spent the latter half of the 50s and the early part of the 60s in a quest for knowledge, specifically seeking the historical sources of women’s oppression. This led her to the writings of Simone de Beauvoir, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Emily Dickinson. The former’s impact on the ideas of feminism prevalent in the socio-cultural milieu of this time in Rich’s life is undeniable (See: Socio-Historical Context); the latter two appear as figures in Rich’s poem. In fact, Rich’s description of the snapshot in which Dickinson arrives in the poem seems to mirror her own experiences as a woman writer. Rich describes how this poem, written over the course of two years, was penned in bits and pieces: when her children napped; during a brief hour at the library; at 3:00 AM after being awakened by a crying toddler. Just as Rich finds brief spaces between her domestic chores to write lines of poetry, so too did Dickinson in Rich’s reimagining.
Owing to the exploration of questions and issues with which Rich had not hitherto engaged, "Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law” is a clear transition in Rich’s poetic style and subject matter. She deviates from the traditional poetic forms employed in previous work. "Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law” marked the beginning of Rich’s use of her personal experience, and questions with which she was grappling in writing. As she began to increasingly align with left-leaning thought and engage in political and social activism, similar themes of feminism and sexuality—among others—found their way into her later writing.
In an ironic twist, however, Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law as a complete collection was, at the time, met with harsh reviews; Rich was deemed to be too bitter and personal. In the poem, Rich describes how women are often beaten down when they begin to "cast too bold a shadow” (Line 103), and uses Wollstonecraft as an example. Rich received a similar fate to the one she predicts, and it would be some time before she wrote in such a personal or intimate vein again.
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