Box Room
Box Room Essay
“Box Room” by Liz Lochhead is a poem that I think is relevant to a teenage audience. The poetic techniques used in the poem such as word choice, theme and imagery help to achieve this. “Box Room” is a poem about a girl who is going to her boyfriend’s mother’s house to meet his mother for the first time. The mother is not really thrilled when she meets this girl and the poet makes clear throughout the poem makes clear throughout the poem that the two women do not get along.
Liz Lochhead makes this poem relevant to a teenage audience through her use of word choice in the first line when the girl meets her prospective mother-in-law for the first time:
“the welcoming”
This phrase suggests that the greeting between her and his mother is insincere and that the welcoming is a staged performance suggesting that the mother is not really pleased to meet her. Teenagers can relate to this as sometimes when you meet your boyfriend or girlfriend’s parents for the first time it can be a strange and daunting experience.
Further on in stanza one Lochhead develops the theme of relationships when we are told that her boyfriend is sleeping in the lounge:
“put-u-up”
At this point the poet suggests that because of this girl the woman’s son has been put out as the phrase has connotations of an uncomfortable bed. It also suggests wry humour in that the mother will put up with the girl. This links with teenagers because in most cases if you stay with your boyfriend/girlfriend over night, their parents will not allow you both to sleep in the same bed and this is what we see happening in the poem.
Near the end of the first stanza Lochhead further shows the relevance to teenagers though her use of word choice when the girl first gets a chance to look around her boyfriend’s old bedroom:
“pathetic Shrine”
The word “pathetic” shows that the girl knows that she means more to her boyfriend than his mother does and also that his mother does not want to let go of
“Box Room” by Liz Lochhead is a poem that I think is relevant to a teenage audience. The poetic techniques used in the poem such as word choice, theme and imagery help to achieve this. “Box Room” is a poem about a girl who is going to her boyfriend’s mother’s house to meet his mother for the first time. The mother is not really thrilled when she meets this girl and the poet makes clear throughout the poem makes clear throughout the poem that the two women do not get along.
Liz Lochhead makes this poem relevant to a teenage audience through her use of word choice in the first line when the girl meets her prospective mother-in-law for the first time:
“the welcoming”
This phrase suggests that the greeting between her and his mother is insincere and that the welcoming is a staged performance suggesting that the mother is not really pleased to meet her. Teenagers can relate to this as sometimes when you meet your boyfriend or girlfriend’s parents for the first time it can be a strange and daunting experience.
Further on in stanza one Lochhead develops the theme of relationships when we are told that her boyfriend is sleeping in the lounge:
“put-u-up”
At this point the poet suggests that because of this girl the woman’s son has been put out as the phrase has connotations of an uncomfortable bed. It also suggests wry humour in that the mother will put up with the girl. This links with teenagers because in most cases if you stay with your boyfriend/girlfriend over night, their parents will not allow you both to sleep in the same bed and this is what we see happening in the poem.
Near the end of the first stanza Lochhead further shows the relevance to teenagers though her use of word choice when the girl first gets a chance to look around her boyfriend’s old bedroom:
“pathetic Shrine”
The word “pathetic” shows that the girl knows that she means more to her boyfriend than his mother does and also that his mother does not want to let go of