A. Write about the way Auden tells the story in ‘Miss Gee’

Auden tells the story of the poem mainly by using the characterisation of Miss Gee. He establishes Miss Gee throughout the poem by using clear descriptions of her appearance, her place in society and her own feelings and emotions that develop throughout her life and the poem. Auden starts by introducing ‘Miss Gee’ in the title, where we can already see she is a spinster. The use of ‘Miss Gee’ is also impersonal and distances the reader from her. The use of a phonetic for the letter ‘G’ reinforces the lack of individuality Miss Gee has. We can clearly see, as readers, that there is a persona in the poem by the use of ‘me’ in the first line, this could be interpreted as Auden becoming the narrator and so we can see his views reflected in the poem. This is the only moment in the poem where Auden speaks to the reader directly. Auden describes miss Gee in detail and establishes why she is a spinster, ‘she had no bust at all’, this proposes she is very unattractive, especially to men as the bust is involved in sexual attraction. Miss Gee helps with the church a lot; ‘She did a lot of knitting, Knitting for that church bazaar’, this implies that Miss Gee hasn’t got a family to knit for so the church provides her life with meaning. It also gives us the impression that Miss Gee is a pillar of the community and has good morals. Miss Gee feels insignificant to the world; ‘Does anyone care That I live in Clevedon Terrace On one hundred pounds a year?’, this is the first voice of Miss Gee and it highlights how sad her life is as she is completely alone and not particularly wealthy either. This is the first point in the poem where the reader begins to feel sympathy for Miss Gee. In the poem Miss Gee has a romantic dream with the vicar, ‘the Vicar of saint Aloysius Asked Her Majesty to dance’, This shows the reader that Miss Gee wants to feel important and respected, this is reinforced by the use of capital letter for, ‘Majesty’, it also implies that Miss Gee want to feel like royalty. In particular, it highlights Miss Gee’s love for the vicar and her desire for romance.

Auden tells the story in Miss gee by using the setting. He uses the setting to give the reader not only a view of where Miss Gee goes, but also where she is in society and it gives an insight into her life. In the first stanza Auden starts by placing Miss Gee in a setting; ‘She lived in Clevedon Terrace At number 83’; this implies that Miss Gee is middle-class and relatively average. Miss Gee lives in a, ‘small bed sitting room’, this implies she lives on her own and is not particularly wealthy. It also gives the suggestion to the reader that her life is very simple and small, similar to where she lives. Auden places Miss Gee in church, ‘Miss Gee sat down in the side-aisle’, this suggests a physicalization of her marginalisation in society as she is sat on the sidelines. It emphasises the insignificance Miss Gee has on the world and also of the church. This also provokes sympathy as we have already learnt that Miss Gee does a lot to help the church, yet she is still seen as trivial. Miss gee is also placed in the hospital, and for the first time she does not go independently, ‘They took Miss Gee to the hospital’, this highlight Miss Gee’s vulnerability and incapability to look after herself. This evokes sympathy amongst the reader, as the only people helping her are strangers, doing their job. There is no one at the hospital that truly cares about her, and this mirrors Miss Gee’s life.

The Story in Miss Gee is made clear by Auden’s use of time and sequence. He very carefully sets out the different parts of Miss Gee’s life and uses clever transitions connecting them. At the beginning of the poem, Auden starts by describing Miss Gee’s life, ‘She’d a bicycle with shopping basket And a harsh back-pedal brake’, this is a very normal image and helps to create the depiction that Miss Gee’s life is very dull and boring. The ‘harsh back-pedal brake’ could also be interpreted as Miss Gee’s lack in confidence and fear of change, where when something exciting comes into her life she backs away and expresses fright. Auden uses the seasons as a transition from one part to the next, ‘Summer made the trees a picture, winter mad them a wreck’, this shows that time is passing and by showing that time is passing, Auden also highlight how nothing is changing in Miss Gee’s life. After Auden has introduced Miss Gee’s life he then writes about Miss Gee’s discovery of cancer. In this second half of the poem Auden moves away from Miss Gee and the reader now sees her through the eyes of other people, ‘Doctor Thomas looked her over’, this emphasises Miss Gee’s insignificance. The use of a masculine name for the doctor also highlights Miss Gee’s sexual repression and lack of men in her personal life. Auden also changes the tone and accelerates it, ‘Cancer’s a funny thing’, this is very sudden and shocking as there is no build up to it. The line is also emphasised by Auden putting it at the end of a stanza with no rhyme so it doesn’t fit in with the rest of the stanza and stands out. The last sequence to the poem is when Miss Gee dies and Auden makes this a very shocking and dismal part of the poem, ‘And Mr Rose the surgeon He cut Miss gee in half’, this reveals that Miss Gee is dead. It is very sudden and blunt but it provokes sympathy within the reader as it highlights the cruel reality that Miss Gee is just another body. The use of a rose for the surgeons name is also an ironic symbol of love. It is lovelessness that has brought Miss Gee to this situation and the only time a man sees her body naked is to cut her up. This is a very brutal and inhuman image and helps to create pity amidst the reader.

Auden tells the story using his own point of view on the topic and this helps to create an opinionated, interesting story. Auden wants the reader to feel bad for mocking Miss Gee. To do this, Auden begins by giving Miss Gee a comedic but unattractive image; ‘She’d a slight squint in her left eye, Her lips were thin and small’, this implies that Miss Gee has no partner as she is very unattractive, it is also comedic because it is a very odd depiction of a female. Later in the poem, Auden makes you feel bad for mocking Miss Gee, ‘Cancer’s a funny thing…Its as if there had to be some outlet For their foiled creative fire’, this implies that people need creative fire in their lives and if you don’t then it twists inside of you and kills you. Auden is suggesting that instead of having a baby inside of her, she has cancer. This provokes sympathy with the reader and makes them feel bad about mocking her as her life is very sad and she now has cancer and is going to die. The poem ends by Miss Gee being treated inhumanely; ‘They hung her form the ceiling, Yes, they hung up Miss Gee; And a couple of oxford Groupers Carefully dissected her knee’, this implies that Miss Gee is only significant and of any importance when she is dead. The tumour has gotten more attention in the last three stanzas of the poem than Miss Gee received in the whole first half of the poem. The reference to Miss Gee’s knee is also of importance as Auden is trying to say that that even though Miss Gee prayed on them in church, she still ended up dying so, subsequently, faith in religion does not make a difference to human life. In conclusion, Auden is telling the reader to think about people like this as its too late to make Miss Gee’s life better but it is not too late for the people on the outside world.