Gwen Harwood: Gender Analysis The patriarchy of the society within the context of which poet Gwen Harwood constructed her poetry, is observed, sometimes criticized and often challenged in the collection of poems found in the text 'Gwen Harwood, Selected Poems'. The representation of the images of men, women and gender differences to which a society consciously or unconsciously subscribes are captured through her writings. Harwoods construction of the poems 'Prize Giving' and 'Night Thoughts: Baby & …showed first 75 words of 1099 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1099 total…also portrayed and represented in association with the female role. The more traditional, perhaps, writing of 'Night Thoughts: Baby & Demon' reinforce the concept of the male as 'demonish' and the female as angelic (hence baby), by observing the associations made by society. Thus literary texts are constructed in ways that can represent the images of both genders and their differences, and have the ability to reflect on society's conscious or unconscious subscription of gender roles.