The speaker portrays women has having unhappy relations and being jealous of one other.

This is
most evident when she notes that"Who lurked to spy and peer." The use of the verb ""Lurked"
and "Spy" highlights the feelings of sister Maude towards her sister and shows how much respect
she has towards her sister and how she doesnt give her sister the privacy she should have
alternatively this could mean that sister Maude is the younger sister and is jealous of the older
siblings lover.Moveover the verb "peer" further highlights the lack of respect the Maude has for
her sister and how she is so concentrated on trying to expose her and her lover. In particular she
presents women has being very jealous of one another, this is shown most when she
states"Though I had not been born at all,He'd never have looked at you." .This further
emphasizes the fact that even if she was never born her lover would never have cared about
Maude on the other hand this could mean that she was the much more attractive sister and thats
why sister Maude always hated her.The repetition of"b" in the phrase "been born" could mean
the even if he saw you in the beginning he still wouldn't have loved you or this was just the
beginning of the rude and insulting thing she was about to say as a result the modern reader
would understand why the two sisters hate each other so much and how they were wiewed in the
poem