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Jennifer Affinito Professor Camargo English 2100 28 April 2013 The Little Red Dress In Kim Addonzios famous poem, What Do Women Want, verbal imagery is a prominent device that suggests a theme of a feminine desire for desirability. Throughout the poem, Addonzio gushes about how badly she desires to have a sexy, feminine little red dress. However, her poem is not only about the desire for a red dress. In fact, the red dress symbolizes something much deeper. Through symbolism, tone, verbal imagery, diction and irony the speakers desire to stand out and to be viewed as a desirable woman is revealed. The poem is written in open form. This allows the poem to be free with lack of restraint. This goes hand in hand with the overall theme of the poem. One central theme is desirability and the desirability is wanted without restraints. The speaker states: I want to walk down/the street past Thrifty's and the hardware store/with all those keys glittering in the window,/ past Mr. and Mrs. Wong selling day-old/ donuts in their caf, past the Guerra brothers/slinging pigs from the truck and onto the dolly This is a clear indication of the speakers desire to do what she wants without any restraints, especially in this case where she is talking about strutting her stuff in skimpy tight red dress through town. To want to wear a dress like that past all these ordinary shops and people that she is familiar with simply means that she wants to make a statement; she wants to break ordinary restraints and be powerful- just like the open form allows. In the very first sentence of the poem, the speaker immediately answers the question that the title asks. What do Women Want? I want a red dress(Addonizio). From the very start the speakers tone is very strong and confident. The speaker states what she wants. Although she

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makes it clear that she wants a red dress, its not necessarily the dress that she wants. Instead, she wants the feelings the dress will bring her and the feelings of desirability the dress will bring others. In lines 3-6, through diction and tone, the speakers personality becomes clear and her intentions for why she wants the dress become clear. I want it too tight, I want to wear it/until someone tears it off me./I want it sleeveless and backless,/this dress, so no one has to guess /what's underneath. The words that the speaker uses are intense and the verbal imagery is incredible. They scream out desire and lust. The speaker makes it evident that at this point in the poem she doesnt want to just be powerful, but she also wants to be sexually powerful. Red, typically known as powerful and passionate, is a statement color. Reds boldness relates to the symbolism in the poem. After explaining how she wants the tight, red, skimpy dress, the speaker goes on to describe how she wants the red dress tight and wants it torn off her. In other words, she wants the dress to flaunt her figure and be so jaw dropping that it creates this steamy, passionate lust for her. She wants the passionate lust to be so intense that the dress is not just taken off her, but its literally torn off of her in an anxious manor. In lines five through seven when she goes on to explain that she wants the dress to be sleeveless, backless and leaving her body up to no interpretations, this again is a cry for attention. She wants to drive a man wild, ultimately allowing herself to gain control over him, which once again represents her desire to be sexually powerful. The dress isnt described as a cute little conservative dress, but instead it is described as this sexy revealing dress, depicting the desire to feel wanted, to stand out and gain control. Through diction the speaker is able to create a dramatic effect as well. In lines 14-16 the speaker states: I want to walk like Im the only/ woman on earth and I can have my pick./ I want that red dress bad. The choice to use words like Im the only woman on earth, represents

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a lot. To be the only woman means a lot more than stating the desire to stand out from other woman. The use of only creates an entirely different feeling. It created more intensity and drama. As the poem continues, the speaker explains how she wants the dress to do more than just make her look drop dead gorgeous, she wants it to make you feel bad when you realize that she doesnt care about you anymore. This is revealed in lines 17-21 when the speaker states: I want it to confirm/ your worst fears about me,/ to show you how little I care about you/ or anything except what/I want. The speaker uses an enjambment between lines 19-21 as if to draw out the drama. The speaker doesnt make it clear who you is. She wants to show that she really doesnt care about whomever this you is and thats the statement she now wishes to make with the dress. Through the careful choice of words her statement is clearly made. The use of verbal imagery throughout the poem brings it to life. For instance in lines 2127 the speaker states: When I find it, I'll pull that garment/from its hanger like I'm choosing a body/ to carry me into this world, through/ the birth-cries and the love-cries too,/ and I'll wear it like bones, like skin,/ it'll be the goddamned/ dress they bury me in(Addonizio). The way this is written is very dramatic. It is as if the speaker is anxiously pushing aside clothes on a rack and pulling that red dress off the hanger in anticipation. The speaker goes on to say that she will wear it like a body to carry her into the world, like bones, like skin. In other words, shes going to wear that dress like it is part of her. As if the dress makes up whom she is. It is at this point in the poem that the reader can see that the desires she wants to come from the dress are really very intense and deep. She doesnt just want this little red dress to have it. She wants to wear it as if its literally what she is made up of, she wants it for something much, much deeper than just to look good. The poem ends with that fabulous last line about how itll be the dress shes buried

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in. That has to be one heck of a dress to be buried in; it has to mean a lot. It is in the last few lines that it becomes clear that this dress holds a lot more meaning than just sex appeal. Although the poem is an intense poem with much emotion and passion, it does contain some irony. The overall irony in this poem is the title of the poem. The title is What Do Women Want? but the very first line states I want as if to say that the speaker is the only woman alive. She continues to use the phrase I want eight other times in the poem revealing the ultimate focus of the poem: her. The dress is never described as what women want, it is only described as what she wants. In the poem the speaker even states that I want to walk like Im the only woman on earth and I can have my pick (Addonizio). Although it is possible that the speaker is using the poem to describe an emotion that all woman may feel, through the constant use of I and by keeping the focus only on what she wants it is hard to believe that this poem is supposedly what all woman want. The use of words like women desire or women want is never once used throughout the entire poem only possessive words like I are used. It is somewhat ironic how the entire poem is written in a very possessive way with a title that is supposed to answer a question for all women. Kim Addonizios poem, What Do Women Want? is an intense, strong, powerful and confident poem. The red dress symbolizes a lot more than just a little dress; it symbolizes desire on a physical and emotional level while also symbolizing the ability to make a statement. The speaker clearly really wants desirability and this poem does a wonderful job embedding different elements to create a powerful poem. Through Addonizios open form style of writing, diction, symbolism, tone and verbal imagery, she is able to get the speakers point across.

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Works Cited Addonizio, Kim. "What Do Women Want?." Poets.org. BOA Editions, Ltd, n.d. Web. 8 Feb 2013. <http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16213>.