Elizabeth Bishop

The mundane, human experience in "The Fish" by Elizabeth Bishop

Elizabeth Bishop, author to numerous literary works, particularly on poetry, had been known for her effective illustration of everyday experience in the most extraordinary depiction and interpretation. As an American poet and artist, Bishop was identified as a staunch supporter and adherent of numerous movements that pervaded society during the 20th century, such as feminism, emphasis on liberation through self-expression, and adopting a pluralist view of the world's cultures (Lensing, 1995).

Bishop's poetry is characterized as centering on two important things: travel and the mundane. The poet's love for traveling and discovering new cultures and societies around the world developed her propensity to observe and adopt an objective view in interpreting everyday actions and things (i.e., "commonplace objects and occurrences") that she encounters and experiences everyday. Her poetry is best summed up as a contemplation of her continuous...
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