Notorious for her sharp-tongued humor and cleverly amusing prose, Dorothy Parker accomplished more in her lifetime than the general public could hope for in one year. Her poetry consists of tributes to loves lost and life lessons. The poem that best illustrates her views on the issues which affected her most is titled "Men." I find that this work, having been written after many troublesome and confusing experiences, shows the reader that there is a comedic view of everything in the world (Parker viii).
"They"ll hail you as their morning star / Because you are the way you are," refers to the way she felt early on in her many relationships. If there would ever be an expert on lost loves and life lessons it would be Dorothy Parker. During the 1920s, she had extra-marital affairs, drank heavily, attempted suicide three times, was married numerous times to two men, and wrote volumes of poetry and short stories in reflection. Yet in the line "And once they have you safe and sound / They"ll want to change you all around," Parker shows unhappiness in her situation and perhaps shows that her reasoning for rocky relationships was not her own fault but possibly failure on the men's part (Teacher 115).
"Your moods and ways they put a curse on" alludes to the marriage she had to her second husband, whom she was married to a few times. He swept her off her feet, soon after they were estranged and then reconciled, and shortly thereafter he apparently committed suicide. Her poetry from that period is reflective much of her attitude towards him and their situation. "They make of you another person.".
The poem "Men" is a collaboration of all of Dorothy Parker's thoughts and experiences with males, and overall how she has become a stronger person for realizing and admitting this in the line "They influence and educate." But towards the end of the poem, much similar to the end of her life, Dorothy comes to many realizations and is alone (Parker 81).
