The Bistro Styx Summary
Introduction
Main Summary of Bistro Styx
The poem begins with a narration of the mother who is waiting for her daughter. In her (mother) description of her daughter and in the conversation between mother and daughter we can sense the trouble in the relationship which often results in a communication gap. The readers can observe artificiality in the daughter’s manner of clothing and an accent (language). The daughter was dressed in a grey skirt which is symbolic of the death of human emotion and sensibility. The daughter becomes more formal than affectional. The feeling emotional faculty of humanity has been replaced by formality.
Thematic Analysis of the Poem
The daughter works as a model for an artist who runs a studio that features futuristic paintings. The daughter tries to prove the significance of her life in the city taking the reference of the love of tourists and Parisians. This reference becomes ironic because of the transitoriness of love of tourists and Parisian.
The central theme of the poetry is the act of eating and drinking at the restaurant. The daughter likes drinking and eating than the conversation with the mother. The way she is centred on drinking and eating gives the reader a clue that modern Persephone is not going to be fully restored (saved). According to ancient Greek myth, it was the eating of a few seeds of a pomegranate that was a reason behind Persephone failure to restore herself completely in the world of living beings. Eating the seeds of the pomegranate, Persephone becomes half living and half dead.
Similarly, in the poem the different varieties of dishes, that the daughter orders can be compared to seeds of the pomegranate. Therefore, this modern Persephone will forever be in the underworld with Hades. Perhaps, because of this, the mother realizes that she has lost the daughter forever at the end of the poem.
Another mythical allusion in the poem is of the river of forgetfulness; Styx. According to the myth, if the dead drinks water from Styx while crossing the boundary between the world of living beings and the world of dead, it forgets everything about its previous life. The daughter’s drinking of wine resembles the dead drinking water from Styx. The daughter has forgotten her relation, life in the village, tradition and rural values.
The pain of mother is losing her child in the chaotic world even if she wants to bring back her to home (earlier state) but she can’t do so as it has become too late. She (her daughter) has completely ruined and has eaten seeds of pomegranate; means to say belongs to dead one and has drunk water from Styx that implies she has forgotten her mom and earlier life. On the other hand daughter’s view is that in the name of career, job, opportunity, modernity, fashion, she has to sacrifice her old attitude, old values, and tradition. She even wants to stay with mom, she can’t because she needs to compete in this modern world to sustain and keep her standards up-to-date. She is seduced by modern facilities and opportunities.
In the mythical background, this poetry explores postmodern society. This type of reality is also known as Mythopoeic reality. Modern daughters are not being abducted by Hades but in the name of career, job, the personality they have abducted themselves. The ancient Persephone was always urging to go back to her mother but this modern Persephone has willingly chosen to be the victim of the modern Hades.
Stanza Wise Summary and Analysis
This poem The Bistro Styx alludes to Greek mythology and the story of Persephone and Demeter in order to depict a troubled relationship between a mother and a daughter. However, in this modern version, Demeter (the mother) has found Persephone (the daughter) enamoured by the Underworld (the city of Paris and all it has to offer.)
In the first stanza, the mother is waiting for her daughter to arrive and when she does she notices differences in her daughter's appearance - "thinner...mannered gauntness...silvery cape." The stanza ends with an italicized "What's this" as if to imply the mother doesn't even recognize her own daughter anymore.
In the second stanza, the daughter makes her way to the mother crossing the parquet and the mother notices she is "dressed in all gray..." The colour of the daughter's clothes here could symbolize the death of emotion, or the 'death' of the daughter the mother once knew.
In the third stanza, the daughter apologizes for being late and throws her cape off and slides off into the chair. The mother makes an internal comment that "she [the daughter] wasn't [sorry]" and here the diction could imply that the mother feels hesitant towards her daughter.
In the fourth stanza, they kiss and the mother "peruse[s] [her] blighted child, this wary aristocratic mole." By describing her daughter in this manner, 'wary' implies hesitant of danger, 'aristocratic' that her daughter is now seen as/perceives herself to be/dresses as if she is of a higher stature, and 'mole' could mean a duplicitous nature.
In the fifth stanza, the mother asks how the daughter is, hazard mind you, but restrains herself from what she actually wants to say which is why her daughter would ever choose to live her life as a model for an artist. She internally calls her life a cliche. The diction here is important the mother "hazarded a motherly smile" with the implication that the conversation is uncomfortable and she is not content with her daughter's life. She does not approve.
In the sixth stanza, the mother describes where her daughter lives and works now which is the daughter's boyfriend's/artist's studio/shop. She speaks as if it is a lowly place unworthy of her daughter (or at least the daughter she used to know or thought she knew.)
In the seventh stanza, the daughter brushes her mother off and tries to imbue the importance and value of the city by saying how tourists and Parisians love them (daughter and the boyfriend) but it can be inferred that this means nothing to the mother who views the city and inhabitants as transitory and incapable of love.
In the eighth stanza, the food arrives and it is lavish and French. A direct allusion to Greek mythology in which Persephone eats the six seeds of Pomegranate and mud remain in Hades. In turn, the daughter eats the Parisian food and will remain in the city and continue pursuing art.
In the ninth stanza, the mother asks what the Parisians admire about the shop and the daughter responds it is the way they have kept their art business afloat.
In the tenth stanza, the mother is not pleased with the daughter's response from the previous stanza because she takes that to mean that her daughter is now posing nude for 'appalling canvases'.
Eleventh stanza, the mother "ventures" to come by and see the studio and the daughter says "Yes, if you wish..." but he delicately rebuffs her mothers wish.
Twelfth stanza, the daughter talks about how her boyfriend now dresses in all black (which is assumed the mother again finds cliche) and dresses the daughter in blues and carmine. However, she states how she prefers more muted shades. This stanza is another reference to the power of colour in this poem in portraying mood and tone. The daughter's desire to wear muted greys reflects the mother believes that she has lost her daughter even though she is sitting in front of her. It is as if they live in two different worlds. In the thirteenth stanza, the mother acknowledges, somewhat hesitantly, her daughter's beauty even if it is a "spookily insubstantial" manner.
Fourteenth stanza, the setting of Paris beyond the cafe in which they sit is described. It is raining, sooty, and skyward - a city which no doubt the mother finds drab and overwhelming. Fifteenth stanza, the daughter talks of how she wishes her boyfriend artist would eat just as more food arrives at the table.
Sixteenth stanza, the mother keeps her food simple but notes how fully her daughter eats and all of the 'fancy' food she orders, no doubt a reflection on her life in Paris versus the mother's simple life and meal. The mother notes how the daughter is never satiated and this again alludes to Persephone. In eating the pomegranate seeds, Persephone lost any possibility of ever being fully restored and thus became half living and half dead. In the poem, the daughter eats plentifully and without hesitation, thus losing (willing almost) any chance of restoring herself to her mother.
Seventeenth stanza, the mother asks "But are you happy?" but she is fearful and whispers it quickly. The daughter replies "What?" although it is most likely she heard the mother. She then quickly changes the subject back to food. This further drives home the theme of the poem and how the daughter is lost. It seems as if the daughter is more interested in the meal and in her lavish Parisian life than in the conversation with her mother.
In the eighteenth stanza, the mother thinks to herself "I've lost her." and it is important to note that it is italicized thus drawing a parallel between the first stanza in which there was also one italicized sentence and this last stanza. By now it seems as if the mother has given up hope. She will not regain her daughter. She calls for the bill.
Literal Comprehension of the Poem The River Styx
The story told in this poem is one in which a mother looking for and losing her daughter, a direct allusion to Greek mythology. The River Styx is referenced to note the daughters' crossover into what the mother considers darkness. The bright setting of the bistro they are in is the only glimmer of light in the poem and offsets what would otherwise be a dark poem.
The tone of this piece is uneasy - the mother is hesitant and uncomfortable around her daughter, while the daughter feels much too highly of herself and does not treat her mother with the respect she deserves. The fact that the mother disproves of the daughter's boyfriend and their life together only further adds to the tense tone of the poem. The word choice supports the tone by using words such as "hazarded" "ventured" and "blighted" to describe the mother's hesitant nature and sad attitude towards her daughter.
For imagery, as mentioned before the setting of the bistro is the only bright point in the poem. Otherwise, strong imagery paints the city from the mother's viewpoint as oppressive and overall negative. The main syntax present in the piece is the author's use of two italicized sentence fragments, one in the first stanza and one in the last. This juxtaposition first is to imply the mother's inability to recognize her daughter and then at the end, after their conversation, she realizes she was right in thinking she did not recognize her daughter because she had become lost to her, lost in the city.
The overarching theme of this poem is one of sadness, one in which a mother realizes there is no hope in salvaging her daughter and their relationship. It is painful for the mother, but it is too late to do anything.
Assimilation
I felt a personal connection with this poem because even though we read the poem through the mother's eyes and sympathize with her and feel her sadness, I am also able to understand the daughter's viewpoint. Especially now as we are all gearing off for college, I myself am feeling the lure of the big city, the call of the bright lights. I can understand the daughter in her choice to live her life in a way that makes her happy, even if that means alienating her mother. However, while I can recognize both sides of the situation, I should hope that my relationship with my mother never escalates to this point. I've had many the conversation with my own mother about my future - how pursuing a degree in liberal arts isn't secure, about how I should double major in something more tangible like business or law, how it would be so much easier on me, on the family, if I didn't go to New York and just stayed in Lexington.
Those are only a few of the many topics we've come to discuss on a regular basis as of late. And as time passes, I feel more and more like the daughter in this poem. I try to explain the allure of the arts and of the city to my parents and I truly do think that they understand, but I also know that no matter how much they may nod and say "uh-huh we understand, yes." there will always be a part of them that cannot comprehend why I chose to live my life. I suppose it's a generational thing, I can't be certain. And I'm also not certain of the future, the choices I'll make, and what path I'll eventually go down. But one thing I am certain of is that even if I can relate to the daughter in this poem, I will never allow myself to get lost just as she did, nor will I let my relationship with my mother reach the point there did.
Exercise
The Bistro Styx Questions & Answers
UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT
1. How does the poem begin? What differences does the mother notice in her daughter's appearance?
Answer:
The poem begins with the narration of a mother who is waiting for her daughter at an art studio. The mother notices that her daughter has become quite thin in her physical appearance.
2. What does the colour of the daughter's clothes symbolize?
Answer:
The grey skirt color of the daughter's clothes symbolizes the death of human emotion and sensibility. When the daughter sees her mother, she becomes more formal than affectional. The feeling of the emotional faculty of humanity has been replaced by formality.
3. What kind of life does the daughter want to live?
Answer:
The daughter wants to live her life in a very modern as well as sophisticated way. She prefers career, job, opportunity, modernity, fashion, etc much more than the old attitude, old values , and tradition. She also wants to be with her mom because she needs to compete in this modern world to maintain and keep her standards up to date.
4. What does the mother's expression "I've lost her" mean?
Answer:
The mother's expression "I've lost her" means losing her daughter in the modern as well as sophisticated life of the chaotic city. The mother expresses her feelings in such a way as she finds her daughter completely changed and has forgotten her relationship, village life, tradition and rural values.
5. What does the poem say about the relationship between the mother and the daughter?
Answer:
The poem says about the troubled relationship between the mother and the daughter. Here, the mother finds her modern daughter in the underworld of modern Paris abducted by modern civilization.
REFERENCE TO THE CONTEXT
1. Read the extract and answer the questions that follow.
She was thinner, with a mannered gauntness
as she paused just inside the double
glass doors to survey the room, silvery cape
billowing dramatically behind her. What's this
a) Whose perspective is depicted in this stanza of the poem?
Answer:
The mother's perspective is depicted in this stanza of the poem.
b) Who was thinner?
Answer:
The daughter was thinner.
c) What does "What is this" imply?
Answer:
"What is this" implies the mother's inability to recognize her daughter in the studio.
2. Explain the following stanza.
"How's business?" I asked, and hazarded
a motherly smile to keep from crying out:
Are you content to conduct your life
as a cliché and, what's worse,
Answer:
Here in this stanza, we find the narrator (mother) questioning her daughter. She asks her daughter after meeting her in the city's studio after a long time Here the narrator who is searching for her daughter in the city gets emotional to see her daughter's actual state. She asks her daughter about her business with her controlled sentiments. She prevents herself from her sentiments with her showy smile on her face. Seeing such a useless living style of her daughter she tries to find out her daughter's opinion regarding her lifestyle.
The narrator asks her daughter whether she is satisfied with her stereotypical living style as well as tasks of the city as a cliche or something worse in her life. The mother is in a dilemmatic state to see her daughter's condition. She controlled her tears and asks her about her life with a smiley face. She feels so bad after seeing her daughter's life in the city.
LITERARY ANALYSIS
1. What kind of mythical allusion is created in the poem? What can be its significance?
Answer:
Here in this poem "The Bistro Styx", the Greek mythical allusion to Demeter (mother) and Persephone (daughter) is created especially to create their troubled relationships. This is a poem taken from the collection Mother Love, 1995. It is a poem that tells the modern (or rather post-modern) story of a mother Demeter going in search of her daughter Persephone to the underworld of the city civilization. The original Greek myth on which this poem is based is about the mother-earth or the goddess of fertility who mourned for the disappearance of her daughter, who was abducted by her brother Pluto (or Hades).
The daughter is eventually allowed to come back to the natural world on the condition that she would return for three months during the winter. The mother in this poem is supposed to symbolize not only mother nature but also the natural, emotive, permanent, and ideal culture of the rural world. The daughter who has herself gone to the city (not forcibly abducted by her uncle) does not want to return with her mother. The allegory is thus ironical also. Another mythological allusion is the river of forgetfulness; Styx.
According to the myths, if a dead creature crosses the boundary between the world and the dead world and drinks the water of the river Styx, then it forgets everything about its previous birth as well as life. The daughter's drinking wine looks like Styx's dead drinking water. The daughter has forgotten her relationship, village life, tradition and rural values.
Its significance can be the exploration of postmodern society. This kind of reality is also known as Mythopoeic reality. In this modern world, modern daughters are not being abducted by Hades but they are abducted in the name of career, job, and personality themselves. The mythical Persephone was always urging to go back to her mother but this modern Persephone has chosen to be the victim of the modern Hades willingly.
2. What is the theme of the poem?
Answer:
The theme of the poem is the troubled relationship between the mother and daughter in the present world. This poem has shown the generation gap between old and new generations. The poem has presented a vast gap between the close relationships. We find a clash between traditional and modern norms and values.
REFERENCE BEYOND THE TEXT
1. Modern daughters are abducted themselves in the name of career, job, personality and lifestyles. Explain.
Answer:
Yes, the above-mentioned statement is absolutely correct. The present world is the world of competition. In this world, people are too concerned about their education, career, job, personality and lifestyle. In the matter of modern daughters, they are seen abducted themselves in their lives. Daughters are seen much ambitious in the matter of shaping up their career, job, personality and lifestyle. They are seen struggling quite hard in search of better opportunities in different sectors. In the present world, most daughters are away from their native places and busy in their lives comprising various things to establish themselves. They have been focused on their career opportunities and lifestyles. They have quite different lifestyles which are away from their traditional norms and values. In most places, they are obliged to do those tasks which are against their interests. They are totally lost in the modern world to get their preferred living styles. They have forgotten various things from their past.
2. When the girls go to live in the cities, they forget their relation, life in the village, tradition and rural values. Do you agree? Justify your answer.
Answer:
No, I don't agree with this statement that the girls go to live in the cities, they forget their relations, life in the village, tradition and rural values. This case is not applied to all girls. This case should not be generalised. Most girls move away and live their lives in cities but they never forget their native places. We can't generalise this case to all the girls. In my opinion, this case should be individualized. I agree that few girls forget their native places, relationships, traditional norms and values etc but not all. Still, we find most girls who live and work in the cities have a hearty connection with their native places and people. They never forget their native places. They take care of their people and love their native places even after marrying someone and living far away in the cities. They seem much devoted to their closers.
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