Critical Realism in the Feminist Poems of Forough Farrokhzad and Souad Al-Sabah

Contemporary poets have used realism to express their feelings and thoughts that arise from unfavorable social conditions, in order to reflect those flaws in their poems. Forough Farrokhzad and Souad al-Sabah are two great Iranian and Kuwaiti female poets, who have frequently made use of the features of critical realism in their feminist poems. This article seeks to examine the feminist poems of these two poets from the perspective of critical realism, by relying on the descriptive-analytical methodology. The results of this study show that the feminist poetry by the two poets reflect their unapologetic and critical views about women, as well as the views of Arab and Iranian peoples of women. Both poets have employed features of realism in order to criticize dominant patriarchal attitudes, inattention to the role of women, lack of efforts to reclaim lost rights, and the current role and position of women in the family. In addition, their poetry contains expressions of feminine approaches to poetry, such as unreserved talk of love and sympathy for the beloved, and women's conversations with mirrors about love. Moreover, the intensity of a misandrist attitude is much more pronounced in Forough's poetry than in Souad’s, because the latter was a princess who enjoyed a life of fortune and privilege at the home of a Kuwaiti prince. In contrast, Forough lived in a poor family with a domineering father and went through a failed marriage, which all consequently contributed to a more pessimistic and darker attitude toward the society.