Picture Bride

Definition and History of Picture Brides

The title of the poetry collection comes from the fact that Cathy Song's grandmother was a 'picture bride.' The term 'picture bride' refers to the practice of early 20th-century immigrant workers in the US, Canada, and Brazil selecting brides from their native countries through an exchange of photographs mediated by a matchmaker. Many workers expected to return to their native countries after their work contracts were up and sought to preserve their own cultures.

The concept of 'picture brides' is similar to 'mail order brides.' Women were placed in difficult situations, leaving their families and home countries for foreign lands to start a life with men they had never met. The women came for varying reasons—to escape poverty or with the hopes of education, greater freedom, and opportunity for women in the Western world.

Fig. 1 - The men were often much older than the women and did not match the picture presented to the matchmaker.

Picture Bride: Overview

Picture Bride is a collection of 31 short, lyrical poems. The poems are split into five sections, each named after a different Georgia O'Keefe painting of a flower.

The poems in "Picture Bride" are separated into the five following sections:

I Black Iris

1. "Picture Bride"
2. "The Youngest Daughter"
3. "Easter: Wahiawa, 1959"
4. "Waialua"
5. "Blue Lantern"
6. "Leaving"
7. "For My Brother"
8. "Birthmarks

II Sunflower

1. "The White Porch"
2. "Seed"
3. "Stray Animals"
4. "Primary Colors"
5. "Hoolchua"
6. "Tribe"
7. "Father and Daughter"

III Orchids

1. "Beauty and Sadness"
2. "Girl Powdering Her Neck"
3. "Ikebana"
4. "Blue and White Lines after O'Keeffe"

IV Red Poppy

1. "Lost Sister"
2. "Spaces We Leave Empty"
3. "A Dream of Small Children"
4. "The Violin Teacher"
5. "Untouched Photographer of Passenger"
6. "China town"
7. "For A. J.: On Finding She's on Her Boat to China"

V The White Trumpet Flower

1. "Hotel Genéve"
2. "From the White Place"
3. "A Pale Arrangement of Hands"
4. "January"
5. "The Seamstress"

Picture Bride: Summary

The book begins with the title poem "Picture Bride," which tells the story of the poet's grandmother—a picture bride sent to Hawaii from Korea to marry the poet's grandfather at the age of 23. Cathy Song writes:

Song's poetry reflects her deep desire to understand the experiences of other women in light of her own. She subtly evokes sympathy for another woman's situation, implying the immense difficulty of her grandmother having to leave her family and the only world she knew to marry an unknown man in a foreign county. In "Picture Bride," Song imagines the oddity and awkwardness of a situation that was treated so casually at the time—as picture brides were popular and expectations were for women to find and follow their husbands.

Cathy Song's poetry explores the complex familial expectations of women. She portrays the relational roles of women as wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters with complexity—a delicate balance of underlying tenderness and obligation. In the poem "The Youngest Daughter," Song depicts how the caretaking roles sway back and forth between mother and daughter as both must care for each other through aging, pain, and hardships.

Fig. 2 In "The Youngest Daughter," Song depicts a daughter bathing her aging mother to demonstrate the complexity of caring for someone out of familial obligation.

Song does not glorify or paint a flowery picture of family life. While it does contain subtle moments of beauty, laughter, and affection, it is also defined by sacrifice and suffering with one another. As the speaker in "The Youngest Daughter" bathes her mother, she says:

The poet also depicts her family's history and relationships in light of their geographic surroundings. Setting plays a large role in Song's poetry. She depicts how the Hawaiian landscape, vegetation, and plantations greatly shaped the lives of her family members. In the poem "Waialua," she writes about her grandparents' life and home:

Fig. 3 Cathy Song's grandfather worked on plantations in Waialua, Hawaii.

In Song's poetry, nature is often used to present female sensuality and desire. The poem "The White Porch" depicts the speaker's transition from childhood to womanhood. While her mother grabs her braided hair and grounds her in chores and everyday activities, she realizes she is growing up as she writes:

Cathy Song presents female sexuality from a female perspective but also interprets how it is perceived from a male perspective, influenced by culture and society. In the poems "Beauty and Sadness" and "Girl Powdering Her Neck," Song reflects on the ideals of pristine, perfect Japanese beauty, writing about paintings of geishas made by the Japanese artist Kitagawa Utamaro.

"Beauty and Sadness" is dedicated to the artist who depicted women as "beautiful iridescent insects, / creatures from a floating world" (25 26). Song does not write about these prints simply to present the male gaze, but rather to understand and present the complex emotions and pressures women face amidst expectations of perfect beauty.

Fig. 4 Kitagawa Utamaro's prints often depict Geishas, traditional Japanese entertainers that reflect Asian standards of beauty, particularly for their very white complexion.

Song explores the complexity of cultural expectations, as they pressure women to act and look a certain way, but they also unite people to their history and heritage. In the poem "Ikebana," the poet writes ironically about the unrealistic expectations for Asian women. The poem presents itself as a list of instructions for feminine perfections:

In the poems "Lost Sister" and "Spaces We Leave Empty," Song focuses on the complexity of objecting to Asian standards for perfect, docile, patient, and graceful women while desiring a connection to one's ancestral homeland and culture. "Lost Sister" depicts an Asian woman who lives in America where "women can stride along with men" (36), yet she cannot shake a deep longing for connection with where she came from:

Picture Bride is ultimately a poetry book about this search for connection—connection to one's ancestors, culture, family, and femininity.

Picture Bride: Analysis of Literary Devices

Throughout Picture Bride, Cathy Song uses the imagery and symbolism of nature to paint human emotions and explore ideas of femininity.

In the poem "Girl Powdering Her Neck," based on a painting by Kitagawa Utamaro, Song imagines the geisha girl doing her makeup and painting her face. The poet writes:

Cathy Song contrasts natural and unnatural beauty, as well as movement and silence. She describes the imagery of the girl's "placid plum face" and "berry-stained lips" (45, 47). The poet uses the colors of fruit to describe the makeup the geisha paints on her face. Though these colors are meant to enhance natural complexion and beauty, they create an unnatural "stenciled" look of a "mask." Through this imagery, the poet suggests the geisha paints her face in a similar way that Kitagawa Utamaro paints her. There is a certain disconnect from her real self.

This idea is emphasized through the symbolism of the "chrysanthemums" that "touch in the middle of the lake / and drift apart" (50-52). In Japan, chrysanthemums symbolize longevity and rejuvenation, which the girl seeks by covering her face with makeup. The chrysanthemums foster imagery of the girl's lips, which touch and part in silence.

Song uses different types of flowers to symbolize feminine beauty in a unique way. Rather than suggesting that all women are beautiful, delicate flowers, she uses the flowers to convey a wide range of feelings and emotions that color the female experience.

Picture Bride: Themes

Picture Bride focuses on the themes of womanhood, femininity, family, immigrant experiences, and cultural heritage.

Womanhood, Femininity, and Family

Cathy Song characterizes womanhood and femininity with complexity through relationships. She explores a woman's relationship with herself and her family. She explores how a woman perceives her own beauty in light of society and how their roles color their identity as wives, mothers, daughters, and sisters. Rather than seeing the familial role of a woman as something oppressive, Song highlights and explores how the connection to family, culture, and society is integral to the experience of womanhood and perceptions of femininity.

Immigrant Experiences and Cultural Heritage

Throughout Picture Bride, Cathy Song reflects on her grandparents' immigrant experiences and how it shapes her own view of life. Song's poetry displays great empathy and yearning to understand and connect with experiences that are foreign to her. Song's reflection on the lives of her ancestors and their impact on her own upbringing stresses the importance of remembering cultural heritage.

Song ties in elements of Korean, Chinese, and Japanese culture and tradition to show how one's cultural heritage affects their experience of the world. This longing to keep the connection with one's cultural roots alive can be clearly seen in the poem "Blue Lantern," as Song's grandfather plays the shakuhachi (an ancient Chinese and Japanese bamboo flute) to remember his deceased wife: