In the poem “Frieda Kahlo comes to dinner” by Christine M. Strickland the poet effectively portrays her bright and lively character. Her character is successfully portrayed by the author through language, imagery, personification, simile and other writing techniques. The author manages to display Frida Kahlo’s lively character whilst also provoking sympathy for her.
The poet creates sympathy for Frida Kahlo. The phrase “partnered by her perpetual pain” helps to create this. The word “perpetual” means that something is lasting forever and “Pain” is something that you wouldn’t want anyone to endure so if she is going to be in never ending pain then we feel sympathy for her. The word “Partnered” suggests that this pain goes with her wherever she goes or whatever she does as if she is married to the pain. So instead of having a husband she has pain and instead of love and companionship she has pain. This also creates sympathy for her. The harsh “p” sounds emphasise this and could also imitate the sound of someone in the pain like the short sharp gasps of someone in severe pain. The poet also uses imagery to establish sympathy for Frida Kahlo. The author uses the phrase “grim claws” to do this. The word “grim” is bleak and suggests bad things and “claws” which are sharp and grip into you. Therefore is she has “grim claws” of pain gripping into her all the time then this instantly creates sympathy for her.
The poet effectively conveys Frida Kahlo’s vibrant personality with a detail description of her clothing. The phrase “rainbow skirts” suggests that she wears very colourful clothing which would be reflective of her personality. The multi colours, like a rainbow, could reflect the many different shades to her personality and show her vibrancy through her range of emotions. The word “fiesta” which means party suggests that Frida Kahlo is the party. People have fun and enjoy themselves at a party so for her to be compared to a party suggests that she has fun and...