Topic > Women and literature: the role of women in literature

Vincent Millay, Millay was very active in the feminist movement just like the other two authors. Both she and her writing became the face of the liberated woman we know today. Although Love Is Not All wasn't written until 1931, Millay was born in the late 1800s and lived during that time when much of the same treatment was still alive and well. The poem begins by stating everything that love is not, what it cannot do, or what it cannot give you, giving off a negative view of love itself. Towards the end she says “I might be driven to sell your love for peace…” and concludes with “I don't think I would.” This means that while it may not be able to provide much physically, its value is more than peace. Although Millay's poem does not necessarily describe the exact main idea like the other two stories, it is a measure of what the woman of that time should want and strive for, such as love, marriage, etc. Although the poem begins on a negative tone, it ends leaving the reader to decide exactly what Millay is trying to portray to her reader. Surprisingly this is effective because it doesn't completely denounce love but it doesn't elevate it either. It allows the reader to interpret and decide the message to convey, positively or negatively, while also emanating its typical feminist views. In this way, his poem becomes less controversial than the other two stories, and since it was