19 pages • 38 minutes read
Anthony HechtLot's Wife
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 2001A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Literary Devices
Form and Meter
“Lot’s Wife” stands apart from the traditional definition of Hecht as a Formalist. The poem is free verse, meaning it has no set meter or form, and it follows natural speech patterns. The speaker could be an omniscient Lot’s wife recalling her childhood memories, or they could be a random speaker who likens childhood memories and the act of recollection to Lot’s wife’s act of looking back. Whatever the case, the speaker reflects on recollection with natural speech. The only clues that point to Hecht’s usual Formalism are his inclusion of literary and religious references that carry weighty thematic concerns: Lot’s wife and Proust.
There are sonnets known as stretched sonnets, which can contain 16 lines, and a quatern is a 16-line poem comprised of four quatrains. Though one might argue that “Lot’s Wife” loosely fits one of these forms, it would be a very, very loose association.
Alliteration and Consonance
“Lot’s Wife” contains many instances of alliteration. Alliteration is when closely connected words share the same beginning letter or sound. Hecht employs alliteration through consonance, which is the repetition of consonant sounds in a sequence of words, throughout the poem. Examples include the “t” sound in “tethered tensor nest” (Line 4), the “p” sound in “polygons / Puffed” (Lines 4-5), a “g” sound in “gentle graphite” (Line 7), “s” and “f” sounds in “soft fadings and faint distances” (Line 9), a “b” sound in “brown bicameral brain” (Line 11), and others. The use of this device helps push the reader forward through active engagement. It also adds musicality to the lines.
Enjambment
Enjambment takes place when lines are not end-stopped with punctuation, meaning the line continues to the next line. In Lines 4-5, the speaker says, “Its tethered tensor nest of polygons / Puffed […].” Enjambment happens with “polygons / Puffed,” because there’s no punctuation after “polygons” (Line 4) and the thought continues on Line 5. Another example appears in Lines 7-8, with “[t]he gentle graphite veil / Of rain.” Enjambment helps add tension to lines, or it can help readers move from one line to the next quickly due to the absence of punctuation. Hecht employs it as well to keep readers guessing. These memories are “delicious” (Line 13), according to Hecht’s speaker, so readers should savor them.
Intertextuality
At its simplest, intertextuality refers to the relationship between texts. In “Lot’s Wife,” Hecht includes religious texts like the Old Testament by referencing Lot and his wife. Many critics note Hecht’s routine use of biblical and Classical characters and stories to critique human morality and spiritual decay.
Hecht also utilizes literary references by mentioning Proust. Proust and his writing symbolize recollection and the search for meaning. Lot’s wife’s tale also symbolizes looking back and meaning.
