Eat Me by Patience Agbabi

Analysis of the Title

The title "Eat Me" is a direct command that immediately captures attention. It evokes a sense of consumption and objectification, which aligns with the poem's exploration of a woman's relationship with her partner, who fetishises and controls her body. The title also alludes to Alice in Wonderland, where Alice eats a cake labelled "Eat Me" and grows larger, reflecting the poem's themes of transformation and power dynamics.

Structure and Form

Form, Meter, and Rhyme

• The poem is composed of ten three-line stanzas (tercets).
• It features a consistent rhyme scheme of AAABBBCCC, though these are slant rhymes based on assonance, rather than full rhymes. For example, in the first stanza: "cake," "weight," and "ate."
• The meter is irregular, contributing to the conversational tone of the poem. This lack of strict meter makes the poem feel more natural and conversational, reflecting the speaker's matter-of-fact recounting of her abusive relationship.

Speaker

• The speaker is a woman who narrates her experience with an abusive partner who controls her by encouraging her to gain weight for his pleasure.
• She reflects on her relationship with a tone that is both resigned and detached, indicating how deeply she has been affected by her partner's objectification and control.

Setting

• The setting is intimate and domestic, largely taking place within the confines of the home and the bed, emphasizing the personal and invasive nature of the partner's control over the speaker.

Poetic Devices

Metaphor

• The speaker uses several metaphors to describe herself, such as being her partner's "Jacuzzi," "breadfruit," and "desert island."
• These metaphors highlight her objectification and the way her partner views her as a means to satisfy his desires.

Allusion

• The poem alludes to Alice in Wonderland with the phrase "eat me," drawing a parallel between Alice's magical growth and the speaker's forced physical expansion

Simile

• Similes are used to emphasize the speaker's size and the partner's obsession, such as "hips judder like a juggernaut" and "swell like forbidden fruit."

Alliteration and Assonance

• The poem employs alliteration and assonance to enhance its rhythmic quality and reinforce its themes.
• For instance, "belly wobble" and "hips judder."

Irony

• There is a dark irony in the poem's ending, where the speaker's size, which her partner cultivated for his pleasure, becomes how she ultimately smothers and kills him.

Key Themes

Objectification and Control

• The speaker's partner objectifies and dehumanizes her.
• He sees her as nothing more than a sexual object to satisfy his desires.
• This objectification is evident in his description of her: "I like / big girls, soft girls, girls I can burrow inside / with multiple chins, masses of cellulite."
• The partner's fetishization reduces her identity to her physical attributes.
• This strips away her individuality.

Power and Revenge

• The poem ultimately depicts the speaker's act of reclaiming power through violence.
• After years of being controlled and objectified, she turns the tables on her partner.
• She uses her body to kill him: "I rolled and he drowned / in my flesh. I drowned his dying sentence out."
• This act of revenge is both a literal and symbolic assertion of her agency.
• However, it leaves her in a state of ambiguity and emptiness.

Consumption and Dehumanization

• The theme of consumption is central to the poem.
• The speaker is treated as an object to be consumed by her partner.
• This is symbolized by the cake and the repetitive acts of eating: "they said, eat me. And I ate, did / what I was told. Didn't even taste it."
• The partner's obsessive control over her eating habits dehumanizes her.
• Her existence is reduced to fulfilling his desires.

Isolation and Entrapment

• The speaker's increasing size becomes a physical and emotional trap.
• It isolates her from the outside world.
• It makes her dependent on her partner: "too fat to leave, too fat to buy a pint of full-fat milk, / too fat to use fat as an emotional shield, / too fat to be called chubby, cuddly, big-built."
• This entrapment highlights the abusive nature of their relationship.
• The speaker becomes increasingly confined by her partner's manipulation.

Line by Line Analysis

Lines 1-3

When I hit thirty, he brought me a cake,

three layers of icing, home-made,

a candle for each stone in weight.

"When I hit thirty, he brought me a cake,"

• The speaker begins by marking her thirtieth birthday.
• Her partner's gift of a cake signifies a moment that should be celebratory.

"three layers of icing, home-made,"

• The cake has multiple layers and is homemade, suggesting effort and care.
• However, this effort is soon revealed to be part of the partner's controlling behaviour.

"a candle for each stone in weight."

• Instead of celebrating her age, the candles represent her weight in stones.
• This shifts the focus from her birthday to her physical size, highlighting her partner's obsession with her weight.

Lines 4-6

The icing was white but the letters were pink,

they said, eat me. And I ate, did

what I was told. Didn't even taste it.

"The icing was white but the letters were pink,"

• The use of traditional feminine colours suggests an insidious manipulation.
• The white and pink icing adds a superficial sweetness to the underlying control.

"they said, eat me. And I ate, did"

• The command "eat me" is reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, where eating alters size.
• The speaker's compliance ("did what I was told") underscores her submissive role in the relationship.

"what I was told. Didn't even taste it."

• Her mechanical obedience is emphasized by her lack of enjoyment in eating the cake.
• This indicates her emotional numbness and loss of agency.

Lines 7-9

Then he asked me to get up and walk

round the bed so he could watch my broad

belly wobble, hips judder like a juggernaut.

"Then he asked me to get up and walk"

• The partner's demand for the speaker to walk highlights his controlling nature.
• This act is for his voyeuristic pleasure rather than any concern for her.

"round the bed so he could watch my broad"

• The partner's fixation on her body is evident as he watches her move around the bed.
• The term "broad" emphasizes the extent of her size, a result of his manipulation.

"belly wobble, hips judder like a juggernaut."

• The simile compares her movement to a juggernaut, a powerful, unstoppable force.
• This highlights her physical size and the extent of her partner's fetishization.

Lines 10-12

The bigger the better, he'd say, I like

big girls, soft girls, girls I can burrow inside

with multiple chins, masses of cellulite.

"The bigger the better, he'd say, I like"

• The partner's preference for larger women is stated explicitly.
• This reinforces his objectification and control over the speaker.

"big girls, soft girls, girls I can burrow inside"

• The repetition of "girls" and the phrase "burrow inside" dehumanizes the speaker.
• She is seen as a vessel for his pleasure rather than an individual.

"with multiple chins, masses of cellulite."

• The description focuses on features typically stigmatized, highlighting his fetish.
• This further dehumanizes and objectifies her, reducing her to her physical traits.

Lines 13-15

I was his Jacuzzi. But he was my cook,

and I ate, did what I was told. Didn't even taste it.

"I was his Jacuzzi. But he was my cook,"

• The speaker uses metaphors to describe their relationship dynamic.
• She is an object for his comfort, while he controls her intake as her cook.

"and I ate, did what I was told. Didn't even taste it."

• Her passive role is reinforced as she follows his commands without question.
• The lack of enjoyment in eating underscores her detachment and submission.

Lines 16-18

I was his tropical breadfruit, his desert island

after shipwreck. Or a beached whale on a king-size bed

craving a wave.

"I was his tropical breadfruit, his desert island"

• The speaker continues to use metaphors to illustrate her role.
• She is depicted as a resource for his consumption and a place of refuge.

"after shipwreck. Or a beached whale on a king-size bed"

• The imagery shifts to her being stranded and immobile.
• This emphasizes her entrapment and helplessness.

"craving a wave."

• The desire for a wave signifies her longing for escape and freedom.
• This line captures her desperation and yearning for change.

Lines 19-21

I was too fat to leave, too fat to buy a pint of full-fat milk,

too fat to use fat as an emotional shield,

too fat to be called chubby, cuddly, big-built.

"I was too fat to leave, too fat to buy a pint of full-fat milk,"

• The repetition of "too fat" underscores her physical and emotional entrapment.
• Her size prevents her from performing basic tasks, illustrating her dependency.

"too fat to use fat as an emotional shield,"

• She cannot use her body as a shield, indicating her vulnerability.
• This highlights the paradox of her situation, where her size both traps and exposes her.

"too fat to be called chubby, cuddly, big-built."

• The societal labels of "chubby," "cuddly," and "big-built" are inadequate to describe her.
• This reflects the extreme extent of her partner's control over her body.

Lines 22-24

The day I hit thirty-nine, I allowed him to stroke

my globe of a cheek. His flesh, my flesh flowed.

He said, Open wide, poured olive oil down my throat.

"The day I hit thirty-nine, I allowed him to stroke

my globe of a cheek."

• The speaker describes a significant moment as she approaches forty.
• The term "globe of a cheek" emphasizes her size and her partner's control.

"His flesh, my flesh flowed."

• This line suggests a disturbing unity between them, highlighting the invasive nature of his control.
• It also reflects her loss of individuality.

"He said, Open wide, poured olive oil down my throat."

• The partner's command and the act of pouring oil symbolize his dominance.
• This grotesque image underscores the extent of his abusive control.

Lines 25-27

Soon you'll be forty, he whispered, and how

could I not roll over on top. I rolled and he drowned

in my flesh. I drowned his dying sentence out.

"Soon you'll be forty, he whispered, and how"

• The partner's reminder of her impending age reflects his continuous control.
• This triggers a critical reaction in the speaker.

"could I not roll over on top. I rolled and he drowned

in my flesh."

• The speaker uses her body as a weapon, suffocating him.
• This act of violence is a dramatic reversal of their power dynamic.

"I drowned his dying sentence out."

• Her final act silences him, symbolizing her reclaiming of power.
• This line underscores the culmination of her revenge.

Lines 28-30

I left him there for six hours that felt like a week.

His mouth slightly open, his eyes bulging with greed.

There was nothing else left in the house to eat.

"I left him there for six hours that felt like a week."

• The speaker reflects on the aftermath of her act, indicating the passage of time.
• The extended duration suggests her contemplation and the gravity of her actions.

"His mouth slightly open, his eyes bulging with greed."

• The description of his dead body emphasizes his insatiable desire.
• This imagery reinforces the theme of consumption and objectification.

"There was nothing else left in the house to eat."

• The final line is ambiguous, suggesting both the end of her partner's control and her emptiness.
• It highlights the ongoing impact of the abusive relationship and her uncertain future.