Edwin Arlington Robinson’s "Richard Cory" and Marge Piercy’s "Barbie Doll" offer searing, though distinct, critiques of societal pressures and the devastating consequences of perceived perfection. Robinson, writing in 1915, presents Richard Cory as the embodiment of ideal success: wealthy, respected, and seemingly content. His suicide, therefore, is a profound shock, revealing the hollowness beneath his glittering exterior. Piercy, a feminist poet writing in the latter half of the 20th century, uses the iconic Barbie doll to expose the damaging, often fatal, ideals of femininity forced upon young girls. While Cory’s tragedy is an individual’s internal collapse despite external fortune, the girl in "Barbie Doll" is a victim of a societal narrative that equates physical perfection with worth. Both poems, however, powerfully illustrate how the pursuit or projection of an unattainable ideal can lead to profound despair and destruction.
Robinson’s poem meticulously crafts an image of Richard Cory that is almost god-like in the eyes of the townspeople. He is a figure of immense wealth, "phenyl-suited," "imperially slim," and "calm, and figure, and the town did gaze." His presence is a source of vicarious pride and aspiration for the impoverished inhabitants of the town, who live in perpetual struggle. They work to "get rich" like Cory, believing his outward success is a tangible, achievable goal. The poem's steady, almost reverential tone reinforces this perception of Cory's perfection. Yet, the shock of his sudden suicide on a "quiet Tuesday night" shatters this illusion completely. His wealth and apparent contentment were a façade, masking an internal emptiness or suffering so profound that death seemed the only escape. Robinson doesn't offer an explanation, leaving the reader to grapple with the mystery of Cory’s despair, suggesting that wealth and social standing offer no immunity from the deepest forms of human misery. The town’s subsequent reaction—silence and continued suffering—underscores the isolating nature of Cory’s unseen pain and the town’s own limited understanding of true happiness.
Piercy’s "Barbie Doll," in contrast, directly confronts the insidious impact of a specific cultural ideal on a young girl’s self-perception. The poem begins with a stark, almost clinical description of a girl who is deemed imperfect because she is not a Barbie doll. She is told she is "too flat," "too round," and her "voice too high." These criticisms, delivered by a society that has internalized the perfect plastic image of Barbie, lead her down a path of self-loathing and desperate attempts at conformity. She desires to be "what they wanted." The poem vividly details her attempts to achieve this ideal: she eats and eats, she buys her own clothes, yet she remains dissatisfied. Her ultimate act of self-destruction—cutting off her legs and breasts to fit the societal mold—is a horrific, literal interpretation of the pressure to conform to a physically unattainable and ultimately dehumanizing standard. Unlike Cory, whose internal struggles are left ambiguous, the girl's motivation is explicitly tied to external societal judgment and the crushing weight of feminine expectations. Her death is not a mystery but a direct, brutal consequence of a culture that prioritizes superficial perfection over genuine self-worth.
Both poems, despite their different approaches, highlight the destructive power of illusions, whether they are personal or culturally imposed. Richard Cory’s illusion is one of perpetual happiness and invincibility, projected onto him by a community desperate for a symbol of success. His internal reality, hidden from view, proves to be the opposite. The girl in "Barbie Doll" is a victim of a cultural illusion: that a specific, manufactured physical form represents ideal womanhood and happiness. Her attempts to embody this illusion lead to her literal dismemberment and death. The enduring power of both poems lies in their unflinching gaze at the human cost of societal expectations. Cory’s tragedy is a stark reminder that outward appearances can deceive, and that the wealthy and seemingly happy can harbor profound pain. The girl’s fate is a more overt, feminist indictment of a culture that reduces women to their physical attributes, leading to devastating psychological and physical harm. Ultimately, both "Richard Cory" and "Barbie Doll" serve as potent cautionary tales about the dangers of striving for or projecting an unachievable ideal, a pursuit that can lead to a quiet Tuesday night suicide or a violent, self-inflicted end.