The Bird Cage
Frederick Carl Frieseke, Oil on Canvas, 1910
“Hope is a thing with feathers.”
As an image The Bird Cage consolidates the themes of freedom and feminism into a single, visual space. Completed by Frederick Carl Frieseke in 1910 the composition shows a young woman with her back to the viewer holding a bird cage, gazing at the birds inside. Her dress has a wide neck which exposes one of her shoulders.
Birds in art and literature are often symbols of freedom in the form of flight (Ronnberg & Martin, 2010). Their ability to both walk on land and fly in the sky connects the elements of earth and air. The association with air may be expressed as the “breath of the world” (p. 238). In some cultures, they represent the soul or the archetypal anima. However, a bird in a cage is no longer free, conjuring associations with imprisonment. Maya Angelou (1994) poignantly expresses the experience of oppression in her poem Caged Bird
But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
“Prison (from the Latin praehendere, to take seize, capture) means to be confined- in radical, sometimes an ultimate sense, with no hope of liberation,” (Ronnberg & Martin, 2010, p. 634). Prisons do no exist in only physical form, however, they can be manifested through institutional or societal structures.
In her essay, The Systematic Birdcage of Sexism, Marilyn Frye (1983) uses the birdcage to describe how oppression in general and sexism in particular, constricts freedom. Frye reminds us that oppression has, at its root, the word press which means to mold, flatten, or reduce something by force. This often means that oppressed people find themselves in double-bind or no-win situations, no matter what you do there will be negative consequences. For the woman in The Bird Cage her choice of dress on the one hand liberates her from the constrained, corseted garb of the time and on the other hand exposes her to the sexualized gaze of the viewer of the painting as well as the judgements, assumptions, and expectations of others- and the behavior of those who choose to act based on these assumptions. As Frye explains there are “networks of forces and barriers that expose one to penalty, loss or contempt.” Choice of dress is only one of many of the wires that comprise the bird cage. A single wire, in isolation is not enough to contain a bird, however, an interconnected system of wires can.
It is only when you step back, stop looking at the wires one by one, microscopically, and take a macroscopic view of the whole cage, that you can see why the bird does not go anywhere; and then you will see it in a moment. It will require no great subtlety of mental powers. It is perfectly obvious that the bird is surrounded by a network of systematically related barriers, no one of which would be the least hindrance to its flight, but which, by their relations to each other, are as confining as the solid walls of a dungeon. (Frye, 1983, p. 5)
In addition to the cages created by society, a prison can be created by our own thoughts and limiting beliefs (some of which are informed by oppressive culture in a vicious feedback loop). Mindfulness literature (Fralich, 2017) discusses the concept of core negative beliefs which are inaccurate impressions, usually from early childhood, that through years of reinforcement have become rigid and automatic. Thoughts such as “I’m not good enough,” “Other people are worthier than me,” and “There’s something wrong with me” are all examples of core negative beliefs. These beliefs develop, however, because at some point they were useful. The belief that someone is not good enough may have prevented them from asking for what they wanted from their care giver to avoid being yelled at or reprimanded, therefore avoiding the feelings of fear or disappointment that would be stirred up in the asking.
In our adult lives, when we are objectively stronger, smarter, and more independent than in childhood, these negative core beliefs hold us back. These beliefs are a cage of our own making which means, that with awareness, focused attention, and repetition, it is a cage that we can open. Society’s limiting beliefs, by contrast, only serve to perpetuate existing power imbalances. As we become aware of the limiting messages that are communicated by our culture we can engage in activism to change the system, rather than maintaining the status quo. As Emily Dickinson reminds us, “Hope is a thing with feathers.”
To see The Bird Cage in person, visit the New Britain Museum of Art:
To read Angelou’s poem in its entirety:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48989/caged-bird
To read more from Marilyn Frye’s essay:
https://www.cpt.org/files/US%20-%20Bird%20Cage%20of%20Sexism.pdf
Citations:
Angelou, M. (1994). Caged Bird. In The complete collected poems. Retrieved June 9, 2018, from https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48989/caged-bird
Fralich, T. (2017). 2-Day: Mindfulness Certificate Course[Pamphlet]. Eau Claire, WI: PESI.
Frieseke, F. C. (1910). The Bird Cage[Painting]. New Britain Museum of American Art.
Frye, M. (1983). The politics of reality: Essays in feminist theory. Berkeley, CA: Crossing Press.
Ronnberg, A., & Martin, K. (2010). The book of symbols. Köln: Taschen.