Eat me

Question 1

Summarise the poem ‘Eat me’.

Answer 1

• Acts as a dramatic monologue, telling the story of an abusive, dysfunctional, and controlling relationship
• The poem centres on a woman, likely a victim of a “feeder” fetish, who is forced by her male partner to eat excessively to gain weight, increasing from thirty to forty stone.

Question 2

How are relationships briefly presented in ‘Eat me’?

Answer 2

• Presented as toxic, controlling and abusive
• The relationship is defined by extreme power imbalance, with the male partner acting as a controlling “feeder” who dictates the woman’s consumption, reducing her to a passive, helpless, and “beached whale” figure.
• The woman is not treated as a human, but rather as an object—”his forbidden fruit,” “his breadfruit,” or a “pool” for his pleasure. The man expresses a fetishist desire for “big girls” he can “burrow inside”.
• The act of eating represents her submission to his demands.
• The poem highlights patriarchal control, where the man is dominant and the woman submissive, initially, but she ultimately reverses this power by using her size to overpower and kill him.

Question 3

What poetic form is used in ‘Eat me’?

Answer 3

• Dramatic monologue - where a single character speaks directly to an silent audience, revealing their innermost thoughts, motivations, and psychological complexities
• It is significant for creating intense intimacy, allowing the character to inadvertently expose their true nature - often flaws, insecurities, or moral dilemmas - while providing a focused, subjective narrative.
• Free verse - sense of individualism
• Tercets

Question 4

How does ‘Eat me’ establish a sense of ambiguity?

Answer 4

• It is unclear who is left in control
• The man dies due to the thing he loved moved (his fetish) giving him a sense of control of the woman
• The man is left unable to do things for herself, she is left helpless in her condition due to him
• She is left to feed of of him
• She kills him - empowers her