The poem book Bellocq’s Ophelia, by Natasha Tretheway, is a creative writing piece about the prostitutes of New Orleans throughout the 20th century. Tretheway created this book by looking at 20th century photos of prostitutes in New Orleans and from these photos, Tretheway gave these women a story that went beyond their job occupation. This poetry book sheds light on the history of the prostitutes in New Orleans which is a part of history that is not well known by the public due to its taboo nature.
This poetry book focuses on one young woman who’s name is Ophelia. The poetry in this book describes Ophelia’s beginnings and why she left for New Orleans. This is a common theme between all the pieces of literature we have read in class because each author writes about how the protagonist is not originally from New Orleans and they head to this city in search of much needed change in their lives. The only exception to this is Binx from the novel The Moviegoer. This poetry book seems to act as a personal diary for Ophelia because not only do these passages have a date but they also describe her emotions.
Another interesting aspect about the poetry in this book is that Ophelia brings up the morals behind her job. This is interesting because it discusses the elephant in the room and it gives the reader an insight as to why Ophelia made the choices she did regarding her job (pg 15). Ophelia expresses how even though her job is being a prostitute, she is still making her own living and making her own income. She is independent and does not rely on a man to make her decisions for her which separates her from the standard of an early 20th century woman. This shows how Ophelia finds freedom within her job.
I think it’s very interesting how the author includes the photographer into the poems that she writes and makes him his own character. I also think it’s interesting how the author makes the photographer more and more prominent in the story as it continues rather than having him intertwined with Ophelia which to me gives Ophelia the spotlight rather than making the entire book about her and the photographer. I really enjoyed this book and I liked how the book was more about Ophelia rather than her job occupation. This made her more human to me. This book sheds light on an under-appreciated side of history.