Patriarchy and the Oppression of Women

Loy uses lunar imagery in "Moreover, the Moon" as an extended metaphor about patriarchy's presence in women's lives. She establishes the metaphor by addressing the moon as the "Face in the skies," calling attention to the man in the moon rather than to the moon as a female presence. In the first two stanzas, she speaks for all women when she requests that the man in the moon "preside / over our wonder" and "draw us under." Later in the poem, she talks about the moon's "decease" and its "inverse dawn." In both instances, the fading of the moon's light symbolizes patriarchy's demise as a social institution. Interestingly, when the moon sets, it never truly disappears from the universe. Further, its light is temporarily replaced with that of the sun, another predominantly masculine symbol. Loy's mention of the moon's "decease" and an "inverse dawn...