Feminist and Dialogical Approaches in The Fatal SistersThomas Gray's method of transforming monological poems into intense psychic films is fascinating. While reading The Fatal Sisters, readers can actually engage in a mental performance because of the word choices, vivid actions, social aspects, and mythology that Gray displays here. Feminist and dialogic approaches, applied together, help shape the subject matter of this poem into a complex event in history that is still unfolding today. The feminist approach reveals many things about this poem that would otherwise be overlooked. To begin, Gray introduces us to Norse mythology. The twelve women in this poem pay homage to the maidens of Oden who lead the souls of the heroes killed in the Battle of Vahalla. This poem is their song. It sounds like a prayer they recite to the war maidens Mista, Sangrida, and Hilda. “It is well documented that in many cultures, when matriarchal societies were replaced by patriarchal societies, formerly worshiped goddesses were transformed by the new culture into witches, seductresses, or fools. » (Guérin 207) These matriarchal societies of women were transformed into a patriarchal society. This is why the battle continues. The highest classes of men are fighting for more power. The power that men have taken away from ancient matriarchal archetypes. Another useful approach to analyzing this poem is Marxist feminism. Marxist feminism highlights the social class these women belong to and leads us further to determine their fate. The women of Fatal Sisters are working class. They constitute a union and are linked by a fraternity. The writers of the 1970s film Norma Rae had this poem in mind when they made this film. The Fatal sisters know their stuff. The fate of men's lives is in the hands of the sisters. "The glistening spears are the loom on which we strain the dark warp, weaving the woe of many soldiers, the woe of Orkney, and the scourge of Randver."(5-8) The sisters are unaffected by the war which takes place. Their only concern is their duty, which is to finish making the war flags and help in the killing. Biological and linguistic models also shape the feminine approach. The preface gives a detailed summary of what these women look like. “Until he looked through an opening in the rocks, he saw twelve gigantic figures resembling women.” (Gray 38) This is very offensive. He could have called them robust women or tall women.