The Hypocrisy of Community Identity in the Ladies of Cambridge by EE CummingsE.E. Cummings [The Cambridge Ladies Who Live in Furnished Souls] is an enigmatic, ironic and sarcastic poem which reveals the unreal and fraudulent life that the Cambridge ladies live. The speaker's poetic tone is filled with sarcasm and irony to show the contradiction between the actions and beliefs of the ladies of Cambridge. This discriminating voice is used when discussing the Cambridge ladies' Christianity, their communal identity, and their frivolous concerns. Depth and empathy, both of which ladies lack, are juxtaposed with women's emptiness and indifference. Collectively, the ladies of Cambridge share an inability to connect to their religion and the outside world around them. Furthermore, Cummings contrasts nature imagery with the material and social Cambridge Ladies. Because these ladies are well endowed and isolated from the outside world, they are not able to fully understand the reality of the problems. Through this comparison and contrast, EE Cummings is able to show the superficial and fabricated world that the Cambridge ladies created. Although these women claim to be strict Protestants, their unsympathetic behavior turns out to be far from holy. The ladies of Cambridge are not capable of fully understanding the harsh reality of a world beyond their meaningless lives. Because they have already been given everything they need in life without working for it, women are content with their habits and have a "comfortable mind" ([the Cambridge] ln. 2). These women have never known anything other than luxury and happiness. Thus, ladies have no reason to question the customs of their church or society....... middle of paper...... people who confine themselves to a limited sphere of knowledge and to a small group of peers. Rather than looking to the outside world and the unknown, these women commit themselves to spreading rumors, to being “loyal” and socially adept Christians. By sharing a community identity, they give up all individual freedoms. The ladies of Cambridge forget to see and understand the individual beauties of life, like the moon. Everything they believe is internalized by their social doctrines; they leave no room for change or new ideals. Therefore, they are unable to associate with the serenity of nature or a world separate from themselves. Because they are assigned a societal doctrine over which they have no control or say, they become apathetic to its causes. They no longer care about problems and “don’t care” about anything at all..