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Frustration

Psychology
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

The feeling of irritation or anger from unmet expectations or blocked goals; in poetry, it appears as a driving emotion, often in dramatic monologues or narratives of thwarted ambition.

Detailed Definition
Frustration arises from thwarted agency. Poetry expresses it through staccato rhythm, rhetorical questions, or images of confinement, channeling the tension between desire and limitation into creative or destructive energy.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Sylvia Plath’s “The Applicant,” frustration erupts at societal expectations of marriage; In Langston Hughes’ “Harlem,” frustration simmers in the question “What happens to a dream deferred?”; In T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” frustration stems from inaction and indecision; In Emily Dickinson’s “I could not stop for Death,” frustration is absent, highlighting its contrast with acceptance; In W.B. Yeats’ “Leda and the Swan,” frustration inheres in the violent, transformative encounter; In Adrienne Rich’s “Diving into the Wreck,” frustration drives the need to reclaim submerged truths.
Additional Notes
Frustration—blocked goal-directed behavior—often simmers beneath surface calm (Hughes’ “Harlem”); differs from anger by its inhibited quality; poets use metaphor (explosions, rot), rhetorical questions, or understatement to convey it; useful for students to analyze what is blocked and by whom; note its social dimension: systemic oppression generates collective frustration.
Also Known As
Irritation Aggravation Exasperation Discontent Impatience
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