蘇曼殊的作品在塑造女子形象時，不管是在表現女子的感情、以及女性外在形象的描寫上，都傾向於同一類型女性的寫作。她們雖然在創作上出現的時間各不同，但是大多都是沉溺於愁情，外型柔弱而楚楚可憐；而也因此這些詩作被視爲是「價值不大」的綺艷之詩。然而，如果以此侷限的角度觀看蘇曼殊這些作品，將無法了解如蘇曼殊此一作家複雜的藝術心靈。 這些女性在作品中，多半能夠帶出僧人蘇曼殊在愛情與修道之間的心理掙扎，這種特殊的身世經驗與自我坦白的誠實寫作，是他寫作的一個特點。我們除了從此中感受到蘇曼殊詩作中的真誠與特殊性外，也發現蘇曼殊把女性當成一個尋求欲望滿足的對象。此中的欲望並非指肉體上或具體對象上的欲望，而是內在之中因爲愛的匱乏所帶來的一種渴求。透過不斷寫作他理想中的夢幻女性，而達到一種滿足。從這個觀點來看，蘇曼殊詩中的女性之於作者蘇曼殊，便不只是艷情而已，因爲她們對於是蘇曼殊而言並非具體對象或只是賞玩式的，而是心象投射的對象。

In poems Su Man-shu wrote in different periods, female characters appear to be stereotypical. Women are represented uniformly as sentimental and feeble in appearance. In this regard, Su's poetry is generally considered frivolous and unworthy of reading. Studied in certain perspectives, however, Su's poetic portrayal of the female provides an excellent access to the subtle complexity of a creative mind. Su's poetry is often confessional, bearing on personal experience as a monk. In Su's treatment of the female characters in particular, we can see psychological struggles between his pursuit of love and religious self-cultivation. We find in Su's poetry extraordinary honesty in his use of the female as objects of desire. This desire is not the bodily kind directed toward any real person but a longing generated from within due to a lack of love. Su Man-shu obtains gratification by writing these fantasized female. Viewed from this perspective, the female in Su's poetry are no longer presentations of romance, but serious projections of his inner dilemma.