How Commitment Is Shown in Cousin Kate and Valentine

550 Words3 Pages
In this assessment I will be writing about how men show commitment towards women. Despite the differences in how commitment has been portrayed in the poems, there are many themes which link all the poems together, for example the theme of romantic love has been shown throughout the poems Cousin Kate and Valentine and has also been resembled in a circular object which is either a ring or an onion. This circular object could also resemble loop of infinity which could imply that love is infinite. Although the gifts maybe different they both represent commitment the only difference is the structures of the poems and how the author expresses their thoughts on how commitment should be shown. In Christina Rossetti’s poem “Cousin Kate”, there is a theme of commitment. It is mainly about how one man shows his loyalty towards two women, “Cousin Kate” and the speaker. The lord shows no commitment towards the speaker and uses her for his own sexual pleasure. “He wore me like a silken knot,” in this quote the verb “wore” is comparing the speaker to something that can be used. Also the simile “like a silken knot,” the use of this simile is comparing her to something soft and fragile, therefore there is a theme of possessiveness and this shows that lower class women in the Elizabethan era were easily manipulated by higher class men. However, the “Lord” shows his commitment towards “Cousin Kate”. “I watched her walk along the lane,” in this quote the verb shows his concentration on Cousin Kate and implies that he is falling deeply in love with her at first sight. Therefore, there is a theme of falling in love at first sight not only in the poem “Cousin Kate” but also in Romeo and Juliet. In a dialogue with religious metaphors that figure Juliet as a Saint and Romeo as a pilgrim, he tries to convince Juliet to kiss her as it would be the only way in which Romeo can be free from
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