Lear viewed love as a one way street, in which he believed that a family was there only to serve his needs. His excessive pride and sense of ego blinded him from recognizing true love. Putting his daughters into a love test proved Lear’s view on love. He turned the daughters against each other and made them compete for love. “Tell me, my daughters/ (Since now we will divest us both of rule, / Interest of territory, cares of state), / Which of you shall we say doth love us most, / That we our largest bounty may extend/ Where nature doth with merit challenge.” (I i 50-55) At this point Lear’s love towards his daughters was uncertain, he took advantage over the love he had and used it for his own pride.
The poem In Paris with You contrasts reality with the fantasy of love. The poem explores the consequences of love. For example how difficult it is to fall in love and trust somebody again after bad experiences. The narrator seems to reject all the “Traditional expectations” of love in search of reality and quick, easy affection. This poem takes the reader through the journey of trusting/ being part of a relationship again.
He realizes that her coyness is wasting the time they have in this life. He persuades her by showing that this life is short and they should live like they do not have tomorrow (seize the moment). This poem reflects the idea of a short life and the growth of humanism. Instead of willing to wait and take time to marry this woman in a traditionally Christian manner, the speaker ‘cut to the chase’ following the
In the poem “Medusa” gender conflict through control is also illustrated when she says: “a suspicion, a doubt, a jealousy”. This depicts that she feels ownership over her husband and wants him to “be terrified” if he does not obey her commands. However, in “Les Grands Seigneurs” the narrator conveys that after she was “wedded, bedded … a toy, a plaything … wife” she is nostalgic for the first three stanzas to how men were towards her before she was married as she is now powerless. We can depict that there was less gender conflict before she was married. Moreover, in “Medusa” powerlessness is also portrayed when she rhetorically questions herself “Wasn’t I beautiful?
The poems with a ‘Mrs’ in front evidently suggests that the relationship status between the two characters are husband and wife therefore there is or has apparently been some sort of marriage amidst them. Other than that, Duffy has also briefly used nature in her poems which demonstrate how this anthology isn’t just about relationships of men and women, and how everything is become modernised, causing a negative finish. Duffy has created two different aspects regarding relationships. First is a relationship which was worthy and enduring, and second is the negative side of being in a relationship which in other words Duffy has ultimately sabotaged the stereotypical roles of sexes in order to expose male dominancy and suffering of women. In the elegy ‘Mrs Lazarus’, the relationship between her and her husband seemed quite ordinary but more than that, it was the way she was grieving and her emotions after he died which shows that they had a very strong relationship and depended on each other, “Slept in a single cot, widow, one empty glove, white femur in the dust, half.
Elizabeth Browning presents an idealistic and an optimistic view towards love and hope through sonnets I, XIV and XLIII. Although composed in two different time frames, both texts have been influenced by personal contexts in their representation of love and hope. Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Fitzgerald’s texts both explore the necessity of love in order to accomplish in life, but are hopeful in achieving their respective love but are contrastingly represented. The sole foundations for Elizabeth’s sonnets arise from her ambivalent and evolving attitude towards the patriarchal values of her society and her father’s repressive restraint on love through his extreme conservatism. She however challenges and subverts the dominant patriarchal paradigms and tropes of her society as she searches for the solution to her descent into morbid conviction.
Justine Velez “To his Coy Mistress” To his Coy Mistress written by Andrew Marvell, is based on Marvell’s love and desire for his “coy” or shy “mistress” or lady. In this poem Marvell’s sexual tension is announced as he writes a speech explaining to his lady how time is not forever and they should “seize the day.” He does so using romantic and playful tones while also being persuasive. To his Coy Mistress is written in three stanzas using iambic tetrameter. In addition, the rhyme scheme is consistent (a,a,b,b,c,c). Marvell makes certain choices and decisions to explain what would happen if there were more time as well as questioning what will happen in the future.
The most powerful image of the poem comes when she says; “it’s finally having a man reach out for you then caving in around his fingers” (17-20). This demonstrates wanting or needing any kind of love you can get and staying attached to it and despite abuse. In this quote the speaker not only alludes to finding someone but also domestic abuse. The narrators desire to fit in and be socially accepted comes at a price of losing her self image as well as her control. She is not comfortable in her skin and that leads to her dependence on others to fill that void.
In Hero and Leander there are many contrasting attitudes to the concept of erotic love. The two manners toward erotic love are as such: One is to stress on the physical act of sex. The other is the defiance to erotic love and preference toward virginity. At first glance Leander seems to favour the former and tries to promote physical love, but throughout the text he shows a kind of humorous naïve-ness. Hero, who is a nun and supports chastity, in general, can be seen being quite forward.
The view of love Beth Gylys presents in her poem “Marriage Song” is exceptionally meaningful to me. Gylys did not hold back in showing the truth about married lovers and their tendency to show each other the exact opposite of love. “Marriage Song” is a poem in which Gylys writes of married couples having affairs. However, it also shows how love can make people not realize their lives are passing them by. It is about how love is often unreal and true love is rare.