Goblin Market published in 1862 is a polysemic, narrative verse, which for years has been studied and contextualised. The poem could be interpreted as a religious allegory, warning against over-indulgence, and as D.M.R. Bentley states “Goblin Market” was written for merely didactic purposes, to be read aloud to “fallen women” as a warning about sexuality’ . During this period in time, opium addiction and prostitution were crucial problems in Victorian society and Rossetti must have drawn heavily on these concepts for inspiration in the poem. For example Laura’s severe craving for the precious fruit could symbolise an addicts withdrawal symptoms, and the exchange of a lock of hair and ‘’tear more rare than pearl’ describes the basic principal of prostitution.
‘The Eve of St. Agnes’ is widely considered to be amongst Keat’s finest poems and was influential in 19th century literature. This lengthy, 42-stanza poem is based on an old superstition that young virgins are able to discover the identity of their future husbands in a dream if they perform certain rituals on the eve of St. Agnes. The poem describes the experiences of a girl called Madaline who endeavours to see her husband by following the practice on the eve of St. Agnes. Keats’s work touches on the love between young men and women and attempts to decipher the difference between what is real and what and what features in Madaline’s dreams. The characters in ‘The eve of St. Agnes’ are typical of those in many classic fictitious romantic stories of the period.
In 'Sister Maude' a much more destructive relationship between siblings is presented. Like 'Brothers', this poem hints at the way in which the move towards adulthood brings a distance between siblings. Christina Rossetti begins her poem "Sister Maude" with two similar rhetorical questions, asking who told her parents about her 'shame'. We do not know at this point what the narrator's shame is, but it gradually becomes clear that she was having an affair with a handsome man. In Victorian times when Rossetti was writing, this would certainly have been considered shameful.
We learn throughout the novel that there is a fine line between love and obsession. Fitzgerald tries to make us believe that two characters Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan are said to be in love, but this is all a big misconception. When loves becomes obsession it can become very dangerous. It can completely overwhelm a person until they become controlled by it. Gatsby throughout the book becomes entirely delusional with the thought of Daisy.
In the first verse the lyric “She dreamt of para-para-paradise” appeared. This fits Jane perfectly because of her imagination and fascination with mythical and paranormal creatures. It would stand for her day dreaming, about how she would imagine ghosts and see herself differently in a mirror to be able to escape from reality. In the 6th verse the line “I know the sun must set to rise” refers to someone knowing that life has to get worse to be able to get better. This applies to Jane's life when her home life wasn't great and it just kept getting worse, until she got to go to Lowood and she liked Lowood more then home.
People look for the wrong things in a relationship such as money, car and good looks. He addresses that many individuals see their lives as fairy tales, which is an impractical way to perceive love, Lipshutsz uses the movie Sleeping Beauty as an example; the significance of this instance is that females believe that they need a prince to rescue them to be a princess, if we contrast this to males, it gives them the idea that they need to be rich, handsome and be a savior/hero for the girls out there. However the other perception in Sleeping Beauty considered is the fact that her hundred-year sleep gave her time to self reflect and mentally grow as a person. When she awoke she found her “prince” because she was ready and knew what she wanted in many aspects. This relates to the truth that people in today’s society are to quick in committing to others without second thought.
How is love portrayed in the selected poems? Throughout the six poems love is portrayed in different ways by changing the type of love that is shown in the poems, which makes dissimilar to all of each other. Love can be shown in different ways, some more obvious love between a man and a woman or between a parent and a child or there is love that can be shown in a less obvious way. The dramatic monologue ‘My last duchess’ is a good example of how love is shown but not in a conventional way. In ‘My last duchess’ love is shown as a very strong emotion because of the Duke’s possessive love for his ‘last duchess’.
How does Ibsen explore the theme of delusion through the development of Nora’s character in A Doll’s House? Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House explores the traditional theatrical theme of delusion, piercingly criticizing the marriage norms present in the 19th century. Nora’s delusion is shown from her very first step on stage, and progresses until her ‘heroic’ husband turns out to be the opposite to what she had endlessly believed he was; thus making her realize what a lie her life has been and walks out of her false, dreamt-up reality. Ibsen believed delusions warp a person’s perspective on reality, yet converge to open the doors of self-realisation. Nora’s delusions on her husband, the world and herself guide audiences to see Ibsen’s perspective on the power of delusions.
Hippolyta expresses, “I love not to see wretchedness o’ercharged, And duty in his service perishing.” (V i 91-92) In this quote it proves she is only marrying the Duke out of duty and not out of true feelings for him. Hippolyta explains, “Four days will quickly steep themselves in night; Four nights will quickly dream away the time; And then the moon, like to a silver bow, New-bent in heaven, shall behold the night, Of our solemnities.” (I i 7-11) This quote is another reason that Hippolyta`s actions are not reflective of her feelings. Although she is marrying the duke, the quote shows her speaking about their marriage and basically saying “do not touch me.” The quote is a response to Theseus attempting to persuade her in, he is trying to control her feelings for him. Love will take its own course and someone may present themselves as in love when on the inside, it’s the opposite. Love is uncontrollable; Oberon attempts to control Titania because she is no longer listening to him.
Consequently the influence of the witches’ prophecy on Lady Macbeth gets her to overlooks Macbeth’s newly acquired title of “Thane of Cawdor”, as Lady Macbeth’s ambitions demand more for her husband. Ambition and greed are two striking characteristics of Lady Macbeth. These characteristics are evident when Lady Macbeth is caught