Before one may analyse a poem, I feel that one must analyse its foundation, its inspiration, its very reason for being - in order to truly understand and appreciate the poets work. So, it stands to reason, that I must first analyse the quote from Shakespeare's will, before addressing the poem itself, as Carol Ann Duffy has drawn our attention to it.
Whether you acknowledge it or not 'I gyve unto my wife my second best bed' is a powerful sentence, it screams indistinguishable volumes. These were the last words of comfort to a widow, someone who had spent their life loving a man that was no longer there and Duffy understood that. So, instead of formulating a poem that discredited a marriage that sculpted a lifetime, she enhanced it and resuscitated it and gave it meaning in a decade where it had none. Duffy entitled the poem Anne Hathaway, giving Shakespeare's wife a voice to describe a love which grew in a time where women did not.The poem itself is a sonnet written in imperfect iambic pentameter, the imperfect nature of the pentameter gave way to assonance and alliteration which created a soft sounding poem, much like a loving whisper or a final goodbye to a lover who is already gone.
Duffy chose a Shakespearean sonnet albeit a very relaxed adaptation, to complement Shakespeare's previous sonnets and convey that Anne may have been the woman which he wrote them on.The half rhymes which initialise the poem almost conform to the typical Shakespearean sonnet form, this may be a subtle reference to the way in which Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway began their marriage. "Anne Hathaway was three months pregnant at the time they married, it was what you would call a shotgun wedding" (Evidence of Shakespeare's shotgun wedding sought, 198...
... middle of paper ...
... Google Search. [online] Available at: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=define+assonance&rlz=1C1CHFX_en-GBGB541GB542&oq=define+assonance&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j0l5.2598j0j7&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8 [Accessed 8 May. 2014].
Miller Cutting, B. (2011). Alas, Poor Anne: Shakespeare’s “Second-Best Bed” in Historical Perspective. [online] http://shakespeare-oxford.com/. Available at: http://shakespeare-oxford.com/wp-content/oxfordian/cutting_poor_anne_2011.pdf [Accessed 8 May. 2014].
Shakespeare.mit.edu, (2014). Winter's Tale: Entire Play. [online] Available at: http://shakespeare.mit.edu/winters_tale/full.html [Accessed 8 May. 2014].
Stpetershigh.org.uk, (2014). 'Anne Hathaway' by Carol Ann Duffy. [online] Available at: http://www.stpetershigh.org.uk/DEPARTMENTS/ENGLISH_DEPT/PRUSH/KS5_Resources/Year13A2Resources/Anne_Hathaway_Duffy.html [Accessed 8 May. 2014].
Neely, Carol Thomas. “Shakespeare’s Women: Historical Facts and Dramatic Representations.” Shakespeare’s Personality. Ed. Norman N. Holland, Sidney Homan, and Bernard J. Paris. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989. 116-134.
Pitt, Angela. "Women in Shakespeare's Tragedies." Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint of Shakespeare's Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981.
Clark, W.G., and W. Aldis Wirhgt, eds. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Vol 2. USA: Nd. 2 vols.
Pitt, Angela. “Women in Shakespeare’s Tragedies.” Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Shakespeare’s Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981.
From this slender evidence, along with liberal and dubious readings of the plays and sonnets, scholars have created a robust portrait of the Shakespeares' unhappy domestic life - a "marriage of evil auspices," as one scholar put it. Rather than inhibiting biographers, the lack of information seems to have freed many of them to project their own fantasies onto the relationship. The prevailing image of Ann Hathaway is that of an illiterate seductress who beguiled the young Shakespeare, conceived a child and ensnared him in a loveless union.
It speaks about not allowing anything to break the marital bond not even old age or sickness. The united couple must stand together and not allow their hearts to wander. In the beginning of the poem, the first question asked of the bride and groom is if there are any admitted impediment that would hinder or corrupt this union. Shakespeare even allows the reader to understand that he truly believes the words that he writes by stating, “If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved” (Sonnet 481). Shakespeare interjects his personal beliefs by telling the reader that if this poem is not true, then he was never was a writer, and that no man has ever
Growing up in the early 1600's was a tough time for many people, especially women. Women were very much discriminated against and made to fulfill the duties that were in the household and nothing else beyond that. Anne Bradstreet was a woman that grew up during this time as a Puritan. Puritans believed that humans could only achieve goodness if they worked hard, were self-disciplined, and constantly examining themselves to make sure that they were living their lives for God. Due to this way of looking at life, Anne Bradstreet had little time for writing her poetry. Being a mother of eight children and a devoted wife one would think that Bradstreet wasn't carrying out her duties to her family and God if she was busy writing poetry. Therefore if people knew that she was writing this poetry she would not want them to think less of her so she would write it in a happy and family oriented sense showing how devoted she was to her family through her poetry. That is why Bradstreet writes how she does in the poem To My Dear and Loving Husband. She writes as if to portray that she has a great relationship with her husband and God. Although from her other poem, Prologue, one can see that underneath she truly feels betrayed by the men in her life and by men in general.
Kemp, Theresa D. Women in the Age of Shakespeare. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2009. Print.
Pitt, Angela. “Women in Shakespeare’s Tragedies.” Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Shakespeare’s Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981.
As the poem is a devotion to her husband, Bradstreet describes her relationship as strong and eternal. “Each heroic couplet is its own logical unit in the argument the poem sets forth” (Lambeth). To delve into this thought, every couplet has a changing shift in tone to offer imagery and context of her love. The first couplet uses anaphora to show many pieces; one is their relationship makes them a whole entity (Bradstreet 1,2). It conveys her husband’s affections for Anne.
The language Lady Anne uses is appropriate for the scene which is set during the funeral procession of King Henry VI. Lady Anne mourns the deaths of King Henry VI, her father-in-law, and his son, Prince Edward. Lady Anne says to the King that she was "wife to thy Edward, to thy slaughtered son" (1:2:10), although in history she was only betrothed to him. As a result, her relationship to his father, King Henry VI, is closer and her sadness is more valid. This supposed marriage also generates greater shock over her ensuing marriage to Richard III. The end-stopped lines are appropriate because they slow the speech and emphasize the dullness of one who feels pain and sorrow at the loss of a loved one. In addition, the ornate verse emphasizes the drama of her speech and the powerful emotion she exudes. The language upholds the sanctity of the King and recalls an elegy or psalm that w...
Cohen, Walter, J.E. Howard, K. Eisaman Maus. The Norton Shakespeare. Vol. 2 Stephen Greenblatt, General Editor. New York, London. 2008. ISBN 978-0-393-92991-1
Pitt, Angela. “Women in Shakespeare’s Tragedies.” Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Shakespeare’s Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981.
Pitt, Angela. “Women in Shakespeare’s Tragedies.” Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Shakespeare’s Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981.
Shakespeare Studies 11 (1978): 53-76. MLA International Bibliography. Web. The Web. The Web.