I will be discussing how the period of time that the poets lived in is reflected in their attitudes to life - the tradition affecting the way they think or possibly makes them rebellious towards tradition and to run away with themselves i.e. existentialist views. 'To His Coy Mistress' by Andrew Marvell is an intriguing poem that captures the stereotypical view of men's attitude to women. The persona is obsessed with a young female who is evidently very beautiful and seductive but seems unwilling to let herself show or act upon her feelings for him. He has tried so hard to show her that he has the attitude and love that will make her happy.
Since the beginning of time, one of the most captivating and yet elusive of all emotions has been love. Back in the 17th century most male poets wrote about woman's beauty, while others romanticized lustful inclinations in poetry. The cliché "love at first sight," is too often idealized to be the epitome of "true love"; most poets will uphold to the prior statement such as John Donne and Andrew Marvell. In John Donne's "The Flea" Donne expresses his love for a woman without having touched her. On the other hand, Andrew Marvell in "To My Coy Mistress," glorifies and adores the woman's beauty; however there is a sense of urgency in his words and an underlying sexual current as well.
“Porphyria’s Lover” and “My Last Duchess” contain features of obsessive love. In my essay, I would like to pay particular attention to unrequited love because it shows how the women in the poems are seen as a possession, which the men must rightfully have. I will also look at aspects of obsessive love. “To His Coy Mistress” is not generally positioned in this type of love as the poem does not really contain obsessive love, but in my opinion it can be placed in the category as the speaker is pressuring the girl into having sex with him and he wants her to sleep with him now. He is being seen as obsessive and wanting things his way, immediately.
It says in Genesis 1:31, “God saw all that he made and it was very good.” This right here proves to those who believe that God hates homosexuals that it is in correct. In the bible it does say that for a man to lie with another man as he would a woman is an abomination. Christians say it is a sin, but to judge these actions and to be cruel to these people is a sin. Opposing people have said that whenever one violates the natural moral order established by God, that they are sinning and same-sex marriage is doing exactly that. Well the people who have said that are judging the people who support same-sex marriage are also sinning.
Andrew Marvell, the author of the poem “To His Coy Mistress”, wrote the poem with the intention of it conveying the idea of carpe diem. Depending on the type of person and the sex of that person this could be considered as a carpe diem or just an offensive pick up line. A male might agree with Marvell’s concept of better to lose your virginity earlier rather than later because there is no reason in waiting, while a female would certainty disagree with this line of thinking. Rather they would find it disgusting and inappropriate. One of the critics of the poem, Bernard Duyfhuizen, took the females point of view in order to give a different reading of the poem.
It becomes apparent that Elizabeth knows of her husband’s unfaithfulness when she asks, “John, if it were not Abigail that you must go to hurt, would you falter now? I think not” (Miller 54). Elizabeth is obviously aware of her husband’s disloyalty but even if it pains two people to stay married, they will not get a divorce, because that is against Puritan beliefs. Although, adultery is also against Puritan beliefs, but that doesn’t stop some sinners. These affairs are often discovered because Puritans so strongly believe in... ... middle of paper ... ...s sin secret and continue to be seen as a perfect sinless Puritan.
It is still most common for a man to initiate a relationship, and men are still perceived as the most sex obsessed. However, even though we are led to believe that their attitudes were more conservative, the attitudes conveyed in these poems are very raw and primitive in the way that they make sex the ultimate. The men are desperate begging the women for sex. However, as we know from other poems (such as Cousin Kate and The Seduction) men valued purity above most other things (when considering marriage). So we could say that these men were hypocritical for wanting their women pure for marriage but willing to have sex with them pre-marriage!
“Whenever one violates the natural moral order established by God, one sins and offends God. Same sex marriage does just this. Accordingly, anyone who professes to love God must be opposed to it.” (TFP Stud... ... middle of paper ... ... in general. It is a choice to be involved in homosexual relationships as well as marriage. It is a choice to commit an abomination.
How John Donne Showed his Love John Donne’s poetry has been both ridiculed and praised. One reason for the ridicule is due to the fact that many people believe his work is vulgar, and his discussion of sex may seem improper to some people. Even in this modern age some people may find it a bit offensive. You can imagine what people thought of it in the sixteenth century. His discussion of sex in this “disgusting'; manner is more obvious and prevalent in his early work, while he still had many female acquaintances and before he was settled down with his wife.
As all Cavalier poets, he supports the statement of "carpe diem", or "seize the day", that is an extension to the Renaissance code of chivalry. Today, the speaker's speech may seem sexist in its attitude toward women and irresponsible in its attitude toward the coy mistress (the speaker doesn't explain how he would seize the day if the woman became pregnant, for example). The mistress would like to postpone sex (theoretically until she and the speaker are married). The speaker wants to consummate their physical relationship now. The poem's speaker is attempting to persuade "His Coy Mistress" to have sex with him.