How Does Pugh Explore The Relationship Between Men And Women

Compare the way Duffy and Pugh explore relationships between men and women.

In their work, Duffy uses her poetry to give a voice to what she believes are the under-appreciated sex as she slanders men for their anti-feminist ways whereas Pugh crafts her poems with a sense of equality between both genders, somewhat stating that men and woman can be hard done by by the society they are a part of. In the Haggard and the Falconer Pugh presents a falconer, a symbol for men, who is depicted to be attempting to tame a Haggard. In the works of Shakespeare Haggards were presented as women who were unable to be tamed and attained by a man, Pugh uses this endless inability to tame to show how male and female relationships work- the man asserts his position

Aesop’ depicts a marriage in which the female feels trapped, this is evident in the opening line, ‘By Christ, he could bore for purgatory.’ The use of words selected by Duffy highlights the entrapment felt by the persona, furthermore suggesting the male was dominant in the relationship and the use of modern idioms suggest how long this has been going on as Mr. Aesop told fables many centuries ago. Through the use of internal rhyme, ‘didn’t prepossess…to impress’, we get the sense that there is a lot of resentment within the marriage as some may interpret this line to be a shaming in regards to his sexual ability- this is previously hinted at previously as it is stated ‘He was small’, a reference to his love making skills and his need to over-compensate for not being well endowed. The poem continues with the persona of Mrs. Aesop contorting Mr. Aesop’s famous fables and using them as a weapon of battle, ‘the bird in his hand shat on his sleeve’ moreover highlights her absolute bitterness towards

These depict a sense of not only entrapment but also just how tainted the marriage has become, going out with your other half is supposed to be joyous but for her ‘going out was worse’ and this shows how the entrapment and dismay with the marriage is continuous. Pugh portrays a failing marriage in a similar way as even the most enjoyable parts of marriage, sex, the persona’s wife attempts to escape by ‘lay[ing] unmoved, watching him// under her eyelids.’ The persona’s wife, the Haggard, has resorted to deceiving her husband so that she may, ‘when he has gone…ecstasies’. This constant deception on her behalf signifies the breakdown of their marriage, the sexual imagery articulating how selfish the ‘Haggard’ has become as she only wants to keep the pleasure to