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Major themes of carol ann duffy's poetry
Major themes of carol ann duffy's poetry
Major themes of carol ann duffy's poetry
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In this essay I’m going to be comparing and contrasting a range of poems which are ‘Havisham’, ‘Salome’, ‘The Laboratory’, ‘Stealing’ by Carol Ann Duffy, ‘On My First Sonne’ by Ben Johnson and ‘November’ and ‘Hitcher’ by Simon Armitage.
I am going to discuss and explore the reasons for these characters needs of violence, anger and death towards themselves and individuals.
The characters in ‘Havisham’, ‘Salome’ and ‘laboratory’ are all women which have preoccupation with revenge, hate and jealousy.
Duffy presents her poem ‘Havisham’ about an embittered old woman where time has stood still for her because she was jilted on the alter by her ex-fiancé and can’t accept the fact of the state she’s in and now is alone and weeps in her self-pity. Likewise she presents ‘The Laboratory’ about a psychopathic woman whose got the tension or means of killing another woman to get her revenge.
The imagery used in ‘Havisham’ reviews to us of this vigorous, violent and unbridled theme between these poems. ‘I’ve dark green pebbles for eyes’, this metaphor indicates to us that this character is composed or hardened away into this hopeless and livid state.
The more she’s compelled to this state, she reminds herself of the wedding day so the more violent and embittered she becomes as she says, ‘I stab at the wedding cake’.
Likewise in ‘Salome’ she is revelled into her uncontrolled, baric state due to her ‘booze and the fags and the sex. Also ‘Head on a platter’ which portrays to us these murderous, homicidal actions and intentions ‘Salome’ is really capable of committing.
This is similar to ‘The Laboratory’ because this resentful, envious woman somehow conceals her sinister planned intentions and goals which she is capable of accomplishin...
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...em is written in free verse and contains little rhyme, and the irregular number of beats in different lines reflects the emotional instability felt at the subject of the poem.
In conclusion, the messages these poems tell are for example, ‘The Laboratory’ and ‘Havisham’, they show jealousy and envy towards an individual. ‘Hitcher’, ‘Stealing’ and ‘Salome’ are angry on life in general and take out their frustrations on innocent people. ‘On My First Sonne’ and ‘November’ all show deep emotion, resentment, grief and passion to the situation their in. The difference between these poems is the attitudes they hold towards their situations. However the similarities are that the poets have all exaggerated the characters to produce effective poems and at last, all these characters seem to show instability and all have resentment towards someone, their circumstances or God.
Nevertheless, her attempts are futile as he dismisses her once more, putting his supposed medical opinion above his wife’s feelings. The story takes a shocking turn as she finally discerns what that figure is: a woman. As the story progresses, she believes the sole reason for her recovery is the wallpaper. She tells no one of this because she foresees they may be incredulous, so she again feels the need to repress her thoughts and feelings. On the last night of their stay, she is determined to free the woman trapped behind bars.
The short stories, “The Girl with the Hungry Eyes” by Fritz Lieber, “Bits and Pieces,” by Lisa Tuttle, “While She Was Out” by Edward Bryant, “Cold Turkey” by Carole Nelson Douglas, and “Lightning Rod” by Melanie Tem Historically, in literature, women are stereotypically placed in one of two roles, the doting wife and beloved mother, or the more outwardly psychotic, witch-like, temptress. As the feminist approach to the criticism of literature has blossomed over time, the need for empowered female characters has surfaced. To rectify the absence of this character, “wild women literature” has made many advances in the defiance of gender role stereotypes and gender norms. The women in the collection of wild women short stories are difficult to define because of society’s pre-conceived notions of how women should and do behave. The term “wild women” conveys a slightly negative and sometimes misinterpreted connotation of a woman’s behavior; however, in this collection of stories, the female characters are generally vindicated because of the motivation behind their actions. The motivation can be linked to the popular cultural phenomenon of women taking charge of their lives, making decisions for themselves, being independent, rising above their oppressors (most commonly the close men in their lives), and becoming empowered. Vigilante actions by the wild women in these stories are not entirely representative of madness, but also re...
As you can see, upon looking at both pieces of writing from a different angle, there is always the opportunity for different interpretations. It is certain that a deeper analysis will give even more possible themes and common topics. Now that you have seen how each of these can be read in more than one way, hopefully you can read other pieces of poetry, attain different meanings for them and have greater love and knowledge for poetry in general.
The female characters in Young Frankenstein and One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest are, stereotypically, satiric and parodic renditions of oppressed or emotionally unstable feminine personalities. The theme of the treatment of women is not only played out in the external relationships the women interact within but also in the basic mentality and roles they embody within their personality. The women of Young Frankenstein add a comical element to the film which a direct contrast to the insignificance of the female in Mary Shelley’s novel. The women of One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest are either almost terrifying when thinking of the potential evil lurking just beneath the surface or effectual props in the healing of those who need it.
blond, Madonna-like, young lady sits poised with one hand on her exposed artificial breast as if she is nursing a baby. She is well dressed in a blue satin dress, small white beads laced through her braided hair, and a tiara atop her head. Her icy, blue eyes stare off to the left with a harsh, cold expression. With her breast aimed high, spewing fluids, in the same direction as she stares, it is difficult to imagine what is going through her head, however it is clear that it is something of an almost vindictive and unforgiving nature. Possibly, she points her breast toward a man who betrayed her or harass...
In the poems “The Wanderer”, “The Wife’s Lament”, and “Cuchilainn's Boyhood Deeds” there are journeys that each of the characters go through in the poems. In The Wanderer and “The Wife's Lament” the characters are dealing with the lose of a what they called life. In “Cuchilainn's Boyhood Deeds” the young man in the poem is seeking glory and honor. The poem dapple in both a physical journey and a mental or emotional dilemma. In “The Wanderer” the warrior is sent off in exile and he dreams of finding a new lord and a new hall to become apart of. In “The Wifes Lament”, the wife is also living in exile because he husband family has separated them; she images a life where she isnt so lonely anymore. “Cuchulainn's Boyhood Deeds” is about a boy who imagines himself doing heroic deed to gain favor, honor, and to become a legend. Each of the characters has a physical journey that are in the mist of, but while in the middle of those trial they are also faced with emotional pain and longing for a better life.
‘Havisham’ is a poem about a woman (based on the character from Charles Dickens’ ‘Great Expectations’ of the same name) who lives alone, often confining herself to one room and wallowing in self-pity because she was apparently jilted at the alter by her scheming fiancé. ‘Havisham’ has been unable to move on from this trauma and is trapped in the past. Her isolation has caused her to become slightly mad.
Symbolism and imagery plays a large role in Gwen Harwood’s poems “Suburban Sonnet”, “ Suburban Sonnet: Boxing Day” and “Father and Child”.
The idea of the monstrous woman highlighted and exposed the fragility, insecurities, convictions, fears, and desires that haunted cultures. The monstrous woman would haunt the imaginations of Europeans.
Seven of the thirteen women in Walker's short story collection In Love and Trouble (1973) are also part of the ‘suspended’ cycle in which the women are subjected to and often destroyed by oppression and violence.
result it has on people. In all three poems the last line of the poems
...aining tranquil and peaceful. In her own words, she explains, ‘God knows how entirely I am innocent. But I do not pretend that my protestations should acquit me; I rest my innocence on a plain and simple explanation of the facts…’ (women submissive sex).” Not only do her speech and actions demonstrate passivity, but the simple act of being framed proves her to be a submissive victim of a male dominated society.
...trol of the gaze as abnormal. By temporarily disrupting the spectator's sense of visual pleasure and coding this alternative as ill, as well as associating the restoration of visual pleasure with a return to the male gaze, the film successfully reinforces the male position as voyeur and female as object. The film normalizes the female spectators role of deriving pleasure from being both subject and object, proving, through the (medicalization) of the female protagonist, that to only derive pleasure in viewing as a subject or voyeur is a false pleasure, one that is abnormal. Just as Charlotte is cured in the film by denying her the gaze and constructing her into a fetish, so too is the female spectator's pleasure 'cured' or restored as she allows herself to be both object and subject, perceiving control of the gaze as an illness rather than as a tool of empowerment.
Angela Carter’s “The Bloody Chamber,” is a visually intricate and feminist text; this feminism is portrayed through gender roles. The narrator is a young child who transitions into a woman searching for identity, and her husband’s masculine power defines it. In other words, this short story depicts gender roles and personal identity through the use of objectification of women. The deeper meaning behind the roles the men and women have may reflect Carter’s deconstruction of gender norms. The narrator enables the deconstruction by acting as a link; she conjoins two opposing ideas, like masculinity and femininity. These two opposing ideas create the deconstruction of gender norms that Carter elaborates on throughout her short story.
Literature is filled with figurative language which makes a piece of writing sound interesting, vibrant and exciting. Many poets use figurative language to describe a certain mood, create a connection and also create a certain theme to their poems. In the poem “Postcard from Kashmir “by Agha Shahid Ali