Love is defined by many as “a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person”. (dictionary.com) However, not all relationships are filled with happiness. In the poems ‘Anne Hathaway’ and ‘Havisham’, Carol Ann Duffy highlights two significantly distinctive perspectives of marriage; her poem ‘Anne Hathaway’ is one that shows passionate love and the other, ‘Havisham’, illustrates the bitterness that Miss Havisham feels towards her fiance. ‘Anne Hathaway’ relates to Shakespeare’s wife and the marriage they had before he passed away, whereas ‘Havisham’ involves Miss Havisham from the novel ‘Great Expectations’ penned by Charles Dickens and the result of her fiance leaving her at the altar. Carol Ann Duffy employs metaphorical language, structure and imagery in order to contrast between both poems.
‘Anne Hathaway’ and ‘Havisham’ both use metaphorical language to create opposing ideas …show more content…
The semantic field of landforms creates a dizzying illusion of all the places they ‘visited’ in bed, and also hint towards a few of the great plays that Shakespeare had written during his lifetime; “Forest” links to As You Like it, “castles” to Hamlet, “torchlight” to Macbeth and so on, suggesting that not only was he creative in his writing, but also in bed. “Seas where he would dive for pearls” creates a tone of mystery and wonder, as one may find as they “dive for pearls”, as well as representing an exotic adventure, a new experience. The quote may also have connotations of oral sex. By creating an enchanting landscape, Duffy meshes both Shakespeare’s love for his wife and his love for Anne. On the contrary, Havisham begins with the oxymoron “Beloved sweetheart bastard”. The abrupt plosive alliteration of “beloved” and “bastard” interlaced with the soft sibilance of “sweetheart” creates a stuttering effect, implying how the passionate love she had for her fiance has abruptly changed to deep hatred. “Not a day since” indicates how her
‘Anne Hathaway’ and ‘Havisham’ both use metaphorical language to create opposing ideas …show more content…
The semantic field of landforms creates a dizzying illusion of all the places they ‘visited’ in bed, and also hint towards a few of the great plays that Shakespeare had written during his lifetime; “Forest” links to As You Like it, “castles” to Hamlet, “torchlight” to Macbeth and so on, suggesting that not only was he creative in his writing, but also in bed. “Seas where he would dive for pearls” creates a tone of mystery and wonder, as one may find as they “dive for pearls”, as well as representing an exotic adventure, a new experience. The quote may also have connotations of oral sex. By creating an enchanting landscape, Duffy meshes both Shakespeare’s love for his wife and his love for Anne. On the contrary, Havisham begins with the oxymoron “Beloved sweetheart bastard”. The abrupt plosive alliteration of “beloved” and “bastard” interlaced with the soft sibilance of “sweetheart” creates a stuttering effect, implying how the passionate love she had for her fiance has abruptly changed to deep hatred. “Not a day since” indicates how her