An Excerpt From 'Wealth-To-Night'

Passage four is an example of tragedy drama, the extract focuses on a domestic disagreement about the finances of the couple. The themes which run through this extract are representations of gender, and of social class and wealth. Passage one is an example of an epigram poem, its purpose is to invite the reader to the speaker’s home for a dinner party. The piece has similar themes of wealth and social class running through it.
The poem follows iambic pentameter which gives the poem a leisurely mellow feel as if the poem is enacting the conversation of the night, such as: ‘To-night grave sir both my poore house, and I | Doe equally desire your companie’. It adheres to a casual pace that flows as the night would. On the other hand, the heroic …show more content…
This mention of ‘Canary-wine’ arguably indicates the social class of the speaker in the poem. Staying with the idea that the piece is from seventeenth century; this mention of wine, along with other things, may suggest the speaker is of a high class. This is due to the fact wine was an expensive choice of beverage during the seventeenth century therefore, only the higher social class would have been able to afford it. Prior to this the speaker mentions a variety of lavish food, including a variety of game-bird such as ‘partrich, pheasant, wood-cock’ again, many meats such as these would be too expensive for the lower classes of the time. On the other hand, the line proceeding this: ‘May yet be there ; and godwit, if we can’ conflicts this idea of high social class, as this line suggests the speaker may not be able to afford this lavish feast. Therefore, this mention of the lavish food is arguably done so as a ploy to appeal and persuade the reader into accepting the invite. The speaker is ‘poore’ yet they are trying to appeal to the higher class. Consequently, this listing of food during the poem is arguably a use of hyperbole in attempt to allure and impress the reader into accepting the proposed dinner party