Valentine and Havisham by Carol Ann Duffy

Valentine and Havisham by Carol Ann Duffy

  • Submitted By: chazza88
  • Date Submitted: 02/20/2016 6:20 AM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 872
  • Page: 4

Outcome 1 Part A
The two poems Valentine and Havisham by Carol Ann Duffy both are very strong and very detailed poems in which the main theme is Love. Both are written to a brilliant image of the different side od what Love really is " Valentine" is a poem which describes a gift for a current spouse that you would give to them on Valentines day hence the title of the poem. The whole cliché of the day is romance and love but the author here gives the present of a onion. From there on Duffy goes on to explain why this is such a powerful gift of love.
Havisham is a poem based on the Dickens character Miss Havisham from Great Expectations who was left at the alter and since that day has always wore her wedding dress. This poem is Havisham's point of view from that tragic day. Duffy makes the point of reflecting the characters feelings for her ex partner and the effect that day has had on her. The character remembers her ex through her dreams in a sexual element and the final outcome is where she wants him dead.
Both Havisham and Valentine are written in free verse where each stanza is very short and where some lines only have a few words. This represents the onion again in Valentine which there are many layers of different size and shape, whereas in Havisham the poem is made in four stanzas of equal length. This implies that the reader has some type of control and this in fact undermines the sanity of Havisham which again is one of the themes in the poem.
" Not a red rose or a satin heart" is used negatively as the first word is "Not". This disputes the meaning of the day and indicates the negative refusal of love. Instead Duffy uses a onion which is a very bizarre gift as onions are smelly but this is what makes the poem justifiable by comparing the shape of it to the moon. Next Duffy uses a metaphor " a moon wrapped in brown paper". This is used as the again the moon is seen to be a romantic effect but the way Duffy uses it here shows the reader the real...

Similar Essays