The quotation “All wide blue eyes” shows the young girl is vulnerable and is under the influence of alcohol, this may imply he is taking advantage of her. Other themes include sex out side of wedlock.
During this period of time society frowned upon such actions, the quotation “My fair haired son, my shame, my pride” demonstrates how she is happy that she has given birth to her son despite not being married, the young girl is ashamed as society frowned upon her actions. Society would call her an “outcast thing” this shows how society frowned upon sex outside of marriage.
In The Seduction the young girl also looses her virginity outside of marriage, society also frowns upon her actions as she lost her virginity outside of wedlock. Society believes it is better to destroy you life with drugs than to conceive a child outside of marriage.
In The Seduction the young girl rips up magazines like confetti this is significant as it highlights the fact she is not married.
The Seduction also deals with class, the cottage maiden and the Lord have sexual intercourse, however as the Lord is upper class his actions do not get frowned upon. Despite both the Lord and the cottage maiden having sex, only the maiden gets frowned upon by society, as the Lord has a sense of authority and power therefore society does not frown upon his actions. The quotation “So now I am an undean thing” demonstrates how dirty and used the maiden feels.
The Seduction is easy to relate to as it has a simple narrative, that the reader can follow, as if it were a story. There is a steady theme through the poem “My Guy” and “Jackie” were magazines during this period of time, which young girls relate to the poem.
Cousin Kate however has a more playful rhythmic rhyme like a song. The poem has a regular rhyme scheme, which reflects playfulness and highlights her young age.
My images after reading Cousin Kate and The Seduction gives the impression that both men are just after sex and do not care about their partner’s feelings.
In Cousin Kate the maiden explains that the Lord “Chose you and cast me by” this demonstrates how the Lord got what he wanted then got rid of her.
However, in The Seduction the young boy takes the girl to a dirty isolated area where many teenagers go to consume alcohol and abuse solvents down by the river, this is where he seduces her. Not only does this indicate he has no respect for her by allowing her to consume alcohol, but he also refers to her as a “Little slag” which is disrespectful.
Purity also plays a role in both poems, if you have sexual intercourse outside marriage you were frowned upon by society and no one would then want to have a relationship with you. The country maiden falls in love with the Lord and she looses her virginity to the Lord. The Lord then falls for her cousin, but Kate’s love is fickle. The country maiden refers to her love as “love which is written in the sand” this demonstrates how their love was not permanent and could be washed away.
McAuley’s use of punctuation is interesting; there are italics in “My Guy” and “Jackie” as they are magazines, which people could relate to the young girl in the poem. There are also questions asked, this indicates the young girl is confused and she wants people to help her as she doesn’t know what to do such questions include “How did she feel so betrayed”
McAuley uses four lines in every verse excluding stanza nine, this is because the young girl finds out she is pregnant.
The poem is like a story and contains many commas this is to slow the pace of the poem down to allow the reader to think about what is going on in the poem.
However, in Cousin Kate there is a significant difference between the punctuation as Cousin Kate is like a song and has a more playful childlike attitude. Cousin Kate contains punctuation at the end of every sentence such as full stops, which speeds the poem up. The two poems may have similar themes and issues but the punctuation is very different.
In The Seduction we gain a sense of pity as the young girl fees sorry for herself, I can demonstrate this using the quotation “She sobbed in the cool, locked, darkness of her room” this shows she is isolating herself from society as she feels ashamed.
However, in Cousin Kate, the cottage maiden is now happy, despite being upset that her relationship with the Lord has ended, as he wants to be with Cousin Kate due to her beauty and purity, however, she still feels happy as she now has a child. The cottage maiden is happy as she has something that Cousin Kate doesn’t have which is her fair-haired son
In McAuley’s Seduction the young girl regrets her behaviour I can demonstrate this using the quotation “So she cried she had missed all the innocence around her” this shows she not only feels used but she regrets loosing her virginity. The young girl feels isolated and feels everyone has lost their virginity in wedlock or has purity.
The tone in Cousin Kate has a mixture of moods, the cottage maiden is upset as she loved the Lord but he used her for sex. However, she looses the Lord as he the quotation ”Changed me like a glove” this means he got ride of her when he got bored, despite her feeling dirty and used, she is happy that she has given birth to her son despite not being married.
The Mersey is described as a “Septic wound” this simile describes how dirty and disgusting the river was which links in with idea of decay. The young girl does not like the area she has been taken to and it was hardly the place she dreamt of loosing her virginity, this shows the young boy had no concern about her or her feelings.
The quotation “As blue as iodine” shows how the young girl described the boys eyes this demonstrates how he was under the influence of alcohol.
The young girl described the traffic as “Silver stream of traffic” this indicates there was fast flowing traffic and it was late during the night this sets the scene.
Cousin Kate feels used, this can be shown using the quotation “Wore me like a silken knot” this demonstrates how the Lord used her like an object and treated her badly.
The simile “He changed me like a glove” is effective as it demonstrates how the Lord used the cottage maiden for her purity and then become bored of her and now he has Cousin Kate.
In my opinion I could identify with The Seduction by McAuley. I enjoyed this poem as it can reflect on real life issues. I feel the poem sent a message out to young girls about teenage pregnancy. The poem was realistic with issues relating to society and seemed more modern
