Part of The Student Room Group

  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

Compare how Carol Ann Duffy presents women in the poems Havisham and Salome

Extracts from this document...

Introduction

By Jack Yull 9A1 English Essay Compare how Carol Ann Duffy presents women in the poems Havisham and Salome In the poems ?Havisham? and ?Salome? the characters have both experienced pain conflicted by love. Love has been a big part in both of these women?s lives as it has mentally scarred them and affects them in their future love lives. However both scarred, their lives are almost completely different Carol Ann Duffy makes the characters very contradictory as they are both undecided about men. For example in Havisham ?Beloved sweetheart bastard? and in Salome ?I?ll do it again...Never again!? This shows that both women have mixed feelings for the men that have previously been in their lives. The poems show what side effects the women put up with years after the event which haunted them. The females are both uncertain if they either love or hate men. The characters are very different as Havisham is very emotional, ?I stink and remember. Whole days in bed cawing Nooooo? this suggests she is emotional as it seems she is in a terrible depressed state. On the other and Salome is very careless and seems promiscuous, ?what was his name?? this shows how careless she is as she will sleep with random men and gets on with life no matter what unaware to those she hurts. ...read more.

Middle

She is also seems to be envious of the woman her ex-fiancé chose over her ‘I’ve dark green pebbles for eyes’, green is associated with envy. It also suggests she has become cold hearted as you imagine a pebble being cold and firm. Salome also find it hard to move on as she believes if she trusts someone they would take advantage of it so she kills them before she is able to fall in love. However she sleeps with random men because she believes as she thinks they find her attractive and she can almost take control of men. Havisham has no emotion towards men as ‘red balloon bursting in my face’ suggests that love is never permanent as the more you put into love it will soon become weaker and weaker until it bursts. Also ‘red’ is associated with passion and love. Havisham and Salome contrast on levels of self esteem. For example Havisham says, ‘spinster. I stink’ this suggests she has a very low self esteem and unconfident on the person she is. Whereas Salome believes she is of a class higher above other people ‘Good looking, of course’ this suggests she doesn’t love someone unless they are good looking. Salome is also undecided of her opinion for example ‘I’ll do it again...Never again!’ this also suggests she is a pushover under the influence of alcohol she is weak willed as she can’t control her wrong actions and can’t resist temptations. ...read more.

Conclusion

Duffy also creates images of violence ?sticky red sheets?, indicating the blood of her murder victim. It is put casually into the poem and sounds as if Salome isn?t bothered as she finds it just as a inconvenience. ?Was his head on a platter? suggests she has been served it from somebody else. This proves that men are served to her and she is taking no effort to be served. Duffy also includes rhyme which creates a flow and rhythm to the poem, ?blighter...biter?. To conclude the two poems are very much the same, side effects of love. I preferred the poem Salome as she is more adventurous than Havisham and there was a hint of action in Salome. I also preferred Salome as she is rebellious however I dislike the fact she can?t control her actions. Havisham is also a different character as she is very strong willed, she doesn?t want to fall in love again so she doesn?t look to impress men. However she comes across as cowardly as she is scared she will be hurt again. I also prefer Salome as a character as she has self confidence and the poem contains some thrill whereas Havisham was dull and boring. Overall I enjoyed Salome because it was upbeat and I liked how Duffy put words as they had different meanings. ...read more.

The above preview is unformatted text

This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Carol Ann Duffy section.

Found what you're looking for?

  • Start learning 29% faster today
  • 150,000+ documents available
  • Just £6.99 a month

or


Not the one? Search for your essay title...
  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

See related essaysSee related essays

Related GCSE Carol Ann Duffy essays

  1. Marked by a teacher

    How has Duffy used classical myths in order to comment on the nature of ...

    5 star(s)

    The fact that the line is also significantly shorter draws attention to it, as it develops her understanding of the situation. The use of rhetorical question at the end of the stanza, almost adds a sense of humour to it as she depicts various rational explanations for the lights in the garden.

  2. Compare and contrast Carol Ann Duffys treatment of love and language in the poems ...

    The second stanza starts with "Falling in love". The line starts two line breaks down from where the sentence would start if it was part of stanza two. This positioning reflects the content - the text has fallen, just as she has fallen in love. "Glamorous hell" is an oxymoron - there is no way hell can be glamorous.

  1. Compare 3 poems by Carol Ann Duffy in which she shows us that things ...

    It is this that gives the poem character and ingenuity. The main feature of the poem is the onion, the extended metaphor that Carol Ann Duffy uses to symbolise love. Everything else in the poem is incorporated into the idea that love is 'an onion'.

  2. Explain how Carol Ann Duffy conveys her feelings towards the subjects of the two ...

    I also believe it shows that Duffy is against both of the related topics: theft and war. Duffy describes all of the characters in the poem as if they are always alone and secluded from the rest of the world.

  1. "My Grandmother" by Elizabeth Jennings and "In Mrs Tilcher's Class" by Carol Anne Duffy

    "In Mrs Tilcher's Class" uses a more different complicated and complex use of imagery unlike "My Grandmother" but still has a clear and pure effect. Duffy uses many main types of imagery such as metaphors and personification. An example of one of the metaphors used is: "a skittle of milk"

  2. Mrs Midas - Carol Ann Duffy

    "He drew the blinds.... ...I thought of the Field of the Cloth of Gold and of Miss Macready." King Midas draws the blinds, seemingly against the darkening sky. Yet Duffy compares this act to the Field of the Cloth of Gold and Miss Macready.

  1. How do the writers explore and present the themes of conscience, violence and murder ...

    I think in The Song Of The Old Mother they are trying to tell you that you should work when you are old enough and in Charlotte O'Neil's Song they are trying to tell you that you shouldn't work at a young age and should wait until you are older.

  2. How are disturbed characters present in 'Salome' and 'Havisham'?

    This already proves her as disturbed as most young ladies would feel ashamed or at least feel regretful off their actions. Salome goes on to prove herself even more disturbed than we initially think. As the poem progresses we find out that this ?head on the pillow? is a double entendre.

  • Over 160,000 pieces
    of student written work
  • Annotated by
    experienced teachers
  • Ideas and feedback to
    improve your own work