Comparison of Cousin Kate and The Seduction

The first 200 words of this essay...

An essay to compare and contrast the different views of love presented in 'Cousin Kate' (Christina Rossetti) and 'The Seduction' (Eileen McAuley)

In this essay I am going to compare the poems 'Cousin Kate' and 'The Seduction'. They both have a similar subject, love, and the damage and pain it can cause. Both poems talk about the different attitudes men and women have concerning love; the physical side of love is very important but sought after mainly by men, unlike the woman in each poem, who are easily led and focus on the emotional side. The poems were written around a century apart but still share some of the same views, however the views on the physical aspects of love are different as in 'The Seduction' it is more obvious and shameless due to society's attitude as it had matured and sex had become more acceptable. The importance of the physical aspects of love can be seen simply from the title; seduction is the act of enticing someone into performing a sexual favour. 'Cousin Kate' was written at a time when sex outside of marriage was strictly forbidden and in doing so the narrator becomes exorcized from society