Discuss the ways men and unmarried mothers are presented by the poets in the poems you have studied. Do these poems reflect a change in society(TM)s views

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Discuss the ways men and unmarried mothers are presented by the poets in the poems you have studied. Do these poems reflect a change in society’s views?

        The poem “Cousin Kate” was written by Christina Rossetti in the 19th century. The poem “The Seduction” by Eileen McAuley is a modern 20th century interpretation of real life events. In the first poem we studied “Cousin Kate”, at the beginning of the poem the speaker is happy and “contented” but all of a sudden “a great lord found her.” He then lures the woman to his “palace home” and then uses her as his “plaything.” He then leaves her for her cousin, Kate, who he then marries. The speaker then regrets ever accepting the lords offer but then realises she has his son and that he would part lands for someone to carry on his family name. In “The Seduction” there is also a girl, just 16 years old, who is taken advantage of in a party by excessive amounts of alcohol and then taken to a quiet dock where the man spends his schooldays with “sweet paint thinner” while the man makes his way with her. The next half of the poem describes how the girl copes with her pregnancy and that she rather starve herself like a “sick precocious child” than to tell the neighbours. In both poems there are unmarried women who have been taken advantage of in a similar way and are left, just to reflect on their situations, while the men in the poems get away with the neglect that they have inflicted upon both of the women. Both of the men lure the women with objects, whether it’s wealth or homes, or just a lot of alcohol. This shows that the women haven’t gone with them because they actually love them, it’s because they’re overwhelmed with the amount of gifts that they receive.

        At the beginning of the poem Cousin Kate the woman is happy “contented” with her life. This can be seen through the words: “I was a cottage maiden, hardened by sun and air, contented with my cottage mates, not mindful I was fair,” This shows that she was a typical 19th century house maid and that she enjoyed her life. “Not mindful I was fair”, this suggests that she is still innocent and pure, and shows how she used to be.

        The second half of the first stanza shows how her life was uprooted, how she came to lead a “shameful” life in the eyes of society. For instance, “Why did a great lord find me out, and praise my flaxen hair? Why did a great lord find me out to fill my heart with care?” This shows how she was lured from her cottage home by a great lord, who had managed to seduce her with an enormous amount of flattery. The speaker also seems as if she’s demanding to know why the great lord found her. These are interrogatives which could mean many different possibilities of things but could be a premonition of what is to come. The poem also uses imagery such as “flaxen hair” to make the reader think of the poem as a real life situation so they might relate it to an experience they may have had.

        The first half of the second stanza shows how she was brought into the lords’ life and how she was used. For example, “He lured me to his palace home, woes me of joy thereof, to lead a shameless shameful life, his plaything and his love.” This shows how the lord managed to lure her into his home and convince her that it would be a “shameless” life and how he managed to use her as his “plaything.” The lord doesn’t marry her so now she isn’t considered innocent or pure. Instead now she is rejected by society as she is getting used and she isn’t even married yet. The speaker now feels utterly ashamed for ever accepting his offer. The poet uses the technique oxymoron to make a dramatic effect by the use of “shameless shameful”. This works effectively as this part of the poem talks about remorse and regret.

        The speaker describes how the lord mistreated her. “He wore me like a silken knot, he changed me like a glove, so now I moan, an unclean thing who might have been a dove.” The evidence shows how the lord uses and mistreats the woman. “He wore me like a silken knot” shows how she has been tied into the situation and “silken” refers to the fact that she was only seduced by the lords’ immense wealth and social status. ”He changed me like a glove” shows how quickly the lord replaces her for her cousin Kate. Both sections use imagery related to clothing, this makes the reader imagine how easily the lord managed to swap her and both are also similes. This is a mnemonic (memory aid) and allows the two ideas to remain distinct in spite of their similarities. The speaker describes herself as a lowly being, that isn’t even regarded in the eyes of society.” so now I moan, unclean thing who might have been a dove” This shows how the speaker describes herself within the poem as a thing, a symbol of shame that shouldn’t be recognised within the community. The word “dove” suggests that she could have been innocent and pure if the lord hadn’t done what he did.

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Society doesn’t regard the speaker as a person anymore, instead calling her and objet. “The neighbours call you good and pure, they call me outcast thing.” This shows just how the neighbours feel towards the speaker. They “outcast” her as if she would never be accepted within society ever again.

At the beginning of the poem she feels happy, “contented with herself, but as the poem progresses she gradually becomes depressed and thinks about all the bad things that have happened to her, “now I moan, an unclean thing”. Then she starts to sound bitter by saying “O cousin ...

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