In this poem, initially the woman is portrayed as weak and powerless, like the popular pre-twentieth century literature idea of a woman being prey. This is idea is also seen in Marvell’s poem “To His Coy Mistress. The man is portrayed as being confident, for example “I have the matter sure”. However, when the woman manipulates and fools the man the man appears naïve and stupid, shown in the line “the gentleman had scarce time to know what she was doing”. The attitudes to love and sex in this poem show that the gentleman sees sex as immediate and frivolous while the woman is aware of the real consequences of the burden. The beggar woman is described as “fresh, and linen clean” while the man, supposed to be socially superior, is tricked and appears idiotic which is a role reversal of what would be expected.
“The Beggar Woman” was written as a comical, entertaining poem which differs from “To His Coy Mistress” which was quite a serious poem. “The Beggar Woman” is a poem of the street ballad tradition but it also reflects a serious moral point that was relevant to the time. It would have been intended to cause discussion or reflection. In this aspect, even though “To My Coy Mistress” had a message in some from as it is a carpe diem poem, the two poems differ substantially as “To My Coy Mistress” didn’t have a moral message.
“The Seduction” is a poem about a girl who gets pregnant and regrets her loss of innocence. In the poem, we are taken through the story of how the young girl is seduced by a boy, finds out she is pregnant and her feeling of betrayal as this is not how the magazines and told her it would be. It is set against the bleak surroundings of Merseyside. It is like the “The Beggar Woman” in the aspect that it shows the responsibility the girl has to take as she has a baby and how the boy has no problems.
The poem is structure in a series of stanzas but it has no rhyme and a disjointed rhythm that could represent the damaged, out of joint life the girl now has. This makes it different to “The Beggar Woman” and gives it a more serious tone, like “To My Coy Mistress”. The structure of the stanzas make it seem like the poem is telling a story and keeps it flowing, like it is going through time and over the events that happened. The last two stanzas of the poem are different to the rest of it. They are written as if they are the author, Eileen McCauley’s, view point and she is giving her opinion and moral judgement on the issue.
In “The Seduction”, the male character is portrayed as a bad boy and someone who’s taking advantage as we can see in the line “he handed her the vodka”. Like in “The Beggar Woman”, the male character is in control at the beginning of the poem. The girl in the story is portrayed to be very young and naïve. “Stories from teenage magazines” are referred to and lines like “talked about school in a disjointed way; about O levels she’d be sitting in June” are used to highlight just how young the girl is. She is seen as defenceless with “her head rolling forward” compared to the boy who is in control. This poem also has an element of the idea of a woman as prey, just like the other two poems. This is because the boy is trying to take advantage. In this poem, love and relationships are seen as something the young girl has been “cheated, by the promise of it”. The only mention of love in the poem is in the line, “as he brought her more drinks, so she fell in love” which gives me the impression that it is not love, it is just that as the girl feels more grown up she thinks she is feeling more grown up emotions. In this poem, sex is associated with nasty chemicals such as “eyes as blue as iodine” and “kisses that tasted like nicotine”. This makes sex seem like a bad thing.
“The Seduction” was written in the 1980’s which means it is a lot more modern than the other two poems which were both written around the 17th century. This makes the poem a lot different as it was written in completely different context. Set in the social depression of the 1980’s, the poem is an example of what can happen to young people in times of bleak outlook and a lack of opportunity for people. The poem, the only poem written by a woman author, reflects a contextual universal problem of gender inequality. The poem reflects this in the way it portrays the boy and girl, with the girl taking the role of the victim. Like the other two poems, the ending has a serious message topical to each poems context, or more importantly contrasting the popular beliefs or culture of the current times.
One of the main differences between the three poems is the reason why they were written and what their intended effect is. “To His Coy Mistress” was written by Marvell to ridicule popular poetry and the methods of courtship at that time. He highlights the ironies of courtship by writing it through a person. The title “To His Coy Mistress” tells us it is not the poet’s perspective, but somebody else’s, even though the poem is written in the first person. “The Beggar Woman” was written as light-hearted entertainment but, like the other poems, also holds a message. The message in “The Beggar Woman” is about social injustice and can be seen as the least about actual relationships out of the three poems. “The Seduction” is intended to highlight a universal and historic problem of gender equality, and although this is a common theme in all of the poems it is most prominent in this poem.There are similarities in the poems in terms of content and message. From both the “The Beggar Woman” and “The Seduction” there is a moral point about girls being left in the lurch and all three poems talk about the seduction of women. They also all follow the theme, that was especially topical for the context of “The Beggar Woman” and “To His Coy Mistress”, as women being seen as ‘prey’.
“To His Coy Mistress” is written in a playful tone but with serious undertones. We can see the playful aspect in phrases such as “my vegetable love should grow” and “the grave’s a fine and private place, but none I think do there embrace”. The writer uses mockingly over the top flattery and seduction which give the poem a playful tone. However, the last two lines speak a serious and moral point which gives the poem a different tone. Also, the references to time throughout the poem for example, “time’s winged chariot hurrying near” give the poem a serious undertone and a message about seizing every opportunity. The persona the poem speaks through shares personal jokes with the reader, such as and “till the conversion of the Jews” (which is an impossibility). This makes the poem seem more personal and increases the playful tone as the reader feels part of an ‘inside joke’.
“The Beggar Woman” is written in a jovial and light hearted tone. The poem is full of jokes and wit from the beggar woman such as “Sitting,’ says she, ‘’s not my usual trade’”. This is an example of the irony and wit in the poem as this quote is ironic as she is a prostitute. The heroic couplets and street ballad style it is written in also contributes to the light hearted tone. The fact that the poem covers a serious issue yet is written in a jovial tone may have been intended to cause a stir amongst the audience listening to the poem. Like “To His Coy Mistress”, there is an underlying moral tone to the poem, especially in the poem’s final message. To moral tone of the poem is the depiction of the gentleman’s treatment of the beggar woman.
“The Seduction” is the only poem which doesn’t have a playful side. The tone of the poem is dark and shows tones of despair and regret. The line “he sat down in the darkness, leather jacket creaking madly” shows an example of the references to darkness in the poem and the use of adverbs like ‘madly’ which give the poem a threatening tone. The poem is written in the third person which acts as a distancing device. It is less personal and so makes the poem seem more sinister and lonely. The description of the sordid and dirt setting such as “her head rolling forward towards the frightening scum on the water” adds to the dark mood of the poem and makes the reader uncomfortable. In this poem, the tone is serious throughout.
The different tones reflect the cultural and historical contexts and show us how the authors felt about the common views of these contexts. For example, the playful mocking tone that Marvell uses shows us that he found the way love and relationships were thought of in that time laughable. The three poem’s all have a serious tone at some point which tells us that the authors all challenge society’s opinions of love, relationships and gender. The messages differ but they are all intended to shock. Looking at these three poems and the times in which they were written shows us how the attitudes to love and relationships have changed over time.
Marvell creates a witty argument in “To His Coy Mistress” for the persona trying to seduce his mistress. The wit is created by the development of the argument as it progresses through the ‘if’, ‘but’, and ‘therefore’ stages. It is also witty from the imagery he uses to back up his argument. The persona uses metaphors for; religion, “the conversion of the Jews” (forever), time, “winged chariot hurrying near” and death “vast deserts of eternity”. By using these metaphors the persona makes his argument effective as he is linking his opinion with God and the laws of nature. The persona use of death and time imagery in particular make his argument effective as he is scaring his mistress with lines like “then worms shall try that long-preserved virginity” into having sexual intercourse with him. This particular crude piece of imagery also mocks the idealized romantic poetry. In this way, Marvell is portraying the persona as a manipulative person as he is threatening. In the final section of the poem, imagery is used that reflects the persona’s true feelings. “Amorous birds of prey”, “at every pore with instant fires” and “tear our pleasures with rough strife” all create images of sex and passion which contrasts the mocking tone he takes earlier on. This progression is unexpected which makes it effective as it shows this is how he really feels. The last two lines of the poem, “Thus, though we cannot make our sun stand still, yet we will make him run” uses positive imagery about time which contrasts the rest of the poem. These last two lines, which provide the moral point of the poem, tell the personas reader that you cannot stop time, or the sun from setting. Marvell’s reference to ‘running’ within this implies that the person thinks that if they have sex, they will be free.
In “To His Coy Mistress” the persona uses mock homage and bathos. He pays mock homage to the mistress in lines like “for, lady, you deserve this state”. He speaks of his respect for her in a very sarcastic way as he uses it after grossly over exaggerating with lines like “two hundred to adore each breast”. This makes him seem like he is mocking himself. Marvell uses bathos, which means the persona uses deliberate flattery like “thou by the Indian Ganges’ side should’st rubies find”, saying she should be walking in exotic land with rubies but then follows it up with his argument. He uses humour at his own expense rather than hers.
At the beginning of “The Beggar Woman”, King uses a double meaning on the line “a gentleman in hunting rode astray”. He uses the imagery of hunting animals to show how the man thinks of women as ‘prey’ and how hunting women is an upper-class activity. In this first line, the whole message of the poem is reinforced as it shows the attitude to women the poem aims to inform people of. Other imagery used is used in this poem to reflect the two character’s lives. For example, the man “ambles on before” symbolising how he is free and moves through life with ease, while the beggar woman “trots behind” showing how she is hindered on her journey through life. This imagery is used to show the unfair differences between them in a really obvious way. Another image used is near the end when the beggar woman ties the child to the man “like a cross” which, like in “To His Coy Mistress” provides a religious image. Just like Jesus carrying the cross, he is now a condemned man as he now has the burden that women have to bear. “The Beggar Woman” doesn’t have any other imagery so the imagery it does have is important and shows that it has been specifically chosen. The imagery carries the message of the poem.
To set the scene for the story in “The Seduction”, McCauley employs the use of dark imagery such as “he led her to the quiet bricks of Birkenhead docks. Far past the silver stream of traffic through the city”. These lines imply the boy is leading her into darkness, away from everyone in control. She depicts busy places and traffic as a good by using positive imagery such as ‘silver stream’. The use of Birkenhead docks sets up the dark scene straight away as in that time, the docks were a stereotypically seedy place where sailor would find prostitutes as soon as the docked, after they had been at sea for months. The imagery she uses to describe the boy, “his eyes as blue as iodine” makes him seem like a bad person. It is a nasty simile as iodine is a chemical and this portrays the boy as a toxic person. To describe him sitting down, McCauley uses the phrase “leather jacket creaking madly” which sounds quite sinister and implies than he himself is a bit mad. When describing the girl, the imagery contrasts that of the boy. There are many references to innocence including her “white shoes”, the connotation for the colour white being purity. Lines such as “he handed her the vodka, and she knocked it back like water” show her naivety and inexperience while he is in control. Contrasting the image of his ‘iodine’ eyes, hers are described as “wide and bright” which makes her appear young. After she found out she was pregnant, she “sobbed in the cool, licked darkness of her room”, implying that the boy lead her into the darkness and now she is stuck there. She rips up the magazines that promised her love “until they were just bright paper, like confetti, strewn”. This image is ironic as it is like a wedding, and she won’t have a virginal wedding. She “broke the heels of her high white shoes” as she is no longer pure. The imagery about her contrasts that of the first half of the poem showing the reader that she has been changed.
The other imagery I find effective in “The Seduction” was the contrasting image between where the girl sat and what she drank with the boy, and where she missed being and drinking when she looks back in regret. In the first half of the poem, she “sat in the dark, her head rolling forward” drinking “bottles of vodka”. When she looks back, she cries that she has missed the times “with a glass of lager-shandy, on a carpeted floor”. The contrasting images of a dark, dank world she lives in compared to a homely and safe world she wants are effective in making the audience sympathise for her and her loss of innocence. The imagery in this poem helps to reinforce the message by using dark horrible metaphors to reflect and emphasise the horror some people have to go through and make the audience feel for the girl
“To His Coy Mistress” is a hyperbolic poem, which means it uses extravagant exaggeration. The best example of this in the poem is between the lines 13-17, “a hundred years should go to praise thine yes, and on thy forehead gaze. Two hundred to adore each breast; but thirty thousand to the rest. An age at least to every part”. Marvell uses this poetic technique when the persona is flattering the woman because the exaggeration is mocking of romantic literature of the time. He uses it as part of the mock homage the persona pays to the mistress. The effect of presenting the argument in a dramatic monologue in first-person point of view is that the reader can see the man’s thoughts as they manifest themselves. Writing it like this makes the poem more personal and the reader feels like they know what the man is feeling. It makes the poem relatable. This forces the reader to think about they last lines which convey the message of the poem. Marvell uses poetic techniques such as repetition to engage the reader and develop the argument as repetition is also a technique used in persuasion.
Marvell creates an urbane style by talking about exotic places like “thou by the Indian Ganges’ side” as this was a time when travel and exploration were just coming about. The persona is also very polite, for example “and you should, if you please, refuse”. These make him seem sophisticated and knowing. This is effective because it makes it appear even more like he is trying to manipulate the girl and he is being witty. I find this sophisticated tone effective in the poem, and I can see elements of the gentleman in “The Beggar Woman” in the persona in the way he talks.
In “The Beggar Woman”, King uses heroic couplets and iambic pentameter to give the poem a strong rhythm. The effect of this is that the poem is a street ballad style which means it would have been performed. This rhythm is catchy and with the heroic couplets makes the poem memorable so people would remember the message the poem conveys. In “The Beggar Woman”, King uses direct speech which allows the poem to be more humorous. King keeps the poetic techniques simple in “The Beggar Woman” because as the poem was intended to be read aloud it needed to be simple so people would understand it. If it was full of metaphors that you needed to think about and re-read before you understood it would not have been effective. The simple poetic techniques also allowed for humour. The phrase I find particularly effective in this poem is “to come so far and disoblige you both”. I think it is effective because it is just before the beggar woman tricks the man and it has an element of irony as he is so determined to have sex. This makes it very comical and the more humorous when he is tricked as this phrase shows how adamant he was to get his own way.
In “The Seduction” McCauley employs the use of alliteration and consonance, for example “silver stream” and “fresh fruits”. In effect, this creates vivid images for the reader and makes some parts stand out. Alliteration and consonance also acts as to create some kind of rhythm to the phrases. In “The Seduction”, McCauley uses ellipses as a structural device. They are used in between the sections before the girl finds out she is pregnant and after. The ellipses represent a change in time and also echo a photo story in teenage magazines in the 80’s. This is ironic as the poem refers to these magazines and their false hopes, yet the poem is written like one. To reinforce the feelings of the persona, McCauley uses repetition. She repeats the reference to magazines throughout the poem; “stories from teenage magazines”, “ripped up all her My Guy and her Jackie”, “glitzy fashion features”, “glossy horoscopes and glamour with a stammer”, “glossy photographs”. This repetition makes the reader aware of the reference to magazines and the persona’s feeling of betrayal by them.
At the end of “The Seduction”, during the authors monologue, she describes a pregnant belly as “huge and ripe” while she describes the other things people are frowned upon for negatively, such as “starve yourself, like some sick, precocious child”. I found this effective as it is like saying even though all this bad stuff happened to the girl, being pregnant is not a bad thing compared to some of the other stuff that goes unnoticed. This last part of the poem challenges society and its priorities.
I think that Marvell wrote “To His Coy Mistress” to expose men as prepare to say anything to get their own way and to criticize women for their desire to be flattered. But I think more importantly the poem was written to convey Marvell’s witty take on the games played between couples. At the time it was written, pre-marital sex was frowned upon and I think Marvell wrote this poem as a way to reveal what really went on behind closed doors. Marvell used bathos and the persona’s mock homage to reveal how men see themselves as superiorly intelligent to women. I think Marvell wanted his audience to be able to relate to the poem, both men with the persona and women with the mistress.
I think that King intended “The Beggar Woman” to be entertaining but also to challenge social society. I think that he wanted his reader to think differently about the kind of characters in the poem, sex and relationships. He wanted to shock his audience. I think the poem is effective in this aspect and the humour would capture an audience and the message they took away with them could be applied to real life situations.
McCauley’s “The Seduction” was in my opinion intended to make the audience feel sympathetic for young girls in situations like the girl in the poem. I think McCauley told the story of a girl to show her audience how things like that happen and how it is wrong to look down on people in that situation. I think the language she uses and the way she portrays the characters in the poem makes her poem as a vehicle to convey her message effective. The audience feels sympathetic for the girl which causes them to consider the gender equality issue relevant to the time the poem was written.
All of the poems share a view on love and relationships that is that women are seen as ‘prey’. There is a lack of love in all of the poems which shows that sex is regarded as linked to the emotion lust, and not love. The men in these poems are presented as manipulative and sophisticated and are implied to be older than the women. The women are all presented differently; in “To His Coy Mistress” the woman is hesitant and coy about sex. In “The Beggar Woman”, the woman is portrayed as smart and quick witted, and in “The Seduction” the girl is presented as naïve, innocent and young.
In a way, the effects of the poems are similar as they tried to challenge society’s beliefs and provide a moral point. However, due to the different styles they are written in, the poems have different effects on their audiences. “To His Coy Mistress” and “The Beggar Woman” have comedic elements while “The Seduction” is a very serious poem. Also, the audience of the times the different poems were written in would have had different views on the poems because of their social differences.
My favourite poem is “The Beggar Woman” because I think King’s choice of a light-hearted poem to capture the attention of many and deliver an important message was very clever. I also enjoy the steady rhythm of the poem that the others lack. The poem highlighted the problem of inequality, but also included a role reversal which the other poems didn’t. I think this made it more effective at conveying its message.
