In the poems Sonnet 130, Havisham, Kid and On my first Sonne, the key rheme of love is explored. Traditionally, love in poems is romantic but other interpretations of love theme are also explored

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Compare how love is presented in Sonnet 130 to how love is presented in one poem by Duffy, one by Armitage and another pre-1914 poem.

In the poems Sonnet 130, Havisham, Kid and On my first Sonne, the key rheme of love is explored. Traditionally, love in poems is romantic but other interpretations of love theme are also explored, such as parent and child, idolised love, friendship and sibling love. In these poems, other emotions that reside with different types of love are also explored. Sonnet 130 presents love in a more realistic form, with Shakespeare mocking the idea of traditional love poetry. Havisham explores themes of bitterness, anger, hatred and revenge. Kid tells the story of how the idol grew up to be a has-been. On my first Sonne features Ben Jonson and a eulogy-style poem for his dead son.

Sonnet 130 explores the idea of untraditional love poems. It almost mocks traditional love poems, destroying commonly used similes such as “her eyes are like the sun” with “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun”. This shows Shakespeare mocking the false, hyperbolic language that poets commonly write to their lovers. Shakespeare also uses lexis from traditional sonnets, turning conventional and unreal poetry believable. The hyperbolic language was commonly used in Shakespeare’s day. Shakespeare also still writes in sonnet form, as if to add insult to injury by mocking the love poetry-form even further.

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The poem Havisham is also an exploration of untraditional love. Duffy uses language techniques that make it seem as if it is speech, such as “Nooooo” and “b-b-b-breaks”. In the first stanza Duffy also uses plosive alliteration in “Beloved sweetheart bastard.” to reflect Havisham’s anger. ‘Sweetheart bastard’ uses antithesis, which suggests that Havisham has mixed feelings. It is also oxymoronic, as sweetheart is a traditional love poem word while bastard is an expletive. This presses on her mixed feelings on her ex-fiancé, emphasising how much she loved him, but how angry she is that he jilted her. We know the ...

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