Discuss the ways - conventional or unconventional - in which the poet's mistress is represented by any TWO poets of the period. Refer to at least three poems, commenting closely on at least two.

Discuss the ways - conventional or unconventional - in which the poet's mistress is represented by any TWO poets of the period. Refer to at least three poems, commenting closely on at least two. This essay proposes to explore, compare and discuss the different ways in which poets have portrayed their mistresses in the Elizabethan sonnets. I will be particularly focussing on sonnets 18 and 130 by William Shakespeare and Whoso List to Hunt and They Flee from Me by Thomas Wyatt. These poems show very different ways of portraying the mistress's of two prominent Elizabethan poets, one displaying a conventional portrayal the other three not. Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare; 'Shall I Compare Thee to a Summers Day' is a beautiful and conventional Petrarchian sonnet with the explanation of the summer, then line 9 beginning with saying how the mistress is lovelier. He compares the beauty of his mistress the beauty of a day in summer; line 2 says 'Thou art more lovely and more temperate' saying that she is more beautiful than summer and more pleasant. He spends the next 7 lines explaining that summer does not last forever, 'And summers lease hath all to short a date' line 4. Shakespeare says the sun becomes too hot using a metaphor for the sun as heavens eye 'Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines,' then he also says that often it is not bright enough using personification,

  • Word count: 1484
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Discuss the mixture of realism and fantasy in Ben Jonson's country house poem 'To Penshurst'

10017292 Discuss the mixture of realism and fantasy in Ben Jonson's country house poem 'To Penshurst' ‘To Penshurst’ is an example of a genre of poetry known as the ‘country house’ poem, dating from the early seventeenth century. It is what’s known as a bid for patronage, of which the aim is to praise a wealthy patron and their estate in order to earn money and social status. However, another reason for these poems was for the poet to express his opinions of the social values of the time, and as a result either criticizing or praising the current system in place. As the purpose of Jonson’s country-house poem is to idealize the country estate and give praise to the Lord and Lady, it may seem only natural that some elements of fantasy occur due to exaggeration. However, realism does occur in the sense that the poet accurately describes the nature of the landowners and the estate. On a different note however, realism occurs through Jonson subtly criticizing the system of which he is a part of, revealing his true opinion of society. In Jonson’s time, a patronage was essential for anyone wishing to secure a place in the social system, and power therefore resided with the landowners who decided who they felt could deliver the best. Due to his poetic style, Jonson was easily able to secure his place as a respected patronage poet. Robert Evans comments ‘Ben Jonson

  • Word count: 1988
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Discuss the relationship between structure and content in Shakespeare's sonnets and Spenser's "The Faerie Queene".

Discuss the relationship between structure and content in Shakespeare's sonnets and Spenser's "The Faerie Queene". Spenser's The Faerie Queene, as an allegorical tour de force of Renaissance art, lends itself greatly to metaphorical interpretation. It has been the subject of much academic discussion, as have the elusive figures to which Shakespeare's sonnets are addressed. However, discussion of their prosodic mechanics and, more specifically, how these mechanics relate to their content, has until now been a more marginalised issue. How far does each writer explicitly address the relationship between structure and content; how important is this relationship; and do form and content happily coexist, or does one ever become subservient to the other? This paper shall aim to address these issues by linking Shakespeare and Spenser, as past scholarship has done, but it will focus more on its linguistic links, looking more specifically at examples from Shakespeare's sonnets1, as well as book I of Spenser's The Faerie Queene2. While the tradition for epic stretches back to the ancient Greek Iliad and Odyssey, the sonnet form was not created until the 13th century in Italy by Dante, before being ascribed to Petrarch. Upon its arrival in England three hundred years later, the structure of the sonnet had already undergone radical transformation due to the difference of ease of rhyming

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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'A Brilliant projection of a very common male viewpoint whereby women are to be denigrated (perhaps out of fear) and also celebrated as objects for male gratification'(George Parfitt). Is this an accurate description of the presentation of women in male-a

'A Brilliant projection of a very common male viewpoint whereby women are to be denigrated (perhaps out of fear) and also celebrated as objects for male gratification'(George Parfitt). Is this an accurate description of the presentation of women in male-authored poetry? The female, for years, as George Parfitt points out in his quotation, has been subject to the idea of male superiority. Even in Genesis, the earliest of literature, woman is not given her name until after the expulsion from the garden, and Milton very clearly looks down upon Eve in his Paradise Lost: he makes clear that the serpent aims to target Eve all along, as she is 'opportune to all attempts'1, unlike Adam who is of a 'higher intellectual'2 than his wife. Eve is seen as of little importance by Milton, although, of course, it is she who brings about the events of his epic poem. She has less value than Adam, is more open to the wiles of the devil, and has less care for the creation of God, or so Milton would have us believe. Parfitt suggests that it is possibly through fear that the male denigrates the female, perhaps, in Milton's case, this may be true. Eve is known to be the cause of the original sin, and a vessel of Satan in persuading Adam to eat the apple of knowledge, as such, she is dangerous, and outside of the control of God, since she is under the power of Satan. Women were often seen as

  • Word count: 3897
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Examine the relationship between literary innovation and classical imitation inElizabethan literature, with reference to Spenser's The Faerie Queene

"Although the Renaissance was an age of impressive experiment in literary practice, it was also an age that yearned to coordinate its activities with classical tenets and procedures" Examine the relationship between literary innovation and classical imitation in Elizabethan literature, with reference to Spenser's The Faerie Queene During the Renaissance period there was a flourish of classical imitation in new texts, whereby authors would use characters or allusions from classical literature to give their work more depth and meaning. The Italian Renaissance led to a revival of classical texts such as Ovid's Metamorphoses, which Edmund Spenser uses in The Faerie Queene. The humanist movement viewed the ancient Roman and Greek empires as the peak of human achievement, specifically intellectual achievement. As a result, Latin and Greek texts were almost 'rediscovered' and translated into the vernacular so that they could be more widely read. The translations were also a result of English patriotism and pride in the English language at this time. Initially, humanism had concentrated on learning Greek and Latin, the languages of diplomacy, but the translations allowed texts to be studied in universities and added to the curriculum of schools throughout England (Greenblatt : 505). This was a time of great curriculum reform, or 'self fashioning' (505) , which saw a move

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market is often described as a subversive poem. Do you agree?

"Goblin Market" is often described as a subversive poem. Do you agree? The definition of the word subversive means "in opposition to a civil authority or government" (Answers website 2009) and Christina Rossetti shows us how she does this in the poem Goblin Market in a lot of different ways. For a woman to be heard of in this era was hardly ever heard of in arts or literature. Her brother, Dante Gabriel Rossetti was widely known for his art collection and for the poems he wrote, and for been a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. The art they produced had a lot of religious aspects mixed with modern day issues of the time. Their art was true to nature, and very detailed. The women they painted all looked very similar; Christina Rossetti was one of the models for her brother, as well as his wife Elizabeth Siddall. A lot of the PRB art had this idea of sin and redemption, the women in the pictures can easily be seen as fallen women, and some are trying to redeem themselves; but none seem to be able to do this. In the Victorian era there were lots of prostitutes or fallen women but once they had fallen they were very unlikely to ever regain the respect they had previously. I think one of the main ideas that Christina Rossetti put across in her poem is that if a perfect god is willing to give us a second chance why is an imperfect society not willing with regard to fallen

  • Word count: 2290
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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