ADULTERY-DUFFY

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Duffy presents relationships in the poems adultery and valentines in different ways. In adultery the title suggests betrayal and deceit. It explores the wife’s feeling towards her husband’s infidelity.  Whereas in valentines, Duffy shows the different ways we love people and challenges the true meaning of love.

Adultery is a regular structure of 11 stanzas. This shows repetition and also restriction. It has a regular repetitive rhythm so as to avoid losing the impact and the theme of the poem which is betrayal. Duffy introduces her poem in an exciting and a mysterious way; wear dark glasses in the rain. This shows that the person is hiding his identity.

“Guilt. A sick, green tint” makes the reader pause and think giving the word “guilt” a bigger effect. It shows the damage caused by the action of the betrayer. She leaves the word” hands” unwritten which makes it important due to the various things a person can do with it. The second stanza creates an atmosphere of excitement and also shows a hint of prostitution when Duffy uses the line” money tucked in the palms”.

“You are naked” is also of significance because it not only implies infidelity but also the word naked could mean vulnerability. Duffy uses this to present the reader different ways to look at the partner.

Duffy uses the word “bastard” which is an offensive word. She could have just used the word bad person but instead she chose bastard because it is much more emotional and dramatic and shows the way the partner feels about the adulterer at that point in a more effective way. It shows the bitterness and the anger which is also shown throughout the poem. This could also suggest that the adulterer was a male since woman ar usually not called bastards. The reason it could be a married couple is due to the use of the word wedding cake later.

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“Sweet darkness in the afternoon” could suggest deception because people usually draw their curtains during the afternoon so that others from outside cant see. However, sweet darkness is also an oxymoron because they are two opposites. Duffy could have used these words to show how the two lovers make something that is spooky (darkness) into a more affectionate atmosphere by having sex.

The stanza increase the about sexual atmosphere by suing words such as ”gasping, radiant,yes”. Duffy uses a simile in “life which crumbles like a wedding cake” to compare the adulterer’s life to a fictional life where ...

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