A lot of the language used in 'The Seduction' is symbolic. ‘So she followed him there all high white shoes’ is an example of symbolic poetry. The shoes are described as white to present a symbol of purity, which is a major theme in the poem. Towards the end of the poem the girl violently breaks her ‘white shoes’, ‘and on that day she broke the heels of her high white shoes’. This line shows us how she has lost her innocence and is no longer pure. Another event that is linked to innocence is when the girl rips up all her magazines ‘until they were just bright paper, like confetti strewn on the carpet’. Confetti is something that is usually used in weddings. McAuley cleverly uses the word ‘confetti’ to show the destruction of the girls’ innocence purity and romantic illusions.
There are many contrasts in the poem ‘The Seduction’. A major contrast is the difference between the girl’s past views on romance and her future. The girl views of romance are naive before her seduction. ‘She stifled a giggle, reminder of numerous stories from teenage magazines’. By using the word ‘giggle’ McAuley shows that girls’ views are childish. McAuley also shows that the girl is very keen on the teenage magazines by using the word ‘numerous’. This is because it shows that the girl has paid close attention to the magazines, also that she possibly collects them because she has read many of them. McAuley contrasts the girl’s naive views with the girls’ imminent future. McAuley presents the future of the girl as bleak by revealing what the girl will miss. ‘Where you walk hand’ in hand in an acne’d wonderland’. This line describes childhood and teenage life. It shows how the girl is going to miss important parts of her childhood.
Another poem concerned with sexual attraction is Andrew Marvell’s ‘To His Coy Mistress written in the seventeenth century. The poem outlines a man attempting to seduce a woman to sleep with him. The man tries to seduce a woman through persuasive language. Unlike in ‘The Seduction’ the man in ‘To His Coy Mistress’ uses other methods to try to perform his seduction. His methods are more respectable because he tries to use his own wits instead of alcohol.
As in ‘The Seduction’ the male speaker in the poem is trying to persuade the lady to sleep with him. Unlike the boy in ‘The Seduction’ the male speaker in ‘To His Coy Mistress’ uses rhyming couplets effectively to convey his inner feelings. ‘My vegetable love should grow vaster that empires, and more slow’. He compares his love to things that develop slowly. Marvell uses lines like this to create a slower pace of time. The male speaker in ‘To His Coy Mistress’ uses flattery and imagery to perform his seduction whereas the boy in ‘The Seduction’ performs his seduction effortless. ‘An hundred years should go to praise thine eyes, and they forehead gaze’. This line praises the lady by showing his exaggerated love for her. Marvell uses lines like this to show that his love for her is exaggerated and not genuine. The boy in ‘The Seduction’ shows that his seduction was effortless by using unromantic language. ‘Eyes as blue as iodine’. McAuley deliberately uses striking images like these to show that the boy’s seduction was casual.
As in ‘The Seduction’, Marvell considers the future. In the same way as ‘The Seduction’ Marvell also uses imagery to portray the future. Images of the future in both ‘The Seduction’ and ‘To His Coy Mistress’ are portrayed as bleak. ‘…Then worms shall try that long preserved virginity’. This line illustrates the end of the lady’s virginity. By using the word ‘worms’ Marvell adds an element of death to the line. This is because worms are believed to eat away at dead bodies. The girl in ‘The Seduction’ future is shown as bleak by McAuley presenting what she will miss in the future. ‘So she cried that she had missed all the innocence around her’. This line shows that the girl is anxious about the future. McAuley makes good use of the word ‘cried to show that the girl is showing true emotion.
The basic purpose of ‘The Seduction and ‘To His Coy Mistress’ is to show the effects of a seduction. ‘The Seduction’ focuses on a teenage seduction whereas ‘To His Coy Mistress’ focuses on a more matured seduction. McAuley’s poem ‘The Seduction’ is critical of teenage magazines. McAuley shows a disliking attitude towards the contents of teenage magazines. This may be because she is against the way love and romance is presented these types of magazines. McAuley is also critical of society’s attitude towards teenage pregnancy. She explores how things like anorexia and drugs amongst teenagers are accepted by society and how teenage pregnancy is not. McAuley also criticizes prejudice and stereotyping in the society. I enjoyed reading both ‘The Seduction’ and ‘To His Coy Mistress’. I preferred Eileen McAuley’s ‘The Seduction because it has a more meaningful message, also because it is directed at my age group.
