Rossetti's main character is also naive. From the very opening of the
poem this can be seen, "Not mindful I was fair," shows that she does
not realise that she is attractive. The character also describes
herself as, "...a cottage maiden," this makes you think that life is
simple and brings to mind stereotypical country workers who are not
clever and are easily pleased. However, after she meets the Lord, her
description of herself changes to, "...an unclean thing," which shows
she feels dirty, and that she lost her purity after meeting the male
character. "Who might have been a dove," also shows her loss of
innocence as doves are seen to be pure and wholly good. Her regret at
this can be seen in the first stanza when she asks the reader twice,
"Why did a great lord find me out....?" Asking this shows she wishes
it never happened as she can not find a reason for it.
Neither male character has strong feelings for the females. In 'The
Seduction' the male calls the girl a, "little slag" and after she
becomes pregnant there is nothing said about the boy. In 'Cousin
Kate', the Lord casts off the female once he meets Kate, who is
'fairer' than the narrator. The line, "He changed me like a glove,"
shows that he changed her for Kate as if they were gloves and he were
simply switching to a different pair, with no thought for their
feelings. These both show that males do not always get emotionally
involved in relationships and have no problems with a relationship
being purely physical. Whereas females get emotionally involved.
Both main characters feel self-pity and betrayed. However, neither
main character feels betrayed by the one they fell in love with, which
shows that despite being rejected they still hold strong feelings
towards them. In 'The Seduction', her self-pity can be seen when
McAuley asks, "For where now was the summer of her sixteenth year?" as
it shows she feels she can no longer have a life. The feeling she can
no longer have a life is shown again later in the poem, when it says,
"Better to destroy your life in modern, man-made ways," shows she
feels she has destroyed her life. She feels betrayed by the stories in
the magazines she reads, as she feels they promised her that her
sixteenth year would be like them, "Full of glitzy fashion features
and stories of romance," and when she discovers life is not like this
she is, "...cheated by the promise of it all."
The main character in 'Cousin Kate' feels betrayed by cousin Kate, as
can be seen in the fifth stanza, where the character tells Kate that,
"If you stood where I stand, He'd not have won me with his love,"
which shows that she thinks Kate betrayed her by accepting the Lord's
love. The rest of the stanza shows what she thinks Kate should have
done. The main character in 'Cousin Kate' is extremely self-pitying.
The language used throughout the poem shows this. Words such as,
'moan' and 'howl' are used to describe what the character is doing, to
moan and howl she must be extremely miserable. The line, "Chose you
and cast me by," is also very self-pitying as it shows she feels
cast-off and unwanted.
The girl in 'The Seduction' sees pregnancy as something to be ashamed
of, it is described as, "...this despicable, feminine void." She also
feels that being pregnant makes her become what she is called by the
boy at the start of the poem, a 'little slag'. We can presume this
because she is worried about the neighbours saying that she,
"...always looked the type." She does not want to be pregnant as she
sobs when she finds out that she is. She is also frightened about
being pregnant, the repetition of 'truly' in, "... truly truly
frightened." means that her fright is emphasized. As the boy is not
mentioned in the poem after he seduces her, we can assume that he does
not want to know her or they baby, which could be one of the reasons
she is so afraid.
The main character in 'Cousin Kate' also falls pregnant. However, she
sees her baby as a blessing, "...I've a gift..." Despite this, since
having sex outside of marriage was unacceptable to society when this
poem was written, the narrator describes her son as, "...my shame, my
pride," so even though she is ashamed of having sex outside of
marriage and her son is proof that she did, she loves him and is proud
of him. It seems that the Lord does not want to admit that the child
is his, or does not know that he has a child, because, at the end of
the poem it says, "Your father would give lands for one, To wear his
coronet." and if he knew that the child was his, then he would not
have to worry about having an heir.
The narrator's attitude towards Kate in 'Cousin Kate' changes
throughout the poem. Sometimes she is jealous of Kate, "You grew more
fair then I." and tries to compete with her, "Yet I've a gift you have
not got," trying to prove that Kate can not have everything from her.
Other times she seems almost disapproving and disbelieving of Kate's
love for the Lord., "Your love was writ in sand," hinting that Kate's
love for the Lord is not very deep, and can be changed as easily as
you can change a picture drawn on the beach by running a hand across
the sand to erase it. The line, "O Lady Kate, My cousin Kate," shows
the narrator sees Kate as two people, Lady Kate, who stole her love
from her and her cousin Kate who would not do that.
A major difference between the two poems is the atmosphere created at
the start and end of them. McAuley creates a harsh, unfriendly
atmosphere in the opening stanza to 'The Seduction'. The use of the
'k' sound, "...bricks of Birkenhead docks." helps her do this. The
fact that it is set in a city also adds to the unfriendly feeling of
the atmosphere, as cities are usually dull and impersonal. The final
stanza is very pessimistic, with McAuley saying that it is better to,
"...turn away, move away, fade away." and "Better to starve yourself,"
which shows the pregnancy is not a good thing to the character and
leaves the poem on an unhappy note.
Words such as 'sun' and 'contented' help give the opening of 'Cousin
Kate' a feeling of happiness and peace. Which is in stark contrast to
the opening of 'The Seduction'. This opening helps us know what life
is like for the main character before she meets the Lord. "Not
mindful..." shows that she is carefree. At the end of the poem, the
atmosphere is one of pride and gloating. The narrator is boasting to
Kate about her son and almost teasing Kate with him as it appears Kate
can not have children.
Repetition is used in both poems. However, it is used differently in
each poem. In 'The Seduction' it emphasizes the character's feelings
for example, "...truly truly frightened." and "...stupid stupid
promises." Whereas in 'Cousin Kate', the repetition is used as
sarcasm, like the repetition of, "...good and pure." in the fourth
stanza.
In my opinion, 'Cousin Kate' is the better poem as I feel her attitude
to her rejection is a good one. She stands proud whereas in ' The
Seduction' the girl wants to hide away. I would have thought that this
would be the other way around, as since the 1800's women have become
more assertive and less dependant upon men. I also feel that 'Cousin
Kate' portrays the emotions of the character better due to it being in
first person, and I like poems where I can empathize and relate to the
character.
