These notes provide an in depth summary and analysis of The Duchess of Malfi. These are great for going over to remind yourself of key plot details and analysis points to revise and before exams
Consider how this effectively candidate has addressed and
balanced all five AOs in this response:
Coherence of expression, organisation of material and
quality of creative engagement with question: AO1
Depth of analysis and critical appreciation of writers’ use
of language and poetic technique to create meaning:
10 AO2 (double weighting)
Use of relevant contextual knowledge to support analysis
and critical appreciation: AO3
Relevant, developed connections between poems
selected: AO4
Engagement with range of perspectives and readings,
including critical view in question: AO5
‘For both poets, relationships seem to be exclusively about pain
20 rather than pleasure or fulfilment.’
Explore connections between the ways in which Larkin and Duffy
present human relationships, showing how far you agree with this
comment. You must analyse in detail at least two poems from each of
your set texts.
CANDIDATE F (* See end for opening paragraph)
Carol Ann Duffy’s ‘Havisham’ supports the idea that relationships Engages with view in
30 revolve around pain. The oxymoronic opening to the poem “Beloved title. Sensible focus.
sweetheart bastard” indicates the persona’s negative association with Some purposeful
their past lover. Plosive sounds are used to suggest the anger the detail in close
persona feels, to portray their feelings of sorrow and pain. The reading of text
juxtaposition between the nouns ‘beloved’ and ‘bastard’ signify the linked to meaning
attitudes of the persona towards their lover; it suggests how their
emotions have dramatically altered. The poem is based on Dicken’s
character Miss Havisham from his novel ‘Great Expectations’; it
portrays the perspective of the woman - this supports the poetry Clear reference to
foundations claim that Duffy’s work has a “strong feminist edge”. literary context
40 Despite Duffy’s feministic outlook to the poem, it is titled ‘Havisham’,
removing her title. This suggests how the characters relationship with
her past lover, who abandoned her on her wedding day in the novel,
Clear and has dehumanised her. The pain she has suffered from this
appropriate use of relationship is also suggested by the adjective “puce”, which creates
alternative critical Sound analysis of
imagery of a brown and red colour. This contradicts with the
view. language
stereotypical white imagery of a wedding and instead demonstrates
Clear use of view in the anger Miss Havisham feels. The poem is written in a dramatic
question monologue, this supports O’Reilly’s claim that Duffy “uses dramatic
monologue in her exploration of different voices”. Duffy’s poems are
50 usually optimistic, therefore, her exploration of pain suggests how not
all human relationships seem to be exclusively about pleasure.
Attempts
Sound link but only
analysis
Clearly organised The idea that pain and unfulfillment overrules pleasure in human at superficial level of
relationships can also be observed in Larkin’s ‘Wild Oats’. The broad ideas here.
persona suggests how he is restricted to the “friend in specs”, as he Asserts poems are
similar.
Sound link of poets’
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