Valentine By Carol Anne Duffy English Literature Essay

Romeo and Juliet is a well-known calamity by the dramatist William Shakespeare that was written in the late sixteenth century. It is a narrative of how the kids of two rival households meet and outright fall in love. Carol Anne Duffy ‘s modern twenty-four hours poem ‘Valentine ‘ much like ‘Romeo and Juliet ‘ is really steadfastly themed around the strong feeling of love but is a more controversial love verse form in which Carol Anne Duffy compares love to unusual objects such as an onion. In my essay I will compare ways in which this subject is presented to the reader and discourse both author ‘s thoughts and attitudes to love.

Romeo and Juliet is perchance the most celebrated authoritative love narrative there is. But there are many types of love that the drama refers to. True love is the most obvious and this love is communicated between the two chief characters in the drama ; Romeo and Juliet. The first mark of true love is through love at first sight where Romeo says of how Juliet ‘doth teach the torches to fire bright! ‘ Imagery is used here by Shakespeare to arouse a mental image of natural light reflecting from Juliet. This light imagination emphasises Juliet ‘s beauty and how to Romeo, she is the merely 1 he sees in the room. To a reader, this instantly puts both Romeo and Juliet in isolation signifying such intense, physical feelings and attractive force on Romeo ‘s behalf. In modern society, some may see this as sexual love or lecherousness but love at first sight was accepted by Elizabethan society. Juliet besides uses light imagination to show how she sees her relationship with Romeo in the celebrated balcony scene ( Act 2 Scene 2 ) . She describes it as being ‘too like the lightning ‘ proposing that it is traveling excessively rapidly. However, Juliet may hold used this to depict Romeo as her visible radiation in a dark sky and a beam in a dark universe. This representation used by Shakespeare could connote what his thoughts were of the Elizabethan universe that he lived in.

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In Act 1 Scene 5, we besides see Shakespeare ‘s usage of spiritual imagination to see a deeper connexion as Juliet is shown to besides be overwhelmed by Romeo as she accepts his offer of a buss by ‘ [ allowing ] lips do what hands do ‘ ; pray. By this, Shakespeare is composing as Romeo to inquire for their lips to run into, like custodies may make in a supplication and for Romeo to carry through the physical feelings felt by him earlier in the Act upon first seeing Juliet. The usage of these spiritual overtones here indicates that the love shared by Romeo and Juliet can merely be described by such religious and spiritual footings. Though it seems that it is merely Romeo who uses spiritual overtones by naming Juliet his ‘dear saint ‘ and depicting how he is willing to idolize her, we besides see this imagination used by Juliet in Act 2 where she describes Romeo as being the ‘god of her devotion ‘ about opposing faith by specifying Romeo as her God to idolize.

Both Romeo and Juliet express true love through one of its strongest ways ; decease. For both characters, it is either to populate with the other or if that is non possible ( which it is n’t because of the feud ) so to merely decease. This thought of destiny and calamity is presented to the audience in the drama ‘s prologue where these two characters are described as ‘a brace of star-crossed lovers [ who ] take their life ‘ . This quotation mark at the beginning of the drama will hold given the feeling of no hope and unchangeable calamity to an Elizabethan theater audience as they delve deeper into the narrative.

This technique of utilizing decease to typify love is shown by Shakespeare when Romeo ‘s dependence of true love draws him to travel into the Capulet garden and happen Juliet on her balcony. It is here where Romeo tells Juliet that he would instead confront decease than have to populate and cover with Juliet ‘s rejection, ‘My life were better ended by their hatred than decease prorogued, desiring of thy love. ‘ Romeo usage of this quotation mark is to about demo committedness and willingness to give anything for Juliet and to open up his true feelings ; even though a modern audience may see these sudden feelings as excessively overdone due to love being seen as something that grows over clip by many people now and non something that can happen within a few hours. This illustrates the differences in societal, cultural and historical positions on love from the Elizabethan period in which Shakespeare lived and the present universe.

Shakespeare ‘s usage of linguistic communication and construction in ‘Romeo and Juliet ‘ contributes and farther enhances the feelings involved in the drama to an audience. An illustration of this is Shakespeare ‘s usage of sonnets. This poetic signifier normally featured 14 lines and was written in iambic pentameter to give construction and flow. Sonnets were besides verse forms of the clip that symbolised love. This sonnet signifier in is shown after the nuptials dark where Romeo has to go forth but he in so in love that he tells Juliet he will put on the line acquiring caught and remain, ‘I have more attention to remain than will to travel Come, decease, and welcome! Juliet wills it so. ‘ Again this quotation mark expresses how Romeo puts Juliet and her felicity before decease. This linguistic communication and construction is used by Shakespeare along with its relation to love and decease give the quotation mark a true portraiture of the emotions involved between Romeo and Juliet.

What true love besides does to both these character is change them. In Juliet ‘s instance, it gives her strength to disobey obey her parents. This was unheard of in the Elizabethan epoch as adult female had really limited rights despite the fact that the sovereign at the clip was so was a female sovereign ( Queen Elizabeth I ) . In Juliet ‘s clip, girls were expected to obey whatever their parent ‘s bid was, whereas today, adolescents have more control over their ain lives and sentiments. Juliet ‘s love for Romeo gives her the strength to deny the matrimony proposal to Paris and face any effects that came with that. Juliet says of how, ‘He shall non do me there a joyful bride, ‘ and she ‘will non get married yet ‘ but when she does, ‘It shall be Romeo, ‘

In contrast, Act 1 Scene 3 shows how obedient Juliet was before meeting Romeo. She shows this when the topic of ordered matrimony with Paris is brought up early in the drama. Juliet speaks of how she will non ‘endart [ her ] oculus ‘ any further than her parent ‘s consent gives strength to do it wing. ‘ Here Juliet does more than merely hold with her parents, but she farther elaborates by explicating how she will non wish him any more than her parents would wish her to. This once more demonstrates how profoundly in love both Romeo and Juliet were with one another as Juliet challenges her parents ‘ word.

Another manner love presented in the drama that besides helps show how true Romeo and Juliet ‘s love was and illustrates how Romeo changes when meeting Juliet is Courtly love or Petrarchan love. Courtly love was love from afar. It is small known of today but it is clearly shown to us by Shakespeare in the drama that this love was a common thought in his clip. This signifier of love is demonstrated through Romeo and his infatuation and compulsion with Rosaline early in the drama. As the audience, we ne’er meet Rosaline and merely detect the ‘depth ‘ of Romeo ‘s so called love for her. In Act 1 Scene 1, Romeo expresses how he sees Rosaline as being, ‘rich in beauty ‘ when Romeo foremost appears in the drama. Before seeing Juliet, Romeo was obsessed with Rosaline as was frequently found ‘with cryings augmenting the fresh forenoon ‘s dew ‘ and ‘ [ locking ] just daylight out ‘ . This quotation mark displays Romeo ‘s depression as his ‘love ‘ for Rosaline was ne’er returned.

Courtly love in this drama helps the audience understand the strength of Romeo ‘s feelings upon seeing Juliet. It is like he wholly forgets about Rosaline when he says, ‘Did my bosom love boulder clay now? … For I ne’er saw true beauty boulder clay this dark. ‘ This implies that Romeo ‘s short, formal compulsion with Rosaline was nil in comparing to the emotions he now feels looking at Juliet. This will hold left any Elizabethan audience puzzled and believing of how Romeo is merely love ‘s sap. What we do larn about Romeo now is that he was non in love with Rosaline but alternatively was in love with the thought of being love but experiences love at first sight when he sees Juliet. From this we learn that Romeo and Juliet change after run intoing one another. Meeting Romeo gives Juliet strength to travel against her parent ‘s word and meeting Juliet makes Romeo bury about Rosaline. Shakespeare ‘s usage of courtly love is to promote and expose the deepness of love shown between Romeo and Juliet.

The usage of these many characteristics by Shakespeare give a modern twenty-four hours reader an image of a ‘perfect, heavenly match/relationship ‘ , one that many people long for today where 1 is willing to give their lives for one another but one that will hold been more credible to an Elizabethan audience because of their thoughts of love and how person can fall in love. Such feelings illustrate the altering positions of love throughout history in different civilizations. However this besides helps show the power that love has had over clip because of how humanity can organize an emotional connexion with it so easy whether it is fiction or non which explains why Romeo and Juliet has been so popular, even 400 old ages after it was written. Love is something that everyone can associate to whether they have experienced it or non and this is why Romeo and Juliet has been so influential and important to many readers across the universe in either a historic and modern universe.

Valentine is a poem written in 2010 by Carol Anne Duffy, the current poet laureate. The verse form expresses Duffy ‘s unusual point of position on love. This is clear from the rubric and the first line in the verse form. The rubric ‘Valentine ‘ is about deceptive as a reader goes on to read the first line where Duffy explains how it is ‘not a ruddy rose or a satin bosom ‘ . Duffy uses this sentence along with its loneliness below the rubric to put the tone of the verse form of withstanding tradition.

Duffy ‘s verse form is formed around the drawn-out metaphor of an onion. To many people, Duffy ‘s comparing may be seen as really controversial ab initio as she replaces giving a ‘red rose ‘ with giving something bizarre like ‘an onion ‘ . However, Duffy uses her inventiveness to explicate how she used the drawn-out metaphor of giving an onion as something that is more particular due to the deep significance it holds to her and its similarities to love. An illustration of this is how Duffy describes how an onion can ‘blind you with cryings Like a lover ‘ . Using this linguistic communication characteristic of a simile allows for a connexion to be built between an onion and love by explicating how an onion that makes you cry is like the hurting caused by love can do you shout. Cryings are frequently something that is provoked by either felicity or unhappiness. This illustrates the ups and downs of a relationship that a lover is involved in. The word ‘blind ‘ can besides mention to how love can blind person in love, doing them unable to see anything incorrect in their lover. Cryings are used here as a physical barrier to non being able to see and besides to mention to the ups and down faced by in a relationship.

Carol Anne Duffy besides goes on to other links between her onion and its message of love to the reader. Duffy suggests how the beds of an onion can stand for a nuptials ring, ‘Its Pt loops shrink to a marrying ring ‘ . The word ‘shrink ‘ from Pt cringles to a nuptials ring could perchance convey Duffy ‘s position on matrimony. Possibly Duffy is connoting that an onion and its cringles are more valuable than a marrying ring as it has to shrivel and cut down down in size, like matrimony may shrivel passion and love in relationship. Many may see this as Duffy dissing matrimony which may propose why she is single. But, this typical thought is what matches with the tone of the full verse form ; that of somewhat withstanding tradition and traveling against what people have ne’er questioned. In this instance it is matrimony, but as discussed above it was traditional valentine gifts.

Duffy explains her position and these similarities and old contention for many readers alterations to an apprehensible connexion and logical thinking for Duffy ‘s position of why she would utilize the drawn-out metaphor of ‘an onion ‘ . This position may propose and give a reader an feeling of Duffy ‘s personality, of how she may look at objects really otherwise with critical idea.

The linguistic communication used in Valentine aids make the verse form more personal to a reader as Duffy uses the words ‘I ‘ and ‘you ‘ instead than speaking in 3rd individual. This gives the feeling that these feelings have so been experienced by Duffy. When looking at the construction of Valentine, a reader can state that the construction and signifier of the verse form is really irregular with individual lined poetries, lines of different lengths and individual words followed by full Michigan. Where Shakespeare uses the traditional love verse form construction of a sonnet, Duffy chooses non to. Again, this expresses how Duffy is being different and opposing what is seen as normal for the manner of a love verse form. It shows a difference between Shakespeare ‘s authorship and attitudes to Duffy ‘s more controversial verse form by the usage of the word ‘Not ‘ to accomplish consequence. This is because Shakespeare simply presents love in Romeo and Juliet but Duffy both nowadayss and expresses her position on love in Valentine.

Despite the differences in both authors ‘ attitudes and thoughts to love, the drama and verse form besides have many similarities. A similarity in content is through the usage of light imagination. It is used in Shakespeare ‘s ‘Romeo and Juliet ‘ to mean beauty and besides positions on society by Shakespeare but it is besides used in Duffy ‘s ‘Valentine ‘ . In the verse form, this light imagination is represented through how an onion ‘promises light ‘ . This visible radiation can be seen as Duffy showing the good things that make up a relationship as visible radiation is related to good merely like darkness is frequently related to all things bad. In this instance, the visible radiation is ‘like the careful undressing of love ‘ . Duffy is literally ‘undressing ‘ and taking a different point of view to show her ideas on love through explicating all things she believes are good and bad about a relationship. We know this as she goes from speaking about this ‘light ‘ to stating readers of how love can do you ‘blind ‘ .

However the major similarity between both ‘Romeo and Juliet ‘ and ‘Valentine ‘ is how they both involve withstanding common societal positions and construction in different contexts. Shakespeare expresses this through the characters Romeo and Juliet where they defy their household constructions, the Montague ‘s and the Capulet ‘s, in order to be with one another. Juliet besides goes against her parent ‘s word and both Romeo and Juliet speak of how they would idolize and idolize each other which oppose faith and Christian tradition as idol worship. Duffy challenges ‘normal idea ‘ throughout her verse form to accomplish consequence and pass on her positions to a reader. Even the construction of ‘Valentine ‘ is really different to any love verse form which is normally written as a sonnet like it is written by Shakespeare.

I believe both Shakespeare ‘s and Duffy ‘s techniques of researching love in different times and contexts are really effectual on a reader or an audience. Duffy ‘s thoughts and presentation of this subject of love can be seen as appealing due to its more alone attack. But, because Duffy ‘s positions are different to that of modern society it can besides be seen as less influential than Romeo and Juliet ‘s presentation of this ‘perfect twosome ‘ to audiences and readers throughout history. Love in Romeo and Juliet is easier to associate to for anyone because most people in life long for their ‘romeo ‘ or their ‘juliet ‘ and it is merely a presentation of love, non a wholly different position of love. It is because of this Romeo and Juliet has been so popular in many signifiers of amusement including theaters and now even films.

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