Free Essay

Duffy and Bronte

In: English and Literature

Submitted By aemm
Words 1718
Pages 7
“The poems of Carol Ann Duffy and Emily Bronte’s Prose novel Wuthering Heights, though written in different centuries, can be linked through their portrayal of strong-minded, independent and empowered female protagonists / narrators.” Consider the validity of this argument, through close reference to the texts. Your answer should make reference to at least THREE of Duffy’s poems.

Both Duffy and Bronte chose throughout there work to tackle difficult subjects predominantly through the portrayal of females in there writing. Duffy was born 1955 a Scottish poet and the first female Poet Laureate. Her poetry the subject of much controversy, she follows in the poetic tradition of, for example, Robert Browning, in writing monologues from the point of view of a disturbed character. The majority of her poems feminist in themes and approach. Her collection The Worlds Wife took characters from history, literature and mithiloligy and gave them a female point of view, as a sister, a wife, or feminised version of the character. Similarly Emily Bronte was an extremely talented writer, pretending to be a male in order to get her Gothic romance Wuthering Hight's published. A complex novel of love vengeance, is still controversial today.While it has been called one of the most carefully constructed novels in the English language, Charlotte refers to Emily as “an unconscious artist who did not know what she had done;” in other words, a visionary genius. Hence there are uncanny links between these two strong-minded writers, and their portrayal of empowered female characters.

The male fixentation on female beauty is a key theme running through both writers text. Historically woman were thought of to be “seen but not heard,” hence making there appearance one of there only attributes that is ever noticed. We see this in Brontes Wuthering Hight's where only after Catherine dies is she truly praised, and even here is just for her beauty. Heathcliff describes Catharine as being “no angle in heaven could be more beautiful than she appeared.” The fact that woman are more idealised in death than in life again goes on to strengthen the point of how insignificant a womans voice was in the 18th century. Heathcliff goes on to exaggerate the description of her “lips,” “smile” and “smooth brow”s. It seems that Catherine had been searching for identity throughout the length of this novel. However is constantly being pot rayed as masochistic and vulnerable as she is the idealisation of the perfect women of the men around her. Mirroring this idea of beauty in death Duffy's poem “Beautiful.” In the eighteenth stanza of this poem we observe as a reader, although the name is not mentioned specifically, that its describing Princess Diana. “Dead, she's elegant bone” emphasising shock through her “beautifully pale skin” and “eyes widening,” drawing connotations of a shocked animal as people would “stare and stare,” as the cameras gibbered away.” The word “gibbered” has animalistic qualities, possibly suggesting how encaged she felt as “flashbulbs” surrounding her. Furthermore Duffy's interpretation of the intentions of “men” are shown externally as “they loved her, the men from the press,” however to the side in italics they state “give us a smile, cunt.” Duffey's use of this strong language addresses the contrivetial topic of weather men are truly displaying there emotions eternally, or putting on a mask in order to gain what they maliciously want. Here we see the personalities of the two strong headed females express how they feel towards the males fixation on a females appearance.

In the work of these female writers, we see some classic ideas of male dominance challenged. For example in Duffys poem “Queen Kong,” the gender roles are reversed, as she describes her lover as “my little man,” a possessive pronoun shows how his first introduction is as her belonging “my” and inferior “little” as well as as exaggerating his features giving him a caricature portrayal. Further we see the mans reluctance as the female protagonist is “shouting” at him however takes him anyway emphasising her controlling and overbearing personality. His nameless status emphasises the mans inferiority. Finally in the last stanza she describes him through alliteration of the plosive “p” sound; “perfectly preserved.” Giving the sense of contentment and awe. A controversial and disturbing image creates bathos since he is dead. Similarly when we look at Catharine's character and how unusual it is in the victorian era to have such a strong headed, and opinionated female protagonist, hence why when it was published it raised such controversy. For too long she is seen to “play” the two men, Linton and Heathcliff, wanting them both in her life. Wanting Linton for “status” and “wealth,” where as wanting Heathcliff for “love,” as she describes it as the “source of visible delight.” When Catharine talks about herself , she is oddly disconnected, she describes herself on the same terms and syntax that she would describe another person. We see this as peculiar since Catherine appears to be in control of the opposite gender. These strongly female feminist protagonist foreshadow how the separations in sex is going to change.

We see how Duffys and Brontes background make them strong headed females, which is mirrored in the text how other characters may also be affected and shaped by there childhood background. We see this in Duffys poem “Psychopath,” the protagonist thinks of himself as a 1960s Hollywood icon, references are made to “Jimmy Dean,” Marlon “Brendo,” “Elvis” Presley and Bogart. This suggests he is worryingly narcissistic and delusional. The protagonist uses colloquial language, when saying “I nicked a quid”, an informal way of saying “I stole a pound,” Duffy does this to represent the characters “voice” and can reveal social background, and status. Furthermore to allow the reader to get an understand from where this psychopathic behaviour stems from we go back to the protagonists roots by her recreation of two incidents from his past in flashbacks. It is suggested his sadistic behaviour stems from an unsettled childhood as we see the incident with the “Rent Man,” the capitalisation points out how important this incident was hen he saw his mother paying the “rent” through sexual favours. The use of the word choice “Mama” and reference to “school cap,” suggests that at the time he was young and innocent. The experience affected him deeply and Duffy uses imagery to describe it: “the sky slammed down on my school cap,” the word choce “slammed” showing how powerfully it hit hit him and hence further foreshadowing events to come in his later life. In both of these key incidents the poet uses ellipsis to show how the psychopaths past has effected him and how it leads him to become the meaning character he is in the present for after seeing the rent man he says “I ran,ran…” the ellipsis making the link between past and present. Similarly in Brontes Wuthering Hight's Heathcliff's ambiguous background in Liverpool is seen to affect him as he matures in a totally different background. He is treads by handily from the begging as an outcast, “Take my colt, gypsy then! said young Earnshaw. And I pray that he may break your neck: take him, and he damned you beggarly interloper! and wheedle my farther out of all he has: only afterwards show him you are , imp of satan.” Even as a child, Hindley sees Heathcliff as a threat to his inheritance, and uses accusatives and exclamatory sentences in order to portray is dislike towards his adopted brother. But it is actuality the way that he treats Heathcliff that create the orphans drive to gain the inheritance. If Hindley had accepted him, things might have gone differently. In both of these situations we see how the outcomes of these characters could have been altered if there upbringings had been different and had not shaped there less desirable characteristics.

We see how characters grow and develop as they age. In Duffy's “Little Red cap,” we can see a notable difference as the poem progresses. The poem is a “journey” of life, its risks and successes, the first line “at childhoods end…” reveals the time and setting with syntax and an imedias res opening. This is later contrasted with the final line; “out of the forest I come with my flowers, singing alone,” Duffy uses a dramatic ending to the story to portray hoe she is no longer in a dark or dangerous place, she is carrying symbols of victory independent of a man. Satire is used here to mock how easy it was for a little girl to “kill” a male wolf all by her self, which simultaneously shows the protagonists gender role reversal. We see an opposite conclusion to Catherine's life in Wuthering Hight's, since she the female is the one to “die”. It is questionable that the stress brought to her by other male characters and the choices she had to make contributed to her sudden death. And even after her death she is mocked by Heathcliff with a “sneer,” he asks if she “died a saint?” The use of mockery shows in this part of the novel she again is portrayed a feeble and at the mercy of a male, which hence conforms to the general “damsel in distress” idea. Here the two authors portray two female protagonists in different light, one a strong headed and the other vulnerable.

To conclude, I agree that both Brontes and Duffy's work have remarkable similarities in there portrayal of strong minded, independent and empowered females. They go about challenging socially acceptable norms of female behaviour. Both authors are independent women who stereotypically due to there sex would not be able to produce literature of such a high level. They then go on to reflect there views for pro gender equality by creating characters such as Nelly, who although only a ladies maid, speaks out her opinions about Catharine's actions to her, something that would have been socially unacceptable in the Victorian era, hence again challenging both class and gender expectations. Similarly Duffy presents characters such as the female “gorilla,” and “Little Red Riding-hood” which have a female empowerment twist in a classic story, provoking controversial ideas. So overall both authors continuously raise there own opinions about the treatment of the two genders in there own work.

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Germanrevolution of 1848

...2. Identify the victors at the Battle of Trafalgar. Where is this battle most highly commemorated and why?   Map of the battle and deployment of ships during the battle of Trafalgar from National Geographic. [1]                 “Six thousand Frenchmen and Spaniards were killed or wounded at Trafalgar as well as 1,700 Britons; nineteen enemy ships were taken and one sunk; but the immensity of the victory at Trafalgar transcended such mundane calculations. It guaranteed British control of the oceans, and the creation of a unique global power that would endure for more than a century. The iconic value of the two names Nelson and Trafalgar for the British state was immense: they would be combined in many forms, most obviously in the centre of imperial London.”[2]                 This quote taken form Andrew Lambert’s article on the lasting effects of the battle of Trafalgar illustrates the significance of that battle of the world’s stage.  The battle reinforced British supremacy of the seas and set forth the uncontested dominance of the British Empire throughout the globe.  The fact that the British Empire then dominated the seas led directly to their ability to develop as a nation state and to influence the political landscape of Europe.  Nations of Europe that had any interest in maritime trade with others now had to contend with the British Empire.  The maritime supremacy of Great Britain, secured at the Battle of Trafalgar, is arguably one of the most important aspects of...

Words: 1897 - Pages: 8

Free Essay

Documebt English Thing

...(registered charity number 1073334). Registered address: AQA, Devas Street, Manchester M15 6EX. Report on the Examination – General Certificate of Education (A-level) English Literature A – Unit 1: Texts in Context: The Struggle for Identity in Modern Literature – January 2013 PRINCIPAL EXAMINER’S REPORT: January 2013 LTA1C The Struggle for Identity in Modern Literature The entry was around 2000 candidates, compared to nearer 7000 last summer and about 1400 the previous January, with the large majority of students choosing to answer on Duffy’s The World’s Wife as it was the last time this text would be offered. With the majority of entrants being re-sitters, this was only to be expected. A significant number of students answered on the new Duffy text, Feminine Gospels. Numerous responses to Angelou’s And Still I Rise were seen where quality, on the whole, had improved. Sheers' Skirrid Hill appeared less popular than in previous years...

Words: 9361 - Pages: 38

Free Essay

Mnasd

...paper is 120. All questions carry equal marks, ie 60 marks for each question. Quality of written communication will be assessed in all questions. 3 Section A: The Study of Poetry Written after 1800 Answer one question on your chosen pairing of poets. Heaney: Opened Ground Montague: New Selected Poems 1 John Montague and Seamus Heaney both write about the Irish past. Compare and contrast the two poets’ treatment of the Irish past in two poems you have studied. Hopkins: Selected Poems Dickinson: A Choice of Emily Dickinson’s Verse 2 Gerard Manley Hopkins and Emily Dickinson both express intense anguish in their poetry. Compare and contrast how both poets express intense anguish in two poems you have studied. Duffy: Selected Poems Lochhead: The Colour of Black and White 3...

Words: 25332 - Pages: 102

Free Essay

Organization

...cover next page > title author publisher isbn10 | asin print isbn13 ebook isbn13 language subject publication date lcc ddc subject : : : : : : : : : : : cover next page > < previous page page_i next page > Page i 1100 Words You Need to Know Fourth Edition Murray Bromberg Principal Emeritus Andrew Jackson High School, Queens, New York Melvin Gordon Reading Specialist New York City Schools . . . Invest fifteen minutes a day for forty-six weeks in order to master 920 new words and almost 200 useful idioms < previous page page_i next page > < previous page page_ii next page > Page ii © Copyright 2000 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. Prior edition © Copyright 1993, 1987, 1971 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by photostat, microfilm, xerography, or any other means, or incorporated into any information retrieval system, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission of the copyright owner. All inquiries should be addressed to: Barron's Educational Series, Inc. 250 Wireless Boulevard Hauppauge, NY 11788 http://www.barronseduc.com Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 00-030344 International Standard Book Number 0-7641-1365-8 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bromberg, Murray. 1100 words you need to know / Murray Bromberg, Melvin Gordon. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 0-7641-1365-8 1. Vocabulary. I. Title: Eleven hundred words you need...

Words: 125626 - Pages: 503

Premium Essay

Freakonomics-Expanded

...FREAKONOMICS A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything Revised and Expanded Edition Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner CONTENTS AN EXPLANATORY NOTE In which the origins of this book are clarified. vii PREFACE TO THE REVISED AND EXPANDED EDITION xi 1 INTRODUCTION: The Hidden Side of Everything In which the book’s central idea is set forth: namely, if morality represents how people would like the world to work, then economics shows how it actually does work. Why the conventional wisdom is so often wrong . . . How “experts”— from criminologists to real-estate agents to political scientists—bend the facts . . . Why knowing what to measure, and how to measure it, is the key to understanding modern life . . . What is “freakonomics,” anyway? 1. What Do Schoolteachers and Sumo Wrestlers Have in Common? 15 In which we explore the beauty of incentives, as well as their dark side—cheating. Contents Who cheats? Just about everyone . . . How cheaters cheat, and how to catch them . . . Stories from an Israeli day-care center . . . The sudden disappearance of seven million American children . . . Cheating schoolteachers in Chicago . . . Why cheating to lose is worse than cheating to win . . . Could sumo wrestling, the national sport of Japan, be corrupt? . . . What the Bagel Man saw: mankind may be more honest than we think. 2. How Is the Ku Klux Klan Like a Group of Real-Estate Agents? 49 In which it is argued that nothing is more powerful than information,...

Words: 105214 - Pages: 421

Free Essay

The Astrology

...The New Astrology by SUZANNE WHITE Copyright © 1986 Suzanne White. All rights reserved. 2 Dedication book is dedicated to my mother, Elva Louise McMullen Hoskins, who is gone from this world, but who would have been happy to share this page with my courageous kids, April Daisy White and Autumn Lee White; my brothers, George, Peter and John Hoskins; my niece Pamela Potenza; and my loyal friends Kitti Weissberger, Val Paul Pierotti, Stan Albro, Nathaniel Webster, Jean Valère Pignal, Roselyne Viéllard, Michael Armani, Joseph Stoddart, Couquite Hoffenberg, Jean Louis Besson, Mary Lee Castellani, Paula Alba, Marguerite and Paulette Ratier, Ted and Joan Zimmermann, Scott Weiss, Miekle Blossom, Ina Dellera, Gloria Jones, Marina Vann, Richard and Shiela Lukins, Tony Lees-Johnson, Jane Russell, Jerry and Barbara Littlefield, Michele and Mark Princi, Molly Friedrich, Consuelo and Dick Baehr, Linda Grey, Clarissa and Ed Watson, Francine and John Pascal, Johnny Romero, Lawrence Grant, Irma Kurtz, Gene Dye, Phyllis and Dan Elstein, Richard Klein, Irma Pride Home, Sally Helgesen, Sylvie de la Rochefoucauld, Ann Kennerly, David Barclay, John Laupheimer, Yvon Lebihan, Bernard Aubin, Dédé Laqua, Wolfgang Paul, Maria José Desa, Juliette Boisriveaud, Anne Lavaur, and all the others who so dauntlessly stuck by me when I was at my baldest and most afraid. Thanks, of course, to my loving doctors: James Gaston, Richard Cooper, Yves Decroix, Jean-Claude Durand, Michel Soussaline and...

Words: 231422 - Pages: 926

Free Essay

Test2

...62118 0/nm 1/n1 2/nm 3/nm 4/nm 5/nm 6/nm 7/nm 8/nm 9/nm 1990s 0th/pt 1st/p 1th/tc 2nd/p 2th/tc 3rd/p 3th/tc 4th/pt 5th/pt 6th/pt 7th/pt 8th/pt 9th/pt 0s/pt a A AA AAA Aachen/M aardvark/SM Aaren/M Aarhus/M Aarika/M Aaron/M AB aback abacus/SM abaft Abagael/M Abagail/M abalone/SM abandoner/M abandon/LGDRS abandonment/SM abase/LGDSR abasement/S abaser/M abashed/UY abashment/MS abash/SDLG abate/DSRLG abated/U abatement/MS abater/M abattoir/SM Abba/M Abbe/M abbé/S abbess/SM Abbey/M abbey/MS Abbie/M Abbi/M Abbot/M abbot/MS Abbott/M abbr abbrev abbreviated/UA abbreviates/A abbreviate/XDSNG abbreviating/A abbreviation/M Abbye/M Abby/M ABC/M Abdel/M abdicate/NGDSX abdication/M abdomen/SM abdominal/YS abduct/DGS abduction/SM abductor/SM Abdul/M ab/DY abeam Abelard/M Abel/M Abelson/M Abe/M Aberdeen/M Abernathy/M aberrant/YS aberrational aberration/SM abet/S abetted abetting abettor/SM Abeu/M abeyance/MS abeyant Abey/M abhorred abhorrence/MS abhorrent/Y abhorrer/M abhorring abhor/S abidance/MS abide/JGSR abider/M abiding/Y Abidjan/M Abie/M Abigael/M Abigail/M Abigale/M Abilene/M ability/IMES abjection/MS abjectness/SM abject/SGPDY abjuration/SM abjuratory abjurer/M abjure/ZGSRD ablate/VGNSDX ablation/M ablative/SY ablaze abler/E ables/E ablest able/U abloom ablution/MS Ab/M ABM/S abnegate/NGSDX abnegation/M Abner/M abnormality/SM abnormal/SY aboard ...

Words: 113589 - Pages: 455