The Attitudes Of Love In Different Poems English Literature Essay

In this essay each poem comments on the attitudes to love and gender. The poems studied are “How do I love thee?” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “First Love” by John Clare, “A woman to her lover” by Christina Walsh and “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning. Written in 1842 by Robert Browning, “My Last Duchess” is the dramatic monologue of the duke of Ferrara who is negotiating his second marriage through an agent of the count on the grand staircase of the ducal palace at Ferrara in northern Italy. Executing the elements of a dramatic monologue, the duke reveals his situation and much more than he intends to the both the agent and the reader.

“How Do I Love Thee?” was written in 1845 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning while Robert Browning was being courted. In this poem Elizabeth Barrett Browning takes a male dominated form of poetry and writes it from her perspective. “First Love” is a poem about love. The writer John Clare wrote this poem in the 19th Century and worked from the age of seven on a farm as a farm labourer. The particular day he refers to in the poem is when he saw a beautiful woman and he felt for the first time the emotion of love. ‘A women to her lover’ was written in the second half of the 19th century and it’s about Christina Walsh demanding for rights and equality for women. All of the poems were written in the pre1900’s and during these periods women were treated differently. They were treated as second class citizens and men were superior to women. The women were expected to obey men and they were often forced into marriage and sex. Women were expected to stay at home and look after their children and their husband’s. Some women didn’t’t even get the opportunity to go to school, let alone university.The legal rights of married women were similar to those of children. They could not vote, sue, or own property. Also, they were seen as pure and clean. Because of this view, their bodies were seen as temples that should not be decorated with makeup nor used for such pleasurable things as sex. The role of women was to have children and tend the house. They could not hold a job unless it was that of a teacher, nor were they allowed to have their own checking accounts or savings accounts. In the end, they were to be treated as saints, but saints that had no legal rights.During this period only men wrote poetry to flatter women. However “How do I love thee?” and “A woman to her lover” was written by a woman. All of these poems are from different historical periods, place and of even different cultures so that differences and similarities can be easily emphasized. They are all linked by the theme of love. This comparative essay will consider the similarities and differences between the poems. The essay will deal with following aspects of the question, themes, language, form, structure, tone, poet’s message and social and historical context.

The poem “First Love” by John Clare, is a traditional poem for its time, with three verses each with eight lines with eight syllables in each line. It has a regular rhyme scheme which is also traditional. The rhythm in this poem is particularly effective because the rhyme and rhythm in this poem sounds like that the speaker is shouting about the pain and suffering love brings which conveys an agitated atmosphere . It is in first person, because it uses a lot of I, for example “I could not see a single thing” or “I never saw so sweet a face”. The title “First Love” implies strongest love which is young, pure and innocent. From the title it can be seen that the poet was never in love before. ‘How do I love thee’ is also in the traditional style of sonnet, with ten syllables in each line. In contrast with “first Love”, “How do I love thee” does not shout about the pain and suffering love brings, but it has a quiet passion and strength. This is reflected in the rhythm and the rhyme scheme that conveys a much more thoughtful and sedate type of love than the love portrayed in the four verses of “First Love”.

Furthermore In John Clare’s poem “First Love” we see love as an instant attraction and he says it was a love ‘so sudden.’ It also highlights the aspect that the love is not returned as the relationship between the poet and the person he loves has never even started. In fact he is hardly noticed as we can see from the rhetorical question “And when she looked “What could I ail?” It is only in his own mind that she even noticed his love for her. “She seemed to hear my silent voice”(L19) The oxymoron in line nineteen portrays love as obsessive and selfish. A love that exists only in the mind of the lover. John Clare is writing as an adult looking back to his youthful past, to his “First Love”. It is an innocent love toward a girl he has only just seen, but still he feels instantly shocked and trapped in her love. The very first line of Clare’s poem declares ‘I ne’er w as struck before that hour’ . The word “struck” suggests a violent, aggressive impact on him for seeing her for the first time. He says in line four, “And stole my heart away complete” This gives the reader an image of him unexpectedly being hit by one of cupids arrows, leaving him unable to resist falling in love with her. It is a romantic love that is motivated by a short visual attraction rather than the love that grows as a result of a long relationship. This is clear from the lack of any detailed description of the person he loves, other than to say ‘Her face blossomed like a sweet flower’ and ‘I never saw so sweet a face’. Instead, he describes in great detail the effect that this “sudden” love had on his own body. He describes his face in line five, “My face turned pale as deadly pale” This simile and the use of repetition(“pale”) suggests that love has a very strong physical impact within his own body. He also says his legs ‘refused to walk’ in line six which suggests that love had taken control of him and love left a weakening effect on his body. He says in line nine, “And then my blood rushed to my face” suggesting that love had a embarrassing effect on him. He goes on to say in line ten that love “took my sight away” This metaphor represents blind love based on appearance. In line fifteen he says that “blood burnt round my heart” suggesting that love is painful and by contrasting the two ideas of love he shows us that love can be good and bad. These new feelings seem to be a shock to the young John Claire and have left him a changed person. So much so that he cannot return to the state he was once in.

“My heart has left its dwelling place

And can return no more” (L23, 24)

This can have two meanings. The first is that his love now belongs to that girl and can never belong to another. It may mean that he’s heartbroken and she didn’t value his love. But again it may indicate the loss of innocence and that his heart can never again return to the dwelling place of innocence” The love in Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem is not a love based on sudden or obsessive attraction, but is much deeper and draws its strength from the long relationship of her and her husband Robert. She says,

“I love thee freely, as men strive for right;

I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.” (L7, 8)

Here Elizabeth Barrett Browning highlights the good aspects of love. She is making reference to man’s freewill and the French revolution. The speaker is saying that her love is as free as men strive for rights, this basically suggests that she loves him because it’s something she feels she has to do, she’s loving him on her own free will and she’s not being forced to do it. She is saying that her love is pure and clean. She even declares that this love will continue after she dies. “Smiles, tears, of all my life! – and if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death” (L13, 14)

Signifying that this love is everlasting and will not end when she dies, but the love will continue and the love will become even deeper. In line thirteen she is saying that every single thing in her life is comparable to him and basically he’s everything to her. She says her husband’s love is like her everyday needs in line five and six,

“to the level of every day’s

Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight”

The metaphor suggests that she loves him as much as her own life and this love is as essential to her as the food and drink that keeps her alive. The major difference in both poems is that the love in John Claire’s poem is not true love as it is based on appearance and the love in Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem is true and that love developed after a long relationship between her and her lover.

“A Woman To Her Lover” can be compared with “My last Duchess” as they both share many differences. “My Last Duchess” portrays a stereotypical woman of pre 19th century. The speaker of the poem, the Duke dehumanises his duchess in the poem when he goes on to say in line fifty-four, “Together down, sir, Notice Neptune, though, Taming a sea-horse.” This signifies that women were not considered humans and they didn’t have the same rights as men. In fact during the 16th century women were to obey their husbands and they were considered to be inferior to men. The Duke says in line one-four,

“That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall,

Looking as if she were alive. I call

That piece a wonder, now. Fr Pandolf’s hands

Worked busily a day, and there she stands.”

The language used by the speaker implies someone speaking with pride over a possession, in this case a piece of artwork. The language also suggests that women were a man’s property and were not considered a person. In the society of 1900’s, women were supposed to stay at home with the children, do all the household chores including dairy and tending to the gardens, as well as preparing all the food and they also had to take care of their husbands. The speaker says he tried to change her behaviour by teaching her a lesson in line forty , “and if she let Herself be lessoned so” This signifies that he tried controlling her like she was his possession. This quote reflects the sexism of the time as the attitude of the speaker was sexist towards his late wife because he tried controlling her like she was an object. This wouldn’t be considered sexist in the pre1900’s as women of the time were normally treated like this and it was socially acceptable for a man to control his wife because women didn’t have many rights or the same equality as men. However view of women have changed overtime and today they are considered a human being and they have exactly the same rights as men. Women and men both take care of their children and the house. These days sex before marriage is socially acceptable and women are not an outcast if impure. Nowadays women study and work and being a housewife is very uncommon. On the other hand Christina Walsh takes control in “A Woman To Her Lover” and she talks about what is expected from the man in a relationship and what she wants from him. This poem is different because the wording in “My Last Duchess” suggests that the speaker thinks that women should be treated unequally but in “A woman to her Lover” Christina Walsh goes against the laws and demands for equality and rights for women which suggests that she’s an early feminist for her time. It is obvious that she is going against the rules by just looking at the structure of the poem which is free verse and sonnets weren’t in free verses. This implies that she knew that she was going against the rules by demanding for rights and equality and she enhanced this by make her poem free verse. During the time when this poem was written, a group called Suffragettes movement was going on for female equality. The Suffragettes wanted the right for women to vote. Christina Walsh says that its wrong to have woman treated like a sexual object in verse three by using lots of sexual imagery and some poetic techniques such as alliteration in line seventeen, eighteen and nineteen to get her point across to the readers.

“Or if you think in me to find

a creature who will have no greater joy

than gratify your clamorous desire,

my skin soft only for your fond caresses

my body supple only for your sense delight.

Oh shame, and pity and abasement.

Not for you the hand of any wakened woman of our time”

She also says in verse one that women should not be treated like servants, mother or drudge.

“Do you come to me to bend me to your will

as conqueror to the vanquished

to make of me a bondslave

to bear you children, wearing out my life

in drudgery and silence

no servant will I be

if that be what you ask. O lover I refuse you!”

These quotes suggest that the female narrator is rejecting common stereotypes people have about women. The poem isn’t directed just at her lover, it is directed at all men. The poem suggests that she wants women to be treated fairly, like a person. In this poem, it appears that the love talked about here is purely sexual. She doesn’t really say anything about how she feels for him, she just talks about how women of the time are treated and how she wants to be treated. She refers to herself as a ‘creature’, dehumanising herself and stereotypes herself of a pre19th century women. In verse one, Christina rewrites the wedding vows to ‘in drudgery and silence’. This may mean that she thinks the wedding vows are outdated , wanting the women to stay at home, bring up the children, and do what the husband wants, and care for him. She sounds sarcastic in the first three verses because clearly she wants to be treated like a lady and not like a stereotypical woman of the time. In line two she uses imagery of war and battle, “As conqueror to the vanquished” The metaphor makes love sound like a constant fight. She used a lot of direct language such as, “you”. This shows that she is taking control which is very unusual for the women of 1900’s as they were to speak to men with respect. Repetition is also used a lot throughout the poem, “I refuse you!”. This highlights and emphasizes that she will refuse any man who doesn’t give her the rights and equality she demands. The title of Christina Walsh’s poem, “A Woman to Her Lover” would have provoked a shock in the pre1900s because the word “Lover” suggests a sexual relationship. This would be considered socially unacceptable as women were not allowed to have a sexual relationship with a man before marriage. This also makes her sound independent which is unusual for a woman as in the pre19040s the women were dependant on their husbands. Christina Walsh’s poem completely contradicts “My Last duchess” and she expresses this in a beautiful manner how women should be treated equally to men, rather than men having all the power.

“First Love” by John Clare can be compared to “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning as they both base their love on appearance and not on feelings. The poet John Clare doesn’t talk about the person he love a lot, rather he just comments on her appearance and his love is blind because he instantly falls in love just by looking at her. He focuses on her appearance, rather his feelings about her. He expresses this in line three and four,

“Her face it bloomed like a sweet flower

And stole my heart away complete.”

The simile in line three indicates that his lover is very attractive and in line four the speaker makes it clear that it’s the appearance that trapped him her lover. This shows that view of love is all about looks. Similarly Robert Browning also states that he wants a beautiful wife. His last duchesss was also beautiful and because she died, he wants another beautiful wife. He conveys this in line one and five,

“That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall…

Will’t please you sit and look at her? I said”

He shows a painting of his last wife to a servant who is going to arrange his marriage so that the person knows that the new wife should be beautiful too. This tells us that the poet’s attitude in both poems is based on appearance and looks. This was very common back in the pre 19th century because most of the men married good looking women.

Also “How do I love thee?” can be compared to “First Love” because they both have different messages about love. The message Elizabeth Barrett tries to get across to her readers is that love is everlasting and it cannot end even after death. She expresses this in line fourteen and fifteen,

“Smiles, tears, of all my life-and, if God choose

I shall but love thee better after death.” Signifying that her love is very deep and in line fourteen she says that her love is comparable to every single thing in her life. The language in How do I love thee is very emotional and exaggerated in line two and three,

“I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when falling out of sight.

The hyperbole used here suggests that her love is true, deep and honest. In line three, the word “soul” refers to religion suggesting that her love is very pure and holy. Alternatively in First Love the poet says that love disappears like snow and it changes like nature . He gets his message across to the readers by using imagery of nature to convey his message to the readers. He expresses his message in line nineteen, “Are flowers the winter’s choice?” This rhetorical question makes it clear that love doesn’t last and it goes away after some time like the seasons of the year. In line eighteen he uses the theme of nature, “Is love’s bed always snow” This rhetorical question implies that snow doesn’t always last and neither does love and it melts like snow. Both of these poems are comparable because they both share different views of love. Elizabeth Barrett Browning thinks that love is everlasting and John Clare says that love disappears. Therefore both of the poet’s attitude towards love is different.

“A woman to her lover” and “How do I love thee?” can be compared as they both share some similarities and differences. Firstly they are both written by female poets which would sound very unusual back in the pre1900’s as women didn’t write poetry. The language in both poems is formal, honest and repetitive. In “A woman to her lover” key things are repeated such as, “Lover” or “I refuse you” , this emphasizes that the speaker will not accept any proposal until she gets her equal rights. In How Do I Love Thee? “I love thee” is repeated a several times which emphasizes deep love. This is a similarity and a difference because repetition is used in both poems to highlight or emphasize something. However the message the poets try to get across to the readers is different. Christina Walsh demands for rights and equality for women and Elizabeth Barrett Browning shows the depth of her love.

Moreover the interpretations and themes of “A Woman to Her Lover” can be compared with “How Do I love Thee?” because they both have some religious references. In “A Woman to Her Lover” there is a religious theme throughout the poem as she refers to herself as an ‘angel’ who was sent from heaven to do as he pleases. This is suggesting that a woman is not a angel, a woman is a human-being who can do whatever she wishes and she doesn’t have to do what the man says. In “How do I love thee” the love is spiritual and she declares this by using a poetic technique called hyperbole,

“I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight” (L2, 3) She uses language that creates a religious atmosphere with words such as “Grace”, “Praise”, “faith” and “saints” making love sound pure and holy. Christina Walsh says that in love both partners should have equal rights and Elizabeth Barrett Browning says that once you fall in love, it lasts forever.

The poem “How do I love Thee?” can be compared with “My Last Duchess”. The writer of “How do I love thee?”, Elizabeth Barrett Browning met the writer of “My Last Duchess”, Robert Browning in 1845 and romance developed between them. They secretly got married. These poems can be compared with each other because the form of both poems is similar. There are rhyming couplets in both of the poems. In “How do I Love thee?” there are some rhyming couplets throughout the poem for example,

“I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight” and In “Last Duchess” there are rhyming couplets throughout all the poem for instance,

“That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall,

Looking as if she were alive. I call”

Perhaps these rhyming couplets were used to represent a couple or a pair or possibly lovers.

Most of these poems reflect the romantic image of love, sexism , rights and equality that was common at the time, but they each portray different aspects. ‘First Love’ by John Clare highlight’s love as instant attraction and the uncontrollable effects it has on the physical body. It is an obsessive love. It is about a person who has felt the emotion of love for the first time and have shocked him. In contrast to this ‘How do I Love thee’ by Elizabeth Barrett Browning highlights a more mature love of a woman for her husband, emphasising the magnificence, purity and religious love that goes beyond the life on earth. “A Woman to Her Lover” by Christina Walsh is a perfect poem of the companionship of love, showing that it is a partnership not a dictatorship. She takes control in this poem and says what’s expected of a man in a relationship and what she wants from him. She is saying that it is wrong to have women treated like a sexual object, to bring up children and be treated like a servant. The poem isn’t directed just at her lover, it is directed at all men. What she wants is to be treated fairly, like a person. In this poem, it appears that the love talked about here is purely sexual. She doesn’t really say anything about how she feels for him, she just talks about how women of the time are treated and how she wants to be treated. In contrast to this “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning portrays a stereotypical woman of the pre 1900’s and the speaker says he treated her like his possession and he tried to control her. The language in this poem reflects sexism of the time. The duke in Browing’s poem portrays a controlling attitude over women. He is dissatisfied with his duchess because she is a flirt, and because she gives attention to many men, and doesn’t reserve all her attention for him. The duke was too controlling to allow that so he executes her. His love was mostly based on appearance because when he talks about getting a new wife, he says she should be beautiful too. Overall, as a modern female reader I prefer “A Woman to Her Lover” because it was written back in the pre 1900’s when it was sexism time. I don’t think many women stood up for themselves and went against the laws during that period. I like this poem because Christina Walsh expressed her views openly and I think It would have taken a lot of courage to do that during that time. She went against the laws and she stood up for every women. This poem makes the reader understand that in love equality is very important. I also like the language in this poem because it’s direct, demanding and forceful. This persuades the readers and it makes readers realise that women deserve the same respect and dignity. However I also enjoyed reading “How do I love thee?” because the love she describes is really deep and passionate. The language is very romantic and I really like the use of emotional and exaggerated language. Above all, I really like the poet’s message which is that love is everlasting and love is truthful. The reason I like it is because I believe that if one’s love is true and honest then it will last forever.