Essay on Havisham by Carol Ann Duffy

In Havisham, Carol Ann Duffy creates an interesting character. Write about the way the character is created, and compare this with the way other characters are created in three other poems. You should compare it with one poem by Simon Armitage and two poems from the pre-1912 poetry bank.

In Havisham, Carol Ann Duffy explores the character of Mrs Havisham and develops her by using vivid imagery and metaphors. She starts the poem with ‘Beloved sweetheart bastard’ which is an oxymoron, used to display her mixed emotions about love and the man who jilted her. The plosive sounds of b and d reinforce her angry tone and helps show how she mocks romance. She is displayed as a bitter, hateful character who seeks revenge, shown with ‘not a …show more content…
‘The Laboratory’ can link to ‘On My First Sonne’ because they both express the theme of the loss of a loved one and how it can affect a character. Though in The Laboratory, the speaker’s lover has left her for another woman, whereas On My First Sonne portrays a man who’s son has died at a young age. Whilst The Laboratory deals with hatred and jealousy, On My First Sonne is much more elegiac, and deals with a fathers blame for his own son’s death. On My First Sonne has an ongoing theme, and an extended metaphor of religion, and even claims his son was “Seven yeeres tho’wert lent to me, and I thee pay”, believing that his Son was only a gift from God which he now has to pay back due to his sins. He believes that loving his son too much was a sin, with “My sinne was too much hope of thee, lov’d boy” which helps create a character who doesn’t know how to deal with the death of his son. He uses lots of religious links such as “child of my right hand”, because God is always next to Jesus and he uses words such as “vows” and “sinnes”. He believes that God is punishing him for his sins, which makes the audience wonder what he is most affected by - losing his son or God punishing him. Jonson is writing about his own

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