Carol Ann Duffy View On Love

Carol Anne Duffy's presentation of love and relationships.

Love and relationships are themes that are consistently found throughout Carol Anne Duffy's work. It is something that she seems to present with mixed messages. This can be seen with the contrasts between the poems "Lovesick" and also "correspondents."

In the poem correspondents the love theme seems to be forbidden and secretive.

This is shown When Duffy writes, "When you come on Thursday, bring me a letter. "

A letter is something that to me seems very secretive, I think this is what Duffy uses to make it, relationships in this poem seem very secretive.

In the poem Lovesick the poem seems much happier and upbeat, the poem seems to be about someone who wants their love to be known. In the opening line Duffy writes

"I found an apple" I believe that the apple is representative of a ripening love; the fact that the apple has been found could be representative of a love that has been found. Despite the fact that in the opening line makes the person speaking seem like they want to tell people about their love this may not actually be the case as they are using symbolism to perhaps hide their love and make it more secretive.

Relationships are made to seem exciting also by Carol Anne Duffy she writes

"with a thin spoon, my hand shall not tremble"

As the poem Correspondents is about an illicit affair the character has to make sure they contain their excitement and make sure that their hand does not tremble, the symbol of the trembling hand is used to perhaps show excitement and fear perhaps suggesting that Carol Anne Duffy, believes that relationships are something that should be fears or perhaps that affairs should be feared. The fact that the character has to contain their emotion again shows how Carol Anne Duffy can present certain relationships as both dark and secretive.

We again see this secretive them of hiding emotions away in the poem Lovesick Duffy writes

"I hid the apple in the attic"

This to me shows that Carol Anne Duffy again is presenting love as something that should be hidden away. In the following line however Duffy writes

"I opened the skylight

and the sun said ahh!"

This to me suggests that Duffy believes that love and emotions should be let out the use of the word "ahh!" emphasises the relief when emotions are out in the open. The Skylight to me represents someone opening up and letting their feelings go.

This is contrasting to the poem correspondents where the feelings and emotions of the two people in the relationship can not be released they have to be kept secret. Duffy writes

"My skin burns at the sight of you"

This shows that perhaps the emotions being locked up inside are causing the character pain, the burning has connotations of pain and perhaps even hell. This may be Carol Anne Duffy trying to say that holding back feelings is like going through the pain of hell. However the burning skin can also be representative of sexual desire but again this is something that