2019 Year 12 IB Extended Essays

Donne’s poetry, explaining how gender has a major role in the social constructs around sex. Poems such as ‘The Good Morrow’ and ‘Tea’ are a direct contrast to the previously mentioned poems, focused solely on love and devotion. Duffy appears to change stances on gender as she describes the expected devotion of a woman to her lover, however, ‘Tea’ clarifies the ideals of overcoming burdens for love and is a true example of a love poem, whilst Donne’s poem takes a different stance, turning into a mockingly exaggerated version of a love poem. Although appearing as a poem on pure love, it appears that Donne is continuing a theme of criticism on both sides of the spectrum of sex and love with reference to gender. Whilst Duffy is pure on both ends, acknowledging differences but accepting them, Donne criticises both and rejects ideals of lust and love that men have. Both poets begin to create a middle ground with ‘The Sun Rising’ and ‘Anne Hathaway’. These poems address both the sexual and emotional aspects of love. Donne reaches a middle ground between ‘The Flea’ and ‘The Good Morrow’, having undertones of sexual nature and still touches of love. ‘Anne Hathaway’ continues this conjoining of themes; taking a seemingly rude request but combining it with her love and sexual experiences with her husband, thus creating an ode to him. Both of these poems help create the normalization of attraction within society and the attitudes in which these poets see as acceptable. ‘Anne Hathaway’ also brings a connection between Carol Ann Duffy and John Donne, as this poem was written around the same time period that John Donne was alive; directly creating a contrast between Duffy’s modernistic viewpoints within a different time period.

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