The Seduction Eileen McAuley To His Coy Mistress Andrew Marvell Eileen

The Seduction Eileen McAuley To His Coy Mistress Andrew Marvell Eileen

McAuley’s The Seduction is set against the bleak surroundings of Merseyside.

‘The Seduction’ Eileen McAuley

‘To His Coy Mistress’ Andrew Marvell

Eileen McAuley’s ‘The Seduction’ is set against the bleak surroundings

of Merseyside. The purpose of the story is to show a teenage girl’s

predicament after getting drunk at a party. The poet contrasts the

girl’s ideas of love and sex with reality. This is done effectively by

using techniques such as similes and alliteration. The poem shows how

young teenage girls can be easily seduced under the influence of

alcohol. ‘The Seduction’ also shows how young girls can be manipulated

by the media.

McAuley presents the setting for the seduction of the girl as harsh

through use of language and imagery. The setting is described using

phrases such as ‘far from the blind windows of the tower blocks’. The

words ‘tower blocks’ gives the setting a threatening atmosphere. Also

the words ‘blind windows’ adds mystery to the setting. This is because

the two words are contrasting. The word ‘blind’ is usually associated

with visionless. While ‘windows’ are usually see-through. ‘The

Seduction’ is set in the ‘quiet bricks of Birkenhead’ suggesting that

place that he takes her to is remote. ‘Far past the silver stream of

traffic through the city’ this is implies that they were distant from

the busy city leaving them isolated this makes the girl vulnerable.

A lot of the language used in 'The Seduction' is symbolic. ‘So she

followed him there all high white shoes’ is an example of symbolic

poetry. The shoes are described as white to present a symbol of

purity, which is a major theme in the poem. Towards the...

... middle of paper ...

... Mistress’ is to

show the effects of a seduction. ‘The Seduction’ focuses on a teenage

seduction whereas ‘To His Coy Mistress’ focuses on a more matured

seduction. McAuley’s poem ‘The Seduction’ is critical of teenage

magazines. McAuley shows a disliking attitude towards the contents of

teenage magazines. This may be because she is against the way love and

romance is presented these types of magazines. McAuley is also

critical of society’s attitude towards teenage pregnancy. She explores

how things like anorexia and drugs amongst teenagers are accepted by

society and how teenage pregnancy is not. McAuley also criticizes

prejudice and stereotyping in the society. I enjoyed reading both ‘The

Seduction’ and ‘To His Coy Mistress’. I preferred Eileen McAuley’s

‘The Seduction because it has a more meaningful message, also because

it is directed at my age group.