2019 Year 12 IB Extended Essays

a satirical tone throughout his poem, Duffy takes this same concept but delivers it in a brutal fashion. Her poems raise images of sexual violation masquerading as love; a common enough theme in modern society.

Tea

‘Tea’ as the title suggests, is about simplicity, that even something seemingly mundane as tea can be at the forefront of a relationship, where the line ‘I like pouring your tea’, immediately conveys themes of love and gender. Clearly this is showing devotion and aspects of love and affection for her lover, although if looked at through a stricter feminist mindset, this could be seen as a comment on gender roles, as the poem continues expressing her devotion to this lover, describing situations as burdens, “lifting the heavy pot, and tipping it up”, but continuing to enjoy them. ‘Tea’ unlike Donne’s poems lacks the sense of mockery or exaggeration towards ideas of love, which in comparison shows a greater contrast between Duffy’s writing, comparing ‘Little Red Cap’ and ‘Tea’ as an example. Whilst in John Donne’s ‘The Sun Rising’ the narrator is beginning to accept the concept of expressing his love without falsehoods, ‘Tea’ is purely undivided love with no shame, taking a more effeminate role towards emotions, showing her devotion through questioning even the small details “-Sugar? -Milk?”. This poem can be interpreted as a objectively positive outlook on gender roles in relationships, creating a direct contrast to the overtly sexual roles within ‘The Flea’. Despite the possibility of gender being arbitrary within this poem, Duffy describes a scenario of a pure love, finding a sense of equality within that love, perhaps, complemented by a far more respectful form of sex.

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