Cousin Kate By Christina Rossetti And The Seduction Essay Example

school bunk where they sniff paint thinner. As a result of excessive drunkenness, she loses control and her head droops forward. The villain had strategized to remain less intoxicated than her so as to manipulate the situation, kick-starting their interaction with a sudden kiss. Unaware of his ulterior motives, she just giggles back at him. It's only three months later that she finds out about her pregnancy, which prompts an emotional breakdown filled with anger and fear as she rips up magazines out of frustration. At this point, it dawns on her how she was tricked by false pretenses. The understanding that she has been robbed off innocence makes her mourn over losing summer during the sixteenth year - symbolic for marking the end of childhood days for most teenagers . Moreover, it hits home that she missed having a boyfriend.

The protagonist expresses her belief that being addicted to drugs or suffering from anorexia would be preferable to being pregnant. She claims that it is better to indulge in scented drugs or starve oneself like a sick child than to walk around town with a large, obvious belly. She also believes that it is better to distance oneself and avoid the judgmental whispers of neighbors who would say, "you always looked the type." She concludes that it would be better to simply vanish than to endure teasing and hurtful comments. The poem "The Seduction" is structured with sixty-four lines, divided into sixteen paragraphs, each consisting of four lines. This repetition might serve to highlight the girl's young age in the work.

These poems share several similarities. Both poems revolve around young women who become single mothers

with partners they do not love, and both fathers reject their children. Additionally, both poems were written by female authors. The women in both poems feel exploited by the men they had relationships with, as indicated by the line "Call me an outcast thing" in "Cousin Kate," and the line "Than to have the neighbours whisper that 'you always looked the type'" in the other poem. Furthermore, both women experience mistreatment from people who are unaware of the full story. Despite these commonalities, the poems also differ in various aspects.

The protagonist of "Cousin Kate," a young woman in her early twenties, lived in the 19th Century. She faced societal scorn for bearing an illegitimate child as indicated by the words "My fair-haired son, My shame." Her decision to partake in sexual activity was fully consensual and uninfluenced by any external pressures. Conversely, the main character of "The Seduction" existed in the late eighties and was only sixteen years old. Despite her marital status, she was stigmatized due to her teenage pregnancy. Unlike her counterpart in "Cousin Kate," this girl's involvement in sexual encounters happened under alcohol influence rather than being a conscious choice.

The mood of "Cousin Kate" begins as sad and bitter with the line, "So now I moan, an unclean thing that might have been a dove." However, it later changes to a triumphant mood with the line, "My fair-hared son, my shame, my pride." Despite being an outcast due to having a son out of matrimony, the speaker is proud of her son and loves him. Additionally, she holds an advantage over her cousin Kate who is unable to have children. On the

other hand, the mood of "The Seduction" remains agonizing and bitter throughout the entire poem, intensifying towards the end with the line, "She sobbed in the cool, locked darkness of her room." Overall, it is an exceedingly depressing and gloomy poem.

In her poem, Christina Rossetti skillfully portrays the lord's cunning and deceitful nature by using the word 'lured'. Furthermore, she employs oxymorons to depict the predicament of the narrator, with phrases like "A shameless shameful life" and "My shame, my pride". These descriptive words, such as "unclean" and "dove", vividly depict the poem in my imagination. The overall effect of this poem is that it elicits sympathy for the cottage maiden who has been tricked by the sly lord.

"The Seduction" uses language that paints a grim picture of the night's events. Phrases like "Green as a sceptic wound" and "Muttered 'little slag'" create an impression of a horrifying and remorseful occurrence that will haunt the girl forever. These words evoke sadness and provoke thoughts about the cruelty people can inflict upon one another. Regardless of potential consequences, the girl is handed vodka, which she consumes quickly like water, giggling in her intoxicated and anxious state while he mutters "little slag."

This poem evokes a profound sadness in me for the girl and her unfortunate situation. I can relate to her quite well because we are the same age, and I have witnessed others in similar circumstances. I prefer "Cousin Kate" by Christina Rossetti to Eileen McAuley's poem "The Seduction" because it is not as grim or bitter. Additionally, "Cousin Kate" has a more cheerful ending, unlike "The Seduction" which leaves you feeling depressed and

disheartened: "And better, now, to turn away, move away, fade away, than to have the neighbours whisper 'you always looked the type'."

The concluding lines of "The Seduction" leave me feeling sad and harbor bitter thoughts within my mind. I believe that society has always viewed teenage pregnancy as a contentious issue and frowned upon it. However, although it has become more lenient over time, the overall attitude remains unchanged. This is evident in "Cousin Kate" where the narrator was socially rejected for having an illegitimate child in her early twenties: "The neighbours whisper 'you always looked the type'." A hundred years later in a more relaxed society, the girl in "The Seduction" faced similar treatment, being marginalized when she needed support.