a woman's constancy

Question 1

fill the gaps- a woman’s constancy
‘now ….. has loved me ….. whole day,
tomorrow when you…. what will wilt thou say’ ?

Answer 1

1. thou
2. one
3. leav’st

Question 2

fill the gaps - poem a woman’s constancy
‘ wilt thou then …… some new- made vow ?’

Answer 2

1. antedate

Question 3

fill the gaps- poem- a woman’s constancy
‘we are not just those …… which we were?
or … made in ………. fear.
of ….. and his ……. any may …….

Answer 3

1. persons
2. that oaths
3. reverential
4. love
5. wrath
6. forswear

Question 4

fill the gaps- poem - a woman’s constancy
‘ Or, as true ….. true marriages…..
so lovers ……., images of those
bind but till….. deaths …… them unloose ?’

Answer 4

1. death
2. unite
3. contracts
4. sleep
5. image

Question 5

fill the gaps - a woman’s constancy
‘for having….. change and falsehood, you can have no way but …… to be true ?
vain …… against these ….. I could
dispute and …… if I would

Answer 5

1. purposed
2. falsehoods
3. lunatic
4. scapes
5. conquer

Question 6

fill the gaps- a woman’s constancy
‘ which I….. to do,
for by tomorrow, I may ….. so too’

Answer 6

1. abstain
   2, think

Question 7

form of a woman’s constancy

Answer 7

written as a dramatic monologue- typical of Petrarchan poetry as it has an unresponsive recipient - however distinctively donny given the vindictive tone

Question 8

persuasive techniques

Answer 8

disdainfully framing and predicting the response , proving these claims through the use of contract law. choosing not to refute argument.

Question 9

rhetorical

Answer 9

Since the speaker disdainfully frames the arguments, however, he is in control and the reader never is swayed by any of the excuses the woman could make.

Question 10

historical context

Answer 10

the poems main criticism and metaphor revolves around the idea of contractual obligation .A common aspect of any contract is that it is not binding if it was signed out of fear. The woman’s excuse, therefore, seems valid since she shows that she has met the exception

Question 11

vain lunatic

Answer 11

changeable and fickle. under the influence of the moon, suggesting that the recipient could be a woman who demands equal freedom

Question 12

against these ‘scapes i could/ dispute and conquer

Answer 12

meaning against her breaches of chastity and subterfuge he could continue to question and expose her flawed nature- he cannot let the female recipient win, showing his own conditional supremacy

Question 13

which I abstain to do,/ for by tomorrow, I may think so too

Answer 13

The desperate tone of the speaker’s monologue is concluded in this way to show the true inconstancy of relationships as well as the ironic double standard of men to women in donne’s time.
Symmetry.

Question 14

Context and critic quote

Answer 14

Some critics argue that because Renaissance love poetry is monologic, because the male poet/lover formulates and speaks the words, he inevitably subordinates the woman to his ‘‘masculine persuasive force.’ stanley fish

Question 15

Summary

Answer 15

Poem illustrates a dramatic monologue somewhat like a serenade wherein the speaker questions his lover’s loyalty and constancy, showing a predisposed expectation of what she will do given her inherent changeable femininity.

Question 16

now thou has loved me one whole day,/ Tomorrow when thou leav’st me, what wilt thou say?

Answer 16

couplet gives ironic security to this line. It predicts the woman’s arguments derisively and sarcastically by absurdly suggesting the woman believes one day is a long period of time.

Question 17

so lovers’ contracts, images of those,

Answer 17

platonic idea of the world of the forms-; because the soul lives in the world of perfect ideals, the material world’s promises are less tangible and strong