Afternoons Flashcards
Who was the author of Afternoons?
Phillip Larkin
Summarise the poem
- Observational poem
- Describes an ordinary, everyday scene as the children are sent out to play and their mothers watch
- Their husbands are mentioned but it is ambiguous to whether or not they are actually present
What are the themes present in the poem?
Time
Time passing
Marriage
Age
Routine
Change
Loss
Love and relationships
Society and societal expectations
What is the key message of the poem?
Marrying young pushes young mothers’ identities aside, but this is cyclical and will continue
Describe the form of afternoons
- Split into 3 stanzas
- Lack of rhythm
- Lines with end stops
What is the effect of the 3 stanzas?
→ reflective of the three stages described in afternoons: children, young couples and young mothers
→ stanzas of equal length: sign of conformity?
What is the impact of the lack of rhythm?
→ no life or energy: no pulse to keep lines ticking over
→ emphasises how static their life has become
What is the impact of the endstops?
→ sense of inevitability that their lives have come to stop with motherhood
→ shifts focus
Describe the structure of the poem and its impact
- Starts by establishing the time and setting first
→ melancholy tone - Sibilance reflects monotony
- Then focuses on women
→ describes their domestic setting and how this routine will continue
→ as seen through the use of progressive verbs
→ win ruining past hope - Ends by commenting on how this routine will continue
→ thickened by age + pushed aside
What was the author’s background?
- Post war poet
- Didn’t like the technological changes that came with post war Britain
- Disdain is gently expressed in this poem
What is the historical context surrounding this poem?
- Britain narrowly avoided bankruptcy after WW2
→ slow to recover economically - By the time the 1950s hit, Britain began to prosper
→ bought nationwide increase in home ownership
→ government invested in the construction of new homes + increase in quality + affordable public housing
Complete the quote
‘Summer is…
…fading’
Analyse the quote
‘Summer is fading’
→ declarative
→ change in season = change in lives
→ fading: progressive verb emphasises the time passing
→loss of summer brings darkness and absence of light, L tries to establish the unstoppable passage of time
→ youth of young mothers is fading
Complete the quote
‘Young mothers…
…assemble’
Analyse the quote
‘Young mothers assemble’
→ loss of identity and individuality
→ reinforces stereotypical gender roles
→ assembled like it was their duty (reflective of L’s views on how it was burdensome)
→ regimented routine
Complete the quote
‘setting free…
…their children’
Analyse the quote
‘Setting free their children’
→ setting free children from the confinements of the house - gloomy
→ language of imprisonments suggests that domestic life is restrictive
→ as if they are a burden
→ sibilant ‘s’ sound almost gathers momentum, signifying the children are going off to play
Complete the quote
‘Our wedding…
…lying near the television’
Analyse the quote
‘Our Wedding, lying near the television’
→ marriage had lost its lustre
→ lying:
→ once cherished, now discarded
→ double meaning: suggesting that their marriage is meaningless and false
→ overshadowed by tv - link to context
→ our wedding in italics: patronising, reinforcing prev. Point
→ their <3 has become ordinary and neglected
Complete the quote
‘Their beauty…
…has thickened’
Analyse the quote
‘Their beauty has thickened’
→ fatter + less attractive than they once were
→ ageing prematurely
→ due to societal pressures (the young mothers)
