Barriers to love Flashcards
What barrier to love is presented in whoso list?
-society’s expectations of men
-Society’s expectations have long shaped the language of love, turning it into a battleground where personal desire clashes with external constraints.
-In Wyatt’s Whoso List to Hunt, steeped in the chivalric ideals of the Renaissance, the speaker portrays love as a futile pursuit, where he is bound by societal power and status rendering the women he deirees unatainable
What does chivalric mean?
Refers to “chivalry” -a code of conduct typically associated with knights, emphasizing bravery, honor, loyalty, and courteous behaviour, especially towards women
What could a big idea be?
-Thomas Wyatt deftly explores the societal expectations imposed on men—expectations rooted in competition, control, and the relentless pursuit of power—that ultimately thwart the possibility of genuine love, mirroring the oppressive and often dangerous intrigues of the Tudor court.
What does the quote “who so list to hunt” suggest (1)?
-By framing desire as a hunt, Wyatt successfully transforms love into a competitive and exhaustive pursuit;.
-The speaker’s exhortation, “Who so list to hunt,” serves as a hearty entreaty for other men to join his chase of the elusive “hynde,” a figure that likely symbolises the patriarchal context of the poem, where women are objectified as possessions to be “hunt[ed]” and passed from father to husband.
What does elusive mean?
hard to understand or define
What does exhortation mean?
An urgent plea or strong encouragement to do something
What does the quote “alas I may no more” suggest (2)?
-The speaker’s apparent authority unravels with the lament, “Alas, I may no more,” where the monosyllabic rhythm and plaintive tone strip the pursuit of its initial bravado, revealing its futility.
-This shift highlights how societal pressures push the speaker into a metaphorical race for dominance and control, ultimately leaving him unable to claim the “hynde” and the relationship it represents.
What does bravado mean?
A show of boldness or confidence intended to impress or intimidate others, often masking fear or insecurity.
What do plaintive and lament mean?
To express grief or sorrow
How does the structure of the poem add to the theme?(3)
Wyatt’s disruption of the Petrarchan sonnet form mirrors this emotional collapse, as the octave, which typically introduces a problem followed by resolution in the sestet, is inverted—beginning with the consequences of the hunt and circling back to its hopelessness,
-this cyclically emphasises the inescapable nature of these societal constraints.
What does the tension between the “hynde” being both the property of “ceaser” (an ultimate figure of authority) yet it also being “wylde” represent?
-The reference to “Ceaser” as the true owner of the hind further underscores the impossible stakes of desiring what belongs to ultimate authority in a patriarchal society, while the description of the hind as “wylde” adds a layer of complexity to this suggesting that even the most powerful patriarch cannot fully possess her allowing highlight the consequences of the masucline tendancy to ensnare women.
-Thus, in this way, Wyatt’s Who So List to Hunt perhaps critiques a Renaissance society that values conquest over connection, trapping men in futile pursuits and objectifying women through its emphasis on power and unattainable desire
What poem could you compare whoso list to hunt with in terms of barriers to love?
-The Flea by John Donne
-While Wyatt’s tone is heavy with resignation, Donne’s speaker jests with witty defiance
-yet both poems reveal how the societal norms of their time act as barriers, distorting love into a struggle against external forces rather than a true union.
