Context Flashcards
What did Larkin have a keen interest in hobby-wise?
Amateur photography and its symbolic significance
What did Larkin have a fascination with?
Sex and the objectification of it
What did Larkin say about marriage?
‘The only married state I know is bloody hell’
How did Larkin end up relationship-wise?
Unmarried and childless
What was Larkin’s longest relationship?
With Monica Jones nearly 40 years long from 1946 to 1985
Who is Coming inspired by?
Thomas Hardy’s influence on Larkin’s work and allusion to The Darkling Thrush - hope is presented by from an unknown source
What music was Larkin a fan of?
Jazz music, writing regular jazz reviews for the The Daily Telegraph. He once commented ‘I can live a week without poetry but not a day without jazz’
What attitude did Larkin have towards sex?
Derisory - ‘always disappointing and often repulsive, like asking someone else to blow your own nose for you’
What did Larkin’s work mirror?
Some typical ideas of The Movement however he referred to his work as ‘sad-eyed realism’ depicting the pain, uncertainty and compromise of everyday life
What does Larkin claim about sex?
‘Sex is too good to share with anyone else’
Where did Larkin spend the majority of his life?
Port towns and cities such as Hull and Belfast
What did Larkin have towards death?
A pre-occupation and a grave attitude towards the future
What was Larkin’s nickname?
The Hermit of Hull
Who did Larkin have an unrequited crush towards?
Winifred Arnott - a woman who worked at the library with him. She never saw their friendship as romantic and later became engaged to another man
Who did Larkin have an affair with?
Patsy Strang - and she suffered a miscarriage after becoming pregnant during the affair
What did Larkin say about Hardy’s work?
‘his subjects are men, the life of men, and the passing of time, love and the fading of love’
What did Larkin think about religion?
‘it’s absolute balls’ - rejecting the notion of God
What was Larkin’s main job?
Chief librarian at the University of Hull - for 30 years
What did Larkin reject?
Poet Laureate
What did Larkin do to the library in Hull?
Increased the stock over 6 times larger than when he started
What are both Larkin and Hardy consumed by?
The absence of a controlling figure in the world and by the apparent reality of a universe absent of deity or higher purpose
What was Larkin’s father like?
A domineering presence, who held extremely right-wing views and an affinity for the Nazi party
What did Lisa Jardine say about Larkin?
‘a habitual racist and an easy misogynist’
What did Larkin say about sex and women?
‘The whole business of sex annoys me. As far as I can see, all women are stupid beings’
What was there a growing sense of in America?
Post-war optimism
What was Larkin’s political standpoint?
He was a conservative, cautious of social change and ideas of progress as he was the ‘saddest heart post-war supermarket’
What happened in the 1950s in Britain?
Election of Labour government, creation of NHS and promise of class-free society but was also a time of economic hardship with rationing being in place until 1954
Why was there a changing national identity?
There was a dissolution of the British empire and the looming threat of the The Cold War and nuclear apocalypse
Why did Larkin have a difficult childhood?
He had poor eyesight and a stammer
