critics larkin and duffy

Question 1

Andrew swarbrick
Larkin’s life and work

Answer 1

‘His writing is driven by a sense of failure in both

Question 2

Andrew swarbrick
Pursuit [short]

Answer 2

‘Larkin’s poetry is the pursuit of difference’

Question 3

Phillip Larkin
He does not wish to be defined by his poetry

Answer 3

‘Don’t judge me by them. Some are better than me, but I add up to more than they do’

Question 4

Phillip Larkin
Views on women in his diary

Answer 4

‘Absolutely contrary to nature, both because men cannot help desiring many women and because women in any case become undesirable at twenty-six’

Question 5

Justin Quinn
Larkin and duffy themes

Answer 5

‘Many of Duffy’s poems echo themes of Larkin’s’

Question 6

Jody Allen Randolph
Larkin and duffy view on life

Answer 6

‘Duffy shares Larkin’s tragic views of life…loneliness haunts her verse’

Question 7

Duffy
religion

Answer 7

‘I does for me; I don’t believe in god’

Question 8

Duffy
Sonnets

Answer 8

‘I write quite a lot of sonnets and I think of them almost as prayers: short and memorable, something you can recite’

Question 9

Deryn Reese Jones
Is Duffy a feminist?

Answer 9

Duffy moves beyond ‘a straightforward feminist poet’ and shows ‘the difficulties that patriarchy present to both men and women’

Question 10

who is Larkin inspired by? how did they write

Answer 10

William Butler Yeats, Thomas Hardy
WBY- later work was sparse, realistic
TH- depicted a real Victorian society prominently through verse

Question 11

Who is Duffy inspired by? How did they write

Answer 11

Adrian Henri
-Highly visual: his strong foundation in the fine art

Question 12

Who is Duffy inspired by? How did they write

Answer 12

Adrian Henri
Highly visual
-his strong foundation in the fine art

Question 13

Duffy religion wider reading

Answer 13

she is an atheist
ironic as her most famous poem was named ‘prayer’
It suggests simple, daily moments verge on the spiritual due to their ritual.

Question 14

similarities between larkin and duffy

Answer 14

-Distaste towards CONVENTIONAL SOCIETY, exposing the reality of society’s workings
-Both come to BLEAK CONCLUSIONS
-People get a kick out of going for UNREQUITED, HURTFUL love
-Both share unflinching ATHEISM

Question 15

differences between larkin and duffy

Answer 15

-Duffy aims to unite all humans through emotion, meanwhile Larkin does nothing but disgust his female readers
-Duffy is a feminist whereas Larkin is a mysogynist
-Duffy has a descriptive writing style, EXPLORATIVE in form, whereas Larkin’s is dull and STRUCTURED using rhyme, stanza, and meter
-Duffy’s writing is emblemistic, yet Larkins writing- though he denies is- has uncoincidental connections to his personal life.