one flesh Flashcards
language
“chastity faces them”- personification, loss of intimacy over time, also the noun “chastity” perhaps represents their religous vows they need to abide by, which is preventing them from leaving the rlationship
“tossed up like a floatsom”- simile, evoking boat imagery, showing the loss in intimacy and meaning in their relationship
“strangely apart, yet strangely close together”- paradoxical sentence, complexity of their relationship. Narrarator is potentially naive
“who’s fire whom which I came from, has grown cold”- contrast, parents remain due to their child
structure
Parrallelism of “he with” and “she like”, to contrast with the constant semantic field of sepreration throughout implying that although the they might not be physically intimate they might be experiencing similar emotions
“has now grown cold?”- rhetorical question, a sense of confusion within the child, suggesting that love eventually disspates
form
constant use of iambic pentameter, for example “he with a book, keeping the light on light”- child’s view of perfection within their relationship, emphasising her naivness
context
elizbeth jenning’s was a devout catholic, meaning that her views on love were strictly religous, her parents here are shown to stay together simply for the reason of keeping to their vows as if they didn’t they would be sinning against God
Jenning’s was considered a traditionalist writer and commonly wrote about love, religion and death. She was most interested in the aspects of human life that contrasted with her religous belief
Divorcing at the time was considered sinful and was stigmatised against, therefore many parents chose to stay together instead of seeking their own hapiness
One flesh
Neutral tones
