Valentine

Question 1

Who wrote Valentine?

Answer 1

Carol Anne Duffy

Question 2

Summarise the poem

Answer 2

• By presenting their lover with an onion as a Valentine’s day gift, the speaker challenges societal norms of a stereotypical gift on such an occasion
• Through using the onion as an extended metaphor, Duffy explores the negatives as well as the positives of a relationship

Question 3

What are the themes present in the poem?

Answer 3

Love and the Nature of Love
Relationships
Rejecting + breaking societal norms
Violence
Intimacy
Protection

Question 4

How does the form have an effect of what the speaker is communicating?

Answer 4

• Written in free verse + doesn’t have a rhyme scheme: represents that love takes no forms and doesn’t fit in predetermined boxes. It also gives the speaker a more realistic voice
• Free verse is also symbolic of the changing uncertainty about the way relationships go
• Monosyllabic words give the poem a blunt and honest feel, whilst building a sinister tone towards the end

Question 5

How is the poem structured?

Answer 5

• The short stanzas reflect the layers of an onion
• Repetition throughout the poem is her way of highlighting her rejection of traditional notions of love and Valentine’s day
• 4 longer stanzas reflect the different stages in a modern relationship: hopeful beginning going into a potential marriage or a bad breakup

Question 6

State some context surrounding the author

Answer 6

• Carol Anne Duffy likes to challenge heteronormativity
• Duffy likes to break conventions and in Valentine she is criticising society’s views of being materialistic.
• Duffy’s poetry is often feminist in its themes and approach.

Question 7

Complete the quote
‘Not a red rose..

Answer 7

…or a satin heart

Question 8

Analyse the quote
Not a red rose or a satin heart

Answer 8

→ begins on a negative tone, already rejecting societal ideas of love
→ diminishing capitalistic notions of love
→ rejection intrigues the reader: why would a poem about love decline the objects we know to represent love?
→ adds a sense of realism through the short sentences + abrupt start, as if we are thrown in the middle of a conversation

Question 9

Complete the quote
‘I give you…

Answer 9

…an onion’

Question 10

Analyse the quote
‘I give you an onion’

Answer 10

→ unusual but memorable metaphor to symbolise her love:introduction of the extended metaphor
→ taste of an onion may be overwhelming to some, such as her love
→ unromantic beginning

Question 11

Complete the quote
‘moon wrapped…

Answer 11

…in brown paper’

Question 12

Analyse the quote
‘Moon wrapped in brown paper’

Answer 12

→ ‘moon’ being a natural body in the sky highlights how the speaker’s love is real and not manufactured such as the ‘satin heart’ or the ‘kissogram’
→ Moon has connotations of romance, whilst also being linked with mystery
→ ‘wrapped in brown paper’ reminds us of how the onion looks physically
→ it also deviates from the materialism associated with love, and suggests that real romantic gifts don’t need to be wrapped in expensive wrapping paper or heavily embellished

Question 13

Complete the quote
‘A wobbling…

Answer 13

…photo of grief’

Question 14

Analyse the quote
‘A wobbling photo of grief’

Answer 14

→ ‘photo’ is permanent, just like the memories of love
→ ‘wobbling’ implies that the person is crying, representing how hurtful and damaging love can be
→ An onion, similar to love, can cause you to cry, as well as distort your vision

Question 15

Complete the quote
‘I am trying…

Answer 15

…to be truthful’

Question 16

Analyse the quote
‘I am trying to be truthful’

Answer 16

→ the speaker might be trying to justify everything that has been said thus far
→ ‘truthful’ emphasises that there will always be an element of distrust
→ change in tone: appearing to become more brutal and blunt
→ first person allows Duffy to convey the strength of the feeling in the speaker in their desire for a relationship based on honesty
→ reveals that the speaker and Duffy will not continue to romanticise or idealise a relationship, as they are complicated: they are not always happy

Question 17

Complete the quote
‘Possessive and..

Answer 17

…faithful’

Question 18

Analyse the quote
‘Possessive and faithful’

Answer 18

→ controlling + being forced, directly emphasising the two parts of the relationship

Question 19

Analyse the quote
‘Lethal’

Answer 19

→ could be referring to the relationship itself: that it is draining those involved, and will eventually end in their demise
→ However, it could also be referring to societal expectations on a relationship: that of engagement and a marriage.
→ This is further reinforced by ‘shrink’, which portrays the speaker as feeling constricted by normal ideas of love by society

Question 20

Complete the quote
Cling to your fingers..

Answer 20

…cling to your knife’

Question 21

Analyse the quote
Cling to your fingers, cling to your knife

Answer 21

→ repetition of ‘cling’, the love can last even when the relationship is over, emphasises how the scent of an onion cannot be escaped. Love can be both possessive and suffocating
→ ‘knife’: when the relationship turns bad they can really hurt, heartbreaking
→ starts and ends with a negative, implying that love has the power to wound