To His Coy Mistress - Complex Character
“To His Coy Mistress” Critical Evaluation on Complex Character
“To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell is an intriguing poem which features a complex character and we see that by skilful employment of characterisation and other clever poetic techniques, the poet has created someone who makes a considerable impact.
By use of dramatic monologue, we see the events and other characters from the perspective of only this one person. Also, neither of the characters are named which adds to the drama of this scene, and the reader is eavesdropping on the conversations. From what we hear, we get a clear knowledge that the speaker is manipulative and is most likely attempting to steal a woman’s virginity, not out of love but lust.
Each verse has a clear topic which is written extremely intelligently. The first verse speaks about an ideal, fantasy world of immortality. The second addresses the reality that everyone will die at some point. The third verse is a panacea – a solution on how to live and love knowing there is limited time on this earth. To construct such a manipulative, skilful argument shows that this character must be complex.
Rhyming couplets are used with an iambic tetrameter. This is a device cleverly used as it speeds up and slows down the pace for effect. There are many occasions when assonance and commas are included in the poem to drag out the sounds and slow down the pace. This reflects what the speaker is imagining, again showing his intelligence.
We can see the complexity of the speaker in the opening lines of the poem, when he says: “This coyness, lady, were no crime.”
The juxtaposition of “coyness” and “crime” emphasises contrast but also tells us that he feels that pretending to be shy is immoral or wrong. This is ironic as surely what he is committing is worse, but he is manipulative and wants to make him seem as if he is on the right so he can get this lady to sleep with him.
The speaker declares how precious this lady
“To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell is an intriguing poem which features a complex character and we see that by skilful employment of characterisation and other clever poetic techniques, the poet has created someone who makes a considerable impact.
By use of dramatic monologue, we see the events and other characters from the perspective of only this one person. Also, neither of the characters are named which adds to the drama of this scene, and the reader is eavesdropping on the conversations. From what we hear, we get a clear knowledge that the speaker is manipulative and is most likely attempting to steal a woman’s virginity, not out of love but lust.
Each verse has a clear topic which is written extremely intelligently. The first verse speaks about an ideal, fantasy world of immortality. The second addresses the reality that everyone will die at some point. The third verse is a panacea – a solution on how to live and love knowing there is limited time on this earth. To construct such a manipulative, skilful argument shows that this character must be complex.
Rhyming couplets are used with an iambic tetrameter. This is a device cleverly used as it speeds up and slows down the pace for effect. There are many occasions when assonance and commas are included in the poem to drag out the sounds and slow down the pace. This reflects what the speaker is imagining, again showing his intelligence.
We can see the complexity of the speaker in the opening lines of the poem, when he says: “This coyness, lady, were no crime.”
The juxtaposition of “coyness” and “crime” emphasises contrast but also tells us that he feels that pretending to be shy is immoral or wrong. This is ironic as surely what he is committing is worse, but he is manipulative and wants to make him seem as if he is on the right so he can get this lady to sleep with him.
The speaker declares how precious this lady