Despite the difference of age, gender, sexuality and class, both poets Carol

Ann Duffy and Phillip Larkin critique the toxic forms of society that affect them,
and the people around them. Though they both criticise discrimination due to
gender and class, they use different forms and techniques to highlight its
damaging effect to the reader. In The Whitsun Wedding, Larkin exposes the
changing social and cultural climate of post-war England, through the different
personas affected.
In A Study In Reading Habits Larkin uses the persona of a man cynical about
reading due to the disappointment escapism has caused him to highlight the
harmful way masculinity is forced upon young men and the way that it fetishizes
and sexualises the women around them. We know that Larkin is using a
heightened version of himself in the poem due to the colloquial, unimaginative
language used, and that Larkin a former librarian- would never have uttered the
phrase Books are a load of crap. The allusion to inch-thick specs is also a hint
of Larkins youth due to his poor eye-sight. The title A Study in Reading Habits is
at odds with the language used in the poem, but we know that Larkin enjoyed
using formal language in his titles in order to shock his readers when the trivial
language was revealed within the poem. The unimaginative rhyming couplets in
book/hook also add to the way Larkin is using this dramatic monologue to convey
the way that education and society fails young men, who arent expected to
partake in its advantages.
The bitterness and sardonicism of Larkins persona is established in cured
most things in school, as he discusses his childhood. The fantasy novels that he
reads in order to escape the mundanity and harsh reality of life appear in And
deal out the old right hook to dirty dogs twice my size. We see here how Larkin
juxtaposes the violence the persona wishes to exert on the dirty dogs with his
own destructive behaviour It was worth ruining my eyes. Larkin then uses the
comical image of the Inchthick specs to draw away from the severity of the
narrators escapism, who we see inhabiting his cruel sexual fantasies my cloak
and fangs and I clubbed with sex. The allusion to the caveman and primal
instincts here implies to the audience that Larkin is suggesting that this brutal
treatment of women is something that society projects into men. This allusion to
cavemen instincts isnt unlike the primal, simple language used in the poem
either. Larkin is clearly criticising society for the way it limits young men because
of the way that theyre portrayed as physical, violent, and emotionless
automatons in fiction.
I broke them up like meringues is another comical image used by Larkin to
display the light-hearted way that abuse against women is normalised, due to
the fact that the persona misunderstands the severity of his violence. In Dont
read much now: we see how deeply the personas been affected by the way that
fiction and society have treats him, due to the way his violence and cruelty were
excused until he too become a dirty dog and the yellow cowardly man seems
far too familiar. Though some see the poem as a warning to read fiction for its
deeper meaning, and not to read for readings sake because of the unhealthy
behaviours it can cause, I disagree due to the focus on the personas obsession
with sex and his masculinity. As we know that Larkin was deeply obsessed with
sadomasochistic pornography, the poem to me is a cynical view into Larkins own
experience of the pressures of masculinity and the media enforced by society.
 In Mean Time Duffy dramatizes scenes from various periods in her life in
order to find moments of complexity, struggle and emotion through her cynical
lense. Duffy explores similar themes to Larkin in her poem Stuffed. In
Stuffed, Duffy inhabits the mind of a domineering sadistic man who dominates
animals in order to explore the way that society expects women to be
subservient and passive. In the same style as Larkin in A Study in Reading
Habits, Duffy uses a tight structure of tercets, but to display the control held by
the persona due to the power he holds over women in society. The title prepares
the reader for Duffys exploration due to the reference to gluttony and rape, and
the casual way the title and poem deal with them. In one word Duffy represents
the egotistical male in the noun I, and prepares the reader for the critique of
this dominance. The mono-syllabic verb put, fix, spew like Larkin uses in
Study... allows Duffy to prominently display the primal simplicity expected of
men. The fact that the persona attaches a grin onto the crocodile mirrors the
way that society expects women to constantly appear content, unlike men who
have no emotional expectations.
The line I sew the slither of an eel conveys the negative way Duffy feels
about this type of gender imbalance, due to the sibilance used to add a slimy
sound to the narrators perspective. The symbol of the mule is used in the
second stanza, where the imagery of taming and correcting these animals comes
into play, and displays how the persona sees women as imperfect, impure people
because of the unnatural nature of the mule. This is used by Duffy to display how
society sees women as otherworldly and innately differently to men, which she
obviously disagrees with, being the first female laureate, proud feminist and
advocator of gay rights that she is. The way that men are expected to be
aggressive is also critiqued by Duffy here, like Larkin, when she uses rhyme in
bull/gull, as the rhyme here emphasises the system of violence that has allowed
this sexual predator to exist.
Duffys critique of hyper violence continues in Screw... Fierce Splayed..
These adjectives are all violently emphasised by their isolation at the beginning
of each line. As well as associating the domineering persona with violence and
domination, Duffy begins to directly implicate sexual violence with these
adjectives, screw and splayed are both innuendos used to ensure that Duffy
associates the misogynistic views of the persona with its most brutal effects.
Duffy solidifies this in I like her to be naked and to kneel as she reveals the
true nature of the narrator to even the most shallow of readers. Duffy wants to
ensure that no matter how deeply you read into the meaning of the poem that
you understand the message that she is conveying. The fact that Duffy uses the
verb kneel to display the way her persona degrades these women is effective,
due to the fact that kneeling is often a sign of respect, but here the respect the
victim is forced to show her perpetrator is submission. This verb conveys the
larger meaning of the poem, that when society pressures women to be
submissive, Tame, passive, My motionless, living doll and quiet, Mute, they
are allowing men to dominate and use them, as objects without emotion.
Some say that the anti-climactic end to the poem And afterwards I like her not
to tell is an allusion to Duffys sexuality and the way that she was forced to hide
it growing up in a society and religion that was against bisexuality. But, I believe
that Duffy is conveying to her reader the way that women are so degraded and
broken by society that they dont want to speak out against their subjugation,
and even if they were to speak out, society is structured in a way that no one
would believe the victims of misogyny, due to the structure of victim blaming
engrained into us. The l sound at the end of each line owl, eel, mule, bull
convey to the reader subconsciously the horrific nature of sexism in our society,
due to the slimy atmosphere it creates.
The similarities between both poems are startling, the atmosphere created by
their sound devices, the use of personal feelings and experience to convey a
serious message, and the use of an ignorant, sexist persona, as well as other
techniques. Room and Mr Bleaney also share a number of similarities in the
way that both poems examine class and society of their retrospective times
through the environment of the narrator. In Mr Bleaney, Larkin examines the
environment of a deceased mans apartment in order to examine the impact of
mass-consumerism and the industrialisation of post war England. The poem
begins with Larkin using the voice of a lower class landlady to shock the reader
with her different use of language, especially when she refers to the bodies,
the factory where Mr. Bleaney worked and made car bodies. The term bodies also
connect with death, and the way that jobs were dying due to the mass-
production introduced at the time.
Room begins differently, with Duffy describing the contents of a bare room in
order to display the poverty and depression felt in Thatcher- era working class
Britain. Like Larkin, Duffy uses her own voice, and not the voice of a persona to
convey the severity and rawness of emotion felt. The poem can also be read as
the way that Duffy felt due to her bisexuality, that she was on the margins of
society, watching through her window as life went on around her. The fact that
the poem begins with One chair displays, along with the title Room the
isolation and poverty that affected Duffy. Wrong side of the tracks is a direct
allusion to her marginalization due to her sexuality and her working-class
lifestyle, whereas Larkin is of a higher, educated class, seen in no room for
books or bags. Larkin emphasises the abundance of his material possessions
and comments on the poverty of Mr. Bleaney, whereas Duffy comments on her
own.
The jabbering set continues Larkins references to post war England, as it
references the newly introduced television which at first was only available to the
rich few, became accessible to the lower class, and immediately became
mindless drivel in the eyes of society. The fact that Larkin stuffs his ears with
cotton wool is a symbol of the way that the upper class of the time refused to
help the ongoing poverty of the lower class, and the way that they were silenced.
Though Larkin is of a different class to Mr.B, through the poem he begins to
empathise with him, and the two merge indistinguishably. Larkin learns his
habits and his yearly frame, but still sees himself as superior, in the belittling
phrase Frinton folk. This lessening of distance between the two is also shown in
the pattern of the poem, in the first four stanzas, a clear divide with the
enjambment is seen, but as soon as Larkin begins to struggle and understand
the working class, his stanzas end normally, lessening the distance felt by the
reader.
Duffy continues her passive descent into poverty in No curtains yet. A cool
light bulb waiting for a moth. Despite the sense of hope in yet, Duffy is
passively waiting for divine intervention to pull her out of her depression in
waiting. Her silence causes a rift between her and the reader, who fiercely
wants her to actively fight her low status. We receive a direct reference to mining
communities under Thatcher and their suffering in terraced houses stretch from
here to how many months. Terraced houses, used in mining communities who of
course went on a year-long strike under Thatcher. Like Larkin, Duffy is using
signifiers of her time to easily convey complex emotion to her reader. When
Larkin uses one long sentence to end his poem, we know that he fully
understands Mr. Bleaneys situation, as the last stanzas feel breathless and full of
emotion. When he writes How we live measures our own nature Larkin
comments on the time and urges his readers to fully examine the people around
them, as to better understand their situations and themselves. Larkins reference
to Bleaneys hired box is his reminder that death is inevitable, and that no
matter what happens in life, we will all end it the same way. He warranted no
better, I dont know. Is dismissive and disregards the rest of the poem, as Larkin
wishes to remind the reader that in the end, class or wealth does not matter.
In One second hand bed to remind of a death, like Larkin, Duffy uses death to
signify to readers the severity of her message, which imposed Duffy then makes
another reference to the miners strike, and the way that they were affected in
clouds the colour of smokers lungs, comparing the way that the strike affected
whole communities and society as a whole to the deadly fumes in the mines.
Duffy repeats the title twice in the third stanza, and some may see this as the
room felt by Duffy due to her own isolation, but I feel that the room felt here is
the way that Duffy feels cast out by society, due to her open bisexuality. The
phrase Then what at the end of the third stanza creates an ominous, critical
atmosphere, as the reader feels questioned by Duffy.
The adjectives cold, black at the beginning of the fourth stanza continue the
emotionless, uncomfortable atmosphere felt in the rest of the poem, and
conveys a sense of death to the reader.
The fact that the face takes off its glasses and then stares out of the window, to
me, is a symbol of how the upper classes and society fail to really search ways to
help the poor, and the way that unlike Duffy, the face has no identity or
emotion. The moon, often used as a romantic symbol of hope but here giftless
is used by Duffy to display the help she needs, which society fails to gift her. The
poem closes with Duffys final critique of society in 90pw. This simple ending
conveys Duffys whole opinion on capitalism and society, as the numbers
isolation conveys how much shes spending to simply passively exist in this
depressingly bare room. The abbreviation also conveys the harsh reality faced by
Duffy and so many other struggling families, as instead of offering assistance or
comfort, society asks to be paid for its treatment of Duffy. Each stanza of the
poem is complete and isolated, without enjambment, totally Unitarian and
uniform, not unlike the terraced houses used by Duffy within the poem. The
structure of the poem conveys the emotionless answer of society to Duffys
struggle, and the depression felt by Duffy within the poem.
By examining the four poems, Room and Stuffed by Carol Ann Duffy and
Mr Bleaney andA Study in Reading by Phillip Larkin, I realise now the critical,
cynical ways that Larkin and Duffy feel about society. In all four poems, each
flicker of hope or change is quickly stamped out by the cynical views of the poet.
Larkin and Duffy both enjoy using personas of people abusing people by taking
advantage of our cruel society, and when they do inhabit their poems, theyre
equally as sadonic and pessimistic. Their analysis of society is always critical of
the way that men and women receive drastically different treatment, and the
various symbols, sound devices and themes they use to examine them are
similar. Though both poets carefully examine the toxic elements of society and
deeply inhabit the emotion felt, the experience of Duffy compared to Larkin is
completely different. Duffy, when inhabiting the persona of a domineering man
articulates herself quite satirically, due to her acute awareness of how men
behave from the perspective of a woman. Whereas Larkin provides a more
accurate portrayal of masculinity, and an insight into how it affects men.
Nevertheless, their cynicism and critical eyes are important to the reader, as
they allow the reader to question the way that society works, even if it is through
the eyes of an insane sexist taxidermist or a perverted non-reader.

LENORE