Betrothal - shows the ardent desire of a woman who wants to get the love of her betrothed.

Context
On one hand, I agree with the following statement, that Duffy’s poems do all interlink with one another as it
does render a combination of intimate and teasingly anonymous. We as readers are not 100% certain to what
the gender of the lover is as pronouns used are not specific; This therefore creates the anonymous sense. In
the majority of the poems, there are many sexual connotations which create the image of the intimate
relationship that is involved in these poems. However, not only sexual intimacy, but there is also emotional
intimacy, as throughout the poems, we are able to see how deeply the speaker feels towards their loved one,
along with the actions they’d take to be with them and show their passion towards them.
On the other hand, I partially disagree with the statement, following on from the statement, the part that
‘pain has more character than the person who has inflicted it’ means that the pain someone experiences can
reveal more about them than the person who caused it. For example, someone who may go through a difficult
breakup. The pain they feel can show their resilience, strength, and ability to heal. It can also give insight into
their emotions and personal growth. Pain is not always a negative experience, as it can also be a catalyst
towards personal growth, empathy and strength. However, in the poems written by Duffy, the speaker is seen
to be weak and very dependent on the partner, talking of matters such as death when the partner is no longer
around, this idea of reliance on the lover creates the tone that the amount of pain the speaker feels due to
parting and distance, creates delusions for the speaker to no longer make sense in the world.
The poem Betrothal explores the ideas above, intimacy can be seen through the speaker’s longing desire to
get married to the lover, “Make me your life” - this imperative sentence shows the speaker’s need for
connection and is a lexis of weddings and demonstrates commitment. “Your life” shows the deeper emotions
that are involved between the two of them, that the speaker wants to be the center of attention for their
lover too. Along with the repetition of “I will” which further amplifies the idea of intimacy as it echoes
discourse of wedding ceremony; vows being taken. Marriage is a big moment for anyone in life, as you are
promising to stick by the person you love until death, which would then link to my second point.
In the fourth stanza of the poem Betrothal, the line “wearing my gown of stone” indicates metaphorical
willingness to die for love, this is also seen to be an allusion towards Hamlet admiration (Ophelia’s suicide).
Ophelia’s suicide was due to her actions being influenced by grief, loss and overwhelming pressure she faced.
Losing a loved one creates immense pain, and when not coped with well enough and without support can lead
to tragic happenings. Therefore, the connotations to Hamlet may signify that the speaker is aware of the pain
that they will feel if the lover is lost, further indicating that idea of delusions and blindness from pain.

Stylistics Analysis
Language:
27)A quote that suggests that love can transcend even death “my gown of stone”. This quote shows this as
metaphorical willingness to die for love, allusion to Hamlet admiration. To die for love shows that love is a
powerful force which can manipulate the mind to think things over abstract.
28) Death is presented in the poem as love can transcend until death, especially through the main theme of
marriage carried out throughout the poem Betrothal as in wedding vows, its generalized to say the statement
”in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until parted by death”. This shows that love is amplified and
carried through until death, which is then presented in the following poem. Quotes that represent this are
examples such as “my gown of stone” which is metaphor for willingness to die for someone; to die for
someone shows the large devotion you would have towards that person. The noun ‘gown’ links to the idea of
a wedding dress and the noun ‘stone’ links to a gravestone which together indicates the idea of death. “I'll be
ash in a jar” gives the sense of danger involved in all-consuming love which links to the power/force of love,
love can be dangerous when you are blinded by it, it becomes the center of attention in life.
29) Duffy uses the imagery of death to suggest that when love is involved, you become incapable of “seeing
straight”, which is due to the powerful force of love. In the poems that Duffy wrote, there is a clear theme of
love being all-consuming.
30) The anaphora of the first-person pronoun ‘I’ which is what begins with each first and second line of every
stanza gives the effect of the speaker directly addressing the partner. Following after the pronoun ‘I’ is the
imperative ‘will’, this imperative sentence echoes discourse of wedding ceremonies, and shows earnest and
deep emotions towards the partner. Amplifying the desperation to marry them, that they will stay loyal
towards them and grow old with them. Therefore, telling the reader that the speaker is willing to take the
commitment of being married to another person.
Form and structure:
31)The poem is in the form of an echo of ballad, nine quatrains, all rhyming couplets. There’s regularity in
rhyming breaks which is due to the use of slant rhymes. Lastly, the poem loosely employs the AABB rhyme.
32) “I'll be ash in a jar” - this line creates the sense of danger involved in all-consuming love which then further
links to the power of love. The noun ‘ash’ links to fire and death, when someone is cremated, their ashes are
kept for their loved ones. But the connotation towards fire may also suggest their deep desire and passion.
This line can therefore link to the poem Elegy which is a peom in the anthology that evolves around the idea of
death, a line in this poem can be seen to be similar, “a flame, like talent, under your skin”, this simile and
imagery suggest passion and the heat of love (deep desire) along with potential danger that comes with love.

Critical and theoretical approaches

In Duffy’s poem Betrothal, she explores the theme of gender by challenging traditional gender roles and
expectations. She portrays a non-traditional relationship where the woman takes on a more dominant and
assertive role, subverting traditional gender norms. Duffy’s portrayal highlights the fluidity and complexity of
gender dynamics. When Duffy is writing her poems, she writes from a first-person perspective which
intensifies the sense of intimacy and feelings towards love overall. By doing so, the reader can get a greater
sense of how females think in a relationship, and during the time these poems were written it was out of the
norm for females to be expressing themselves in an intimate way. Especially since Duffy includes sexual
intimacy, which women were never expected to talk on publicly.