"Valentine" and "Daddy"

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at two examples of poems whose treatment of their subject are both varied and unusual - "Valentine" by Carol Ann Duffy and "Daddy" by Sylvia Plath. It looks at how these two poems use a variety of poetic techniques to express their feelings effectively and how although both poems are unique, they are at the same time themed similarly on "love-hate" relationships.

From the Paper:

"An unusual and interesting technique used by Plath was her constant referral to different colors - "black, white, gray, green, blue, blue, black, black, red..." I believe she may have employed color as a metaphor to reflect all the conflicting emotions inside her, each color representing a different emotion. For example, "black" has connotations of darkness and evil and so may have been used as a symbol for hate, while red may have been used to represent the love she feels for her father at the same time. It is interesting to notice how the word "black" is repeated a number of times while the color "red" is only mentioned once. This may have been used to symbolize the fact that most of her feelings towards her father are those of anger and hate. It may also have been used to reflect on her rebellion to Nazi Germany - very little red (which was the predominant background of the Nazi swastika) is mentioned in the poem while lots of other colours are mentioned that are not in the swastika."

More papers on "Valentine" and "Daddy":

• Comparison Essay # 93980 : "The Yellow Wallpaper" and "Daddy"
• Essay # 2926 : "Why Are Mommy and Daddy Fighting?"
• Descriptive Essay # 131414 : "History of Valentine's Day"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: