Afternoons Flashcards
(11 cards)
Theme:
middle class, social commentary, transitional
‘The leaves fall in ones and twos’
-slow death
-gentle passing of time
-perhaps also shows the relationships in the estate continuously occur/moving (‘ones and twos’)
‘Young mothers assemble’
-misogynistic as it implies that although the women are young they are already faded
-organised showing a shared needed that they have
‘Setting their children free’
-hyperbolic freedom given to the children
-experimentation with letting them go as they are restricted within a boundary
‘Behind them, at intervals, Stand husbands in skilled trades’
-not really there
-the men are the providers
-they are separated
-the men are referred to as ‘skilled’ double meaning maybe with a reference to the women then lacking in skills as they are refined to domestic and child caring roles
‘An estateful of washing’
-image of a post war estate highlighting common domesticity
-hyperbolic
‘Our Wedding, lying Near the television’
-turning point: as family is the pinnacle of success
-implies a change and now lack of connection as it has now been abandoned for ‘new’ technology
-shows that the perfect beginning of a marriage is not long lasting (Context: Larkin never married and often adopts a pessimistic view towards marriage as suggested by Appleyard ‘Larkin is a hopeless and inflexible pessimist’)
‘Their beauty has thickened’
-suggests its grown and is now more and greater
-but also implies a brutal gaining of weight (double entendre: ‘thickened’) and is highly critical of women
‘Something is pushing them To the side of their own lives’
-women are being pushed away as they are often viewed as redundant
-adopts a sympathetic and pitying tone towards women
-negative and connotes expectations
Context:
-frequent critiques of working class life
Structure:
- 3 stanzas of identical length - reflects the restrictive and repetitive nature of the women’s lifestyles
- No rhyme: creates sense of a lack of satisfaction
- 3rd person: narrator is observing from afar
