Phillip Larkin Critics

Question 1

Andrew Swarbrick

Answer 1

“His poems make us aware of the interpretation of fantasy vs reality”

Question 2

Bryan Appleyard

Answer 2

“Advocate for pessimism and misanthropy”

Question 3

Monica Jones

Answer 3

“constantly torn between wanting to be conventional, to be married and have children, and the even stronger desire of wanting to be alone.”

Question 4

Leo Cox

Answer 4

“For him life is just a brief and over-rated interlude in the ongoing state of non-existence”

Question 5

Phillip Larkin

Answer 5

“A poet never thinks of his reader. Why should he? The reader doesn’t come into the poem at all.”

Question 6

Andrew motion
(death)

Answer 6

“Death in Larkins view, is an utterly comfortless blank.”

Question 7

Andrew Motion
(rage)

Answer 7

“Larkins poetry grows out of rage: the rage of unsatisfied desire, the rage of shame”

Question 8

Richard Palmer

Answer 8

“What frightened larkin most was the prospect of going mad”

Question 9

Lisa Jardine

Answer 9

“The britishness of Larkins poetry carries a baggage of attitudes”

Question 10

Andrew Swarbrick

Answer 10

“Larkins interest in images drawn from advertising is because they represent society’s collective desires and aspirations”