Places, Loved ones

Question 1

What themes are prominent in Places, Loved ones?

Answer 1

Place, relationships/love, belonging, Missed opportunity

Question 2

Analyse the title (Places, Loved ones)

Answer 2

Abbreviated title creates a lack of connection between place and relationships. The use of plural suggests universality in social connection .

Question 3

Analyse: ‘No, I have never’ (Places, Loved ones)

Answer 3

Repetition of negators creates a pessimistic tone rooted in a sense of a lack of belonging as the speaker differentiates himself from society

Question 4

What rhyme scheme does Places, Loved ones use and why?

Answer 4

Half-rhyme scheme to reflect how the speaker feels incomplete due to his lack of companionship

Question 5

Analyse: ‘𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥//𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺’ (Places, Loved ones)

Answer 5

Use of italics to represent the voice of society to reflect social conformity to conventional expectations of adherence to a place of belonging. Larkin may be mocking this notion.

Question 6

Analyse: ‘that special one’ (Places, Loved ones)

Answer 6

Reference to monogamy which the speaker perceives as restrictive, mocking concepts of ‘one true love’

Question 7

Analyse: ‘claim//On everything I own’

Answer 7

Transactional language to suggest marriage is defined by compromise of personal belongings.

Question 8

Analyse: ‘Down to my name’

Answer 8

Rejects the idea of marriage as a union, but rather presents it as a consuming force of personal identity

Question 9

Analyse: ‘You want no choice’

Answer 9

2nd person pronoun separates the speaker from society, which (as shown through the negator) is willing to sacrifice free will to follow conventions of commitment to monogamy

Question 10

What does ‘You ask them to bear you off irrevocably mean’?

Answer 10

Reference to asking a partner to forgive unconditionally

Question 11

Analyse: ‘it’s not your fault//Should the town turn dreary’

Answer 11

Sarcastic tone to mock marriages constant facilitation of forgiveness as it creates a weak will

Question 12

Analyse: ‘The girl a dolt’

Answer 12

Dolt = a stupid person, contrasts with ‘That special one’ to suggest marriage is inevitably bound to failure due to social expectations of how a relationship should function. Ultimately degrades those who commit to monogamy.

Question 13

What tone does the speaker shift to at the volta in the 3rd stansa?

Answer 13

Signifies a turning point in the speaker to regret and mourning for having not found a ‘special’ person

Question 14

Analyse: ‘Having missed them // You’re bound…to act // as if what you settled for // Mashed you’

Answer 14

Mashed you = chose you, suggests unhappy relationships are blamed on fate despite the reality that we have the choice to leave. Larkin is critical of monogamist commitment as it prevents people from leaving unhappy relationships to find someone more suited to them.

Question 15

Analyse: ‘keep away // From thinking you might still trace…Your person, your place’

Answer 15

mournful tone in advice to avoid dwelling on the missed opportunity of finding ‘true love’. Could be read as genuine acceptance of the existence of belonging in a relationship.

Question 16

How is Places, Loved ones structured?

Answer 16

3 consistent octaves

Question 17

What A03 can be linked to Places, Loved ones?

Answer 17

Larkin’s underlying desire for consistent companionship in the final stansa can be reflected by his relationship with Monica Jones, which lasted for nearly 40 years despite them not being married.