How is the Theme of Seduction Conveyed in "To His Coy Mistress", "Beggar Woman" and "I Wanna be Yours"

How is the theme of seduction conveyed in the three poems: “To His Coy Mistress”, “Beggar Woman” and “I Wanna Be Yours”.

In the past, men and women have been treated very differently with regards to rights and status. Women were seen as subservient. Women also had to protect their virginity to maintain their eligibility for marriage.

Men often used their authority and status to take advantage of women, sexually, which would mean that the women would lose their virginity, which they had preserved, and there was nothing they could do about it. If the upper class woman became pregnant after being raped, her and her “bastard” child would be cast out of society and the woman would never marry a wealthy gentleman, as the upper class men would only marry a virgin. The three poems demonstrate the change of language and attitude as time has gone by, like the way Andrew Marvell expressed in “To His Coy Mistress” to his intended audience that she should sleep with him while she has the chance putting a lot of pressure on her. On the other hand John Cooper Clarke gives his audience a warmer feeling, a feeling that there is no pressure, a feeling that the person he wrote it for has a choice whether to be with him or not.

The religious myth of Adam's first wife “Lilith” is a perfect example of the way that women had to accept inferiority to men. Lilith had to remain below Adam during sexual intercourse just like women had to remain below men when it came to issues such as politics and employment. Men believed a woman's place was in the home. Men even used women to seal business deals by making them marry whoever they were dealing with. If a woman was to deny her inferior position under men she would be demonised meaning that she would be accused of being a witch.

Lilith is said to have been Adam's first wife before Eve meaning she was the first woman ever created by God. Lilith exists in all religions as a demon that rebelled against women being treated as inferior beings by men. After Adam's and Lilith's dispute Lilith left the Garden of Eden and never returned despite Adam's and the three angels efforts, who of which he called upon to bring her back to the garden. Lilith believed that women should have equal rights to men, which is completely the opposite way women were meant to act in Victorian Britain. Women in Victorian Britain were expected to “remain pure” and “clean” apart from during menstruation when they were considered to be unclean. Women were also not encouraged to do anything to even remotely advertise herself to other men.

“To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell (1621-1678) is about a seventeenth century gentleman who is trying to “woo” an unmarried woman into having a sexual relationship with him. Andrew Marvell uses false flattery and even threats to persuade his intended viewer to spend the rest of her days with him. The second poem I read was called “The Beggar Woman” by William King (1663-1712) and is about a gentleman out hunting with some companions who spots a beggar woman in the woods. The man “rode astray” from his companions, approached the woman and persuaded her to “retire” with him into the woods to have sex. This poem has an interesting twist as the woman manipulates the man into taking the child, which she had on her back, thus avoiding having sex with him. The third and final poem was “I WANNA BE YOURS” by John Cooper Clark, which is about everyday objects being used to describe what he would do for his intended lover, such as “let me be the electric heater, you get cold without”, Which means he wants to keep her warm.

The theme of seduction is portrayed very differently between the 3 poems. In “To His Coy Mistress” the poem is more threatening than seductive, which was not necessarily a bad thing at the time, because women didn't really have much choice, as they didn't have the same rights as women do today. In “The Beggar Woman”, the man tries to persuade an unusually clean beggar woman with a baby tied to her back, to follow him into the woods to have sex. Again women didn't have much choice as men were still regarded as superior to women. “I Wanna Be Yours” could be seen as the most seductive of the three poems, as there are no threats and the woman is given a choice in the matter.