Duffy explores ideas, thoughts and feelings about love in Valentine and Havisham by commenting on society's expectations of outcomes and describing love as unstable, dangerous and likely to cause pain. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay First, Duffy explores the expectation of marriage following an affair in both poems, “platinum rings shrink to a wedding ring, // if you like.” The "shrinking" of the onion implies that it is shrinking, losing part of itself, triggered by the proposal - this could be Duffy showing his beliefs that people change themselves for love, try to make themselves more attractive to their partner, ultimately shrinking into smaller pieces of themselves. In contrast, the "platinum" ring suggests that marriage is precious and something to be treasured - alternatively, this could imply that people spend a lot of money unnecessarily on materialistic items. The addition of "if you want" in a casual tone suggests fear of rejection: if rejected, they will have to endure society's constant questions about what went wrong, however if the speaker doesn't get married, they will have to tolerate being asked why not they are married. The idea that weddings are an expectation is also present in Havisham: the poem features several motifs of a wedding, such as "a wedding cake" which the speaker pierces. Duffy shows her anger towards these expectations through the cake-stabbing speaker: the abandoned speaker rebels against the stereotype of women who are mild-tempered and live only to be subservient to men with her fury. The word "spinster" forms a short phrase. This can be interpreted as the speaker saying this to herself in a fit of self-hatred, or (repeating?) what other people have said about her. This shows that women had to marry, otherwise they would become a pathetic and lonely spinster, a symbol of poverty. Although the speaker is heartbroken, she is clearly devastated by the loss of her ex-boyfriend, rather than status; Duffy shows marriage as not essential to relationships. Duffy also shows love as dangerous in Valentine and Havisham. In Valentine, words from the lexical field of violence, such as 'blind' and 'lethal' are used after mentioning the possibility of marriage - this could be either Duffy suggesting that marriage is a death trap, which will end in pain - or they they will divorce, or even if they stay together, one will die and leave the other alone. Alternatively, this could just be a reference to the "in death part us" marriage vows, showing that it could be true love, lasting until they physically can no longer love. However, other lines in the poem indicate the dangers of love: "hold on to your knife." The material verb "cling" suggests desperation and a desperate attempt to cling to the relationship or the other partner, regardless of what is right - this phrase could imply an abusive relationship that the speaker refuses to leave, as they think their partner you love him. Havisham also paints love as dangerous. In "red balloon popping", the explosive "b" sound can be interpreted as unstable and turbulent, like the sound of a bang (the red of the balloon connotes love, passion or danger/death - all of which could apply to the tragic speaker ); although it could be interpreted as a bad, whiny type of crying, especially when linked to "bbb pauses", which create an image of the devastated speaker sobbing. This leaves the reader wondering who is dangerous in relationships and questioning the balance of.