Afternoons

Question 1

Who was the author of Afternoons?

Answer 1

Phillip Larkin

Question 2

Summarise the poem

Answer 2

• Observational poem
• Describes an ordinary, everyday scene as the children are sent out to play and their mothers watch
• Their husbands are mentioned but it is ambiguous to whether or not they are actually present

Question 3

What are the themes present in the poem?

Answer 3

Time
Time passing
Marriage
Age
Routine
Change
Loss
Love and relationships
Society and societal expectations

Question 4

What is the key message of the poem?

Answer 4

Marrying young pushes young mothers’ identities aside, but this is cyclical and will continue

Question 5

Describe the form of afternoons

Answer 5

• Split into 3 stanzas
• Lack of rhythm
• Lines with end stops

Question 6

What is the effect of the 3 stanzas?

Answer 6

→ reflective of the three stages described in afternoons: children, young couples and young mothers
→ stanzas of equal length: sign of conformity?

Question 7

What is the impact of the lack of rhythm?

Answer 7

→ no life or energy: no pulse to keep lines ticking over
→ emphasises how static their life has become

Question 8

What is the impact of the endstops?

Answer 8

→ sense of inevitability that their lives have come to stop with motherhood
→ shifts focus

Question 9

Describe the structure of the poem and its impact

Answer 9

• Starts by establishing the time and setting first
  → melancholy tone
• Sibilance reflects monotony
• Then focuses on women
  → describes their domestic setting and how this routine will continue
  → as seen through the use of progressive verbs
  → win ruining past hope
• Ends by commenting on how this routine will continue
  → thickened by age + pushed aside

Question 10

What was the author’s background?

Answer 10

• Post war poet
• Didn’t like the technological changes that came with post war Britain
• Disdain is gently expressed in this poem

Question 11

What is the historical context surrounding this poem?

Answer 11

• Britain narrowly avoided bankruptcy after WW2
  → slow to recover economically
• By the time the 1950s hit, Britain began to prosper
  → bought nationwide increase in home ownership
  → government invested in the construction of new homes + increase in quality + affordable public housing

Question 12

Complete the quote
‘Summer is…

Answer 12

…fading’

Question 13

Analyse the quote
‘Summer is fading’

Answer 13

→ declarative
→ change in season = change in lives
→ fading: progressive verb emphasises the time passing
→loss of summer brings darkness and absence of light, L tries to establish the unstoppable passage of time
→ youth of young mothers is fading

Question 14

Complete the quote
‘Young mothers…

Answer 14

…assemble’

Question 15

Analyse the quote
‘Young mothers assemble’

Answer 15

→ loss of identity and individuality
→ reinforces stereotypical gender roles
→ assembled like it was their duty (reflective of L’s views on how it was burdensome)
→ regimented routine

Question 16

Complete the quote
‘setting free…

Answer 16

…their children’

Question 17

Analyse the quote
‘Setting free their children’

Answer 17

→ setting free children from the confinements of the house - gloomy
→ language of imprisonments suggests that domestic life is restrictive
→ as if they are a burden
→ sibilant ‘s’ sound almost gathers momentum, signifying the children are going off to play

Question 18

Complete the quote
‘Our wedding…

Answer 18

…lying near the television’

Question 19

Analyse the quote
‘Our Wedding, lying near the television’

Answer 19

→ marriage had lost its lustre
→ lying:
→ once cherished, now discarded
→ double meaning: suggesting that their marriage is meaningless and false
→ overshadowed by tv - link to context
→ our wedding in italics: patronising, reinforcing prev. Point
→ their <3 has become ordinary and neglected

Question 20

Complete the quote
‘Their beauty…

Answer 20

…has thickened’

Question 21

Analyse the quote
‘Their beauty has thickened’

Answer 21

→ fatter + less attractive than they once were
→ ageing prematurely
→ due to societal pressures (the young mothers)