Larkin's poetry
cynically portrays a society in which the proletariate "are deluding
themselves" rather than presenting a hopeful picture of a society where
"they [go] beyond the limits which society sets for them" To what
extent do you agree with this statement? Make close reference to FOUR Larkin
poems.
In
a collection of Larkins poems, it is evident that the proletariat are
deluding themselves rather than presenting a a society where
they go beyond the limits which society sets for them. In the four selected
poems, Larkin presents to us a society in which the lower class believe the
false consciousness set by the capitalist society, the belief that commodification and materialism is
the way in which power can be gained with in society. Each of
these poems shows that the proletariats are entrapped by consumerism and
are deluded by the idea that materialistic objects will gain them
power within society.
Firstly, in the poem 'The Large Cool Store' the idea that the
proletariats are deluding themselves is made apparent by Larkin through the use
of how the word 'cool'. This word has a dual meaning, the first of which is
something being fashionable or not. The use of this word in this way is
an example of commodification and shows that the lower class buy clothes
because of their power to impress not because of their function and
practicality. This indicates to the readers that the proletariats are
materialistic and are buying clothes in the hope to gain power and are
therefore increasing the power of the bourgeois by giving them more money. They
believe that by buying clothes their oppression will be reduced. However, they
are only alienating and marginalising themselves even further by increasing the
power of the bourgeois and therefore the distribution of power between the different classes
becomes more uneven. The second interpretation of the word 'cool' is cold and
therefore presents the store in a cynical way, by saying that the store is
unwelcoming and unpleasant to shop in. However, the word could be interpreted in
a way in which to represent the capitalist society in which Larkin presents to us.
It could also be a reflection of the upper class' treatment towards the proletariats
showing that they mistreat the lower classes and marginalise them within the
society. It is evident that the society portrayed shows
that the proletariats are deluding themselves rather than being pro-active and
trying to make a change to the way in which the consumerist society
works.
Similarly,
in the two poems Essential Beauty and Sunny Prestatyn, advertisements create a false consciousness in order to delude the lower class to believe the ideology that by buying something, they will have the
'perfect' life. In Essential Beauty, the line 'of how life should be' shows the
reader that advertisement sets standards that everyone should live by however
these are unrealistic, and as indicated by the word 'should' isn't how anyone
in society lives. This shows us that proletariats are being led to believe, by
adverts created by the bourgeois, that in order to gain power within society
they need to own the materialistic items chosen by the bourgeois. However, this
is merely a false consciousness as, much like in the other poem The Large Cool
Store, buying these items only increases the power of the bourgeois and doesn't
increase the personal power of the Proletariats. The ideology that buying certain
things or going certain places will make you happy despite the mistreatment of
you by society is also created through advertising. The line in the poem Sunny
Prestatyn 'Laughed the girl on the poster' creates the idea that by going to
that place you will become happy. Prestatyn was a popular holiday destination
in the 1950s so the proletariats would believe that by going there, it would
make them look more fashionable and therefore would be more accepted by the
consumerist society. Similarly, in the two poems Essential Beauty and
Sunny Prestatyn, advertisements are used to delude the lower class that by
buying something, they will have the 'perfect' life. In Essential Beauty,
the line 'of how life should be' shows the reader that advertisement sets
standards that everyone should live by however these are unrealistic, and as
indicated by the would 'should' isn't how anyone in society lives. This is
again an example of commodification, such as in 'The large cool store', not
valuing something by its use etc but by the power it has to impress. Within
capitalist societies, commodification is common as money is what is the
most important thing to people. Ann Dobie in her book, Theory into
Practice: An Introduction to Literary Criticism, wrote
that, In its need to sell more goods, capitalism preys on the
insecurities of consumers, who are urged to compete with others in the
number and quality of their possessions: a newer car, a bigger diamond
engagement ring, a second house. The result is commodification. Showing that society only starts
to commodify objects because of the pressure from the bourgeois to
compete with people with more wealth. This attitude from the upper classes is
shown in these poems as they are in charge of the base and the superstructure
of society and therefore gain power through the proletariats earning money from
them, only to give it back by buying what they made. This shows that they are only alienating themselves from
the upper class further.
This
commodificaion and materialism is also showed in 'The large cool store'
where Larkin uses the contrast in colours between the ‘brown and greys’ of
weekday clothes and the more glamorous ‘lemon, sapphire, moss green’ of the
nightwear to highlight that society is materialistic and superficial and that
advertising creates the false consciousness that people can escape their
mundane lives. These unreal wishes are created because of the
commodification of these clothes from the proletariats which makes them feel
more powerful. The bourgeoisie sells these clothes to the proletariat to make
them believe they are gaining power, however they are just increasing the power
of the bourgeoisie by giving them money. The similar message behind these three
poems shows us that Larkin was clearly trying to present to
the reader the reality of the advertisement and to show us that
the society in which is presents are not presenting a hopeful picture for
their class. This is a representation of the alienation of the lower
classes and Larkins poems are interpretted as a representation of how
corrupt the base and the superstructure are as they are under the control
of the dominant class, this exposes the oppression and the consequential
alienation that has been hidden by the bourgeois.
Likewise
to the poem 'The Large cool store', Larkin also uses a phrase with a dual
meaning in the poem 'this be the verse'. The opening line, 'they fuck you up,
your mum and dad' can be interpreted in two ways. The first meaning is that
your parents literally 'fuck you up', in this interpretation, the word 'fuck'
is the action and is referring to a child being made. Larkin often uses
shocking sentences to start his poems and therefore could have done this for
impact.However, the other meaning is that our parents are in control of our
lives and effect it negatively, leaving us in detriments, this could be due to their financial status and them not having the ability to fulfill the ideology set by society. This is an example of economic Determinism, Economic
determinism is a theory that economic relationships (such as
being an owner or capitalist, or being a worker or proletarian) are the
foundation on which all other social and political arrangements are built.[1]. This idea is that children are born into their parents
economic situation and therefore the lives of a child of a proletariat are
inevitably messed up. It is shown further on in the poem that this is a
continuous cycle as people born into a family with low economic status will
pass on this status to future generations. This is presented in the line 'but
they were fucked up in their turn by fools in old-style hats and coats'
which shows that this type of determinism has occurred throughout
history and the description of the clothing shows the reader that Larkin is
saying the proletariat's lives are messed up due to their social
class. Marx believed that people's lives are determined by their
economic circumstances[2] therefore showing that the
proletariate are deluding themselves if they believe they
can gain power, for example through the use of materialistic items such as in
Larkins other poems 'essential beauty' and 'sunny prestatyn'.
In each of these four poems, Larkin uses caesura and enjambment to
change the pace of the poem, thus changing the mood and also to emphasise key
parts of emotions. In 'the large cool store', caesura and enjambment are
both use to slow down the pace in order to reflect the mundanity
of the proletariats lives in which they do the same thing each day.
As these techniques are used throughout the poem and there is no change, it
could represent that there is no change in their lives,'weekday world
of those who leave at dawn...' showing that they are not proactive about
making a change and are not going beyond the limits which society sets
for them. In the poem 'sunny prestatyn' caesura and enjambment are used
mainly in the second stanza. This stanza is where the mood and tone of the poem
changes and Larkin used these techniques to emphasise the harsher statements,
for example in the line 'a couple of weeks, and her face was snaggle-toothed'
the uses of these techniques emphasises on the negatives and makes the readers
opinion change. Similarly in 'this be the verse' the caesuras are used to
emphasise the more shocking points Larkin in making. There is a caesura after
the line 'they fuck you up' so that the reader stops to think about this point
an interpret what the line is saying. Larkin used this so that the reader would
be shocked. Again in 'essential beauty' a caesura is used for dramatic effect
after the line 'of how life should be' to indicate to the reader that it isn't
the reality and that the expectations of society are too high. A marxist critic
would appreciate the use of this pause as they would infer this use of the
technique as a way to highlight the delusion of the proletariats through the
use of the advertisements.
The last stanza of Larkins poetry often has a negative tone
and in these stanzas, Larkin ends his poems with a cynical ending to present to
the reader how he views the world. In the two poems, This be the verse, and
sunny prestatyn, he ends the poems by referring to the 'end or to death.
In This be the verse he ends the poem saying 'Get
out as early as you can,And don't have any kids yourself', this line can
be interpreted in many ways, one interpretation is the
idea that Larkin is telling people to end their lives and escape this
corrupt society. He wants people end the cycle of economic
determinism and the inequality with the class system, however by
stopping having kids, humanity would end, perhaps indicating that
Larkin believes there is no end to the class system. The last
line of 'Sunny prestatyn' also presents an image of death however this
time with the idea of fighting it. To ‘fight’ cancer is acknowledging that
life contains pain and death, while refusing to accept that they cannot be
opposed, this could represent that life contains problems but that the lower
classes refuse to be oppressed, showing that perhaps larking is presenting a 'hopeful
picture of a society where "they [go] beyond the limits which society sets
for them'. However this line
could also be presenting the idea that advertisements aren't perfect
and is just a reinforcement of
his argument that advertisements aren't a true
representation of how life should be.The idea of fighting cancer
fits in with the society as they can not let the idea of being perfect
rest and continue to 'fight' until they gain power, which a marxist critic
would believe could never happen. Showing that
a picture of a hopeful society isn't actually being presented. The
last few lines of 'essential beauty' discuss the idea that the advertisements
created a false consciousness as the
people who believed in the ideas, the lower class never gained
power. Instead of present the image of literal death or the idea that death is
the only way to end the in-equal treatment, the last line presents
the idea of death of the proletariats hopefulness and the delusion they
had created in order for them to have a reason
to carry on. These lines,'No match lit up, nor drag ever
brought near, Who now stands newly clear, Smiling, and recognising,
and going dark', refer to the adverts for smoking in the 1950s, where smoking
was advertised using alluring women, but this poem says that no
“drag” “ever brought nearer” presenting the idea that that fantasy was
unattainable and that smoking didn't attract women. The word dark at the
end indicates the idea that once the proletariats realise that they had
been believing in a false consciousness, their world goes 'dark', perhaps showing that
they chose to delude themselves as the reality was much worse. The
ending to 'The large cool store' is different to that of the other three and
instead focuses on women. The final line claims that women are 'synthetic, new,
and natureless in ecstasies' saying that the ideologies about women that
were created by men and fulfilled by women aren't completely fulfilled
as they are fake and despite the look of them, they are merely
an object that looks like they would want them to look but isn't
actually what they want. A feminist critic would interpret this and say that
men commodify women and use them for their power to impress but these women are
just 'fake' but the male only cares about the image and not the feelings or
inner person. This is similar to how a marxist would view the buying of
materialistic things to impress and links back to the idea of
commodification to gain power.
Larkin is shown to be presenting the corruption of the social class and the
delusion of the proletariats throughout his poetry. He uses ideas of
commodification to highlight that the materialistic attitudes of the
lower class that they believe will gain them power. Therefore, it can
be seen throughout his work that 'Larkin's poetry cynically portrays a
society in which the proletariate "are deluding themselves" rather
than presenting a hopeful picture of a society where "they [go] beyond the
limits which society sets for them'.
