“The Bargain” Critical Reading

  1. How does the poet use language to show the difficulties that are faced by the family described by the speaker in stanza 6? (2)
  • The word choice of “struggling” has connotations of fighting desperately against something, suggesting that the family are trying hard to survive.
  • “father carrying hearth home” extends a metaphor from previously in the poem where the “hearth” represents the heart of the home. Here we can see that the father is “struggling” to give his family a warm and loving home.
  • “mother wound up with kids” – the metaphor compares the mother trying to look after the children to being tied or restrained, suggesting it is difficult for her to escape this responsibility.
  1. Analyse the use of poetic techniques in stanza 7 to contrast the speaker’s own experience with that of the family in the previous stanza. (2)
  • “Oh, we’ve never shouldered much” contrasts the speaker’s experience with that of the family as the metaphor shows they have not worked hard to make their life together work, in direct juxtaposition to the “father carrying hearth home”.
  • “We’ll stick to small ikons for our home -/as long as they’re portable –“ the word choice of “small ikons” juxtaposes the idea of important items being in some way insignificant, suggesting that their relationship is insubstantial. The parenthetical comment that follows adds to this idea, suggesting their relationship lacks permanence, unlike the family who are building a strong home with the responsibility of family.
  1. Analyse how the poet extends this contrast in stanza 8. (2)
  • “I keep/losing you and finding you” – The literal meaning refers to the difficulty of staying together in the crowded market. Metaphorically this continues the idea of a lack of security, he is not always there for her.
  • The juxtaposition of “you thumb/through a complete set of manuals for/primary teachers in the thirties” & “I rub my sleeve/on a rusty Chinese Saucer/till the gilt shows through”. Symbolically he is distracted by impractical concerns while she tries to make things better – they are not equally focused on making their relationship work.
  1. Look at stanzas 9 & 10. How effective do you find these lines as a conclusion to the poem? (4)
  • “And it’s packing up time” – The idea of the market closing makes an effective conclusion as the poem begins on their way to the market. It has added significance as an image, suggesting that it is time to end the relationship explored throughout the poem.
  • The image “You’ve bought...a pin-stripe waistcoat that needs a stitch/it just won’t get” represents their relationship and indicates to the reader that it is unlikely that they will ever fix what is wrong.
  • The structure of the final stanza – a quatrain made of two rhyming couplets uses sound and rhythm to indicate a change, signalling the end of the poem.
  • The image “i wish we could either mend things/or learn to throw them away” is central the poem’s main concerns, suggesting that the relationship should be ended if they cannot, or are not prepared to fix it.
  1. By referring to this and at least one other poem by Liz Lochhead, discuss how she explores the complexities of love. (10)

Commonality:

“The Bargain”, “My Rival’s House” and “View of Scotland/Love Poem” all explore different aspects of romantic relationships that reveal the complexities of love.

  • “The Bargain” illustrates a lacklustre relationship where the couple appear to have lost the will to make the effort required to sustain their love.
  • “My Rival’s House” shows both the jealousy that love can provoke and how one is sometimes forced to endure unpleasantness in pursuit of romance.
  • “View of Scotland/Love Poem” describes the meeting between two people who would fall in love and highlights the significance of this moment, as well as stressing the importance of maintaining affection rather than finding comfort in warm memories..

The Bargain:

  • “Yes today we’re in love aren’t we?”: the rhetorical question conveys a sense of uncertainty about their relationship and a lack of security.
  • “All I want/is my glad eye to catch/a glint in your flinty Northern face again”: this metaphor illustrates the difficulty of loving someone who does not easily convey their emotion. By comparing his face to a type of stone the suggestion is made that he is cold and unfeeling. The word choice of “again” conveys the idea that this has been a gradual process over time.

My Rival’s House:

  • “She glosses over him and me”: The word choice “glosses” suggests that the mother does not pay their relationship much heed. Her love for her son is such that she can’t comprehend him having affection for someone else and her jealousy means she must dismiss the speaker as unimportant.
  • “This son she bore -/first blood to her –“: This metaphor powerfully conveys the battle for the son’s affection. By giving birth it is suggested that the mother has won the first victory in a battle or made the first strike in a dual. This imagery seems unusually savage when used to describe what people do for love and emphasises the strength of feeling involved.
  • “But what squirms beneath her surface I can tell”: this metaphor makes the mother seem extremely unpleasant. It suggests that she is not behaving in a genuine manner but also that, beneath her polite exterior she is in fact almost monstrous – a position brought about by the jealousy caused by her son’s love for the speaker.

View of Scotland/Love Poem:

  • “familiar strangers”: the juxtaposition shows how their love begins with an uncanny feeling. Even though they have just met there is a sense of intimacy, illustrating that the nature of love cannot be explained and is not rational.
  • “we did not know that we were/the happiness we wished each other”. This metaphor where the speaker and her partner are compared to the abstract concept of happiness shows how powerful a force love is in our lives in that our sense of wellbeing can be dependent on it.
  • “There is no time like the/present for a kiss” The enjambment in this phrase emphasises the importance of living in the moment. In the context of the poem as a whole, which celebrates memories with affection, the poet powerfully conveys the importance of showing love perpetually, in stark contrast to the relationship described in “The Bargain”.

“The Bargain” – Critical Reading Questions

  1. How does the poet use language to show the difficulties that are faced by the family described by the speaker in stanza 6? (2)
  2. Analyse the use of poetic techniques in stanza 7 to contrast the speaker’s own experience with that of the family in the previous stanza. (2)
  3. Analyse how the poet extends this contrast in stanza 8. (2)
  4. Look at stanzas 9 & 10. How effective do you find these lines as a conclusion to the poem? (4)
  5. By referring to this and at least one other poem by Liz Lochhead, discuss how she explores the complexities of love. (10)