The large cool store (Larkin) and Like earning a living (Duffy)

Most of this is through a marxist lens because I am currently experiencing sociology brainrot :D !!!!

What is the main theme of each poem and how does each poet express it?

The main theme of each poem is the monotony and loneliness of life under late stage capitalism.

Large cool store: here, the narrator takes on a snobbish, condescending tone towards the working class who only find reprieve from their lives in “low terraced houses” and “factory, yard and site” via consumerism and sex (the latter being connotated by the lingerie in the third stanza).

Like earning a living: In this poem, our narrator is a disillusioned English teacher who isn't having the positive impact on students’ lives that they hoped the would as subjects such as literature get neglected by laissez fairs governments ran by people like John Major aka “major balls”

In both poems, our narrators feel alienated from the rest of the world- how is this feeling expressed by each poet?

The large cool store- Most of this feeling is expressed in the fourth and final stanza as the narrator describes love as “separate and unearthly”. He looks down upon the customers of the eponymous “Large cool store” but at least they have found ways to cope with the monotony of life. The narrator feels no such things and prefers to wallow in misery as he says they are “natureless in ecstasies”

Like earning a living- The feeling of isolation here is littered throughout the poem as our narrator fails to truly connect with anyone. Her students don’t want anything to do with her as they answer her questions as a “trainee ventriloquist”; the second stanza puts this most bluntly as she laments “nobody cares… He met a poet. Didn’t know it” and the third stanza expresses it via the very common feeling of having the government not care about you as she expresses that the prime minister is “somewhere in England” far away from her but cooking up policies that could make our break her livelihood as a teacher. That last part is especially important given that Duffy is Scottish.

A key feature of capitalism is the feeling of isolation the proletariat feel from one another (atleast according to marxists) and both Duffy and Larkin express this perfectly via satires of snobbery and references to distant governments.

How does the rhyme scheme (or lack thereof) of each poem help to express its key message?

Large cool store- The poem is split into a very rigid ABABA rhyme scheme throughout, reflecting the monotony of consumerism and life under capitalism. Larkin also manages to weasel in his usual cynical and nihilistic tone by making the poem not end on a rhyme. This ending feels flat and disappointing, reflecting how Larkin feels about life.

Like earning a living- Here, there is no rhyme scheme- showing how nonsensical life under late stage capitalism is. However, there is one internal rhyme between “poet” and “know it” in the second stanza, showing the feeling of loneliness that our narrator feels as they think that nobody can truly understand them.

Both poems contain misogynistic stereotypes to some degree- what are they and how do they link to the rest of the poem?

Like earning a living- in the first stanza we see an image of a “chavvy” (or to put it more academically, hyper-heterosexually feminine) girl who refuses to partake in anything academic. This illustrates the alienation often seen between working class students and teachers in schools operating within the confines of capitalism.

Large cool store- Most likely reflecting Larkin’s own views, the poem presents women as superficial and fragile via the “Bri-nylon” lingerie that seems to “flounce in clusters”. This represents how people get broken down into labels and stereotypes so that corporations can sell products to them.