Renton And Diane Play With Convention example essay topic

In this essay I will be discussing the various ways in which three pieces of pre-twentieth century literature and the film Trainspotting went about following / not following convention in regard to relationships. I will be discussing two poems in the forms of sonnets, called Sonnet to Idea by Drayton, and Sonnet 130 by Shakespeare. I will also discuss the novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and the screenplay Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh. Courtship is another word for dating / courting with an eventual view to marriage. The verb 'to court' is when attention is paid to another person whose love and interests are pursued by another person. Convention is a term representing how certain things are normally done and what is the regular procedure for something, for example in this case dating.

I will begin by discussing the sonnet written by Drayton in the 16th century, called Sonnet to Idea. A sonnet consists of 14 lines and 10 syllables per line (limbic pentameter), with the every other line having a rhyming pattern of AB AB, and the last couple of lines has a CC pattern. In this poem, Drayton attempts to persuade his mistress to spend the night with him. He uses arguments to convince her to spend the night with him, arguing living things are happier than her. This is shown in the very first line of the second quatrain, 'How happy are all other living things' and begins to address and personify the night in quatrain three, 'Why shouldst thou, Night, abuse me only thus', which indicates his feelings that love is best suited at night, and the night 'abuses' him of this 'necessity'. He uses hyperbole in this poem, and the final couplet epitomizes his anguish at fearing rejection at night, so he may as well welcome the next day if no love is exchanged, Well could I wish it would be ever day, If when might comes, you bid me goe away.

This poem follows convention in the sense Drayton compliments and admires his mistress, 'Me thinks this time becommeth lovers best' expressing his desire to make love to her, but we constantly feel the frustration this man endures because of the rejection he is receiving, 'And yet tis thou do ost only sever us?' I will now discuss the other 16th century sonnet by William Shakespeare call Sonnet 130. In this poem, Shakespeare mocks the traditional Petrarchan Sonnet and presents a metaphoric parody. He spends a lot of time expressing the qualities his mistress doesn't possess, which is out of the ordinary, 'My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun' and 'coral is far more red than her lips red' which subverts convention. He also goes on to express how his mistress' breath is not very pleasant, which is rather the opposite of convention as he does any thing but compliment her! And in some perfumes is there more delight, Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks Shakespeare nevertheless fulfils convention in the last two sentences of the sonnet (couplet), in that he expresses his genuine love for his mistress. He is more honest in the declaration of his love than Drayton, 'I think my love as rare.

As any she belied with false compare'. He critiques the poets who use soppy, sickly sweet comparisons of love to all sorts of things and expresses that he prefers her the way she is, and in fact what we thought of as negative comments made by Shakespeare, turned out to be indirect compliments! The sonnet is also about his lady and is traditional to convention in that he states his true feelings and love for her. I am now going to discuss Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice written in the early 19th century, published in 1813. "Pride and Prejudice" is a novel that pays much attention to a woman named Elizabeth Bennet, belonging to a middle-classed family living in Longbourn e, Hertfordshire. Elizabeth, or Lizzie as she is known, is offered two proposals of marriage by two very different men.

They belong to completely different classes and both have totally different ways of proposing, but have some similarities. I will begin by discussing Mr Collins' proposal as he was first in proposing to Lizzie. Mr Collins' is a clergyman living in Hunsford and is cousins with the Bennet's. He is desperate to marry as he wants to set an example to the parish. Mr Collins follows convention by asking for permission in marrying Elizabeth (but is rather odd in doing so as he asks Mrs Bennet instead of Mr Bennet) He sets about it in a very ordinary manner, with all the observances he supposes a regular part of the business. He asks Elizabeth to marry him as though it were a job offer, as he compliments her 'qualifications' indicating there is no love involved.

This shows he doesn't understand women or courtship convention. He also is adamant 'it adds to your perfections' when Elizabeth politely rejects his proposal, and persists in marrying her. He seems to think marriage is a game, I am not now to learn, that it is usual with young ladies to reject the addresses of the men whom they secretly mean to accept This means he feels women play hard-to-get by saying no, but secretly feel honoured. He shows his awareness of convention by talking to her as though he has read an 'How to Court' instruction manual, It is established custom of your sex to reject a man on the first application This shows he views marriage as a contract, and wants to get married to fulfil his patroness' demands, Mr Collins you must marry, a clergyman in easy circumstances must set the example of matrimony in the parish And he also goes by her feelings, 'Chuse a gentlewoman for my sake'. He thinks he knows about convention because he is so confident and complimentary of Elizabeth, but has got it horribly wrong. I will now discuss Mr Darcy's proposal.

Mr Darcy is an upper class, extremely wealthy and well-thought of man who follows convention but also contradicts it as well. He has a genuine reason for wishing to marry Elizabeth, obviously not for wealth or inheritance, but because of genuine love he gradually feels for her the more he sees her. He follows convention because he states his true feelings about Elizabeth, In vain have I struggled. It will not do, my feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you He then contradicts this by not following convention, because he doesn't ask permission for her hand in marriage, and didn't make his feelings clear before his proposal. Mr Darcy feels he should dictate whether Elizabeth should accept a proposal from such a gentleman, when he says, And this all the reply which I am to have the honour of expecting!

I might, perhaps, wish to be informed why, with so little endeavour at civility, I am thus rejected Mr Darcy quickly recovers composure and becomes calmer when 'with assumed tranquillity' he shows more awareness of breaking convention when he expresses how he persuaded Mr Bingley to avoid marrying Elizabeth's sister Jane as she is his 'inferior', but doesn't spare himself to Lizzie. He then wants to leave as quickly and abruptly as possible as the whole conversation is a class issue, and so he 'hastily quit the room' Elizabeth is faced with two dilemmas because of the utterly different proposals offered to her. She is expected to accept their offers but because she is aware of convention, 'the established mode to express a sense of obligation', she indicates a woman of lower class must be flattered a wealthy man (such as Mr Darcy) has proposed to her, and so shocks them both when she refuses their proposals. The final example of conventional writing is a screenplay by Irvine Welsh called Trainspotting.

The screenplay was written in the 20th century, and is about a man called Renton attempting to chat up an attractive woman, Diane, that has caught his attention. Diane has just rejected a man trying to chat her up by offering a drink, and she obliges by accepting the drink but not the man. Renton uses an original chat up line to impress Diane, luring her with compliments on how she handled the man in the doorway, Excuse me, I don't mean to harass you, but I was very impressed by the capable and stylish manner in which you dealt with that situation. I thought to myself: she's special 'She's special' also becomes clich " ed. He follows convention in the way he uses words like 'special' and 'impressed' to make her feel at ease and comfortable, and he asks quick-fired questions. Diane plays hard to get with Renton and plays him at his own game, showing her awareness of convention by not giving away too much information when she answers.

Both Renton and Diane play with convention, particularly the delivery and response to the chat-up lines. In conclusion to this essay, I think convention has evidently changed over the last four hundred years, but there are still some of the old age necessities that are important like, love. For example nowadays people do not have to ask a parents consent for marriage, like in "Pride and Prejudice", so convention has changed in that sense. Compliments don't seem to have changed when either flattering a mistress or when chatting-up someone, like in Sonnet 130, and in Trainspotting. So although some aspects of courtship have changed, the true principles, like love remain unchanged..