Convent threshold

As a poem this is slightly confusing to say the least.


From what I understand there is a couple (thought to be Abelard and Heloise) who seem to be having a 'heated' disscusion about their choices and sins commited. One of them is insisting that they both must join a convent in order to seek forgivness from god for their sins (which in this case is having a relationship that was possibly sexual, before marriage). The other insists that actually earth is quite alright and they could just carry on as normal. The person who wants them both to join a convent has very clear views that if they both join convents and take part in no more sinful activities, they will be able to go to heaven and be together being as sinful as they like. This is very contradictive in my opinion.


In this poem nearlly all of the things which take place are NOT literal but symbolic, the only thing in the poem which is literal is the title because that is what they are actually talking about, to go into a convent or not.


The poem is nearlly all symbolic, especially the part where we are told that one person is on a set of stairs looking down on the other person, on earth. This is a very clever way of giving the reader symbolic messages, to do with religion and status. One person is not litterally standing on some stairs looking down on the other, the symbolism represents the higher status and importace of heaven, that this is much more important than enjoying time on earth. It seems the person on the stairs is in simple terms saying 'Right if you stay down on earth then we can't be together, because if we keep sinning then we can't go to heaven and so won't have an afterlife. If I have to go on my own that will be miserabe, so you need to stop sinning and go into a convent separate from me, then we can go to heaven and be together and do all the sinning we like'.

Cousin Kate

The poem Cousin Kate is rather strange, it is hard to know who or what to believe within the poem because of the narrator's insistence of her own innocence. The narrator creates such a sob story in effect it is hard to know what is truth and what is her exaggerated fiction. 

In the poem Cousin Kate is completely targeted as the enemy and the narrator the victim, the constant critism of Kate suprises me as it is actually the duke who should be blamed for the upset between the cousins as he is the one who, only has interest in purity and beauty, once the narrator is inpure or in other words he has slept with her, she is no longer of any value him and is seen as an object. 

I think the reason why the narrator always blames Kate is because she still has feelings for the duke and is very bitter as a consequence of his behaviour and is therefore jealous and somewhat remorseful for her foolishness to fall into his hands. 

The narrator has a very bitter approach to the Lord and Kate's love she says it is 'written in the sand' suggesting she believes it is fake, this adds an even more bitter aspect to the narrator as she has got the impression that Kate does not truly love him but is possibly in the relationship for the money. 

the narrator is seen as an outcast since the affair with the duke because of the time and is not accepted as pure or marriage material due to her inpurity. However Kate is now Lady Kate (married) and so is seen as important by the surrounding community.

throughout this the Lord is still unscathed which I find very odd, yes the narrator may still have feelings for him but surely he is more to blame than Kate. The narrator should feel sorry for Kate if anything for being with a man who is so objectifying towards women. The Lord is allowed to act in this way because people still have interest. To me the only reason someone could possibly have interest in someone of that personality is if it was a front and the Lord was in no way actually like that. 

We feel the narrator's satisfaction and sence of revenge when we are told she bears a child from the Lord and not only a child but a boy, meaning if Kate bears no child, there will be no money for Kate, only for the child of the narrator. This seems to be the edge that narrator clings onto in order to redeem some of her pride.