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.