Discuss Richards treatment of women and compare this to the way women are treated in the poems studied
Richards uses pretence admiration on Elizabeth, he is trying to persuade that he is the right man for her daughter. He says to Elizabeth, “Say that I did all this for love of her” suggesting that her daughter influenced him to do what he did. This could leave Elizabeth with a guilty conscious and allow for a hand in marriage. He also says, “Bear her my true loves kiss: and so farewell.” “my true love” suggests to Elizabeth he really does love her.
Richard tries to manipulate Elizabeth into thinking her husband’s and children’s death was a mistake and can be forgotten. He says, “Look what has been done cannot be now amended”. “Cannot be amended suggests that what he is done cannot be fixed, he is saying just to forget about it as nothing can be changed. He tries to back himself up by saying, “men shall deal unadvisedly sometimes”. “Unadvisedly” means imprudently so he is saying men sometimes aren’t wise and sometimes they are fools. He is suggesting to her it was a mistake and he wasn’t thinking. He also says to back himself up, “To make amends ill give it to your daughter” by this he means that to fix things he will give happiness Elizabeth’s daughter to make up for it. Richard tries to give Elizabeth the impression he will treat her well. He demonstrates that he is trying his best to persuade her for her hand in marriage. He says, “I will love her everlastingly”. “Everlastingly” infers that he will always