Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach" and Anthony Hecht's "Dover Bitch"

Paper Summary:

This paper compares the way the poems, "Dover Beach", by Matthew Arnold, and "Dover Bitch", by Anthony Hech, treat the subject of love. The paper explains that, while both poems are about love, the type of love each poem is describing is quite different. The paper goes on to discuss the different tones in the poems, which render the poems' descriptions of love very differently. Also discussed is how Hecht makes his poem, "Dover Bitch", a commentary about the confusing desire for love by satirizing Arnold's poem, "Dover Beach".

From the Paper:

""Dover Beach" by Matthew Arnold and "Dover Bitch" by Anthony Hecht are poems that on the surface are based on the same subject--love. Though both poems are about love, the poems are not alike. The love that Matthew Arnold describes is a serious one, while the love that Hecht describes is, arguably, not love at all, but simply desire. "Dover Bitch" uses the "Dover Beach" as a platform to speak of love in a tone that is crass and hollow feeling a feeling that has more to do with satisfying a physical desire than with satisfying an emotional desire. Both poets achieve their goals through the use of different tones."

More papers on Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach" and Anthony Hecht's "Dover Bitch":

• Poem Review # 119132 : "Arnold: "Dover Beach" and "The Buried Life"
• Analytical Essay # 124829 : "Dover Beach/Dover Bitch"
• Analytical Essay # 59929 : "Augustus Toplay and Matthew Arnold"

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