Relationships Poetry Overview (Edexcel GCSE English Literature)

For Edexcel GCSE English Literature Paper 2, Section B, Part 1, you will study a cluster of 15 poems that are thematically linked. This page will provide an overview of the Relationships Anthology. You will answer a question on this cluster of poems in Question 8 of Paper 2, Section B, Part 1.

This page should help you identify which poem you should compare a given poem to in your exam question on the Edexcel poetry anthology, and help you create an effective thesis statement to answer the poetry question.

Relationships Anthology: Poems

Here is a list of all the poems in the Relationships cluster:

Overview

In Edexcel GCSE English Literature Paper 2, Section B, Part 1, you will be given one of the 15 poems on the exam paper itself, and be expected to compare it thematically to one other poem from the Relationships Anthology. You will have to choose this second poem, and you should be prepared to write about any of the 15 poems in the exam. This means you need to have a thorough understanding of each poem.

This question in the exam is worth 20 marks, and you should aim to spend about 30–35 minutes on it in the exam. To write a top-grade response, you should aim to write an introduction, at least three comparative paragraphs and a conclusion.

It is up to you whether you write about the poem given on the exam paper first, and then your second choice of poem, linking themes back to the given poem, or if you prefer a more integrated response. Neither gets you more marks than the other.

For a more detailed guide on how to achieve top marks for your essay, please see our easy-to-follow How to answer the poetry anthology question pages.

Key themes

Romantic love

A good number of the poems in the Relationships Anthology cluster explore romantic and family relationships. Many also explore the complexity of love and relationships. The romantic love explored includes:

• Unrequited love and longing for a love that cannot be, or a love that is not returned

• Marriage (both happy and unhappy unions)

• Affairs, and forbidden love

• Desire and attraction

• Violence, or the threat of violence, in relationships

• Break-ups and the pain they cause

The poets in the anthology are often looking to examine, challenge or criticise social or cultural norms when it comes to love and marriage. This could be related to:

• Gender dynamics in relationships

• The convention of marriage itself

• Cultural or social expectations of couples – or women – in relationships

• Sex and consent

Family relationships

Many of the poems in the cluster explore the complexities of love and relationships between family members. The relationships explored are between:

• A child and a parent

• A child and a grandparent

• A parent and a child

Ideas that the poets are exploring include:

• The complicated nature of a parent-child relationship

• The idea of a child becoming independent from their parent

• Rebellion against a parent, or family culture

• Admiration for a family member

• Regret for past behaviour in these family relationships

These poems are often very reflective, and involve ideas around memory or nostalgia.

Longing

Some of the poems in the anthology touch upon the idea of longing, either in terms of romantic relationships, or longing between family members. 

• In the poems that look at longing in family relationships, the poets explore:

  • The parental longing for a child never to grow up and be independent

  • Longing for a better familial relationship

  • Longing for a family member, or members, who have died

• The romantic poems that deal with longing explore ideas around:

  • Sexual desire

  • Unhealthy (male) desire and issues around sexual consent, including sexual consent within, and outside of, a marriage

  • Romantic fulfilment: a desire for happiness and contentment in a relationship

  • Longing involved after a relationship has ended:

    • Longing to be back with a former partner or lover

    • Longing to be closer (emotionally or physically) to a close friend

Distance

Distance is explored in two ways in the Love and Relationships cluster: both literally (a physical distance between two people in a relationship), and figuratively (a relationship that is becoming less close, or intimate). 

The idea of physical distance is explored in terms of:

• Long-distance relationships, and a desire to be closer physically

• The distance time creates when thinking about relationships

• The distance that is created between a parent and a child as the child grows up:

  • The distance between parent and a child going to school

  • The distance involved when a child moves out of a family home

The idea of figurative distance is explored in the following ways:

• A growing distance between those in a relationship, especially a growing lack of intimacy

• A growing distance between people after a relationship has ended

• A growing distance between parents and their children

When exploring distance, some of the most important ideas for the poets in this cluster are nostalgia, memory, letting go and independence.

Ageing and death

A few of the anthology poems explore the ideas of ageing or death, and especially what effect ageing and death can have on existing or past relationships: 

• Coming to understand a relationship better over time

• Missing a loved one

• Longing for a relationship that can no longer exist

• Power in relationships

The poets exploring these ideas are often very reflective, and include ideas about memory, acceptance or regret.

Memory and reflection

These ideas are important in the poems when exploring and reflecting on past relationships:

• Reflecting on past (bad) behaviour

• Reflecting on past relationships

• Memories of deceased family members

The poems that deal with ideas of memory and reflection often explore related ideas about regret, nostalgia and whether we can trust our memories. 

Thematic comparison table

Use the table below to revise which poems connect to the others in the anthology, based on the themes the poets explore.

Top tips for achieving the highest grade

• Referring to poet’s methods, or linguistic terminology, language, form or structure without linking it to a theme will limit your marks: 

  • For example, writing “Browning writes ‘My Last Duchess’ in the form of a dramatic monologue” will not get you a mark

  • It is better to write “Browning uses the form of a dramatic monologue to reflect the speaker’s total control over his lover: it is the speaker’s narrative, his story, and in this way his lover is marginalised and silenced”

• Including historical facts or biographical information about the poet adds no value to your answers:

  • If you are addressing the focus of the question, then you are addressing context

  • You may want to consider the poems’ titles to help you keep focused on the writers’ aims and influences

• Learn about important aspects of the poem’s form, structure and language, rather than learning lists of quotes

• Make sure you read the question and form an argument around the theme and then decide which poem is best to compare these ideas

• You don’t get extra marks for more quotations, but you do get more marks for making plenty of interesting comments about the evidence you have selected

• Using the poet’s name can help you think about the text as a conscious construct, and will keep reminding you that the poet deliberately put the poem together

• Avoid making sweeping generalisations, such as “all women in arranged marriages were treated badly in the 18th century”:

  • Make it relevant to the text

  • For example, “In ‘My Last Duchess’ a wife is subject to control and oppression by her husband”

• Use comparative connectives in your answer, such as “similarly”, “likewise”, “on the other hand” and “in contrast”