Afternoons

• " summer is fading"
• " In the hollows of Afternoons young mothers assemble"
• " setting free their children"
• " Behind them at intervals , stand husbands skilled trades and estateful of washing "
• " And the Albums lettered ; Our wedding lying near the television"
• " Their children so intent on finding more unripe acorns"
• who is Larkin referencing to in the quote " their beauty has thickened" ?


  woman who grew less attractive from age
• " something is pushing them to the side of their own lives"
• who wrote afternoons?

  Philip Larkin
• what was Larkins views on love and relationships?

  pessimistic
• did Larkin get married or have children?

  no
• what time period did Larkin write afternoons in ?

  written in 19 59
• what was the poem based on?

  observations of every day scenes , time and death
• What does the title tell us already about the poem?

  the " afternoons " is the peak of the day

  the plural indicates it is monotonous and repetitive
• what does the imagery of seasons suggest?

  how time can change people and surroundings
• what does Larkin illustrate throughout the poem?

  Woman's restricted lives with mundane routines and chores
• what were gender roles like in the 1960s?

  woman were expected to be domestic and take care of home and children while men went to work to provide for family