Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
Isabella Whitney, in the first-person and third-person.
Form and Meter
Regular and Iambic pentameter
Metaphors and Similes
Many of Whitney's poems focus on the recurring metaphor of female strength and power, which she portrays through the always hardworking birds in her poems.
Alliteration and Assonance
The use of 'Working Woman' and 'Leaving Lover' are perfect examples of alliteration in Isabella Whitney's poems.
Irony
The irony of the weak man running off when a child is born is present in her poetry.
Genre
Autobiographical romance poetry
Setting
England in the 1600s.
Tone
Dramatic and romantic
Protagonist and Antagonist
Whitney is the protagonist, her ex-lover is the antagonist.
Major Conflict
The major conflict of the poems occurs when Whitney first moves to London and gains her independence from her family.
Climax
The climax of the poetry is reached when Isabella falls pregnant and her lover leaves her for another woman, whom he marries.
Foreshadowing
The strength the Whitney has is foreshadowed by her strong upbringing.
Understatement
The role of female sexuality and pleasure is understated throughout her poetry.
Allusions
The poems allude to the changing positions of women at the time, and their gaining of independence.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The sturdy oak tree is a metonym for the stability that Whitney's family provide her when she returned home.
Personification
Isabella Whitney is personified through the hard-working birds that she includes in her poems.
Hyperbole
N/A
Onomatopoeia
N/A
