"Personals" Ads Are Kinda Creepy...(Question 17)

"Lonely Hearts" by Wendy Cope is written in the form of a villanelle. This form is especially fitting in the speaker's imitation of a "Personals" ad in a newspaper. The repetition of the two lines which end alternating stanzas reflect the desperate hope of those who fill out personal advertisements. Each person, no matter how different they may be or from what walks of life they may come, simply seeks "someone [to] make [their] simple wish come true". By utilizing the villanelle, which allows her to repeat her two central lines, Cope is able to reflect (through the speaker) on plights for love in today's modern world. Despite our modern world, which prides itself on connecting others, people still struggle to find love. By writing as each advertiser, Cope attempts to bring to light this struggle to find the one who will answer affirmatively to that question of "Is it you?" Cope effectively employs the form of the villanelle to repeatedly emphasize the search for love in today's technological world.