Carol Ann Duffy

Mrs Midas

Structure of poem:

• Dramatic Monologue in Mrs. Midas perspective

• short sentences e.g “On.” → poems calm + domestic rhythm is disrupted. The metaphor of the pear being a lightbulb becomes more literal.

Contrast between every day domestic details such as caravans, mrs. midas cooking dinner, etc. and the mystical event of Mr Midas turning everything into gold when he touches it. (e.g glass,goblet,golden)→ amplifies poems humour + tragedy

Tone:

• Shifts in tone :

• at the start - humorous + disbelief (comical images) also domestic and calm (domestic drama)

• middle - tense/fearful (concerned for saftey + loss of intimacy)

• end - sad + reflective

“when it comes to the crunch” → means when its the time to assess/judge something → colloquial language

“hare hung from a larch”/”a beautiful lemon mistake” → beautiful + mistake = oxymoron, evidence of trying to find some food but was unsuccessful.

“I miss most,/even now, his hands, his warms hand on my skin” → repetition of “hands” → everything he touches turns to gold. Contrasts to “keep his hands to himself”.

“music of Pan” → god of wilderness, according to mythology when you hear his music you go insane.

Mrs Faust 

cultural references : 

• Faust : the poem re-tells the story of faust bit in a more modern way. In the original story Faust is a scholar that sells his soul to the devil for knowledge, pleasure and power. Duffy re-tells this myth but with modern greed of wealth, status and materialism.

• Mephistopheles  : “I've made a pact with Mephistopheles, the Devil’s boy” → in og story Mephistopheles is the Devil with whom Faust makes the deal with and then claims his soul. → shows that Faust’s richness/success comes from a literal pact with the devil. → all his power was brought at a spiritual cost.

• Helen of Troy : “I spent the night being pleasured by a virtual Helen of Troy”  → Helen of Troy was the most beautiful women in Greek mythology” → technology replacing human intimacy, Fausts endless desire for beauty + perfection, 

• “ a serpent’s hiss” → serpent from garden of eden → devil is near → Faust’s doom

• “walked on the moon, golfed, hole in one; lit a fat Havana on the Sun.” → cultural symbols of status, wealth + achievement → Hyperbole → exaggerates Faust’s want for more → absurd excess + treating the world like his playground → god-like presence.

• “Invested in smart bombs… dealt in arms” → modern military-industrial complex + unethical war profiting. → Faust’s moral corruption 

• Cosmic surgeries e.g “facelift”, “breasts enlarged”, “buttocks tightened” → modern beauty culture = obsessed with appearance. → Mrs. Faust is similar morally to mr Faust → driven by image, consumption + transformation

• “C’est la vie” → That’s life → cold + ignorant response to Mr Faust being dragged to hell. 

Modern relationship of Mr and Mrs Faust 

• first presented as a contemporary middle class couple that met at university. They got married, then they split up but then got back together. → their focus in life is on careers, earning more and buying expensive things. 

• As time goes on their marriage becomes more empty + superficial. Faust becomes obsessed with status, money and sex. Mrs. Faust becomes obsessed with self improvement, image and fashionable trends. → their relationship becomes more of a business partnership → they live parallel lives + become more and more morally hollow. 

Examples of sins that  Mr and Mrs Faust commit

• Greed/Materialism - committed by both - love lifestyle more than relationship 

• Vanity/ Self-obsession - Mrs Faust - 

• Making a pact with the Devil