Using The World’s Wife for the Individual Oral ~ Carol Ann Duffy
The World’s Wife is chosen for its feminist themes. This article will explore the different feminist themes used by Duffy for your reference, so you can pair similar poems for your Individual Oral.
Before we continue, it’s important to focus on how Duffy specifically gave a voice to the female counterparts of famous male figures, or to condemned female figures such as Medusa. In doing this, Duffy’s aim is to critique:
traditional gender roles that place men at the center of the narrative and relegate women to the background,
traditional patriarchal structures and narratives that reduce women to mere objects or victims, and
traditional gender stereotypes that confine women to specific roles and behaviours,
as she undertakes a literary revisionism.
Negative Themes for the IO
The themes in this article are depicted in a negative manner since this article is specifically created as a resource for the Individual Oral. If you are looking for an overall analysis of the World’s Wife for your exams, you can check our analysis article of the World’s Wife.
Theme 1: The female as a victim
Duffy is verbal about her desire to give a voice to the often overlooked or silenced female figures from history, mythology and literature. While the poems in The World’s Wife do challenge traditional gender roles at times, Duffy’s highlights the victimhood that women have had to experience, portraying them as unfortunate recipients of their circumstances, society’s expectations, and the actions of others. By highlighting the vulnerabilities and struggles faced by women, Duffy offers a poignant commentary on their experiences.
Poems that focus on this theme:
Mrs. Midas
Duffy reimagines the myth of King Midas from his wife’s perspective, and sheds a light on how Mrs Midas is a victim of her husband’s greed. Although she displays practical and emotional resilience as she chooses to live separately from him, the poem is ultimately about her loss and isolation. Her life is dictated by the actions of her husband, and she is forced to live apart from him and face emotional pain from his destruction of the life she had created with him.
Mrs Lazarus
By exploring the story of Lazarus to depict how Mrs Lazarus is brave enough to overcome her grief and rebuild her life after the death of her husband, Duffy is able to depict an unsettling reality for Mrs Lazarus when her husband miraculously returns from the dead. Although Mrs Lazarus was resilient and strong as she dealt with her loss, everything she achieved and toiled for becomes meaningless and ephemeral as she is has to now embark on another emotional journey with his sudden return.
The Devil’s Wife
Duffy uses this poem to focus on the real-life figure Mira Hindley, one of the Moors murderers, who is revealed to be a victim of her boyfriend Ian Brady’s manipulation and control. By exploring how Hindley is frawn into his dark world, Duffy reveals the complex dynamics in their relationship, and how Hindlet loses her individual agency as she becomes complicit in his crimes. The poem is a good example of entrapment, and the devasting impact of a toxic relationship.
Anne Hathaway
Duffy primarily uses this poem as a tribute to Anne Hathaway and celebrates her love and creativity. Although we can see how she was a muse to her husband, her own identity and silent contributions to his legacy are overshadowed by his towering presence. Her individualism and creativity, along with the sacrifices and compromises she makes, and relegated to the background. The poem identifies her as Anne Hathaway, and not ‘Mrs Shakespeare’, giving her this nod of acknowledgement.
Medusa
By retelling the myth of Medusa, Duffy portrays Medusa and powerful, but the readers can see how her transformation into a monster is that of a victim. Her current condition is the direct result of trauma and betrayal, and she is a victim of the gods’s whims and the cruelty of others. As she is aware of her tranformation and her monstrous form, we sense her suffering and the loss of her former self as she recounts the deep physical and emotional scars left behind from the negative experiences she had to face in her life.
Theme 2: Sexism
Duffy uses the collection as a powerful critique of sexism and the unfair treatment of women throughout history. By re-imagining well-known stories from the perspectives of female characters, Duffy exposes systemic inequalities and norms that have marginalised women, and so each poem presents women as complex and multi-faceted individuals rather than mere accessories to men’s stories. By rewriting these stories, we can say that Duffy not only condemns the historical mistreatment of women, but also calls for a reevaluation of contemporary gender dynamics.
Poems that explore this theme:
Queen Herod
By re-imagining the biblical story of King Herod from a female perspective, we see three wise queens visiting Queen Herod to warn her of a boy who will one day harm her daughter’s happiness and independence. Duffy’s queen mirrors the biblical Massacre of the Innocents, highlighting the lengths to which women must go to protect themselves and their daughters from male dominance. Through Queen Herod’s desperate attempt to shield her daughter from a future of subjugation, Duffy conveys a cycle of violence and harm for the sake of safety.
Pilate’s Wife
Duffy re-imagines another biblical story of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ through the eyes of Pontius Pilate’s wife. Duffy chooses to highlight how society elevates weak men like Pilate, while the perspectives of women like Pilate’s wife are overlooked despite being perceptive, intelligent, and morally grounded. Pilate’s wife is aware her husband will disregard her discouragement, which is evident as he looks away and washes his hands before condemning the life of Jesus, throwing away his morality to retain his sense of safety.
Mrs. Tiresias
Through the myth of Tiresias, the blind prophet who transformed into a woman for seven years, Duffy delves into the expectations placed on Mrs. Tiresias to remain with her husband despite his transformation. This reflects on the broader societal norms that impose women to be supporting and nurturing, even if they are facing drastic changes, neglect, or are being undervalued. Duffy highlights how Mrs. Tiresias is left alone to navigate everything while her loyalty is taken for granted, and her own needs are secondary to her husband’s transformation.
Mrs. Rip Van Winkle
The poem begins with Mrs. Rip Van Winkle describing her life after her husband falls asleep for twenty years. Through the newfound freedom and independence experienced by Mrs. Rip Van Winkle, Duffy critiques traditional gender roles that confine women to the domestic sphere, highlighting how her identity was largely defined by her role as a wife. Even as she develops interests that were previously suppressed, Duffy’s portrayal of Mrs. Rip Van Winkle’s reluctance to return to her old life underscores the unfairness of social expectations.
Little Red Cap
Through a re-imagining of the classic ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, Duffy’s Little Red Cap leaves her childhood behind and ventures into the woods to encounter a wolf, who is depicted as both a predatory figure and a mentor. Through Little Red Cap’s journey with the wolf, Duffy reveals the initial allure, subsequent entrapment and an unequal power dynamic with the wolf, with an expectation for Little Red Cap to remain subservient and dependent on him for her growth, since he initially guided her and exposed her to new experiences.
Related: Using Persepolis for the IO
Is this a good text for the IO?
Are you feeling a bit unsure about choosing The World’s Wife for your main Individual Orals?
The key thing to remember is that the literary text you select for your main IO assessment cannot be reused for your Paper 2 exam. Each text can only be used for one main exam.
Since this is a collection, it’s best to use it for the Individual Oral. This way, you can select three to four poems you prefer, similar to how you choose your non-literary texts. Using The World’s Wife for your Paper 2 exam might be tricky, especially if you’re comparing it to a novel, which follows a sequential structure rather than a fragmented one.
However, if you’re planning to use two poetry collections for your Paper 2 exams, then The World’s Wife is definitely the way to go!
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