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    Duffy ordered the poems in The World's Wife anthology to tell a story. The first poem, Little Red-Cap, introduces themes of coming of age, women appropriating male power/language, and reviving forgotten female poets. The last poem, Demeter, concludes on themes of women's independence, strength of female relationships, and hope for the future generation of women. There are links between the first and last poems through their focus on empowering women and giving voice to their experiences.

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    Duffy ordered the poems in The World's Wife anthology to tell a story. The first poem, Little Red-Cap, introduces themes of coming of age, women appropriating male power/language, and reviving forgotten female poets. The last poem, Demeter, concludes on themes of women's independence, strength of female relationships, and hope for the future generation of women. There are links between the first and last poems through their focus on empowering women and giving voice to their experiences.

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    Duffy ordered the poems in The World's Wife anthology to tell a story. The first poem, Little Red-Cap, introduces themes of coming of age, women appropriating male power/language, and reviving forgotten female poets. The last poem, Demeter, concludes on themes of women's independence, strength of female relationships, and hope for the future generation of women. There are links between the first and last poems through their focus on empowering women and giving voice to their experiences.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    2K views2 pages

    Groupings

    Uploaded by

    pierrette1
    Duffy ordered the poems in The World's Wife anthology to tell a story. The first poem, Little Red-Cap, introduces themes of coming of age, women appropriating male power/language, and reviving forgotten female poets. The last poem, Demeter, concludes on themes of women's independence, strength of female relationships, and hope for the future generation of women. There are links between the first and last poems through their focus on empowering women and giving voice to their experiences.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    Viewing the anthology as a whole

    Why has Duffy decided to put her poems in the order they appear in the anthology? What story is she telling? In
    your groups, complete the grid, and then individually answer the following question (write about a side of A4):
    What links are there between the first and last poems of The World’s Wife and how are they fitting as
    the introduction and the conclusion to the anthology as a whole?

    Poem(s) Main themes / Imagery


    Coming of age – losing virginity. Women appropriating the power (language) that men
    Little Red-Cap
    once had. Revives female poets previously hidden – gives them a voice.
    Thetis

    Queen Herod

    Mrs Midas

    From Mrs Tiresias

    Pilate’s wife

    Mrs Aesop

    Mrs Darwin

    Mrs Sisyphus

    Mrs Faust

    Delilah

    Anne Hathaway

    Queen Kong

    Mrs Quasimodo

    Medusa

    The Devil’s wife

    Circe

    Mrs Lazarus

    Pygmalion’s Bride

    Mrs Rip Van Winkle

    Mrs Icarus

    Frau Freud

    Salome

    Eurydice

    The Kray Sisters

    Elvis’ Twin sister

    Pope Joan

    Penelope

    Mrs Beast
    Women independent – don’t need men. Strength of mother/daughter relationship and
    Demeter bond between women. Female reproductive cycle linked to nature – the moon, spring,
    fertility. New hope – future generation of intelligent and eloquent women.
    Homework: Select which poems you would choose discuss if you were faced with the
    following questions and write a couple of bullet points for each poem to say why you have
    selected it:
    1.In Mrs Darwin, Duffy uses humour in order to challenge history’s view of Darwin’s theory of evolution.
    Choosing three more poems, comment on how Duffy uses humour to promote her viewpoint to the reader.

    2.“Duffy presents male/female relationships as being essentially flawed and that it is usually women who find
    themselves suffering for this.” How do you respond to this statement? Refer to at least 3 poems in your
    response.

    3.In telling the story of Samson and Delilah from a female perspective (in Delilah), Duffy offers the reader a
    new insight into a biblical story. Using this and two other poems of your choosing, comment on how Duffy
    offers new perspectives on Bible stories.

    4.“In rewriting traditional children’s tales, Duffy is attempting to redress the origins of many of the stereotypes
    that she sees as impacting on women’s lives in the 21st century.” What evidence can you find in at least 3
    of her poems to support this viewpoint?

    5.How does Duffy bring an air of tragedy to the stories of women who were previously condemned or
    ignored?

    6.Ranging throughout the anthology, or focussing on three poems of your choice, comment on how Duffy
    creates contrasting and distinctive female voices.

    7.“The prevailing mood throughout the anthology is one of anger.” Referring to at least 3 poems in your
    response, comment on how Duffy creates this mood of anger.

    8.“The most successful of all of Duffy’s poems in the collection are her love poems.” With reference to at
    least three of her poems, comment on how successfully you think Duffy writes about love.

    9.“One of Duffy’s greatest achievements is in allowing us to sympathise with characters who are traditionally
    thought of as embodying evil.” Comment on this statement, referring to at least 3 of her poems.

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