Analysis of Mrs Midas

Sta Point/Language example Purpose/ Effect

n Feature
za
1 Simple sentence It was late September Statement sets scene in past.
Past tense Timeframe quite specific. End of harvest
time, looking forward to winter.
Colours of autumn: golds, yellows.
Foreshadows change to the Midas’s
relationship, which is coming to an end.
Contrast, though, between natural
ending of harvest and unnatural ending
cause by Midas’ selfishness.
Compound I’d just poured a glass of Emphasizes that an action in the past
complex sentence wine,/ begun to unwind, finished before another action in the
past started. Suggests to reader a
using past perfect while the vegetables story is about to be told. Indicates the
tense (had) cooked. speaker is telling the story at a later
point in time from where she is looking
back on the past.
Sensory images Wine=colour (visual Creates sense of immediacy, pleasure
qualities), sensation on in the moment, feeling of luxury &
comfort
palate (touch/ taste)
Vegetables cooked=smell,
taste
Half-rhyme Wine/unwind Long vowel (‘i’) creates a musical quality
pleasing to the ear; links the alcohol to
speaker’s growing feeling of relaxation,
a sensation which also impacts on the
reader.
personification The kitchen/ filled with the An object (the kitchen) is given human
smell of itself, relaxed, its qualities. Enhances the cosy, domestic
steamy breath/gently nature of the scene. The kitchen is at
blanching the windows one with the speaker, linked by the act
of producing delicious food. Everything
seems comfortable, safe and well.
simile Wiped the other’s glass like Compares the windows to a human face
a brow — a precise picture is created of the
speaker’s gesture, whereby wiping the
window means she can see her husband
in the garden. What she sees him doing
(turning things to gold, an expression of
his monetary greed) marks the moment
of change, which will destroy their
marriage.
Enjambment begun Although the sense carries on like a
(overflow lines) to unwind prose sentence and emulates the
patterns of speech, the poet breaks the
line after “begun” to create a subtle
rhythm. The cadence of the poem (its
measure or beat of movement, as in
 dancing or marching) is affected. As a
result, the reader is more focused on
the speaker’s experience of unwinding
and relaxing—which means what
happens next is the greater shock.
onomatopoeia snapping Where the sound echoes the sense; the
plosive ‘snap’ contrasts to the long
vowels of the previous lines (e.g. wine/
unwind, steamy, blanching). Marks a
change of mood, with connotations of
violence —the tone is no longer relaxed
and slow, it is edgy and disturbing.
2 Personification the dark of the ground The subject (dark) is active, drinking the
seems to drink the light of object (sky). The power of the dark is
the sky emphasised, growing at the expense of
light. It prefigures what will happen to
the Midases’ relationship.
Verbal oppositions Dark/light; ground/sky Emphasises contrast, mythic battle
between forces of nature
Parallel structures Dark of the ground/light of Creates rhythm and a beat; draws
the sky attention to the threat represented by
Midas’s wish being granted.
Allusion Twig in his hand was gold Despite the contemporary setting, we
recognise the underlying classical myth
of Kind Midas; realise this story is about
greed and avarice
Coordinating And then Joins sentence to he last one, following
conjunction the patterns of spoken speech; Builds
idea the speaker is anxious to share her
story.
alliteration plucked a pear Draws attention to the action--a
demonstration of Midas’s new power to
turn objects to gold.
Half-rhyme Fondante d’Automne/on Highlights the visual quality of the gold
pear, and thus the terrible power Midas
now has to create wealth
simile Like a light bulb Emphasises shape of the pear and
brightness of the gold and therefore its
monetary value
Irony Fondante d’Automne Means “melting Fall” (=Autumn);
developed in C19 France; green with a
golden hue; grown as dessert pear. The
Midases (who are English in this poem)
grow a French variety which may
symbolise their aspirations to elegance
and style. Instead the solid gold pear
represents imminent destruction of
their life style, hopes and dreams.
Rhetorical Is he putting fairy lights in The question signals Mrs Midas is
question the tree? disturbed. She senses something is not
right, but is not yet really worried.
3 Parallel simple He came into the Paints picture of an ordinary man
sentences house...He drew the blinds coming home doing ordinary things, but
whose impact is extraordinary
(everything turning to gold). The
speaker is beginning to realise her
husband has truly changed.
Internal rhyme Blinds/mind Hypnotic sound effect of long vowels,
suggesting the speaker is in a state of
shock.
Allusion/reference Field of the Cloth of Gold Henry VIII of England met King Francois
I of France at Calais in 1520. The two
kings practically bankrupted their
countries trying to show who was the
richest. Midas is turning everything in
their house to gold and is in the process
beginning to bankrupt his marriage.
Allusion/reference Miss Macready The name of CAD’s history teacher at
school
Conversational…
Simile; He sat in that chair like a This Midas is an ordinary man, but his
Allusion/reference King on a burnished throne new powers make him like a King;
echoes of Shakespeare’s Queen
Cleopatra sailing on the river Cydnus to
meet Anthony, who will become her
lover. Irony in that Midas is a
vulnerable and fallible man, not a real
King, and he will lose love rather than
gain love.
Listing of 3, Strange, wild, vain Describes Midas as out of character,
adjectives self-focused, self-absorbed
Interrogative What in the name of God is Used colloquially as an exclamation;
sentence going on? betrays the speaker’s heightened sense
of anxiety
4 simple sentence I served up the meal. Mrs Midas is trying to maintain
normality, go through her usual routine
despite the odd behaviour of her
husband
Alliteration corn on the cob The hard ‘c’s introduce an unsettling
Dissonance element to a normal meal. In the
allusion original tale Ovid refers to the ‘grain of
Ceres’ echoed here in Duffy’s version
metaphor The teeth of the rich The shape and colour of the gold corn
provide a vision image for the reader.
Of course only rich people can afford
gold fillings too
verb toyed Connotations of childishness tell us that
Mrs Midas is still enjoying the novelty of
his new talent and hasn’t yet realised
the serious implications of his gift.
listing This is a catalogue of golden things
touched by Midas’ roaming hand. The
 picture is of an idle touching with no
thought or purpose. Midas is amusing
himself with his newfound gift.
adjective shaking She works out the danger…
List/rule of 3 a fragrant, bone-dry white Indicates that the Midases value
from Italy sophisticated living (like the French pear
tree) Trivial detail a feature of the
poem, making it more conversational in
tone
alliteration glass, goblet, golden Visual … transformation
nouns chalice Hard gs
Last supper allusions
5 simple sentence It was then that I started to separated from cause by verse break …
scream. shock

simple sentence, He sank to his knees. simple action showing shock

use of hard k
long vowel After we had both calmed Contrast to short sentences (sound)
sounds, complex down Long vowels indicate some recovery
sentence from the initial shock. Also reinforce
calmness.
verb made She rather than he is in control
humour I locked the cat in the Humour is consistent with story-telling
cellar. The toilet I didn’t Mrs Midas is smart enough…
mind. She now can see the funny side of the
situation.
6 play on words Look, we all have wishes, Tone is bitter? Annoyed? Incredulous?
granted. But who has their She is educated, intelligent
wishes granted?
pronoun Him. Male, like original story
minor sentence Emphasis on the fact that…
rhetorical Do you know about gold? Keeps audience interested, story=telling
question device
Make reader think
vocab choice Feeds, aurum, slakes, She educated – sophisticated vocab
entranced, luteous Aurum = latin for gold
It cannot sustain, therefore it should
not be important to anyone
 humour you’ll be able to give up Ironic
smoking for good. Humour gives ‘relief’ in the poem, not
all grim and negative
Story-telling after the event, shows that
she is ‘over’ it, or trying to make light of
a horrendous situation
7 minor sentence Separate beds. Presented as a statement with no
argument
vocab choice petrified Not only scared but petrified also
adjective means turned to stone (ie gold)
allusion …the spare room into the He is literally turning everything into
metaphor tomb of Tutankhamun gold but tomb connotes death.
Tutankhamun had all the riches in the
world but it didn’t do him any good ‘cos
he was still… dead – as Mr Midas will be
shortly
preposition then A position in the past. That Mr Midas
should have chosen to ruin that
closeness makes the tale more poignant
adjective halcyon Emphasises the sound relationship that
they had had
simile unwrapping each other, Present = excitement, pleasure,
rapidly, like presents, fast anticipation
food Fast food indicates no ‘preparation’, a
sudden, overwhelming passion
adjective honeyed embrace Normally a pleasant expression,
irony referring to the sweetness of honey but
here, the golden colour of honey would
mean death for her
imagery turn my lips to a work of = a statue that someone could admire
art because she had been turned into a
solid object
8 idiom When it comes to the Language suitable for a tale, a
crunch conversation
pun Who… can live with a heart This can be taken 2 ways – who can live
of gold? with someone who is dangerously
focussed on gold, and no one can
actually live if their beating heart is
turned into solid metal. Again, the
phrase if normally used in a positive,
pleasant way, but Duffy has subverted it
for her own purpose. Mrs Midas is using
wry humour again
 allusion I dreamt I bore his child In Hawthorne’s version, Midas had a
child which was turned into gold. The
child, too, represents the loss of Mrs
Midas’ dream for a child because it is
now impossible for her to conceive.
onomatopoeia ore = au , chemical symbol for gold, aural
play on words
Ore is raw metal
simile its little tongue like a Latch, a catch for a door or window,
precious latch mobile but stiff
metaphor its amber eyes holding Suggests flies caught at the centre of a
their pupils like flies web
alliteration burned in my breasts The sound in pronouncing these b s
plosive echoes the pain produced by the un-
consonants drunk milk in her breasts. It evokes a cry
of anguish.
9 verb So he had to move out She gave him no choice
noun glade This word is normally used in pleasant
irony pastoral scenes. It has positive
connotations
phraseology under the cover of dark Is she ashamed or protecting him?
simple sentences So he had to move out. There is a sense of Mrs Midas being in
He sat in the back. control. The sentences are statements,
over which there is no discussion, no
dissent.
phraseology odd times Gives a sense of a period of time
idiom a good way off As in story-telling
10. pronouns You knew you were getting 2nd person phraseology indicates the
close audience to whom Mrs Midas is
speaking
metaphor a beautiful lemon mistake Instead of a fruit that should be hanging
from the tree, it is a golden, dead, hare
allusion the music of Pan In the original tale, King Midas was
besotted with Pan’s (God of the
woods)music
minor sentence Listen Is this Midas saying “Listen”? If so, Duffy
does not put this in speech marks which
eliminates his voice in the same way
that we never know his first name. He is
referred to anonymously as ‘he’
cliché The last straw Colour
idiom Informal speech again
Mrs Midas can no longer support her
husband.
11 idiom What gets me now Informal language to a listener
pronoun me We are all egocentric!
simple sentence Pure selfishness. Although at first glance we can see that
juxtaposition Mr Midas has been selfish in his wish,
but we can also read this as her
selfishness in only thinking of “me”. She
expresses no sympathy for her husband
 in the poem, and yes, she is thinking
about herself.
preposition here Tells us that she is now in a different
place and is addresses some unseen
inhabitants of “here”
phraseology in certain lights, dawn, late Are these the “odd times” that she had
afternoon visited him? Those times, certainly
afternoon would be associated with Mr
Midas for the time when his wish came
true and for the golden light at that
time
allusion bowl of apples Adam and Eve – this time it is the Adam
figure who has succumbed to
temptation with disastrous
consequences rather than Eve in the
Garden of Eden.
Apples may be golden in colour
The original King Midas changed apples
into gold.
repetition His hands, his warm Emphasises her loss
hands… his touch