Revision:The World's Wife by Carol Ann Duffy

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List of Poems

"Little Red Cap", "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's Twin Sister", "Pope Joan", "Penelope", "Mrs. Beast", "Demeter"

Themes

Duffy's Style

Past Questions

• A critic has written that “Duffy’s poetry is primarily concerned with human failings”. To what extent do you feel this is true of ‘The World’s Wife’? In your answer, you should either refer to two or three poems in detail or range more widely through the whole collection.

• “The problem with ‘The World’s Wife’ is that, having found one good joke, Duffy just tells it over and over again.” How far do you agree with this assessment of ‘The World’s Wife’? In your answer, you should either refer to two or three poems in detail or range more widely through the whole collection.

• How far do you agree with the view that ‘The World’s Wife’ is “nothing but feminist propaganda”? In your answer, you should either refer to two or three poems in detail or range more widely through the whole collection.

• Duffy has said of this collection: “It’s meant to be funny, but there’s also a darker side.” How far do you agree with this assessment of ‘The World’s Wife’? In your answer, you should either refer to two or three poems in detail or range more widely through the whole collection.

• “in this collection Duffy shows no sympathy for men.” How far do you agree with this assessment of ‘The World’s Wife’? In your answer, you should either refer to two or three poems in detail or range more widely through the whole collection.

• Duffy published ‘Mrs Midas’ several years before its inclusion in ‘The World’s Wife’. To what extent do you agree with the view that, in terms of subject matter and style, this poem is the key to the whole collection?

• Remind yourself of ‘The Kray Sisters’. How far do you agree with the view that, in terms of subject matter and style, this poem is the key to the whole collection?

• Remind your self of the last poem in ‘The World’s Wife’: Demeter. To what extent do you agree with the view that, in terms of subject matter and style, this poem is an appropriate conclusion to the collection?

• Remind your self of the first poem in ‘The World’s Wife’: Little Red Cap. To what extent do you agree with the view that, in terms of subject matter and style, this poem is an appropriate introduction to the collection?

• Remind yourself of ‘Mrs Beast’. How far do you agree with the view that, in terms of subject matter and style, this poem is the key to the whole collection?

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