Is anyone doing Carol Ann Duffy's 'The World's Wife'?

Does anyone have any ideas for essays with the question-
how far would you agree in this collection, duffy shows no sympathy to men?
Any help would be much appreciated.

thanx for the notes rachie

Hello again everyone, tomorrow we have a times essay on the poem of 'Eurydice', I have wrote a BRIEF essay and was wondering whether I am on the right track?

Remind yourself of ‘Eurydice’. To what extent do you agree that this poem is the key to the whole collection.

Carol Ann Duffy wrote ‘The World’s Wife’ in order to illustrate that notable men in the past were not completely superior and that women who knew them actually had views and opinions on the world. Duffy is giving the female voice authority and assertiveness; a reoccurring theme throughout her poetry. It can also be interpreted that Duffy wrote this collection in order to demonstrate the dominance men have in literature today, she is one of the few female published writers and therefore creates a backlash against the male gender.
‘Eurydice’ is Duffy’s unique take on the classic myth between Orpheus and Eurydice, after being bitten by a snake, Eurydice was poisoned and quickly died. Subsequently, Orpheus mourned for days and the Gods took pity on him, telling him he would be able to retrieve her as long as he did not look back and that “one look” would make him lose Eurydice forever. In hindsight, Orpheus lost Eurydice due to his own anxiety, however, Duffy continues her classic twist on the story and he loses Eurydice due to his own arrogance. This particular poem combines many of Duffy’s themes such as the female voice, love or lack of it and the hatred of the male gender, and to an extent it can be viewed as the key to the whole collection.
Throughout the poem, Duffy uses in abundance the language device of the rule of three to indicate Eurydice does not want to go back to the over world with Orpheus; ‘Him. Big O. Larger than life.’ The reader immediately feels a sense of detachment between the two personas as indicated by ‘him’, moreover, Duffy’s blend of alliteration and a common cliché on ‘larger than life’ is indicative that Orpheus is portrayed as being arrogant and pompous, which is further continued when he ‘strutted his stuff.’ It could be interpreted that this phrase is Duffy’s hint at a sexual innuendo, and possibly the sole reason in which why Eurydice misses her husband.
Sexual innuendos are also hinted at in the poem of ‘Queen Kong’. The persona indicates to the reader that the male of interest is ‘small, but perfectly formed.’ As a consequence, the reader is able to realise that sexual imagery is rife throughout Duffy’s poetry and quickly becomes something they appreciate and acknowledge.
‘Eurydice’ also contains one of Duffy’s most frequently used language devices, the one word sentence. In this poem, the persona hints at sarcasm that Orpheus is brilliant; ‘Big O was the boy. Legendary.’ Big O has dual connotations, it can be interpreted that he was amazing in all that he did although it must be remembered that O is symbolic for nothing, and Duffy indicates to the reader this is the interpretation she is putting across here. The use of the adjective ‘legendary’ on its own further reinforces the authority and power in which Orpheus believed he had but in which Eurydice despised him for.
Similarly, the poem which also has frequent one sentences is ‘The Kray Sisters.’ The colloquialism used frequently by Duffy and the cockney rhyming slang combined with the one word sentence ’nice’ illustrates that the dual personas in this poem enjoy London and love when the ’lights tarted up the old Thames.’ The use of alliteration also emphasises their opinion further.
Orpheus is portrayed as a sensitive artist and he takes pleasure and pride in his written works, mainly themed around Eurydice. However, it is something she also despises about him and remarks “I must follow him back to our life…trapped in his images in his images, metaphors, similes…histories, myths…”
The reader is able to gain the impression that the persona will soon feel smothered and subservient to the male, and the use of verb ‘trapped’ is indicative of this. Duffy’s continued use of the rule of three indicates the varied amount of “pain” she will have to suffer and the use of ellipsis on the end indicates there is no ending to what he can do and how boring she perceives it.
This is an explicit contrast to how the relationship between man and woman is portrayed in the poem ‘Anne Hathaway’, the persona takes constant gratification in Shakespeare’s fantastic deployment of linguistic devices; “a verb dancing in the centre of a noun.” This is a sexual metaphor and the reader gains the impression that the persona enjoys intercourse with the male and she appeals to his best talent, which is the complete opposite to how Eurydice views Orpheus.

I have not concluded it and I have plenty more to include but I do not want to continue if I will not get into a good band.