To what extent is Mrs Beast typical of Carol Ann Duffys work in the Worlds Wife?

Mrs Beast is the penultimate poem of the collection and sums up Carol Ann Duffys aim of the
Worlds Wife: to give a voice to women of history and literature and to explore aspects of their lives
and personalities. As with all the poems in the Worlds Wife, Duffy follows the form of a dramatic
monologue and through the first stanza draws attention to the history of male domination and
female suppression by listing famously victimised women and revealing in Mrs Beasts tone, bitter
resentment.

Similarly, to other poems in the collection, Duffy challenges stereotypical views of women in Mrs
Beast. Duffy sets up the distribution of power for the rest of the poem as the Beast fell to his knees
at the arrival of Mrs Beast. By presenting the Beast on a lower level physically, Duffy indicates at his
obedience and submission. Duffy also shows the reader that Mrs Beast is no longer a girl, knowing
[her] own mind, to show that she is no longer a virgin or innocent and to hint at her masculine
traits. However, Duffy uses the caesura to suggest a slight tone of doubt or lack of confidence and
hint at Mrs Beasts vulnerability under her apparent confidence and ruthless facade. Duffy also
introduces the theme of loss of innocence in Little Red-cap which opens the collection with At
childhoods end. Duffy uses this metaphor to suggest that she is going to address the issue of
moving into adulthood for this poem as well as others throughout the collection. Through the
alliteration and sibilance of sweet sixteen Duffy is able to highlight to the reader the personas
innocence but the reader also gets the impression that the persona is aware that her virginity is
attractive and is possibly trying to seduce the wolf. Using imagery and symbolism Duffy also suggests
to the reader the personas loss of innocence and illustrates her virginity with the image of a white
dove, which gives connotations of purity and innocence. However unlike the character of Mrs Beast
Duffy shows the reader that the persona is still nave and with One bite, dead emphasises the
power of the wolf and his dangerous qualities.

Whilst some poems present a miserable account of mistreatment, others are a celebration of female
empowerment: in Mrs Beast, Duffy shows the reader that the persona preserves her power at the
expense of abusing the beast and her sacrifice of love. Through the game of poker and the toast to
Fay Wray Duffy shows the reader that Mrs Beast prioritises her domination over the Beast above
everything else. The last line Let the less-loving one be me which is an echo of Audens poem also
indicates this since, although the word Let suggests some reluctance, Duffy shows Mrs Beasts
determination to remain cold-hearted lest she loses her power by giving the Beast her love and
consequently joining the line of ghosts. Little Red-Cap also celebrates the liberation of the persona
however here the persona cannot gain her freedom or find her voice until she leaves the wolf. The
last line also differs as Duffy ends the poem with a joyous mood and the girl comes out of the forest
with [her] flowers, singing, all alone. Duffy reinforces the idea that the persona is better off without
the wolf as she is alone and the flowers are symbolic of her new found independence.

Although carrying some serious messages, Duffy employs humour to various effects in the collection.
Duffy shows the reader that Mrs Beast rejects the idea of changing herself for a man and gives the
example of The Little Mermaid who slit her silver tail in two and rubbed salt/into [the] stinking
wound. Whilst the sibilance and hard ts reflect Mrs Beasts disgust and frustration, Duffys use of
colloquial language lightens the tone and adds humour to the otherwise graphic imagery. On a
serious note Duffy is commenting on and possibly expressing her disapproval at the lengths that
some women go to please men, however her use of satire makes the actions of The Little Mermaid
entertaining for the reader. Similarly, in Little Red-Cap Duffy uses colloquial language to end the
first stanza that begins by building up a sense of danger and an ominous tone until the persona
recalls that she clapped eyes on the wolf. The sudden change of tone from serious to humorous as
well as the use of language gives a comical effect.

The use of enjambment in Mrs Beast allows Duffy to change the pace and add emphasis to the ideas
expressed by the persona. Through the separation of the sex/is better Duffy links the two stanzas
together which suggests to the reader that Mrs Beast doesnt recognise or doesnt see the
importance of recognising any difference between a good looking prince or an ugly beast apart
from the point that she makes. Duffy also manages to add sincerity to Mrs Beasts tone as the
rhythm slows down and her statement almost comes across as a fact as she makes her point quite
bluntly. Likewise, in Little Red-Cap Duffy uses enjambment to enhance critical moments such as the
enjambment from stanza six which establishes the personas transformation and development as
she took an axe/to a willow. The sudden use of violence builds tension whilst the enjambment
enables Duffy to maintain a casual tone, which decreases the sinisterness and encourages the reader
to observe the axe to the wolf as a celebratory moment.

The stanzaic structure of most poems represents different stages from which the women experience
a new journey that changes their initial attitudes. For example, Little Red-Cap is written in iambic
pentameter form and follows the journey of a girl from innocence to experience and becoming a
poet. However, Duffy divides Mrs Beast into seven stanzas, which begin to increase in length up to
the third stanza. The length and violent content of the third stanza allows Duffy to reflect on the
passion in the Mrs Beasts tone whilst she ends the poem with a more composed and peaceful scene
in the last stanza. The stanzas follow Mrs Beasts argument and justification for her treatment of the
beast and Duffy demonstrates to the reader Mrs Beasts stubbornness as she maintains her strong
opinion.

1043 words, 59 from quotations






























[value she places on sex is above love or anything else] Increaeseclarity!!!

[female empowerement-both??] [Fit in quotationin this para]


POINTS:-

CHALLENGES STEREOTYPLICAL VIEW- MRS B IS NOT NICE/NEITHER IS RED CAP INNOCENT-
ROLE REVERSAL
BREAKDOWN.COMMUNICATION.POWER-RELATIONSHIPS EXPLORES THIS THEME
LOVE





THEME
FORM
STRUCTURE - most are stanza of regular length/enjambment/sentence
fragments/
LANGUAGE-IMAGERY



the form(DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE) of a poem encapsulates its mode - e.g. elegy, sonnet,
ballad - its based on number of lines, rhyme scheme, metrical formulation, mood can also
come into this as well as content

the structure of a poem is more like how its split into stanzas, or also how it develops, for
example, the first three stanzas might introduce a crisis and the last three might resolve the
crisis
Ideally this should be a piece of shaped writing with an argument rather than a collection of
observations on an extract/critical appreciation and the best way this can be achieved is to
set a task that relates the passage to the wider text in some way. (How characteristic of xs
style and concerns in the collection as a whole is this poem? To what extent is the behaviour
of y in this scene out of character with the rest of the play? In what ways does chapter z set
up the main issues of the novel and how are they developed later?) This ensures that the
requirement for full text study is met by this item.
AO1: articulate creative, informed and relevant responses to literary texts, using
appropriate terminology and concepts, and coherent, accurate written expression
AO2: demonstrate detailed critical understanding in analysing the ways in which structure, form and
language shape meanings in literary texts.