Flashcards
Mrs Midas
Cards in this deck (20)
- 1"It was late September"Speaker creates a context by mentioning the month as she recalls a specific incident- we imagine autumnal tones in the garden. She is reflecting. September reminds us of things changing.
- 2"I'd just poured a glass of wine, began to unwind, while the vegetables cooked."An ordinary domestic scene. We can picture Mrs Midas after a busy, perhaps a stressful day being desperate to put her feet up before dinner.
- 3"So i opened one, then with my fingers wiped the other glass like a brow"She opens the window to let the build-up of steam/heat escape. Her actions ( the way she does this) shows that she is a physical person. She is tender. Interesting simile, "Like a brow" suggests physical contact between people, one caring for another, perhaps a role Mrs Midas is used as a wife. Use of personification in the first stanza- the house is alike- a contrast to how everything will be from now on.
- 4"the dark of the ground seems to drink the light of the sky but that twig in his hand was gold"There is a contrast between the light and the dark. Duffy's use of a metaphor "drink the light of the sky" this sensual image hints at a simple action Midas is unable to do (consume foodstuffs and liquids). This develops our understanding of what he has done.
- 5"It sat in his hand like a lightbulb"Simile suggests the change in the pear-dramatic nature of this ordinary fruit, frozen in time and changed into solid gold.
- 6"I thought of the field of the cloth of gold"This refers to the meaning between King Henry VIII and the King of France I. This was a meeting between powerful Kings but it was a basic show of masculinity and wealth.
- 7"The teeth of the rich"Back in the days the rich and wealthy people used to have gold fillings put in, however, the poet uses this to describe the pieces of corn that Midas has bitten off as they literally turn to gold at his touch and look like golden teeth.
- 8"I poured with shaking hand, a fragment, bone- dry white from Italy."Her reaction, she is upset and fearful. Mrs Midas finds the situation stressful/confusing and even dangerous. This is evidently shown in her physical reaction as she uses wine to help her deal with the reality of the situation Midas has put them in.
- 9"The glass, goblet, golden chalice, drank"The poet lists and alliteration creates a hard sound. Mrs Midas tries to process what she has just seen as she has never witnessed such stages of change before. As the poet compares the lass to a chalice it can alos have an underlying meaning that has connections to Holy Communion and hints at the idea that this may be their last meal together.
- 10"It was then i started to scream"Her reaction. It is evident that her reaction is one of fear and terror.
- 11"He sank to his knees"His reaction creates the a sense of defeat. This sentence make the readers question if Midas has realised the extent of what he has done and that he regrets his selfishness as his greed has overwhelmed not only him but his wife also.
- 12"I locked the cat in the cellar. I moved the phone. The toilet i didn't mind"The poet uses humour in these short abrupt sentences and informs the reader that Mrs Midas is sticking to her principles and beginning to take control.
- 13"We all have wishes; granted. But who has wishes granted?"Duffy's sentence structure and clever word play suggests humour. Duffy then inserts a deliberate pause to imitate the speaker’s incredulity upon hearing how her husband has been "granted" a wish. The word ‘granted’ is a pun which is repeated to convey her opinion that, in general, people can and do make wishes but if they are going to be given, then of course her "fool" of a husband had to be the one to have his wish come true.
- 14"Seperate beds"The remainder of the poem continues to highlight the damage Midas’ gift has done to their relationship with the beginning of stanza seven summarising the full effect in this single statement. Mrs Midas’ terror of her husband touching her is continued and emphasised as she reveals how she even puts a chair against the door at night because she is "near petrified", scared of being turned into gold, a harsh consequence and the reality, should he come near her.
- 15"tomb of Tutankhamun."Humour again, offers a bit of light relief as she relays how the spare room has been transformed into the impressive. This symbolises that their relationship and dreams are effectively dead.
- 16"Who…can live with a heart of gold?"She begs the question. Usually, this expression has positive connotations and is associated with kindness and empathy. Here, this familiar metaphor is ironically inverted as the literal meaning is implied, inferring that it would be impossible to survive as a living being with such a heart.
- 17"Waking to the streaming sun"Duffy again, poignantly reminds us that each day she will awake to a world in which gold dominates every waking moment.
- 18"under cover of dark"She then conveys how she had to drive him to live in their isolated caravan and how she returns alone as: "the woman who married the fool," clearly blaming her husband for stupidly wishing for gold. She tells of how at first she visited at odd times, always parking the car a safe distance away in case she was affected by his gift.
- 19"even now, his hands, his warm hands on my skin, his touch"In the end, the poet is reminding us that the myth of Midas, normally only viewed in connection with how it affected Midas and his life, also affected his poor wife who, even after all her anger has been unleashed, is still left alone with nothing but a wistful, regretful sense of loss for the man she married. In a poignant line, she remembers fondly their once full, physical relationship and mourns its passing.
- 20"hands"The repetition of this word emphasises too that his touch, once a potent symbol of their intimacy is now lost forever and reminds us that, unlike human skin to skin contact, gold is cold and hard.
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- Flashcards on Mrs Midas, created by hayley-stewart on 21/04/2015.
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- hayley-stewart
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