Mrs Midas Carol Ann Duffy

8/16/2019 Mrs Midas Carol Ann Duffy

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Mrs Midas

Carol Ann Duffy



Mrs. Midas - Context

Who was King Midas?



King Midas

In Greek mythology King Midas was granted a

wish !y the god Dionysus. Midas "hose to ha#e

the a!ility of ha#ing anything he tou"h turn to

gold. $owe#er Midas tou"hed his daughter and she

!e"ame a gold statue. $e also "ouldn%t eat

anything !e"ause his food turned to gold.

$e e#entually !egged for his &owers to !e

re#ersed.



Mrs Midas

'his is a dramatic monologue told from

the &oint of Midas% wife.

It ex&lores how she feels a!out thesituation with her hus!and and her

&ers&e"ti#e on his wish ( of all the things

he "ould ha#e wished for he wished for

this. What does this say a!out what kindof &erson he is?



)tuff that will !e useful to know

*lan"hing ( method of "ooking ( !oil somethingfor a short &eriod of time and then su!merge it in"old water to halt the "ooking &ro"ess.

+ondante d%Automne ( a deli"ious ty&e of &earwith sweet flesh.

+ield of the Cloth of Gold ( A &la"e of meeting!etween King $enry ,III and King +ran"is .

Miss Ma"ready ( Mrs. M%s history tea"her.



)tuff that will !e useful to know

*urnished ( olished metal

Aurum ( /atin word for gold

/uteous ( a moderate greenish yellow

'utankhamun ( An 0gy&tian &haraoh.

$al"yon ( "alm &ea"eful days

1re ( ty&e of ro"k that "ontains im&ortant metal

elements

an ( Greek God nature.



Form and structure

Modern resetting of a familiar legend

Dramati" monologue

'he &oem 2 stan3as 4verses5 long6

0a"h stan3a 7 lines long6 regular length

unrhymed

A&&rox. 8 ( 9 sylla!les 2 relaxed narrati#e

effe"t.

:n&redi"ta!le length of lines refle"ts how

un&redi"ta!le life !e"omes for Mr and Mrs

Midas.



Internal rhyme (rhyme within the lines) used as well

as personification and frequent enjambment to

convey the speaker’s train of thought.

ives the narrative a feeling of prose.

;hythm in the ideas too as "on"e&ts !uild on one

another and !e"ome "lear to the reader.



!one and style

" conversational feel "reated with asides andinter<e"tions 4interru&tions5 of added or =ualifying

information. 0ffe"t 2 intima"y !etween the s&eaker

and listener.

Con#ersational tone ( sin"e we noti"e the story wealmost forget how horrifi" and weird the e#ents are.

#eferences to touch are su!tle at the start !ut in

the se"ond half of the &oem the notes oftenderness are more e#ident.



"llusion

In one piece of literature$ there is a reference to

another piece of literature$ literary idea or well%

known reference.

>o s&e"ifi" ex&lanation is re=uired in the text and the

referen"e is therefore loaded with "onnotations and

ideas.

'here are allusions in Mrs Midas



@+ield of the Cloth of Gold%'he site of a meeting that took &la"e in

+ran"e from Bune to 8 Bune 98

!etween King $enry ,III and King

+ran"is I of +ran"e. 'he glamour and

extra#agan"e of the meeting showedtwo &rin"es out-doing ea"h other with

their show of ri"hes.

;ele#an"e to Mrs Midas?



'utankhamun !utankhamun was an 0gy&tian &haraoh

4"a. EE8 *C ( E8E *C5.

'he F88 dis"o#ery !y $oward Carter andGeorge $er!ert of 'utankhamuns tom!

re"ei#ed worldwide &ress "o#erage.

'he tom! was largely inta"t so the

ar"haeologists were a!le to understand the

manner of the !urial and all the ri"hes of theKing were sealed in the tom! whi"h was a

tremendous find.

It s&arked a renewed &u!li" interest in

an"ient 0gy&t.



Initial reading activities…

. What is your fa#ourite des"ri&tion and why?

8. What ideas and "onnotations are suggested !y the setting 4timeand &la"e5 of the &oem?

E. What des"ri&tions or words are unfamiliar ( how might their"ontext hel& you work out their meaning?

. Mrs Midas adds in &ie"es of extra information as asides to hel&her narrati#e along. Identify a "ou&le of these and suggest why

she does this.

9. Identify exam&les or e#iden"e of humour and word &lay ( whatdoes it add to the &oem and your #iew of the s&eaker?

7. 'here are a num!er of idioms and well-known &hrases whi"hare referen"ed in the &oem ( find two and "omment on the

effe"ti#eness of their in"lusion.. What themes might !e &resent in the &oem?

H. What is your o#er-riding feeling a!out what kind of &erson MrsMidas is?





"nalysis

We%ll analyse the first stan3a together using a few

=uestions as the !asis for dis"ussion then you will work

in grou&s to analyse the rest of the &oem.

- *riefly note down what is ha&&ening in ea"h stan3a.

- What te"hni=ues ha#e !een used?



It was late September. I’d just poured a glass of wine, begun

to unwind, while the vegetables cooked. The kitchen

filled with the smell of itself, relaxed, its steam breath

gentl blanching the windows. So I opened one,

then with m fingers wiped the other’s glass like a brow.

!e was standing under the pear tree snapping a twig.

A ty&i"al domesti" s"ene is

&resented in the first stan3a.

'he language used to des"ri!e

the s"ene refle"ts the mood of

Mrs Midas as she @unwinds%

@September % ( a time we

would associate with the

golden "olours of autumn. *ut

also things "oming to an end.

"ersonification of

kit"hen "reates a

warm a&&ealing

atmos&here.

#tmosphere is shattered !y the final line

‘snapping a twig.% ( connotes something

#iolent. !arsh consonant sounds in final &hrase

"ontrast with softer "onsonant and #owel sounds

earlier in the stan3a.

Simile introdu"es im&ortan"e

of sense of tou"h to Mrs M (

she is later no longer a!le to

tou"h Midas.



$ow the garden was long and the visibilit poor, the wa

the dark of the ground seems to drink the light of the sk,

but that twig in his hand was gold. #nd then he plucked a pear from a branch % we grew &ondante d'#utomne %

and it sat in his palm like a light bulb. (n.

I thought to mself, Is he putting fair lights in the tree)

Mr M%s dis!elief o#er what is ha&&ening

is emphasised !y the length of time she

takes to "om&rehend what she is

seeing @fingers wiped % the window in

stan3a . >ow the @visibility poor %.

"ersonification @dark of the ground

seems to drink the light of the sky % (

sounds ominous. *eflects the idea of

life !eing drained from something.

+ontrast !etween la"k of light in first

two lines and !rightness of @gold % twig

and &ear @like a lightbulb.% 'his simile

seems unnatural ( and &erha&s

sym!olises Midas realising

Structure 4@On.%5 adds dramati" effe"t.

Juestion in last line again highlights

Mrs M%s dis!elief.



$e "ame into the house. 'he doorkno!s gleamed.

$e drew the !linds. ou know the mind6 I thought of

the +ield of the Cloth of Gold and of Miss Ma"ready.

$e sat in that "hair like a king on a !urnished throne.

'he look on his fa"e was strange wild #ain. I said

What in the name of God is going on? $e started to laugh.

'he name @Midas% is not mentioned (

&erha&s reflecting the !lame Mrs

Midas &uts on her hus!and for what

he does.

Mrs M is reminded of a history lesson

( +ields of the Cloth where Kings of

0ngland and +ran"e met to show off

their great wealth.

Midas is described as king like. $is

look @strange, wild, vain% refle"ts

his greed and selfishness as well as

him "ontem&lating what has

ha&&ened. Simile and @burnished %refle"t grandeurL wealth.

uestion again reflects Mrs% M%s

dis!elief. Contrasted with @laugh% (

Why? $e sees what his selfishness

has !rought him? Is it his "ruelty?



I served up the meal. &or starters, corn on the cob.

-ithin seconds he was spitting out the teeth of the rich.

!e toed with his spoon, then mine, then with the knives, the forks.

!e asked where was the wine. I poured with shaking hand,

a fragrant, bone%dr white from Ital, then watched

as he picked up the glass, goblet, golden chalice, drank.

+omic effect ( Mrs M

"ontinues to go a!out her

domesti" "hores des&ite

a!surd situation

A&&ro&riate "hoi"e of food ( visuall fitting . $orror of

what is ha&&ening !e"omes a&&arent ( Midas "an%t

e#en eat. *epresents the fa"t that his greed and

desire for wealth has !rought him to this.

:se of a list one

thing after another

refle"ts growing

realisation of Mrs M.

@shaking % further

emphasises Mrs

M%s worry o#er what

is ha&&ening.

#lliterationL !arsh consonant

sounds add to the dramaL

seriousness of the situation.

@chalice% often associated with

the last su&&er.



It was then that I started to scream. !e sank to his knees.

#fter we had both calmed down, I finished the wine

on m own, hearing him out. I made him sit

on the other side of the room and keep his hands to himself.I locked the cat in the cellar. I moved the phone.

The toilet I didn't mind. I couldn't believe m ears

/ramatic opening to stan3a as !oth

a""e&t full reality of what has ha&&ened.

@Scream% demonstrates Mr%s M%s horror

while Midas @sinks to his knees% in

des&air.

$orrorL )ho"k is "om!ined with

"omedy ( it seems a!surd that !oth

would !e @calmed % so =ui"kly and that

Mrs M would "ontinue with her drink.

)uggestion that Midas still seeks

a &hysi"al relationshi& with Mrs

M. 'he fa"t that he is made to sit

on the other side of the room

represents the distan"e in their

relationshi& !rought on !y"ir"umstan"es.

+urther comed "om!ined

with Mrs% M%s dis!eliefL

sho"k.



how hed had a wish. /ook we all ha#e wishes6 granted.

*ut who has wishes granted? $im. Do you know a!out gold?

It feeds no one6 aurum soft untarnisha!le6 slakes

no thirst. $e tried to light a "igarette6 I ga3ed entran"edas the !lue flame &layed on its luteous stem. At least

I said youll !e a!le to gi#e u& smoking for good.

0njambment refle"ts

Mrs M%s dis!elief as she

hears the "onfession

from Midas.

'he &un on @granted % the rhetorical

1uestion and the short one word

sentence all "on#ey a sense of

disgust from Mrs M.

+urther rhetori"al =uestion

em&hasises that Mrs M

thinks wish was outrageous.Mrs M answers her own

rhetori"al =uestion ex&li"itly

stating the foolishness of her

hus!and%s wish

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Mrs Midas Carol Ann Duffy

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