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The World's Wife

January 01, 1970

The World's Wife is a collection of poetry by Carol Ann Duffy, originally published in the UK in 1999 by both Picador[1] and Anvil Press Poetry[2] and later published in the United States by Faber and Faber in 2000.[3]

The World's Wife
AuthorCarol Ann Duffy
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
GenrePoetry
PublisherAnvil Press Poetry
Publication date
1999
ISBN9780571199952
Preceded byMeeting Midnight 
Followed byTime's Tidings: Greeting the 21st Century 

Duffy's poems in The World's Wife focus on either well known female figures or fictional counterparts to well known male figures. The themes of the poems focus on the complexities of gender relations, the roles of women, and the often ill treatment of women through fictional, biblical, mythical, and historical contexts. Duffy often also makes modern day references in her poems in order to connect the different settings together into a cohesive collection and also highlight how the ill treatment towards women has endured through all the different contexts and into the modern era.

Background edit

The World's Wife is Carol Ann Duffy's fifth collection of poetry. Her previous collection, Standing Female Nude, is tied to romantic and amorous themes, while her collection The Other Country takes a more indifferent approach to love; The World's Wife continues this progression in that it critiques male figures, masculinity, and heterosexual love to instead focus on forgotten or neglected female figures.[4]

Duffy's works are described as being feminist poetry and are known for being "love poems that often take the form of monologues"[5] and for using "conversational language"[6] that is accessible to average readers.The World's Wife continues these recognizable trends of Duffy's writing; "the monologue, for which Duffy has become justifiably famous, provides the ideal vehicle for the most immediate, dramatic and arresting perspectives of a host of characters whose opinions are often" ignored.[7] While Duffy still makes use of the monologue form in The World's Wife, her works in this collection are described as being a type of hybrid in that they have the "authority of a ballad – a legend being told, a larger-than-life figure that belongs in myth as well as history."[8]

Duffy speaks of her collections by saying "I wanted to use history and myth and popular culture and elements from cinema and literature, but also to anchor it in a deeply personal soil and make an entertainment, [...] It was fun to juggle around with and there were times when I sat laughing as I was writing"[9]

At the time of its publication, in 1999, Duffy was being "seriously considered for the position"[5] of the United Kingdom's poet laureate, but was ultimately not chosen; she would later become poet laureate in 2009.[10] She stated that her choice to accept the position of poet laureate was "only because, since its inception in the 17th century, no woman had previously held the post."[6]

Themes edit

Duffy's collection focuses on the unheard perspective of female counterparts of famously known male figures; it "gives a voice to the wives of famous and infamous 'great men' of world literature and civilization".[11] She tackles issues surrounding marriage, sex, love, motherhood, etc., i.e. the "typical" roles of women, as detailed through the experiences of famous characters. Through her poems, she is trying to "subvert classical traditions of the male (voyeur) poet and female muse"[4] and instead turns the focus to female characters who are telling their own side of the story. She takes the cliche roles of women and presents it as a "snare in which they are entangled. It is as if they are forced to live a life as stereotype: the bored wife, the neglected wife, or the woman rejected in favour of a younger model."[12] Duffy's poems make a point about "the way expectations and conventions, or the stories we hear and tell, may be erroneous. Such poems ask the reader to pause for a moment, to rethink their lazy assumptions, to look again at what they think they knew"[13]

Antony Rowland argues that her poems are distinct in that they are placed in a setting of "postmodernity" and "lovers who struggle to formulate their alienation amongst modern, urban cityscape" and that this may be why the texts frame love as an "oppressive terror rather than erotic release."[4] While Duffy's poems still "sparkle with wit, intelligence and an impressive lightness of touch, [they also] draw on some weighty emotional experiences: loneliness, jealousy, self-loathing, desire, the fierceness of a mother's love."[9]

Duffy often makes use of dramatic monologue for her collection; "She is famed for her dramatic monologues, which combine compassion, rhythmic verve and an astonishing gift for ventriloquism, and for her tender, lyrical love poems. This collection brings both genres together in the form of masks which, she says, gave her the freedom to explore intensely personal experiences."[9] But she also strays from this form to reflect the subject of the poem when needed. In "Anne Hathaway," Duffy "picks the sonnet [...] she relishes taking on the competition of the biggest literary word-slinger of them all, [Shakespeare], on his own territory."[14] The poem "Mrs. Darwin" also reflects its subject matter in that it uses a journal entry form, reminiscent of Darwin's original journal entries.

Duffy's poetry is also recognizable for its use of rhyme, "not only end-rhymes, but off-rhymes, hidden rhymes, half-rhymes, ghost rhymes, deliberate near-misses that hit the mark."[8] Duffy employs different rhyming techniques to mirror the subject of the poem.

Jeanette Winterson explains this through the example of the poem "The Devil's Wife," she states: "I flew in my chains over the wood where we'd buried / the doll. I know it was me who was there. / I know I carried the spade. I know I was covered in mud. / But I cannot remember how or when or precisely where."

"The complacent end-rhymes of lines two and four are taunted by the askew “buried” and “carried”, and made sinister by the pagan sacrifice embedded in “wood” and “mud” with the ancient “wude” and “daub” sitting behind the rhyme. Repetition of “I know”, three times in four lines, works as a locked rhyme – lethally right for a mind that can never escape itself or be set free by others; a mind that belongs to Myra Hindley."[8]

Winterson also states that "The title of The World’s Wife is both a tacit understanding that it’s (still) a man’s world, and a joke on the world’s most popular dedication: To My Wife."[8] Libby Hudson echoes this sentiment when she states "a feminist poet must [...] wrestle with words that essentially reflect the patriarchal culture which shaped them [...] the very title used for this collection may be said to indicate that this is the case, referring as it does to a commonplace expression ('the world and his wife') which seems to show women as only tangentially related to the world they live in."[12]

Reviews edit

The Antioch Review described Duffy's collection as one that fused "form ingenuity and social concern in insightful, exuberant dramatic monologues."[15]

Reviewers from Publishers Weekly, felt that despite Duffy's work being "rife with clever twist,"[16] it is a subject that has been done before by other writers and "one imagines these characters would've come a longer way by now."[16]

The Independent describes Duffy's poetry as one that is "famed for fierce feminism and uncompromising social satire"[9] something that The World's Wife continues, but that it is also "playful and extremely funny look at history, myths and legends through the eyes of the invisible wives."[9]

The Herald states that "although all of the poems are fun, lighthearted rhymes they portray an excellent message of feminism and add a novel twist to all the stories we already know"[17]

Adaptions edit

Duffy's poems have been adapted into a stage show and an opera.

  • Poems read by Linda Marlowe in a one-woman show, a "physical theatrical rendering of a volume of poetry"[18] at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh[19] and Trafalgar Studios in London.[20]
  • Chamber Opera funded by PRS Foundation, adapted by Tom Green;[21] it is a "musical adaption of Duffy's poems [...] the score includes musical quotes of music by female composers"[22]

Awards edit

Duffy has won previous awards for her other collections of poetry. This particular collection, The World's Wife, did not win any awards but was shortlisted for two.

Poems edit

Duffy's book "explores contemporary and historical scenes from surprising and unexpected viewpoints. Written from the perspective of the wives of famous and often infamous men."[15]

Each poem is inspired by an existing fictional, mythical, biblical, or historical figure, most often a male figure, to which Duffy creates a female counterpart.

References edit

  1. ^ "The world's wife : poems / Carol Ann Duffy". The British Library. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  2. ^ "The world's wife / Carol Ann Duffy. - British Library". explore.bl.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  3. ^ https://lccn.loc.gov/99087010 Duffy, Carol Ann. The world's wife : poems / Carol Ann Duffy. 1st ed. New York : Faber and Faber, 2000. 76 p.; 22 cm. PR6054.U38 W6 2000 ISBN 0571199852 (alk. paper)
  4. ^ a b c Rowland, Antony (Autumn 2001). "Love and Masculinity in the Poetry of Carol Ann Duffy". English: The Journal of the English Association. 50 (198): 199–217. doi:10.1093/english/50.198.199 – via MLA International Bibliography.
  5. ^ a b "Carol Ann Duffy". Poetry Foundation. 8 April 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  6. ^ a b "Carol Ann Duffy | British poet". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  7. ^ Smyth, Gerry, and Jo Croft, eds. (2006). Our house: the representation of domestic space in modern culture. Rodopi. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ a b c d Winterson, Jeanette (17 January 2015). "Jeanette Winterson on the poetry of Carol Ann Duffy – of course it's political". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  9. ^ a b c d e Patterson, Christina (2 October 1999). "Carol Ann Duffy: Street-wise heroines at home". Independent. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022.
  10. ^ "List of poets laureate of Britain". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  11. ^ Plate, Liedeke (2010). Transforming memories in contemporary women's writing. Springer.
  12. ^ a b Hudson, Libby (2007). "'An axe to a willow to see how it wept': the creative use of cliche and the commonplace in Carol Ann Duffy's The World's Wife is analysed by Libby Hudson". The English Review. 18 (2): 38+ – via Literature Resource Center.
  13. ^ Gill, Jo (2007). Women's poetry. Edinburgh University Press.
  14. ^ Boyd, Brian (2012). Why Lyrics Last. Harvard University Press.
  15. ^ a b Satterfield, Jane (2001). "Reviewed Work: The World's Wife by Carol Ann Duffy". The Antioch Review. 59 (1): 123–124 – via JSTOR.
  16. ^ a b Zaleski, Jeff (17 April 2000). ""The World's Wife" Review". Publishers Weekly. 247 (16): 73 – via ABI/INFORM Collection.
  17. ^ Mclaughlin, Gemma E. (10 November 2018). "Children's book review: The World's Wife- Carol Ann Duffy". The Herald.
  18. ^ "Linda Marlowe On ... Playing The World's Wife | WhatsOnStage". www.whatsonstage.com. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  19. ^ Gardner, Lyn (21 August 2009). "The World's Wife | Theatre review". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  20. ^ Kellaway, Kate (24 January 2010). "The World's Wife | Theatre review". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  21. ^ "Interview: Tom Green - M Magazine". M magazine: PRS for Music online magazine. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  22. ^ "The World's Wife poetry becomes a chamber opera". Art Scene in Wales. 10 October 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  23. ^ "Forward Alumni | Forward Arts Foundation". www.forwardartsfoundation.org. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  24. ^ "Carcanet Press - The World's Wife". www.carcanet.co.uk. Retrieved 22 April 2019.

January 01, 1970
world, wife, collection, poetry, carol, duffy, originally, published, 1999, both, picador, anvil, press, poetry, later, published, united, states, faber, faber, 2000, authorcarol, duffycountryunited, kingdomlanguageenglishgenrepoetrypublisheranvil, press, poet. The World s Wife is a collection of poetry by Carol Ann Duffy originally published in the UK in 1999 by both Picador 1 and Anvil Press Poetry 2 and later published in the United States by Faber and Faber in 2000 3 The World s WifeAuthorCarol Ann DuffyCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglishGenrePoetryPublisherAnvil Press PoetryPublication date1999ISBN9780571199952Preceded byMeeting Midnight Followed byTime s Tidings Greeting the 21st Century Duffy s poems in The World s Wife focus on either well known female figures or fictional counterparts to well known male figures The themes of the poems focus on the complexities of gender relations the roles of women and the often ill treatment of women through fictional biblical mythical and historical contexts Duffy often also makes modern day references in her poems in order to connect the different settings together into a cohesive collection and also highlight how the ill treatment towards women has endured through all the different contexts and into the modern era Contents 1 Background 2 Themes 3 Reviews 4 Adaptions 5 Awards 6 Poems 7 ReferencesBackground editThe World s Wife is Carol Ann Duffy s fifth collection of poetry Her previous collection Standing Female Nude is tied to romantic and amorous themes while her collection The Other Country takes a more indifferent approach to love The World s Wife continues this progression in that it critiques male figures masculinity and heterosexual love to instead focus on forgotten or neglected female figures 4 Duffy s works are described as being feminist poetry and are known for being love poems that often take the form of monologues 5 and for using conversational language 6 that is accessible to average readers The World s Wife continues these recognizable trends of Duffy s writing the monologue for which Duffy has become justifiably famous provides the ideal vehicle for the most immediate dramatic and arresting perspectives of a host of characters whose opinions are often ignored 7 While Duffy still makes use of the monologue form in The World s Wife her works in this collection are described as being a type of hybrid in that they have the authority of a ballad a legend being told a larger than life figure that belongs in myth as well as history 8 Duffy speaks of her collections by saying I wanted to use history and myth and popular culture and elements from cinema and literature but also to anchor it in a deeply personal soil and make an entertainment It was fun to juggle around with and there were times when I sat laughing as I was writing 9 At the time of its publication in 1999 Duffy was being seriously considered for the position 5 of the United Kingdom s poet laureate but was ultimately not chosen she would later become poet laureate in 2009 10 She stated that her choice to accept the position of poet laureate was only because since its inception in the 17th century no woman had previously held the post 6 Themes editDuffy s collection focuses on the unheard perspective of female counterparts of famously known male figures it gives a voice to the wives of famous and infamous great men of world literature and civilization 11 She tackles issues surrounding marriage sex love motherhood etc i e the typical roles of women as detailed through the experiences of famous characters Through her poems she is trying to subvert classical traditions of the male voyeur poet and female muse 4 and instead turns the focus to female characters who are telling their own side of the story She takes the cliche roles of women and presents it as a snare in which they are entangled It is as if they are forced to live a life as stereotype the bored wife the neglected wife or the woman rejected in favour of a younger model 12 Duffy s poems make a point about the way expectations and conventions or the stories we hear and tell may be erroneous Such poems ask the reader to pause for a moment to rethink their lazy assumptions to look again at what they think they knew 13 Antony Rowland argues that her poems are distinct in that they are placed in a setting of postmodernity and lovers who struggle to formulate their alienation amongst modern urban cityscape and that this may be why the texts frame love as an oppressive terror rather than erotic release 4 While Duffy s poems still sparkle with wit intelligence and an impressive lightness of touch they also draw on some weighty emotional experiences loneliness jealousy self loathing desire the fierceness of a mother s love 9 Duffy often makes use of dramatic monologue for her collection She is famed for her dramatic monologues which combine compassion rhythmic verve and an astonishing gift for ventriloquism and for her tender lyrical love poems This collection brings both genres together in the form of masks which she says gave her the freedom to explore intensely personal experiences 9 But she also strays from this form to reflect the subject of the poem when needed In Anne Hathaway Duffy picks the sonnet she relishes taking on the competition of the biggest literary word slinger of them all Shakespeare on his own territory 14 The poem Mrs Darwin also reflects its subject matter in that it uses a journal entry form reminiscent of Darwin s original journal entries Duffy s poetry is also recognizable for its use of rhyme not only end rhymes but off rhymes hidden rhymes half rhymes ghost rhymes deliberate near misses that hit the mark 8 Duffy employs different rhyming techniques to mirror the subject of the poem Jeanette Winterson explains this through the example of the poem The Devil s Wife she states I flew in my chains over the wood where we d buried the doll I know it was me who was there I know I carried the spade I know I was covered in mud But I cannot remember how or when or precisely where The complacent end rhymes of lines two and four are taunted by the askew buried and carried and made sinister by the pagan sacrifice embedded in wood and mud with the ancient wude and daub sitting behind the rhyme Repetition of I know three times in four lines works as a locked rhyme lethally right for a mind that can never escape itself or be set free by others a mind that belongs to Myra Hindley 8 Winterson also states that The title of The World s Wife is both a tacit understanding that it s still a man s world and a joke on the world s most popular dedication To My Wife 8 Libby Hudson echoes this sentiment when she states a feminist poet must wrestle with words that essentially reflect the patriarchal culture which shaped them the very title used for this collection may be said to indicate that this is the case referring as it does to a commonplace expression the world and his wife which seems to show women as only tangentially related to the world they live in 12 Reviews editThe Antioch Review described Duffy s collection as one that fused form ingenuity and social concern in insightful exuberant dramatic monologues 15 Reviewers from Publishers Weekly felt that despite Duffy s work being rife with clever twist 16 it is a subject that has been done before by other writers and one imagines these characters would ve come a longer way by now 16 The Independent describes Duffy s poetry as one that is famed for fierce feminism and uncompromising social satire 9 something that The World s Wife continues but that it is also playful and extremely funny look at history myths and legends through the eyes of the invisible wives 9 The Herald states that although all of the poems are fun lighthearted rhymes they portray an excellent message of feminism and add a novel twist to all the stories we already know 17 Adaptions editDuffy s poems have been adapted into a stage show and an opera Poems read by Linda Marlowe in a one woman show a physical theatrical rendering of a volume of poetry 18 at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh 19 and Trafalgar Studios in London 20 Chamber Opera funded by PRS Foundation adapted by Tom Green 21 it is a musical adaption of Duffy s poems the score includes musical quotes of music by female composers 22 Awards editDuffy has won previous awards for her other collections of poetry This particular collection The World s Wife did not win any awards but was shortlisted for two 1999 Forward Poetry Prize 23 1999 T S Eliot Prize 24 Poems editDuffy s book explores contemporary and historical scenes from surprising and unexpected viewpoints Written from the perspective of the wives of famous and often infamous men 15 Each poem is inspired by an existing fictional mythical biblical or historical figure most often a male figure to which Duffy creates a female counterpart Little Red Cap Red Riding Hood Thetis Thetis Queen Herod Herod the Great Mrs Midas Midas from Mrs Tiresias Tiresias Pilate s Wife Pontius Pilate s wife Mrs Aesop Aesop Mrs Darwin Charles Darwin Mrs Sisyphus Sisyphus Mrs Faust Faust Delilah Delilah Anne Hathaway Shakespeare s Wife Queen Kong King Kong Mrs Quasimodo Quasimodo Medusa Medusa The Devil s Wife Moors Murders Circe Circe Mrs Lazarus Lazarus of Bethany Pygmalion s Bride Pygmalion Mrs Rip Van Winkle Rip Van Winkle Mrs Icarus Icarus Frau Freud Sigmund Freud Salome Salome Eurydice Eurydice The Kray Sisters Kray Twins Elvis s Twin Sister Elvis Presley Pope Joan Pope Joan Penelope Penelope Mrs Beast Beauty and the Beast Demeter DemeterReferences edit The world s wife poems Carol Ann Duffy The British Library Retrieved 24 June 2019 The world s wife Carol Ann Duffy British Library explore bl uk Retrieved 3 April 2019 https lccn loc gov 99087010 Duffy Carol Ann The world s wife poems Carol Ann Duffy 1st ed New York Faber and Faber 2000 76 p 22 cm PR6054 U38 W6 2000 ISBN 0571199852 alk paper a b c Rowland Antony Autumn 2001 Love and Masculinity in the Poetry of Carol Ann Duffy English The Journal of the English Association 50 198 199 217 doi 10 1093 english 50 198 199 via MLA International Bibliography a b Carol Ann Duffy Poetry Foundation 8 April 2019 Retrieved 9 April 2019 a b Carol Ann Duffy British poet Encyclopedia Britannica Retrieved 9 April 2019 Smyth Gerry and Jo Croft eds 2006 Our house the representation of domestic space in modern culture Rodopi a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a last has generic name help CS1 maint multiple names authors list link a b c d Winterson Jeanette 17 January 2015 Jeanette Winterson on the poetry of Carol Ann Duffy of course it s political The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved 9 April 2019 a b c d e Patterson Christina 2 October 1999 Carol Ann Duffy Street wise heroines at home Independent Archived from the original on 7 May 2022 List of poets laureate of Britain Encyclopedia Britannica Retrieved 9 April 2019 Plate Liedeke 2010 Transforming memories in contemporary women s writing Springer a b Hudson Libby 2007 An axe to a willow to see how it wept the creative use of cliche and the commonplace in Carol Ann Duffy s The World s Wife is analysed by Libby Hudson The English Review 18 2 38 via Literature Resource Center Gill Jo 2007 Women s poetry Edinburgh University Press Boyd Brian 2012 Why Lyrics Last Harvard University Press a b Satterfield Jane 2001 Reviewed Work The World s Wife by Carol Ann Duffy The Antioch Review 59 1 123 124 via JSTOR a b Zaleski Jeff 17 April 2000 The World s Wife Review Publishers Weekly 247 16 73 via ABI INFORM Collection Mclaughlin Gemma E 10 November 2018 Children s book review The World s Wife Carol Ann Duffy The Herald Linda Marlowe On Playing The World s Wife WhatsOnStage www whatsonstage com Retrieved 8 April 2019 Gardner Lyn 21 August 2009 The World s Wife Theatre review The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved 8 April 2019 Kellaway Kate 24 January 2010 The World s Wife Theatre review The Observer ISSN 0029 7712 Retrieved 8 April 2019 Interview Tom Green M Magazine M magazine PRS for Music online magazine 12 October 2017 Retrieved 8 April 2019 The World s Wife poetry becomes a chamber opera Art Scene in Wales 10 October 2017 Retrieved 8 April 2019 Forward Alumni Forward Arts Foundation www forwardartsfoundation org Retrieved 22 April 2019 Carcanet Press The World s Wife www carcanet co uk Retrieved 22 April 2019 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The World 27s Wife amp oldid 1165326884, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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