As we’ve begun to experience some of Carol Ann Duffy’s poetry as a class–both from her collection titled The World’s Wife and from her other books–I am curious about the connections that we can make between the poems that we looked at in groups last week: “Medusa,” “Salome,” and “Demeter.“

In a review of The World’s Wife for The Independent, Duffy was quoted as 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.

This leads me to some questions that my class can select to respond to below: What is Duffy doing with these different perspectives of women? How does the title of her collection fit in? What is stylistically unique about Duffy’s work? How does her poetry relate to Whitman’s? And why is she laughing? If you want to incorporate the review, you could also comment on whether or not you agree with The Independent’s review of her collection, based on the poems you’ve read so far?

As always, please try to offer a new idea, and respond to or expand upon another classmate’s comment.

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