Mrs Midas

Question 1

his honeyed embrace

Answer 1

metaphor - to have his arms around her before she would be sweet and tender but now it would be deadly because she would become the colour of honey/turning to gold.

Question 2

turn my lips to a work of art

Answer 2

her concern is always for herself, not him

Question 3

I miss most, even now, his hands, his warm hands on my skin, his touch.

Answer 3

Ironic ending to the poem - missed that demonstration of love; that one aspect of him that would actually kill her.

Question 4

I think of him in certain lights, dawn, late afternoon.

Answer 4

typical time for when golden light is in the sky.

Question 5

halcyon days

Answer 5

a joy filled time. they were in love and because of his actions they can never return to that time.

Question 6

unwrapping each other, rapidly, like presents, fast food.

Answer 6

simile. shallow comparison. compared to things/moments that don’t last. suggest their love isn’t long lasting, only passion. fast food - a humorous contrast with the classical reference to halcyon days.

Question 7

My dream milk burned in my breasts.

Answer 7

alliteration emphasises a yearning for what she now cannot have. she has been deprived of this opportunity to have a baby with her husband. “burned” demonstrates the emotional pain of this.

Question 8

lack of thought for me

Answer 8

she hasn’t actually seemed to demonstrate any thought for him.

Question 9

Pure selfishness

Answer 9

what about her subsequent actions?

Question 10

heart of gold?

Answer 10

usually this expression is positive and associated with kindness but the metaphor has been ironically inverted to be literal. it would be impossible to live with such a heart/live a full life.

Question 11

I poured the wine with a shaking hand.

Answer 11

her anxiety/fear is revealed

Question 12

separate beds

Answer 12

this statement suggests the beginning of the end of their relationship

Question 13

I locked the cat in the cellar. I moved the phone.

Answer 13

she protects the things she values. she merely lists her actions - the lack of consideration for her husband is evident.

Question 14

I started to scream

Answer 14

the focus is on herself and not the fact that her husband is choking. only her reaction which shows she’s placing more importance on herself. telling the story in this way implies the lack of caring feeling she has for him anymore.

Question 15

we were passionate then

Answer 15

has connotations of being loving, caring and intense. addresses to the reader that they had been intimate.

Question 16

I made him sit/ on the other side of the room

Answer 16

enjambment emphasises the distance she put between them. her actions show she’s not as concerned for his feelings as she is her own