Mrs Midas Flashcards
“It was late September.”
Symbolises the end of their marriage.
“glass of wine, begun to unwind”
Internal rhythm. She’s being a good wife for her husband.
“relaxed”
Describes the scene to reflect the mood of Mrs Midas- calm and peaceful.
“blanching”
Personification of the windows heightens the domestic scene.
“like a brow.”
Wiping a brow is a very tender, caring and feminine action. Suggests Mrs Midas is a caretaker
“He”
Midas. She’s so angry with him she won’t even address him as her husband nor by name. The pronoun sounds very harsh and avoidant.
“standing”
Simile introduces importance of sense of touch to Mrs Midas - she can no longer touch her husband.
“snapping”
A contrast to the soft, intimate tone previously in the poem. It takes away from the domestic environment and comes to a harsh, violent tone- atmosphere is shattered.
“visibility poor”
Mrs Midas is trying to rationalise what she’s seeing. It increases her sense of fear as the pace picks up in this stance, mimicking increased heart rate.
“dark”
In her world, he is dark. Invasion of the dark into her light.
“On.”
Minor sentence. It emphasises Mrs Midas’ sense of shock. It transfers this sense of shock onto the reader. Also highlights the golden colour of the pear.
“like a lightbulb.”
Contrasts a lack of light within the first two lines. She is realising what is happening, her ‘lightbulb’ moment, the lightbulb symbolising her moment of realisation.
“like a king.”
This is what she thinks he is like: selfish and greedy. It reflects his wealth.
“laugh”
Cruelty, madness and selfishness. He is laughing at her horror as he has got what he’s wanted.
“rich”
He is rich now, but the payoff is that he will die of starvation since he cannot eat.
“toyed”
Echoes his idiocy. He’s playing around- it feels like he is not being serious and is winding her up- he’s purposefully turning everything to gild and is being very childish in nature.
“shaking hand”
She is shaking because she is frightened.
“bone-dry white”
Connotations of death, dying, a skeleton.
“golden chalice, drank”
Chalice is associated with the last supper- the last time Christ eats before he dies. This is the last time Mr and Mrs Midas will dine together- this is their last support.
“I couldn’t believe my ears.”
Pun on the phrase ‘could not believe my eyes’- she cannot believe what Mr Midas is telling her.
“keep his hands to himself”
They have to be separated because he will kill her. This has created a distance in their relationship.
“how he had a wish.”
Short sentence holds a very mocking tone- she thinks he is being childish.
“Look, we all have wishes; granted.”
Expression of a common idea.
“But who has wishes granted?”
Duffy used humour, a pun to cope with her situation. It contrast the previous line: having a wish granted is a rare and uncommon phenomenon.
“Him.”
Disgusted tone.
“I gazed, entranced.”
Slow and sultry, echoing the experience of being entranced.
“At least, I said, you’ll be able to give up smoking for good.”
Humorous. Making a joke in the face of horror as she knows if she touches him, or vice versa, she dies.
“Separate beds.”
Minor sentence- sparse, blunt, it’s meant to emphasise their growing distance. Mrs Midas’ tone is very cold, disappointed. Symbolises the end of marriage as there is no closeness between them now.
“unwrapping each other rapidly, like presents, fast food,”
Metaphorical for sex. Like they’re a gift for one another, they’re giving each other to one another. Eating, consuming one another. Almost for granted- like how we take fast food for granted.
“comes to the crunch”
Alliteration reflects her upset.
“heart of gold?”
No one. If your heart is made of gold, you die. Is also a pun as a ‘heart of gold’ is meant to describe someone who is very kind, yet Midas is very selfish and greedy.
“a precious latch”
The baby would be dead if its tongue was made of metal. Symbolic of the death of their marriage. Precious not only because it would be made of gold, but also because Mrs Midas would love to have a baby.
“burned”
Harsh, painful. Reflects Mrs Midas’ experience.
“streaming sun.”
Streaming tears.
“like flies.”
Reminiscent of death, corpses, and decay. A real image of horror- really shows Mrs Midas’ tragedy.
