Mrs Midas important quotes and analysis Flashcards
‘the way that the dark of the ground seems to drink the light of the sky’
the ground is consuming the light of the sky which is vampire like and greedy. All of the light is being sucked away leaving behind only darkness - we associate something evil or sinister with darkness, whereas light is associated with good things
‘he started to laugh’
he is being cruel, his wife is confused and he is hysterical. He is not the husband that she knows and loves, we can already see their relationship breaking down - he is not looking after her.
’ id just poured a glass of wine, begun to unwind while the vegetables cooked’
Mrs Midas is in a stereotypical role which she is enjoying. The word ‘unwind’ suggests she is relaxing and is calm.
‘he asked where was the wine. I poured with a shaking hand’
where is the wine is more of a demand than a question. The fact she is shaking emphasies her fear of her own husband - she is terrified.
‘At least I said, you’ll be able to give up smoking for good’
This is effective as it suggests Mrs Midas has a humerus character and uses humour as a coping mechanism to deal with her pain.
‘my dream milk burned in my breasts’
‘Dream milk’ suggest she wanted a child more than anything. the pain of not being able to have a child with her husband physically hurts her. The harsh ‘b’ sound emphasises the idea that this is really upsetting and agonising for Mrs Midas.
‘you see we were passionate then, in those halcyon says, unwrapping eachother rapidly like presents, fast food.
They were unwrapping eachother ‘like presents’ in the sense it brought them joy. Sexual undertones emphasises that she misses their intimate relationship
‘he was thin, delirious’
‘thin’ emphasises the physical difference in him and ‘delirious’ emphasises the mental change and suggests he has gone mad and can no longer think rationally.
’ I think of him in certain lights, dawn, late afternoon, and once a bowl of apples stopped me dead’
This shows that she still thinks of her husband and is reminded of him when she can’t have a relationship with him which suggests she does love him. The list emphasises how much she thinks of him.
when she sees apples of a golden colour it killed her emotionally and hurts her heart to be reminded of him because she loved him so much but can’t be with him.
‘that was the last straw’
The last straw is a colloquial phrase. The last straw means the breaking point of some kind and for her it’s the breaking point of the relationship. he made a big mistake which was wishing for gold that cursed him and changed her life forever as they can’t be intimate anymore. He has proven insane and cannot communicate anymore.
Short sentence emphasises there is no more hope for any kind of relationship.
‘separate beds’
this minor sentence emphasises the idea that they are now isolated and separate. This emphasies that they can’t have a physical relationship or intimacy anymore or she’ll die
’ I miss most, even now, his hands, his warm hands on my skin, his touch’
Repetition of hands emphasises that she desperately wants his touch’. Repetition of ‘his’ because she wants only him. ‘skin’ shows desperation of physical touch. Ending is poignant and sad as she just wants him
“the toilet I didn’t mind’
This is an example of humour. she doesn’t care if the toilet turns to gold
’ one day a hare hung from a larch, a beautiful lemon mistake’
This is a very sad image, the hair wasn’t meant to be killed by now it’s dead. You can tell as the word mistake is used. It looks beautiful in gold. Lemons are gold in colour but bitter aswell.
‘And then his footprints, glistening next to the rivers path’
This is evidence that Mr Midas is there as everything he steps on turns to gold
