Mrs Midas Quotes & Analysis Flashcards
He came into the house. The doorknobs gleamed,
Mrs Midas hints at things being turned to gold through word choice of ‘gleamed’ - shows the brightness of the gold and the effect which its presence has. Perhaps connects to humour as ‘gleamed’ connects to thoughts of happiness where as what Mrs Midas is about to realise is that this situation will give contrasting feelings. Could also show how Midas is feeling - at first he is happy that he has this wish.
This begins to connect to the theme of the consequences of our actions as it is the first hints which Mrs Midas gets of this new power owned by her husband.
He sat in the chair like a king on a burnished throne
Again simile shows how powerful Midas is feeling, he has no idea of the consequences of his actions yet although his wife has received hints already
He presents a lonely/individual figure in this image of him sitting in his throne which starts to connect to the theme of loneliness and solitude which this wish results in
He picked up the glass, goblet, golden chalice, drank
Alliteration through ‘g’ is used to highlight the seriousness and reality of the situation when she witnesses the transformation of a glass into first a ‘glass’ then a ‘goblet’ and THEN a ‘golden chalice’ before attempting to drink
Again, this brings up the theme of the consequences of our actions and starts to hint that this is greed which has brought the consequence of not being able to enjoy the simple pleasures of food and wine
And then he plucked a pear from a branch - we grew Fondante d’Automne - and it sat in his palm, like a lightbulb. On.
Pear being turned to gold described through an image- 'like a lightbulb' - suggests change to gold without naming this - riddling/mystery - this suggests brightness and that he now has power Power also emphasised by 'on'. It's interesting that Midas can't turn his magic touch off. His wish has flicked a switch Something natural (pear) turned into something man made
Look, we all have wishes; granted, but who has wishes granted? Him.
Word play ‘wishes; granted vs wishes granted’ - shows her humour and intelligence. Creates a contrast and divide between Midas and everyone else - everyone has wishes, it’s part of being human. Midas has become special in having his wishes granted.
‘Who has wishes granted? Him.’
‘Him’ - non-sentence/ single word sentence. Structure shows how Midas has Midas has been separated from everyone else. Also suggests some annoyance from Mrs Midas.
Connects themes of greed and loneliness
Relationships - starts to show how this couple are separating emotionally as they’re having different experiences and making different choices.
Do you know about gold? It feeds no one, aurum, soft, untarnishable; slakes no thirst’
Gets the reader to connect to themes of power and freed by asking the rhetorical question. Asks us to question our own thoughts and understanding about gold.
Repetition ‘feeds no one, slakes no thirst’: challenges the usual positive ideas connected with the element - suggestion that it is useless/pointless for the most basic things
Gold cannot fulfil the basics - word choice of ‘aurum/untarnishable’ vs ‘feeds/thirst’
Connects to themes of loneliness - gold /greed don’t help in fulfilling your life
Relationships - This connects to the widening gap between Mrs Midas and her husband - his greed and focus on it is pushing her away
Separate beds. So he had to move out.
Everyday straight forward language - matter of fact tone
Closeness is gone - the factual approach / language suggests they are detached from each other
Mrs Midas is in control, calling the shots
Connects to theme of relationships as they become separated. This relationship is not going to survive.
That night, I dreamt I bore
his child, its perfect ore limbs, its little tongue
like a precious latch, its amber eyes
holding their pupils like flies.
Dreams of Midas’ child - the baby is described using the language of metal and gold ‘ore’, ‘precious latch’ - the idea of a golden baby is disturbing - it doesn’t have breath or life, which is what having a child is all about
‘Amber eyes…pupils like flies’ - rhyme, sight really important to bonding/ relationships - if you look into eyes and see flies gives a really unsettling, disgusting image. This isn’t a happy, living baby. Connects with death (Flies in Amber are dead and have been preserved for thousands of years)
Connects to themes of what’s important in life - human connections matter, material riches don’t. They can’t fully satisfy us.
Relationships - Mrs Midas’ wish has been destroyed by Midas getting his wish.
the woman who married the fool
who wished for gold.
What gets me now is not the idiocy or greed
but lack of thought for me. Pure selfishness.
‘Fool’ and ‘idiocy’ shows Midas’s weakness and how he’s wished without really thinking about what is important. The language shows Mrs Midas’s changed attitude to her husband. As she’s the ‘woman who married’ him this suggests she feels humiliated and like she’s been made a fool of too.
‘Pure selfishness’ - Reinforces the way that Mrs Midas’s wishes have been destroyed while Midas got his wish. ‘Pure’ suggests that she now can only see Midas as a selfish, thoughtless person who didn’t care for anyone but himself. Is suggests her bitterness and anger.
‘Not the greed’ - Again, this use of negative reinforces that Midas’s lust for material wealth matters less than the way he didn’t think about his wife and his relationship/connection with her.
Themes
Relationships - How we treat each other matters and the choices you make just don’t impact on you
I think of him in certain lights, dawn, late afternoon,
and once a bowl of apples stopped me dead. I miss most,
even now, his hands, his warm hands on my skin, his touch.
Golden times of day in terms of light, suggesting that she cannot detached from his ‘golden touch’. They’re also times of day when things are likely to be more calm and solitary
‘A bowl of apples stopped me dead’ - suggests the way that memory can break through your normal every day routine. The ‘bowl of apples’ are mundane, people wouldn’t usually notice them. It shows how she still has a connection to her husband and there are triggers which take her back to him - the apples connect back to the golden pear and her experience of seeing all of this food turned to gold. Apples are also the fruit temptation/desire (Eve eating the apple in the garden of Eden - another choice which couldn’t be undone as Adam and Eve lost paradise)
‘I miss most’ - there is still a connection between them
‘His hands, his warm hands on my skin, his touch’ - the poem ends with the most simple of actions, something which costs nothing but were shown means the most or has the biggest value for Mrs Midas.
