My Rival's House

Question 1

My rivals house is peopled with many surfaces

Answer 1

Unusual word choice of ‘peopled’.
The wordchoice of ‘surfaces’ refers to the people, implying they’re tough, or to the absence of people in the house, suggesting that objects there serve as its inhabitants. Either interpretation suggests the home isn’t inviting.”

Question 2

Ormolu and gilt, slipper satin,

Answer 2

The choice of words like ‘ormolu’ and ‘gilt’ suggests a sense of richness, but they actually refer to materials like bronze covered in gold, hinting at superficiality.

There’s also a wordplay on ‘gilt’ and ‘guilt.’ ‘Slipper satin,’ with its heavy, shiny yet dull appearance, emphasizes the artificiality of the rival.

These descriptions create an atmosphere of formality and anxiety. Overall, they symbolise deception and opulence

Question 3

lush velvet couches

Answer 3

reference to luxurious items links to the high expectations the mother has of anyone her son brings home.

home designed to intimidate and impress rather than to create a sense of welcome or comfort.

Again fabrics like satin and velvet only add to the opulent air of the home.

Question 4

cushions so stiff you can’t sink in

Answer 4

The word choice of ‘stiff’ to describe cushions highlights the lack of comfort and lack of welcome in the house

Question 5

Tables polished clear enough to see distortions

Answer 5

The word choice of ‘Distortions’ suggests to us that there is no reality in the house.
When you look in a mirror or other shiny object you expect to see reality - here is it misrepresented or changed
This creates a sinister mood. It suggests that for all the gleaming impressiveness of the room, something dark is lurking underneath the surface.

Question 6

We take our shoes off at her door,
shuffle stocking-soled, tiptoe - the parquet floor
is beautiful and its surface must
be protected. Dust-
cover, drawn shade,
won’t let the surface colour fade.

Answer 6

Rhyming couplets are used throughout this stanza and highlight the humour of the piece through the unrealistic overprotectiveness of the home.

Question 7

shuffle stocking-soled, tiptoe - the parquet floor

Answer 7

Word choice of ‘shuffle’ suggests discomfort and clumsy.
An almost reverent tone is created in the alliterative description of how they shuffle.

Question 8

be protected. Dust-

Answer 8

Word choice of ‘protected’ introduces a theme that develops throughout the poem as her idea of protecting seems to mean ‘not using’.

The enjambment forces our ear and eye to specific words and phrases like ‘be protected’ to really emphasise the care and attention the owner lavishes on her home.

The same applies to her son; she is protecting him by not welcoming the girls he brings home.

Question 9

cover, drawn shade,

Answer 9

details of the house’s features - this floor is beautiful but must be protected with a dust cover and drawn shades in order to maintain its colour.

speaker is implying much more about the owner of the house in these remarks - that their attention to detail is almost obsessive.

Question 10

cover, drawn shade,
won’t let the surface colour fade.

Answer 10

Just as in the previous stanza, this verse is brought to a close by the masculine rhymes of the final two lines - shade and fade.

Again this helps the speaker to convey her own nervousness and discomfort in this formal environment.

Question 11

Silver sugar-tongs and silver salver,

Answer 11

Sibilance portrays a serpentine quality to the mother.

The mother’s pretentious behaviour seems aimed at making the speaker uncomfortable, with a hint that she’s enjoying the discomfort.

Question 12

my rival serves us tea.
She glosses over him and me.
I am all edges, a surface, a shell
and yet my rival thinks she means me well.
But what squirms beneath her surface I can tell.
Soon, my rival
capped tooth, polished nail
will fight, fight foul for her survival.
Deferential, daughterly, I sip
and thank her nicely for each bitter cup.

Answer 12

The clumsy and sometimes forced nature of the rhyme, combined with the lack of an identifiable and regular meter, helps contribute to the discomfort of the speaker.

Question 13

She glosses over him and me.

Answer 13

Word choice of ‘glosses’ as it has a double meaning, of shiny (as is in keeping with what we know of the mother), and to conceal something unfavourable, emphasising the fact she does not approve of the relationship and is trying to brush it under the carpet.

On the surface, she is the perfect attentive host, glossing over the couple.
Yet the effect of being in this claustrophobic, stuffy environment has affected the speaker.

Question 14

I am all edges, a surface, a shell

Answer 14

Word choice of ‘edges, a surface, a shell’.
The speaker is also keeping her true self hidden, but a shell is easily broken.
The atmosphere is loaded with tension and apprehension as we wait to find out which one of these rivals will break first.

Question 15

But what squirms beneath her surface I can tell.

Answer 15

Contrast is introduced by using the word ‘but’.
The speaker knows what the mother is really like.
The word choice ‘squirms’ links back to the idea of a snake lurking underneath.

Question 16

Soon, my rival
capped tooth, polished nail
will fight, fight foul for her survival.

Answer 16

She casts the rival firmly in the role of combatant
Idiom ‘fight tooth and nail’, meaning to fight with every resource, is played with to give the image of a middle aged, well presented woman fighting for her son.

repetition of the word ‘fight’ emphasises that for all the contrived politeness and civility, underneath something dark and dangerous squirms beneath the surface.

Word choice of ‘survival’ links to the idea of a fight, but also to her surviving as someone of importance to her son, to not be usurped by the girlfriend.

Question 17

Deferential, daughterly, I sip
and thank her nicely for each bitter cup.

Answer 17

Irony of ‘deferential, daughterly’, as through her words in the poem she is being everything but; she is also putting up a façade

We can deduce finally that the speaker has accompanied her lover, to be introduced to his mother, perhaps for the first time as a prospective daughter-in-law.

Plosive ‘p’ sounds at the end of lines give the impression of her polite words being almost spat out.

Question 18

And I have much to thank her for.

Answer 18

The speaker almost grudgingly concedes that she has something to thank her for.

Despite the speaker’s assertion that she ought to feel gratitude to her lover’s mother, instead she is acutely aware that a blessing for their romance will not be gained easily.

Question 19

This son she bore -

Answer 19

“she bore” - to give birth - we are now sure of whom she is speaking.

The dashes in these lines isolate the words to ensure the reader/listener finally understands the root of the conflict between the two women.
The nature of their relationship is finally and unambiguously revealed.

Question 20

first blood to her -

Answer 20

Ambiguity of this line.

It could mean the ‘first blood’ in terms of her lineage, the blood shed in giving birth or that she has won the first point and drawn the ‘first blood’.

Question 21

never, never can escape scot free

Answer 21

Repetition “never, never can escape scot free” reinforces her belief that her lover will not be relinquished to her without a fight.

Question 22

the sour potluck of family

Answer 22

The first food-related image.
Food is usually considered sustaining and life-giving, prepared with care.
Here, however, and throughout the remainder of the poem, the food is almost poisoned.
Here it is a ‘sour potluck’.
Potluck often precedes the word dinner.
It can also mean the fact that we cannot choose our family.

Question 23

And oh how close
this family that furnishes my rival’s place.

Answer 23

The tone changes in the final two lines to a wry acknowledgement

The suggestion implied is that this is a family that is too close, that is suffocating and claustrophobic.

The speaker is very aware of her position as an outsider, of not belonging and of the inherent threat she poses to this matriarchal, controlling figure.

Question 24

Lady of the house.
Queen bee.

Answer 24

The speaker uses euphemisms to describe her dominant position in the household

‘Lady of the house’ has connotations of aristocracy or snobbery, in that you try to appear ‘better’ than you are

‘Queen bee’ suggests that she rules the roost and everyone follows and protects her.
There is also an element of danger in a bee.

These phrases create an aloof, stand-offish tone and establish this matriarch as a steely opponent.

Question 25

She is far more unconscious,
far more dangerous than me.

Answer 25

The danger is revealed because she is not even aware she is doing any of this.

The repetition reinforces the importance of not underestimating the influence she exerts over her son and the danger this could pose to the speaker’s relationship with him.

The use of the word ‘unconscious’ hints at the underhand, devious means the mother may use to win back her child.

The speaker realises that she may lack the experience to counter such an attack.

Question 26

Listen, I was always my own worst enemy.

Answer 26

The aside that adds more humour to the piece.

In these lines there is almost a sense of resigned acceptance and acquiescence as the speaker realises that she is no match for this woman.

Question 27

She dishes up her dreams for breakfast.
Dinner, and her salt tears pepper our soup.

Answer 27

Food-related imagery that shows how desperate and sad the mother is in order to not, as she sees it, lose her son.

The battle lines have been firmly drawn and established and each of the women almost innately understand the combative nature of this relationship.

The speaker imagines that the food her lover’s mother prepares out of duty as hostess is seasoned with salt tears, exposing the grief and bitterness the mother feels about this new romance.

Question 28

She won’t
give up.

Answer 28

Powerful closing lines that reveal she will not be beaten.

two lines sum up completely the hopelessness of the situation
She will not give up the fight or her son.

The layout gives the impression that it is said between gritted teeth.
In their simplicity and directness, these four words leaves the reader in no doubt that this battle will rage on.
Whether the relationship between the speaker and her lover is strong enough to withstand such a prolonged offensive is dubious. It seems the rival may have the upper hand after all.