My Rivals House

Question 1

“Ormolu and Gilt”

Answer 1

Fake exteriors, cheap gold paint to make items look more expensive that they are.
‘Gilt’- guilt because the son is replacing one female figure in his life for another, suggests guilt trip.

Question 2

“Slipper satin”

Answer 2

Cheap material that looks expensive, old fashioned, she is stuck in the past.

Question 3

“Cushions so stiff”

Answer 3

Uncomfortable experience, awkward for everyone.

Question 4

“Tables polished clear enough to see distortions in”

Answer 4

When the poet looks n mirrored surfaces she is not seeing an accurate reflection of herself, she is putting up a front, negative connotations(doesn’t like how she is behaving)

Question 5

“take our shoes off at her door”

Answer 5

The poet and her accompanier are being treated like children, reinforcing the Mother in law doesn’t want her son to grow up.

Question 6

Lines 6-11 “We take our shoes off……….let the colour surface fade”

Answer 6

Rhyme- this stanza is about the Mother in Laws standards. Rhyming couplets are neat, cute and tidy. This suggests the Mother is harmless/cute. Reinforces the idea that the Mother in Law is very particular and precise in terms of her house.

Question 7

“shuffle”

Answer 7

Suggests hesitancy, awkwardness and being uncomfortable.

Question 8

“surface”

Answer 8

Repetition of the word highlights the importance of appearance and they cant escape it.

Question 9

“protected”

Answer 9

The word choice introduces the theme of that the mother loves her son strongly, she feels the need to protect her offspring from intruders. Also hinting at the idea that exteriors are there to protect what is underneath.

Question 10

“Silver sugar-tongs and silver salver”

Answer 10

Sibilance suggests the mother in law is snake like, sly, sneaky, snobby.

Question 11

Lines 13-20

Answer 11

Rhyming of a couplet followed by two triplets. By creating awkward rhythms (ones that don’t ‘trip off the tounge’) Lochhead is suggesting the Daughter in Law is feeling uncomfortable.

Question 12

“She glosses over him and me”

Answer 12

Ignore what is right in front of you. The Mother in Law is ignoring the relationship and not really acknowledging it. She is putting it to the back of her head and trying not to think about it.

Question 13

“edges, a surface, a shell”

Answer 13

List of three, list of Mother in Laws insecurities, edges- anxious, surface-only see what is on the out side, putting on a show and shell- fragile.

Question 14

“squirms”

Answer 14

Links back to the idea that the two women dislike each other and the Mother in Law is a bit snake like.

Question 15

“fight tooth and nail”

Answer 15

Idiom. Played with to give the image of a middle aged, well presented women fighting for her son.

Question 16

“survival”

Answer 16

Create humour as the Mother in Law looks fairly respectable and we wouldn’t expect this type of behaviour from her.

Question 17

Line 21&22 “I sip…bitter cup”

Answer 17

Plosive ‘p’ sounds suggests that the speaker is spitting out her words- nasty tone, ironic because the words are polite.

Question 18

“sour potluck of family”

Answer 18

First food related image, food is usually for nourishment but in the poem it becomes poisonous . “potluck” meaning you don’t have a choice in your family , the speaker is stuck with the Mother in Law.

Question 19

“Lady of the house”

Answer 19

Describes the mother as being royal, upper class, she is pretending

Question 20

“Queen bee”

Answer 20

The mother is being described as having a hint of danger, she is in charge and has power.

Question 21

“She is far more unconscious”

Answer 21

The Mother in Law seems far more dangerous here, “unconscious” is used to show that she is not aware of her actions and doings.

Question 22

“She dishes up her dreams….pepper our soup”

Answer 22

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

Question 23

“She won’t

give up”

Answer 23

The mother will continue to make the speaker feel uncomfortable and awkward, won’t let go. The layout suggests that these last words are being said with gritted teeth. Splitting up over two lines makes the reader slow down and emphasises the vengeance she feels.