The Devil's Wife Flashcards
Recite quote 2 from ‘dirt’ provide analysis
‘I’d stare him out, chewing my gum, insolent, dumb/ I’d lie on my bed at home, on fire for him’
Childlike flirtation, internal rhyme, she was obsessed with him, sees herself a unequal to him, ‘fire’ connotes hell, death, passion, Danger
Recite quote 1 from dirt, provide analysis
‘The devil was one of the men at work’
She knew he was bad from beginning, knew what she was getting into. Conscious of her actions
Recite quote 3 from ‘dirt’, provide analysis
‘Tongue of stone. Two black slates for eyes. Thumped wound of a mouth. Nobody’s mam’
Unable to talk - referring to silence in what she has done
Illustrates emotional & physical change she has undergone to be with Brady
Loss of Maternity changed publics opinion of women
Recite quote 1 from ‘medusa’ provide analysis
‘I was left to rot. / I was locked up double locked./ I know they chucked the key. It was nowt to me’
Repetition symbolic of how she is trapped. Repetition of ‘I’ self-centred/selfish. ‘Nowt’ remorseless, evil inside of her be escape
Recite quote 2 from ‘medusa, provide analysis
‘The devil was evil, mad but I was the Devils wife / which makes me worse’
Suggests she is worse as she was conscious of her actions, changed publics stereotype of women, showed they could be evil too
Recite quote 3 from ‘medusa’ provide analysis
‘If the devil was gone then how could this be hell’
It is her hell without the devil
Recite quote 1 from ‘bible’ provide analysis
‘Can’t remember no idea not I the room/ no idea can’t remember not in the room’
Parallel inverted structure highlights continuous denial, control over words suggests cunning behind them, knows she is lying, capable of conscious thought
Recite quote 1 from night provide analysis
‘These are the words that crawl out the walls: Suffer. Monster. Burn in Hell’
Personification describes words as insects infecting her mind, words come from what media have said about her bitter remorse / guilt is catching up with her
Recite quote 1 from ‘appeal’ provide analysis
‘If life means life means life means life’
Concern of poem repeated here, taking life means giving her own.
Recite quote 2 from ‘appeal’ provide analysis
‘But what did I do to us all, to myself, when I was the Devils wife’
She changed the minds of the public, showed women were capable of evil, changed herself, physically and mentally to be with Brady, ‘was’ suggests she is no longer the Devils wife , remorseful but not forgiven she knows the wrong of what she’s she she done
What are the central concerns of the Devils wife?
Evil, should we forgive, loss of maternal instinct
