As part of our first two units in English, we have looked at three poems by renowned British poet and playwright Carol Ann Duffy. Many of her poems, including these three- Thetis, Salome, and Little Red Cap, contain many similar themes and elements, such as intertextuality (allusions to other famous stories and myths), gender roles and the patriarchy, womanhood, power, and more. Here is my thinking on the connections and common themes among these poems:
Thetis, Salome, and Little Red Cap are the names of three of the poems in British poet Carol Ann Duffy’s book, The World’s Wife. I will be analysing the (thematic) connections we can make between these poems today:
Firstly, one common theme among these texts is the idea of intertextuality. The collection of poems The World’s Wife in is known for presenting the previously unheard stories of (fictional) women, in myths, novels, and other tales, where they have been silenced, or where their stories have been overshadowed by those of male characters. Duffy takes these stories and transforms/subverts. y changing the perspective from which they are told. We see this in these three poems, each which are based around female characters from different texts- a Greek sea goddess, a dancer for the Herod the Great (a king in the New Testament), and the childhood fairytale protagonist Little Red Riding Hood respectively. The common theme between all three of these stories is the fact that they centred around, or prominently displayed this woman as a character, but never told the stories from their perspectives. By transforming these texts, Duffy not only shifts the perspective but the thematic lens through which the stories of these characters are explored- we can see that their stories now represent very different themes to the original. For example, the original tale of Red Riding Hood was meant to be a warning to children about strangers and “predators”, and reinforces the expectation of women and girls, from a young age, to always be sweet and innocent. Duffy turns this around on its head and instead presents a sixteen- year old Red Riding Hood who seeks out the “predator” herself, and eventually learns and kills the wolf herself, even if it’s after many years. This just goes to show how central the concept of perspective is to a story and its themes.
In addition, Duffy uses the women in each of these stories to explore themes and aspects related to genders, such as the patriarchy, gender roles, the conformity of women, and more, as well as themes related to power and conflict. Each poem touches on and explores the idea of gender roles, and the hierarchy of in its own way. In Salome, it is a central concept, as the entire persona of Salome in the poem is based on a reversal of traditional gender roles, where she is portrayed to be a “player”, who drinks and smokes, and who is aggressive and, ultimately, more powerful than the men around her. In Little Red Cap, Red Riding Hood is the one who pursues the “predator”, and ultimately escapes him too, breaking the notion that women need to saved by other men. However, it still portrays how women are expected to conform and serve men, which is a similar theme to the one found in Thetis. In Thetis, we are shown the story of a woman who tries to adapt and change (shapeshift) to escape control, but who ultimately acquiesces her role as a subservient woman and mother, whether willingly or unwillingly. In each of these poems, there is also an exploration of power, and the power imbalance between men and women. Although each has different endings and messages, all of the poems acknowledge the idea that men have more power than women, and that women are expected to conform to this.
We can also see some thematic connections between these poems and some of the ads related to gender that we have looked at so far. One interesting comparison and core concept to explore is one of Perspective. All of Duffy’s poems are from a women’s perspective, while many of the damaging ads we have seen in class so far are instead often geared towards men, and often framed from the perspective of men, which completely changes the message the ads send to both boys and girls. In many of the ads we have studied, we can also see the power imbalance that Duffy touches on- women in the ads are often shown to be below men, subservient to men, implying the hierarchy and imbalance between them. Finally, all of these texts- both the ads and poems- deal with different representations of women in relation to gender roles. While some portray women in contrast with gender roles (Salome, Little Red Cap), the advertisments display and sometimeseven reinforce the traditional caretaking, subservient roles of women. These (mis)representations can both reflect and negatively influence culture, implying acceptance of these damaging gender roles in using them to advertise.