Dorothy Malloy

Les Grands Seigneurs Men were my buttresses, my castellated towers, the bowers where I took my rest. The best and worst of times were men: the peacocks and the cockatoos, the nightingales, the strutting pink flamingos. Men were my dolphins, my performing seals; my sailing ships, the ballast in my hold. They were the rocking-horses prancing down the promenade, the bandstand where the music played. My hurdy-gurdy monkey-men. I was their queen, I sat enthroned before them, out of reach. We played at courtly love: the troubadour, the damsel and the peach. But after I was wedded, bedded, I became (yes, overnight) a toy, a plaything, little woman, wife, a bit of fluff. My husband clicked his fingers, called my bluff..

The subject of this poem is the change of entitlement and power in a woman who has recently married. The themes of royalty, tradition and idealised love (“Queen”, “courtly love”) are antithetical to those degradation (“toy”, plaything”, “little woman” – showing the subject of change The title is French – a romanticised language associated with chivalry and courtly love of the Medieval period. It plays on the term that was used to refer to noble men, but is now used in an ironic manner. The use of metaphors throughout the poem emphasises the ideas of value and appearance. SUBJECT/ THEME

Past-tense account of a persona who has been married – talks about herself “Men were my buttresses” POINT OF VIEW

Stanza 1 – architectural language creates ideas of support and comfort. E.g. – “Men were my buttresses, my castellated towers, the bowers where I took my rest” Stanza 1 – comparison to mating displays of birds & repetition of ideas – conveys men as showing off to gain a mate – E.g. “peacocks and cockatoos, the nightingales, the strutting pink flamingos” Stanza 2 – Seaside entertainment language – E.g. “dolphins, performing seals; my sailing ships” – this suggests the men have no dignity. Stanza 3 – language such as “queen” glorifies self and implies entitlement. Themes of traditional love shows the ideals of the persona matched her life and was almost like a play/ fairy-tale E.g. “damsel”, “troubador”. The words “courtly love” also have connotations of women being on a pedestal in the relationship – showing she has complete power over her love life. Stanza 4 – the power shift is shown by rhymes, crude language & derogatory actions E.g “little woman” “my husband clicked his fingers”, “wedded, bedded”. The use of increasingly dismissive words (“toy”, “plaything”, “little woman”, “bit of fluff”) implies her losing her sence of self-worth and creates pity in the reader. LANGUAGE

Stanza 1 – Colourful & dramatic birds being likened to men, repetition of ideas depicts the variety among these birds that represent men as redundant; their diversity makes them alike in value to the persona. “Peacocks and the cockatoos, the nightingales, the strutting pink flamingos” Stanza 2 – “hurdy-gurdy monkey men” – implies that despite the complexity of their instruments, the men who entertain her do this out of primitive instinct; almost programmed to entertain the persona like robots. Stanza 3 – presents her view of love as a play (“courtly love”, “troubadour”, “damsel”); which frames the last stanza in a tragic light. Stanza 4 – “my husband clicked his fingers” – his sense of power and dismissiveness. IMAGERY

The poem contains 4 stanzas; each with 3 or 4 lines Structured in two parts; stanzas 1-3 pose an idealised view of love before and the volta (the point of change – “But”) in stanza 4; undermining the previous stanzas. The poem has 15 lines – one longer than a sonnet. This implies that she regards the circumstances of her love life with bitter humour. FORM & STRUCTURE

Use of black humour (“wedded, bedded”, “(yes, overnight)”) – undermines her previously naïve views of love Assertive – possessive words like “my” when constantly referring to men Reminiscent – “the best and worst of my times were men” – detachment from her old self. TONE

Give – contrast between feeling deprived and entitled My Last Duchess – suffocating relationships rob wives of individuality Casehistory: Alison (head injury) – the contrast between the glorification of former-self and detachment from old lifestyle LINKS