1. ‘Beautiful’ by Carol Ann Duffy
Introduction to key elements of poem
Group work to explore/analyse the four sections
Links with Handmaids

2. Introduction to the poem
Connects famous icons of feminine beauty through a single narrative, as if they are all the same character, presenting an archetype of sought-after feminine beauty throughout history. These women are 1) Helen of Troy 2) Cleopatra 3) Marilyn Monroe and 4) Princess Diana
The women are not named but easily recognisable through cultural references, e.g. “a thousand ships” famously refers to the line “the face that launched a thousand ships” describing Helen of Troy (stanza 4); references to the “Nile” and “Caesar” in Cleopatra’s section; “Happy birthday Mr President” referring to Marilyn Monroe’s famous rendition of this song; and the “princess” on the “balcony” to identify Princess Diana.
The poem appears to reference and blame the male fetish for these ideal beauties as the blame for their ultimate destruction, culminating in the repulsed tone of the final line “History’s stinking breath in her face”.
Key AO2: free verse, but with some trimeter (section one and four) and pentameter (section two and three), internal rhyme, enjambment, simile, metaphor, imagery, tone, caesura, hyperbole, repetition, alliteration. Structure moves from mythological women from ancient history to modern women who were famously the centre of media attention (and ultimately destroyed by this?); line length reduces towards the bleak ending, increasing the impact of Diana’s experiences.

3. Traditions:
Duffy adopts a punchy, masculine vernacular which belongs to a feminist tradition which seeks to explore a patriarchal society’s reflection on women. This ‘tough-guy vernacular’ originates in the poetry of Sylvia Plath and, more recently, Anne Sexton

4. Significance of the male gaze
Helen of Troy
Cleopatra
Marilyn Monroe
Princess Diana
Semi-mythological character
“Beauty is fame”
Male ownership?
Her maid “loved her most” – why?
“Tough beauty”
Ruthless?
Conscious power over her beauty?
Real woman from history
“Dumb beauty”
Victimhood?
Relentless pursuit of media
False?
“Beauty is fate”
Relentless pursuit by media/the public
Also captivated women
Repulsion in final line
Significance of the male gaze

5. Split into 4 groups to explore your section of the poem
Helen of Troy
Cleopatra
Marilyn Monroe
Princess Diana
Split into 4 groups to explore your section of the poem

6. Study questions to help you prepare your section of the poem:
Possible AO2 terminology:
free verse
trimeter
pentameter
internal rhyme enjambment
simile
metaphor
Imagery
Tone
caesura
hyperbole
repetition
alliteration.
What kind of imagery can you identify in your section of the poem?
What kind of pace and tone can you identify?
What is the balance of power between men and the female protagonist of this section of the poem?
Where can you find examples of revelatory enjambment? How does this reflect the deliberateness of the female character?
How and where is internal rhyme used within this section?
Why does this section appear at this point in the poem?
What is Duffy’s main message in this section of the poem? What is she most critical of? What is she trying to say about beauty?

7. Helen of Troy
Helen was born from an egg produced as a result of the rape of Leda by Zeus.
When Paris abducted her, her husband Manelaus launched a thousand ships & sailed to Troy to bring her back.
As a princess with a common touch she links to Princess Diana (the people’s princess)

8. Cleopatra Queen of Egypt Influential, sexual, powerful
Had a child with Julius Caesar
The Roman leader Mark Antony became her lover
In Shakespeare’s play (as in real life), Antony believes her to be dead and kills himself. When she finds this out she kills herself

9. Marilyn Monroe A difficult early life Multiple marriages and affairs
Married to famous baseball player Joe DiMaggio
Married to Arthur Miller the playwright
Became dependent on drugs/alcohol
Hints of an affair with JFK
Ironic truth that HollYwood both killed and immortalised her

10. Princess Diana
Images of her life mirrored in death. E.g She was ‘elegant’ but became ‘elegant bone’
‘beautifully pale’- connotations of the moon and the Roman goddess Diana (goddess of the hunt- Earl Spencer spoke of this irony at her funeral)
Love/hate relationship with the press
In death, linked to Marilyn- ‘Candle in the Wind’
Duffy highlights the hypocrisy of those grieving her death

11. Links to ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’
AO1 interpretation; AO2 writers’ methods;
AO3 significance of contexts;
AO4 links and contrasts;
AO5 different possible interpretations
How is female beauty, objectivity and the male gaze portrayed in Handmaids?
What roles for women do we see across both texts? What are the common elements between these?
How is feminine power portrayed in the two texts?
How is feminine victimhood portrayed in the two texts?