1. ‘Anne Hathaway’ by Carol Ann Duffy
Starter:
The poem is written from the point of view of a character. What is this type of poem called?
dramatic monologue
Who was Anne Hathaway, the speaker of the poem?
Shakespeare’s wife

2. ‘Anne Hathaway’ by Carol Ann Duffy
Starter:
What item did her husband leave her in his will and why?
The second best bed, because it is a symbol of his love and devotion to her
What form is the poem written in?
A sonnet
How many lines are in a sonnet? 14

3. ‘Anne Hathaway’ by Carol Ann Duffy
We are going to explore Duffy’s choice of form and metaphors in ‘Anne Hathaway’
We will read through the poem again first.

4. ‘Anne Hathaway’
The bed we loved in was a spinning world of forests, castles, torchlight, clifftops, seas where he would dive for pearls. My lover's words were shooting stars which fell to earth as kisses 5 on these lips; my body now a softer rhyme to his, now echo, assonance; his touch a verb dancing in the centre of a noun. Some nights, I dreamed he'd written me, the bed a page beneath his writer's hands. Romance 10 and drama played by touch, by scent, by taste. In the other bed, the best, our guests dozed on, dribbling their prose. My living laughing love - I hold him in the casket of my widow's head as he held me upon that next best bed.

5. Form
Shakespeare was known for writing plays and poems called _________.
These have _____ lines.
They are usually about ______.
The first twelve lines are divided into three __________ with four lines each.
The last two lines are the ________.
sonnets 14
love
quatrains
couplet

6. Form
a theme or problem
6. The first 12 lines establish ____________________
7. The last two lines offer a ____________
8. The rhyme scheme is usually: __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
resolution
a b b a
c d c d
e f e f
g g

7. Form
9. Duffy’s sonnet has a _______ rhyme scheme than Shakespearian sonnets. 10. She uses a lot of ___________ and ___________ designed to imitate the random touching made during love making. 11. Why do you think Duffy chose to use the sonnet form for this poem?
softer
alliteration
assonance

8. Extension: Can you find any other metaphors in the poem?
Metaphors describe one thing as if it were something else. What metaphor is used to describe the following:
The bed (lines 1-3)
Her lover’s words (lines 3-4)
Their bodies (lines 5-6)
His touch (lines 6-7)
The bed (again) (lines 8-9)
Extension: Can you find any other metaphors in the poem?

9. ‘Anne Hathaway’
The bed we loved in was a spinning world of forests, castles, torchlight, clifftops, seas where he would dive for pearls. My lover's words were shooting stars which fell to earth as kisses 5 on these lips; my body now a softer rhyme to his, now echo, assonance; his touch a verb dancing in the centre of a noun. Some nights, I dreamed he'd written me, the bed a page beneath his writer's hands. Romance 10 and drama played by touch, by scent, by taste. In the other bed, the best, our guests dozed on, dribbling their prose. My living laughing love - I hold him in the casket of my widow's head as he held me upon that next best bed.

10. rhyme, echo, assonance - poetry
Metaphors in the poem
Metaphors describe one thing as if it were something else. What metaphor is used to describe the following:
The bed (lines 1-3)
Her lover’s words (lines 3-4)
Their bodies (lines 5-6)
His touch (lines 6-7)
The bed (again) (lines 8-9)
‘a spinning world’
‘shooting stars’
rhyme, echo, assonance - poetry
verb
a page
Extension: “the casket of my widow’s head”

11. Why has Duffy used these metaphors?
What do all these metaphors have in common?
Who is she talking about?
What connects him to these metaphors?
All the metaphors relate to Shakespeare’s writing – scenes from his plays, his poetry, the fact that he was such a good writer.