1. Mrs Midas
Carol Ann Duffy

2. Summary Mr Midas wishes for a golden touch.
Mrs Midas is shocked by wish and tries to make sense of new reality.
Couple attempt to deal with consequences.
Mrs Midas exiles Mr Midas.
Mrs Midas leaves Mr Midas.
I: The poem follows a modern woman, seemingly living a normal life, however she is affected by the wish that her husband makes. Mr Midas wishes for everything that he touches to be turned to gold. Mrs Midas is shocked and upset, and tries to make sense of what is happening. She eventually cannot cope and breaks down, angry at how selfish her husband has been. The couple try and forget it and live normally, but with Midas’ golden touch, this is not possible. We witness the deterioration of their relationship as the consequences of Midas’ actions take full effect.
C: Mrs Midas finds dealing with the changes difficult and sends her husband to live somewhere else. She attempts to still see him, however living with the effects of his wish is too difficult and she finally separates from him completely. Although this was the right thing to do, she still misses him, as they did once have a loving relationship. Her character has grown stronger, and she did rise above the challenges that were placed in front of her, addressing the fact that her husband was selfish and arrogant. Nevertheless, her love for Mr Midas still remains, but she powers on as strong independent woman.

3. Context
Inspired by Greek myth of King Midas from Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
Retold with a modern twist.
Told from Midas’ wife’s perspective.
L: The story of King Midas is a Greek myth about a man who meets the God Dionysus and wishes for everything that he touches to be turn to gold. This myth focuses on the demise of the King himself, including his regrets and his inability to live normally. However, Duffy takes a modern stance on the classic tale and explores the effect that the wish had on Midas’ wife.

4. Structure Dramatic monologue told from Mrs Midas’ POV.
11 irregular/unrhymed stanzas -> reflects unpredictability of their life.
Stanzas are 6 lines with syllables (approx.) -> creates relaxed narrative.
L: Adlib

5. Key Themes Fear for Safety/Security Relationships Identity Isolation
Anger
Love
Greed
Loss
Change
Nostalgia
I: Left side
C: Right side

6. Fear for Safety/Security
“Separate beds. In fact I put a chair against my door,/ near petrified.”
Minor/short sentence -> decisive -> solid barrier represents end of physical relationship -> distance emphasises fear for safety.
Word choice -> emphasises extent of fear.
Play on words -> ‘turned to stone’ -> Mrs M would become cold/stone-like if touched -> suggests fear that relationship/Mrs M will become stagnant/unchanging; unable to move on.

7. Relationships
“I made him sit/ on the other side of the room and keep his hands to himself./ I locked the cat in the cellar. I moved the phone./ The toilet I didn’t mind.”
Physical distance = distance in relationship.
Self-preservation -> fear of gift.
Tone -> comedy lightens mood.
Concern for cat’s welfare -> doesn’t know what Mr M will do -> emotional distance in relationship -> can no longer understand him.
Mundanity grounds her -> ordinary object in extraordinary scenario.
Mrs M lured by materialism/ostentation.
Short sentences -> quicken narration (enhanced by factual language) -> reflects urgency of actions -> suggests roles in relationship quickly changed.

8. Identity
“I’d just poured a glass of wine, begun/ to unwind, while the vegetables cooked. The kitchen/ filled with the smell of itself, relaxed, its steamy breath/ gently blanching the windows.”
Stereotypical housewife -> reinforces domestic/prosaic scene.
Mrs M stereotypically in kitchen while Mr M is outside -> they assume their roles.
Personification -> heat too much -> suggests discomfort in stereotypical role.
Allusion -> ‘breathing down neck’ -> societal pressure to remain in role/pressured by Mr M to provide his meals.
Word Choice -> cooking method/drains colour -> lifestyle draining Mrs M of will to live -> suggests slowly over course of relationship.

9. Isolation
“At first, I visited, odd times,/parking the car a good way off, then walking.”
No longer visits -> compounds callousness/understandable -> Mrs M gave up too fast/needs time to process.
Midas far away -> Mrs M protecting car/preventing anyone following -> isolating Mr M to hoard his gift.
Punctuation -> commas fragment sentence -> mimics irregularity of visits -> emphasises fragmented relationship.

10. Anger
“And then I came home, the woman who married the fool/who wished for gold.”
Blaming herself -> should have foreseen this -> Mrs M distancing herself from who she was -> angry at her blindness.
Allusion -> ‘fool’s gold’ -> Mr M tricked into thinking wish is good/valuable -> Mrs M angry Mr M was deceived by society’s view of gold.

11. Love
“I miss most,/ even now, his hands, his warm hands on my skin, his touch.”
Syntax -> word order -> emphasises importance placed on physical intimacy .
Word choice -> root of problem yet what Mrs M misses most.
Repetition -> emphasises Mr M’s touch is lost forever-> suggests Mrs M feels empty without loving relationship .
Word choice -> emphasises contrast between coldness/hardness of gold and warmth of skin to skin contact -> suggests loving relationship is cold/dead.
Punctuation -> commas elongate sentence -> emphasises amount of time spent thinking about Mr M -> Mrs M lingers on memories of their love.
List -> emphasises poignancy -> Mrs M mourns passing of their love but looks back fondly.

12. Greed
“He tried to light a cigarette; I gazed, entranced,/ as the blue flame played on its luteous stem.”
Word choice -> enthralled -> captivated by cigarette -> lured in by call of wealth.
Word choice -> mesmerised/drawn in -> surprising as previously condemned gold.
Allusion -> ‘playing with fire’ -> doing something dangerous that may cause harm/many problems -> suggests Mr M will harm himself/relationship/Mrs M due to his greed.
Word Choice -> yellow -> describes gold colour -> emphasises allure.

13. Loss
“That night, I dreamt I bore/ his child, its perfect ore limbs, its little tongue/ like a precious latch, its amber eyes/ holding their pupils like flies.”
Emphasises all Mrs M has lost -> reality of situation has set in -> longs for what they can never have together.
Repetition -> emphasises inhumanity/fictional quality of child -> will never happen as figment of Mrs M’s imagination.
Word choice -> evokes gold images -> emphasises child’s idyllic attractiveness -> suggests child is unrealistic physically/literally.
Simile -> implies breastfeeding -> Mrs M longs for emotional/physical connection -> craves intimacy as no more intimacy in marriage.
Simile -> amber resin preserves insects -> suggests dream has been fossilised -> long dead ideal.
Strange imagery suggests fear/abnormality of child.

14. Change
“He was thin,/ delirious; hearing, he said, the music of Pan/ from the woods. Listen. That was the last straw.”
Word Choice -> emaciated/irrational -> indicates extent of physical/mental deterioration -> sorrowful state demonstrates consequences of wish.
Word Choice -> change in physical size/strength represents shift in relationship.
Allusion -> Greek Mythology -> Pan=God of shepherds/flocks -> ‘follow the flock’ -> suggests Mr M followed the crowd by wishing for something so mainstream -> changing society/Mr M corrupted by wealth.
Attuned to classical mythology roots -> ironic that gift equated with prosperity results in such emotional poverty.
Short Sentence -> emphasises Mrs M’s exasperation -> total change in attitude -> limit reached -> consequences of gift have worn Mrs M down -> can no longer endure stress of it.

15. Nostalgia
“You see, we were passionate then,/ in those halcyon days; unwrapping each other, rapidly,/ like presents, fast food.”
Enjambment -> emphasises those days are gone -> pause mimics Mrs M lingering on memories.
Word Choice -> perfect -> emphasises how wonderful relationship was.
Word Choice -> fun/exciting -> suggests relationship was enjoyable.
Word Choice -> unhealthy/disposable -> emphasises transience of relationship -> suggests quickly satisfied but never happy..
Simile -> highlights un-healthiness/disposable nature of passion.

16. Questions?