Medusa by Carol an Duffy, Loads of Mistakes. Essay

‘The Sides Wife’ by which Duffy provides a voice to female characters that may have already been ignored during history. The poems happen to be presented through the point of view of these women and oftentimes it is the very first time that we, since an audience notice their area of the history, rather than a story that has been informed for them.

Medusa matches the other poems through this anthology since Duffy presents Medusa while she views herself nevertheless she is still shed in a negative light, which the lady willing reveals to the audience as she is perversely delighted by it. Duffy uses smart diction and sentence structure to include in the rendering of the character as well as punctuation and methods, most significantly rule of threes, to effectively display the persona and the themes of growing trend, stone, payback and personal absorption. Duffy wastes no time in opting for Medusa’s point of view as the first line proves.

The poem starts on a bitter note with “a suspicion, a doubt, a jealously” which is significant to get numerous reasons. Firstly, the diction of jealousy only is important because it suggests the breeding of ill feelings at the start in the poem which usually reflects just how Medusas lifestyle as a list began in much the same way. Also, the rule of three is made up of nouns that build on one another are progressive as Medusa graduates coming from a mistrust to while doubt and then becomes envious, an idea which suggested by caesura of commas instead of full ceases, indicating that the nouns flow together and are also linked instead of being individual or distinct.

The first line is definitely organized in a manner that makes the growth of negative emotions evident which will foreshadows the growth of trend and hate expressed afterwards in the text message while the progressive rule of three efficiently foreshadows the continued use of precisely the same technique throughout the poem. The growth of negativity is supported again inside the following lines which mean that Medusa’s feelings were thus strong as to be showed physically throughout the turning in the hairs onto her head to filthy snakes. The snakes are obviously a tangible manifestation of the expansion which Duffy emphasizes all the more the length of the queue.

Being for a longer time than ever con of line of the poem is it a definite, visible echo of the actual growth of the snakes that represent Medusas anger. The first mention of the the theme of stone is manufactured in the second stanza, in which the persona identifies her lung area as “grey”, which indicates that Medusa’s lungs that support her life, are hardened, colourless and decayed, replicating her thoughts and shown the effect that she has in living being to turn these to stone. As the imagery with the grey lungs suggests lifelessness, it is quickly contrasted by the image of “yellow fanged” the industry link back to the snakes which can be alive and thriving on her head.

The combination of the two images suggests that Medusa herself is lifeless but owns life mainly because she is fully embodied by snakes, and everything that they will represent, a concept that is saved by her having yellow-colored fangs like she is now a fish, not human. Stone is suggested again inside the second stanza through the metaphor of “bullet tears” which usually relate to the hardness of stone and imply that Medusa’s emotions murder or get rid of as principal points do, which is evident down the road in the poem.

The 1st sense of Medusa’s feeling of self importance are noticeable at the end with this stanza together with the rhetorical problem of “are you terrified”, suggesting her pride in the monstrosity that she is considered as and also the fact that it is instantly followed by a solution in the form of a command means that the actual solution of the gentleman that she actually is talking to is definitely unimportant and she is unsociable to it which highlights her personal self importance. However , the man, the “Greek God” is definitely displayed which includes importance, although meager compared to hers, when he manages to catch her eye.

It is him that she really loves and since he has been exceptional enough to draw the attention of one as high as medusa he ought to be scared mainly because her interest is one him rather than ignoring him and also that fact that he catches her eye is fitting since it is exactly that that will switch him to stone. The third stanza has a link back towards the first in “I find out you’ll proceed, betray me”. Both advise Medusa’s not enough trust and bitterness simply by how conveniently she moves negative common sense on the person before this individual has a probability to act consequently.

This negative outlook could possibly be a partial trigger to Medusa’s selfishness, leading her to believe that few things are worth her time. Her selfishness and lack of patient about actually those that the lady supposedly really loves is displayed through the final line with this stanza: “so better by simply for me if you were stone. ” It is only precisely what is better for her that matters which will again sets her, the sole moral from the Gorgons, on the pedestal above a Traditional God. Over the following three stanzas the tone changes coming from a passive and unsociable statement of facts for an active narration of her deeds that emphasize her rage, specifically as your woman draws particular attention to her actions.

I will look at the following three stanzas collectively and there is techniques spread through these people. Medusa’s hate and revenge become evident now and grow speedily, which backlinks back to the first line with the progressive rule of three. Precisely the same technique is employed again during these three stanzas though more disjointed than before.

The intensity of medusa’s gaze raises in the initially line of every stanza contact form glanced to looked to stared, with is another progressive rule of three jointly thing develops on another and that replicates the development of her rage through time. The expansion of medusas hate is additionally suggested through the size of the stone that she makes. Starting with a small pebble coming from a bee and progressing to a boulder metaphorically implies that as her hate improves, so too perform her damaging powers because the two happen to be directly linked. To support this notion, one other progressive secret of three flows throughout the three stanzas.

The way in which the stone drops from the atmosphere increases with Medusa’s rage as well with verbs of accelerating severity: “fell, spattered, shattered” which is an additional clever technique that Duffy uses to emphasize and enforce the previous two-points. Now focusing on only the sixth stanza, the verb “stared’ holds significance aside from the guideline of 3 that it forms; “stared” once again emphasizes medusas opinion of self importance as the girl spare the animals only glace or look equally devotes much more time and power to himself because the girl with of better.

Also, whilst everything else that she looks at turns to stone, she does not once she stares at herself which means that she may not be converted because she is currently hard and cold because stone as the primary goal. Following about in the 6th stanza, medusas anger appears to reach its epitome as well as colossal dimensions are represented by imagery in the dragon, fireplace and the pile. The three last lines of the stanza can be interpreted in two ways.

There is the obvious hyperlink to the evolution that occurs between animals and natural stone in the previous two stanzas which will implies that medusa looked at the dragon to make it a mountain. Yet , unlike the other samples of medusa turning animals to stone, the dragon is separate through the mountain with a full stop wherever previously it is a comma. The deliberate change in the punctuation style separates the dragon in the mountain while, suggesting that when Medusas looks into the mirror she see that dragon that is certainly herself.

If perhaps medusa is usually metaphorically a dragon then your growth of her anger is again insinuated because previously in the poem she was presented being a snake but now towards the end she has produced into a much larger and fiercer reptile. While the dragon can be medusa the mountain symbolizes her trend as it is a sign of its massive size while the open fire goes to support the inference of raw anger. In stanza 7, the sculpt again alterations back to how it was at the start of the composition with medusa addressing the greek the almighty again.

Medusa appears to be justifying her hate towards the man in this stanza by declaring that this individual has a shield for a heart and a sword to get a tongue. The metaphors claim that the man never really loved medusa as your woman loved him and that he enjoyed her, finally hurting her with is words wonderful betrayal that is why she looks for revenge. Even though medusa may blame the man for what she gets become, the lady appears to just like herself better the way the girl with now which can be indicated through the last 3 lines in the poem.

A content, threatening and very pleased tone accompanies look at myself now as if medusa loves who she actually is. Also, as what the girl with now is contrasted to just how she was when the lady was small, the is actually a suggestion that even though she was young and unsuspecting she was ignorant to how the girl should be, where as now the she is elderly she sees that she is while she will need to and feels highly of herself because of it. The importance of what she actually is now is highlighted by the reality the line varieties a stanza on its own.

Through most of the composition, beautiful things are being took on rigid, lifeless stone which is summed up entirely within the last three lines in which suggest that medusa manufactured that change herself, via beautiful existence to fatality stone, psychologically at least and then your woman brings the same to others. Finally, the diction of “look” in the last range is equally fitting and ironic since it is that very appearance that will literally turn one to stone as she has been metaphorically looked to stone herself. Throughout the composition duffy displays medusa in ways the this wounderful woman has not been seen before.

In many instances the man appears to be blamed for what this wounderful woman has become that it I know fault of her own, though she seem to be perversely pleased with herself, which will, from her perspective, outdoor sheds her within a positive lumination. Although the reader cannot shake the bad connotations that have been developed with medusa it can be evident that she feels very remarkably of very little, and so what do the viewpoints of other, insignificant, persons matter to just one who is since self crucial as medusa?