The most significant text encourages us to think about our values and our beliefs
For centuries women have been demonised and disregarded by men. Traditionally Women are
forced to act “feminine,” soft natured, naive and to be dependant on men. however if women aren’t
willing to fit into this particular mould then they are made to feel shameful and called names such
as the ‘jealous ex.’ Carol Ann Duffy was successful in giving a voice to literary and mythical female
protagonists that have been demonised and categorised under such labels. Through
imagery,metaphors and choice of diction she forces us to think about our current values and
beliefs surrounding women and then shows us how these social constructs have a detrimental
affect on women and their self-worth. Interesting intro Duffy highlights our current expectation (is this still the current expectation ??) for women to be in a
dependent and powerless relationship with men. Medusa, a Greek female protagonist, was left by
her husband and ever since demonised by society because she no longer fitted the social
construct of the time?? We portray her as the manipulative, sly and emotionless “jealous ex.” In the
beginning of the poem Duffy uses imagery to portray Medusa as the monster that society believes
her to be. Medusa describes herself as “foul mouthed, foul tongued, yellow fanged” which instantly
builds up the visual imagery of a repulsive beast that we want to disassociate ourselves from. The
alliteration of the ’s' in “hissed and spat on my scalp” represents the sound a snake makes,
reinforcing the snake imagery. In doing so the sly, manipulative, freakish snakelike characteristics
now immediately come to mind when we visualise Medusa. Not only are we repulsed by her but we
are scared of Medusa and what she might do. This uncomfortable feeling creates a distance
between the reader and the female protagonist, in the same way that women, like Medusa, have
been ostracised from society. Duffy makes us question our beliefs surrounding women, why do we
portray women as a monster when they don't fit these social constructs? When we label women
with these negative character assertions; jealous and manipulative we dehumanise them to the
extent that they become this kind of monstrous beast that should be locked away. It is evident that
we throughout history, believe Medusa to be a monster, “there are bullet tears in my eyes.” Duffy
brings up (how does she do this??) the misconception that women, like Medusa, simply use their
bodies to manipulate men and get what they want. That a woman’s emotions are not genuine but
instead their greatest weapon. Although this sentence implies a dangerous nature, and the surface
level detail society thinks of her, underneath we also see an essence of vulnerability, “tears”, and
we instantly see her pain. She is clearly not the monster we portray her to be  . Duffy brings to
light the current gender beliefs in society today. She discusses how women are often portrayed as
monsters when they don’t fit the social construct of being in a relationship with men. Is there
absurdity in this current belief? Duffy poses this question to us and makes us think again about the
social constructs we live by (I’m still not sure that this still stands as today??) . We believe that if
women aren’t in a relationship then there is obviously something wrong with them, if they can’t
maintain that relationship then they are to blame. Duffy makes us reflect on the connotations
associated with ‘the jealous ex’ and how by labelling women we are dehumanising them. Do we
ever see men labelled the “jealous ex” or other such derogatory labels? We need to stop sending
out these messages and allowing these negative connotations around women thrive in society. By
labelling women we are demonising them and creating a divide between the two genders. Women
are conditioned into believing that they are worthless and inferior to men. Not only does this make
women more dependent on men but on a broader sense this can lead to abusive relationships and
poor treatment of women. We are giving an excuse for men to treat women this way. This section
has a lot of information – and some valid points also – but I think some of your points are
questionable
Duffy highlights the detrimental affect these current beliefs have on women and how it can lead to
a lack of self-worth, making us think again about societies current values. This was expressed in
the text where Medusa says “a suspicion, a doubt, a jealousy grew in my mind which turned the
hairs on my head to filthy snakes.” The snakes are a metaphor for the negative thoughts wreaking
Medusa’s mind and we see her real transformation into a monster. Duffy shows us how it is difficult
for women to not internalise these negative connotations and societal beliefs and therefore we
need to be careful what society projects onto women. Then Medusa says, “I glanced at a singing
bird/ a handful of dusty gravel/ spattered down.” We learn that when women experience such grief
and loss of value they see the world with a negative lens and all life and beauty is drained away. A
bird is also a symbol of freedom and so by turning it to gravel it emphasises medusas, and more
generally a womens lack of freedom. Our current belief for women to act a certain way and be
dependent on a man is clearly having a negative affect on women as they feel distressed when
they cannot achieve these expectations. We are made to question our own beliefs surrounding
women. Furthermore enjambment has been used in the text to show her detioration. Usually used
to create flow and continuity, in the poem Duffy effectively used it to create anxiety and
deterioration. Medusa talks to her lover “and here you come/ with a shield for a heart/ and a sword
for a tongue/ and your girls/ your girls.” As the piece continues Medusa loses her control and a
mixture of negative thoughts are jumbled together, highlighting the mental grief. With the imagery
of decay and death we are able to sympathise with Medusa and see how women have been
negatively affected by society’s expectations. When women have been labeled with such negative
assertions and ostracised from social norms there can be severe repercussions of self-destruction.
When Medusa refers to herself staring in the mirror “I stared in the mirror” , this indicates a
voluntary desire to self-harm to kill herself with greater intent than she did when she glanced at the
bird. Through Medusas personal voice we can understand the extent of her emotional torment and
we can reflect on the detrimental effects of succumbing to society’s expectations. There is no
disputing that we need to change our values and beliefs at a societal level as discussed previously
however Duffy also makes us consider a change our belief of ourselves. We need to understand
that we do not need a man at our side and certainly shouldn't let this define ourselves. After all we
design the social constructs we live by and so we can change them. It is important for women to try
to fight against social constructs and to not internalise negative assertions made from others. Life
shouldn't fall apart as soon as you experience relationship grief we need to be strong.
I think you need to remember that the ‘World’s Wife’ collection was written in 1999 – and I think we
have moved on since then
I completely agree with the statement that “the most significant text encourages us to think about
our values and beliefs.” Medusa is a significant text for all of us as it makes us think about
societies rules and systems around gender and whether or not these still work for today’s society.
Carol Ann Duffy shows us how we portray women as monsters when they don’t fit into society
expectations of them and how quick we are to label them, valuing them as no more than a sneaky
manipulative monster. Through this snake imagery these negative connotations were highlighted
and we began to question the absurdity in these current beliefs. Furthermore we recognised the
detrimental affect these beliefs have on individuals and their self worth. In order to see a positive
future we need to implement a change of values.
You know the poem well, and have a lot of evidence from it in your response. You do address the
question – and yes Duffy does challenge her audience to think – but I think the state of women that
you discuss has changed somewhat in the last 20 years. Not totally, but to some extent. How
would you include this in your response?