CHARACTER & CONNECTIONS
In which two poems does Duffy use transformation of the body to reveal inner psychological collapse?
The Diet and Medusa.
In The Diet, the shrinking body mirrors loss of self; in Medusa, the monstrous transformation mirrors emotional betrayal and rage.
Which two poems represent loss of self?
The Woman Who Shopped and The Diet.
Which two poems explore the theme of erasure
The Diet (physical erasure) and Selling Manhattan (cultural erasure).
A suspicion, a doubt, a jealousy / grew in my mind,
Poem: Medusa
Authorial Choice: Tricolon + emotional escalation to signal psychological unraveling.
Mrs Midas & Mrs Faust — Theme: Greed
How do both poems portray greed, and is the treatment of greed similar or different?
Similar theme of destructive ambition,
different consequences: emotional loss vs moral corruption
Which two poem-speakers reinterpret myth or history to expose patriarchal control, and how?
Mrs. Midas and Mrs. Faust.
Both use dramatic monologue, irony, and revisionist storytelling to expose how women suffer because of male greed and ambition.
Which two poems demonstrate how Duffy uses the female voice to reclaim narrative control from male-dominant stories?
Mrs. Midas and Mrs. Darwin.
Both speakers rewrite well-known myths/history from a woman’s perspective, using wit and subversion as tools of reclamation.
Which pair of poems critiques the human cost of capitalism through very different lenses?
The Woman Who Shopped (consumer addiction) and The Dolphins (captivity as a metaphor for exploitation).
I am the authentic language of suffering
Poem: Money Talks
Technique: Personification / dramatic monologue — giving money a human voice.
The Woman Who Shopped & The Diet —
Theme: Self-Destruction
Similar in showing women consumed by extreme behaviour;
different in method — consumer addiction vs physical shrinking/starvation.)
Which two speakers (characters) reveal themselves through unreliable or morally ambiguous narration?
The speakers in Stealing and Selling Manhattan.
Both use fragmented confession, shifting tone, and self-justification to reveal unstable or exploitative identities.
Where does Duffy use dramatic monologue to present resentment toward a male figure?
Mrs. Midas and Medusa.
Both speakers express bitterness, using interior monologue and sensory imagery to show emotional decay.
Which two poems explore the consequences of desire
Mrs. Faust (excess desire for wealth/power) and The Diet (desire for extreme control).
Both show desire leading to self-destruction.
I got myself a bargain
Poem: Selling Manhattan
Technique: Irony / colonial voice appropriation to critique exploitation.
Medusa & Stealing — Theme: Psychological Breakdown
Both narrators unravel emotionally; differences in causes — jealousy Betrayal vs boredom/alienation.)
In which two poems does Duffy present characters who are trapped within a system larger than themselves?
The Dolphins and Selling Manhattan.
The Dolphins uses collective voice, enclosure imagery, and repetition to show captivity;
Selling Manhattan uses colonial discourse and transactional language to show cultural oppression.
Which two poems use satire to expose human greed?
Money Talks and Mrs. Faust.
Both rely on exaggeration and wit to critique materialism and moral corruption.
Which two poems explore loneliness or emotional isolation
Mrs. Midas (loneliness through abandonment and grief) and Stealing (loneliness through anti-social behaviour).
We are in our element but we are not free.
Poem: The Dolphins
Technique: Paradox + collective voice to express captivity through lyric simplicity.
The Diet & The Dolphins — Theme: Loss of Freedom
Both show shrinking freedom; difference is self-inflicted imprisonment vs forced captivity.)
I will live in the ghost of grasshopper and buffalo
Selling Manhattan
Symbolism
Which poems question the ethics of power, and how does Duffy portray the consequences of abusing power?
Selling Manhattan (colonial/economic power) and Mrs. Midas (magical/metaphorical power).
Both show power as isolating and destructive.
Better off dead than giving in, not taking what you want.
Poem: Stealing
Authorial choice: Internal monologue
Selling Manhattan & Mrs Faust — Theme: Power
Similar in revealing the corrupting nature of power; difference in targets — colonial violence vs individual ambition.)