The Devil’s Wife by Carol Ann Duffy from her poetry collection The World’s Wife

1. Dirt
The Devil was one of the men at work,
Different. Fancied himself. Looked at the girls
in the office as though they were dirt. Didn’t flirt.
Didn’t speak. Was sarcastic and rude if he did.
I’d stare him out, chewing on my gum, insolent, dumb.
I’d lie on my bed at home, on fire for him.
I scowled and pouted and sneered. I gave
as good as I got till he asked me out. In his car
He put two fags in his mouth and lit them both.
He bit my breast. His language was foul. He entered me.
We’re the same, he said, that’s it. I swooned in my soul
We drove to the woods and he made me bury a doll.
I went mad for the sex. I won’t repeat what we did.
We gave up going to work. It was either the woods
or looking at playgrounds, fairgrounds. Coloured lights
in the rain. I’d walk around on my own. He tailed.
I felt like this: Tongue of stone. Two black slates
for eyes. Thumped wound of a mouth. Nobody’s Mam.

2. Medusa
I flew in my chains over the wood where we’d buried
the doll. I know it was me who was there.
I know I carried the spade. I know I was covered in mud.
But I cannot remember how or when or precisely where.

Nobody liked my hair. Nobody liked how I spoke.

He held my heart in his fist and he squeezed it dry.
I gave the cameras my Medusa stare.
I heard the judge summing up. I didn’t care.

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The Devil’s Wife by Carol Ann Duffy from her poetry collection The World’s Wife

I was left to rot. I was locked up, double-locked.

I know they chucked the key. It was nowt to me.
I wrote to him every day in our private code.
I thought in twelve, fifteen, we’d be out on the open road.

But life, they said, means life. Dying inside.

The Devil was evil, mad, but I was the Devil’s wife
which made me worse. I howled in my cell.
If the Devil was gone then how could this be hell?

3. Bible
I said No not me didn’t I couldn’t I wouldn't
Can’ remember no idea not in the room.
Get me a Bible honestly promise you swear.
I never not in a million years it was him.

I said Send me a lawyer a vicar a priest.

Send me a TV crew send me a journalist.
Can’t remember not in the room, send me
a shrink where’s my MP send him to me.

I said Not fair not right not on not true

not like that. Didn’t see didn’t know didn't hear.
Maybe this maybe that not sure not certain maybe.
Cant remember no idea it was him it was him

Can’t remember no idea not in the room.

No idea can't remember not in the room.

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The Devil’s Wife by Carol Ann Duffy from her poetry collection The World’s Wife

4. Night
In the long fifty-year night,
these are the words that crawl out of the wall:
Suffer. Monster. Burn in Hell.
When morning comes,
I will finally tell.
Amen.

5. Appeal
If I’d been stoned to death
If I’d been hung by the neck
If I’d been shaved and strapped to the Chair
If an injection
If my peroxide head on the block
If my outstretched hands for the chop
If my tongue torn out at the root
If from ear to ear my throat
If a bullet a hammer a knife
If life means life means life means life
But what did I do to us all? To myself
When I was the Devil’s wife?

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The Devil’s Wife by Carol Ann Duffy from her poetry collection The World’s Wife

Explanation Evidence

Sadistic nature Submissiveness of women

of the devil in “Dirt. Didn’t flirt”
“dirt”  “Dirt. Didn’t flirt” Mention the
o Internal rhyme, short syntax, transition Obsession/observing
rhythmic beat to suggest his
structured, planned, decisive
treatment ↓
o Yet she is attracted to his
indifference and cruelty ↓
 She ends up treating the children
like dirt as well

Cruel, aggressive nature of the “Bit my breast”

devil
“Entered me”
 “Bit my breast” – plosive “b”
sounds, shows how aggressive,
tormenting he is, sadistic First hand encounter with his

supposed to nourish a child ⇒

 Breast = innocent, private,
cruelty
irony that she kills the children

He “entered me” ⇒ she had no

instead ↓

choice, derives pleasure from
rape, no consent ↓
o Real evil spirit = she wasn’t in
control, explored in 2nd part ↓

She takes part in the crime

↓

 “Made me bury a doll”

o Imperative “made” like an order ↓
o “That’s it.” short syntax again,
direct, he’s more powerful
↓
o Symbolic of burying her innocence
and conscience

Doll ⇒ emotionless, do not think

o Dictating his demands Spreads cruelty to others

of them as human, just objects to
be played

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 The Devil’s Wife by Carol Ann Duffy from her poetry collection The World’s Wife

Predators + setting

 Woods ⇒ dangerous, dark, evil

places
 “Playgrounds, fairgrounds. “Playgrounds, fairgrounds.
Coloured lights” Coloured lights”
 Waiting for their prey = children
 Use of caesura shows their
“tongue of stone.” “two black
indifference, assertiveness,
unwavering evil slates for eyes.” “thumped

black slates for eyes.” ⇒ simile,

 I felt like “tongue of stone.” “two wound” “nobody’s Mam

emotion ⇒ “nobody’s Mam” ==?

she is powerless and devoid of
Instinctive cruelty without
Lack of maternal instinct, rejects instruction + emotional
societal expectations
o Alliteration of the t, short syntax detachment
to add weight to each word
 Violent suppression of
words/expression “thumped
wound”

Structure is regular in the 1st

stanza which is free verse ⇒

stanza compared to the last

shows her loss of control

Title of dirt ⇒ buried the kid or

treated like dirt

Female is weak but she is also complacent in the crime. Devil is presented as manipulative,
dictatorial and cruel

out of control, she is cruel, women can be a force of evil ⇒ but the back story is not so
 Anti World’s Wife poem – female is evil, shows the bad side of women. She is at fault. She is

simple.

There’s a clear structure to the stanza ⇒ she first observes him, admires him, desperate =
suffering

STONE at the end relates to Medusa ⇒ vivid representation of how she is devoid of

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The Devil’s Wife by Carol Ann Duffy from her poetry collection The World’s Wife

emotion

She tries to attract him

 “Sneered, scowled, pouted”

 Gang connotations
 She has to reduce herself to 
something evil to be attractive
 “Gave as good as I got” →
alliteration of g’s shows her
determination

He is instinctively manipulative
Nature of their
He tailed ⇒ she was in the front,
relationship

made it seem like her fault
 Held my heart in his fist and
o
squeezed it dry”
o Blames Devil for her
transformation
o Metaphor, graphic
o Bloody and lifeless

“I” to “he” back to “I” ⇒ she is

alone

Taking a shot at men who are either indifferent or oppressive towards women ⇒ possibility
of evil in everyone

Complete Repetition of “I know” o

disillusionment
with society in  She is confident but tries to deny

She does not remember ⇒

“2. Medusa” involvement?

exclaiming her innocence
 Mistreatment from society

spoke. x2” ⇒ ironic because she

“Nobody liked my hair. How i

seemed devoid of emotion in 1.

appearance ⇒ Duffy makes a

o Public is concerned about her

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 The Devil’s Wife by Carol Ann Duffy from her poetry collection The World’s Wife

criticism about society, how it has

double standards
o
 *Syntactic parallelism
(parallel syntax (also
known as parallel
construction, parallel
structure, and parallelism)
is a rhetorical device that
consists of repetition
among adjacent sentences
or clauses. The repeated
sentences or clauses
provide emphasis to a
central theme or idea the
author is trying to convey)
o She is dissociating herself from
the crime
o Like medusa = foul mouthed and
filthy snakes for her
o Swiftly blaes the Devil
 “I was the Devil’s wife which
made me worse”
o The impact of societal attitudes
towards her

Passivity of the female

“I gave.. I heard.. I was left to rot”

 She’s not in control

 Society is dominating her life 
 Anaphora of “I” = she is by
herself, no hope for reform or

“Howled” ⇒ animalistic features,

salvation

immense agony as she realises
the severity of her sentence

 Indirectly criticizing society’s superficial portrayal of Myra

*Anaphora - the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive sentences

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 The Devil’s Wife by Carol Ann Duffy from her poetry collection The World’s Wife

Conclusion

 Women can be easily exploited and manipulated by evil men, and even the most evil women
have tragic beginnings and are unfairly treated by society.
 Idea of twisted love is also explored in Medusa (we will study later), which is why they come
one after another in the book.

is actually showing the complexity of her story ⇒ there is a possibility of evil in everyone
 Some may say it’s an exploration of Myra’s evil nature, yet it may also be argued that Duffy