Reviews

The World's Wife by Carol Ann Duffy

Only show reviews with written explanations

thealmightyrat's review

funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Duffy’s ‘The world’s wife’ are a collection of feminist poems that retell famous stories; fictional and factual, from a female perspective. The poems offer a witty and satirical viewpoint from the likes of Mrs Midas, Medusa, Mrs Aesop and many more. I thoroughly enjoyed the majority of poems for their humour and feminist readings of classic tales, as i found they brought a modern twist on older stories. Personally, i found a few of the poems slightly dry, partly because i either felt they were slightly far fetched or was not entirely sure what they were aiming at. However on the whole Duffy’s poetry was a fun and unique read and would recommend to anyone who enjoys witty twists on well known stories.

iissysmith's review

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1.0

1.5/5 Since my initial rating of the worlds wife I have come to the conclusion that I hate this anthology. Like a lot. The amount of anger seeing Carol Ann Duffy brings me is unhealthy. Maybe it’s cause again like Atonement I have been forced to read something I would never have picked up or whether it’s just a genuine dislike I will never truly know.
For my coursework (which is the only reason I will ever buy a CAD anthology) I ended up exploring the negative presentation of men and how it presents an outdated view on the feminist movement. I chose to use the poems:
- FROM MRS TIRESIAS:
I remember when I initially read this poem I actually quite enjoyed it however after a more on depth reading I realised how inherently transphobic this is. Duffy spends the entire poem image seeing the transformed Tiresias and I believes she questions the authenticity of transgender women. She creates a hostile attitude towards transgender peoples place in the feminist movement and this just doesn’t sit right with me. This poem is probably my least favourite from the entire anthology.
-THETIS:
I like Thetis more than I like Tiresias however is still think Duffy makes the mistake of creating her male characters into antagonist. Like to from Mrs Tiresias, Duffy again isolates a community from the feminist movement, this time, and in the majority of her anthology, it is the entire male gender. Like many other feminist writers Duffy assumes her reader are women and therefore will agree with her attacks on the attitudes of men.
- EURYDICE:
While Duffy attempts to flip the myth in this poem I think that she misses the mark. Eurydice is supposed to be the pushed to the side lover who is the real reason for Orpheus’ celebrity status. However, I think that the character ends up being too unlikeable for her to be Root-able. Rather than making her male character into being the main antagonist she, unintentionally, makes powered woman into an antagonist.
Through the anthology it is clear that Duffy has an antagonistic view of men and this radiates through her presentation of them. It is not shocking to see how dominated with poorly written and villainous men these poems are and I wish she had decided on putting a more positive light on men while also keeping the intention of her anthology clear. Anne Hathaway remains as the only positive poem about men in this anthology and this for me is the wrong move for the feminist movement. Feminism is all about inclusion and creating equality and I believe that the worlds wife presents an outdated and slightly dangerous view on feminism.