Mrs Midas (2016 paper)<\/p>\n
37. Look at lines 1\u201312. By referring to at least two examples, analyse how the poet\u2019s language conveys the contrast in atmosphere between stanza 1 and stanza 2. (4)<\/p>\n
NOTE THE WORD CHOICE OF \u2018AT LEAST TWO EXAMPLES\u2019 HERE. THIS MEANS YOU COULD GO FOR QUOTE PLUS STRONG ANALYSIS X2 OR QUOTE PLUS WEAK ANALYSIS X4 OR 2+1+1.<\/p>\n
The first stanza is very calm whereas the atmosphere in the second stanza is excited and dangerous.
\nThe calmness is created through scene setting and word choice in the first few lines. The speaker uses the word \u2018unwind\u2019 to show that she is done for the day and is chilling out now as this tells us she is releasing all the pent up energy from her day and work (1 mark). This idea of the household and the people in it calming down for the end of the day is also repeated when the house is personified as \u2018relaxing\u2019. It gives a sense that the whole house is letting go of all the worries from that day. (1 mark)
\nIn contrast the second stanza creates excitement and danger, especially with the use of personification to describe the poor twilight lighting. It says \u2018the way the ground seemed to drink the light of the sky\u2019. This image uses word choice to suggest a grim impression of the fading light. It sounds intimidating and like there is a fight going on between dark and light. The way the ground is personified as \u2018drinking\u2019 also makes it seem like a monster that is trying to devour things around it. This all seems dangerous because the night is made to seem bad. (2 marks)<\/p>\n
38. Look at lines 13\u201324. Analyse how the poet\u2019s language in these lines creates an unsettling mood. (2)<\/p>\n
One way in which the poet makes the mood unsettling is through her word choice which she uses to create a list of how Midas looked. Duffy says \u2018strange, wild, vain\u201d to describe the look on Midas\u2019s face. Each of these has negative connotations. If he is \u2018wild\u2019 then he can\u2019t be controlled, if he is strange then he has become something odd and weird and unfamiliar. If he is vain then he is only concerned with himself. The listing of these adjective also suggests that the speaker is struggling to find the right word to describe her husband. (STRONG 2 marks)
\nOR
\nMrs Midas inserts what she said to Midas into the poem to show her reaction. \u201cWhat in the name of God is going on?\u201d She is asking him a question. Her word choice of \u2018name of God\u2019 shows that she feels upset and distressed by what she is seeing \u2013 her husband turn things to gold. She is stressed because it doesn\u2019t make sense and shouts out this question showing her unsettled mood. (2 marks)<\/p>\n
39. Look at lines 25\u201336. By referring to at least two examples, analyse how the poet\u2019s language presents the character of Mrs Midas. (4)<\/p>\n
THE POINTS BELOW ARE EACH WORTH 2 MARKS. YOU WOULD ONLY NEED 2 OF THEM TO GET YOUR 4 MARKS. <\/p>\n
Initially Mrs Midas is \u2018rightly\u2019 shocked at what has happened. She says \u2018I started to scream\u2019. Duffy uses sibilance here to highlight the noises Mrs Midas started to make. The choice of \u2018scream\u2019 tells us that Mrs Midas was very upset when she saw things being turned to gold as she couldn\u2019t understand it. She is presented as reacting typically to something she is scared of. (2 marks)
\nMrs Midas is shown to be quite tough and no-nonsense but also a little bit cool. We get this when it says she \u2018finished the wine on my own\u2019. The wine had been opened so they could have a nice dinner, but the \u2018on my own\u2019 implies that she is sitting taking in Midas\u2019s changes and drinking the wine to calm herself down. There is also an element of punishing Midas here, as she takes the wine from him. (2 marks)
\nHer humorous side is also shown here as she tells him at the end of stanza 6 \u2018You\u2019ll be able to give up smoking for good\u2019. She has obviously been at him to quit cigarettes, and now he is forced to because they turn to gold in his hands. She is mocking him in order to get her head around what has happened. (2 marks)<\/p>\n
40. By referring closely to this poem, and to at least one other poem by Duffy, discuss how the poet explores the attempts of characters to cope with life-changing situations. (10)<\/p>\n
In Mrs Midas the life-changing situation being dealt with is that Mrs Midas has to deal with Midas\u2019s new gift of turning everything he touches into gold. The poem explores how Mrs Midas deals with this change by telling us her story from her own perspective and the changes she made in her life to deal with Midas.
\nIn Havisham, the life-changing event is Mrs Havisham being jilted at the altar, in the poem we listen to her rant about the event and her inability to cope with the effect this had on her.
\nIn Mrs Midas Duffy suggests that Mrs Midas has come to terms with Midas\u2019s acceptance of his gift. However, she still feels very sad about it as she says \u2018what gets me now isn\u2019t the idiocy or greed\/ but the lack of thought for me\u2019. Her word choice here shows how some people might think Midas was stupid or was simply materialistic in wanting to turn things he touched to gold, but for Mrs Midas she gets upset because her husband never thought about her when he did it. For her, his acceptance of the gift was selfish as he didn\u2019t consider that it would mean he could never touch his wife again and he forgot about their love for some gold.
\nIn Havisham, the speaker shows that her way of coping with being jilted was to become bitter and mad. This idea is immediate in the opening sentence when she says \u2018beloved sweetheart bastard\u2019. The alliteration of the \u2018b\u2019 draws attention to what she is saying, it also sounds like she is spitting out the words because these are plosive and sibilant words \u2013 lots of b\u2019s and s\u2019s. The words also set up an oxymoron, she loved her fianc\u00e9, but thinks he is scum now because he left her. The opening certainly shows that Miss Havisham has become angry after being jilted.
\nAnother thing which suggests her angry madness is when she describes how she has prayed so hard for her ex-fiance\u2019s death that she has \u2018ropes on the back of her hands she could strangle with\u2019. This suggests how aged she is as her veins are popping up on the back of her hands, it could also suggests the stress she has put herself through. The idea as well that she is willing to strangle someone \u2013 her ex-fiance in particular \u2013 suggests how enraged she is still. This is all she fixates on.
\nFinally, she tells us that she has been totally broken emotionally, physically, mentally and sexually by the jilting as she tells us in her parting lines \u2018don\u2019t think it\u2019s only the heart that b-b-breaks\u2019. The word choice and layout of \u2018b-b-breaks\u2019 makes it sound as if she has broken down at this point. Also saying that it\u2019s not just a heart that breaks shows that being jilted has affected Miss Havisham in every way it could, it has changed how she thinks and how she feels. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mrs Midas (2016 paper) 37. Look at lines 1\u201312. By referring to at least two examples, analyse how the poet\u2019s language conveys the contrast in atmosphere between stanza 1 and stanza 2. (4) NOTE THE WORD CHOICE OF \u2018AT LEAST TWO EXAMPLES\u2019 HERE. THIS MEANS YOU COULD GO FOR QUOTE PLUS STRONG ANALYSIS X2 OR … Continue reading Carol Ann Duffy – Mrs Midas Questions<\/span>