1. Drawing of Anne Hathaway by Sir Nathaniel Curzon, 1708

2. Learning objectives: in today’s lesson we will:
Study another Carol Anne Duffy poem: ‘Anne Hathaway’.
Identify and explain poetic techniques.
Talk about FORM

3. Treasured possessions
The poem is about an item that Shakespeare leaves his wife in his Last Will and Testament after his death.
Why would you give your wife the ‘second best bed’? Who would sleep in the best bed?
Item I gyve unto my wife my second best bed …

4. Who was Anne Hathaway? She married William Shakespeare in 1582.
She was 6 months pregnant with their first child when she married Shakespeare.
Anne Hathaway came from a wealthy family in Stratford-upon-Avon
Anne was 26 when she married Shakespeare, he was 18.
Whilst Shakespeare lived and worked in London as a playwright, she stayed in Stratford with their three children (Susanna, Hamnet and Judith).
Little is known about her – no contemporary paintings exist.

5. Who was Anne Hathaway?
When Shakespeare died, the only present he left his wife in his will was the second best bed in the house.
Duffy interprets the will differently in the poem.
Many scholars have seen this as confirmation that the couple had become estranged, and that this parting gift was meant to be a snub on Shakespeare’s part.
Duffy reimagines the gift of the second best bed, not as a petty demonstration of marital unhappiness, but as the place where husband and wife experienced their most romantic and intimate moments together.
The second best bed in "Anne Hathaway" is a symbol of love and devotion.

6. Let’s read the poem… Initial responses:
Annotate your poem with anything that you think could be worth commenting on.
Think about the techniques we have already studied when we looked at Havisham and Valentine. You don’t need to know exactly why Duffy is using these techniques, but do try to think about what they could suggest. You know that there are loads of different readings so don’t be afraid to try! Please be ready to share your ideas with the class.
Think about the following:
Imagery Alliteration Assonance Form
Enjambment Rhyme Rhythm Sentence Structure

7. Form of Anne Hathaway
Shakespeare wrote 154 of his own sonnets – do you know what they were about?
Our Poem – Anne Hathaway
14 lines
English / Shakespearean sonnet - Shakespearian sonnets contain three
quatrains and a couplet.
Iambic pentameter (increasingly less regular as the poem progresses)
ABABCDCDEFEFGG rhyme scheme is only very loosely followed
Enjambment in nearly every line
Rhyming couplet at the end
William Shakespeare used iambic pentameter in his plays and sonnets. Can you comment on this? Why would Anne Hathaway use this form too?
Sonnet 55
‘Not marble, nor the gilded monuments
Of princes shall outlive this pow'rful rhyme’

8. Form and Structure
In the poem, Duffy quite literally employs a “softer rhyme” with a much more relaxed, less restrictive rhyme scheme combined with overtly sensual, erotic language and imagery.
She uses a regular metre but her deliberate choices of assonance and alliteration are designed to imitate the random touching made during lovemaking, so that it is almost as though the words themselves are grazing each other.
Duffy makes frequent use of enjambment in the poem to show how freely and without obstruction the love flowed between the couple as well as to place emphasis on important words or phrases.
The entire poem is a metaphor comparing the couple’s love making to the process of artistic and poetic creativity.

9. Extension: Can you find any other metaphors in the poem?
Metaphors = describing one thing as if it were something else.
What metaphor is used to describe:
The bed? (lines 1-3)
Her lover’s words? (lines 3-4)
Their bodies? (lines 5-6)
His touch? (lines 6-7)
The bed (again)? (lines 8-9)
Try using your ‘Just as, so’ formula to break it down and explain how the metaphors are effective.
Extension: Can you find any other metaphors in the poem?

10. What does the poem say about the bed?
What do all the metaphors have in common?

11. Metaphors
‘Anne Hathaway’ uses an extended metaphor, where one comparison is developed throughout the poem.
The extended metaphor in this poem is the comparison of Shakespeare’s writing to the sexual intercourse between Shakespeare and his wife.
The idea is that together, Anne Hathaway and Shakespeare make poetry as they make love, whereas the guests in the best bed can only hope to “dribble” prose, an inferior and less sensuous style of writing, in comparison to the poetry (i.e exciting lovemaking) created in the second best bed.

12. LITERAL MEANING:
Shakespeare’s widow, Anne Hathaway, describes the unique, amazing and deeply poetic sex life that she and Shakespeare enjoyed in their second-best bed. Hathaway counters the assumption that Shakespeare slighted her by leaving her his second-best bed in his will, using literary devices to demonstrate how passionate and out-of-the-ordinary their romance was, and also to blur the line between life and art.
Figurative meaning:

13. The bed shared by Shakespeare and Hathaway here becomes a potent symbol for love, passion and loss.
SYMBOLISM:

14. Allusion: “forests”: As You Like It, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
“castles”: Macbeth, Hamlet
“torchlight”: Romeo and Juliet
“clifftops”: Hamlet
“seas”: The Tempest
“dive for pearls”: The Tempest
“the second-best bed”: Shakespeare’s will

15. “we would dive for pearls"
Euphemisms
“we would dive for pearls"
‘Anne Hathaway’ uses a lot of euphemisms.
A euphemism is a way of describing something without using direct, or taboo language.
Euphemisms are used in this poem to describe sex.
were shooting stars which fell to earth as kisses
"My lover's words
on these lips"
a verb dancing in the centre of a noun."
"his touch
"our guests dozed on,
dribbling their prose"

16. Euphemism:
“The bed we loved in”
“we would
dive for
pearls”

17. ‘Item I gyve unto my wife my second best bed
‘Item I gyve unto my wife my second best bed ...’ (from Shakespeare’s will)
The poem begins with this actual extract from the will of Shakespeare. And as it is set at the beginning of the poem, it is called an epigraph.
Although many critics consider this legacy an insult to Hathaway, given that the playwright was fairly wealthy when he died, Duffy uses it as the catalyst for the poem and uses it to give the bed a much more magical and sensual meaning.
Epigraph

18. 1st Quatrain - Lines 1 - 4 1) The bed we loved in was a spinning world
Imagery - Suggests their love made her dizzy, was all encompassing and exciting. Interestingly, despite bearing him three children, the persona focuses only on their relationship as lovers, not parents.
1) The bed we loved in was a spinning world
2) of forests, castles, torchlight, clifftops, seas
3) where he would dive for pearls. My lover’s words
4) were shooting stars which fell to earth as kisses
Imagery - Reader is transported to a magical landscape filled with metaphor, romance and intrigue where Shakespeare’s writing and his love for Anne are intertwined. Mirrors Shakespeare’s own writing (Macbeth, etc.) Link between these iconic works of literature and the poetry –echoes the excitement that took place in this bed
In their lovemaking, they found something precious and valuable - “pearls” - Intimate, sensual tone
Enjambment - Throughout the poem to show how freely and without obstruction the love flowed between the couple
This intimate, sensual tone is continued in the metaphor below. Hathaway was seduced firstly by her lover’s language and poetry, which literally seems to fall from the heavens as though a gift from the Gods before transforming into the physical touch of a kiss.Sibilance also evident rep of ‘s’ sound= fireworks
His words are stars up in the sky that everyone can see and admire, but his poetry is also something intimate that only Anne can experience and fully comprehend. For her, his works are something physical that she can touch, an experience of Shakespeare that nobody else can have.

19. 2nd Quatrain - Lines 5 - 8
Language/poerty metaphor is extended. Uses poetic terms to describe intimacy between both - her body is a “softer rhyme” to his harder, more masculine body, Their bodies rhyme with each other. Interestingly, Anne characterises her body as "softer" than her husband's, embracing a kind of stereotypical femininity.
5) on these lips; my body now a softer rhyme
6) to his, now echo, assonance; his touch
7) a verb dancing in the centre of a noun.
8) Some nights, I dreamed he’d written me, the bed
Imagery - The erotic touch of his hand on her body is described as “a verb dancing in the centre of a noun.” This deliberate comparison elevates their lovemaking to something poetic and in doing so literary or linguistic terms become loaded with sensuality. Poetry and intimacy are interwoven
Anne imagines she is a product of her husband’s imagination, written into existence through their passionate exchanges like a character from his plays. Suggests that it is only when she considers herself through his eyes and imagination that she feels most fully alive
Symbol - The reference again to the bed at the end of line 8 creates a link to the opening line of the poem and reinforces the symbolic significance of the bed as a representation of their love.

20. 3rd Quatrain - Lines
Imagery - She is his ultimate muse, not just inspiring him to produce great works but actually becoming them. The writing/intimacy metaphor is extended (the bed is a page, and Anne is the writing on it).
9) a page beneath his writer’s hands. Romance
10) and drama played by touch, by scent, by taste.
11) In the other bed, the best, our guests dozed on,
12) dribbling their prose. My living laughing love –
Word Choice - Persona implies the inspiration for his characters and plots came from their lovemaking (itself enacting a drama). The word “romance” is deliberately placed at the end of line 9 to emphasise that this is what she most associates with their relationship. Life is better than art
Sensory Imagery is employed “touch”, “scent”,” taste” to reinforce just how vividly she can still recall their lovemaking as though through immersing herself in these memories she can experience this passion once more.
Contrast - compares the poetry and sensuality of their lovemaking with those who slept in the “other bed” . Uses withering, disparaging comment .The implication is clear: poetry symbolises the most skilful and creative use of language while prose (novels etc.)by comparison is unexceptional. Their intimacy is magical compared to others.
Alliteration and Assonance – Used to emphasise again how clearly the speaker can recall their passion. Suggests that her lover continues in some ways to exist and survive in her memory. The dash creates a pause to allow us to reflect on this idea and prepare us for the resolution and the final couplet.

21. The Couplet Lines
Rhyme - The final couplet ends with the masculine full rhyme (unlike the rest of poem) of “head” and “bed” to provide a defined conclusion to the poem. Just as the last two lines of a Shakesperian sonnet would end, gives a sense of unity.
13) I hold him in the casket of my widow’s head
14) as he held me upon that next best bed.
Rhyming Couplet
Metaphor of holding her lover in the protective “casket” of her imagination reiterates the idea presented in the previous line suggesting that our memory of a deceased loved one in a way allows their continued existence. She treasures her memories of him
Duffy seems to suggest that keeping vivid memories of loved ones is much more fitting than the urn or coffin, which although may contain the physical remnants of a body, it can never capture the energy or vitality of their character. In doing so and by allowing her to replay her memories of their passion, she is really honouring his true legacy and repaying him for the way that he held her in “that next best bed.”

22. Themes
This poem deals with the themes of passionate, sensual erotic love as well as death and remembrance.
In the poem, Duffy really concentrates on conveying that this was a marriage based on an all encompassing deeply physical relationship. She uses the actual legacy of the bed left by Shakespeare to his wife to meditate on this specific aspect of their relationship.
In doing so, she presents a couple completely in tune with each other both sexually and emotionally.

23. Themes - continued
Fittingly, in a poem about the world’s greatest ever poet and wordsmith, she uses language itself as an extended metaphor to convey the intensity of their passion.
As well as emphasising the profound physical connection of the lovers, Duffy also considers that the most fitting way to honour our dead loved ones is by preserving the most enduring, vivid aspects of their character in our memories, thus allowing them to continue to survive.